The Year of the Lumin (15 page)

Part 3

Chapter 22

Oh captain, my captain

              The remaining citizens of the rebel town Talik rested that night in their former home.  Since most every building had been burned to the ground, most slept on the ground wrapped in cloths.  Before the women and children were allowed into the town, the slain stragh bodies had been dragged outside the city walls to a clearing in the trees and burned.  It was far enough away so that the smell did not reach the town, but the black smoke rose high into the night sky, shrouding a long section of the stars.  Also, the bodies of the fallen men and women were cared for lovingly.  Noir, Ratt, and Elrid arrived at Talik that evening.

There had been very few casualties in the second battle due to the warriors' extensive training and the help of the Luxins.  Adeel had healed as many of the wounded as she could by herself.  She had passed out late in the afternoon the day before and showed no signs of waking up that morning.

In the morning light, everyone salvaged what they could from their former homes.  Almost anything not metal had been smashed or burned.  Many quick and sad burials were done for loved ones.

  That evening, Grandel called a meeting in one of the last standing houses.  Someone had found and dragged in Grandel's old conference room table, though it was scorched badly on one side.  He met with the most important people in the town.  Adeel, Noir, and Ratt (at Noir’s request) sat to Grandel’s left.  Elrid and two others of his same rank, Cairn and Halat, sat to Grandel’s right.  Noir recognized Cairn from when he used the luxsyedin on Noir and found out he was attuned to lux over a month earlier.

“My friends,” Grandel began once everyone was seated and the small talk had subsided, “I am glad to see all of you are well enough after the battles from the past few days.  I am honored, as always, to sit among you.”  He sighed.  “Now, we have many things that must be discussed.  First, the official tally from the last few days.”  He paused sadly and picked up a messy scroll with a long list of names on it.  He said, “In the first attack, thirty-nine men able to fight were slain.  Twenty-four women and children also fell that night.  In the night that followed, nineteen more bodies were found.  Many more must have been drug off by the straghs.  In the attack to reclaim Talik, eleven men fell, unable to be healed.  Considering the size of the stragh occupation force, the battle was as successful as we could have hoped.  In the end, our remaining numbers total seventy-nine able to fight and eighty-two women and children.”  He tossed the tally tablet on the table.  “One hundred and sixty-one is less than half of our original numbers.”  Sad grumbles passed among those present.

Grandel gave a huge sigh.  “I have failed these people, and you.  Failed them completely.  They gave me their trust and devotion.”  Grandel lowered his head and looked at the large table.  “For all my planning and efforts, I could not protect these people from a simple stragh attack.  My best efforts were not enough.”  Grandel put one hand on the red and yellow sash he wore that signified him as captain.  “Therefore, effective immediately, I resign as captain.”  He grabbed the sash and quickly ripped it off his armor, then tossed it on the table.

The room looked at Grandel in astonishment.  The only one who kept a blank face was Adeel, as if she somehow knew beforehand that this would be coming.  Grandel sat down in his chair and declared, “I nominate Lieutenant Elrid as the new captain and leader of Talik.”

A long moment of silence passed.  The group exchanged surprised and confused looks.  Elrid finally said, “Sir, this is unnecessary.  No one could have defended against that attack.  They knew all of our defenses, deftly took out our scouts, and attacked without any warning.”

Grandel calmly said to Elrid, “My resignation is not up for debate, friend.”  He turned to the rest again and said, “Again, I have one nomination for Elrid as captain.”

Another moment of silence came.  The people in the room looked at each other again.  Cairn said as he stood slowly from his chair and motioned to everyone in the room, “Sir, you are an excellent captain.  We all willingly follow you.  Never would we have survived this long if….“

Grandel sharply rose from his seat.  His voice boomed, “More good lives will
not
be thrown away due to my incompetence.  Elrid knows all the tactics that I do and more.  Now,” his voice rose in volume even more, “
are there any more nominations?
”

Cairn stood for a few moments more, then as he sat he said in a defeated way, “I second your nomination of Lieutenant Elrid for captain.”  Grandel closed his eyes and sat down in his chair.

“And I third,” said Halat.

Adeel sighed and said in her sweet tone, “If this is truly what you think is best, Grandel, then I agree.”

Noir said, “I will vote for Elrid as well, if it is your wish, Grandel.”

