Chapter 10

Far to the south, three pillars of blood red quartz stood, extending high into the sky. Built as a weapon in a long forgotten war, the pillars remained long after the men who fought the war had turned to dust. Rediscovered centuries later, men soon realized the pillars could be used to locate the few men and women who could still use magic. Having heard of the legends from the war and how the pillars remained, men assumed it was their duty to go forth and slay those who remained in the world that could use magic.

Over time, other men built towers of stone to protect the pillars from the weather and other creatures who roamed the great plains. There were rooms surrounding the pillars, designed to allow people to observe and watch for signs of an emerging magic user. There were many types of magic in the world and a gifted watcher could tell the difference between a wizard who could draw power directly from the world around him and others who used rituals, the natural elements, or the dead for their power. A gifted watcher could even identify those who had at one time gained their power from other beings, those who were now all but extinct, just as their gods were.

The hardest magic users for the pillar watchers to find and identify were the nature walkers who, due to their affinity with the natural world, were the hardest to identify unless they were near the pillars themselves. Thus the young woman observing the pillar thought nothing of the activity she observed as it was very weak coming from a nature walker. She had no reason to notify anyone before the end of her shift as the watcher, she wrote down all she had been taught years before to observe, what she had seen of the way the pillar acted. Once she was done with her notes, her attention returned to the tome she had been reading of the history of her order. She would give her notes over to her master at the end of her shift before the pillars.

Other watchers did the same in the other towers, all the information to be collected together later.

In Greenwater, darkness had settled over the city and in windows everywhere candles, torches and fires sought to beat back the darkness. In the windows of the prince’s chamber that battle raged too but no one took note of time’s passing. The woman sitting beside the bed focused on the man lying there. Speaking words few understood, she held one hand on the wound the spear had made that had pierced his chest while her other hand rested upon the head of her white wolf, drawing power from the animal. The wolf hadn’t moved since being brought into the room and sitting at her feet.

The other figure in the room, Queen Flavi, was keeping everyone else at bay until she heard her youngest child crying out, insisting on being fed. Hearing her daughter crying in the hallway, she realized she indeed had another child that needed her attention right then, the rest of her children were old enough to be cared for by the staff of the castle. Stepping out into the hallway to retrieve her child the queen soon returned to the room with her child feeding at her breast neither noticing the oppressive feeling was gone along with the chanting that had filled the room only moments before.

Realizing the oppressive feeling as well as the chanting were gone, the queen looked around the room seeing Wahleia still sitting next to the bed of her son and her wolves at her feet. Approaching them from across the room, Queen Flavi could see the white wolf and her mistress were asleep while the black wolf was now awake, laying down but aware of the queen walking across the room.

Wanting to know if her son lived but not wanting to appear rude to the woman who she hoped had saved his life, the queen offered, “Not knowing how long you would take I had fruit and cheeses brought up for you. If you would like something else I’ll have it prepared immediately.”

Raising her hand to forestall the queen from continuing, Wahleia accepted the offered food, saying, “This is good for now, I’m too tired to wait for anything to be cooked.”

“I’ll have a room prepared for you if you like.”

“Again I thank you for the offer but for the rest of the night and possibly tomorrow my place will be here beside your son.” Wahleia replied.

‘My son lives then?” the queen asked with hope in her voice.

“I have done what I can for him. The wound to his chest was severe but there should be no reason he does not live. I ask that you do not get your hopes up too high, there are many things that can go wrong still and a great difference between existing and being whole again. Both are possible no matter what I have done, even death is still possible though I think highly unlikely. He is young and strong and those qualities should account for a lot. Now he needs time to sleep and heal. I think that’s what I need now too.”

“For what you have done here for me, I will gladly stay to watch over you and my son. My gratitude for what you have done knows no bounds and once you are rested we will speak further on it.”

“Thank you, though I need no guard. Shadow here will wake me if there is a problem but if you wish you are most welcome to stay. Now I need sleep.” With that statement, Wahleia closed her eyes and soon was asleep.

Looking at the mound before her, she thought about the map she had spied in the book seller’s store. She was sure the location was correct as her memory had only improved over time. All she needed was one look and she could pull details from memory whether they were words in a book or markings on a map. Dismounting from her horse she moved up the mound looking for the pile of rocks that on the map hinted at a passageway underneath. Standing at the summit of the mound, she smiled finding the rocks not on the side she had first been on but off to another side. Taking a moment to signal her men where to go, she started down towards the rocks the map had shown to be the entrance to the crypt. Looking around she started to wonder if she was going to have to dig out the entrance.

“Who are you?” a voice boomed in her head.

Stopping where she was, she looked around but saw nothing and no one nearby. Looking towards her men, she could see them setting up camp where she had wanted them with the horses protected from the worst of any weather that may come. None of them seemed to have heard the voice she did. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary she started moving again towards the rocks she suspected of covering the entry to the crypt.

