Chapter Seventeen

  Steel and Shadows

  House Gailech had returned, under a heavy escort of course, to the city of Kal-Dovean. King Gailech of the winter blood got right to work, handling grain storage shipments and talking at length with his aids about the coming needs of the people, his people, in this winter that promised to be the coldest in a generation. While he worked the weight of his distant cousin’s death weighed upon him.

  “My lord, the rumor of the incident at Mythis is spreading, people are concerned. They’ve heard that the Sun King Giran has been killed, and the strongest rumors are that his daughters were slain as well. There’s a worry, our people hold true to the old traditions, they’ve come to believe that without the Sun Blood in the world anymore, spring may never come again,” he said, shuffling various papers and duties on the Winter King’s great ebony desk.

  “I will prepare a statement for tonight, the people have a right to know that their ruler has been killed, but first I must ensure that we have the might to defend them come a long winter, or a winter that never ends, not that I’m saying it won’t. We must have the faith that our people find they are losing, we must have faith for them that the Spring will come again, Edmund” he turned to his only son. He was still clad in his iron dress armor, the steel longsword hanging in a sheath at his belt next to the bronze dagger of tradition carried by the King of Winter’s son.

  “Father,” Edmund bowed.

  “These men you’ve been training, we can’t let the people know their true name, their true role,” King Gailech took a deep breath, “If people were to know that their prince has been training Dark Stalkers, that name you’ve given your men carries a devious connotation, people will believe that the unending winter has come, that said, if such a winter truly is here, the Dark Stalkers could be our last line in the dread idea of the terror that there would be if the Winter Hunter’s fall,” he said.

  “I understand,” Edmund said, “The Dark Stalkers are a secretive order, but I’ve been personally training these men for years, this is the winter we’ve been preparing for, the winter we’ve all known could come someday. The tragedy of Giran’s family will worry the people when the winter truly sets in. If the winter doesn’t give way to spring when people are clutching to their last bits of coal, if their fires die with no sign of the warm spring sun, people will turn to those who stalk the dark. Father, you know I have been at your side since I was old enough to understand the ways of ruling in the winter, I’ve accepted the responsibility of my birth and thought it the only responsible thing to prepare for the coming Winter without end. The Winter Hunters can’t defend us forever,” Edmund straightened his shoulders and held his head high with pride for the great soldiers he had been training, preparing for years for this, the Winter without end.

  “See to your men, we made need them sooner than we think,” King Gailech slumped in his chair and rubbed his brow, “I’ve matters of the winter to attend to, where did I put that grain order to Brauberg?” he shifted the papers on his desk as Edmund bowed his head and left his father to the works of the Winter King.

  Edmund made his way through the halls of the great keep of Kal-Dovean, waiving off attendants and signing off on documents for issues and needs not important enough to bother the King of Night himself with as he made his way down to the lower levels of the castle. Yet another aide approached him, “Sir, the winter grain shipment from Ashistan has arrived at the port of Trosee, I need a sign-off for the gold to be paid to our suppliers.”

  Edmund took the paper and scribbled his signature on it, “Tell them that we’ll need a three-size shipment, winter is here and we’re buying in bulk, we can give them the guarantee of our business for the coming months, of course, we will have to levy a tax on trade being that our land is in dire straits,” Edmund said. This was everything he was groomed for, to rule in the winter, his family's sacred duty. The time of the Sun King was gone, a winter never-ending was upon them which meant that his family’s rule would be never ending. Soon his father would be dead, and all the responsibility of rule would fall to Edmund. He would lead the people through this darkness of winter, and show them that life can be carved out in even the blackest of times. Edmund would rule, and he would not have any worry about the spring coming and the need to cede his power to those fools who thought that mankind belonged anywhere but the darkness.

  “Sir, with all due respect, we’ve never charged taxes on imports for winter, the land is in rough times and we pay a little extra to ensure that our people are seen through these rough times knowing that when spring comes and we’re in a better position to encourage trade-”

  “The spring is not coming again, the Sun Blood has been wiped out, there is no spring coming, these are the times we live in now and we must adjust our policies accordingly,” Edmund said, turning away from the aide and making his way to his quarters as the servant followed, “This winter will not end, not end in our lifetimes and maybe longer after that, certain changes must be made if we’re to be economically sound through this era, increase the taxes, and make it known that a belly in the land will not be full without the aide that the Kings of Winter give the people, they must come to rely on us, know that the sun blood has abandoned them and my family is the only thing standing between them and death. The King of Night will see the people survive, adjust, and become used to the cold, I will see they become used to the cold, this is our time, our family has prepared for this since the first winter,” Edmund stopped, rested his hand on his steel sword hilt, “This is the new world, the new order, I trust that you understand how bad things are going to get, the people will look to the King of Night for guidance, and someday I will be the King of Night, and the people will look to me. I’ve prepared for this responsibility my entire life, and I am ready to assume it,” Edmund turned and continued on his way.