All eyes fell to Ratt.  He looked startled as if he had been day dreaming.  “Since when was I a part of this?”  No one answered so he said, “Yeah, okay.  Elrid for captain.”

“Then it is settled,” Grandel said as he slid the sash on the table to rest in front of Elrid.  Elrid cautiously took the cloth in his hands and stared at it blankly.

Grandel changed the topic.  “Now that that’s settled, on to other matters: we have a great problem.  I fear there is a hidden threat within our own numbers.  Many observations recently point toward a traitor within our ranks.  The first sign was how well-informed the straghs were of our defenses.  They knew our location, they took out all of our scouts simultaneously, and they broke through our walls at our least defended time.  These are complex actions that cannot be executed by the ravenous beasts alone.

Noir hesitantly corrected him.  “They knew of Talik’s location because of the innkeeper in Kuli.”  Noir had already told Grandel the story, but he repeated it for the others.  “I believe that the man who captured me yesterday was the same who pried the information from Assai’s memory and spearheaded the attack.”  Noir paused and looked around at the tired faces looking back at him.  “And for more bad news, from what I saw, he could use both sye and din.  He first invaded my dreams in Kuli when we were on our way to see Fafnir.”

Ratt agreed, “I saw it too.  He used both.”

Adeel frowned and said, “This is very hard to believe.  No one has ever been able to use more than one vigor.  I would claim it a lie if not for the reliability of those who witnessed it.”

Grandel said, “While it is possible that our attackers learned of our position from the innkeeper in Kuli, there still must be a traitor.  As you know, our long time friend, Luxin Kit, was murdered.  But, you have not heard how.”  Grandel described the scene with the straghs slain by their own claws.  He described how Kit had a weapon made by Gonn Holdark in his chest and his own dagger was still sheathed at his side.

“This
is
grave news,” said Cairn.  “Let’s make sure to tell all of the men to be on the lookout for suspicious behavior.”

Elrid finally spoke.  He had placed the sash back on the table.  “No,” he said.  “Then the traitor would know we were onto him thus sending him into hiding.  We would never catch him that way.  What we need to do is set trustworthy, secret night watchmen to watch our
own
men instead of the wilderness as usual.  That way, if someone slinks off into the night without permission or does something else strange, we can pull him in for questioning later.”

Elrid paused a moment before continuing.  “Something else bothers me.  As a few of you know, I had suspected for a while that the late Luxin Kit was a traitor.  I am now left with no leads since recent events obviously prove otherwise.”

Grandel said, “Yes.  We will choose our secret watchmen after this meeting.  For those of us in this room, keep your eyes peeled for suspicious behavior and don't tell anyone else of our suspicions.  There is little more we can do unless we let it be known we are searching for the traitor.

Grandel sat back in his chair and looked at Elrid expectantly.  Elrid looked back at him for a moment before realizing Grandel wanted him to take over the meeting.  “Now,” he started hesitantly, “we must discuss where to rebuild.  I know of no place that would suffice, so I am open to suggestions.”

Halat said, “We do not have many options.  If we venture too far into either kingdom’s territory we will be found by their scouting groups.  And we cannot live on the border between the kingdoms any longer.  That would be the first place anyone would look.  We were lucky to have this forest unsearched by the Chirons and Tierians for as long as we did.”

Noir said, “We could move close to Fafnir’s cave.  She has been a long-time ally, right?”

Elrid said, “Yes, but if our base was ever found, we would not want to jeopardize the whereabouts of her lair.  It would be unfair to her with all the help she has given us.”

The group deliberated for hours on many different topics.  They talked about flaws with their town building, battle strategies, and many other things.  They also relentlessly drilled Noir about the scarred man and what he had learned about him.

At one point, an unexpected knock came at the door.  Ratt got up and opened it.  Standing in the doorway was Telfa, the man who had stood up to Grandel two days before in the forest.  He had openly questioned Grandel’s tactics and ethics in front of a group of soldiers.  Telfa was holding the pieces of his armor and wore normal clothes.

In contrast to the first time Noir had met the man, his anger was absent and he seemed nervous and humbled.  He took a step into the room and said, “Captain Grandel.  I wanted….”

Grandel softly cut him off.  “No.  I am no longer the captain.  Elrid has been appointed captain.  Please refer to me simply as Grandel.”

