Chapter V

  Xavier dropped back into his chair, stunned. “What happened?” he asked.

  Tyrell looked at Darius and Aria suspiciously, before replying: “He’s been shot in the back at close range - probably an ambush. The message that you sent him to deliver is gone. In it’s place there was this.” He handed Xavier a piece of parchment.

  Xavier read it, turning pale as he turned it over to gaze at the back. Visibly shaken, he handed the paper to Darius

  The message read:

  “Don’t try to contact anyone for help again. Feldon is under our rule now. If you think that your precious Mercenary and his strumpet of a princess are going to stop us, think again. This is your last warning. Submit, or die.”

  Darius turned the paper over, his blood going cold. On the page, the large words ‘WANTED FOR MURDER’ were printed. Below the caption were two pictures. Elainna, peering over his shoulder gasped. Beside a picture of Aria, was his own face.

  Tyrell waited a moment for the shock to wear off, before asking Xavier “Do you want me to try to send another messenger?”

  Xavier thought deeply, weighing the options. “No, the roads are sure to be watched. I’m sure that the way north is cut off. Prepare your men, I feel they’ll probably attack tonight.”

  Darius glanced at Aria, catching her eye before saying, “We’re coming too. This is my home, even though I haven’t been here for a long time.”

  Xavier gestured for his aide, asking the assistant to assemble the town elders before returning to the group. “Darius,“ the village leader said finally, “why don’t you and Aria go home with Elainna. If there is any trouble, we’ll send for you.” Xavier turned to Tyrell as the town bell started to ring out. “As soon as all of the townsfolk are safely inside, close and bar the gates.” the Elder ordered.

  Elainna’s home lay in the southwestern edge of Feldon, near the massive walls that protected the village. Rankin wasn’t home when they arrived, and Elainna led Darius and Aria through the main room into a back bedroom where she thanked a neighbor for staying to watch the house. As the neighbor left, Elainna picked up a small cloth covered bundle, cradling it in her arms.

  Holding the blankets for them to inspect, she watched Darius intently. Nestled inside was an infant, not more than a few months old.

  “Say hello to your Uncle Darius, Mia.” she said, holding the baby up so that the baby could see her uncle. Mia stretched, yawning, before fixing Darius with bright eyes. The little girl giggled softly to herself as she stuffed a tiny fist in her mouth.

  “Darius never told me he had a Niece.” Aria said her eyes fixed on the infant.

  “That’s because he never knew.” Elainna replied. “Darius and I haven’t been in contact very much since you left Trideria. It’s been difficult trying to contact someone who’s not in the same place for very long.” she smiled, looking down at Mia lovingly. “But, you’re here now, so hopefully there’ll be time to catch up.”

  Darius looked down at his niece as if in a trance. Slowly, he reached out a hand, brushing a small lock of black hair away from her eyes. ‘For such a little thing’ he thought absently to himself, ‘she sure has a lot of hair.’

  Mia giggled, batting at his hand before grabbing a finger. She drew his hand to her mouth, gumming his fingers and softly cooing happily. Within moments she was fast asleep.

  “You always did have a way with children, Darius.” Elainna said as she removed his hand from Mia’s grasp. Gently, she lay the sleeping infant back in her crib before returning to the main room. Aria followed her out, but Darius remained behind for a few moments, watching the rise and fall of his niece’s small chest as she slept. Lost in thought, he finally turned to join his Sister and Aria in the cottage’s main room.

  The afternoon continued without event. An unease settled over the village as expectations of an imminent attack continued to mount. Word of the message on the ‘Wanted Poster’ swept quickly through the small community. The fears of the townspeople were allayed only slightly by the news that Darius had returned.

  Within an hour, the town was closed to all traffic, the roadway closed. The massive gates shut and barred with great wooden beams set in iron sockets. Everyone was in a heightened state of readiness, but still there was no sign of trouble. The six-o’clock watch was just beginning, when the quakes began....

  Darius was in the guardhouse, not far from Elainna’s home. He was speaking with Tyrell about possible attack points, and various weaknesses within the village. They ran outside as the ground began to move below their feet.

  The earthquake started with a trembling that shook the ground, building quickly into a rumbling roar. Windows shattered all over the village, and several homes collapsed in slow motion. As quickly as it had began, the quake subsided, and an eerie silence fell.

  Once the shaking had subsided, Darius ran straight for his sister’s home, desperate to ensure his family was still safe. Rankin met him at the door.

