Rise of the Darekian's, The (17 page)

Luken dismounted from his horse, as Lord Galliss approached. The big man stopped in front of him, bowing deeply, "Your highness. I am Galliss, lord of these lands. May I introduce
my two sons Aric, and my youngest Darak." Each bowed their heads on introduction, though Luken could have sworn Darak appeared to sway slightly as if drunk. Luken in turn introduced the Lady Sarena and his son Taylor, to which the lord looked quite confused. Sarena and Taylor both dismounted, and true to form, his young son showed how much of a true gent he was by greeting each and bowing. Sarena gave a curtsy, though Luken did not like the way Darak was leering at her. Putting it from his mind, he let Lord Galliss continue his account on the state and progress of Easton.

Apart from the initial work being done on the doors for the bridge gatehouse, he had also people working on repairing the main wall around the city.
Although it was in a reasonable state, it needed some maintenance. He had also made a start on felling trees and sawing timber, but did not want to start on any building of the city until he had chance to discuss it with Luken. The man had certainly made a good start, in fact not only did he have so many helping, but also the man himself had rolled his sleeves up and was helping with the manual labour. Luken had thought of a number of ideas for rebuilding the city, though he would be the first to admit he was no expert architect. One thing he was very certain about was the city needed to be functional, over how pretty it may look. Usually any residence that housed royalty meant fancy buildings of massive proportions, he wanted wide cobbled streets with sewerage being put underground, homes and business to be built in straight lines. Realising his mind was running away with wild idea's he remounted his horse, and waited for Taylor and Sarena to do likewise.

The convoy of horses, animals and wagons continued slowly making its way over the bridge and into the area outside the walls. It was no use them yet moving into the city, there was little in the way of anything left, so until such time a huge camp was to be assembled on the lands outside the walls. Luken, Sarena and Taylor rode forward with a number of guards, advisors
and Lord Galliss followed on foot behind them.

As Luken had expected, like the bridge gatehouse, there was no sign of any doors, gates or portcullis, protecting the entry into the city. Another problem he would need to address as a priority.
Under the archway, with the noise of his horse's hooves echoing on the stone floor they emerged onto the main road into the city. The remains and outlines of what were once buildings were visible, and the main thoroughfare could still be made out. The cobbles of the street had been overrun by weeds, and pushed up out of position by the roots. The main route led directly to another walled area some way ahead of them, this he noticed was the route to the centre keep. Scanning left and right, he was surprised to see some walls of buildings still stood; but whether these could be repaired and used, yet he did not know. He would need to have them inspected by someone who knew more about such things than himself.

The one common fa
ctor, as far as he could see, were the large number of dense weeds and thistles, which now grew in abundance and covered virtually the entire area. His mind started visualising how he wanted the city to look once again, straight lines, wide streets, homes to be spaced out, simplicity and functionality. They rode further forward along what he assumed was the main street, Easton was not, or had not, been a huge city, one of the reasons for abandonment. When the fire had destroyed it years ago, the buildings had been built so crammed together, that once the flames had taken hold it had been impossible to control them. This was not a mistake to make a second time, 'New Easton' that is the name Luken had lined up for it, would have its buildings laid out properly. The remains of footings, not square in shape as you would expect, gave evidence of how crammed spaces had led to the erection of peculiar shaped buildings to fit into the spaces.

The wall around the keep was of dark or near black coloured stone, whether this was due to its age or the fire that had burned around it Luken did not know. The group had to dismount once more, as the
entrance into the keep yard was full of rubble, and though probably passable on horseback, was not worth the risk in causing injury to one. The yard itself was again, cobbled stone and as before, overgrown by grass and weeds, making it a little haphazard under foot if not careful. The buildings in the yard had been built of stone, probably, Luken thought, the old stables and barracks. These were in slightly better condition than any he had seen, though they themselves were nothing more than shells of former buildings. The roofs had completely gone, as had any sign of doors or windows.

The keep itself, was probably the oldest structure for miles around, as Lord Galliss gave a brief history. The original
being built long before the city or its walls ever saw the light of day. Over the years, it had been continually added to, firstly it was walled itself, and then as other structures grew up around that, they themselves were walled in. It was, he told them, the reason why all the stonework was of a different colour, the darker stone of the building before them had been sourced from the immediate area, and then as more was needed it had meant it being brought in from other areas. The keeps walls had been moved by horse and cart from surrounding areas, and then finally the outer wall had had its stone sourced from the nation of Murati of all places. Apparently, hundreds of barges had been used to transport them up the coast, into the estuary and along the river until they reached here.

