Wind Rider (2 page)

And my father? Why didn’t you serve him?

Your father was special. The moment he held me
in his hand I knew he would never willingly kill. He had a respect for life, of
friends or enemies, that was too great to overcome. He knew it too, and refused
me, choosing to swing a cane instead. It was hard, for I would have served him
well, and been proud to. His uncle was just the opposite; he had no respect for
life, human or animal. Those two brothers were opposites in almost every way.
So I refused one brother, and the other brother refused me, and Giancarlo kept
me hidden and safe while the one forgot me and the other did not even realize
my existence.

And my grandfather?

He died before he could see which of his sons
would inherit the sword, or how it would be forgotten. He was a man of peace,
too, but he at least wore the sword in his peacekeeping duties. Your
grandfather did manage to give instructions though, to a young apprentice of
his
blademaster
, who would soon take over his
master’s role.

Giancarlo.

Yes, and that is why you bear me now, and why I
am not a prisoner of the dark lord or one of his minions, unlike some of my
kin.

He has swords like mine?

A few lesser blades, with lesser kin, but yes,
he does. They are imprisoned and unhappy. And he has many goblins, imps and
other evil faery folk who do his bidding, many of their own choice. But know
too that
Woltan
and
Jona
also have blades, as do others of this city, and there are others among the
merpeople
and the
Kriek
. And
there are many spirits and fair folk here in faerie who will go to battle, if
that is what is necessary to protect the world. When the time comes, I will
help you to see them and seek their help, and help you to lead them.

Thank you.

Are all your questions now answered? If so, you
should go to seek out
Woltan
. I think he is waiting
for you, and you have much to do.

No.

You wish to speak of your mother and your
uncle, do you?

I just want to know what happened.

I can give you tiny bits and pieces. I can only
help you make sense of what you saw yourself. I was kept in a weapons room
while all that you saw went on, and you were but a boy. I have as many
questions as you do, perhaps. I wonder if your uncle left because your mother
spurned him, for example. Or perhaps it had nothing to do with that.

Do you think he became evil because she
rejected him?

He was surely evil before, or I would have
accepted him. When he put me in his palm I saw the evil in his present and his
future. I saw a little bit of the same type of thing that
Marga
would see reading your palm. As far as what went on between your mother and
your uncle, I think you must try to forget about that for now. The truth is
sometimes elusive anyway. Try to prepare yourself for this battle. Strengthen
your body, your blade skills and your magic. Only with a strong mind and body
can you hope to help this city survive, and defeat the wizards who have
enslaved your parents’ minds and bodies.

I know… I just wish I could talk to them.

Carolina smiled at me one last time.
Go now to
Woltan
; he is waiting for you, and I think he has something
to show you as well.

And then she was gone.

II

Woltan
was waiting for me, and although there was no smile on his lips, he reached out
to me, and put his hand on my shoulder. “I am glad to see you walking, my
friend. What happened was hard for all of us. Do not blame yourself; if there
is any blame, we share it all equally.”

“Carolina said you had something to show me.”

“I want you to know something about the sword I
wear – something I haven’t shown you.”

I looked down at the sword in its sheath next to
Woltan’s
leg. It was not very long, and did not seem
special in any way; but then I opened my third eye, and gasped. The blade
glowed an emerald green, a color I’d never seen before, and inside the pommel,
I saw a tiny purple light.

Woltan
chuckled.
“Perhaps I don’t need to show you after all.”

“You have a pixie in your blade, like Carolina in
mine!”

Woltan
nodded. “She is
neither as experienced nor as old as your Carolina, but she is strong and she
is loyal and I love her. It was through her that I first heard of you, as well
as from one other cousin of hers.”

It was then that Kara entered the room. I looked
at the short blade at her side, and gasped again.

Her blade shown a tangerine orange, and in the
pommel there was a small bright turquoise light.

Kara smiled. “It is not only the book of Id that
the dark lord sought to steal back from my people. He seeks all the blades and
the pixies within.”

I looked at the two of them. “Then you two can
communicate together.”

Woltan
nodded. “Through
our blades, through the pixies inside, yes we can. But we cannot communicate
directly, only talk to our pixies and have them talk to their kin. And even the
pixies have trouble finding who still serves in a sword, and if it is being
used or the sword has been lost. Nevertheless, it is one of the few means of
communication left to us. Once, there were many portals that sent messages
between the three cities: this one, the city of the
Kriek
,
and the city of the
merpeople
. Now, all that is lost,
and you and Kara and
Kalle
are the first visitors we
have had in several hundred years.”

“Have you any news of the glass castle?”

Kara shook her head. “We haven’t heard anything.
It is too early to be sure, but we fear, the castle, it may have fallen to the
dark lord.”

