Chapter 9

"Are you sure of this Beldaru? I couldn't get this sword to work before, why should it obey me now?"

"Because you, Eadul, are descended from kings. He is just some northern farmer who found a sword in the woods. If it is one of ours you will be able to master it, and if it isn't, there is no reason that you can't master it then either. He did. That man was lying to you about how the magic works, and so were the priestesses. They don't want men to think that they have magic in them -- because you don't. The magic is in the sword, and you just have to think of different ways to make the sword want to give you light and shimmer, one of those thoughts will trigger it."

"I tried that. How did you do it?"

"With a combination of a command thought and magic, but it takes more than that to get the sword to do what that pretender did with it. Like I said, think about the sword making light until it does, and then practice. When you get it to obey, then the tribe will follow you, just as they are ready to follow that barbarian. With my power and the tribe behind you, we can build back to our former glory. I summoned the spirits in the old city last night and they counsel us and support us in this, but we need access to the magic in the river south of the rapids. We've been lucky so far; those southern fools that call themselves priestesses haven't found out how to use the river's power yet. For generations we've been able to scare them away from it by simply accusing them of using it."

Wilhan and his men found themselves locked in a stone-walled room in a stone-walled building. It was part of the complex that Eadul called home. The Aroni had many stone buildings in their capital towns, they were not castles per se, but they were old and built to last. The towns or town centers often had stone walls around them, and Wilhan noted that the Rushriver capital had a higher wall than most.

He and his men were locked up in the room for three days before Eadul showed himself.

Wilhan nearly screamed at the man. "What is the meaning of holding us? We have broken none of your laws. We did nothing that we didn't say we were going to do when you let us pass."

"You will be out of here soon enough. That is, if your tribe is willing to pay to get the information that you collected. Men were sent downriver today to tell them how much it will cost to get you back. And if your people decided to come after you instead, well, stopping them will be no problem."

"The southern clans will not stand for this, and you know it."

"Our people always come together when there is a threat to us all, and they will follow me now that I wield the power of the lost sword of the Aron kings."

"You can't use the sword's power."

"I admit that it took a little while to find the right commands, but once I discovered its secrets, commanding the sword is, as you know, child's play."

"One sword cannot beat the whole of the Juxani, and they will be coming. Even if I am dead, they will be coming to get revenge."

"I have more than the sword. The women of my family long ago discovered the ancient secrets of our tribe's past. No other sorceresses can match their power. A few thousand half-naked barbarians waving spears around will be no problem for them.

Stivic rushed home, and the poor priestess traveling with him was exhausted by the time they arrived and spoke with Ziridav.

"I didn't expect Eadul to act so rashly. You say that Wilhan was received well up north?"

"Yes Father, he and the priestesses both. The clan chiefs were willing to talk and were courteous to him, to all of us, even thought some of them were guarded in what they said. Eadul was the only one who was not courteous. At the time, Lord Wilhan simply said that some chiefs thought that being nice was a sign of weakness. Eadul fed us, housed us for two nights, heard what we had to say, and sent us on our way. He didn't break any laws of hospitality."

"No, I'm sure that he didn't. That is why he didn't hold any members of our tribe. The fool is going to try to force us to unite against the Juxani, and he is going to blame me for bringing this danger to the tribe. Well, two can play at that game. I'm sure that I can think up some law that he broke in regard to me. That will give the southern clans cause to oppose his action. We have to make certain that the Juxani are no threat to the tribe ... Tomorrow I want you to go find Lord Wilhan's lieutenants and his brothers, and ask them to honor Wilhan's promised military alliance with our clan. Gauge the situation and refrain from telling them that Wilhan is being held prisoner unless it becomes necessary. I will send word as soon as we find out what Eadul's plans are."

The southern clan leaders were furious at Eadul, but they were also angered at what Ziridav had done by inviting a foreign army into their territory.

Ziridav's men had discovered and detained the messengers that Eadul sent to deliver the ransom demand to Wilmark Castle, and Ziridav convinced them to give the message to the members of Wilhan's entourage -- those people who had stayed behind when Wilhan traveled into the north. The entourage, in turn, was convinced not to leave to inform the Juxani of the situation.

The clan leaders harped at Ziridav. "We could have negotiated the release and then dealt with the Juxani to prevent war. Now you are forcing a confrontation with the north. And who knows what those barbarians will do."

Ziridav told them, "Yes, and you would have given Eadul the political power that he wants, and ruined relations with the Juxani. He has turned the tables on us and we need decisive action."

"You are bringing civil war down on us, and then the Juxani will march in and enslave us just as they did to the Helvezii and the Sarvalki." one clan chief said.

Ziridav answered, "To stop that from happening is precisely why they must be our allies and standing beside us when we face Eadul. The northern clan leaders may not be as stupid as he is. They must see that he is trying to manipulate them."

"As you are trying to manipulate us." was the retort.

"We all agreed to the diplomatic mission and the story of Wilhan being one of us so that we could use the threat of outside influence to bring the clans together. That was our shared attempt to manipulate the north. Ask yourselves this, would not my course of action have been proposed as a viable strategy? And would not my clan be the first to be destroyed by an invading Juxan army?"

