Echoes Of A Gloried Past (Book 2) (30 page)

C
HAPTER
19

PRINCES & KINGS

COLIND stood on the deck of the Raven, watching as Rexel’s airship yard grew smaller. They were heading toward a neutral meeting place between Rexel and Zsensibar, escorting Prince Jopher in hopes of winning support from his father the king. The boy had grown much according to Cyrus. Aaron’s influence no doubt. 

There were six airships with them, bringing their total to seven. All had been upgraded with the help of the Hythariam, and the newly promoted Admiral Nathaniel Morgan of the Free Nations Army. Morgan was using their little trip as an excuse to put the airships through their paces and practice coordinating attacks and maneuvers. Prince Jopher had taken to sailing the skies and had requested to study under the admiral, to which Morgan agreed, and joked about needing more help in the kitchens peeling potatoes. Jopher’s face grew red with embarrassment, and Morgan had commissioned the young prince as an officer in the army. 

The Free Nations Army was composed of troops from Rexel and its neighboring kingdoms, as well as former Shandarians, with more people joining every day. Colind and Reymius had often spoke of uniting the kingdoms while allowing for their independence. The Safanarion Order had made some progress toward this, but the people of Safanar hadn’t been ready before the fall of Shandara. Now, almost twenty-five years later with the power of the High King and the Elitesmen running virtually unchecked, their eyes had opened to the fact, that their world would have been a much better place had Shandara not perished. 

Colind let the echoes of a gloried past go and focused on the now. He wasn’t sure how Zsensibar’s King, Jopher’s father, would react to his son’s enlistment into the military. He hoped they could win their support as the kingdom of Zsensibar held the second-largest army in their part of the world and mines rich in metals and raw materials that they will need. Being located south of the Waylands, home of Rexel, afforded Zsensibar to be able to avoid most skirmishes with the High King. Cyrus had told him that Zsensibar’s army was well trained despite the questionable practices observed in the kingdom. They practiced a harsh class system of government that left most common people little more than indentured servants. While they didn’t outright call them slaves, they could be nothing else in Colind’s mind. The Hythariam would be reluctant to share their knowledge with them, and Colind knew Aaron would never approve, but they needed Zsensibar’s support. He could see how easily their efforts to save Safanar from invasion could be thwarted if the nations of this world didn’t unite.

Colind felt the bottom drop away from his stomach as the ship rose higher into the air and dodged to the side. Tersellis, the Hythariam ambassador, referred to the coordinated airship maneuvers as drills. Well, these drills were going to cause his breakfast to spew all over the well polished deck, which wouldn’t help his legendary status in the eyes of the crew. 

The enhancements to the ship had included smaller maneuvering engines that helped steer the airship with precision. While the airships could never maneuver as precisely as what the Hythariam’s had in Hathenwood, they were a marked improvement over what previously existed.

The heavier forward and aft engines propelled the ships forward. With the additional engines, more yellow crystals were put in place to allow the airships to remain in the air despite the heavier load. Tersellis hinted at future airships that didn’t require a cell or balloon to keep the ship in the air, but with the timeframe they had, he doubted that any would be ready in time. There were caches of weapons throughout the ruins of Shandara that had not seen the light of day since before the fall, and Colind hoped there were things there that they could still use. Anything that could give them an edge. Iranus was investigating the ruins of Shandara, but he suspected they needed Aaron to actually open the weapons caches.

