Year: 3045 AGD
Midwinter Festival
Safeharbor
Nim had just taken one of the lines of power back to Safeharbor and was happy to be heading home for the first time in eight months when he received a summons to the Royal Palace. Instead of heading home, he requisitioned a mount to take him to whatever god-awful meeting His Royal Majesty had planned. It took nearly an hour to navigate the streets and reach the palace from the pad where travelers of the line were removed from the stream.
The first sign he had that something was amiss was the giant black tapestries and purple tapestries with the symbol of the Protectorate on them that hung along the entrance to the building. Normally, those tapestries were purple with black and gold making up the crest. He knew the black and purple were only taken out when someone of import had died. Stopping to stare at the purple crest of the Protectorate, Nim bit his lip when he realized who they must be for.
“Damn it,” Nim said as he walked past the saluting guards who held the door for him. “Damn it, damn it, damn it!”
The Chamberlain had just enough time rush out of a side room and hop in front of Nim to escort him to the war room. Nim even managed to wait the few seconds it took the man to open the door before he walked in.
“No,” Nim said as he entered the room.
“Now Nim, hear us out.” King Theodrik Theromvore II said as Nim stomped into the room.
“No,” Nim said pointing to Elyse Winterstar-Theromvore, current High Lieutenant Commander and interim High Commander, if Nim’s guess was correct.
“Attention.” Adrian Theromvore’s voice rang throughout the room, causing everyone but the Queen and Princess Helmenvier to stand to. Years of training were hard to break, and Adrian Theromvore had a perfect voice for parade grounds.
The King looked sheepishly at his wife, who wore a slight grin. “Don’t even say it.”
“Who, me? I’m sure I have no idea what you are talking about, dear.” Queen Sophiana Theromvore replied.
Nim noticed that even though the King and Queen were smiling and joking with each other, they both looked haggard. The kidnapping of their daughter Tatiana was nearly two months ago. Last time he had seen the King and Queen, they had both looked vibrant and had a commanding presence; today, they just looked tired. He even noticed a few gray streaks sticking out on the King’s dark mane.
“Nim,” Adrian Theromvore said. “This is political. We can’t have a Theromvore as the High Commander, especially not when there are so many Theromvore’s in power near the King already.” He continued confirming Nim’s suspicions about Stewart Cantel’s death.
“Bullshit,” Nim wanted to yell, but kept his tone nearly civil. “That’s just a technicality. She’s only a Theromvore by marriage. Not only that, but if you remember, my mother was a Theromvore as well.”
“While that is true,” the King said as he took a seat at the table, “the people know you as Nim Mithriannil and you, David, and Zander are legends among the troops.”
“Don’t let Ashur hear you call him David,” Nim said, “he hates that name. Why don’t we just call Elyse Winterstar in the proclamations, then?”
“Well, first of all, I don’t even want to be High Commander…” Elyse began before Nim interrupted her.
“Neither do I!”
“…Second, while the men respect me, I’m not exactly a young woman anymore,” Elyse said.
“You are only ten years older than me, and you still look ten years younger than you are,” Nim replied.
“Thank you, but I do not feel ten years younger than I am, Nim,” Elyse said, her hand tightly gripping the pommel of her sword. “I’m slowing down. I have more human blood in me than anyone else in this room, and we simply don’t last as long as the rest of you. If I had any ability in Shaping I might be able to fight for another twenty years, but I don’t. I’m afraid my time as a soldier is going to be coming to a close in the next few years.”
“Oh.” Nim sat down and tried not to notice Adrian Theromvore glaring at him from across the room. He knew how much of an admission that had been and he respected it. That didn’t mean her husband had to blame him for it, however. “So I’m it then, huh?” Nim finished reluctantly, letting the room know what he thought about the decision as he looked each of them in the eyes.
“Pretty much,” Analya Theromvore said as she put a hand on her mother’s shoulder. “You should know that Victor was there when Stewart died. The Arch Magus performed a graft from Stewart to Victor.”
“Of course he was,” Nim sighed. “I don’t suppose he’s coming home?”
“From what the Arch Magus said…” Lagelion Daystar said as he moved out of the shadows to stand behind his wife. “…the Blood Mages blocked his memory about a year ago and stuck him in that mine. Simon didn’t know what the boy’s plans were, but now with Stewart in his head I’m betting there’s only one place they’ll go.”