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  “My lord, we can’t let the news get out that this winter will never end, the people will-”

  “The people will find they must adjust to a new way of life,” Edmund said, cutting him off, “We’ve come to times where only the strong will survive, and I will see the strong find victory over this horrible world, winter is here, and it’s not leaving. So make your choice, sit here sucking your thumb like a child and waiting for a spring that never comes, or grow up, and realize the world is cruel, that the world and the Goddesses are unforgiving, and get your work done,” he said.

  “I will bring your proposal to the trading guild, as you wish,” the aide bowed his head.

  After dealing with another measure of taxation and governing, Edmund made his way to the cold underground of the basement floor.

  An inhuman cry of pain echoed out through the great halls. Another Dark Slayer was being born it seems. Edmund entered the Dungeon. Standing with hooded heads in a circle around a young man armed with a steel dagger slicing at the throat of a fat wild boar. It bucked and kicked in protest as the young man held its head back and its cries became more and more gargled as they grew weaker from its loss of blood.

  The black hooded figures stepped aside so Edmund could look down on his newest pupil. The young man looked up, his eyes meeting Edmund’s, saying nothing as he gave the steel dagger a final twist, ending the cries of the beast, “Winter has come,” he said in a low voice, looking right at the master of his Order and speaking with a low voice, “The time for heroes is over, heroes fight for the light that will never come,” Edmund kept his face straight as he listened to the young man recite the Oath. “There is no light left to fight for, I am the steel in the night against the endless winner, when man is at his greatest need, they must turn to those who stalk the dark,”

  “Hail, young Dark Stalker,” Edmund said, resting his hand on the boy’s shoulder.

  “It’s true isn’t it,” he tossed the boar away, “This is it, the winter,” he said.

  “Yes, the Winter that never ends, the time is upon us young Dark Stalker, we’ve much work to do. The shroud of winter never-ending has fallen on the land, and the people must look to us once they realize the ineptitude of the Winter Hunters, their’s is the old way, a way not prepared for the darkness brought to our land,” Edmund said.

  Edmund had in the past year made the dungeon his home. His training ground for the ancient order that man would need to turn to now that this darkness of the never-ending winter had come. The Sun Blood is gone, destroyed in tragedy, it is in the darkness humanity must return.”

  “Master, the reports of monsters are growing, and the people need weapons against them, is it time to make our order known? If this is the Winter we’ve been preparing for, has it come time to stalk the dark?” One of the senior members of the order asked.

  “We’re building a new world, a stronger world, one that can survive this darkness, but for a new world to come, the old ways must be abandoned, cut off, and drained like a cyst,” Edmund said.

  The young Dark stalker tossed the boar aside and stood, still covered in blood, holding his steel dagger. “What do you need of me? I will stalk the darkness,” he said, his eyes and voice so calm it was almost as if he was already dead.

  “We can not serve humanity if they still believe in the old ways, if they still believe in heroes who fight for a light that will never come, before we make ourselves known, we must kill the old world’s ways. We must ensure that people know the fight for light is a lost cause in this the never-ending winter. Our true enemy is the last hope that people have for the spring to come. Our enemy is the Winter Hunters. So long as they exist people will believe that spring will come again. It must be ripped out, and people must be made to know that there is no hope for a warm sun again. Eliminating that hope is the only way people will realize that there is no spring to come and that winter is the way of life now. We must take a strong hand, and rip a bandage from a wound,” Edmund looked over his men, his Dark Stalkers, “Ride, Dark Stalkers, to Tycolm, Hareliek, Dubton, ride to every city. Ride there and rid the world of that ancient tradition of Winter Hunters. We must move past the idiocy of waiting for spring to save us. A new order is coming, the rule of winter over the land,” Edmund said, “Sheathe your dagger, Dark Stalker,” he smiled.

  “I will be the steel in the night,” the young man said.

  “You will, and the night is here, my father has taken power, the winter has begun, and only the Dark Stalkers can see the good people of this land through it. Rejoice, young Dark Stalker, you’ve taken on a destiny today, a role to protect, a role to fight,” he looked at his men, “You all have accepted this role, the steel in the darkness, I will lead you, Dark Stalkers,”

  “What is the will of winter?” one of the hooded men asked.

  “We’re to mobilize, end the hope of the people. Only by having their hope broken can they become stronger. You must go forward, and kill every Winter Hunter you find,” Edmund went to the young man in the center of the circle, “The time for heroes is over, you must show that only those who stalk the dark are capable of battle,”

  “Yes, master,” the young man said, gripping tight to his steel dagger.

  “There are Winter Hunter halls in Dubton, Hareliek, and Tyclom, go there, and murder the Winter Hunters, their time and their hopes are over, spring is never coming, and only by removing the hope they foolishly promote can humanity go forward, you’ve steel ready to face bronze, kill them, kill them all,” Edmund raised his head high, “Show the people that it is the Dark Stalkers who will protect them.”

  The men in the circle all drew their steel swords and held them to their chests, taking on their sacred duty to wipe out the last remnant of false hope the people would be poisoned with.