CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
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Alaric Sampson
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25th of Decepter, 935 PC
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“There’s definitely something happening, sir,” Lily said. “Feels like at least a dozen of them.”
Alaric shared a nervous glance with his advisor then peered at the valley below. A shallow chasm cut through the countless hills surrounding the village of Perku whimsically and was filled by a calm stream. From here, the rope bridge appeared sturdy enough but if there was one thing in the world besides Iris Everton that Alaric feared, it was rope bridges. It would receive a thorough inspection before he ever stepped foot on it. There was an unnecessarily large amount of space between the houses and buildings, something a man with a limp notices quickly, which apparently discouraged anyone from going anywhere because there wasn’t a single soul out and about in the entire village.
“Without Eilif’s disguises our entrance into Locke becomes much more difficult,” Tripelthin said.
“So we use that stuff you got in your pocket,” Diedro said, casually leaning against the stagecoach.
Alaric lowered himself out of the coach slowly. His back was so stiff he was surprised he could stand up straight at all. “Therrin, might I have some relief. My lower back, please.”
The healer made his way to Alaric, slipping his hand beneath his tunic and rubbing the bottom half of his spine before letting his magic pour through his fingertips. Alaric let out a long sigh of relief as if the pain was escaping through his breath.
Tripelthin said, “The alchemical is the last resort. Dealing with a dozen Lotus that don’t see us coming is hardly a tall task.”
“He’s right,” Alaric said, tucking his tunic back in. “Worst case scenario I can put them down without breaking a sweat.”
“What’s to say this Eilif woman is even alive?” Lily said. “If there are Lotus down there, and I’m sure there are, they may have already found her. You make her reputation sound…”
“Damming.” Therrin finished the woman’s sentence for her then folded a piece of cheese and placed it in his mouth tactfully. Diedro shoved off the coach and headed toward him when Therrin pointed at the wheel of cheese on the driver’s bench and grinned.
Tripelthin wandered away from the group, toward a second rope bridge that connected their hillside to another, but not before his stern eyes demanded a private audience with Alaric. Alaric eyed the rope bridge suspiciously and placed a hard candy in his mouth. He’d had an irreversible fear of the unreliable structures ever since one had given way under his weight as a boy. If he’d been any higher he would have died from the fall but instead he’d merely ruined the clothes his father had bought him the day before.
“They’re scared. Too scared,” Tripelthin said, trying to pull Alaric’s attention to himself.
Alaric sucked on his candy and kept examining the bridge. “I doubt Diedro is scared of anything. Let alone some poorly trained Lotus. The Lotus Army relies on strength in numbers and a weapon no ordinary army can match. Last I checked, I’m anything but ordinary. Besides, a small batch like that won’t even have the coordination or discipline to fight their way out of a cloth sack.”
“And if they’re Hounds with purple claws?” Tripelthin asked, using information Alaric had eventually surrendered to him after his discussion with Rhyne.
“Never met a dog I didn’t think my magic could tame.” The worn out ropes tied to the nearby posts were another story though. He stepped closer to the hillside to confirm a fall would in fact kill him.
“But do you truly want to use your magic?”
Damn old man and his constant examination of Alaric’s insecurity. “I’ll split the workload with Diedro. I thought you wanted to go down there.”
Tripelthin paused, staring at him as though he suddenly realized they were on different pages. “I am talking about when we try to get through the Gates of Locke. The boy is scared of his own shadow and the girl wouldn’t dare let something happen to him.” He paused. “She should feel that way about you. I’m afraid young love has her priorities out of order.”
“”Noted,” Alaric said. “But for now, let’s get what we’re here for. We’ll break their hearts later.”
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Even after Lily had assured him she sensed no danger from the rope bridges and Diedro had crossed both with a stroll fit for a lovely summer morning, Alaric’s forehead was covered in sweat and his heart was thumping on his chest. The first bridge had been a slow process but this one was nightmarishly slow.
“Much longer and the Lotus might die of old age before we get there,” Tripelthin said behind him.
“You’d be best served to watch your tongue right now,” Alaric said, his hand squeezing the rope tightly, though he wished his fingers were wrapped around the other man’s throat.
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“Oh my. Scoot over and let me through.” Tripelthin nudged Alaric to the side, causing the bridge to sway inches that felt like feet.
Alaric, frozen with fear, watched as Tripelthin sauntered the rest of the way to land.
His own first steps on solid ground did nothing to slow his heart rate but his muscles did relax. He fixed his sleeves and nodded at the others. “Long story.” He pointed toward the scattered buildings. “Shall we?”
Diedro’s lips didn’t quite curl enough to call it a smile, but there was a moment between them chipped away the wall the mercenary had put up between them on the back porch of Mrs. Cowen’s house. The fact that he’d likely seen men march into certain death, watched them hold their courage until their last breaths made Alaric’s ego shrink two sizes.