Telfa looked from Grandel to Elrid and back, obviously trying to comprehend the change.  Then he spoke to Grandel again.  “Grandel.  I wanted to apologize for my disrespect the other day.  I spoke from despair.  However, I did mean the things that I said.  I do not think I understand the motives behind all of this.  I can’t justify the last few days' events, and I find myself hating all who support your cause.”  He walked forward and placed the armor on the table.  “Therefore, I would like to exercise my right to leave.”

Grandel nodded sadly and said, “Apology accepted.  But your leave must be approved by the captain.”  He motioned toward Elrid.

Elrid looked at the man for a long moment, then said, “You have fought bravely by our side for many years, Telfa.  We respect your dissent and even your anger.  You are granted your leave.  You are originally from the Chiron capital, correct?”

“Yes… Captain,” he answered with a pause.

“Then you will need an escort.”

Noir had been pouring over a way to leave for Chiron to try to find his uncle.  Noir had not thought of any ideas of how to ask until that moment.  He quickly jumped on the opportunity.

“I will go with him.  I have been longing to find my uncle and cousin, and one of them could very likely be in Chiron with the Syeters.”  Noir looked at Elrid.  “If you would let me go, Captain.”

Elrid gave Noir an indecisive look.  “We could use your abilities here, Noir.  Especially now.  We have never had fewer than two Luxins with us since Adeel joined us years ago.”

Adeel spoke.  “We have fewer numbers now than ever.  I alone will be enough to maintain these people.  Let the boy go.  He has earned it.”

Noir added quickly, “I will come back, of course.  I’m not sure how long it will be, but I will return.”

“I will go with them as well.”  Everyone turned to Grandel in shock as he said the words.  He looked at those around him.  “It was my fault that Noir’s family was taken.  I feel I should do anything in my power to help him find them.”

The room was silent for a long moment until Halat spoke.  “You were the head general for Chiron for many years, though.  How will you avoid being recognized and captured?  You could be questioned and Talik's sovereignty could be jeopardized.”

Grandel answered, “If I remain in plain simple clothing and keep my face turned from knowing eyes, I should be fine.  Since I was seventeen years old, I have always worn armor in public.  No one would recognize me in rags.  It is a risk though, and I leave it to your judgment, Captain Elrid.”

Elrid seemed to be thinking while he fingered the sash absentmindedly.  Then he answered, “You both are approved to accompany Telfa to the Chiron capital.  However, I would like for you to return to us immediately afterwards, Grandel.  I could greatly use your wisdom.  I will send a few more soldiers with you as well to ensure your safe arrival to the Chiron capital as well as your safe return back to us.”

Ratt slowly raised his hand and everyone turned toward him.  “What about me?” he asked.

Adeel and Elrid both smiled.  Adeel said, “Well, I don't think there's any question about that.  Even if we told you to stay, you wouldn't.”

Chapter 23

Long laid plans

              The small group agreed to leave the next day for Chiron.  Noir was sad to leave Adeel and Elrid again.  He was unsure of what it would be like having the demoted Grandel with him.  As they packed, so did the rest of the remaining citizens of Talik.  They had agreed on a new location to the northeast.  The spot was well hidden by cliffs and had no roads near it.  It had a small stream coming down from the mountains for water, and small patches of forest nearby for wood.

              Elrid had taken volunteers and recruited two other men to accompany Telfa, Noir, Ratt, and Grandel.  He said he would have sent more men to ensure their safe travel to Chiron, but they were greatly needed for the move to the town's new location.  However, he very graciously lent each a horse to carry them to their destination.

The two men whom Elrid assigned to the party looked fairly alike with blond hair and shaved faces.  One was shorter than the other and looked a few years the other’s senior.  The older, shorter one’s name was Borm and the taller was Cotaj.  No one wore the hawk armor that connected them with Talik.  Instead, they wore bland leather and iron armor crafted by Gonn for journeys to the kingdoms.  The chances of someone recognizing the hawk symbol were slim, but it was safer to leave it behind.

              Noir kept his Luxin armor and cloak with him, though he did not wear it.  The last thing they wanted to do was draw more attention than was necessary.

