Chapter 60

The greater Erren floated (for want of a better word) in the great void and contemplated her world. Various destinies were studied, and minor adjustments by way of ‘incidents’ were set in place to guide the world’s denizens upon her chosen paths, though gender was somewhat fluid within the serried ranks of those the world called gods. She could sense her sisters and brothers as they also carried out various tasks to do with maintaining the world, though she ignored the majority of them as their place in the grand scheme of things was minor and limited to set tasks. She remained in constant communication with others of her kind, taking in observations and views as they used their agents to correct things within the world or to pass the information on regarding the activity of her brother and his supporters.

Of great concern was the removal of various agents of theirs to parts unknown as she realised that, yet again, a way of fooling her observation of the gateway network had been found. Still, her ‘vision’ of the threads of causality indicated a retrenchment of her brother’s followers, not a grand scheme to change the cycles of growth and collapse. ‘Ah, they intend to target our agents, ’ Erren finally concluded. A warning was passed to her allies, and Erren began untangling the threads to see from which direction the threats would come.

In Rachtelin, King Rigilo and Queen Callani met with their military commanders and assessed the strength of the Kingdom’s forces.

“The mission to Thenarron was a success,” Jertin confirmed. “Though we’ll be taking a leaf out of King Drister’s book, reducing the knights’ armour, and relegating them to scouting and pursuit.”

“And the knights are happy with this?” Rigilo asked.

“No, but they know what a troop of mounted archers will do to them, particularly as they are too heavy to pursue any great distance,” Jertin chuckled.

“Ah, yes,” Rigilo smiled. “The survival factor.”

“The pikes Darras suggested are also being introduced to the men at arms who aren’t archers, and we’re drilling them in various tactics to form mobile barriers to protect our knights and horse archers,” Jertin added.

“How soon before they are ready?”

“A year. I suggest setting off as spring breaks and marching through the Forest Kingdom, assuming they hold to their word.”

“They will; they’re also providing scouts for us by way of ‘Elven mercenaries’,” Rigilo confirmed with a chuckle.

“I rather suspect Fordel will not be fooled, though if we stick to that line, we’ll probably get away with it,” Jertin laughed.

“It will still be a small army, however,” Rigilo nodded.

“A professional one, though,” Jertin confirmed. “I believe they’ll come as a shock to the Fordelians, particularly when their hinterlands revolt in the Holy Forest.”

“Yes, I’m told they’ll be providing logistical support for us via a hidden gateway,” Rigilo nodded.

“They are. They are stockpiling supplies even now, though they won’t allow anyone but themselves to carry them through,” Jertin replied.

“I’ll assume it’s a secret of the forest folk and leave it at that,” Rigilo chuckled.

“Balat, the agent of Doriel, is in control of it, so probably,” Jertin smiled.

“Best not to interfere any more than we would do with Darras,” Callani added thoughtfully.

“Yes, we do not need to antagonise the gods,” Rigilo nodded.

“Most certainly not,” Jertin agreed. “We are acting for them, not against them.”

Casal stood looking over the giant map of the world inlaid upon the floor of the necropolis. The past years’ events had reduced the Dark Lord’s ability to consider the response of his enemies, which had greatly cost the cause. Nor was Casal unaware of the Dark Lord’s failings in planning the hoped-for collapse of the various kingdoms of the world into warring statelets.

‘Telling us to do something is not a plan, ’ Casal seethed. ‘Nor was the pinning of all our efforts upon the scales realistic either, not once this agent of the goddess was brought into play.’

Casal pondered that the followers of darkness needed a foothold in the world, which the followers of light could not readily interfere with. That they’d once had Thenarron was not lost upon Casal, though he realised that the country had been vulnerable to the onslaught that had finally removed its former leader, the Witch King. Asul and Crusal were now all but useless to the cause; their enmity remained, but their ability to project force was limited by Korch, which had grown in strength to become the great power in Golsten.

‘No, we need somewhere that is both isolated yet where we can grow in strength to expand outwards eventually, ’ Casal thought. ‘Hmm, perhaps the deep south... ’

Fermanilk, the Netas of Fordel, listened to his senior advisor droning on about the various measures being taken to increase the wealth of the state (read mercantile class and priesthood). Yes, the advisor was competent; he was from one of the great houses, after all. Yet in that lay the rub. He was loyal to that house, not necessarily the Netas or Fordel.

“So, tell me, Shurmun, how do you intend to prevent Rachtelin from invading and taking all that wealth from your house?” Fermanilk finally asked, breaking precedent somewhat by openly questioning his advisor.

“A few bribes and a threat to overthrow that realm and replace it with the former one, my Netas,” Shurmun airily replied.

“Are they accepting bribes?”

