Bound to Survive (The Magic Within Book 1) (12 page)

Mary could understand his turmoil. ‘Do you have any idea how Albert and Rose will react to your return?’

‘They always knew this time would come, Mary. They have loved Christopher as their own and I expect them to do what is right and respect the choice he makes just as I will. He has a great responsibility. Will he choose to rise up against the oppression he’s known all his life, or will he take the road most travelled and make the best of his circumstances? I’m hopeful he’ll choose to unite the people and lead them in a rebellion to take back our lands. Of course each man’s destiny lies with himself and it’ll be up to the people to choose how they continue to live.’

It was late and Mary made Henry a bed near the fire where he’d stay warm. He tossed and turned for hours as he thought of Christopher until he finally fell asleep.

Early the next morning Henry prepared to continue on to The Dale. After a brief farewell and promises from the Bartholemews to come if Henry or Christopher needed them, Henry was on his way. It’d take him until evening to reach the home where Christopher had spent the majority of his life. Henry thought a lot on the journey about how he’d tell Christopher all that he needed to know and he wondered how long his grandson would need to come to terms with the truth of what had happened to his family. Henry was unsure about a lot of things, but one thing he knew was that he loved his grandson more than life itself and would abide by any choice he made.

It was early evening when he rode up the path that led to Albert and Rose’s home. Soon he’d be reunited with Christopher. He could feel the power that emanated from the sphere inside the box. Christopher’s essence knew it’d come home.

Henry sat on his horse outside and watched the glow of the candles as they shone through the windows. He was glad he’d placed Christopher with Albert and Rose. They’d been a wonderful family for him to grow up with.

Christopher had finished out in the workshop and locked up for the evening. As he walked towards the house, he saw a figure astride a horse. As he neared he could tell it was a man and that he watched the house.

Who would be
watching them? Had someone found out about the meetings between his
friends and himself?
He walked towards the stranger.

‘Who are you? What is your business here?’

The man on the horse turned to look in his direction. There was silence as the man on the horse gathered his wits. ‘My name’s Henry,’ he said. ‘I’ve come to see you, Christopher.’

Albert opened the door and peered out into the darkness. ‘What’s going on out here?’

‘It’s Henry, Albert.’

‘Come in, Henry, we’ve been waiting for you. Wasn’t sure when you’d be here. Christopher, take the horse to the barn and settle her for the night,’ Albert said.

Christopher was taken aback.
Who was this man his uncle had expected?
‘Yes, Uncle,’ Christopher said as
Henry dismounted and unstrapped his blanket and saddlebags from his mare. Henry thanked Christopher and followed Albert into the house while Christopher led the horse off towards the barn.

Arnak stormed out of his father’s room, and as he left he called to the men who now were his own.

‘Prepare the carriage. I leave at dawn to see Athena.’

‘My Lord,’ Jefferson, his father’s personal guard, said and he chose his words with care. ‘We can’t leave yet. Arrangements need to be made for your father’s body to be prepared and sent off to the Other World.’

Arnak stopped. He turned and stared at Jefferson. ‘Have my men build him a pyre, up on top of the cliff where my mother was sent to her maker. We leave at dawn!’

‘Yes my, Lord, it’ll be done,’ Jefferson said as his eyes sought the sanctuary of the floor and Arnak walked away.

Just before the sun rose to warm the silent city of Reist, Lord Arnak and his men stood on top of the cliff that overlooked the resting place of his grandfather, mother and now his own beloved father. All was ready and Arnak’s men waited in silence. The funeral pyre had been built, many men had worked through the night to see that it was done and his father lay nestled atop, dressed in his finery. His golden robe glistened in the last beams of moonlight and soon the sun would begin its ascent into the sky.

Arnak walked over to the drum near the base of the pyre where a small fire burnt to light the torch. He took hold of the
resinous wood
and placed it in the heat, where the flames quickly took hold of the flammable material. Arnak stared at his father’s body, motionless inside the formation.

‘Father, for the love of our family, I will avenge you!’ he said. Then he touched the torch to the structure and the flames greedily licked at the dry wood. His men came forth and lit the pyre on all sides so it would burn evenly, and the flames devoured the structure and caught hold of all they touched. Within minutes the whole pyre roared to life and Arnak turned and made his way to his carriage. As he passed the garrison of men that were to escort him to see the Sorceress in the Mystic Swamps he threw his gloves at them.

‘We leave now!’

Athena sat in her bedroom in front of the mirror. She brushed her hair to make sure her appearance was suitable for her visitor. As she sat there and looked at her reflection, she knew he sat at the table and waited for her. He waited to tell her yet again of his desire for power and vengeance.

