The Exodus Sagas: Book II - Of Dragons And Crowns (16 page)

“Kithian? Who is that?”

“The kithian are the last of the cyclops, twice as tall as you and not like their giant cousins much at all. They live at peace with the Goddess, yet are fierce hunters that have a vision unlike any other race.”

“I hope to be there one day, to see all the temples, my friend. Now, where am I to go?” the elven hunter took the last step into bright daylight of early mor
ning. The air was dry and warm
and the ground rocky and full of sparse forest and hills.

“There.” t
he great sphinx pointed his feline paw toward the east where brown rocky cliffs appeared fai
ntly as the sun rose behind him
to the west.

Lavress admired the stones of the sacred circle, all of them as tall as he. They were in the same places as in the other temple, yet the writing was older form and the stones were deep brown and polished instead of white and rough. “And what is there?”

“The Cliffs of Selronis, on the other side near there is an old shrine to the Carician Gods of old. It is the one linked to the forgotten Gimmorian temple you first tracked the rogue noble to in the Deep South of Chazzrynn. It will be guarded, but by what I do not know. The princess and the fey court have sensed the book is there. When you find it, bring it back to us for we need to take them to the safety of Gualidura.” Kilbura stared at the cliffs, unable to sense what was there
,
for the old magicks were too strong.

“Gualidura? To my home? Why not to Kilikala where they belong?” Lavress was puzzled, despite the distance over the Soltaic Ocean, he could not ration why they would go to his forested savage homeland.

“There is much stirring in the elven homeland right now, too much to explain. They will be safe there until secure measures can be assured. Trust in the fey court, and please be careful.” Kilbura sat on all fours to pray and meditate the will of Seirena and safe passage for this brave wood elf.

“I will return soon, high priest.” Lavress bowed as the wind blew across the barren trees of Caberra.

His steps were light and quick, yet his mind ran with too much. Shinayne was near, to the south of here, he could feel her. He wished to see the girl
he had been meeting only in serene
elven dreams, and to hold her. Lavress wanted the sorrow of Bedesh to be over, so that he and the elven noblewoman could once again share in the warmth of each other.

The scattered forest gave way, and the hunter ran through the uncomfortable open ground toward the Cliffs of Selronis. His keen senses seeing and hearing all the animals stir to the morning light, and watching for Kendari to spring from nowhere like a horrid specter. Running faster now, the wood elf of the Hedim Anah pushed his focus to
the mission at hand, to face the renegade wizard once again. Eliah Shendrynn would not have forgotten him, and must be guarded well indeed to s
tay where he was for over a month
. All Lavr
ess thought of now was the book;
for revenge, love, and sorrow had no place in the mind of a hunter such as he.

E
xodus II:IV

Tower of Kalzarius, Harlaheim

Kalzarius looked down from the twentieth floor window, admiring the floating torches of orange, yellow, blues and green that swirled slowly around his home. He stroked his long gray beard and watched as normal lanterns amassed outside his walls and gates, hundre
ds of them in the crisp early dawn
breeze as over a thousand soldiers marched the wet cobblestone to lay siege. The crown and rose banners were held high on the wind, and low on the tabards of the footman and archers that surrounded the massive marble tower. The old wizard saw his men stand fast behind the walls and gates, knowing their master and his arcane students had many a spell and protective barrier in place between the hundred of them and the thousand
s
led by several mounted knights of Harlaheim. Kalzarius looked to see who was leading the siege, a siege that had the backing and orde
r of both king and church. He s
aw Madame Florin on her black stallion,
the noble Sir Sebastian to the south, and Bishop Javiel with Sir Phillip to the north. The old master of the arcane knew the woman had been too close to the king for far too long, and assumed she was in charge. Her guards that surrounded her were those of Savanno’s,
the Lord Knight Errant; meaning she had replaced him
and now led the knights of H
arlaheim, but not those of the O
rder of Saint Tarumin. Only the Cardinal, Kalzarius knew, could order them to attack unless to defend the kingdom from foreign invasion.
He hoped that those truly loyal to Alden and the church would find a way to stop the siege.
Halberds, lances, rapiers, shields, and archers
all pointed at the tower that his forefathers
had built so long ago.

Cilano opened t
he door to his master’s chamber
and broke his concentration of the grim view he had seen so many times before.
“Kalzarius, we are fu
lly surrounded, there at least three
thousand men and more on the way. What do we do?”

“Sir Sulian, Sir Karai, nor Sir Leon
ard have joined the attack, which means we have hope in those knights still loyal to Lord Savanno, my student. I have the protective wards raised higher than any catapult could fire and it i
s about to be a very foggy morning
indeed.
“
Honmar invonar sebilius
!” Kalzarius raised his staff and right hand, closed his deep blue eyes, and concentrated on the ground around the tower. Mist and fog rolled in
from the streets and thickened into a six foot
high
blanket that concealed all.

“How long can we hold the barriers and fog? Five, maybe six days before you reach exhaustion? We need to prepare our students for battle and back them off with an offensive assault, master.” Cilano was nervous, he had never seen a sieg
e of such size happen so quickly
. Nor had he seen a bishop, the banners of the king, and three knights allied against Kalz
arius
and with them in
such
short supply of allies.

“We need to give Gwenneth and her friends all the time we can. As
long as the king thinks they are here with S
avanno, we are victorious
. We shall not open fire, magical or otherwise, unless we are breached. Until then, we remain peaceful in hopes that this political mess gets itself
unwound. Is that understood?” t
he old wizard was very serious in his tone, gritting his teeth a bit even. He had been in this position, to one degree or another, several times. Only twice had he been forced to take life, and he regretted them both.

“Understood master.” Cilano went to have the men ready the supplies, bring up the stored food, and relay the orders of no
n
violence unless there was a breach to
the capitan
. He wondered how Kalzarius stood so calmly in the face of such odds.
He floated down the spiral stairs that lined the outer walls of the tower interior. Past candelabras, chandeliers, sconces of arc
ane flame, and vast libraries; C
ilano kept his pace hurried for he knew the capitan of the tower guard was just as worried at these numbers as he was.

The arcane guards, wizards in training mostly, opened the front doors for the master student. He surveyed the tower grounds which were barely a hundred feet of grass, trees, and hedges between the tower and the outer wall. His levitation dismissed, Cilano walked to the gate on the western side of the ten foot stone wall that surrounded tower of Kalzarius. He could see the fog beyond that had engulfed the soldiers of Harlaheim, yet their lanterns were many. To a trained wizard such as he, the shimmer of arcane barrier was visible melding into the outer enclosure and rising fifty feet in the air all the way round. Cilano knew he could not hope to maintain a spell of that size for more than a few hours himself. The thick iron bars and spikes along the wall and ga
tes would keep them out for now,
and the barrier invisible would stop any aerial attacks. Despite all the protection
s
, Cilano felt unsafe and
knew
that they were all in great danger.

“Capitan, we have a standing order to not attack unless-“

The
gray cloaked capitan with his arcane symbols embellished on his armor and tabard handed Cilano a rolled up parchment with a wax seal upon it, the seal of the king. He said nothing, merely looking out the gate through the bars and into the fog; waiting for the first sign of attack. The
veteran bodyguard and loyal capitan
stood patient, allowing the
right hand wizard of Kalzarius read the order he h
ad been passed only minutes ago from a sergeant of Madame Florin’s brigade.

“16 Janry, 345 A.D.

By order of King Richmond L’Drannuis the Second, his majesty of the great kingdom of Harlaheim
,

Kalzarius Ar’Tallim of the great capital of Harlaheim, high wizard of the tower of Kalzarius, you are hereby ordered by his majesty the king to stand down your servant guards and students. You are to lower your fortress defenses, arcane and otherwise, and allow the knights of Lady Knight Errant Florin L’Milierre access to your property. By official sanction of Bishop Javiel Gerier, the high court of Harlaheim, and his majesty; you have been accused of conspiracy to the throne, treason, harboring fugitives and thieves of the church of Alden,
blasphemy, heretical acts,
and resisting the authority of the king. These crimes are laid upon you, your servants and students, and any and all on your property. You are also ordered to appear before the king with said fugitives and one Savanno Lisario, former knight of Harlaheim who it is believed you are also harboring. Failure to
comply with local authorities stated above shall result in enforcement through military means. Should forceful action be taken against such duties, your life, lands, and chance of presentation before your king shall be forfeit. You have one hour from the time of delivery of this warranted order to comply w
ith the agents of the kingdom.”

Cilano knew the answer Kalzarius would give to this warrant, and felt even more unsure
of their safety and survival of this seige
knowing that Florin now held more power than
any of the remaining knights; in fact, she now led them.
He looked at the royal stamp on the wax seal, looked up to the silhouette of Kalzariu
s on the twentieth floor window, and tore the parchment into pieces then threw it back through the gate it was passed through.

“Capitan, you have your orders from Kalzarius. They stand as such, be careful and be ready. In one hour they mean to charge us.” Cilano walked back to the tower to inform his master of the late
st
news.

LCMVXI
ILCMVXIILCMVXIILCMVX

Shinayne T’Sarrin was motionless in the tall oak tree she had climbed halfway up; the vantage from her perch on the branch allowed her to see for nearly a mile in any direction of the Harlaheim countrysid
e. They had walked for
hour
s
in the darkness with only the low light of Gwenneth’s staff to guide them in this foreign land.
Saberrak was posted by a tree where he watched the north, Azenairk by a small rocky hill keeping eye on the road ahead of them, and Gwenne sat on a dry log that had fallen and concentrated on her senses of the arcane. The owls and small animals of the
waning
night moved through the forests, curious of the travelers yet not daring to get too close. The green moon was a sliver overhead and the white moon, Carice, was barely much mo
re behind it; truly a dark dawn slow to rise
in a strange place.

The young lady of Lazlette sensed something, several things enchanted with arcane energies nearing
them but not coming
directly. She felt them closer now, a crown that held protective spells from long ago, a ring with the same, and two swords; she recognized one of the blades, her father’s sword. Gwenne felt the magic radiating from the griffon pommeled broadsword of her late father, the blade James Andellis carried
. She sensed them perhaps a mile away to the east, heading northeast on the road away from her.

“I feel him, James is near and not alone. He is ahead of us on the road and moving at a steady pace. We should leave now, Savanno is not returning.” Gwenneth stood up and began to walk on the side of the muddy road toward the northeast, following her yellow light in the
near
darkness.

“Are you certain it is him?” Saberrak picked up his greataxe that leaned on the tree and walked with her, wanting explanation for the arcane certainties she employed.
He tried to see the sunrise through the hills and trees, yet it was as if the light avoided the morning.

“Of course, minotaur. If I was not, would I be walking in
the dark of early dawn
to meet someone?” Gwenne retorted snidely and shook her head at the huge horned warrior.