              After all six horses were packed and ready to go, each person went their separate ways to say goodbye one final time.  Noir and Ratt said farewell to Elrid and Adeel.  They were both very busy orchestrating the mass move of the people, but took a few moments to give the journey their blessings.  Adeel told Noir to be careful and wished him luck with finding his family.  She also told him to take good care of Grandel, which he wasn't sure she intended as a joke or not.

              Once all six were finished with their goodbyes, they met back together at their horses.  It was odd seeing Grandel in normal clothes and pieces of normal armor.  He was still a strong, confident man, though much of his former glory seemed to be gone. 

Grandel went over the itinerary and presumed progress for the first part of their trip.  They would pass out of the woods by late afternoon and into the plains to the west of Talik.  They would rest that night beside one of the tributaries of the great Riddari, the largest river in the region.  On the second day of their journey, they would ride to Hess`erabi, a fairly large city on the banks of the Riddari.  In case they met any Chiron patrols, they had prepared and rehearsed a believable fabricated story to explain their actions.

              With their route and story agreed upon, they started out.  Finding its way through the trees and branches, long columns of light stretched across their path from the morning sun, painting it with orange stripes.  Telfa, Borm and Cotaj all rode side by side and talked.  Their conversation strayed from how Talik had been years ago before most of it was built, to how each had been finally pushed from the kingdoms.

Oddly, Grandel rode alone, watching the path ahead.  He was seemingly deep in thought.  Ratt and Noir talked sparingly, mostly listening to the other three men’s conversations.  They were talking about the battle of Talik, as they called it.  They each were recounting what they had done to help when Grandel finally spoke up.

“And Noir was the turn of the battle.  All he did was amazing, despite what happened in the end.”

Telfa and Borm both agreed and helped each other tell how he had tripped the straghs.

The conversation died down and Ratt started a new conversation with Noir.  “So I’ve been wondering something.”

“Yeah?”

“What were they going to do to me when I was in that prison if you hadn’t asked for me to be released when you did?”

Grandel turned in his saddle, obviously having heard the conversation.  He looked at Noir and gave a slight sly smile, since he knew Noir already knew the true answer to that question.  He made his face blank and said to Ratt, “What were we going to do with you?” Grandel spoke in a false stern voice.  “We were planning on executing you the next day.”  Noir admired the large man’s acting abilities.

Ratt almost fell out of his saddle.  “You what?  Why?  I was still in Tierian territory when you found me!”

For the first time in a long time, Grandel let out a loud belly laugh.  Noir could not help smiling also.

“You big liar!” Ratt yelled, understanding the joke that had been played on him.  Grandel turned back around in his saddle, still laughing.  The other men were smiling and turned back around in their saddles as well.  Ratt grumbled softly so only Noir could hear.  “Mister Beardy Pants over there thinks he’s funny.”

The other men all rode ahead and started another conversation.  Ratt hopped down off his saddle and pretended to adjust its straps.  When he climbed back up, he had a handful of pebbles from the path below.  Noir watched silently as Ratt put one of the small rocks between his finger and the top of his thumb.  He then aimed at Grandel who was riding in front of him and flicked the pebble at the large man.

The rock made a
dink
sound and rebounded off Grandel’s armor.  The large man turned his head up toward the trees above him, perhaps thinking it was a nut or berry dropping from the canopy overhead.  Ratt hid the rocks in his hand until it seemed as though Grandel had forgotten the incident.  Then he took another pebble and again bounced it off of Grandel’s armor.  The man looked up again, this time seeming more confused at the absence of nuts above him.

After another pause, Ratt aimed a third time and shot another pebble.  To Noir’s amazement, Grandel suddenly whipped his body around and put his palm in the way of the pebble.  He grabbed it out of the air and in one fluid motion reversed its direction and threw it back at Ratt.  It hit Ratt’s surprised forehead square in the middle.  The shock of the tiny rock hitting Ratt caused him to recoil backwards and fall from his saddle to the ground.  His horse took a few startled steps forward, leaving Ratt on his back in dusty, startled confusion.

Grandel looked over Ratt with a friendly but triumphant smile.  He gave a “humph,” then turned his horse around and continued onward.

“That didn’t go as planned,” Ratt said as he stood up and stretched his back.  He walked to his horse and climbed back up.

Grandel called back, “Okay.  Enough fooling around.  We are getting into lands that are far from our home.  We need to be on guard.”

