The High King: A Tale of Alus (41 page)

Simon had taken the klereon, Sea Hammer, and a pair of his merchant ships on the run to Cadmene. He had barrels of flour and cracker corn meal in two of their holds, while a small supply of weapons and dozens of kegs of cracker corn ale sat in the klereon's hold.

If the rumors of the wars had been true, and he was sure that they were, all these items could sell well. They didn't truly need the gold he could get, but business would still be business. The people of both Cadmene and Marshalla could use the supplies and Simon needed a reason to go there. Everyone benefitted, so why not.

He looked to the northeast where the black clouds of an incredible storm spread across the sky. Turning to the captain of the Hammer, Simon asked, "Isn't that in the direction of the pirate isles?"

"Yes sir, and it looks like a dandy one too. Serves them right to be swept off their damnable isles for all the trouble that they've given everyone over the years."

Simon moved to the rail and sighed. "I just hope you weren't caught unawares by that storm, Gerid," he muttered worriedly. "You can only push your luck so far in this world, before the fates turn on you."

With a last look at the far off storm, Simon returned to his cabin below deck where he had left his book that he was only half through.

Lieutenant Baitrum, began his shift as the queen's guard captain by being called into his cousin's royal chamber. It was an odd occurrence, the first such since taking the duty, so the man was understandably curious about what the queen had felt was necessary to interrupt her usual routines and await his arrival. It was Laith who held the door open for him after calling inside for approval from their mistress.

"You called for me, your highness?" Baitrum asked as he bowed from the waist. His eyes widened slightly upon seeing Serra dressed in a blue, silk shift that fell to just above the girl's knees. He could see her right wrist covered by a winding coil of gold in the design of a scaled dragon and assumed that the left was covered similarly though that wrist was covered by the black material of a black robe thrown over her arm in readiness. A pair of soft doeskin boots, also dyed black, gripped her legs gently up to the calf. The outfit made the girl seem even more lovely in the morning light cast from the open window, but the man had to wonder what occasion had prompted this change, since the queen still wore only the robe she kept for her chamber.

Alyanna caught his look at the girl. The sides of her mouth turned up at the edges slightly in a smile before addressing her cousin. "Have the rebels been able to enter the sorcerer's caves to discover what they are up to yet, Baitrum?"

The man held back his surprise at the simple question. It was nothing that he would have suspected of the woman, even though she had used him to send a message to the rebels to try and find out what they could about the sorcerers days earlier. His eyes strayed worriedly to Serra, who was now sitting calmly on the foot of the bed, before answering the queen, "None have made it into any place of import and lived to return, but they have gathered that the sorcerers have developed some form of gate that can bring the gargoyles here. They also found out that it requires a sacrifice of blood, preferably that of a young woman, though it probably doesn't matter whether it is a woman or not."

The queen's face lost all traces of humor as she asked, "Who have the sorcerers killed that the rebels know this?"

Baitrum shrugged, "A couple of the local girls, virgins if I heard correctly, but others have disappeared when the ranks of the gargoyles have been added to in the past and not just women. A rumor says that several more women and children of Caldor and Cadmene have been taken there as well as a number of people from Sileoth after the war was completed. It matters little enough how many have died, because many more will be killed now since the war has not gone well lately."

Alyanna nodded. "My... husband," she made a grimace at the thought of Merrick, but continued, "does not seem to care who he harms in his quest to rule the world. Innocents or not, women, children or men, he'll kill whoever he deems necessary and probably a few extra for good measure, if he thinks that is what he needs or wants to do.

"But enough of what we cannot change, let me ask you something, cousin. Do you think that you can get somebody into the caverns in such a way as to be unseen? We have a need to know what is happening there."

Baitrum glanced at Serra again, but the girl was simply staring lazily out the window. A bird sat on a nearby castle wall just within view. The bright blue of the azure sparon lit up the gray stone with its mere existence. The guard returned his eyes to Alyanna and answered carefully, "Perhaps with a diversion after entering, I could get myself and another blade deep enough into the caverns to find the gate, but what would I be able to do after that, cousin?" Her cousin shrugged and awaited the reprisal he would receive for speaking his mind.

Alyanna surprised him with a simple nod. She allowed them all to sit in silence for several minutes, a silence broken only by the sounds of flapping as the bird took flight and fluttered near the window on its way into the sky. "Arrange what you will to get in, Baitrum, but get started immediately. Based on your previous reports, we know that the sorcerers’ caverns tend to be less watched in the early morning, even though there is supposed to be wizards inside at all times now. You and Serra will need to be inside well before noon and out again if you both wish to escape today."

Baitrum stood quietly biting his lip to prevent his speaking wrongly against the queen. His cousin read his mind apparently and answered his unspoken question, "Serra has become quite good at sneaking unnoticed past soldiers and remaining in the background when looked at almost directly. You'll be surprised at her skills. Now go quickly before the night's guard’s change for fresh men."

Baitrum knew better than to speak back now. It was already decided in the queen's mind. He may have become an advisor to his cousin, but Alyanna was still queen, even if she ruled in title more than substance. He turned and walked to the door without looking to see if Serra followed. The soldier knew that the handmaid would. The queen had ordered them both to go and the girl was faithful to a fault.

Taylin and the Cadmene Gellor stood as guards now outside Alyanna’s door. It wasn't Gellor's usual shift, so Baitrum knew that Alyanna had gone around his chain of command to arrange things. He saluted the two a brief wave and moved down the hallway. The sounds of his boots were soon the only sounds he could hear as the two walked the stone ways of Grimnal Keep. The girl was so silent, he finally had to look over his shoulder to check if Serra was still behind him.

The girl smiled and seemed ready to giggle. Serra knew why he had turned, because she was that good. The black cape had been thrown over her shoulders now. The hood was thrown back so that the long blond tresses spilled over the ebony in strong contrast, but somehow she still tended to blend into her environment.

The two were nearly outside when Baitrum turned to find Serra mysteriously evaporated into nothingness. "Where?" he asked himself scratching his head. A shimmer of movement announced the revealing of Serra only five feet from him. "How?" he began in confusion.

