Mighty Hammer Down (50 page)

Uritus sat down heavily in the nearest
chair. "I don’t know. I think it went well. I picked a much easier
plan than faking my death. I simply had another Mage wear my old
robes--the ones trimmed in red. I had him on the balcony with me so
that people will never assume that I am the real Red Master Mage. I
explained that in this time of great distress, we will be working
side by side with the Mages."

Battus scratched the back of his neck.
"That seems a little flimsy to me. It doesn’t sound like you handed
the Mages any power at all."

"Well of course it doesn’t. I told you
before that I can’t just surprise all of Medora with a change like
that. Change must come slowly; if you cook them too fast, they will
jump out of the pot. But regardless of their level of acceptance,
this is the way things are going to be. Soon I will not make any
decisions as Emperor, and only as a Mage."

"But won’t the people notice that the
robes of Inshae are not the robes they saw on the balcony? Won’t
they see that something is strange?"

Uritus threw his head back and
laughed. "Oh Battus, you old fool. You should know by now that the
public is nothing but an organized cluster of idiots. If they are
too stupid to see that the Mages now run the Empire of Medora, then
do you really think they are going to notice a tiny bit of red on
the edge of a sleeve? Besides, I couldn’t very well let any one of
my Mages wear the robes of Inshae."

"I suppose you’re right, Red Master,"
Battus said as he folded his hands. "What is it you called me here
for?"

"I spoke with Inshae a few hours ago.
He has commanded me to go personally to kill Rommus and his father.
I need you to watch over Brinn while I am gone. I will not be here
in Medora for a few days, but I cannot know how long I will be
gone."

"I will have my best soldiers escort
you Red Master."

"There is no need for that. I won’t be
traveling across the land. I’ll be leaving here as soon as we
finish speaking. In fact, come with me now so that I can be on my
way." he said as he stood up, pushing the wooden chair noisily back
as he did so.

"I beg your pardon, Red Master, but
how do you plan to travel if you are not going by land? Have you
found a way to fly in the air?"

Uritus smiled. "No, come with me and I
will show you. First let me put on the robes of Inshae."

Uritus went into the corner where he
had placed the robes in a drawer. He slipped them on over his
clothes and they walked out of the small room and down the elegant
halls of the Emperor’s Hall. He did not make any attempt to hide
his face, for he knew that with the hood up, his face was magically
hidden from any eyes the looked upon him. It was good for the
people to see a Legion Commander walking with a Mage anyway. It
dulled their fears and made them more comfortable with the coming
change. He didn’t speak however, for he feared that someone might
recognize his voice, and he did not want people to know that he was
a Mage--at least not yet.

They left the Emperor’s Hall and made
their way towards the nearest temple. Through the buildings he
could see the sun hovering near the horizon; its golden rays fading
to red and purple as the cool blues of night crept in overhead.
Soon a comforting darkness would blanket the land. He wondered if
Vindyrion was already much darker, being that it was farther east.
He would see for himself when he transported there.

They came to a temple in a matter of
minutes. He turned to Battus before he climbed the marble steps.
"Battus, I want the army busy. I can’t afford to have them aware of
what’s going on. Send most of them away from the city. Give them
some task to perform; whatever you can come up with. Send them to
the southern wall on a special mission or something. Be
creative."

"Yes Red Master."

Uritus started to climb the steps.
"Pay attention Battus. If I’m right, you should see me walk between
the columns, and as I turn around to walk back out, I should
disappear before your eyes."

When he reached the top he could feel
the power buzzing in the temple. It brought a smile to his face
knowing that there was yet another power at his disposal. He
confidently walked through the pillars and turned to his left. He
took a few steps and turned again, facing the sunset over the
rooftops. His smile widened as he saw the strange, liquid-like
light floating in front of him, framed by the marble columns. He
reached out and swept his hand through the flowing radiance, and it
swished through his fingers like the cool waters of the salty sea.
Beyond the light was the image of the city of Burnhamheade, waving
and shifting as the light moved in wavelike patterns. After a deep
breath, he stepped into the fluid mass of light and felt a surge of
power well up inside him, mirroring his growing pride.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rommus and Alana stepped out of the
light and into the town of Reyth. The sky was ablaze as the sun
dipped below the mountains, seeming to set the mighty range on
fire. After practicing a few times in Burnhamheade, Rommus had
decided to summon the full armor of Arius and appear to the people
of Reyth in the form of the god of war. If they would not listen to
a Medoran, they might listen to a god. Unfortunately there was no
one waiting at the temple like there had been before. He suddenly
realized how silly it was for him to expect people to wait there
all day, hoping to see a man appear.

The crimson glow of the sunset
reflected off of his sword and armor in a dazzling display of fiery
brilliance. He was amazed; not only at the craftsmanship of the
armor, but also its strange tricks it played with the eye. He had
noticed that only reds, oranges and yellows reflected off its
surface, and the sunset seemed to light the whole thing aflame. If
anyone would have been there to see it, it would have surely been
an intense experience. He sighed and took off the crested
helm.

"I hope Vohl has not been waiting
long," he said. "Do you see him anywhere?"

A long whistle came from the shadows
before she could answer. "Well where did you get that, Master
Rommus? I can’t imagine the gods handed that armor to
you."

"No, a Medoran came and attacked me
here earlier," he said as he watched Vohl’s figure emerge from the
darkness. "He didn’t say much, only that he wanted the sword and he
was going to kill me. Luckily I killed him first and took this
armor from him."

"I see," he said as he nodded. "Do you
know what the armor does?"