History lesson over, Luken wanted to look closer at the keep building itself
. Stepping gingerly up three wide steps with Taylor holding his hand, he poked his head into the darkness within, waiting for his eyes to adjust. The first thing he noticed was the size, it was very large, and where the windows had been, shafts of daylight gave some illumination to aid his vision. Lord Galliss stepped forward to join them, having ordered a couple of oil lamps to be bought up. Duly lighting them, and stepping inside ahead, he altered the wick so it gave its brightest shine. After the lord assured Luken it was quite safe to enter, "I think what had fallen or about to, has already done so your highness. I have had a few men check around in here for its current condition." Those words did give some comfort and reassurance they were not about to crushed under tons of rubble, and stepped inside.

There were several piles of rubble on the floors, where sections of the first floor had collapsed down. The lord gave his report on the rest. The upper floors still stood sound, though many of the timbers were rotting, and need to be replaced. At the very top, the outer roof, surprisingly still held firm, its strong slate roof had been missing a few tiles but other than that it
was sound. For now, the roof was all right, it would be watertight, but Lord Galliss recommended it be stripped off in its entirety, as the timbers would need renewing. The stairs to get any further upwards were either rotting or already rotten and it was advised for safety they did not attempt to use them. So much work to do, Luken was becoming overawed by the enormity of what they were taking on.

The theory of rebuilding a new capital city had seemed a most splendid idea; the practicality of actually achieving it was fast becoming aware to him. There were allegedly, lower floors to the keep, though as of yet no one had actually found the way down to them. Perhaps when the mounds of rubble were cleared and proper lighting set up, these would make themselves clear. Having seen as much as
he deemed possible, Luken and Taylor stepped back across the dusty floor, followed by Lord Galliss and out of the open doorway. Extinguishing his lamp and handing it to one of the workers, he turned to Luken, "I have had some idea's on where to locate your palace your highness, come I will show you where, and see what you think."

Luken stopped in his tracks, "No Lord Galliss, there will be no palace." He said in quite an abrupt tone. The lord looked a little puzzled, as if asking for a
reason, Luken obliged anyway, "we have no need for one, I do not see why I should live in some grand expensive palace, with polished marble floors and gold sconces on the walls and lord knows what else, when I have a perfectly good building to use here." He pointed behind them to the keep, "You tell me there are six floors to this building, well the ground and lower floors can be used by my offices, the lower floors when we find them will house the treasury, dungeons and anything else needed to be hidden away. The upper floors I will use, with Taylor of course and I would like the Lady Sarena to be housed here with us." Sarena blushed and nodded politely seemingly pleased with the suggestion.

Returning to their horses, and then making their way the short distance back outside the walls to rejoin their travelling companions making camp. A command tent had already been erected and
General Skalton was within, standing around a table with a number of other men giving orders.  Luken had previously already spoken with the man about his ideas for rebuilding, and explained how he wanted them to go about it. Once the camp was set and the General was happy it was secure, people were to be allocated their jobs as soon as possible. Whether this was work in camp or work repairing the gatehouses, walls, keep, rebuilding houses, or felling trees for timber, the work needed to be started quickly. With all the extra labour at hand, thanks to Lord Galliss, who appeared to be loving every minute of it, several jobs could be undertaken at the same time.

Once Luken, Sarena, Taylor, Lord Galliss, and his youngest son Aric, were seated with
General Skalton, Jak Corley and a number of advisors, the meeting started. Firstly, they decided the gatehouse at the bridge had to be made secure as a matter of urgency. Lord Galliss had fortunately already seen sense to get the work for this underway. Huge oaken doors should be in place within the next few days, but for now the General wanted a barricade built across. He told them, although he would place guards and scouts around the local area across the river, he wanted a point to fall back to defend if they needed it.