The layout of Perku showed no provocative design choices of note except the placement of their temple, which sat atop a large mound of dirt at the southern tip of the village. Such was a custom followed by many of the elders that ruled over small villages in Morne as well as a sign that commoners were in charge there. Alaric couldn’t see how a few extra feet of elevation could possibly bring worshippers closer to The Creator in any significant way, but then again, he couldn’t see the point in many of the traditions commoners followed.
“Haven’t seen a single person,” Therrin said. “Not even in the windows.”
“That’s because they ain’t there,” Diedro said, pulling all eyes to him.
He stood for a moment, as if the others were apparently blind to something entirely visible, then pointed down the road at the temple. The back end of a Lotus Wrecker could be seen sticking out from behind the unimpressive building. Its green metal all but daring them to come take a closer look.
Alaric opened his mouth to ask Lily if she felt anything elsewhere in the village but she beat him to it. “They’re all inside,” she said.
“Recruitment,” Tripelthin said. He turned to Alaric. “We won’t find Eilif here. She’s too wise to try to hide in plain sight.”
It started in Alaric’s foot of all places, as an inexplicable urge to kick the fucking iron beast to shambles. When that finally registered as a horribly painful idea, his rage matriculated toward his chest, where it always ended up. His fingers tingled as he started walking toward the temple.
“Alaric. Stop.” Tripelthin had about as much control of him as he had over himself right now. “Alaric!”
There were footsteps behind him now. His magic seized whoever had placed a hand on his shoulder much tighter than they had grabbed him. He spun around to see Diedro locked in place, staring at him without a single ounce of fear on his face. Surely a coincidence, he hadn't known what was about to happen, but Alaric couldn’t quite convince himself that was the case. Alaric delivered an unspoken message that said, “Don’t fucking touch me when I’m like this.”
“There’s no point in going in there, Alaric,” Tripelthin said.
“He’s right, sir,” Therrin said. “I’ve been to a recruitment day. There will be a lot of Lotus in there. We should just get out of here now.”
“I don’t need any of you for this.” Alaric turned on a heel and continued toward the temple.
He stopped at the bottom of the winding staircase built into the mound of dirt when a bright purple light flashed behind the temple’s stained-glass windows. Several helpless screams rang out inside. The idea that Lotus recruiters were creating more enemies just behind the brown doors that stared down at him made him hotter than any fire could possibly think to do. As he took the first step, Diedro fell in line with him. Alaric took note of the fact that the others had not.
Another flash. Another scream.
When he finally reached the top of the stairs, Alaric put his hand on the door and made eye contact with Diedro. “Ready?”
A nod.
The bang of the door slamming into the wall destroyed the tense silence one can only experience when terror has taken over their surroundings. Every person in the nave froze. And not because of Alaric’s magic.
Half a dozen Lotus stood near the altar at the other end of the room, glaring at this brash man who would dare seize control of the atmosphere from them. A pile of corpses lay behind the bastards. Several new recruits were sitting in the pews on the left side of the room, only slightly less scared than those waiting to be judged in the line that twisted back and forth through the pews on the right. Some of the other Lotus scattered around the room had been speaking with those in line, others had simply been shooting the breeze with their new comrades. All of them would be dead soon.
A Lotus near the back of the line yelled at them. “Who the fuck-” Diedro’s flying dagger cut off his rudeness abruptly. He collapsed to the floor with the weapon sticking out of his forehead.
The scared villagers pushed away from the dead heap. Those who were slightly braver stood in front of the pack as though they thought the intruders were there to kill everyone and not simply rid the world of the scum that was ruining their little village.
Suddenly, Alaric was moving to the left quickly and roughly, stumbling and ducking as pieces of stone flew from the wall.
Diedro was already moving across the backs of the pews, a sword in one hand, a dagger in the other. The sizzling purple streaks blazed by him as though they’d been thrown at something the Lotus had seen elsewhere in the room. When he reached the final bench he launched himself into the air, landing between a handful of Lotus, slicing across one woman’s throat so quickly that when she fell Alaric was almost confused as to how she’d died. Another Lotus sent a blast at Diedro but ended up blowing his comrade backward several feet. Diedro kicked a man in the side of the knee, buckling him, then slashed another Lotus’ head in half before driving his sword through the kneeling man’s neck without even turning around.
The slightest of pauses in Diedro’s assault brought Alaric to his senses. There were still enough Lotus that if he seized them all he ran a decent chance of emptying himself. But what else could he do? No. That wasn’t the question. Not at all. The question was, what else should he do? He grabbed them, every last one of them, including the few recruits who’d stood up to prove a point to their new captain. It took two hands, there were so many. His eyes closed and his lungs filled. He could only just feel his arms curled in front of him, blocked out by the sense of fear and helplessness shifting from the villagers to the Lotus as he held them tight. For a moment he thought the warmth of all the magic flowing through his veins may send him up in flames.
A glance at Diedro said no amount of mercy was necessary.
The cracking of bones echoed off the walls of the temple.