Stivic left in a dugout with four other men. It was possible to shoot the rapids down to Wilmark, but it was impractical to do with larger boats because they could not be brought back upriver -- anything that went downriver stayed downriver unless it was worth carrying back. With four men paddling with the current, Stivic got the word to Wilhan's lieutenants two days after speaking with his father, and two days after that he was explaining the situation to Fexrem.

Fexrem quickly pulled the whole story from Stivic and mobilized his men. Tarmiz was left in charge, and he and Ranis were on ships rowing upriver under sail within two days. The Dragon Eaters from both marks gathered at Wilmark Castle, and in less than two weeks from the time Wilhan was arrested, five hundred battle hardened warriors were marching towards the Aron border.

No one expected such speed of action. Eadul was refusing to speak with southern clan representatives, and in hopes of isolating the northern clans from southern influence, he announced that anyone from the south caught in Rushriver territory would be held as a spy

Soon after Juxan troops crossed the border, someone somewhere decided that desperate measures needed to be taken, and late at night, Wilhan and his men were awakened to the sound of the bar holding their door secure being removed. A few words of magic were heard and a candle flame appeared, floating in the air. The light revealed a young woman in servant dress.

"Lord Wilhan, you and your men must come with me now. Are you all here?"

"Yes." He said, trying to fully rouse himself.

"Here are weapons that I took from the guards, but do not use them unless absolutely necessary. It will only make a bad situation worse."

"Where is my sword?" Wilhan asked.

"I do not know, Eadul is not here. That is why I was able to get to you."

"Who are you?"

"I cannot tell you until we are safe. Just call me 'Asa' for now."

Wilhan knew that 'Asa' was a common girl's name, one that honored the Aron fertility goddess. It was supposed to be lucky.

As they made their way out, the men could see that their guards had been drugged.

When Ulius tried to ask Asa about the guards she stopped him. "Be quiet. They will not sleep for long, we must hurry."

They were barely out of Eadul's compound when horns and a bell sounded the alarm. Asa led them towards the edge of the awakening town at a run, but they had to stop and look for cover when torches came their way carried by men on horseback.

"Quick, stand over here."

She positioned the six of them against a wall where they surely would be seen in the torchlight as the riders passed by. She then said some mystical words, and blackness enveloped them. The moon and stars were blotted out as well as the torches that the riders carried.

"What is going on?" Wilhan said.

"Shhh, they can still hear us, and they might have dogs." she said.

After the horses passed, Asa led them in another direction. But before a half-hour was up the sound of baying hounds were heard following their trail.

"Roll around on the ground here so that the dogs can get your scent, and then head off in five directions. Go fifty paces and then head back the way we were going until you come to the town wall, then head to the right until you reach a big oak tree. Wait there for me. If I don't show shortly after you arrive, there is a rope behind the tree; throw it over the branch and use it to get over the wall, and then head south."

Wilhan translated Asa's instructions to the others, and the men quickly did as she asked.

A pack of hounds came to the spot where the men had rolled on the ground, and as the dogs tried sort out the scent, Asa cast a spell over them from her hiding place in the shadows. The dogs slowed what they were doing and collapsed just as six men on horses arrived on the spot. Asa quickly cast the spell again, with the same effect, and then she started for the oak tree.

Wilhan and his men heard the hounds baying, and then men shouting, and then there was silence.

He and his men all made it to the tree, threw the rope over a branch that extended over the wall, and waited for the woman.

Soon they heard someone coming towards them, but that was followed by the sound of a falling body. Wilhan rushed to the sound and found Asa collapsed on the ground.

Picking her up, he carried her unconscious body to the wall, and with one man over, one on top, and two on the ground lifting her up, they managed to get her body to the other side. Once outside the wall, they took turns carrying her and headed south.

Just as dawn was breaking, they came to a small stream and decided to walk up it hoping that that their change in direction would throw off any search parties. By then, fog had rolled in and they were not sure which way was south. They were lost and needed the woman's help, so they holed up in one of the small caves that dotted the area.

Asa slept for three more hours. In the light of day, Wilhan could see that she was quite attractive and about Toria's age. She wore the dress of a peasant servant girl but she had several rings on her fingers. Her hair was black and her smooth skin was slightly darker than most of her tribe; her lashes were thick and when she opened her eyes, he could see that they were a deep violet blue.

"We are away now, but a bit lost. Can you tell me who you are now?" Wilhan said.

"My true name is Mazara, I am acolyte to High Priestess Uuntenia, of the Lowfalls Clan."

"Have you ever drained yourself before? It takes a while to get your knees back under you; at least it does for me."

"I've used the rings before, but never so much in such a short time. I think that I put half the city to sleep last night."

"You did well, no one was hurt. Can we stay here until dark, or should we get moving?"

"Where are we?"

"We came to a creek at dawn and followed it upstream a ways, and then we moved through the fog until we found this little cave."

