The Black Sword Trilogy: The Poacher (28 page)

              At first he was so amazed, he didn’t know quite what to say.  Then he gathered himself and ordered one of the beasts to bring him a chair from his own tent along with two pipes and tobacco.  The items were brought and Grail ordered his brother’s bindings cut.

“It’s alright.” He told his officer.  “He’s surrounded by five thousand Wolfen.  Even if he did get out of this tent, he wouldn’t get far.”

             
Captain Krall sat silently staring at his brother.  His anger made him feel cold and his whole body rigid.  There was a part of him that wanted to jump on Grail, grab him and shake him until he told him the truth.  Why?

              “I know that look, Krall.” Grail told him.  “And I know you.  You’re too experienced a soldier to have been captured by a bunch of mindless beasts.  You wanted to be captured and you were willing to bet your life that I would have ordered that you be captured alive.”

              “It wasn’t that much of a risk,” Krall responded, barely restraining the anger in his voice.  “I knew wouldn’t have the stomach to be responsible for your own brother’s death.”

“I could have not known.” Grail almost teased.

“You would have known.  At the very least, whichever one of those foul creatures that killed me would have bragged about it; possibly even bringing you my head.  You can’t have that on your conscience.”

“Don’t be so sure, brother.” Grail argued.  “I said I would kill you if I had to and I will.”

“Then why not do it now?” Krall barked at him defiantly.

One of the Wolfen poked its head into the tent.

“Is all good, master?” It asked.

“Everything’s fine.  Leave us alone.”

             
Grail lit his pipe and watching him do it, Krall decided to do the same.  The best way to get the information he wanted was to try and put Grail as much at ease at possible.  Grail took a few thoughtful draws of the tobacco and leaned back in his chair.

“So, what questions do you have of me?” Grail asked.

“Me?  Questions?  I thought you were going to interrogate me.”

Grail answered with a confident smile.

“You have no information of any value to me.  Everything I need to know in order to accomplish my mission, I already know.  You, on the other hand…you do have questions.  That’s why you allowed yourself to be captured.”

Krall chuckled a little.

“Allowed myself?” He said in a humorous voice.  “What makes you think that?”

Grail sneered in response.

“You’re too skilled and experienced a soldier to have been captured by these creatures.  No, you wanted to be caught.”

In between puffs of smoke, Krall nodded.

             
“So,” Grail continued.  “Ask me any question you want.  We shall have no secrets between each other.”

Krall took a thoughtful draw from his pipe and then let loose a plume of smoke towards the top of the tent.

“Very well,” He finally said.  “Why?”

“Why?” Grail questioned back.  “I would think the answer to that would be obvious.”

Krall took another draw.

“Assume it’s not.” He told Grail.

             
Grail took an even deeper draw from his pipe and leaned back.

“It’s about change, Brother.” He said.  “Real change; not some holy war whose only real goal is wanton chaos.  No.  I mean the kind of change that will change this world forever; and for the better.”

“What is it about this world that you think needs to be changed?” Krall prodded.

“Surely that’s obvious even to you, Krall.  A world divided into four parts, all constantly squabbling with each other; all thinking their way of life and culture is superior to the others.  How long before these squabble erupt in open warfare?  How long before the nations tear each other apart?”

“So you’re waging a war to prevent a war, is that it?”

“It’s more than that.  It’s more than just a war.  It’s a revolution.  What’s coming is a sweeping change of ideas and ways of living.  No more bickering among a greedy congress.  No
more weak King who can’t control those who should never question his commands…”

“So it’s Walechia and its own version of democracy to which you object.” Krall interrupted.

             
“Democracy has failed!” Grail barked.  “More than that, it was doomed from the first place.  Democracy is weakness.  Democracy is chaos.  Democracy is endless and pointless bickering while the ordinary people it’s supposed to represent suffer.  What this land needs is strength and purpose.  It needs one voice, one rider holding the reins.  It needs a king; a true king; one who stands while others rightfully bow before him.”

“And you’re to be that king?” Krall interrupted.

The fire in Grail’s eyes died down and he sat back, as if to rest.

“No,” he finally said.  “I am just a simple soldier doing my duty.  There is another who will be king and not of just Walechia; but of all the kingdoms of this world.  And when he is on the throne, an era of peace will come such as this world has never seen.”

             
“You’ll forgive me,” Krall added.  “If I say that this sounds far too good to be true.”

“Some changes will be more painful than others.  Some freedoms will have to be sacrificed for the common good.”

“Ah, there’s the catch.” Krall interjected.  “Peace at the cost of freedom.”

“What you call ‘freedom’,” Grail answered sincerely, “I call dangerous to peace.  Take freedom of speech for example.  All it really accomplishes is argument.  People bickering over ideals.  Take away those arguments and people will never miss the divisiveness it causes.”

             
Krall felt amazed and sick at the same time.

“Great lady,” he sighed.  “I think you actually believe that.”

“Of course I believe it,” Grail said desperately.  “That’s why I’m willing to risk my life to fight for a better world.  That’s why I want you to join me.”

Krall almost laughed at him.  But he still had to play for some time, he remembered.

“I’ll have to think about it.” He told Grail.

