The Eight Walls of Rogar: An Epic Fantasy Adventure Series! (The Lost Kingdoms of Laotswend Trilogy--Book One) (40 page)

Marla crinkled her nose at the thought.  The soldiers stared at her with open desire, unable to control, even in the midst of such calamitous discussion, their lustful musings.

No wonder mermaids have such a notorious reputation,
Andaris thought. 
They are like sirens calling from a rocky shore.  Men steer towards them with their hearts full of longing, hopelessly compelled.

“Okay,” she said at last, “but on one condition.  I will talk to my uncle
if, and only if, you agree to come live with me, Andaris.”

Andaris was taken completely aback
.
  “To live?” he echoed, staring into her unblinking eyes, into those deep azure eyes. 
A man could get lost in those eyes,
he thought
.
“But why?” he asked.

“I like you, Andaris.  You make me laugh.  Is that not enough?  Do you not like me?”

“Well, yes…but…what about my family?  I had hoped to find my way back home someday.  And what of my friends?  Would I be allowed to visit them?”

Marla smiled sweetly at him.  “Well, of course, silly.  What do I look like, an ogre?”

The men around him chuckled.  Obviously, they didn’t think so.

“And I would not dream of keeping you from your family.  If, after one year, you do not wish to stay with me, you will be free to go.  Think of it, Andaris.  What I offer is a great and rare gift.  So long as you are with me, you will never grow old and…you will always be happy.”

She’s so beautiful,
he thought, again becoming lost in her eyes.  S
o beautiful, so beautiful…. 
It was cold out, and his hair was still damp.  Even so, he began to sweat.  “Must I decide now?” he asked.

“You may do whatever you wish, Andaris.  You have free will.  You may decide whenever you choose.  Yet…were you not in a hurry?  Was I incorrect?”

“All right!” he finally blurted.  “I agree.  Whatever you say.  I’ll do it.  To save Rogar and my friends, I will do it.”  But deep down inside he knew it was more than that.  The truth was, he suddenly felt desperate to please her, like he would burn up inside if he didn’t.

Marla clapped her hands together and blew him a kiss.  “How wonderful and brave you are, my knight, my savior, to speak such
binding
words to a mermaid.”

Her praise filled him with instant joy.  He felt so alive, almost like after drinking the honey water, every hair on his body standing straight, so strong and confident, like he could do anything.  Kings on the battlefield after a great victory didn’t feel this good.  He was stronger, faster, and smarter than anyone who had ever lived.  He was invincible!

But then, like a gnat buzzing in his ear, a little voice whispered,
beware.
  He was quick to swat it away.  He could not be bothered by such things, not at a time like this—could not allow paranoia to rule the day, not when he felt so utterly…splendid.  Some people got to feel this way all the time.  For him, it was so rare, such a relief from the ravages of insecurity, and thus doubly as sweet, that he was compelled to hang on with both hands and never let go.

“Oh, and do not worry about my uncle,” she said, a mischievous grin spreading across her face.  “I can usually find a way to get what I want.”

Andaris gulped, certain that truer words had never been spoken.  Marla winked at him, then slipped beneath the surface, leaving only a few ripples behind to suggest that she’d ever been.

On the way back to the castle, Andaris couldn’t stop thinking about what he’d agreed to.  As the euphoria began to wear off, the voice that had whispered,
beware
, now grew more insistent. 
Binding words.
  A
whole year underwater because she likes you?  More like a lifetime.  A hundred lifetimes!

Marla won’t let any harm come to me,
he argued.
  And twelve months with a water goddess is certainly better than being slaughtered by the shapelings.

A watery tomb for you and me,
tittered the voice,
a special grave wait and see.

***

King Laris, of course, was overjoyed to hear the good news.  Andaris had made the prince and his men swear not to tell anyone about his promise, at least for the time being.  Gaven and Trilla should hear it from him, but only when and if the shapelings are destroyed.  No sense in worrying them needlessly.

Five thousand heavy horse led by the prince would march into the lake, leaving the remaining troops to guard the wall.  There was much saluting from one group to next as they departed.

“May fortune smile on you!” the king shouted.

“And on you!” replied the prince.

