My heart broke for Veck and Onjon. There were some times when knowing that there was an afterlife didn’t offer enough comfort, and I had to look away as Veck leaned against his companion, running his hand through the dog’s fur. Ilsa and I both discreetly wiped our eyes.
The feeling that there was a pall shading the land around us even in the afternoon hours was gone. We’d won a significant victory, one that pushed Olur’s influence back. “You feel it? Kaiyuma’s coming back,” Ilsa whispered.
It was true, I had no doubt. I swear I could smell a hint of her perfume in the air. I didn’t have to make any declarations or claims in her name, she was powerful enough to move back in on her own. It was reassuring, and a little surprising.
Ilsa and I got to the work of interrogating the soldiers, then. With Hunker behind us, our questions were answered quickly. “Where are you from?” was the first thing I asked, and the readiness of the answer surprised us.
The older half Ondi-Ne half Dwarf, or at least that’s what it looked like to me from his squat, fair-faced appearance. I could tell that his beard was spotty, from the stubble on his cheeks and chin. It was common for that cross of people to have incomplete beards since Ondi-Ne didn’t grow one until their later years and dwarves started growing one very early. I had barely finished asking my question when he replied; “We weren’t told there would be war dogs. No one paid us to fight for them. General Oss, that overgrown human, came into the camp of our Free Company three days past. His fellows dropped a chest of silver at his feet and he hired us on the spot. We marched through a portal made by that lady the next morning. The next day we watched prisoners get marched up the side of that temple, get their guts spilled one after another, and Berdok over there started complaining,” he said, nodding to a thin corpse on the ground. He’d been speared through the neck like so many others. “I agreed, but it didn’t go well.”
“Got us split from the Company,” said the soldier beside him who was tall for an Ondi-Ne. “We’ve been portalled here to prove ourselves. You put a stop to that, didn’t you? A pack of dwarves in boats we were sent after, but got hounds and blades of worth instead.”
“So, you were sent here to intercept the dwarves on the river?” Ilsa asked.
“Sure as I can spit,” said another one of the soldiers. They started obeying Veck’s next orders then. Having thrown their weapons down in front of them, they were told to strip, and they did so as we spoke to them. “We come through the portal in the tower there, muster here, then we march for the little river to the north where General Oss said we’d waylay the dwarves as they cross under the old bridge yonder. Easy way to prove ourselves.”
“It’s the next part I didn’t look forward to,” said one of the filthier soldiers. He was short, and there was an empty dagger bandolier on his chest. “I heard we’d be digging somewhere in the hills, not making fortifications on this spot. Just a rumour, but I still cursed my luck. Getting rewarded for a good ambush with who knows how much back breaking digging.”
“What was General Oss’s given name?” I asked.
“Frooderick or something,” the one with the patchy stubble answered as the rest nodded.
“Fredrick,” I said, watching the nodding heads become more emphatic. Oss wasn’t his last name on Earth, but I was sure it was the same guy. Why he would change his surname, I had no idea, but it didn’t matter much to me. He still claimed to have Russ. “Where do you think he teleported to?” I asked, not expecting much of an answer.
“The temple, most likely. He’s the commander of the whole army, and that’s where it’s getting ready,” the tall Ondi-Ne answered. Some of his fellows looked away in shame, unable to look me or each other in the eye. This man was crossing a line. The other information didn’t betray the members of their company that stayed behind, but I was sure this did.
“How large is their force?” Ilsa asked as Veck passed behind us. He was watching their enemies strip along with many other riders who were standing guard.
“Over ten thousand, I reckon,” the short one with patchy stubble replied, drawing dark looks from his fellows. “Oh, you bastards are running like I am if you get to keep your lives,” he shot back at them. “Don’t pretend you’re more than mercenaries, just swinging your steel for another meal. I joined the Stony Coast Free Companies to make enough coin to stop soldiering, not for some flimsy brotherhood.”