“Don’t give me that.” Grail said gravely.  “I’ve known you all my life.  I know what that really means.  I need your answer now.”

             
Krall thought carefully about the next thing to say.  Some of what Grail had said made sense.  Indeed the government of Walechia was divided and King Philas; although a brilliant military commander had shown weakness.  But a dictatorship wasn’t a better answer, he reminded himself.  And could he really bring himself to kill soldiers he considered brothers?  He thought of Kenner and Terri and their missions.  Could he bring himself to kill them?

“Don’t make me wait, Krall!” Grail demanded.

And then a human soldier poked his head inside the tent.

“The flame burns blue again, General.” The soldier told Grail.

             
Grail stood up to leave.

“Keep a sharp eye on him,” He commanded the soldier and referring to Krall.  “If he moves a muscle other than to smoke his pipe, kill him immediately.”

             
Grail raced to the campfire and started moving the creatures away from it, so that he could have a private conversation with his master.  He knelt before the blue flames.

“What progress have you made?” The face in the flames asked him.

“We have achieved our first objectives and are less than two days march to the first post at the Wall.”

“Excellent.” The face answered. “But there seems to be something troubling you.  What is it?”

“All is well, my master.  Everything is under control.”

Suddenly the flame burned brighter and hotter.

“Do not hide your emotions from me, General.  There is something you are not telling me.”

Grail bowed his head.

“My troops have captured Captain Krall.” He said lowly.

              Suddenly he felt sharp, stabbing pains all over his body.

“I thought I made it clear he was to be destroyed.” The voice hissed.  Grail fell to the ground and writhed in agony until his master stopped punishing him.  Panting and still feeling some stabbing pains, he recovered himself to his knees.

“It will be done, master.  I swear it.”

“See that it is done, immediately.” The face demanded.  “You are not the only one capable of commanding my army.”

             
Feeling morose and frightened at the same time, Grail took his sword and headed towards the tent where he would find his brother.  A hundred voices sounded as if speaking to him at once; some telling him that he could not kill his own flesh and blood; others reminding him of the consequences of if he didn’t.  When he came to the tent, he saw a sight that thrilled and scared him at the same time.  The two Wolfen guards outside the tent were both dead and their bodies ripped open.  He looked inside the tent and saw that the guard he had placed inside had also been killed.  Krall was gone.

Chapter Thirty Five

             
After killing the guards, Krall gutted one of the Wolfen and spread its blood and some of its gore all over him to hide his scent.  Moving as silently as possible, he then went about the next part of his plan.  He didn’t want to do this to the guards at the tent to give his idea away; and so he waited and then hunted along the edge of the encampment.  He found two Wolfen sitting and watching the area in front of them.  He snuck up behind them, killed them both and then skinned one of them.  After doing so, he put the Wolfen’s pelt over his own body and hollowed out its head to cover his own.  He knew he wouldn’t look exactly like a Wolfen, but he would look well enough and smell enough like one to be able to sneak through the encampment.

              The encampment was large and spread out.  This was Grail’s doing, Krall imagined.  By having the army more spread out, they could avoid losses in case of a sneak attack.  The creatures all slept on the ground in small groups, like army companies.  Each had two guards watching and likely in shifts, Krall thought.  Throughout the night, he would lie low next to these formations and then every hour, each company would have a change of guard.  It was then that he would move as the guards weren’t paying as much attention.  Even if they did notice, they would only see the silhouette of another animal and it would smell like one of their own.

              He moved to the north; the opposite direction the army had been moving for the last week.  He had been following them since leaving the hide at a safe distance, but allowed himself to be captured in order to gain more information.  Now that he had what he wanted, it was time to leave and continue his mission.

              Almost to the edge of the camp, he found a horse tied to a post next to a solitary tent.  There was a company of Wolfen nearby and most of them were sleeping; except for the watch.  This horse was just what he needed, but he needed to be swift and silent about getting it.  He moved as silently as he could, but then heard a Wolfen voice call out to him.

“Oi!  Who goes there?”

“What do you want?” He said in his best imitation of a Wolfen voice.

“What company are you with?”

Krall said nothing.  He tried to stay calm as he knew that a Wolfen would be able to hear his heart beating faster.

“Speak quickly, scum!” The Wolfen called to him.  He saw both the guards stand up and begin to approach.

“I’m taking a dump!” He called to them.  “Is that alright with you?”

The two animals laughed and then sat back down.

             
He snuck up to the horse and untied it.  It made a noise as if alarmed, but then he soothed it by rubbing its neck and snout.  He looked over at the guards who turned their heads, but nothing more.  Fortunately for Krall, the horse was already saddled.  He climbed into the saddle, urged the horse on and then flew as fast as possible in the direction of the bridge at Serace.

              He didn’t get far before he heard a Wolfen howl.  Surely that could only mean that his victims had been discovered, Krall believed.  He only stopped for a brief moment and then continued on.

              Inside the camp, there was confusion.  General Grail, still amazed and shocked at his brother’s escape had set the entire camp to look for him.  However, when he heard the news that one of his soldiers had been skinned and a horse stolen, he knew that finding his brother would now be even more difficult.  He called together a company of Wolfen and ordered them to hunt, find and kill Krall.