This time the voice did not return until she placed her hand on one of the rocks covering the entrance. When the voice returned it was louder saying forcefully, “You should not be here. Leave now!”

Looking down towards the camp, she could see no one acted as if they heard the voice she had heard twice now. In fact the nearest cavalry men below were already unloading their horses anticipating a long stay. Having found the mound she had no intention of leaving. Especially now as she circled one of the larger rocks, the entrance opened before her as she rounded several small boulders that from below or above would have obscured the opening. Only walking among the rocks would the entrance be revealed.

Peering inside, she could only see a few feet inside before the light failed. Not wanting to be surprised by some animal living inside the tunnel she called out to her men for four volunteers to bring torches and ropes.

The voice returned, stronger than before, saying, “If you do not leave now, you shall be punished.”

Believing she knew what would be down there, she had no intention of leaving. She was sure the voice she was hearing had to be in her head as none of her men reacted to the voice. One of the men tied a rope off to a rock while the others lit their torches, the five then started down into the tunnel with one man taking the lead with a torch in one hand and his long spear in the other. Taking the third position with her sword and a torch, she thought it should be her in front as she had discovered the map that led them here. Now if they found anything others could claim to be the first and she did not like the idea.

After taking a moment to join a second rope to the first, the party continued down the corridor. Seeing the man who had taken point stop a second time, she could feel her frustration rising at the delay. Moving forward to join the rest of men she could see why the man had stopped as the skeletal remains of men and orcs dressed in chain mail or in the case of the orcs boiled leather. Men and orc had fought and died here without anyone removing their bodies meaning they most likely killed themselves, leaving none of them to find the treasure rumored to be inside the lowest levels.

Telling the lead man to continue, he had only taken a step, when the voice returned to her, asking a second time, “Who are you? Why are you here? Leave now or you shall be punished!”

Before she had more than a second to wonder why no one around her heard the voice, they all heard a horn sounding behind them.

The last man in their party turned stating, “Trouble!,” drawing his sword, he dropped the rope marking their path. Hurrying back down the tunnel she could hear him add, “Quickly, back to camp, I do not want to get trapped down here.”

Exiting the tunnel was easier then moving down into the unknown and the five of them could hear the sounds of fighting getting louder as the exit got closer. Emerging from the tunnel she could see her dismounted cavalry hard pressed by orcs who not only surrounded them but amongst them making everyone fight. With only a pause to take in the scene below, she shouted, “INTO THEM,” as she led the charge downhill into the rear of the unsuspecting orcs.

Fortunately her shout went unnoticed by the orcs below her group as the horde was focused on the encampment of men before them, trapped, knowing they would be feasting well that night. Drawing her dagger as she charged into the backs of the orcs surrounding her men, she wished she had her shield with her instead of her dagger. She took more than the two orcs in front of her as she put her dagger into the one to her left while she crashed into the orc in front of her causing him to crash into his comrades making all of them fall to the ground. She lost her grip on her dagger though she still held her sword. Being the charge was down hill she was on top of the pile of bodies and as such she was the first one to her feet which was more than enough time for her to gain her feet then start the killing. Of the orcs she crashed into none survived as she struck them down as they struggled to get free. Others were doing the same slaying orcs who had been knocked to the ground.

More importantly was the ring of orcs surrounding her troops had been ruptured allowing at first one man to move through the hole still fighting but allowing more men to follow. Within seconds men had turned the corner on the orcs and instead of being surrounded the cavalrymen were now attacking orcs from behind. The sudden change from knowing they were going to win to having men behind them unnerved more than few orcs and like the beasts they were their ranks soon broke causing more to panic at some who were fleeing as well as others who were being cut down. She had no time to think about the fleeing orcs as she still had a few around her who were still alive.

Finishing the orc in front of her, she looked around for yet another orc to fight only there were none as the fighting had quickly moved away with the orcs breaking and running. Thinking she might join the slaughter she took a step to head for the horses intending to ride the orcs down only to find herself exhausted on her knees, her sword weighing more than she remembered. On her knees she was close enough to smell what the fighting had left behind and the stench caused her to loose what she had eaten moments before she had gone down the tunnel. She stayed there on the ground thinking about what had happened, when a pair of riding boots stepped in front of her. She knew the owner of the boots before she even looked up they belonged to the captain of the cavalry troop she was leading.

Offering her his hand and helping her to her feet, she was offering, “I don’t know what came over me, one second I was fine the next I’m on the ground puking.”

Answering her, he stated, “We’ve all been there at one time or another. The worst is even after you’ve seen this slaughter many times and think it cannot happen again, you’ll see something, maybe a friend slain and you’ll find yourself doing this again. You’re lucky, what you did here we all have done it one time or another, so there is no shame with the troops; even your father has ended up on his knees after a fight. Though if you say you heard it from me, I’ll deny saying anything,” the last was said with a smile.