That didn’t lighten the mood, but it did lend some credence to his report of their numbers. “Thank you,” I said, moving on to the other, larger group. There were seven in that one, most of them were almost stripped down to the skin. I asked the same questions with different phrasing. They were on the other side of the tower so they couldn’t have listened in on the other group’s answers, and we were eventually able to confirm what we learned from Patchy Stubble and the rest.
Ilsa and I had just finished our questioning when I heard the sound of paws moving through the tall grass and turned, coming nose to nose with Maydo. “I’m glad you bucked me off. I reacted without thinking.”
“Don’t ever try to force me to do anything again. You don’t ride me. I carry you,” she replied.
“I understand, I’m sorry,” I said, aware that Ilsa and Hunker were both watching.
“I’ll forgive you this time,” Maydo replied.
Dale had been walking the field around the square tower, healing the fallen with Rea standing watch. She held a throwing knife at the ready with one hand and a long dagger in the other. Each of the soldiers stood and walked to the rest of their fellows, none resisting as they were watched by riders. A couple thanked him quietly, but most were quiet, unsure of what their fate could be.
“Don’t heal them!” Veck said when Dale healed the seventh enemy soldier. It was then that I realized that Dale had purposely been keeping the tower between him and the leader of the riders so he wouldn’t be seen.
“They’ve all surrendered. Death won’t elevate Kaiyuma,” Dale said with remarkable calmness.
Inae, the Portal Master who was still pinned to a tree with a spear, roused at the sound of his words. She must have passed out because of the pain. She was dripping with sweat, her mouth opened as if to wail in anguish, but that wasn’t the first sound that came. “Please, heal my husband. He’s been run through.”
Dale looked to Denin, who was on his face, motionless, Ilsa’s spear through him. “I’m sorry. Perhaps your gods will answer their priests when they try to resurrect him.”
“No,” Veck said. “There will be no resurrections. Cut the heads from the dead,” he told his riders. “We’ll burn them before we move on.”
Dale put his hand on Inae and muttered a few words that took her pain away. He ignored Veck, looking to me then. “Take the spear out. I’ll heal her.”
“Bind her fingers together,” Laylen said. “It’ll stop her from opening a portal and escaping once she’s free.”
A rider came over and, with no thought to the damage he might do by pulling her hands together then tying them tightly with a long leather thong from his waist, did so roughly. A pair of Syrka went to her husband’s body, yanked the spear out, gave it to Ilsa, then got ready to cut his head off.
“Please,” Inae said, weeping, paying no attention to me as I took a firm grip of the spear and got ready to saw through the shaft with my multitool. “Don’t desecrate him. I know he’ll come back if we call to his spirit from the temple.”
“You’re lucky we don’t knock your teeth in,” Veck said as he came over and drew his sword. “I’ll cut his head off and burn it myself.”
Inae’s pleas became urgent wails, and she actually struggled against the spear, breaking the pain blocking spell. “Please! I’ll tell you everything I know! We were…” Violent convulsions followed, and I had to grab hold of the Ondi-Ne in an effort to try to keep her from ripping her shoulder open even more. “This isn’t a natural ailment,” Dale said as he healed her shoulder again. The wound would never close with the spear holding it open, but he could keep her from bleeding out. “She’s fighting an enchantment, something is stopping her from speaking. It’ll be her death if she keeps fighting it.”
“Search her, look for something that may bind her,” Maydo said from behind me.
Inae’s convulsions eased, and she regarded me with angry eyes. I ignored her and started to search with Ilsa’s help, feeling for an arm band, looking for a necklace. The next time I met the Portal Master’s gaze, I realized that she was angry, yes, but probably not at me. There was a struggle going on inside her. Inae was trying to fight whatever magic bound her.
“Here,” Ilsa said as she took the Traveller’s boot off. “Could it be this?” she looped her finger under a blue silk ribbon around her ankle.