Luken took the initiative to voice his ideas for the rebuilding. Rather than just quickly build
many timber buildings here, there and everywhere, he told them his plan for laying out the homes. Before any rebuilding took place, he wanted the area clearing, the main roads repaired, although the ground underfoot was firm now, if they should have several days of rain, so many feet and wagons would see the place turn into mud, which would make work impossible. He then wanted a proper sewerage system in place, to take waste from the city to the river, without a man having to walk through it in the streets. He reiterated his opinion on a royal palace, again claiming the keep would more than suffice for his purposes. His plan was to split the work into four sections, each would have a man overseeing each, though he was open to suggestion for the positions. Work force should be shared amongst the sections depending on the size of the project. The bridge and gatehouses, the wall, the city and the keep, would make up the sections, obviously, the city would get the most workers as it was by far the largest task, in fact he hoped the bridge and gatehouses would be completed within a week or two, which could free up more workers to commit to the city.

The others with Luken appeared to listen and like his ideas, none objected in any case, and so he left Lord Galliss and
General Skalton to finalise who should oversee which section of work. Luken wanted to find Farther Dagon and apologise for striking him, or what was as good as doing so, and with any luck resolve the issues between the two that appeared to be accumulating of late.  He asked Sarena to take care of Taylor, and his son did not seem to mind, he was glad he liked the young lady too. Luken roamed the camp, and was impressed by how quickly people had started making this temporary residence outside the wall appear homely.  Already a number of tents were erected, but more impressively were the two timber buildings taking shape in the middle of the camp. These were not huge, but appeared to be made up of premade timber sections. The base was laid out first then these prefabricated panels stood up and fastened in place, the roof was also made up of similar panels but had been coated in a thick black tar substance, presumably Luken thought to keep the rain out, he was not sure.

Chapter 15.

He found Father Dagon, alone as he usually was, sitting on the riverbank watching the water roll past. On hearing Luken approach the old man looked up, "What do you want? Come to hit me some more?" he said in a sardonic way. Luken dropped his shoulders, he had not tried to be difficult with this man, but it had seemed to anyone looking at them, that he probably had. "I have come to say sorry Dagon. I did not mean to...well you know" he left it at that. Dagon stood, and though much shorter than Luken, stared at him, "you are a fool, a stubborn boy, a child who does not know or even believe what he is capable of." Luken went to agree, but Dagon motioned for him to keep quiet and let him finish, and for once, he did as Dagon asked. "You know I have been watching you for the last year, Sandred has been watching you for several, in his various ways. Maybe a bird in a tree that sat looking at you for longer than it should, well that will most likely be Sandred, or just a random person staring at you, that will be him as well. His power is that of sight, he can see and hear through others."

Luken decided to take a seat alongside the elderly man and listen to what was said. Dagon continued, firstly about
how they had known since his birth that he would be the one to bring balance, then about it all being written down thousands of years ago, that this time it would be a child of royal blood, second in his line. Luken doubted everything but listened anyway, he supposed bits could be true, but he was not sure how someone could have predicted his coming so long ago. The name Lord Fenlor was mentioned several times, and before he had chance to ask, Dagon explained he was the Darekian responsible for all the trouble. The raids on Corlan villages and towns, even duping Besemia into warring with them, he instigated them all. The part that he did take notice of was, that Fenlor was also singlehandedly responsible for the decimation of Hamalin. The solar and planetary powers at that precise moment, had not only bought forward Luken's power, but had enabled Fenlor to magnify his dark blood magic, probably with the aid of sacrifices, to strike such a blow.

The talk was quite a sobering moment for
Luken; he had never really believed a word Father Dagon had told him, always doubting the truth of everything he said. Looking back though, he now realised that pretty much everything he had been told was quite the opposite of what he believed. It had been him in the wrong, "I'm sorry for that as well, you know, always doubting everything you say." Dagon actually looked a little shocked at the apology but nodded in its acceptance. "How about we start again, my job I thought was simple, keep a check on you, and then teach you how to utilise the gift you have been given. I know you did not intentionally strike me, it is just infuriating that you do not listen to a word you are told. Oh and do not think for one minute Sandred missed your little game you played with Taylor, smacking the guard in front on the back of the head. You were not given this power to play games; your people are being eliminated, it is time to grow up, become the man you were born to be."

This time Luken
nodded in acceptance, though he was not sure how Sandred had witnessed him hitting the guard with powers, or that he was as childish as Dagon was making out. One thing that did strike at him was the point of his people being killed; that he did not doubt. They had given up over a third of the country, leaving the enemy to run amok across the land killing and destroying at will, and now there was nobody to stop them. He had already begun to feel burdened enough; people already looked to him for guidance, and not just for important matters. He had succeeded, whether by any skill or just dumb luck into leading them to some safety, for now at least. Now he was to be responsible to feed, clothe and house them, as well as maintaining an army to fight off any would be incursions from the enemy. Now, because of this gift, or curse it may as well be, he was being asked to not only lead them, but fight as well. It was at that moment he wished Caldar were here once more, he was always the fighter, he was the leader, and Luken would be quite happy and content taking a back seat.

