The Stewards of Reed, Volume 1: The Rise of Fallon (27 page)

They checked into the inn, made certain their horses were attended to, and then headed back out into the streets of Bartow. The first day they mostly walked around the town, taking in all the sights and sounds and smells. It was a world apart from everything he had known in Reed, and Fallon was completely enamored.

The following day the Steward took his bright pupil to the university in Bartow. Elder Tomar had arranged for a special tour with one of his old friends from school, so Fallon and the Steward were able to see areas of the university not typically open to the general public. They sat in on a philosophy lecture, they toured the art and natural history museum in its entirety, they were treated to a rather tasty lunch at the university’s in-house pub – the Toasty Scholar – and they roamed freely in the library for several hours. It was a wonderful but nevertheless exhausting day.

As they walked back through the streets of Bartow towards the Cornerstone Inn and Tavern, Fallon took notice of a small bookstore. A strange feeling overcame him and he stopped dead in his tracks. He had only felt this way once before – that time he came upon the small cabin in the Cadian Forest.

“What is it, Fallon?” asked the Steward.

“I do not know,” he replied, staring at the bookstore.

“Would you like to go in?”

“I am not certain,” he said hesitantly, yet he headed for the entrance.

It was a dimly lit store packed to the ceiling with shelves of dusty old books. The Steward began glancing through a few books that caught his interest near the front door. Fallon continued on, walking deeper into the bookstore. A small spiral staircase leading to a second level was at the back of the store. Without even thinking Fallon began to walk up the stairs, but with each step came a growing sense of fear. Still, he kept climbing.

The second level seemed to have even more dusty old books, but these were not as well organized; some were haphazardly placed on shelves, some were stacked into towers seemingly on the verge of collapse. Fallon walked through the maze of disorganized books, taking care with each step. He literally froze, unable to move, when he finally laid eyes on the source of his fear. The dark-haired man in a long black coat had his back turned to Fallon and did not notice the boy. Fallon stood there for a few minutes – though it felt much longer – watching as the man lifted up one book, flipped through it, set it down, and lifted up the next. Eventually the man became aware that he was being watched and he turned around quickly. Fallon jumped back a bit, nearly tripping over his own feet in the process, but somehow he regained his composure and stood firm.

“What are you looking at?” scowled the man.

Much to his own surprise, Fallon did not flinch; he did not move at all. His heart was racing but he still could not persuade his feet to move.

The man started walking towards Fallon, stopping just inches from his face. Being a rather tall (albeit skinny) boy, Fallon stood eye-to-eye with the man for a few moments. The man’s deep black eyes were nothing like Fallon had ever seen before…like the darkness of an endless abyss.

“Fallon, are you up there?” The sound of Isaiah’s voice brought an end to the staring contest.

The man in black pushed his way past Fallon and headed down the spiral staircase. Shortly thereafter Fallon followed, his body shaking slightly.

“Who was that?” asked the Steward, staring after the man in black as he rushed out of the store.

“I do not know,” replied Fallon.

The man was Lord Cephas.

*************

Lady Dinah’s thoughts turned to Lord Edmund. At the suggestion of Lord Clintock, she had sent him on a covert journey the year prior to find out more about what was happening in the East. She had received one cryptic message from him since. It stated only that there would be plenty to discuss at the next Council of Wizards meeting.

She had not seen Lord Edmund in several years, not since the previous Council of Wizards meeting. She vaguely recalled being embarrassed for him when she learned he lived in a cave just outside the Village of Thorpe in Aberdeen. In truth she found cave-dwelling to be beneath a wizard. Even Lady Blythe managed to live in a cabin, of sorts.

It had been easy enough to find the Village of Thorpe, but finding the cave was a different story. “We could be out here for months chasing all the shadows that we mistake for caves,” she complained, after spending nearly a week searching for Lord Edmund’s home. “We must make our way into Thorpe if we do not find the cave soon. We are running low on supplies. I am not accustomed to providing for others on my journeys.”

The dwarf was smart enough not to reply, there was no point in talking to the wizard when she was frustrated. They set up camp for yet another night and Lady Dinah fell into a fitful sleep. At some point Gordon was awakened by the sound of an animal poking around the camp. It took a while before he saw the small shape of a fox sniffing around the edge of the fire.

Thinking a fox would taste good for breakfast, Gordon dared not move until the animal was closer. The fox continued to sniff around and eventually made his way over towards Gordon’s tent. The animal was just barely out of reach when Gordon decided to pounce. “I have you!” he yelled, jumping out of his tent and on top of the fox with surprising agility. But just as he started to close his hands around the fox’s neck, a big explosion of sorts forced him backwards. When the smoke cleared, the fox was gone, and a rather angry man stood in its place. Gordon edged backwards along the ground, still facing the angry man who appeared ready to strike his foe.

“Lord Edmund!” cried Lady Dinah, who had been awakened by the commotion.

The sound of his name was enough to stop the man’s advances towards Gordon. Instead he turned towards the other person who had been sleeping in the camp that night.

“I thought I felt a wizard nearby,” he said. “How do you do, my Queen?”

She nodded at his bow and then approached him slowly. “Lord Edmund, this is my friend, Gordon,” she said, directing her hand towards the dwarf.

“Your friend Gordon tried to kill me.”

“No, I tried to kill a fox,” replied Gordon, quite confused.

“Lord Edmund is a wizard of many talents,” Lady Dinah explained. Turning her attention back to Lord Edmund, she said, “My friend did not mean to harm you, I assure you. In fact, we have been looking for you.”

Lord Edmund raised an eyebrow in surprise. “It was dangerous for you to come so far in search of me, and with only a dwarf for protection,” he scolded. “The Eastern Wizards have been sneaking about lately. Had they found you before I did, they would have certainly killed you.”

*************

When Adam arrived at his door one morning in late Pentay, Hammond had assumed he was looking for Gentry. “The boy is not here at the moment, my friend.”

“It is not Gentry that I have come to see,” Adam replied. “The Steward would like to discuss some important matters with you, Hammond. Is now a good time?”

In truth, Edith had been planning to cook lamb that evening (Hammond’s favorite) and he was not keen on leaving, but he knew one must never refuse the call of the Steward. A part of him feared it might have something to do with Gentry and his moods. Hammond took a deep breath and sighed. “Let me grab my coat and I shall join you straight away.”

Later that afternoon Hammond sat in the Steward’s study, where Fallon often sat during his lessons. The Steward patiently explained that the Elders were interested in raising an army to better protect the village against any future Komanite attack. “There was much debate amongst the Elders regarding this matter, but we did eventually reach a compromise. An army shall be raised for defensive purposes only. I have no interest in seeking revenge on the Komanites and perpetuating what I fear would be an endless cycle of violence. I only want to deter them from any further attacks,” the Steward said adamantly.

“Aye, sir.” Hammond said, his voice somber and contemplative.

“As the village has never had an army before, we are in need of someone to help us assemble and train one. Your name was mentioned by several as the perfect person to help us with this task. I understand you are well versed in handling many different weapons, and it was suggested that your hunting and outdoor skills might prove useful. Would you be agreeable to such an assignment?”

“If this is truly what you and the Elders believe is necessary for the village, then I shall be honored to help in whatever way I can.” Hammond tried his best to sound confident, but in truth he was worried. He had been of the mindset that an army would bring nothing but trouble for the village, and yet here he was being asked to raise one.

“Thank you, Hammond. The village owes you, and your family, a debt of gratitude.”

*************

They walked in silence across the barren plain. With only the light of the moon to guide them, Lord Edmund, Lady Dinah and Gordon carefully made their way towards a small band of hills in the distance. After traveling for an hour so, they came upon a small outcropping of rocks. They had passed by dozens of similar outcroppings along their journey, but at this one Lord Edmund stopped.

“We have reached one of the entrances to my home,” he said in hushed tones. “It is a back entrance of sorts, though, so if you prefer we can continue walking for another twenty minutes or so until we reach the front entrance.”

Gordon looked towards Lady Dinah, knowing her preference was all that really mattered.

“Is something wrong with the back entrance?” she asked.

“No,” Lord Edmund said cautiously, “but it is not for the faint of heart.”

“Nothing about my heart is faint,” Lady Dinah replied. She was tired from the lack of sleep. She was troubled by the news of the Eastern Wizards. She was in no mood for Lord Edmund’s vague commentary.

“What about the horse and pony?” asked Gordon, looking back towards the beasts that he had been quietly leading through the high steppes of Aberdeen.

“Remove their baggage, please,” Lord Edmund replied, “and I shall take care of them.”

When Gordon was done, Lord Edmund raised his wand towards the horse and pony and uttered some nonsensical words. They were nonsensical to Gordon, anyway. The beasts disappeared in a swirl of smoke. When the air cleared, Gordon was shocked to find a rat and a mouse instead.

“Place them in your pockets, please, and hold on to them tight.”

Gordon was able to grab them with surprising ease.
Poor things must be in shock
, he thought as he put them in the front pockets of his jacket.

“Now may we proceed?” asked Lady Dinah, her patience wearing thin.

“Of course, my Queen,” bowed Lord Edmund.

The sarcasm was obvious and it made Gordon angry, but he wisely held his tongue.

Lady Dinah either missed the sarcasm or did not care. “Thank you, Lord Edmund,” she said, her voice tired.

They watched as Lord Edmund tapped on various rocks within the outcropping in a complicated pattern. When he finished, a low grumbling sound came from below their feet. “Hold on,” said the wizard with a smile.

Before he knew what was happening, the ground beneath Gordon’s feet gave way and he was falling into a dark abyss. He could hear the screams of Lady Dinah beside him. The screams did not stop until a soft pile of sand broke their fall. That is when Lord Edmund’s chuckling became more obvious. Gordon looked around. They were in some sort of void below the ground. It was dimly lit by some candles on the wall. He could not see anything above him except for darkness.

Lord Edmund, still chuckling, finally came into view. “Shall we continue?”

Lady Dinah was positively livid, but she held her tongue as she brushed the sand from her traveling clothes. “May I ask what might be in store for us next?” She glared at Lord Edmund.

“Illuminare viam!”
Lord Edmund commanded with his wand. The yellow candle flames turned blue and an opening appeared in the wall. “Follow me,” he said. They walked through the opening and found themselves in another small room with even less lighting.

“Aperire ostium!”
This time a small hole, less than half the size of the previous opening, appeared on the far wall. It was clearly too small to walk through, even for a dwarf, and Lady Dinah and Gordon looked at Lord Edmund with confused expressions.

“You must scoot through on your backside,” Lord Edmund explained with far too much giddiness. “It is a slide. It shall take you to the back entrance of my cave.”

Lady Dinah closed her eyes and it was clear she was wishing they had just walked the additional twenty minutes to reach the front entrance. “Very well, I shall go first,” she said at last.

After making her way through the small opening, Lady Dinah immediately found herself gliding down a slide in complete darkness with a surprising amount of speed. The slide twisted this way and that, going up and down with such velocity that she found herself momentarily airborne at times. Just as she was becoming accustomed to it, the slide ended, and she fell through the air into another dark void. Again there was a pile of sand to break her fall, but this time she was in utter darkness. Fortunately, she remembered that she too had a wand. Her eyes were just beginning to adjust to the faint glow of the wand when she heard the swishing sound of Gordon coming down the slide. She managed to jump out of the way of his fall just in time.

“Apologies, my lady,” mumbled Gordon as he struggled to stand up.

“Never mind, just move!” instructed the wizard.

Soon their baggage fell to the ground and was quickly retrieved by the dwarf. A little while later Lord Edmund dropped from above and landed on the sand, somehow managing to remain upright. He smiled brightly at his companions before raising his wand and calling out,
“Sum domum!”
At his command, the entire room lit up with candlelight and a door appeared on one of the walls. Lord Edmund tapped on it three times, opened the door and beckoned them inside.

“Welcome to my home,” he said with a bow.

Lady Dinah exhaled in relief and stepped inside, followed quickly by Gordon and the frightened little rat and mouse hiding in his pockets. They both gasped at what they beheld. They were in a large chamber with a small waterfall feeding a pool of ice blue water illuminated by a thousand candles.