The Sokerrans galloped out the gate and up the east road, heads held high, shoulders back.  Long days of battle had taken its toll.  Their armor no longer gleamed as it once did, and their colors were no longer so bright.  Nonetheless, they were a grand sight to behold, and still a force to be reckoned with—no doubt about that.

Ride,
he thought. 
May Rodan grace your steps and grant you speed!  
The soldiers left to guard the wall rallied around the king, vowing to hold on until Prince Palden and his men returned, knowing that as long as they stood, Rogar stood.

***

Andaris felt a deep sense of wonder rise within him as he watched Marla rise from the center of the pond—the water cascading down her nubile body, the sunlight sparkling off her golden hair.  He’d witnessed it twice before, and each time it was like a miracle to him.

Marla assured the Sokerrans that, so long as they stayed in close contact with her, they would have no trouble breathing and would feel none of the water’s cold.  No one seemed to have a problem with that.  The closer to her they could get, the better.  She went on to explain how the last man in line would be as safe as the first.  Provided, that is, the horses remained in an unbroken chain.  Andaris noted with considerable amusement that she didn’t kiss a single mouth.

The horses shook their heads and stamped their feet, perhaps reacting to the restless mood of their masters.  Marla sang to them in a high, melodic voice, in a language made for music, every syllable more soothing than the last, flowing off her tongue in smooth, rounded tones.  The horses became still as statues—eyes glassy, heads hanging—then one by one followed her into the water.

Andaris had never seen anything quite so odd as five thousand mounted soldiers methodically walking their horses into a lake.  He would like to have seen them swimming in a great long line through the water, but knew his place was back at the castle with his friends.  After shouting, “Farewell!” he spurred Del forward, leaned low, and galloped west.

By the time Andaris came clattering into the courtyard, his heart was beating nearly as fast as Del’s.  He could hear the battle raging above—the now familiar booming of cannon and clashing of swords.  He reined in, dismounted before coming to a complete stop, and ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time.  When he reached the top of the wall, he drew his sword and wedged himself between Gaven and an especially tall Sokerran with a bushy beard and golden braids.

“What did I miss?” he asked.

“Nothing good!” Gaven yelled.  “They had better show soon.  Things are getting out of hand!”

As if in demonstration, a round-bodied creature with pointy ears and a fluted nose leapt over the battlements and landed directly in front of them.  To Andaris, it resembled a giant beetle, complete with glistening black armor and flicking antennae. 

Gaven spun and, with a backward thrust, planted his sword into the middle of its stomach.

Thick yellow blood sprayed across the front of Andaris’ pant legs.  “They’ll be here!” he yelled.  “We just have to hold on!”

Forbidden Passage

Prince Palden found himself in awe of the vast aquatic world, the landscape of which was as beautiful as it was unsettling.  Mountains rose to his left and to his right, steep slopes covered by a forest of incandescent coral, a forest which changed color from greenish blue to bluish green as it swayed in the shifting current.

Six crystalline towers rose from the valley floor—tapering spires with oval openings joined by flowing strands of gossamer thin lattice.  Translucent domes crowded the base of these towers, each glowing with a soft golden light.  Seeming oblivious to the splendor surrounding them, mermen and women swam in and out of the oval openings, going about their business in a controlled, orderly fashion, lending the scene, despite its idyllic appearance, a militaristic feel.

The prince had always assumed his people were the preeminent artisans of their time.  Now he saw how wrong he was.  This city, with or without its exotic locale, was far more impressive than anything even Sokerra’s best and brightest could create.

Marla talked and pointed as they swam, playing the part of tour guide with alacrity.  The horses moved through the water with choreographed precision, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, as if they believed they still had solid ground beneath their hooves.

The prince had to make a conscious effort not to stare at Marla’s cute little tail as it flipped seductively to and fro, propelling her forward with smooth, steady strokes.  Her allure was undeniable, enough to light a fire in the loins of a man three times his age.  At the very least, regardless of how stiff of joint or stooped of shoulder, she would elicit a vague stirring, a wistful sparkle in the eyes and, provided it had been a life well lived, a regretful grin full of randy memory.

The prince averted his eyes…again.  He was a married man now.  Certain things were no longer appropriate.  Drooling over buxom young mermaids, no matter how fetching, was no doubt one of them.