  “Everything’s fine.” he told Darius, “We’re a little shaken up, but aside from a few broken dishes, it’s nothing that can’t be fixed.”

  Darius looked around the inside of the cottage. The place was a mess, but Aria and Elainna were already in the process of cleaning up. Darius turned his attention back to Rankin as his brother-in-law requested, “Walk with me for a bit, please, Darius.”

  They walked through the deserted streets of Feldon in silence for a while, each lost in their own thoughts. Neither one of them wanted to re-open the hostilities that had always existed between them.

  Rankin finally broke the silence. “Darius, I know that we’ve never gotten along very well. Still, I wanted you to know that I never believed the lies that have been spread about you from Trideria. I also wanted to thank you for staying to help us now. I may have misjudged you in the past.”

  Darius stared into those calm brown eyes, trying to gauge the honesty behind the words. Rankin was about ten years older than Darius, with brown hair, and an average build.

  “After the village was destroyed,” Darius said with a sigh, choosing to answer honestly, “I couldn’t let those responsible just go free. I always felt that you should have helped in tracking the marauders down.” Darius looked around, his gaze drawn back to the cottage where Elainna and Rankin lived. Thinking of Elainna and Mia, Darius said, “I see now that you had more important things to take care of....”

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  Rankin smiled as he looked at his home. They were walking slowly back to the cottage now. “Your sister is a very special woman.” In the distance Aria was shaking dust and bits of broken crockery out of rugs on the front porch, a thoughtful expression on her face as she carried out the mundane task. “I think you may have found someone very special too.”

  Following his gaze, Darius watched Aria for a while. She had removed her ever-present armor, and had a white apron tied around her tunic. Several strands of red hair had fallen free of her blue hair band, and in the light of the setting sun she was a lovely vision of young womanhood.

  Darius was still trying to decide what to say in reply when the sound of war horns shattered the silence. At the same instant, another tremor began to rock the village.

  Their conversation forgotten, Rankin broke into a run toward his home, and Darius sprinted for the guardhouse. He knew now that Rankin would protect his sister and niece, so he could concentrate on the battle ahead. Turning back to the cottage briefly, Darius found Aria staring back at him. Her peaceful expression had been replaced by a look of grim determination as she returned his gaze. She nodded, removing the apron before heading inside the cottage to retrieve her armor and weapons. Their peaceful rest was over. It was time to return to the grim reality of life. As he returned to the guardhouse, Darius realized just how much he had become used to having her by his side. Rankin’s words kept running through his mind, as Aria’s delicate features seemed to float in front of him as he recalled Rankin's words. “...I think you may have found someone special too...”

  The guardhouse was empty, so Darius dashed up the stairways to the walkway that ran along the tops of the walls. The tremors were still shaking the village, and he lost his footing twice, barely catching hold of the rope railing to steady himself.

  In the center of the village, the bell was tolling, calling all able-bodied men to battle. The Armory had been opened earlier in the day, and weapons had already been distributed in preparation for this moment.

  Darius arrived at the top of the next flight of stairs and stepped out onto the walkway. The tremors had let up for the moment, and in the center of the village, smoke was rising as an overturned lantern set fire to one dwelling. Villagers were converging to douse the flames before they could spread.

  Tyrell was already on the walkway barking orders to his men as Darius approached. The war horns could be heard coming from the plains that stretched out before the town. In the dim twilight, movement could be seen, but it was hard to make out any details. Darius gazed around at their meager defenses. About forty hunters had been stationed with their longbows at the various guard towers along the perimeter wall, but there was a lot of wall to defend.

  The main gates seemed to be the most likely place that the attackers would try to breach the defenses. Below, Darius could see several of Tyrell’s men organizing a group of villagers armed with swords, bows, and various hand implements to hold off any attack that might make it through into the village.

  A scrape of metal brought Darius spinning around, as Aria ascended the staircase, still fastening her sword over her armor. The Council of Elders had decided that Tyrell, Darius and Aria would lead the defense of the village. This had agitated Tyrell until he realized how much the villagers looked up to Darius, and that the fact that he was fighting with them seemed to inspire them with confidence. She approached Tyrell and asked, “Have I missed anything? You weren’t planning on starting the party without me were you?”

  Tyrell hid his smile. He had heard a lot about the spitfire ex-princess, and was intrigued to find out if even half of the stories were true. “We haven’t been able to make out anything in this half-light...” he told her, ”...and even the twilight will be completely gone in momentarily. Until the moons rise, we’re going to have to wait for them to come to us.”