“My father was a diplomat for King
Lowen
.”

“Are you sure?” Kara asked. “Have you ever
thought, Anders, that maybe …”

“Maybe, what?”

“That maybe your father was more than a diplomat?”
Kara suggested.

“What do you mean, more than a diplomat?” I asked.

“Could he have been a spy?”
Woltan
asked.

I shook my head. My father? A spy? That was
ridiculous. “My father dealt with paper and people. He was a diplomatic
liason
,” I said.

“Where was he, the night he was taken?” Kara
asked. “And why were you locked in your room?”

“He always locked me in my room, when he went away
on missions.”

“Did he tell you where we he was going?”

I shook my head.

“Did he ever tell you what he was doing, or where
he was going?”
Woltan
asked.

“He never told me anything,” I said, shaking my
head.

“Diplomats don’t go away on secret missions,” said
Kara. “And they don’t lock up their children when they go away.”

I shook my head again. My father a spy? Some kind
of secret agent? I might have believed that when I was 6, but now?

Maybe it was time to believe again. If only I could
talk to him and find out what was really going on.

“Can’t you contact someone who can tell you?” I
asked the two of them. “Someone who would know something? About what’s
happening? About what happened to my father?”

Woltan
shook his head.
“My sister
Jona
has the other sword here, and has
been searching. We seek contacts at the glass castle and among the
merpeople
, but so far in vain. Among the
Kriek
, Kara is the last bearer of a complete blade. Her
uncle bears a broken sword that still houses a pixie, although the
communication between them seems incomplete.”

There was no point talking more about my father.
We knew nothing, could find out nothing, unless I wanted to go ask my uncle.
“Can the blade be repaired?” I asked, changing the subject.

Woltan
nodded. “We will
send one of our smiths with you, to the
Kriek
, to try
to repair the blade. We need all the blades we can find. Already the dark lord
has sent a small force our way. They will be here soon.”

“How soon?”

“Less than two weeks. More than three days. I
can’t tell with more certainty.”

“What weapons does the Dark Lord dispose of?”

Woltan
shrugged. “We
don’t know nearly as much as we would like to know. He has many demons and
imps, and we hear he has a great staff, that breaks enemies apart with one blow.
We can only imagine some major demon imprisoned inside the staff. Demons are
very powerful but they have none of the subtlety and intelligence of a pixie.
They have none of the dexterity either; they are rather clumsy. But they have
strength…”

“Which I don’t at the moment,” I said.

Kara nodded. “We have been waiting for you to get
better, Anders. I wanted to come for you, but
Woltan
insisted you yourself would know when you could leave that room. We need you.
Woltan
has agreed to accompany us to the
Kriek
council, where the book of Id will be read. We
Kriek
will then come to the aid of this city, and attack
the dark lord’s expedition from the back, as those remaining defend it from the
front. Will you come with us?”

I thought for a moment. They needed me, and I
needed them. Without them, I had no hope of freeing my parents. “What about my
parents?”

Kara frowned. “They will have to stay.
Jona
will look after them — we can’t move them until they
are free.”

I looked away, then nodded. “They will not be free
until I can reach whoever did this, and defeat him. And to do that I need to
come with you. I need the knowledge of the
Kriek
and
in the Book of Id.”

Kara nodded. “The question is how. I don’t think
we have time to walk, and the forest is not secure. We have no mounts either.
Kalle
and I can make a gateway, but without your help, I’m
not sure we can get
Woltan
and the smith through. Do
you think you are strong enough?”

He is strong enough. But I will bring him more
strength. You will need it in the land of
Kriek
. I
will be there in a moment, and
Kalle
, as well; he
brings the smith.

I looked around at everyone. They were all staring
at me. “Elias.
Marga’s
nephew. But we can’t take
him.”

You will take me because I’m needed. And I will
go because I must. I have spoken with my aunt’s spirit, and she gives me her
blessing, Anders
Tomason
. You will not stand in the
way of fate, nor in the way of my vengeance.

Woltan
looked very
frustrated. “I’m afraid Elias is right. Young as he is, I have never seen
anyone as powerful. It is his right to seek vengeance, no matter what his age.
No one has taken that right for centuries; we have lived here in peace. But the
boy knows the law; he feels it here vibrating in the walls of the city.”

I did not know what to think. First I’d caused
Elias to lose his aunt, and now I’d take him on a trip into who knew what
dangers? But
Woltan
was right, as much as it upset me
— and it wasn’t safe to stay here either. The world was in motion, and there
was no way for anyone to stay still, not even for a boy who had just lost his
aunt, not even for a young man whose parents had been put into eternal sleep.

I sighed. I felt weary, a weariness so deep that I
felt sure it would never go away. “What must be done will be done, I guess.”

