Daniel stumbled to the dirt, barely dodging another swing from his opponent. He cursed loudly and attempted to roll to his feet. The Dae he faced was a skilled swordsman and had almost defeated him more times than he could count. If not for the months of training with Oros, Delmos, and his much-improved reflexes, he would already be dead.
“Spirit-Sent!” Vissa yelled, running to help him.
On their way back to Vul De Rah, they had traveled in densely vegetated areas. High trees or tall grass had masked their movements. That was until their rear guard had spotted two groups of raiders in pursuit. As they pushed forward, they quickly turned and attacked their would-be ambushers.
Daniel raised his weapon in just enough time to block a downward swing. He was on his knees, and in what he knew to be a compromised position. He flexed his muscles and flung his sword upward, trying to use his strength to disarm and surprise his opponent. The Dae raider anticipated this and relaxed his arms enough to let Daniel’s blade brush his aside with none of his intended effect. Oh, Shit, he thought, as he realized he had lost. The Dae poised himself to strike but turned his body and blade just in time to parry a thrust from Vissa as she stormed in at the last moment, surely saving his life.
“Get up, you fool!” she yelled at him, exchanging several blows with the Dae. Even in the few moments she spent fighting him, it was clear he was a better swordsman than her as well.
Daniel shot to his feet and began to press the attack on his side. Holding nothing back in terms of his strength and speed, the raider was a skilled warrior, but he could not hope to take on both of them.
Vissa struck his shoulder, and he reeled in agony as her weapon sliced into his flesh. As he stumbled, Daniel finished him with a thrust to his abdomen. The Dae grunted with the impact, letting muffled grunts of agony out as he did. Daniel felt his body go limp as he slid from his blade and fell to the soiled dirt below.
The blood pumped through Daniel’s body as the battle raged around him. It was not unlike what he had experienced before, though the battles he fought in the deserts of Iraq in his own world seemed tame in comparison. However, the carnage and fear of unseen death brought that experience into a category far beyond this. There were shouts and screams as the battle raged on; it was utter chaos. Lokkadonian warriors slicing through lesser trained raiders, Dae crying as they fell. They weren’t distant enemies that you killed from afar, using a rifle or indirect fire; they were in your face, trying to hack away at you.
“Vissa!” Daniel yelled, noticing she was in a dazed state. She flinched as he called her name, and she looked at him with almost vacant eyes. “Where is Delmos?”
At the mention of his name, she snapped back. “I… I don’t know!” She turned frantically to scan the battlefield. The reverse ambush was perfect, but they were vastly outnumbered. They had split their forces, leaving Daniel and Vissa in the center, exposed to take the brunt of the assault. As the battle began, Oros and Delmos came from opposite sides. The flanking maneuver halted the assaulting group’s momentum and put them in a desperate battle for survival.
“There!” Vissa called and pointed with her weapon.
Delmos danced between several raiders, his sword cracking as he deflected blows and swung for counterattacks. Daniel hurried as fast as he could, charging past several warriors engaged in their own battles. As he got closer, he could see his friend’s face. There wasn’t the fearful intensity that one would expect in that position, but an ear-to-ear grin that showed only insurmountable glee.
Before Vissa and Daniel could even reach him, he had already dispatched all but one and was holding his blade to the throat of the survivor, who now sat on the ground without his weapon.
“Anything else to say, fool?” Delmos said, panting heavily and taking that moment to look at the rest of the battlefield. It was over, and it looked as though the Lokkadonian warriors had again completely annihilated their foes.
“By the spirits!” Vissa said as she came to a stop. “You definitely are a Regios, my Lord.”
“Don’t feed his ego,” Daniel said. “He’s already hard enough to deal with as it is.”
“You’re right,” she said, turning to Delmos. “What in Pelemont are you doing, letting yourself get surrounded like that?”
Delmos chuckled but tilted his head down to the raider, who sat in defeat. “May I introduce you both to Lord Maki of House Reevus, a spindly and cunning little stain but a worthy opponent. And a young noble of Rexun.”
Daniel also looked down and appraised the Dae; he had pale, almost white skin, a very thin nose, and brilliant yellow eyes. “He’s a Rexunii noble?”
“The battle is over, Maki. You should probably start talking before Kryo Oros arrives. He’ll gut you like the last one if you don’t have any useful information.”
Daniel took a step closer to Maki, his anger beginning to rise. “They embedded a Rexunii noble with these raiders. That means these aren’t just random groups of scavengers looking for loot. Someone gave you orders.” He brought the tip of his blade to press against Maki’s neck. “What were your orders, and who gave them?”
Maki’s eyes widened in fear and he swallowed hard. “I… we…”
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“Out with it!” Vissa yelled, moving to stand behind him.
“We were ordered to create chaos at the border of Lokkon,” Maki finally said. “We were told to raid villages and keep any Lokkadonian forces chasing us. That’s what we were told to do. We hired mercenaries and raiders.”
Delmos’ face scrunched into a sneer. “You disgust me.”
“And who gave the order?” Daniel asked.
“Lord Turak,” Maki said, hanging his head.
“Spirit’s damned Turak,” Oros said, approaching, cleaning his blade with a cloth. He halted beside them and tilted his head down toward Maki. “What else did he say? I just caught that last part.”
“Only what we already knew, Kryo,” Delmos said. “They were sent here to create as much trouble as possible. Kill villagers, keep us confused. The real question is why.”
Oros knelt and brought his face uncomfortably close to Maki’s, Daniel thought. “Well then? Rexunii gurrank? Why were you sent here in the first place?”
“Kryo,” Maki said, his eyes looking up to the sky, and unrestrained fear painted on his face. “After the purification, we were given leave to do so. I don’t know why. I’m just a squire for a small house. Lord Turak, gave—”
“Wait,” Oros said, grabbing Maki by his chin and wrenching his face to look directly at him. “What do you mean ‘purification’? Purify who?”
