The Trials of Lance Eliot (32 page)

The Necromancer convulsed again. Before it could recover, I sprang forward and swung my staff with all my strength.

The staff struck Maldos with an awful
crack
. Without pausing, I spun as Tsurugi had taught me and struck twice more. I stepped back. The Necromancer lay crumpled upon its throne, one arm bent at an unnatural angle, white eyes staring.

“I can't see,” gasped Maldos. An expression of wild fear passed over its face. “This is the end. It's the brink. I must see, but I can't. I can't see.”

The Necromancer's face relaxed, and I thought it was dead. Then it spoke once more in that strange voice.

“This puppet has outlived its usefulness,” it said, and then threw back its head and shrieked.

A shadow rose from its body and hung over us, like an endless sky without stars or planets, immeasurably vast, dreadful beyond words.

Then it disappeared.

The room instantly felt fresher. There was a short series of thumps as the puppets behind us slumped to the floor. All was silent.

“Kana,” I said, falling to my knees. “Don't die. Don't die, hang it! Regis would never forgive me.”

Kana's body began to shake. Everything I had ever read about muscle spasms and deathbed convulsions came to my mind. It took me a moment to realize he was laughing.

“I am quite well,” he said. “So is Saif, who imprudently had his arms broken.”

I looked up. Sure enough, Saif was standing with his arms crossed and a grin on his face.

“How did this happen?” I demanded. “Kana, I thought you were dead. You should be dead. Why aren't you dead?”

“Jian is a Curamancer,” said Kana, sitting up and rubbing his chest.

“I thought he was just a medic,” I blurted.

“It's the same thing,” said Jian, twisting the ring on his finger. “Didn't you know all medics are Curamancers?”

Aidan had educated me upon that point, as a matter of fact, but I had forgotten it. I was about to answer Jian when the etching on his ring caught my eye.

“Hold a moment,” I said, taking Jian's hand. “I've seen this symbol before. It's Tsurugi's mark, the mark on his forehead.”

“It's the Kanben family crest,” said Jian, withdrawing his hand.

I put my head in my hands and tried to think. “You're related to Tsurugi?”

“He was my brother.”

I was silent for a little while, trying to make sense of everything.

My reverie was disrupted by one of the legionaries (I think it was Cid). “We'd better take a look around,” he said. “If we don't find our packs, it'll be a hungry march back to Valdelaus.”

The dim radiance that lighted the halls was fading, but we found our packs and struck a light before it went out entirely. Each of us took a lamp and explored Akrabbim, searching for prisoners. There were none. All we found were bodies, the empty shells of the Necromancer's puppets.

We emerged from Akrabbim to see stars shining above us. “It's over,” I said, gazing upward. “We have come out of hell at last.”

We dragged the bodies out of Akrabbim and laid them on the floor of the gorge. Kana was reluctant to leave them on the ground like refuse, so I suggested a Viking funeral. He agreed (after I explained the concept of a Viking funeral) and sent the legionaries to gather kindling. They returned, spread brushwood on the ground and laid the bodies upon it. We poured our lamp oil on the pyre and set it alight.

The flames leapt into the night. As the legionaries departed to gather more wood, I sat with Kana and Jian and stared into the flames.

“Jian, why didn't you tell me Tsurugi was your brother?” I asked.

“Because I hated him,” he said. “I hated him till you came back and told us he had died to help you, and I realized he was human after all.”

“Why did you hate him?”

He did not reply.

After a long time, as the sky began to pale and the fire dwindled to glowing coals, Jian said, “I've met many heroes in my life, Lance. You've outdone them all. You've destroyed Maldos, and saved Rovenia, and reconciled me to my brother.”

“Just imagine what Lancelot could have done,” I said, thumping him on the back. “You know, I think it's about time for breakfast. Hang it, how I miss coffee.”

20

LANCE ELIOT AND THE KING

WE EMERGED FROM THE gorge of Akrabbim to find ourselves in a wide land, divided into fields and dotted with barns and farmhouses. The grass was withered and the fields were empty, but it was still a glorious sight in the light of morning. Several fields had been burned to gray ash. The remains of the dragon lay less than half a mile away.

“Let's get out of here,” I said, covering my nose. “That smell isn't helping my appetite.”

The grass already looked a little green. Before two days had passed, there were flowers blooming. Before a week had gone by, we met caravans of wagons traveling eastward: farmers returning to the houses and fields they had abandoned. We purchased hunds from a passing farmer, rode through the gap in the mountains, turned northwest and hastened toward Valdelaus.

We stopped in several villages to rest and resupply. Everywhere we looked, we beheld relief and joy. Even the most skeptical villagers had been convinced of the Darkness when it covered the mountains. There had been rumors of Nomen to the west, and the villagers had panicked. Many families had stocked their homes with supplies and barred themselves inside.

Then the Darkness disappeared. The Nomen did not attack. Fear diminished, and the villagers ventured out of their houses. Celebrations ensued. Musicians and dancers filled the streets. Many businesses gave their workers an impromptu holiday. In short, all was well in the first few villages we visited.

This changed as we approached Valdelaus. The towns and villages around the city had been razed.

“What happened?” I asked as we paused in the charred remains of a town square. Flakes of ash drifted by on the breeze. “Hang it, what happened here?”