Kara nodded. “
Kalle
will
help me make the gateway, but then he will stay here to help with the battle
preparations. I can contact him at will.”

Then Elias was running through the door, with
Kalle
and the smith walking in behind him. I was afraid to
look the boy in the eye but he came right up to me and hugged me. “I am glad to
see you’re better, Anders.”

“I’m so sorry, Elias.”

“Your apology is meaningless.”

I didn’t know what to say. I looked at him in
astonishment.

“It wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault,
except for a certain evil uncle of yours. But your apology is accepted,
anyway.”

I looked at the boy who was so powerful and so
adult in his speech. “Have you talked to your parents? To your cousin?”

The whole of this city knows of my departure.
My parents are upset, but they choose to understand. My cousin, your friend
Karsten
, is bitter; like you he had been lonely, and the
loss of his mother, his cousin and his friend is too great for him to deal
with; and so he works extra hours baking bread.

Woltan
spoke then. “
Karsten
shall not lose you, Elias, nor Anders here. We will
come back to defend this city and defeat its invaders.” Then
Woltan
froze. Someone else had just walked into the room,
and he had a bag packed beside him.

Karsten
stood there
looking at us all. “You will all need to eat, won’t you?” He cracked a smile.
No one laughed, and his face hardened. “I claim my
bloodright
.
I will come along, to seek vengeance for the death of my mother. I am not as
powerful as my cousin Elias, here, but I am trained in combat, and in
spellwork
. And I can fry eggs on a fire, if need be.”

“You are not a fighter,
Karsten
,”
I said, looking to
Woltan
for support. “You’re a
baker and cook. And a great one, at that.”

“Though I count you as a friend, Anders, there are
many things about me of which you know nothing,” said
Karsten
.

“But it was my fault,” I said. “Mine alone.”

“She was my mother. I claim my
bloodright
,”
Karsten
said, looking me straight in the eyes.

“I feared this,”
Woltan
said. “Yet I must accept it. It is our law.”

Karsten
was still
staring at me, waiting for a response. “And do you, Anders
Tomason
,
accept me as well, of your own free will?”

I felt the eyes of the whole group upon me. I
wanted to look away but I knew somehow I couldn’t — I had to look
Karsten
in the eye, and so I did.
Karsten’s
face was free of anger, and full of determination. His eyes were red, but his
face was calm.

I nodded. “Hail and well met,
Karsten
Ludwigson
.”

I felt a shock run through my hand and up my arm
as I shook hands with
Karsten
.
There is magic in
you too.

Karsten
smiled a grim
smile.
Are you surprised? I told you I have many secrets. I am a cook by
choice, not for lack of other options.

Woltan
nodded. “Then all
is decided. Anders, Kara, myself, Elias,
Karsten
, and
our smith. A party of six.
Kalle
and Kara and I will
make the gateway, and Elias will transfer energy from the city. But we must
hurry. There’s a disturbance in the air; the dark lord attempts to probe us
all, and we must hurry yet be wary.”

Kalle
nodded and stepped
forward. He grabbed my hand with his right and Kara’s with his left. “When you
are all through I will close the gateway. We will attempt to reach the outside
camp of the
Kriek
. Inside there is strong magic that
allows no gateways in or out.”

Kalle
squeezed my hand
then, and a gateway opened up before us.

The face was hooded, but the eyes were green, and
I felt them bore into me.

The man smiled.

“
Neffe
.”

I felt everyone around me freeze. The room was
silent except for the sound of laughter. The man was laughing at us.

Are you so surprised? Did you really think I’d
just let you all pop out of there on your little mission? Come, join me,
Anders. We can be great together.

I turned my head to look at my companions but
there were all frozen; I felt
Kalle’s
hand tightening
in my own, and Kara’s too.

No!!!

Elias!!!

I needed energy — I felt my companions being
sapped, stuck in this cycle as the Dark Lord laughed and continued talking to
me.

Come on. They are your past. They will soon be
ashes and dust. Come with me, to the land of the living, and leave the dead
behind.

I felt my hands being squeezed, looked to my right
and left and saw
Kalle’s
eyes unfocused, Kara’s eyes
rolling in her sockets. It was now or never.

And then I felt a small hand touch me, the hand
between the sword pommel and my waist, and a word erupted forth from my mouth.
Energy surged from the sword, and from the hand, and from the ground beneath me
and the word knocked me back against the wall behind me as it blasted into the
laughing face.

SCHLIESSEN!

The energy surged through me, and the gateway
turned into a tiny dot. But it did not vanish. Then it was growing again, the
size of a coin, of a fist. I felt a surge from the sword and wished I could
grab it, but my hands were squeezed by
Kalle
and Kara,
and then Elias spoke behind me: