Authors: Flank Hawk
After sheathing his own sword, Road Toad picked up mine and slid it into its sheath. The guard who’d faced me waited silently to follow us into the pavilion.
The priestess hadn’t bothered to wait. “Which way,” asked Road Toad, standing next to a stool in the small partitioned area. The air was perfumed and not warm or stuffy as I’d expected. There were flaps leading to the left, right and straight ahead. The guard led us straight, and to the right. “How are you doing, Krish?” asked Road Toad.
“Not very well,” I said through gritted teeth. “My arm is swelling up more.”
The guard stopped and held a flap aside. I followed Road Toad through. Inside stood the priestess next to a large wooden altar, the front of which was lined with tiny drawers. On the altar rested an ivory statue of a beautiful maiden stretching to touch a golden sun with one hand while grasping a wooden bowl in the other. Two flat beds covered by white sheets sat on either side of the altar.
The priestess’ spiteful green eyes betrayed her smile as false. She gestured to the narrow bed on her right. “Please, lie down, head nearest the altar honoring the goddess, Fendra Jolain.”
“Should I remove my armor first?” I asked.
She pulled a small knife from within her robes. “That will not be necessary.”
“Priestess,” I said while looking at my arm to avoid her gaze, “although it’ll hurt, it’s easier than mending my armor later.”
“Will not Prince Reveron supply a loyal soldier injured on his behalf with new armor?” Her snide question was directed not to me but at Road Toad.
“He would,” replied Road Toad, “if there were need, but with war arising it is foolish to damage even the simplest soldier’s gear without need.” He helped me with the wooden buttons and gently tugged the sleeve from my injured arm.
I clenched my teeth to withstand the pain before lying down with Road Toad’s assistance. My bruised forearm had swollen to twice its normal size.
Road Toad stepped aside as the priestess knelt and examined my arm. Closing her eyes in concentration, she placed a hand over it. She ran her fingertips from my forearm up to my shoulder and left them to rest on my chest.
“The ulna is fractured, and an illness is brewing within the lungs. Even stressed the immune system could overcome it. But Prince Reveron assuredly desires each of his loyal soldiers trusted to the care of the servants of Fendra Jolain, goddess of the sun and healing, to receive all benefits of her bestowed gifts.”
She stared at Road Toad. When he remained silent, she stood and pulled open an altar drawer. Securing a pinch of powder she again knelt next to me. “What is your name, soldier?”
“Krish, Son of Thurmond,” I answered. I didn’t add my town, as it was not in the realm of Keesee. But even more, I didn’t want her easily associating me with my sister, Raina, who had left to become a healer three years ago.
“What is your unit and who is your commander?”
“Priestess, my unit was destroyed last night by ogres, goblins and zombies,” I said trying to sound formal despite my arm. “I await Prince Reveron’s orders to a new company.”
She sprinkled the gray-white powder onto my arm. “Have you ever considered serving the Goddess of Healing?”
“No,” I said, too quickly. I looked at my arm to avoid her eyes.
“He is a mercenary, Priestess,” interrupted Road Toad, “and brave. But I doubt he could pass the rigorous requirements to become one of the elite guards of Fendra Jolain.”
She smiled up at Road Toad. “Could you?”
“Priestess, like Krish, I have not considered it. We serve the prince and his father, King Tobias of Keesee.” With feigned curiosity Road Toad asked, “Is questioning part of the healing spell?”
The priestess looked back to me. I closed my eyes, clenched my teeth, and pretended to brace myself as if the process would hurt. It shouldn’t, but the less the priestess suspected I knew about healing the better. Plus, she didn’t like Road Toad, and possibly not the prince. And I was with them.
I listened to the incomprehensible words she mumbled after placing her hands over the powder on my broken arm. She then placed a hand on my chest and said, “Breathe in slowly.” As I did, she gently blew on my face.
The aching in my arm didn’t fully disappear but it was noticeably better. I looked up at the priestess as she stood. “Thank you.”
“The swelling and discoloration will disappear by sunset,” she said without inflection. “Do not swing a sword or lift heavy objects until sunrise tomorrow.” She turned and strode out, ordering the guard who’d lead us in, “Trullox, escort the prince’s soldiers from my presence.”
2,873 Years before the Reign of King Tobias of Keesee
Dr. Mindebee smiled as Dr. Johnston reported, “All systems check. Plasma coil in place. Bombardment maintaining stabilized field of anti-matter particles.” Dr. Johnston locked eyes with Dr. Mindebee’s. “Initial penetration laser standing by, Dr. Mindebee. Ready to energize secondary magnetic field within the coil.”
Dr. Mindebee looked around. He spotted the Lt. Colonel seated erect, next to a land line phone. The soldier’s face was relaxed, in complete contrast to everyone else in the lab. “Proceed,” said Dr. Mindebee.
With a reaffirming nod from Dr. Johnston, several assistants tapped at their keyboards and touch screens.
Road Toad declined to wait for Prince Reveron inside his pavilion. Instead we sat on the grass outside the patrolling guards’ circle, awaiting his arrival. Road Toad dug through his satchel and located a wrapped wedge of cheese. He set aside the damp cloth and examined the cream-colored cheese before breaking off a piece. “Try this. A bit sharp.”
“Thanks,” I said. It had a harsher taste than I was used to but was nonetheless welcome. My curiosity about Road Toad’s connection to the prince continued to build. “Why didn’t you want to wait inside the tent?”
“They’d have better food in there,” he smirked, “if any would’ve been offered. How long have you been a rogue healer?” His voice was low enough that nobody could hear.
“I’ve been able to heal bleeding from cuts and scrapes for two summers. I’ve never practiced much.” I didn’t add my sister had returned home for a visit and showed me. I took another bite and answered after sliding the bits of cheese into my cheek. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to do more.”
Road Toad pulled his sword and dagger and set them on the grass. “Another rogue teach you?” He began cleaning his dagger with a rag. I watched, thinking, as he dried the dagger before applying oil with a square of cloth.
“Twelve years ago I was a serpent cavalryman,” began Road Toad after I didn’t answer his question. “Death Snap was my mount. A black like Prince Reveron’s but I flew in a squadron under Prince Halgadin.” He picked up his sword and examined it. “King Tobias has twelve children. Prince Halgadin is his firstborn. Prince Reveron is eleventh born, and the third of three sons.”
I nodded, knowing the number of heirs to Keesee’s throne but not the order of birth. I pulled my sword and examined it as well. I had a small oil tin with a rag and searched for it in my damp satchel. I didn’t want to empty its contents, afraid the prince might arrive any time.
Road Toad looked up and around for the prince. Then, with his eyes staring ahead, fixing on a past vision he continued. “I was there when the last of the routed Crusaders were retreating, with the Necromancer King’s forces in pursuit. Many staggered and fell, struggling for breath. Others were blind with faces blistered. I don’t know if they were luckier than the hundreds of their fallen comrades littering the rocky shoreline.
“Some had made it to their steam-driven ships off shore. More than the ships were equipped to handle. Still, row boats returned to recover time and again. All the while, we circled high overhead. Prince Halgadin had ordered us to observe only. Maybe they were the king’s orders not to interfere.”
He absentmindedly sheathed his sword. “It was nearing nightfall and zombies began clambering down the rocks with goblins behind them. Twenty longships with ogres at the oars cruised down the coastline toward the Crusaders. The steamships sounded alarm whistles.”
He paused, wiped his dagger once more before sheathing it. “A company of men, firing their muzzleloaded rifles, dug in and held off the zombies while the last of the wounded left the shore. A Crusader priest shouted prayers to hold the zombies at bay, until a goblin pierced his heart with an arrow.”
Road Toad held out his hand for my sword. “Then the zombies fell upon them. Four stood with fixed bayonets on the shore and occupied the zombies until their fellows had made it beyond the breakers. Zombies won’t enter saltwater, but they were souled ones and could’ve picked them off with crossbows.”