  “Olteon will rise first tonight...” Darius said, looking up at the sky “...but that’s a good two hours off. Khaltor won’t rise until after midnight.” A sentry approached the group to report. Nodding to Tyrell, she said, “Sir, several watch fires have been lit by the enemy out on the plain, they’re visible from the wall above the gate.”

  They followed the sentry up a ramp above the gate and looked out over the wall into the plain below. As they watched, more fires were lit, and they were able to catch their first glimpse of the enemy....

  Aria squinted into the distance at a scene straight out of her nightmares. She had heard Darius’ description of the twisted creatures from his encounters in the under-realms. With her first glimpses of the real thing in the dying twilight, she realized that descriptions didn’t do them justice.

  Lit by the the flickering firelight, figures could be seen that caused the viewer to look twice as the enemy ranks closed in on the village. Many of the creatures had human forms below the shoulders, but they were a madman’s twisted fantasy from the neck up. Aria saw beings with the heads of reptiles, tongues flickering at the scent of fear, their liquid black eyes reflecting the dancing flames. Elsewhere insect like things crept through the darkness, and the shadows themselves moved of their own accord with an unnatural blackness. Mixed in among these beasts, were evil-looking men; soldiers bearing the crests of half a dozen different units on their armor - deserters, mercenaries, and thieves alike.

  While they were taking in the scene before them from the top of the wall, an imposing man in black armor mounted on horseback approached the gate at the head of a column of mounted cavalry bearing the crest of Trideria. Aria gasped, and Darius realized that she too had recognized the rider.

  The column reached the gate and stopped, the riders looking up at the defenders atop the wall. The rider in the lead addressed them. “People of Feldon, my men approached you last week offering our protection for the village, which you so rudely rejected. It seems now that you may be in need of our assistance.” This comment brought snickers, and a few catcalls from a couple of the riders in the back of the cavalry. The leader continued unabated, “However, since this is such a large force that we’ll have to protect you from, our price has of course tripled, and you must agree to turn Feldon over to us.” he dismounted and bowed in mock deference. “We await your response, but I’m afraid that we may not be able to hold off the attack if you don’t respond soon.” another round of laughter came from the mounted riders as they waited, sure of the strength of their numbers.

  Darius raised a crossbow and sighted carefully before firing. The bolt hit the ground between the enemy leader’s feet, causing him to jump back. “There’s your answer Morsteck.” Darius called down to him. “Tell Count Lotch that Feldon will never submit to his threats.”

  Morsteck looked up at them, obviously delighted. “Darius!” he exclaimed, “My men told me you were probably cowering in there somewhere. I assume your murdering whore of a princess is in there too somewhere.” Addressing the villagers again he called out “People of Feldon, the original price that we asked for your protection will be sufficient, if you turn these two murderers over as a gift to your new Lord, Count Lotch.”

  “Go back where you came from.” Tyrell called out finally “We have over thirty longbows pointed at your hearts right now, and are perfectly willing to cut you down here, if you don’t leave immediately.”

  Morsteck’s face twisted in rage and he started to reply, but was interrupted by the sound of approaching hoof beats. A rider slid to a halt before him. “Lord Morsteck,” the defenders heard the new rider say. “You are needed back at the palace immediately. Malthorm had drawn lines to the north, and the Count has commanded that you ride to meet this new threat.”

  “Run along home like a good dog, Morsteck. Go back, and lick your Count’s feet.” Aria called down to him.

  Morsteck’s face reddened as he mounted his horse. Gesturing, he called one of his men forward and relayed orders in a low voice. “General Halgon, I leave you in command here.” looking up at the group assembled above the gate he said, “I want Darius’ head, but bring me the princess alive. I’ll want to enjoy dealing with her personally.”

  Raising his voice as he drew his sword, he called out. “Darius, I’m afraid I can’t personally watch you be cut down, but I want to leave you something to remember me by -- at least in the short time that you have left.”

  The archers atop the wall raised their bows and prepared to fire as Morsteck raised his sword. A gauntlet around the wrist of his sword arm suddenly glowed with a brilliant light, and the ground began to shake so violently that those atop the wall had to grab hold of something solid to keep from falling.

  Morsteck's horse reared in fright, and he struggled for a moment to regain control of the animal. The black armored knight spurred his mount hard before racing off to the east without looking back as the earthquake continued to gain in intensity. The great walls of the village began to wobble, and the sound of massive timbers splintering could be heard above the rumbling of the earthquake....