At the age of twenty-two Athena was a vision of beauty. Her long blonde hair fell just past her shoulder blades and was so straight that it seemed as if a thousand tiny weights held it down. Her fringe had been cut in a blunt line which sat above her eyebrows and framed her face. When she felt she looked her best, she moved to her gown which hung on the door of the closet. She slipped the gown over her head and enjoyed the feel of the silk as it caressed her skin. It hung low over her breasts to expose her neck and the majority of her shoulders and the fabric cleaved to her youthful body. The embossed leather belt pulled the material of the dress in and it fell from her waist in soft folds to rest upon the floor. Its sleeves moulded to her upper arms and fell away at the elbows to billow and float around her wrists. The gown was the colour of sapphires and it matched her eye colour and enhanced her features all the more. A single moonstone adorned the leather choker she wore around her neck. It glowed beautifully in the flicker of the candles that surrounded her.

Athena stepped out from behind her bedroom curtain and walked into the room at the front of the building.

He sat at the table where she performed her readings. She could tell by his agitation that this wasn’t just another visit. Her voice purred as she spoke. ‘Arnak, what can I help you with this time.’

‘Athena, Lord Antrobus is dead!’ he said. She heard the sorrow in his voice and was taken aback by this news.

‘Did he suffer much?’

‘Yes, Athena, he suffered. Just as he’s always suffered.’

Athena bowed her head and she took the Lord by the hand. ‘I’m sorry for your loss,’ she said and gazed at him with genuine concern. ‘How can I help you, Lord Antrobus?’

‘I’m Lord now, but I won’t be known as another Antrobus. While I may still carry the name, I, from this time forward, will be known only as Arnak.’

‘As you wish, Lord Arnak.’ She looked at him and somehow he’d changed. This wasn’t the boy that had come to her before. He was now a man, not the young lad that had come before her many times to half-heartedly seek vengeance. He now had a set look to his face, a determination that wouldn’t waver.

‘What do you desire, my Lord?’

He looked into her eyes and saw the tenderness within them. ‘You know why I’m here. I seek the path. The path of vengeance to make those who dishonoured the family pay, and pay dearly. I want them to rue the day they cast the Antrobus’ out of the lands of Solencia. I want those at the Keep to bend before me in fear and quake in their shoes. I want to rule it all and rule it with you, Athena.’

Athena smiled at him. ‘But you know there is a price to pay for this information and guidance.’

‘I know, Athena, you’ve told me before.’

‘So are you ready to pay it and sell your soul for all eternity to the one who rules the great magic of the Underlands?’

‘Are you?’ Arnak said and then he reached out to tenderly touch her cheek.

‘I already have, dearest brother. I already have.’

As Clarence rode back to Canameer from the Caves of Choice, he thought of all that lay before Christopher and Henry. Theirs would be a difficult time. Henry would be unknown to his only family and he’d have to remain anonymous to Christopher in order to keep him safe.

Clarence arrived at the Chancellor’s manor where the garrison guarded the gates dressed in their uniforms. Clarence was surprised at how flimsy the metal looked.

‘Open the gates for the Chancellor’s Advisor,’ the guard at the gate called.

Promptly the gates were opened and Clarence passed through. As he rode up to the manor he noticed that the people from the town were armed. Clarence didn’t like the idea of the town’s people in battle with an army. They’d had no formal training and he assumed that the horde they expected had. These people were the shopkeepers, the blacksmiths and the farmers that lived and worked in Canameer. Clarence could understand their willingness to fight and protect their town, but the people would have little or no chance. Clarence hoped the Chancellor would listen to reason. Even the town’s garrison was only for show. Yes they trained, but their skills were used to entertain the crowds in the annual gala or lead celebrations in the town. They’d never been put to the test of a real battle before.

Clarence dismounted and the stable boy took his horse. He walked up to the front doors and made his way to the Chancellor’s office, on the upper floor of the house. He knocked on the door and was bid to enter. The Chancellor didn’t look pleased.

‘Where’ve you been?’ the Chancellor said as he slapped a handful of papers down on his desk.

‘I’d important things to attend to, Chancellor Evans,’ Clarence said.

‘What could be more important than our town? We need to prepare to defend ourselves against these barbarians who are plundering the land.’

Clarence ignored his question and asked his own. ‘Why do you have the people of the town armed to fight? They stand a better chance if they surrender.’

‘Nonsense, Clarence. The people have a right to fight for what is theirs.’

‘How can you say that? The people are untrained in the art of warfare. They stand little chance of survival. Their best option is to surrender peacefully to stay alive.’

‘I’ll not have it, Clarence, I tell you. If you interfere in this matter, I’ll have you held under guard in your room. I don’t want you to lead the people down another path. They want to fight for what is theirs.’