"Big rocks fell down in front of it?"

"Yes."

"I know it. We can climb up onto the ridge above and move south. Did you bring that rope?"

"Yes."

"Good, that will make getting up there easier -- and dogs won't be able to get up there to track us for some distance."

As the little group walked along the ridge listening to hear if hounds were on their trail Wilhan said to Mazara. "I didn't think any of you had the kind of power you showed last night, the priestesses could not pull much magic from the sword. Eadul said that his sorceress held ancient secrets and could wipe an army away as if they were ants, but I did not believe him. Perhaps I do now, but that will not stop me. My honor has been insulted."

"You men and your honor! You would kill thousands of innocents for your honor and a sword." She paused. "Eadul said that Beldaru knows old secrets? That may answer some questions. -- No, most tribal sorceresses have very little power. They can protect themselves and do enough tricks with light to make the people think that they can do more. It is something that many of the women in the tribe could do if they were trained as girls. But if everyone could do it the priestesses wouldn't have any power, so they are selective about whom they train. There are some in the tribe that can do as Beldaru claims -- maybe not to whole armies; some armies can be quite large." Mazara chuckled and then continued. "She is not one with such power, nor does she know any who are."

"Are you one with such power?"

"I would be putting myself in danger if I said that I was, and weakening myself in your eyes if I said that I wasn't. You did not admit to the greatest of your powers -- your sword's powers -- but from the stories that were told of your exploits in battle I can tell that you know and control those also."

"What do you know of the sword?"

"Everything."

"Everything?"

"My ancestors made the sword. My ancestors wielded it. My ancestors died with it in their hands. My ancestors nearly destroyed the tribe with it."

"You knew that the sword was in the tree? How did it get there?"

I do not know how that one sword got to be where you found it. Many like it were made, and there were battles and demon hunts in many places along the river, and further north. Lost swords have been found before, rusted away after the magic of their rings faded from disuse."

"Disuse? The sword was stuck in a tree. Why didn't it rust?"

"The tree was alive and kept enough magic flowing through the star steel to protect it."

"What's this about demon hunts? I have seen everything there is to see in those woods. Camp minstrels and storytellers turn every enemy warrior into a giant, troll, ogre or demon."

Mazara said in all seriousness, "You don't make a sword that can melt through iron and penetrate rock to kill a man."

"Those dragon creatures are not demons. They are flesh and blood ... and not all that troublesome. Why go to the effort of making special swords to hunt them? A spear would work better anyway."

"Your dragons were not hunted. They were created to be ridden on the battlefield by beings much worse than they."

A chill went up Wilhan's spine at the thought.

After traveling all day, they came to Mazara's village. There Wilhan received word that Fexrem and Ranis were on their way with five hundred men, plus another thousand Aron warriors under the command of Ziridav.

The southern clan chiefs were gathered in the Lowfall Clan's capital, and now that Wilhan was safe, they asked him to leave to prevent the problem that five hundred of his warriors could cause.

"I can't do that." he told them. "I have a personal quarrel with Eadul. Even if I could let that go, and if my king could let go the insult done to one of his lords, neither my men nor my clan on the other side of that ridge would allow Eadul to keep my sword. So either it can come down to a war that you cannot win, or you can be my allies in trying to get my sword back."

The clan chiefs, all warriors themselves even if they had never fought an enemy, understood Wilhan's claim on honor, but Juxan warriors moving through their territory were making everyone tense.

Ziridav spoke up, "We have not discounted the possibility of Lord Wilhan being of noble Aron blood, so by our customs he can claim a challenge of honor against Eadul in hope of getting his sword back. That will diffuse the situation between the two tribes. -- Lord Wilhan, is that acceptable?"

"Yes, so far Eadul is the only Aron I have a quarrel with, but my men stay as long as I am here."

Once his men arrived in Lowfalls, Wilhan ordered them to a field outside the Old City, and he sent Aron envoys to Eadul with a message:

Eadul, you are a coward and a thief, and you are unfit to lead your clan. You have insulted my honor by calling me a spy, and by imprisoning me and my men. The rest of your tribe treated me with the hospitality due a foreign ambassador. You have shamed them, stolen from me, and threatened the life of me and my men. Meet me on the field of honor south of the Old City. I, my men, and your tribesmen wait there for my sword, and for apologies to me, your clan, and your tribe. -- Wilhan, Marklord and Ambassador of the Juxani

The messengers, still banned from entering Rushriver, snuck into town and cried the message in the town square for all to hear until they were arrested. Then they gave their captors the formal written statement.

Eadul had received no word that anyone was coming from the Juxani. It was too soon to expect them. He had accepted Wilhan's escape and was happy to still have the sword. He assumed that the escape was the end of it other than using it for his own political purposes. There was no way that the Juxani would go to war over one man's sword, and there was no way the southern clans would let foreign troops into their territory to get it back.

He was wrong. The messengers told him what he faced, and he quickly consulted with his advisors, one of whom was Beldaru. "Send messages to the northern clans saying that we are under attack from the southern clans." was their advice.