"I know how to summon it if that’s
what you mean. There’s a feeling I have in my stomach, and I can
elevate it somehow and call it. It came to me naturally as soon as
I put it on."

"No, I don’t mean that. Obviously you
can do that, but I mean its other ability. It can show your enemy
their fears in its reflections. Those images come to life before
the enemy’s eyes. I have never seen it happen, but I do remember it
being talked about back when the gods walked the earth. Since then
I have also heard that it is nothing but myth."

"I suppose we’ll find out soon enough.
Alana and I both noticed that the shine had an odd quality to it. I
have seen red armor before, mostly ceremonial armor made to look
like the armor of Arius. But it was always painted with a glossy
paint. It never shined like this does."

"Hey," Alana interrupted, "shouldn’t
we be calling it the armor of Rommus now?"

"Let’s not," Rommus said. "I told you
I am not like the gods. I don’t want any part of this. I only wear
this armor now so that no one else can use it against me. When this
war is over, I’ll destroy it along with the sword."

Vohl laughed a loud laugh as he held
his belly. "My friend, you cannot destroy those things. They were
made by the gods."

"Then we will hide them. We’ll send
them to the bottom of the ocean like your rulers did to your
people."

Vohl looked a little hurt. "Come now,
Master Rommus, you cannot tell me that you do not appreciate the
powers those things grant you. I don’t think you would want to be
rid of them if you really had the chance."

"I don’t know Vohl." he said as he
shook his head. "Forgive me for bringing up what has happened to
your people. I shouldn’t have said that. I wasn‘t
thinking."

"It’s all right Master
Rommus."

"Where are the horses?" Alana
asked.

"All three are at the stables down the
road. They needed food and rest from the hard ride all day, but we
need to get them as soon as possible."

She flipped her hair over her
shoulder. "Why? What’s the rush?"

"I guess you haven’t seen that," he
said as he pointed off to the southeast.

When they looked they were amazed at
what they saw. Even though darkness was coming, there was enough
orange light covering the plains and rolling valleys below them to
see the massive Medoran army marching towards Burnhamheade. They
were very distant, but the group was so large that they were
impossible to miss. Rommus knew that the enemy was most likely
aware of them and that the Medorans would not stop until it was too
dark to march any more. It was too risky to wait out there in the
open while the enemy made plans to attack.

"That is not 40,000 men," Rommus said
as he stared. "That must be four or five Legions."

"Yes I saw them when I arrived here a
little less than an hour ago. Burnhamheade is much lower than
Reyth, so I do not think that the Bhoors there can see them
yet."

"No, I don’t think so either. We’ll
ride out and meet them in the early morning. We don’t want to risk
surprising them in the dark."

Alana frowned up at him. "But Rommus,
how can you be sure where the army will be in the morning? And why
not just use the temples like we have been doing all
day?"

"The army will not reach Burnhamheade
this evening. They will stop at a pretty fair distance so that they
can avoid being detected. They will get as close as they can, but
they won’t march or attack in darkness. For that reason alone, we
can’t use the temples. There is no temple way out there on those
plains. We can see them from here; it won’t take that long to ride
there."

A wide grin creased Vohl’s chiseled
features. "So you do intend to fight in this war."

There was a brilliant flash of red
light that overpowered even the glow of the setting sun. Rommus had
let his grip on the magic slip and the armor disappeared, leaving
only the vambraces on his arms. "It’s all I have now Vohl. It’s not
the war that I desire; it’s the values that I wish to protect. I
won’t have the Bhoors destroying yet another nation with their
ridiculous ideology. I won’t step aside and let them ruin our
culture if I can do anything to stop it. I only hope that it’s not
too late for the Vindyri.

"But I know that the two of you
probably think differently. Alana, I know your beliefs are not as
extreme as mine. I know I am hardheaded and some might even
consider me an evil man for the things I believe. Rejecting people
for any reason is not looked upon as a noble thing, and most people
would probably reject me if they knew I felt so strongly about
keeping the Bhoors out. But there’s quite a bit of irony there.
Acceptance means that they have to accept me and my beliefs along
with the Bhoors and theirs; and I just don’t see that
happening.

"Vohl, I know you probably feel like
you have lost all hope. I know that the punishment that you suffer
is not a fair one. You probably feel like none of this is worth
fighting for. Even though my heart tells me that it is, I cannot
expect you two to have the same feelings that I have. I honestly
will not think any less of either of you if you ride away from this
battle and never look back. Your lives are your own, and you are
free to live them any way you choose."

Vohl put a hand on his shoulder.
"Master Rommus, you are wrong. I do have something left to fight
for. You know that we agree on many things, especially when it
comes to the rulers of man. I would not think of missing this war,
for you and the Medorans fight for all the things that I believe
in. I will follow you into battle, not as a man follows a god, but
as a friend follows a friend."

Alana answered next but she stared off
at the purple sunset. "You have me too Rommus. We have come a long
way together, and in our travels you have taught me things about
life; things I never thought about myself. I have seen how complex
things are, and yet you explain everything so plainly and simply.
You have changed me Rommus, and while I might not agree with you
all the time, I think I am becoming who I always wanted to be; and
it’s because of you. I can’t imagine not fighting alongside you in
this war."

Rommus tapped a thumb on the pommel of
his sword. "Okay you two, that’s enough already. Vohl, find us an
inn for the night, Alana and I need to find some kind of armor for
her if she is going to do any fighting. Hopefully one of these
shopkeepers has some and he’s not home for the evening already. I
suppose you don’t need armor being immortal, am I
right?"

"I need nothing but the weapons I
carry Master Rommus. Have you thought about the effect you will
have on both armies when they see you in the armor of
Arius?"