The two talked for quite some time, as well as a few practices with water. Being as they were sat by the river, it only made sense to make use of it. He was told that water alone could be used for many things, but its main use was to heal, when mixed with air. These two elements were essential for life, and as such could be utilised in a way to enhance the bodies healing. Once totally capable, he was told he could bring a man from the brink of death to full health, though if he did it wrong of course he could just as easy drown or suffocate the man. Hearing things like that did not exactly fill Luken with any confidence, but he made a promise to himself he would try. In future, he would take these lessons with Dagon seriously; no longer would he doubt, just listen and try. After all, that is all he could do, if he tried and failed he thought, well at least no one could say he did not at least give it his best shot.

Once back in camp, he was surprised to see he had been allocated once of the rooms in the wooden buildings that had been erected. It was only a room, but he did have two beds, a washstand and table and chairs within. Each building contained two rooms, and their now stood seven of them in a row, all made from these prefabricated panels. The table was of a simple construction, as were the chairs, nothing fancy, just practical. On top of the table was a jug of water, four cups, four plates piled one on top of the other and four sets of cutlery. Being a prince, he supposed he could be afforded at least a little luxury.

The Lady Sarena was fortunate enough to be allocated one of the rooms in one of the wooden buildings. Hers was fitted out with a simple bed and a crib for her baby, a small table and two chairs. Some of the space had been given over to storage; she had salvaged a number of items from Forwich, which had now been unceremoniously piled high along one side. She would have preferred the room next to Prince Luken, though that had been allocated as a guardroom, for his new Royal guard that was being arranged. She stepped out of the door of her room, only to discover the room next to hers was being used by Lord Galliss and his two sons.
The youngest of which stood looking at her, leaning awkwardly, clearly inebriated, "hello my lady" he slurred. She actually felt slightly vulnerable with this man, she had Hope in her arms, and Taylor at her side, "good evening my lord, if you would excuse me, I must return this young man to his father." Darak took a step towards her, close enough for her to be able to smell the repulsive overpowering alcohol on his breath.

Darak, swayed a little, his dark hair dropping
in front of his eyes, "perhaps my lady, you would care to join me for a drink when you return," as he spoke with the same drunken garbled voice. Sarena put her free hand forward to stop him advancing any closer, "I'm afraid I must refuse my lord, perhaps another time," she said hoping he would move out of her path. He stumbled forward a little and met her hand, then backwards as he felt himself against it, looking none too pleased at the rebuke, and what he thought was a shove into his chest. He swayed a little before barging his way past her, nudging into her as he went off, cursing to himself as he did. Sarena felt relieved he was gone, she was going to have to ask, discreetly to be moved, she did not want to be in the room next to that man.

Luken had just sat down after lighting the single oil lamp allocated to his room, when there was a rap at the door, "enter," he said. Sarena opened the door, and he gestured for her to enter. Taylor walked in behind her, and run to give his dad a hug; it was as long a time as any
, that the two had been separated since they had met. Sarena placed hope down on Lukens bed; as usual, the young girl was fast asleep, before joining the others around the table. Another knock on the door, and two of his new Royal guard who were stationed outside the building, opened the door to admit an elderly woman, carrying a tray covered with a linen cloth. She curtsied as best she could, before approaching and placing it down on the table, "your evening meal Highness, I shall be back a little later to collect the dishes." Luken thanked her, waiting in anticipation to see what she had bought them. She carefully placed one dinner plate in front of Luken, then Taylor and lastly Sarena, before removing the cloth off the tray. A bowl of mixed vegetables, a plate of sliced beef, and a pot of dark gravy was placed on the table, as well as a plate of biscuits, much to the delight of them all.

After living off stew and bread for what had felt like an eternity, it was nice; to once more eat a proper meal. Even Taylor ate his fair share of vegetables, before making a beeline for the plate of biscuits. Sarena spoke of her discomfort at being placed next to the Lord Galliss and his sons, explaining her situation she had just endured with the youngest.
Luken had earlier witnessed the looks the man had been giving Sarena, "I will have a talk with Lord Galliss tomorrow, he seems a nice man, I'm sure he won't take offence if I ask him to have a word with Darak. If not I suppose we could see about getting you moved, but I understand, these few rooms are a premium," suggesting in an ever so tentative way, she was lucky to get one at all, though he would never actually say so.