I recognized it and the letters dyed into the ribbon in red immediately. “That’s it. Cut it off with an enchanted tool or weapon.”
“There isn’t a lot of that here,” Ilsa replied.
Veck came over and cut the ribbon with his dagger. “This was enchanted on the woodland altar of Grisane by one of his Blessed. We’re near their lands, it should be strong.” The enchantment on the dagger was strong enough to break the spell, and I saw a dark red glow around the ribbon for a moment before it dissipated. There was also a sour bell sound which - according to game rules - indicated that there was a sub-enchantment on the ribbon that would tell the magician responsible for it that their spell was broken, no matter how far away they were.
“Thank you,” Inae said, staring at her husband. “Check Denin, you’ll find the same on him. Please cut it for him, or his will won’t be alone when I have him returned to me.”
“That’s if we allow you to go,” Veck said threateningly as he moved to Denin’s body.
“I saw the curse break when you cut her binding,” Laylen said. “I know it was real.”
“I saw it too,” I added. “How did they get that ribbon on you?”
“The curse binding was tied to us while we were sleeping during our first visit to King John’s court three years ago. Look! You’ll see it.”
Veck finished removing Denin’s boots. Sure enough, there was a blue ribbon with red writing around his ankle as well. “Leave his head where it is,” Veck said quietly as he cut the binding. The sour bell sounded softly and I saw the same dissipating energy. He looked at the healer’s face then turned away. “We’ll need more answers, Traveller. I’ll be back when I’ve finished with the soldiers.”
With the help of Grissela, one of the riders, I finished sawing through the spear shaft with my Leatherman tool and Inae was drawn off the spear then healed. She went to Denin’s body and kissed his forehead, caressed his face, then laid her head on his chest. Ilsa turned and started to walk away but I caught her. “This isn’t your fault.”
“It was my spear,” she replied in a whisper, moving on to help guard a circle of soldiers by the tower.
Inae kissed Denin’s lips, then stood, collecting herself. “I’ll have him with me again,” she said, folding her trembling hands to still them. “It’s foolish to cross a Traveller and a War Priest, and the King has done us the greatest of wrongs.”
“What God do you worship? Which temple will you take him to?” Dale asked.
“He is guarded by Lhi, the Elder God who knows endless mercy and Hakrew, the Old Goddess who knows the balance of all matters.” Her resolve broke for a moment when her lip quivered, but she pressed on. “They haven’t heard us speak their names for years, but they’ll be furious to know why we’ve been hidden from their sight. There is a house of worship that celebrates both of them. It was the place of our meeting, our marriage, and of my resurrection. They’ll hear us there.”
I knew it. If she wasn’t a Traveller, the journey would take them a year by horse. I suspected that she had a portal stone hidden somewhere, or a recall spell set that would take them back in minutes. I picked up the ribbon that was tied around her ankle and read it. Most of the script written there was archaic, words of power that formed a potent enchantment when wrapped around something in a full circle. Then I saw that, instead of the caster’s mark it said; ‘Bound to the service of King John Sunner.’ I read it aloud and passed the ribbon to Dale, who nodded then passed it to Laylen. He took special interest in it. “I don’t have to ask why you were bound to him, you’re a powerful pair, but why were you here?”
“This is a cleansing,” Inae said, looking at the riders and their dogs, then to Rea, who had put her weapons away. “Nearly three weeks ago now, High Priest Marat sent an envoy to the King’s court using a Traveller of his own. He was human, which was unusual. It was the first human Portal Master I’d ever seen.”
“He had gold teeth? He was tall?” I asked.
“Yes, but I barely got a look at him before he took his leave. The court was cleared so they could speak, but I learned of the bargain they struck. I don’t know the whole of what Marat traded, but the King gave the High Priest his reserve of quick amber along with the services of several of his magicians so Kaima and several northern counties would remain untouched. Everything south of Lake Hender was given to Marat for the glory of the filth god, Olur.” she spat towards the south, something that made Rea smile a little.