“Nomen,” said Kana, inspecting the ruins. “I suspect they were on their way to Valdelaus and raided this town for provisions.”

This was turning out to be an empty victory. What was the good of saving Rovenia from the Darkness if it had fallen to the Nomen?

At last we beheld Valdelaus. The remains of siege towers lay broken outside the city walls, and the grass around the city was scorched and trampled. Only the sight of the Rovenian standard flying proudly from the walls kept me from despair. When we came to the gate, we were confronted by the objectionable guard with the black beard.

“State your business,” he demanded.

“What happened to the city?” I asked. “Was there a battle?”

“Of course there was a battle,” he growled. “Answer me, boy. What's your business here?”

Kana was probably the most patient man I ever knew. At that moment, to my everlasting amazement, his patience snapped. He leapt forward, seized the guard by the collar and shook him. “I am General Shoukan,” he thundered. “We have not come so far to be hindered by a ruffian. Stand aside!”

Muttering something about “an actionable breach of protocol,” the guard complied.

We entered the city. Kana and I parted with Jian and the legionaries, who were under obligation to report to the headquarters of the Rovenian Legion, and made our way to the Royal Palace. Leaving our hunds in the street, we crossed the courtyard on foot and were met by a doorman at the entrance to the Palace.

He was reluctant to let us enter, so Kana stared at him until he relented and called for an attendant to show us to the throne room. We followed the attendant through hallways paneled with cedar, passed through gilded doors into the throne room and found nobody there.

“His Excellency may be in the garden,” said the attendant, and led us through a side door onto a terrace.

There stood Regis, elbows on the railings, looking into the garden with a pensive air. The attendant drew himself up and said, “Your Excellency, here are guests.”

Regis turned around and cried, “Kana! Lance! You're alive!”

“Of course we are,” I said, and then added, “We may not be much longer, Your Excellency, unless you let go and allow us to breathe.”

Regis released us from his embrace and stood back. “I've decided that the next person to call me
Your Excellency
will be put on bread and water for a week. It's a mystery to me that none of my attendants seem to remember my name.”

“The title is part of the regency,” said Kana. “Like fine clothes, courtesy and propriety befit a regent.”

Regis frowned. “When I get an opportunity, I'm going to pass a law forbidding the use of any title for the regent but his proper name. But never mind that. Tell me everything. Did you destroy the Darkness? Is Maldos dead? I'm sorry,” he exclaimed, putting a hand to his forehead. “You've just gotten back, haven't you? You should rest.”

“I'm fine,” I said. “If we could just sit down and have a cup of tea, I would be delighted to tell you whatever you want to know.”

We were soon seated at a table in the garden. A steady stream of attendants brought out trays of food and drink: pastries, scones, rolls, pies, jellies, bottles of wine, jugs of cream, jars of sugar, kettles of blackroot and pots of tea of all colors and flavors.

“These attendants are fine fellows,” said Regis in an undertone, “but they tend to overdo things. Ask for an apple and they give you baskets of fruit. Ask for a basket of fruit and they bring in an orchard of fruit trees in wheelbarrows. I've never dared ask for a fruit tree.”

“All right,” I said. “I have my tea and a comfortable chair. Listen carefully, Your Excellency, and I'll tell you everything.”

I told him all that had happened, with occasional corrections and additions from Kana.

“I'm glad you were able to give Tsurugi a proper funeral,” said Regis when I had finished. “He deserved it.”

“Now tell us what happened here,” I said. “The guard at the gate said there was a battle.”

“There was. A few days after you left, scouts came to the city and told General Fox that an army of Nomen had reached the Broad Road and were following it northward, like a flood rushing along a river channel, razing everything in their path. The General came to me. We immediately evacuated the people of the surrounding villages into the city.

“When the Nomen arrived, they found those villages emptied of people and supplies. They destroyed the buildings and used the timbers to build siege towers and ladders. It was an awful sight, old boy. I stood on the highest balcony of the Palace and watched the Nomen advance like a swarm of red ants, burning and slashing and generally making a mess of things.

“I had chosen Eben as my representative to the Voice of Valdelaus—the newspaper, you remember. As the Nomen approached the city, I instructed him to print a warning for citizens to fortify their houses, store up supplies and not venture outside any more than they could help. If the Nomen entered the city, I wanted people to be out of the way.

“The General deployed our troops along the walls. I brought Maia, her family, Atticus and the orphans into the Palace for safekeeping. About half of my personal guards were sent to defend the Temple. The rest were stationed in the Palace. A day went by and nothing happened. Another few thousand Nomen arrived.”

“What about the Tyrian army? Wasn't it about to invade Rovenia from the north?”

“I was getting to that, old boy. Where was I? Oh yes, the Nomen. They finally attacked. It was a rainy night, and we could hardly see them. Nearly two hundred soldiers fell before we were able to gather our strength and drive them away.

“There were almost a dozen more battles, always at night when we were at a disadvantage. Twice Nomen managed to slip into the city. We had no choice but to send soldiers to hunt them down, weakening our defense on the wall. Things were pretty grim until the Tyrian army arrived.”

“Wait a moment,” I said. “Things were grim
until
the Tyrian army arrived? I was under the impression that its arrival was a very bad
thing.”