Again the girl grinned and asked, "You didn't see me that time?"
A strange question, he thought, but answered carefully, "When I first turned I somehow missed you, but then you seemed to appear before me again. How did you do that?"
"A magic trick given to me by the princess, though I have no idea where she found it out."
Baitrum didn't even bother to ask further. Magic and his cousin both tended to confuse the man. He was too grounded in reality to understand either, instead Baitrum stepped out into the courtyard and walked across towards the stables.
Once there he spoke to a stable boy. As one of Baitrum's contacts to the rebel forces, the young man would assuredly have the news sent to those few that Baitrum would need to help them get inside.
The lieutenant smiled tightly to himself. Alyanna had not necessarily said that he should go along with the girl, but he believed that she had assumed as much. His feelings for Serra were still little more than friendship, he believed. They hardly knew each other, though Baitrum had to admit that he found her unusually attractive and enchanting. The beautiful young woman was still several years younger than he, but the soldier often wondered what she would say should he decide to evidence interest in her. Shaking his head at such an inconsequential thought when the guardsman should have been thinking through how he would tackle this latest challenge, one that the man had no idea of the intent or possible ending, Baitrum led his horse from its stall and began to saddle him.
"He's a beautiful animal. What's his name?"
Serra's voice startled him from his thoughts. The girl was good at making herself a shadow even when not using the magic from Alyanna, he wondered what it was again, but answered, "Baaron."
The horse's coat was primarily of brown. A white diamond ran from the animal's forehead down his nose. Serra patted Baaron's nose and the gelding whickered happily. Smiling, the girl stated, "Baron, huh? A bit premature if I understand your relation to Cadmene's throne, isn't it?"
Tightening the saddle and adjusting the stirrups to hang to a comfortable length, he answered, "The name suited him, not me. I never asked to be anymore than a soldier for the king. My older brother will take my father's baron title not me, so I have little enough worries on that score."
"Oh," the girl replied quietly and continued with petting Baaron's nose and neck. Baitrum could not tell if the tone meant disappointment or something else entirely.
The stable boy arrived shortly and nodded to Baitrum. That was all. One little nod which left one eyebrow lifted on Serra's brow in curiosity, though the girl was used to secrets and didn’t pry. The captain of the queen's guards acknowledged the lad with a similar nod before pulling himself into the stirrups. With a hand offered to the girl, he asked, "Are you coming?"
It was a little awkward pulling her onto the back of Baaron, but after a couple of attempts, the girl finally allowed herself to be pulled up in front of Baitrum. With the shift she wore, Serra was forced to ride side saddle. It was a little uncomfortable, but it would be a relatively short ride to the caverns.
As they rode through the city and out of the north gate, Baitrum could not help but enjoy the feeling of Serra held in his arms. The man blushed and was thankful that she was not looking at him before he could recover his composure. Her occasional adjustments caused her body to rub almost seductively against his and the girl seemed to not even notice as she took in the countryside leading to the mountains.
The man was wondering if she truly did not feel even the least bit the same way as he. When Serra stated casually, "I haven't ever been able to come this close to the mountains before. The hills seemed large where I grew up, but, compared to these towering mountains, they are little more than mole hills," he realized that she did not.
Humility and even some disappointment were forced back as Baitrum rejoined, "The hills of Cadmene were smaller still than those I have seen here in Marshalla. When our knights came here, we were suitably impressed, though I have heard that further north are even taller peaks."
The two talked about this and that as they crossed the next few miles. Baaron made no complaints as he trotted along under their combined weight as one might have thought. Serra was not much heavier than his armor after all and he wore no armor this day, so the load of the couple did little to inconvenience the warhorse. Soon they arrived at a stand of trees well below the entrance to the caverns.
"Now what?" the girl asked. "We can't wait forever, according to the queen. We need to get inside."
"And we won't," the soldier replied. He led the way through the trees after tethering the horse near a small spring and the fresh grass beside it. Baaron had deserved a rest after his exercise, and they would be a little while anyway. The soldier patted the animal's neck and proceeded to lead the way through the small grove and up the hill towards the lowest opening.
They were still in the trees just below the entrance when Baitrum sensed that something felt wrong. He listened and gathered the first realization of what had spooked him. As the two of them crouched among the bush and brush below the opening to the caves, the soldier realized that there was complete silence all around them. No birds, no animals and, most surprisingly, no guards were in sight.
Serra had stayed low beside him and, as the man began to cast about for signs of those that should be there, he noted the questioning worry of her glance. Baitrum shook his head slowly, even as the man continued to look for signs of the guards that he knew should be there. After nearly a minute, he leaned closer and whispered, "Stay here. I'm going to see what happened to the guards. The ones I called for shouldn't be here yet, so the guards have got to be around here somewhere."
With a grimace, Serra nodded. She didn't totally approve of his need to leave her behind, but she would not stop his investigation. Baitrum slipped quietly out of the bushes and used the larger rocks and bushes to mask his approach from the cavern opening. With eyes searching all around to watch for a trap to be sprung, the soldier was nearly to where the dirt road led to the darkened entry when he noticed a pair of flying bodies silhouetted by the lightening, early morning sky to the northwest. They were floating away and over the ridge of the next closest hill, more of a small mountain in size. The distance was over half a mile, but he knew that they were not birds.
Baitrum shivered, even as he realized that they were disappearing over the hill's crest. If the caves were being guarded by gargoyles now, he feared for the men that were coming to perform the risky diversion for him. They could dare normal soldiers, but a single gargoyle could probably kill them all by itself.
Ignoring his fears, the man took the last crouching steps to peer over the edge of the cavern's landing. The spy couldn't stop the gasp of shock from leaving his mouth as he spied the remains of the guards laying cast about the nearby rocky floor. The tattered remains of armor and the black cloth of the uniforms helped identify that they had belonged to the special guard, known as the Sorcerer's Blade. How many men lay here dead was harder to determine for Baitrum. The remains had been torn literally limb from limb. Armored torsos seemed to have exploded from supernaturally devastating attacks. He noticed a couple of helmets, dented but still containing the heads they had attempted to save, but assumed that there were probably more nearby if he chose to look for them.
"What happened to them, Baitrum?"
Serra's voice caused him to nearly jump out of his skin from surprise. Laying his right hand across his chest to steady his rapidly beating heart, Baitrum turned to see the girl lift her hood to reveal her physical presence. "I thought that I told you to stay behind," he snapped. Noticing her face paling and fearing that she would faint, Baitrum grabbed hold of the girl's sleeve and started to pull her away from the carnage.
Shaking free of his grip, however, Serra took a deep breath to steady herself and said, "No, Baitrum, we need to go inside."
"Are you crazy?" he whispered in shock. "Whatever did this to them could just as easily do this to us. I won't let something like that happen to you if I can help it." His face started to redden at his choice of words, even as Serra had the ghost of a smile slipping through her own fears and queasiness at the mutilated soldiers.
"Then don't let it happen to me, but we need to find out what happened here."
"But..."
"Look at this mess," the girl said gesturing towards the torn bodies, even as she looked ill. "The destruction seems to be directed away from the entrance, which means that whatever killed them has probably left already. We're probably safer inside than out, if that is true." She paused as Baitrum knelt to touch his fingers to some of the blood lying on the ground at their feet. "What are you doing?"
Looking up worriedly and scanning all around them once more, he answered quietly, "The blood is still warm. They may still be nearby. This a fresh kill."
Serra's face appeared only slightly more fearful, but she also looked around carefully. Her voice was still calm as she replied, "Then we'll have to be careful, won't we? Come on. Let's get this over with quickly."
Baitrum gave in and drew his sword from its scabbard. With it carried at the ready before him, the lieutenant crept into the darkened tunnel. After several feet, he found a torch. Grabbing the wooden handle, he held off lighting the end and continued further with only the light from the cavern opening allowing their eyes to see.
They were plunged into complete darkness and Baitrum was preparing to light the cloth end when another light made itself known well down the stony tunnel. As they moved further inward, he followed both his instincts and the more used hallways known by the disturbed dust on the floor and the torches that continued to appear at regular intervals.
He checked behind him occasionally to see if Serra was still there. Sometimes she needed to remove her hood to acknowledge his worries, other times she ignored him and they would continue to push forward. It took quite awhile before the duo found anything that told them they were on the right trail.
A body, or what was left of it, lay in a small chamber attached to the tunnel they followed. A door had been used to separate the chamber from others, but now it lay in splinters. The splinters all pointed towards a force seeking the inside.
"Whatever it was wanted to kill the sorcerer before moving on," Baitrum said after a moment's examination. Serra said nothing and the two continued to move deeper into the stony earth. They found more chambers and more bodies as they went. The smell of blood soon overcame Serra to the point that she couldn't help herself from gagging and finally throwing up the contents of her early morning's breakfast.
"Sorry," she whispered ashamedly.
Noting his own stomach's queasiness, Baitrum shook his head, "Don't be. The smell almost has me doing the same. Let's continue before we're both sick from this stench."
He lost track of time, but finally they found the end of their tunnel. A large chamber, that had proclaimed itself by a glow that could be seen well down the hall, anchored its end. The glow was not that of torches. It was the wrong color to be so. Almost like a mix of the reds and oranges of most flame and the greens like those seen through a well lit emerald glass, the glow reached for them down the stony hallway.
It was hard for them to cross those last feet to where a pair of doors had once hung in the chamber's mouth. The glow seemed like an illness waiting to infect them with its corruption. The clunk of Baitrum's boots on the more or less whole but fallen doors, seemed like a noise echoing from a grave, and a grave it was.
Inside the chamber, a fear, like none he had ever known, crept over him. A chill of dread and revulsion swept him up. Serra's gasp from just behind him proved that she could see and feel what he had found.
The chamber was a fair sized rectangle in shape. From the fresh cuts on some of the inner walls, Baitrum could tell that it had been widened recently, probably to accommodate the gargoyles and dragons that had been seen exiting the sorcerer's tunnels. On the far wall, a gate of stone had once stood directly against the stone surface behind it, but now things had changed greatly.
The wall of stone that had stood behind the gate was no longer there. In its place, a strangely lit portal opened onto another world, a world of desert and stone huts. It was the world of the gargoyles and dragons though they did not know this then. All they knew was that all the sorcerers appeared to have been slain within the chamber and a portal stood open without appearance of wanting to close anytime soon.
"Gods," Baitrum gasped. "What has happened? Have the gargoyles broken through to our world permanently? I pray that they haven't."
"Why?" Serra asked instantly with a faint whisper filled with fear.
"If they have come here to stay that means Merrick has lost all control of them. If they decide to break from Merrick, they could decide to conquer the world for themselves. How would we possibly stop them if they decided to try?"
The girl said nothing and both stood silently contemplating what that future would be like.