Clarence couldn’t believe what he’d heard. He tried one last time. ‘Please, Chancellor Evans, as your Advisor I implore you to think. You’ll lead the people into a situation where they’ve no hope of survival. It’ll be a blood bath and the people deserve the right to choose.’

‘I’m the Chancellor and I govern these people! I say they shall fight and protect what is ours. You’ll not interfere, Clarence!’

There was no chance to reason with the Chancellor. He was determined to have the people fight. Clarence was disheartened and he left his office. He sought out his room and changed his clothes. He dressed in simple trousers and a linen shirt. As he pulled on his leather boots he thought of the day ahead and what it could possibly hold. Then he stopped. What was the Chancellor going to do to him that the approaching army wouldn’t? He set his mind to task, and grabbing his cloak he rushed out of the manor onto the grounds. He walked around and spoke with the people to persuade them not to fight. If they were to raise a sword to attack, or at best defend themselves, they’d be sure to fall under another’s weapon. Some people were of like mind as the Chancellor and some were unsure what they should do. Clarence advised them the best he could and if the time came and they changed their minds they should lay down their weapons and find somewhere safe to hide.

A horn sounded in the distance. The garrison rushed to prepare as they now knew the horde approached. The drums pounded and could be heard in the distance as the army’s feet pounded the earth, in time to the beat. Lookouts were posted on makeshift towers of crude construction. They peered out from their posts to see the army approach en masse. Some travelled on steeds, but most marched in formation and carried their weapons of war.

At the front of the army, two riders carried the banners of their leader. The material flapped in the breeze as the horses galloped towards their destination and left behind them a cloud of dust as their hooves dug into the earth. High in the breeze the golden material of the banners flapped and briefly showed the red embroidered insignia of a snake, the emblem of the household of the Antrobus.

The men who stood watch in the towers called down to the people below.

‘To arms! To arms!’ the guards shouted as the horde drew into sight. The army separated into three groups, two large and one small. The small group headed into the town while the larger wings veered off to the left and to the right. Their mission was to surround the town.

Within this smaller group Lord Arnak and the Sorceress Athena rode their magnificent stallions. These massive beasts strode forward, their great hooves thrust into the earth’s crust with each step.

The garrison worked to organise the people into some sort of order, but they’d no idea what to expect. Fear and terror struck some of the townspeople and they dropped their weapons and ran to find their families.

Clarence ushered the women, children and any men who would listen towards the back of the estate’s grounds in hopes they’d be able to breach the walls and escape before it was too late.

The army thundered towards the town and screamed out their war cries as they came. As Arnak and Athena rode through Canameer, they noticed the absence of activity on the streets and they continued down the road which led to the gates of the Chancellor’s manor. The garrison’s soldiers who’d been posted at the gates stood with their weapons drawn and were the first to fall. Many inside the confines of the estate saw how easily these soldiers were taken down. A quick blow was all it took from the heavy weapons the army held. Fierce men clad in heavy armour rode up to the walls of the estate and dispatched all who stood in their way.

Most of the town’s people held their places as the garrison’s leader shouted his orders. A few dropped their weapons in fear and hoped it wasn’t too late to escape the army as it gathered.

Captain Royston Hark led the onslaught. He stood outside the gates and bellowed his orders.

‘Open the gate in the name of the new Lord of these lands.’ The men inside the estate stood their ground. Royston ordered his men to break the chains. They began to hack at the steel that held the gates closed. They swung their battle axes against the metal that stood between them and the people beyond. Before long the chains gave way under the constant onslaught of their steel and then his soldiers poured through the gates. All inside who raised weapons to the invaders were slaughtered with little effort. Only a few men had enough skill to combat the onslaught and then they didn’t last long, as the sheer number that crushed their way through the gates over ran those inside. The soldiers dispersed around the grounds to gather the people as they tried to flee.

Lord Arnak and Athena rode through the entrance to the grounds as the rest of their army rampaged through the town.

Arnak’s horse danced around as it felt its rider’s rage build. ‘Where’s the town’s leader?’

None left could speak. Fear drove them to remain silent.

Arnak jumped from his horse’s back and grabbed the man closest to him by the front of his shirt. He drew him in and the man could see this tyrant’s rage as it pulsed through this veins. Arnak spat in the man’s face as he yelled, ‘Where’s your leader?’

The man was terrified as this fierce warrior dressed in thick leather armour filled his vision. ‘In the manor,’ the man finally stuttered.

Arnak threw him to the ground and walked towards the manor house. His men had already dragged those who had been cowering inside out onto the steps and cast them below into the courtyard. Soldiers from Arnak’s army had scoured through the manor’s grounds and searched for those who’d tried to flee. Many had managed to climb to safety over the walls, but Clarence was still inside the grounds helping the people as they fled.

The soldiers ripped people down as they tried to climb to freedom and tore them from the arms of their loved ones. Any who rose up and fought against the army were dispatched quickly, while others were herded into groups.

As they gained control, the army manoeuvred the people around to the front of the manor.

Arnak stood at the top of the stone landing and looked down at the crowd before him. He stood with his feet set apart, his sword drawn from the leather scabbard that hung at his side. The tip of the steel rested on the ground in front of him, while his hands balanced on the hilt. To his right, Athena waited, draped in a long black cloak that pooled on the floor at her feet. She’d covered her head with the hood to conceal her face from the people’s gaze.

Chancellor Evans was dragged from the manor and placed in front of the new Lord.

‘Kneel,’ the soldier behind him yelled.

Chancellor Evans wouldn’t kneel. He wouldn’t concede to these tyrants. Two soldiers forced him down before Arnak. But before Arnak had a chance to speak, Athena saw Clarence.

‘Wait!’ Her right hand flicked out from her cloak and red bolts of magic shot from her hand. She’d seen Clarence in the crowd that cowered before the stairs. Her magic caught him off guard and penetrated his body. It wrapped itself around him and held him prisoner. Her magic burned through Clarence as he was trapped, barely able to draw breath. Unable to move he stood there frozen.

‘Bring him to me!’ Athena said as she pointed Clarence out in the crowd. Soldiers dragged him towards the bottom of the stairs and dumped him before her. As Athena looked down at Clarence she held him with her power and then she turned her attention to her brother.

So that’s how they’d attacked the Keep. She was a Sorceress and she held the power of dark magic.
Clarence could feel it burn through his body.

Arnak looked back to the Chancellor. ‘So, Chancellor of the manor, leader of the people.’ He mocked the man before him. ‘Will you kneel before me and concede to my rule to spare your life?’

‘I’ll never bow before a tyrant like you!’ the Chancellor said.

The soldier who stood behind Chancellor Evans struck him across the back of the head with his studded leather glove and knocked him forward. His head crashed onto the stone stairs and the impact split his forehead open. Blood gushed from the wound as he struggled back up to his knees in front of this man who would be ruler.

‘Obviously you’ve little value for your life, old man,’ Arnak said.

Before the Chancellor had time to reply, Arnak whipped his sword through the air to sever Chancellor Evans’ head from his body. The head bounced as it struck the ground and rolled down the stairs towards the people gathered below while his body crumpled in front of the new Lord. The people were shocked beyond belief at this sudden act of reprisal and it reinforced his orders. Submit or die!

Unable to move, Clarence watched all the horror from where he lay slumped at the bottom of the stairs.

Arnak then turned his attention to Clarence. ‘What do we have here, dear sister?’

‘He’s a Wizard my Lord. We should kill him now and be done with him. He probably escaped from the Keep.’

Arnak walked down the steps towards Clarence. The soldier who’d brought Clarence forward raised his voice. ‘Kneel before your Lord and Master!’ Clarence struggled to kneel but the magic that held him was so strong, he could barely move.

‘Please, sister,’ Arnak said. ‘Let him kneel.’ Athena released her hold on him just enough so he could manoeuvre himself onto his knees and then she again tightened her restraint. Arnak leant forward. ‘Who be you, Wizard?’

‘I’m Clarence Musat. Advisor to the now dead Chancellor of this town.’

‘And are you a Wizard?’

‘Yes, I trained at the Keep before I was requested here.’

‘I see,’ Arnak said.

‘Brother, you should kill him now!’

‘Why? Do you fear this man you hold prisoner?’

‘No, my Lord. I feel it’s better to deal with him now and be done with him.’

‘But, Athena, he’s the Advisor of this humble town. I’d like him to remain here in his role.’ Athena stared at her brother.
Had he lost his mind?
‘Yes, dear sister. He must stay on as Advisor.’ He then directed his next declaration to Clarence and the people as they watched.

‘This man here, your Advisor, will stay on in his role,’ the Lord said and then he laughed. He spoke directly to Clarence. ‘Yes, you’ll be Advisor, to all the rats that live in the sewers beneath the manor house. I sentence you to live the rest of your life as prisoner here, held in the dungeon, if they’ve one.’ He laughed again. ‘Once a month you’ll be paraded around the town square, to remind the people that it is I who now rules here.

‘I am the new Lord! Lord Arnak! I rule!

‘All will submit to me or meet the blade!’ Arnak said. ‘No Wizard will stand in my way!’ Arnak held his arm out towards Athena. ‘The great Sorceress here is more powerful than any Wizard you have left! Look how she holds your Wizard prisoner.’ Arnak looked to Silas Remon. ‘Take him away and find somewhere to house him.’ Then he spoke to Royston Hark’s men. ‘Gather all the male children and assemble them here in front of me.’