The Forgotten King (Korin's Journal) (57 page)

Chapter 51

To War

After a dreamless night, I was awakened by two sharp points of pressure on my chest, followed by soft lips pressing against mine.  My eyes fluttered open to see two brilliant, sky-blue eyes gazing lovingly at me.  Sal’ had propped her elbows on my ribs, resting her chin on clasped hands.  Her face was the most beautiful thing I’d ever woken up to.

“You’d better wake up.  Max was threatening to stuff your pants with snow if you were still asleep when he returned.”  Sal’ pursed her lips, her eyes drifting upwards in thought.  “Then again, maybe you should get a little more sleep.”  She let out a winsome laugh and sat up. 

I leaned up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.  Every inch of my body screamed with pain ranging from dull ache to stabbing agony.  I really could’ve used a couple more hours of sleep, and Sal’s eyes indicated the same.  If only we could’ve been afforded such a luxury.

“You’re hilarious,” I muttered, grabbing my pillow and swinging it playfully at her.  Sal’ caught it in both hands and tugged forward, pulling me into another kiss.  It was a shame that after we’d found such happiness together, we would probably lose our lives in a simple matter of hours.

The fire in the hearth burned brightly, filling the room with toasty warmth, but Sal’ and I were the only ones in the house.  Outside the windows, I saw nothing but darkness.  “Where are the others?  It’s not even morning yet.”

“We have less than two hours before sunrise,” Sal’ informed me, folding one leg under the other, adjusting her robe as she did.  “Max wanted you to have the extra time to rest.  The others are making sure everything’s ready for when the dragons arrive.  They left your armor here.  I have to say I’m looking forward to seeing you in it.”  Sal’ narrowed her eyes seductively.

Suddenly, I recalled the threat of another attack on Terafall during the night.  “Sal’, did anything happen last night?  Was there any sign of eldrhims?”

“Fortunately, no,” Sal’ replied, sounding relieved.  “Julus came by not long ago to give report—I swear, I don’t know what they’re going to do without me—and said there were some strange noises in the distance during the night, but no visible signs of anything hostile.”

I grabbed the elbow of my right arm with my left hand, rotating my shoulder with agonizing results.  “That’s good,” I grunted as I repeated the process with my other arm.  “Not that I’m complaining, but why aren’t you out helping the others?”

Sal’ scooted closer, placing her hands on the bed and leaning towards me with a ravishing curve of her lips.  “Because we’re alone, and the door is latched,” Sal’ responded, bringing her lips to mine as she pressed her body against me, pushing me back onto the mattress.  My pain was forgotten as we once again relented to passion.

****

My muscles protested against the weight of my armor, but then again, they probably would’ve protested against anything heavier than a feather at the time.  I rigged my shoulder bag to strap diagonally across my chest, the bag pulled taut against my back with my journal and Til’s woodwork inside it.  I just didn’t feel comfortable leaving them behind; they’d become my most valued physical possessions.

With my shortsword at my hip, a dagger tucked in my boot, and Til’s fortune block around my neck, I was as ready to go as I’d ever be.

Sal’ was dressed in a blue and black Wizard Guard uniform that Julus had brought her when he’d come to give report.  She wore leather gloves, the fingertips cut off so she could still draw magic energy from the mice in the wicker case at her hip.

Briscott returned just as Sal’ and I were starting for the door.  He was dressed in leather armor over a shirt of mail.  With a knowing grin that made both Sal’ and me blush as if he’d actually caught us in the act, Briscott announced that Max, Ithan, and Til’ were waiting for us at the eastern edge of town. 

We ate a simple breakfast of bread and cheese as we walked.  No snow fell from the dark sky, and what was already on the ground was pocked with footprints.  Soldiers, wizards, and townsfolk filled the streets, many carrying boxes or barrels presumably filled with food and water rations.  Many of the buildings around them were nothing more than crumbled heaps of blackened wood.

Pyres had been aflame throughout the night, and the charred remains of what they’d incinerated nearly kept me from finishing my meal.  The stench of burnt flesh didn’t help either.