“What glory is in that? Olur loves war, death, conquest,” Grissela asked as she stroked her mount’s head.
“The glory of eradication,” Inae said, a tear welling up. “King John wants this land to belong to humans. He knows that the Ondi will band together and make a defence. He’s furious that his plan to wipe out all the goblin tribes has failed, and Marat offers to make war against everything south of the great city and to clear the mines so they can split ownership. The dwarves are to be driven out, being Ondi-Un non-humans. I didn’t want to serve, but we were sent to Olur’s Temple when the gold-toothed man didn’t return. We were to aid Olur’s Cult in establishing a base near here. It wasn’t supposed to happen for days, but Marat has mystical sight given to him by Olur and he said Dwarves would be landing nearby, so we came. Denin and I were unable to resist. Our wills weren’t our own.”
“That is right,” Laylen said, looking up from the ribbon. “There are magical words here that use the wearer’s will against them if they try to fight its influence. They also protect the caster and the one named as master. This is a forbidden kind of enchanting, even I know that. It was cast by Kastur, the former High Priest.”
I already knew the details of the spell, but I wasn’t able to read Kastur’s name in it. The details seemed to put the riders who overhead what Laylen was saying more at ease. Grissela untied Inae’s hands. “I’m sorry about your husband.”
“I blame the King. If this party was going north, I would return with Denin the moment I had him back,” she said.
You know, it’s unfair to have so much information about the people of Nem. There was no doubt in my mind that she was telling the truth, because they believed that balance had to be enforced. In this case, they believed in revenge even though they were both followers of a mercy god. That only ensured that they wouldn’t overdo it.
I also knew she and her husband were wealthy retired adventurers. They were in the summer of their lives as Ondi-Ne, and were welcome in more courts that I cared to recall. King John interrupted that and made them do things against their nature. Inae and Denin would never do anything for a God like Olur. They were also free Ondi-Ne who had seen the racial conflicts in Highshield and Cinderhold.
The only failing the pair had was that, while their days of questing and delving for riches were over for the most part, they still loved to explore. “Kaiyuma’s ways are complementary to Lhi’s. Even Hakrew’s justice is welcome in her realm. I’d imagine that she calls for Hakrew now.” I had her attention, even though this is the first time I’d ever made a serious appeal to anyone using any amount of theology. “I hope your husband rises again, and I’ll help if I can, but if I didn’t ask for your help after he’s on his feet…”
“You’d be a fool,” Inae said with a little smile on her lips. “You believe everything about the binding curse?”
“I saw the enchantment break and read the writing myself,” I replied. “The Temple of the Shining Oak isn’t something you’d tell your enemies about, either. You gave me just enough hints about where you’re going so, if I was a worldly person, I could figure it out.”
“So, you’ve been there?” she asked.
“No,” I replied. Straying from honesty would be a mistake at that point, so I didn’t embellish. “I can see it.”
“So you’re the Champion?” she asked, looking at me as though seeing me for the first time. “The balance to Marat. He fears you more than anything. You are invisible to him, but I suppose you must know that already. All things from his magicless world are beyond his sight, which is failing. I’ve seen him panic at night. He rages impotently, shouting his prayers to Olur.”
“What does he pray for?” Dale asked.
“The return of his power. When he arrived he could see the treasures buried along the coast, up river, even in faraway lands. The ancient histories were written in his mind. Now his visions of ages past come only when he takes a drop of quickamber on his tongue. Quick amber that has been promised for another purpose, one I haven’t been able to overhear.”
That was madness. Quick amber is literally liquid magic. It forms in highly empowered places and only for limited times. The last time a quick amber spring was discovered hundreds of thousands of people went to war over it and it only lasted nine years. To put a drop on your tongue was to risk burning yourself out, filling yourself with magic that had to be expelled at the same time or any number of horrible things could happen to you while you were supercharged. I was surprised that he could survive it, but there had been others.