Road Toad ran his hand along my sword’s salt-pitted blade and frowned. “The steamships were already belching smoke and retreating from the oncoming ogres. The two rowboats, one with wounded and the other with the last retreating soldiers, would never catch the steamships.
“I called to the prince, ‘They are no longer within the Necromancer King’s domain. Should we render aid?’”
“‘No,’ Prince Halgadin shouted to me. ‘We will not engage. Let the ogres have them.’”
Road Toad continued with regret in his voice. “It might’ve been they were Crusaders that bear the green cross. Anyway, the sun was disappearing and I spotted several in the rowboats desperately waving and shouting for assistance. One called in the sea-farer’s tongue.”
Road Toad spoke a little faster. “I know sea-spittle, as does Prince Halgadin. Looking skyward, the Crusader soldier stood on the prow of the trailing boat and called, ‘Dragon riders, we are not friends but have a common foe. Delay the enemy so that we might escape to oppose them another day.’”
Road Toad shook his head. “They were soldiers in needless peril, so I took Death Snap down to the sea. I ordered the Crusaders to throw me a rope while my mount held overhead. I secured the line and Death Snap towed them to a retreating steamship. No other serpent cavalrymen lent aid, and by the time I returned, the rowboat filled with wounded was among the ogres.”
He handed me back my sword. “A very old blade. The smith had some skill, but your weapon is fast losing its ability to endure the salt.”
“What happened?” I asked, shifting position to sheathe my weapon. “Were you banished?”
His head snapped as if startled with my question. “Upon reaching the borders of Keesee, Prince Halgadin stripped me of my rank and my mount. He did not banish me. Instead he swore that if he ever laid eyes upon me again, we would cross blades unto my death.”
“What if he’s here in camp?” I asked. “Are you a better swordsman than him?”
“I doubt he is in this camp.” Road Toad chuckled. “And no, although I’ve learned a few things over the years, he will always be the better swordsman.” He stood. “Besides, no good can come to anyone who slays a prince, even if he invoked the duel.”
I stood, also seeing the prince with several knights on horseback riding toward his pavilion. “But if you left the Kingdom of Keesee and took up as a mercenary, why remain now?” Then I added before Road Toad replied, “Maybe you’ve been forgiven. Prince Reveron said the king thought you were treated badly.”
Road Toad shook his head. “No. Once stripped of my rank by a prince…” He trailed off before patting me on the shoulder. “Tradition holds that any honorable duel cannot be to the death in time of war. Should we meet, I believe Prince Halgadin will forego our crossing of swords until the war has been won.” He signaled for me to follow. “Let us hurry and not keep the one prince who favors me waiting.”
A middle-aged man in gray robes ushered us into a tiny room within the tent. The man was unremarkable except for the fact that his eyes were beginning to cloud white, like what sometimes happens to the elderly. “Carefully, step over and do not disturb the circle.” He gestured with his hand to emphasize while straddling the line of glittering powder that circled the room within the pavilion.
The prince sat at a table and looked up.
The white-eyed man bowed and announced, “Fair Prince, the mercenaries Road Toad and Krish, plucked from peril by you.”
Both Road Toad and I bowed.
The prince smiled. “As you foretold, Lesser Seer B’down.”
“I serve as my skills permit,” the seer said, and bowed once more before backing out of the room. I watched as he deliberately stepped over the sparkling line.
“Please, take a seat,” said the prince. “I have but a few moments before I meet with my officers and military advisors.”
We sat on stools, same as the prince, but his was padded by a purple pillow with gold tassels. A rectangular table holding a large map sat between us. Four unlit candles in silver holders held down corners of the map. I guessed it was of the region, but quickly looked away, not knowing if there were plans drawn upon it. Four other stools sat off to the side within the circle along with an open crate partitioned into deep squares, all but one of which held rolled maps.
“I understand, Major Jadd, that you threatened then injured one of the healers’ guards. Is this information accurate?”
“It is, Prince,” said Road Toad in a monotone voice.
“Major Jadd, Mercenary Krish, speak freely here. We are alone and the circle prevents others from hearing. Why would you do such a thing?”