We found the others waiting for us just outside Terafall’s border.  Ithan wore light leather armor, similar to my own.  At his hip hung a hard leather case.  I assumed he’d found a new source to draw magic energy from.  Til’ wore chainmail over a thick woolen shirt, the over-large mail hanging halfway down his thighs.  His belt was wrapped around the outside of the mail, a large pouch hanging heavily from one side and a sheathed dagger strapped to the other.

Beside them was a pile of thick ropes that we planned to use to stay atop the dragons as Til’ had with Rhyxis.  The reminder that I was about to ride a Chralex-blooded dragon into Bherin guaranteed the end of my dwindling appetite.

“Ah, the young lovers finally make an appearance,” Max called from atop Til’s shoulder.  The Reservoir was shining brightly on his back, casting a soft aura around his body.  “I hope you made the best of the morning while we did all the work.” 

Ithan tried to hide his amusement but ended up snorting in an obvious attempt not to laugh.  That just prompted him to let out an uncontrolled bout of his strange laughter.  Afterwards, he hunched over, abashed.  It was good to see that he could find something to laugh about, at least. 

Til’ smiled, but there was none of his usual childlike energy behind it.  His thoughts appeared to be elsewhere.  Given that he wasn’t talking, I knew that something had to be weighing fairly heavily on his mind.

“Watch yourself, Max,” I warned jokingly.  “I may just take that Reservoir back from you.  I was supposed to give it to Sal’ in the first place.”

“Try it, lunkhead” Max taunted, sticking his bushy tail straight into the air.  “Now, unless you have any more ridiculous notions to voice, we need to get our plan in order.”

We went on to discuss what we’d do once we arrived in Bherin.  We figured that we could ask the dragons to take us to the king’s castle, where we could approach from above and find a way in from the roof.  Such an entrance would be less expected and would actually have a chance of getting us into the castle alive.  Sal’s ability to see the trail of magic between the rocks and the Source they were
Linked to would help us find the one using the Source.

As the sky purpled in anticipation of sunrise, we started to worry that maybe the dragons had changed their minds completely.  Til’, however, was adamant that they’d follow through with their offer of transport.

At one point, Max, Ithan, and Sal’ fell into a discussion about magic that was well above my head, so I decided to break away to find out what was going on with Til’. 

I let out a deep breath, vapor rising from my mouth.  “Are you ready for this?” I asked, not wanting to immediately point out that I knew something was wrong.

“Korin, I’ve been thinking,” Til’ began somberly.  “About when all this is over.”

“And . . .?”

Til’ sighed, his large silver eyes focusing on Sal’ and then on me once again.  “I want what you have.”

“Sorry, she’s taken,” I replied jokingly, clapping a hand on his back to lighten the mood. 

Til’ smiled, but there was a sadness in his eyes.  He brought his hands up to sweep his raven hair behind his pointed ears.  “Korin, I’ve enjoyed this adventure with you, and I feel that despite the terrible things I’ve witnessed, I’ve helped do some good in this world.”

“You definitely have,” I interjected.

“
We
have,” Til’ corrected, crossing his arms with a shiver.  “And I appreciate all you’ve done for me.  If not for you, I’d still be a simple Kolarin thief struggling to find a way to end my banishment from Isaeron instead of attempting to stop a war threatening all of Amirand.  I wouldn’t trade the time I’ve spent with you all for anything.”

Til’ looked up at me and sighed.  “But I’ve realized that once all this is over, I want to return home.  I want to experience what you have with Sal’.”  Til’s brow dropped in concern. 
“If the Chief will allow me to return.”

“Til’, if we—
”  I cut myself off, realizing that I was about to say, “if we live through this.”  “Til’, once this is all over, if I’m able, I’ll make sure he does.”  I crouched to look him in the eyes.  “Because of you, there may well be a peaceful return of dragons in Amirand.  Just think about that, about how
amazing
that is.  You’ve saved the lives of who knows how may here in Terafall, rid the world of a few eldrhims, and even rescued my Moak-blooded tail more than once.”  Moak’s the god of imprudence.  “On top of that, you haven’t stolen anything for I don’t even know how long at this point, and that’s the reason you were banished in the first place.”