It was getting late, and Taylor was yawning
, clearly exhausted by the long day they had endured. Luken asked one of the guards to escort Sarena back to her room, and make sure she was safely inside before returning. Taylor quickly washed himself, not properly, but Luken was in no mood to bother, before undressing and getting into bed. Taylor produced a book, as Luken went to tuck him in, "can you read to me?" he asked. Noticing the book was one he had packed away when they had fled Hamalin, unsurprisingly the one about a wizard. Although he was ready to sleep himself, he obliged, but made sure it was only for a short while. Once he himself was readied, he put out the lamp and lay down, and thought how thankful he was, to actually, be able to sleep on a bed once more.

Caldar rode at the head of his troops, crossing over crop fields and pasture, avoiding any main roads or frequented tracks. The last two days had seen them make slow progress, and had only encountered
two settlements, one had been burned to the ground, the other left totally abandoned. Its occupants had fled in such a hurry; they had discovered many of their personal belongings still there. He pulled his horse to a halt as he waited for his four scouts to reach the group, he did notice they appeared to ride with some urgency, and indication they had news of importance. After a simple bowed head, the scout spoke, "highness, there is a small farmstead over that direction, currently under attack, from probably about thirty or so Darekians."

Caldar wasted no
time; he gave a shout, dug his heels into the horse's flanks, and rode at speed, quickly followed by the rest of his men. Riding over the brow of a hill, he slowed for a few seconds, allowing some resemblance of a line to form, before drawing his sword. Signalling to tell his men to charge, two lines, one after the other, into the backs of the enemy already engaged below. They could see a building already on fire, as well a number of dead Darekian soldiers, lying on the ground around the main house, each with several arrow shafts protruding out of them.

As they thundered down the hillside to engage, the enemy turned realising they were being attacked. Arrows kept firing from somewhere inside the building, taking down more enemy. As Caldar approached, he raised his sword, and then swung it down hitting a man across the shoulder. The force of the slash from being on a mounted position cut deep and the man fell to the ground. Trying to turn his horse whilst keeping
momentum, he picked his next target. Noticing one of his men being pulled from his mount and run through with a blade, he made a move to attack. This time he struck a man across the neck, almost taking his head clean off, as blood sprayed out like a fountain as he sliced through. The second of his ranks smashed in to the enemy already engaged with the first charge, easily causing casualties on the already busied enemy.

Wiping his brow, he looked around at the scene of so much killing, the last of the Darekian men had been cut down, and his men were now checking the dead and piling them to be burnt. He
felt regret and remorse for his own dead, eight men dead, two injured as well as four horses that he had to put out of their misery, having succumbed to serious wounds. The door of the farmhouse finally opened and an elderly man made his way calmly out of the doorway. He looked over fifty years old at least, with scraggy grey hair, and of an average height and build, "they all dead then?" he asked, spitting on the ground as he did. Caldar eyed the man for a while, wondering why at least he had not even thanked them for saving his life. "We would have seen them off eventually anyway, even if you and your men had not showed up you know," he said, quite sure of himself.

Caldar actually smiled at the remark, "we?" he asked, noticing no one else. The man gave a shout and others started exiting the doorway, five men, well four and a boy, and a young woman. The man introduced them as his sons, Eric, Davis, Carlton, Edward and Mitch the youngest, then to his daughter, a twin of the one named Edward. She had long auburn hair, tied with a red bow at the back, brown eyes and soft pale skin, and the young prince was lost in that view for a
moment, "her name is Vanessa," the man added bringing him back to his senses.

The man and his family took one look at the building that had been set alight, and reluctantly knew it was beyond them trying to fight the fire.  The only thing they did do was to try to salvage a few items from within it, dragging a few sacks out into the yard, before they deemed it unsafe to
repeat the process any further. Once Caldar was happy, the enemy dead had been piled and his own buried, he returned his attention to the family they had just fought to save. It was the father who spoke, "been lots of folk around here come under attack by this lot" he said spitting on the ground once more. He continued on, telling them how they had made their home more defensible, by dampening the thatch twice a day, and making arrow slits in the boarded up windows.