Colind lifted his eyes to the west where half a world away, Khamearra lay and within its capital city the Heir of Shandara had traveled. He kept his frustration in check because part of him felt that he should be by Aaron’s side, but they all had a part to play and his required him to be here at this moment. Still, he found it increasingly unsettling that Mactar was out there and he yearned to seek him out. They had unfinished business, and he counted it a fair trade to give his life up to take out Mactar. Safanar would be better off without him. Then there was Tarimus, his son. Almost nothing remained of the boy, Tarimus, but he was still his son, Colind admonished to himself. No amount of time or deeds done would ever change that, but unlike before the fall, he could see the evil that had been in Tarimus. His imprisonment left him with little else to do, and Colind had lost count of how many times he cursed his own foolhardiness for denying the truth before his eyes. Tarimus had always been power hungry and ambitious, but his intentions had been aligned with the Safanarion Order, which was the preservation of this world. He could blame Mactar for bringing Tarimus into his web, but deep down he blamed himself. He was Tarimus’s father, and whatever failings were part of his son held an undeniable connection to himself. Even now, after all that has happened, Colind still struggled to think of something that he could have done differently that could change what Tarimus has become. In the end, he knew that the path of what ifs would lead to nowhere, but he still couldn’t help wanting to know why and the only way he would get any answers was to face his son again. The thought of facing Tarimus again burned like acid in his mouth. It was his duty to bring Tarimus to justice for the part he played in the destruction of Shandara. Tarimus's dark betrayal by aligning with the High King and Mactar, causing the death of thousands of Shandarians, was left to him to address. Better himself than Aaron. He owed Aaron that much at least.

“My Lord Guardian,” Jopher said behind him.

Colind turned to see Jopher in a blue officer’s uniform standing proudly before him. There was not a hint of the youthful arrogance in his eyes, only the confidence and character one has through achievement which commanded Colind’s respect.

“My Lord, Prince,” Colind replied.

“Please, no my Lord,” Jopher replied. “I’m just Lieutenant Jopher of the Free Nations Army.”

Colind suppressed a smile. “As you wish, Lieutenant.”

Jopher nodded. “The admiral wishes for you to join him on the observation deck off the wheel house.”

“I am, of course, at the admiral’s service,” Colind answered and gestured for Jopher to lead the way. “How are you settling in to your new role?”

Jopher walked ahead, addressing Colind as he went. "Honestly, my Lord Guardian, I love it. Never before had I felt part of something. To be a member of a team. Doing my part, knowing that others depend upon me, and that I in turn depend upon them to do their duty.”

Colind smiled at the boy’s eagerness and wondered how many other princes could benefit from the disciplined training that Jopher was receiving. Aaron had unknowingly started him on this path. Why not include princesses as well? It would not do to discriminate based upon gender, Colind mused, and took a mental note to make the recommendation to Cyrus and Morgan later on. 

“No need to be so formal with me. You can simply use my Lord and do away with all this ‘My Lord Guardian’ business,” Colind said.

Jopher nearly tripped looking back at him and decided a nod was better than trying to speak, but then said, “As you wish, my Lord.”

The deck of the Raven had its usual goings-on with members of the crew doing their utmost to ensure that this trip went smoothly. They had a reputation to uphold, as they were the first ship to be upgraded, which paled in the comparison to them actually journeying to Shandara and back again. Colind glanced to the other ships in close proximity. The sailors appeared significantly smaller at this distance, but they moved with the same sense of urgency. Perhaps the discipline of these so-called drills do affect the performance of a crew. It had been a lifetime since he had to lead men in such a fashion and his skills were a bit rusty to be honest. He was a man out of time, and in quiet moments, he wondered if he would ever really find his bearings in a world that had clearly moved beyond him. None of the old faces were there. He missed his dear friend Reymius all the more after learning what the Drake had done to them. Knowing that Cassey was still caught in its web. Iranus said at this point there was nothing left of the Lady Cassandra, his dear friend Reymius’s, wife, as she had been fully assimilated by the Nanites. Had Reymius known what had befallen his wife, Colind doubted he would have left even with what had happened to his daughter, Carlowen. They just didn’t know what would happen at the time. Reymius must have believed that Cassandra had died to protect them.

“My Lord,” Jopher said, and Colind looked up. “It is just through here,” Jopher finished, and they came to a gray door. Jopher opened the door and waited for Colind to enter.

Admiral Morgan looked up from a table strewn with maps. His gray hair tied back and his blue officer's uniform with its gold bars upon the shoulders shone brightly. Morgan gave a nod to Colind and looked at Jopher. “Thank you, Lieutenant. Please remain outside until I call you back in,” Admiral Morgan said.

Tersellis, Vaughn, and Garret were already in the room along with senior officers that he didn’t know.

“We should make the meeting point in a little under an hour,” Morgan said.

Colind’s eyes widened in shock. He knew the new ships were fast, but didn’t really expect the improvements to yield what would normally have taken at least a day or two by airship condensed into an hour.

“Impressive,” Colind said.

Morgan’s neatly trimmed gray beard lifted into a half grin. “I thought you’d appreciate that, my Lord.”

Colind felt a slight shudder beneath his feet and saw the clouds outside the windows begin to move quickly by.

“We’ve engaged the new engines,” Morgan said proudly. “The crystals powering them are fully charged and will remain so on a day like today. With the help of our Hythariam friends, the stored capacity of the crystals will allow us to operate at full power through the whole night and much into the next day if needs be.”

“That’s how they should work,” Tersellis said. “I expect that we may see better performance, but we won’t know that until we test more.”

“Understood,” Morgan acknowledged. “Colind, are you able to advise us on how best to deal with the King of Zsensibar?”

With Cyrus remaining at Rexel, this left Colind the most senior among them to deal with the king. Before his imprisonment, he had dealt with many princes and kings.

“I’m going to continue to follow suit of the young Lord of Shandara,” Colind said. “I’m going to be direct, as I don’t have time to be drawn into long negotiations with the King of Zsensibar.” Colind finished and again found his gaze drifting toward the window.

Vaughn frowned. “What is it?" he asked.

They all glanced out of the window and then returned their gaze toward Colind.

Colind had sucked in his bottom lip. “I’m not sure. I’m growing more worried about the group in Khamearra. We have not heard back from them in over a day.”

Tersellis brought out what the Hythariam called a comms device. “We know they are still alive and are in Khamearra,” he said nodding to the device.

Colind frowned. “I’m glad the dots are where they should be, but I know something is not right in here,” he said, pointing to his heart. “When we finish with Zsensibar I aim to make a detour to Khamearra if I need to.”

The room grew silent, and Tersellis put the comms device away.

Morgan spoke first. “We can head to Khamearra now if you believe they are in danger. I’m certain we can calculate the best speed … ”

Colind held up his hand. “I don’t know if they are in any more danger today than they were yesterday. It’s a feeling I have, but I don’t want to take away from our efforts here and what you need to be doing has to be done back at Rexel.”

“How will you get to them in time?” Vaughn asked.

Colind smirked. “Trust in that this old man still has a few tricks up his sleeve. And I assure you that I can get there faster than any ship if I must.”

The people of Safanar took his claim at face value, but he could tell the Hythariam were doubtful. 

“Iranus sent me a message earlier,” Tersellis said. “They’ve been exploring the ruins of Shandara and marking places of interest. There is a lot of ground to cover and the Ryakul frequent the area in coordinated patterns as if the beasts are on patrol.”

“That’s because they are under control,” Garret said grimly. “The Drake has some measure of control over the Ryakuls. The only thing that seems to break the Drake’s control is when there are dragons in the area.”

Tersellis’s brow furrowed in thought. “Why is that, do you think?”

Garret shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not sure to be honest, but it sends them into a frenzy. We’ve seen it first hand, during our last journey on board the Raven.”

“So all we need are some dragons to help us with the Ryakul problem,” Tersellis said.

Colind shook his head. “The dragons are creatures of great intelligence and have roamed Safanar long before man ever did. They are worthy of our respect.”

Tersellis held up his hand. "I meant no offense, but if they are already natural enemies why wouldn’t they help us?”

“It would seem that way wouldn’t it,” Colind said. “The dragons numbers are few now. I’m not sure they would help us even if they wanted too. Did Iranus say anything else about Shandara?”

Tersellis nodded. “They were able to confirm the state of the barrier, and Aaron was correct. The barrier is deteriorating fast. Something twists the landscape down to the core around that place and it is spreading.”

Vaughn frowned. “Spreading? What do you mean?”

Tersellis was about to answer, but Colind cut him off. “What he means is that the barrier is tethered to this world and Hytharia. The shield upon the barrier on our side is tied to the energy that binds this world together. But the drain and the state of Hytharia is shifting things out of balance. Aaron was right. Time has indeed been growing short.”