Til’ turned his face away sheepishly.  “Well . . .”

I closed my eyes and sighed.  “Til’,” I reproved. 

“I just took a few trinkets from Laurlan.  Well, there and Auslin. 
And Raftin.  And the house we slept in last night had these really neat marble figurines . . .”

The look of pure innocence in his eyes as he confessed pulled a laugh from me.  “Okay, how about no more stealing, and once this is over, we’ll make sure you’re accepted back home.  I mean, if you’re part of stopping an entire war that could otherwise consume Amirand, they kind of have to take you back, right?”

Til’ beamed.  “Maybe they’d make
me
Chief!” 

“Til’, you never cease to amaze me.”  I pulled him into an embrace, which he returned.  My gut twisted at the thought of possibly leading him to his death.

“So you’d be okay with me returning to Isaeron?” Til’ asked as I stood.

“Your life is your own,
Til’.  We can’t all stay together forever.”

Til’ nodded, his smile fading.  “Well, you’d come visit, right?”  He looked back up to me expectantly.

“Of course.”  Sadly, my words felt hollow.  I didn’t expect to live that long.  I only hoped that everyone else would.

We joined Briscott, who was watching the sky as it took on the orange glow of sunrise.  There was still no sign of the dragons.  Sal’, Max, and Ithan made their way over as well. 
I put my arm around Sal’, holding her close as we waited.

“This is not looking good,” Briscott moaned, staring into the sky.  “What’s blighting taking them?”

“They’ll be here,” Til’ insisted, though with less fervor than his earlier assertion.

“Let’s hope so,” I replied, staring across the flat, snowy land stretching out towards the horizon.

“There,” Max suddenly announced from his perch atop the pile of coiled ropes.  We all followed his gaze to the west, over the town.  Three black silhouettes approached, starkly visible against the brightening, cloudless sky. 

“There are only three,” Sal’ whispered.  “Why are there only three?” 

I could only shake my head.  Til’ wrung his hands, his eyes full of worry.

Wind buffeted us in short bursts as the dragons flew overhead before circling back in their descent.  Rhyxis’s silver-black scales glinted in the emerging sunlight, the emerald dragon and the red dragon with the golden underbelly on either side of him. 

My pulse quickened as I noticed tears in their membranous wings and scaleless patches on their bodies.  The emerald dragon had a long, bloody gash stretching down one side.  Only one blue eye glowed on the red dragon’s face.  I knew from experience that harming a dragon was no easy task, yet these three had been seriously injured. 

The dragons landed, shaking the ground, and sat back on their hind legs, drawing their wounded wings flat against their bodies.  With a sinuous craning of their necks, they made a quick, wary assessment of the area.  Soldiers and townsfolk watched intently from the edges of the town, but the remaining members of Sal’s Wizard Guard regiment were spaced out across Terafall’s eastern flank to ensure that no one attempted to harm the dragons. 

Til’ rushed up to meet Rhyxis.  “Rhyxis, what happened?” Til’ questioned frantically.  “Where are Alyshine and Rhal?”

“Two of our brethren have fallen,” Rhyxis rumbled
, his orange eyes closed tightly.  “The one using Rizear’s power summoned forth eldrhims just west of here during the night.  We felt their presence and attacked before they could descend upon your people.”  The rising sun highlighted a giant teardrop as it trickled in a meandering path down the scales of his face.  “Alyshine and Rhal fell to their dark power.”

With those words, anger started to blossom within my core.  My muscles tensing, I dropped my arm from around Sal’ for fear of squeezing her too hard.

Til’ threw his arms around one of Rhyxis’s massive front legs, tears of his own rolling down his cheeks.  My heart broke for him.  He, like all Kolari, valued life to an extent that was sorely lacking in the world.

“We offer our gratitude for your protection, and our deepest sympathies for your brethren’s sacrifice,” Max told them.