“The…” Maki’s eyes were wide but highly focused on Oros’s. “The… Spirit-Sent,” he finished, his words barely a whisper.
Delmos sighed heavily, then cursed. “You can’t be serious!”
“What?” Daniel asked, confused as to why. Then, slowly, realization dawned on him. He remembered the term used when describing the human who was taken then burned alive. “You burned him?” Daniel lunged forward, pushing Oros out of the way and wrapping his free hand around Maki’s throat. He squeezed, watching the young noble’s eyes bulge. “You fucking killed him?”
Vissa darted to Daniel and grabbed his arm. “Daniel!” she said, attempting to break his grasp on Maki.
Daniel took several more moments, glaring at the helpless Dae, then released his hold on him. Maki coughed and sputtered as he fell to the soil, heaving.
“Answer him,” Oros said, his voice low.
Maki rose slowly, tears flowing from his eyes as he looked back up at them. “He…” he coughed out. “He wasn’t burned… he was cast into the Pit of Mar. That’s all I know. We were given that information this morning. That’s all I know, I swear.”
“Better to be burned than devoured by mindless monsters,” Delmos said through grit teeth.
“The Pit of Mar…” Daniel repeated the words, his mind racing at the implication. His worst fears were realized. Robert was dead, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. And in an even worse way than he could have imagined. “God damn it. All this, days of wandering around, fighting you bastards.”
Delmos rested a hand on Daniel’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, my friend. We did all we could.”
“From the sound of it, it was done at the behest of the Torre’. High King Phobos must have made a deal with the Rexunii,” Oros said. “This is a serious problem.” He turned to look at Daniel. “We must get back to Vul De Rah as soon as possible. My father needs to be notified.”
“What about him, Kryo?” Vissa asked, gesturing to Maki.
“We must move quickly,” Oros said, turning to walk away. “Leave none alive.”
~
Avria walked out onto the large balcony of the Hego’s tower. She beheld the plethora of stuffed and snobby nobles she had come to despise. They were always scheming, planning something despicable. As she scanned the crowd, she saw the Hego of Vul De Rah, Hego Agron of House Ignos.
“Lady Avria!” a familiar voice called from beside her.
The ward looked to see Illya Ignos, the daughter of Hego Agron, standing with her arms outstretched in what was most certainly a forced greeting.
“It is good to see you here. Have you come to see the trial?”
“No, we haven’t, Illya,” Boros said, walking from behind her with Lord Regios and Katrina in tow. “We have come to see father.”
“Oh,” Illya glanced at Katrina’s puffed and bothered face. “Well, what happened?”
“The Rexunii have purified Robert. It seems he’s dead,” Avria said bluntly. She nodded in respect to the Krya and walked past her.
“Wait! You’re joking, right!?” Illya called after her.
Avria ignored her and strode to meet with the Hego, who was seated at the edge of the balcony with several other high nobles in a rather animated discussion.
“Excuse me, my Lords, but I have urgent news,” Avria said, bringing her arm to her chest in a salute.
“Avria!” Agron said, greeting her with a clasp on the arm. “You’ve arrived just in time. We are discussing the current situation and preparing our petition to the High King.”
“My Lord, we have urgent news from the Rexunii capital.”
Agron’s face turned serious, and he motioned her to continue. Avria began to explain the news she had received, along with her theory on the reasoning behind the uncharacteristically sudden execution of Robert.
Agron listened with a thoughtful expression. He didn’t interrupt her or comment in any way. As Avria spoke, she could tell he believed her. There was no doubt that this was not only possible but, in fact, likely to happen.
“This is quite the bit of news, Avria,” said Lord Glause of House Regias, Avria’s cousin, and advisor to the Hego. “We will have to verify it. I will go to the southern forts and prepare a—”
“No, you will not,” Agron said, interrupting Glause. “We can not march straight into a war. The Torre’ would not allow it. Every clan in Eleutheros would come down on us. We must first appeal to them.” Agron looked at Avria. “Where is Oros? I haven’t seen him in days. He was supposed to be at these meetings.”
Avria was silent for a moment, but she cursed under her breath. Oros should have been back long ago, but he still hadn’t returned from his now obviously failed rescue mission. “My Hego…” She took a deep breath. “He took his war group south to investigate the massacre at the Spirit Forest. He intended to infiltrate Rexun and rescue Robert. I do not know where he is now.”
“What?” Agron shouted, slamming his fist on a small table beside him.
Avria bowed her head in shame. “I was aware of this, my Hego. I carry the blame for not informing you.”
Agron’s eyes burned like hot coals, boring into her as he spoke. “You forget your duties as my Ward, Avria. You don’t serve Oros; you serve me. And you have failed.”
Avria’s heart sank at the words. She could almost feel the disappointment and anger from her father behind her, and the shock that Katrina must have felt as well. “I apologize, my Hego. I will resign from my position if it pleases you.”
“No,” Agron said, turning then to Telmos behind her. “It most certainly would not please me to see you go. You will make it up to me by finally putting your damned pride aside and bonding yourself to my house with Oros. I don’t care if you hate each other, you will bond, and that is final. If he doesn’t manage to get himself killed.”
“Agreed,” Telmos said, moving to stand beside Avria. “I apologize on my daughter’s behalf Agron, I didn’t know.” He paused for a moment, then turned to face her. “Avria, is Delmos with him?”
“Yes,” she said, doing her best to maintain her composure.
“If Delmos and Oros are together,” Katrina said, in a voice so soft it was barely audible, “where is Daniel?”
Avria winced at the words. And heard both Agron and Telmos let out a curse.