We are nearly there
, she thought cheerfully. 
It is right over…oh dear.  My Uncle.
An instant later, the prince saw them—three mermen with long staffs blocking their path.  The fellow in the middle had angry, cobalt blue eyes set within coppery skin, framed by long flowing hair the color and texture of seaweed.  Marla held up her hand and came to a halt.  The horses stopped with her, calmly treading water, legs moving in perfect unison.

I thought you had his approval,
the prince said in the telepathic equivalent of a whisper.

Marla shrugged her shoulders at him…and then looked sheepishly back at her uncle.

Marla!
 
What is the meaning of this?
he demanded.

The merman’s human half was heavily muscled.  The most powerful part of him, however, was his tail.  Nearly twice the size of Marla’s, it was covered with crimson scales, similar in shape and thickness to dragon scales, darkening to the color of blood towards their serrated points.  The staff he held in his right hand was made of glass—a shimmering rod full of swirling blue smoke and what looked, for all the world, like fireflies, the sort the prince often saw during his mid-summer walks in the palace gardens, the sort he and his younger brother used to capture and put in jars when they were children.

In those days, there were few things as wonderful or as sought after as a firefly lantern.  He and his brother used to compete to see who could catch the most, running through the gardens with lanterns held high, repeating the end of one of their favorite nursery rhymes.

Communicating with Marla telepathically seemed to have opened a doorway to the prince’s past, making his memories more vivid.  Despite the direness of their current situation, the words to the rhyme ran through his head.  It was so tangible…the smell of honeysuckle on the vine…the sound of crickets and bullfrogs…the rush of excitement in young limbs.  Almost, he could believe he was back in the gardens with his brother….

Tiny stars dancing through the night,

Winking with a playful light.

Which way they will go no one can say,

But vanish they must ere the break of day.

You have brought Landwellers to our realm!
her uncle shouted into their minds, jarring the prince back to the present.
  And by doing so have broken our most sacred law!

But I had to!
she explained. 
Their people are suffering.  They are going to die.  There is a war and the evil army is winning.

Her uncle slashed his staff through the water, still only addressing Marla, as though he found the Sokerrans unworthy of his direct attention. 
We do not involve ourselves in the doings of Landwellers, no matter how desperate their plight.
  His expression contorted. 
You forget, I have had encounters with them before.  And each time, I have come to regret it.  They are not to be trusted.

I assure you,
Palden began.

Silence, Landdweller!  I was not speaking to you!

The prince held his head in his hands, recoiling from the force of the Merman’s thoughts.

Uncle, no!  I—

Do not argue with me!
  he snapped. 
They will have to go back and their memories will have to be purged.
You are fortunate I do not order their deaths.  In fact, I am still not certain that I should not.  It is within my power, you know.  No one on the council would oppose me.

The soldier beside Palden, a man in his mid thirties with premature gray hair and shoulders nearly as broad as the merman’s, reached for his blade.  The prince grabbed his wrist and shoved his sword back into its sheath. 
Fool!  If ever there were a time for cool heads it is now.  If we drown down here, all those brave men atop that wall will die, along with thousands upon thousands of others.

Marla’s uncle peered at the prince with a thoughtful expression, thoughtful and perhaps even a bit surprised.

Uncle, please…I was just trying to help.  Do not punish them for my mistake.  They are good men fighting for peace.  They have not made war themselves.  They desire passage only to save their people.  I would have taken them the long way around, but there are so many sharks about.  It is dangerous to venture too far from Tolara this time of year.  I could not obscure the city from them all, not at this distance.  I would have erased their memories before they resurfaced.
 
You must believe me.  I would have done nothing to endanger the anonymity of our people.

The merman stared at the prince a moment longer, weighing him.  Then his eyes softened and he let out a tired sigh
.  Very well, Marla.  I promised your father, Faendor help me, but I swear, sometimes I wish I had not.
Because of that promise, I will be lenient, this time, but never again.  Do not test me on this.  Do you understand?

She nodded
.  Yes, Uncle, I swear.

The merman removed one of the blue stones from the front of his belt and handed it to her
.  This one is stronger than yours.  It will work on them all at once.

She took the stone and kissed him on the cheek. 
Thank you, Uncle.

He smiled at her, raised her chin with his finger, and asked,
Have any other Landwellers seen the city, Marla?  Do not make it worse by lying to me.