“Siniquity,” Nim said. “Neither one of those idiots will stop until the Princess is safe. What name is he going by now?”
Analya smiled. “The Arch Magus said that he hadn’t decided upon a name yet, but he wouldn’t accept that he was Victor anymore. I wonder who he gets that from.” Her head turned slightly to the left towards her husband before she stopped herself, and in that moment a few things clicked in Nim’s mind.
“He’s your son,” Nim said it quietly, and in the moments that followed the entire room grew still.
“Our son died,” Lagelion said with a note of hostility.
“Tyrdra,” Nim laughed. “How did I not see this all before?”
“See what, Nim?” the King asked, but the Queen seemed to already be on the same page as Nim.
“Tyrdra was living in the Docks District in the guise of this Shaylyn Arasmé. She must have known what you two were planning and somehow planted the suggestion that you bring him to her.” The Queen shook her head and looked at the King. “Your mother used to tell me stories about Tyrdra that had been passed down from Queen to Queen since the cataclysm. I always thought that they were just exaggerations, but now I’m not so sure.”
“I’m willing to bet most of what you’ve heard is true,” Nim said. “I met Tyrdra when I was younger and have done a lot of research on her since then. She came on the ship with the Newcomers.”
“If that is true, how could a Blood Mage have scared her off?”
“All part of some grand plan of the Watchers, I’m sure,” Arch Magus Windsbane said as he entered from a side room. No one was surprised that the wily old mage already knew what they were talking about. After all, he was the one who maintained the wards around the room to make sure no one besides the council heard what went on inside.
“Watchers?” the King asked.
“It is what the Dragons who were tasked with overseeing this world are called. I have been looking for information about what they were watching and why for years, but my search has found very little.” The Arch Magus sat down with a groan.
This was the first time that Nim had ever seen Simon Windsbane so worn out. Nim could understand why the man was tired, though. Understanding only the rudiments of the willpower and concentration required to perform a graft on someone, Nim knew it would drain even the strongest Shaper. He could only imagine how strong of a will the Arch Magus must have to be able to complete the procedure from half a continent away.
“Great, so he’s the pawn of these Dragons?”
“Not only the Dragons,” the Arch Magus said. “The boy had been gifted thrice by the entities the church calls gods.”
“You’re lucky the High Priestess isn’t here to hear you say that,” Prince Theodrik Theromvore III said. “She would throw a fit.”
“Priestesses do not throw fits,” the Queen said with a wink. “They simply have tantrums of righteous indignation.”
“Be that as it may,” the Arch Magus continued. “If anyone might know why the gods did this—and which gods exactly were involved—I would be interested to know.”
Lagelion was standing beside his wife now, and she was pointedly not looking him in the eye. “What are they talking about?” When she turned her head away from him slightly he reached up and gently turned her face towards him. “Analya, what did they do to our son?”
Serenity Valley
“Well, aside from you almost getting in a fight, that was the loveliest evening I’ve ever had,” Olivia said as Shawnrik escorted her back towards her dorm.
“Yeah, I never thought I’d go to a party like that,” Shawnrik said as he looked up at the dark cavern overhead. That was the one downside about living in Serenity Valley: you couldn’t see the sky. The old volcano curved up thousands of feet into the air, and then a platform had been built across the hollowed-out interior. He imagined someone had made it look like a dead volcano that had blown its top, but he couldn’t imagine why someone would go through all that trouble of hiding an entire city.
“Syranna looked lovely, didn’t she?” Olivia asked.
“What? Oh yeah, she looked really good,” Shawnrik said. “All of you girls did.”
“You know she’s crazy about you, right?”
“What?” Shawnrik stopped in the path, drawing the attention of several nearby groups with his outburst.
“Ugh, men are so dense,” Olivia said, but she was smiling.
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“But I don’t, I didn’t…” Shawnrik tried to form a complete sentence and failed.
“I know. I think she knows that, too, but the heart wants what the heart wants,” Olivia said, mimicking an older woman’s voice.
“Sage advice from someone you know?” Shawnrik said and began to move again once the next group ahead was far enough away.
“My grandmother,” Olivia said. “She wasn’t with us when we were captured by the Blood Orcs. She had gone off to some gathering of the Phuri Dai, a kind of gathering of the eldest mothers.”
“Lucky her,” Shawnrik said.
“Yeah,” Olivia looked at him. “So, what are you going to do?”
“What am I going to do about what?”
“Syranna,” Olivia huffed.
“Is there anything I can do?” Shawnrik asked.
“You can tell her you aren’t interested, and that you already have a girlfriend? You aren’t interested, are you?”
Caught unaware, Shawnrik knew he hesitated just a moment too long to reply to the question. “No, I mean she’s sweet, and cute, but I have my sights set on someone else, and what do you mean I already have a girlfriend?”
“Good enough, I suppose,” Olivia said with a hawkish glance. “Well you are going to ask me, aren’t you?”
“I uh…” Shawnrik replied elegantly.
“You? What?” Olivia replied stepping in front of him.
“Are you sure?” Shawnrik asked and she gave him a look that told him she was less sure with each passing second. “I mean, would you like to be my girlfriend?”
“Shawnrik Larston, I thought you’d never ask,” Olivia said, feigning surprise. “Now lift me up so you can kiss me properly.”
He did.
Death’s Edge Forest
North of Verge
“Found another one.”
The voice startled him awake. If his groggy mind was to be believed, it hadn’t come from very far away. Looking around, he remembered where he was as he saw the lifeless eyes of Stewart Cantel staring back at him.
Well, that’s a hell of a thing to see, a voice said, making him look around again. Relax Victor, it’s just me.
Stewart Cantel, High Commander of the Protectorate, was talking to him from inside his own mind. That was going to take some getting used to. He knew it wasn’t really Stewart Cantel, just a copy of his mind and personality, but in a way, it might as well be the man himself.
I know this is a weird situation and all, but shouldn’t we probably hide just in case whoever is looking for the bodies isn’t friendly? the facsimile of the High Commander said.
Right. He thought back and scurried up the middle tree, being sure to avoid the dried blood that ran down the trunks of the outer trees.
It was about the same time that he found a good hiding spot under the fresh leafy growth of the canopy that a man came out of the forest and found the scene of carnage before him.
“Send word back to the Councilor, he’s going to want to see this,” the man said over his shoulder to someone the boy couldn’t see.
Several minutes passed as the man examined the site and looked around at the footprints around the bodies before another group came out of the bushes. Altogether, it was an odd group of beings. Besides the man that might be Human that had already been in the clearing, an Elf, an Orc, and a squat lizard man stepped out wearing the same armor as the first soldier. Following them was an older Human man wearing blood red robes.
Blood Mage, Stewart Cantel snarled.
Yeah, figured that one out on my own, the boy shot back.
Behind the first group, another small cluster of soldiers came out surrounding the same girl he had seen on the road. The man that had been with her was nowhere in sight.
Princess Tatiana.
Ok, that one I didn’t know.
The Blood Mage below made a tsk sound out of the corner of his mouth while rubbing a hand over his bald head.
“Well, that’s disappointing,” the Mage said as he moved towards the tree cluster. “High Commander Stewart Cantel, I assume?” He looked towards the soldier who had first entered the clearing. “Report.”
“Yes, sir,” the man said, snapping a salute. “We found the area where the boy that the Doppelganger said he had seen entered the forest. Shortly before we found the body of the Dracair back there the boy climbed a tree, and we lost his trail from there. Following the tracks of the High Commander, however, we were lead here. I believe the High Commander stood against two Dracairei here, and finally succumbed to the wound he obtained in the previous encounter.”
“Alright, so what happened to the two Dracairei?”
“Well sir, as far as I can tell, the trees ate them,” the man replied. Several of the other soldiers in the clearing laughed, but several of them took a step back and made a sign to ward off evil.
“Indeed,” the Blood Mage said, raising an eyebrow. He then stepped up to one of the trees that had blood covering its bark and placed his hand on it. “Huh.”
“Sir?” the man asked.
“It appears that you are right.” The Mage grinned. “They did indeed eat them. This was the work of an extremely powerful Shaper.”
The Princess had started crying when she saw the carnage with the body of Stewart Cantel lying in the midst of it. It wasn’t a loud or annoying crying, just the tears of a girl who had lost her last hope of escape.
The Blood Mage looked from the Princess back to the corpse of Stewart Cantel. “See that? I go to the trouble of saving her from that moron Yandarian, and she still thinks I’m the devil.” He sighed. “Well Mr. Cantel, I’m guessing that you killed quite a few Dracairei to make it this far. We’ll find out how many exactly in the coming days, but you can be assured your name will be treated with respect throughout Siniquity. Now, if I could just figure out what happened here we could head back home.”
At that moment, another man entered the clearing. He was tall and had a sickly complexion, but he moved like a skilled hunter.
Be careful of that one, Stewart Cantel said, and the boy resisted an urge to nod in agreement.
The man whispered something in the Blood Mage's ear and then stepped back, putting his hands behind his back.
“Well boy, do you have anything to add to what happened here?” the Blood Mage said after a moment’s thought.
The boy held completely still, not daring to breathe.
“It’s rude not to reply when someone is talking to you,” the Blood Mage said as he looked at the spot where he was hiding, his silver eyes boring into the darkness. “You, in the shade. Did you see what happened?”
Well shit. Cantel summed up the situation rather well, he thought.
“Yes sir,” he said as he moved further down the tree into the fading light of day.
“Ah, sir he says,” the Mage said. “Well, what happened?”
“It’s just like your man said, the High Commander came to this spot to have a last stand but then seemed to think of something. He grabbed something from his pack and read from it right before the Dracairei came into the clearing. They rushed at him, and the Trees came alive and ate them.”
Oh, nicely played, Cantel said with a bit of mirth.
“Interesting,” the Blood Mage said. “Well boy, are you going to hang around in this forest, or do you want to come with us?”
“I have a choice?” he asked, a little surprised.
“Of course. I’m not some barbarian to go about kidnapping children.”
At this the boy looked over at the Princess.
“Right,” the Blood Mage said with a grin. “Well you see, I was rescuing this girl here. She was kidnapped from her home by that man you met on the road earlier. The High Commander here was trying to save her. If we had been a little faster, he might have even been able to take her home. As it is now though, it is much too dangerous to send her home by herself, and I won’t risk the lives of my men in such a fruitless errand. Therefore, she will be a guest at my manor until such a time as someone is able to bring her home safely.”
This guy is smooth, Cantel said. I don’t think he’s lying, though.
Yeah, me either, the boy replied. Should I go with him?
It is definitely a way you can stay near the Princess.
The Blood Mage waited patiently, his silver eyes gleaming.
“Alright.”
“Excellent!” the Blood Mage said, motioning for the boy to come down. “Now, what is your name? I can’t be calling you boy from now on.”
“I don’t have one,” he said hopping down from the tree. “It was taken from me by one of your kind.”
“Ah,” the Blood Mage said. If he was surprised by the news it didn’t show on his face. “Well then, it is only right that one of my kind give you a name back, don’t you think?”
The boy shrugged. “I suppose.”
“Alright then, until you decide upon a name for yourself, I shall call you Shade.”
Second thing he ever said to you and he decides to use it as a name. It does fit though.
Shade, huh? I can live with that for now.
“Alright.” The boy held out his hand. “Pleased to meet you, you can call me Shade.”
“Hello, Shade,” the Blood Mage said, extending his hand. All of the soldiers in the area stiffened, which caused the grin on the Mage’s face to grow. “I am Cyrian Dreadmeir, member of the Council of Nine.”
Oh shit, Stewart Cantel said.
I’m guessing that’s a big deal?
Yeah, he’s one of the guys in charge. You have just stepped into the Grim’le’s nest, my young friend.
Well, that sounds about right.
“Nice to meet you, old man,” Shade said, causing the soldiers eyes in the clearing to bug out.
“Oh, I do so love a person with spirit,” Cyrian said. “Now, the day is almost over, I think we should be getting out of this forest before it decides we don’t belong here.”
The soldiers all looked towards the trees and began to head east. Shade walked past the Blood Mage and the soldiers around him and nodded to the tall man with the sickly complexion, who nodded back slightly with a smile on his lips. He was just about to the Princess when Cyrian’s voice rang out.
“And Shade.”
He turned around.
“You might want to keep these close,” Cyrian said as he held out the pieces of the manacles.
Well shit. Shade thought as he realized that Cyrian Dreadmeir had not been fooled by his story about the trees.
Great, I’m already a bad influence, Stewart Cantel said as Shade reached for the manacle pieces.