Marat’s fading memory of Nem and ability to see far away was frightening to me. It still is. I was afraid that I was suffering the same way, that it was diminishing. I pressed on to the next point though. “I don’t want to delay you, but is there anything else you can tell me about Olur’s Temple? What’s going on there? Did you happen to see a thick bodied man with a large dark beard…”
“Russ,” Inae said as though savouring the name. “He was a relief to watch for me and Denin. We were unable to resist the commands of Marat and his people, but Russ did so whenever he could. That is, unless he was tricking them. He drew a map for General Oss. It was detailed, convincing, and well made with points of strategy and treasure hoards clearly mapped. Marat inspected it, and questioned several points on it, but Russ was able to convince him that things had changed, that the details were true. I transported the General and a small company of soldiers there, and we were immediately set upon by a whole tribe of lizard people who were very territorial. Most of the General’s men were killed, we barely got away, and Russ laughed even through the first blows Oss landed on him. Oh, and he also calls General Oss ‘Freddie,’ which he finds very amusing, even though it infuriates Oss.”
“That’s Russ,” I said, nodding. I felt a little guilty at being happy to hear he was in Nem even though he was in danger, and silently vowed to save my best friend. “Is he all right? I mean, has he survived?”
“He is. My husband was allowed to heal the worst of his injuries more than once. Russ has also tried to escape more than once. He filled his cup with refuse once and lured a guard into his cell. Once he splashed him, blinding the guard, he took the keys and started running. He was caught and chained in the temple’s great audience hall near Marat’s throne. He jested at Marat’s expense whenever possible, even earning a few kicks from guards at the High Priest’s order.” Her expression darkened then and she averted my gaze. “Then the sacrifices began, and Marat made sure he saw them. Russ has only hate for the High Priest now, and has been forced to drink the blood of the innocent as a sacrament. Your friend is well, but I don’t know how long he can resist the influence of that spell.”
“What happens when it overtakes him?” Ilsa asked.
I knew the answer, and it filled me with dread. “He will serve Olur,” Inae replied. “It must be broken by a powerful priest who knows Russ’ Gods.”
Russ’s characters often followed Kaiyuma, but they always followed Miradu and her children. That was a problem. Finding a priest of Miradu would be difficult considering her temples were thousands of leagues away. There was a shrine in Kaiyuma’s temple, but I suspected that it was covered by a layer of dust. Maybe the Brown Priests knew her, but their belief may not be strong enough to help Russ since they represented a dozen or more gods each. That was their role, to be a priest of all colours but the darkest. “How long ago was he forced to drink innocent blood?”
“Yesterday morning, at the beginning of the first sacrifices. They have spilled the blood of hundreds of captured pilgrims and Kaiyuma worshippers. I’m sorry,” she replied.
“I need your help,” I told her. “Help me update a map of the temple, tell me who’s there, where they’re keeping Russ, and anything else you can. If you come back after the resurrection, I’ll make sure you get paid, but more importantly; I’ll make sure you can serve Hakrew’s justice on Marat.”
“I will tell you all I know, then return with Denin at my side if you let me send these soldiers, these loyalty deficients, to a place they will be able to survive, but never return from. I would like to do it now.”
I looked to Veck, who asked; “Will they suffer?”
“They will have to work to survive. Some will be eaten by predators. It’s inevitable,” Inae replied. “They will suffer, especially if you keep their things while they go through nude.”
“Then open the portal,” he replied.
I watched as she started the work, drawing symbols as she moved her hands in a circle in front of her. I could see the magic coming together, the power focussing into a round door, and I felt the portal pierce reality like a pleasant shiver that ran through my core. She saw me shudder and smiled. “We have one with potential among us,” I heard her say in my head. “You freed me, Champion, so I will teach you the first lesson and you will come to know a universe.”