No,
she lied.

He held eye contact with her for several seconds, seeming to probe her thoughts.  Marla managed to not quite squirm.  At length, he nodded and said,
I am going to trust you.
 
Do not make me regret it.  If I discover you have been dishonest with me, you will rue the day your father left you in my care.

The merman then turned his cobalt eyes back to the prince. 
Since you will not remember any of this, I will tell you.  I am King Giendolinof, supreme ruler of all that you see.  I regret having to be so inflexible with the enforcement of our laws.
 
It is only the preservation of my world of which I think.  If you are good men, as my niece says you are, then I wish you warm waters and swift currents.  It is a shame you will not remember any of what you see, but I am afraid it is the only way.  Perhaps one day things will be different.
May fortune and whatever deity you worship aid you in the coming struggle
.

The prince put his open palm against his chest and gave King Giendolinof a half bow, showing as much respect as possible while remaining atop his horse.

The King nodded to him, winked at Marla, then turned and swam towards the city.

I am sorry about that,
Marla said.
  He was supposed to be in the west quadrant today, hunting spearhead sharks.  The sharks are a constant problem.  And they have been worse lately.  If we do not keep their numbers down, they become so bold as to swim into the city and attack our young.  I knew I was in trouble when I saw him, but I did not think he would be that angry.  I have never seen him so upset.

The prince’s eyes remained fixed on the fast diminishing figures of the mermen. 
Can’t say I blame him,
he replied.
  He has a lot to protect.  I just hope the delay hasn’t cost us.

After leaving the merfolk city behind, it took only a couple of minutes to reach Lake Greenhill.  The prince would never look at a lake in the same way again, at least, that is, until his memory was purged.  More than just bodies of water, they were windows between worlds.  He felt a stab of regret as he considered all that he was about to lose.  Though could he, if given the opportunity, have resisted the urge to tell others about what he’d found?  Could he have merely gone on with life as if nothing had happened, knowing that an entire miraculous world waited just beneath the surface?  The merman was right.  Landwellers were not to be trusted.

Marla activated the stone just before they surfaced, holding it high above her head.  Bright blue light flashed through the water, pulsing out from the stone in ever-widening rings.

Over the next few minutes you will forget all that you have seen here,
she said. 
Including me.

Prince Palden smiled at her and took her hand in his own. 
That, my lady, I will truly regret.  I, on behalf of Sokerra and the other kingdoms, thank you sincerely for your help.  Your actions on this day have saved countless lives.

For once, as she stared into his gentle brown eyes, Marla found herself at a loss for words.

Feeling like they were coming to the end of a very strange dream, the Sokerrans allowed their horses to carry them out of the water.  They did not remember how they had gotten there, and for some reason did not care.  Indeed, the fact that they were riding their horses out of a lake did not even strike them as particularly odd.  They remembered what they were supposed to do, and that was all that mattered.

There was a chill in the air that made them rub their hands together and started their teeth to chattering.  The grass and trees around the shore of the lake had been trampled flat by the shapeling army.  In the distance, they could hear the booming of cannon.  The men gathered around the prince as the rest of their number emerged.

The prince pulled out his sight glass and, with a flick of his wrist, extended it to its full length.  A dark cloud of smoke hung like a funeral shroud over Rogar.  Fires burned between the walls, feeding the cloud, making its heart bigger and blacker.  It was as if all the color had been leeched from the land, and Rogar castle was nothing more than a burned out husk set against a world of shadow and flame.

“They still hold the wall,” the prince announced after they had assembled, “but by the looks of things not for long.”  He snapped the sight glass closed and turned to his men.  “We will attack in Detaly formation at a full gallop.”  They began moving their horses around, forming into a three-tiered wedge.  “We will make them suffer for the blood they have spilled!  And though we find ourselves on foreign soil, and though many of us will not survive, we shall not despair, for as we ride into battle, our thoughts will be of Sokerra, and of those we love most.  Remember why you are here, and fight as though you are defending your own doorsteps, for quite literally, you are.  Sokerra!” he shouted.

“Sokerra!” they answered.

The prince lurched first into a trot and then into a gallop, the point of the foremost wedge, rushing towards probable annihilation as if towards purest bliss.