“Not as yet, my Netas, but it is only a matter of time.”

“Is there any chance of overthrowing Rigilo? He is of the blood royal, and we no longer have his brother under our protection?”

“We have spies looking for Joffar; they will find him, I assure you,” Shurmun replied indifferently.

“These would be the same spies that you said had told you there was no way Rigilo could gain the throne of Rachtelin, perchance?” Fermanilk asked, his voice dripping with disdain.

“Our spies were lied to by the former Rachtelinian Council, my Netas,” Shurmun replied. “They can only report what they learn.”

“It seems they learned little.”

“In what way?” Shurmun asked in condescending tones.

“Rachtelin has specifically stated that if we do not hand over the former King’s Council, rescind the ban on the worship of Erren and recompense the temple of Erren for the murder of their priests, they will invade,” Fermanilk stated. “Yet you believe that you can use a mentally incompetent man ... assuming we find him to overthrow a warrior king?”

“We have the protection of the golden goddess,” Zanthrul, high priest of the Temple of Demala, stated. “We need not fear a poor country like Rachtelin and its inferior goddess.”

“Oddly, it was the poor Rachtelinians who overthrew the rich Council,” Fermanilk stated. “You recommend then that we do not prepare for what appears to be a direct threat to us?”

“Our armies outnumber the small Rachtelinian forces,” General Tobil of the military command shrugged. “Nor will they have allies to aid them.”

“And how will they get here without allies?” Shurmun sneered.

“I suspect they’ll come by the Forest Kingdom and around the borders of Gilvarion and Dobra,” Fermanilk replied. “None of those countries has much reason to like us, after all.”

“Whilst possible,” Tobil conceded. “We would still have enough warning to mobilise and meet them at the border.”

“So you see, my Netas. We have nothing to fear from that inferior nation,” Shurmun concluded.

Balat was in conversation with Syriel and Tareena, Woodnymphs of Fordel. Their conversation was mostly about preserving and storing the constant flow of goods and arms from Rachtelin that were coming through the Holy Forest gateway.

“We are reaching capacity,” Syriel warned. “Particularly for grain and salted pork.”

“I will grow another store,” Balat promised.

“That’s good. When the Rachtelinians come, they will find the Humans of Erren ready,” Tareena nodded.

“We will ensure they can use a village as a base, though we will keep them from the deep woods,” Syriel added.

“Good, that’s all Lomarris would ask of you Woodnymphs,” Balat replied. “This will be a Human war, and all that is needed is a base and the supplies they are sending.”

“We are not to intervene beyond this, we know,” Tareena nodded.

“Yes, we will remain after Rachtelin leaves. It would be best not to antagonise the people of Fordel, who, for the most part, still worship Erren.”

“It shall be as Lomarris commands,” Syriel acknowledged.

Balat stepped through the gateway and into Doriel’s domain. From there, he approached a large, comfortable house grown from part of a vast tree, which Doriel had admitted was simply her keeping with tradition. As with Erren’s domain, there was a hot bathing pool, though again, grown as part of the tree, and multiple fruits and nuts of different types were growing from the branches.

“Welcome back, Balat,” Doriel greeted him as she relaxed in the pool. “I see things went well.”

“They did; the Woodnymphs understand they are not to interfere in the Human war ... much as they’d like to.”

“The forest folk are interfering enough with supplies as it is,” Doriel replied. “Also, for the most part, this is something for the Humans of both nations to sort out, as advantageous as it will be for us.”

“Civilising Fordel will certainly aid us,” Balat nodded.

“It will, though I doubt the Darmelans will change that much in attitude,” Doriel frowned. “However, their dominance will end, and they’ll be far more circumspect in their business afterwards.”

“We can always hope,” Balat chuckled as he rested beside Doriel.

“We must find you a wife soon,” Doriel said, changing the subject.

“No rush,” Balat smiled.

“Your sons and daughters will be needed in the world, my Balat, acting as a bridge between the forest and the Humans.”

“Your vision sees this?”

“It does; much as I enjoy your ... company, you have a duty to the world, too.”

“I ... I just hope I can love her as much as I’ve come to love you,” Balat sighed.

“You will.”

Loria gazed over Gosvik from a low hill that overlooked the town. In just over a year, she and Benevin had ‘tamed’ the place to the point where the town was growing successfully and gaining investment from outside sources, including the Dwarven realm of Gomesh. It was not unusual to see Dwarves amongst the bustling Human settlers passing through the town to pick up supplies.

“We’ve had an upturn in banditry near the Geesorn border again,” Benevin commented as he stood beside his wife.

“We’ll send the deputies this time; they could do with the experience,” Loria replied. “Besides, I’m in no condition to go there,” she finished, rubbing her hand over her slightly swollen belly.