The trees around them thinned and eventually gave way to rolling plains before them.  The sun was high in the sky, basking the land in bright light.  Only beneath patches of trees did shadows creep.

They rode on into the afternoon.  The land was beginning to slope downwards.  As they crested a small hill, Noir looked forward to see the land spread before him.  It led downwards to a small winding valley.  Noir thought they could reach it before nightfall.

“There's the stream,” announced Grandel.  “We’re on schedule.”

For the rest of the evening they rode toward the tree-lined valley.  Soon before the sun set, something very odd happened that put Noir on edge.  He wasn’t sure how to make sense of it, but a few times he felt someone embracing and using lux.  It was such a tiny amount that he could not tell which direction it was used or what it was for.  But someone near him was using lux.

~~~

The six men prepared to rest for the night beside the sloping banks of the small river.  Over many years, the water had cut a small valley into the rolling plains.  The treacherously steep walls of the valley lead down to the rocky banks of the river. They decided to camp on their side of the valley so they could use the next day’s light to find a safe path down to the water and then cross it.

As they were setting up camp, Grandel sent Noir and Cotaj out to search for firewood.  He also sent Borm and Telfa to hunt for some sort of meat to eat, though they had dried bread in reserve if none could be found.  Ratt attached the horses to trees and pulled out the cloths which were set aside for sleeping on.

Grandel had a large, hand-drawn map out in front of him.  Having found what Ratt thought was the softest place he was going to find for a bed, he sat down on the spread out cloth.  He had already set up all of the other items for their camp as Grandel had instructed.  As soon as he sat, Grandel said, “Why don’t you go find Noir and help them carry back some wood?”

Ratt stood and walked a few paces away from the small camp when he heard a voice call out, “Help!”  It came in the direction that Noir and Cotaj had gone.  Grandel was immediately on his feet with sword drawn.  Ratt saw Noir’s figure running toward them.  “Help!” Noir cried out again.  “It’s Cotaj!  Come quick!”  Then he turned and ran in the direction from which he had come.  Ratt and Grandel exchanged worried glances, and then ran after Noir.

They ran for a couple minutes and caught up to Noir, who was now standing still.  He stood near the edge of a steep cliff with his back to the other two.  His head hung low as he pointed toward the cliff.  Noir stammered breathlessly, “He’s down there.  There wasn’t anything I could….  It happened too fast.  I can’t heal because… he’s gone.”  Noir then knelt down to one knee and bowed his head, still facing away from Ratt and Grandel.

Grandel slowly approached the edge of the cliff.  Grandel leaned his weight forward and looked down.  As he inched forward, something caught his foot, and the large man’s balance was suddenly lost.  He grasped for the tree that was near him, but it passed by his hand as he fell forward.  Ratt leapt forward and snatched part of the man’s leg armor just as he toppled forward.  Due to the man’s weight, Ratt’s boots scraped forward in the dirt a short distance before finding a tree root and stopping.

Grandel laid against the rock and dirt wall nearly vertical, head first.  The leather straps holding the piece of armor in place would not hold for long.  Ratt turned his head toward Noir to ask for his help.  For a brief moment, Ratt saw a look of intense hatred contorting his friend's face.  “Help, Noir!  It won’t hold.”

Noir came forward quickly and grabbed Grandel’s other leg.  The two young men pulled up the large man until he could pull himself up and regain his footing.  There was no sign on Noir’s face of the odd emotion which Ratt thought he had seen.

After Grandel stood, brushed himself off, and thanked the two young men, Noir asked sadly, “Did you see him?”

“I saw a body, yes.  In this dull light, I could make no more out than his figure, though I doubt anyone could survive that fall.  The banks down there are slabs of granite.  Now tell me exactly what happened, Noir.”

Noir explained exactly what happened.  It seemed simple enough.  As he told it, Telfa and Borm approached.  They had heard a call for help and came searching.

Noir finished the story.  “When I heard him yell, I turned and saw nothing.  Then I looked down and there he was.  There was no time to use lux, and I didn’t know what to do, so I ran to find you two.”

Silence fell for a moment.  The men looked at each other with plain, sad faces.  Grandel grunted and said sadly, “We cannot leave him there for the night.  His body will attract vermin.”  He grunted again, obviously perplexed.  “I have some rope, though I don't think it's long enough to reach the bottom.”

Noir said, “With patience, I can use lux to get down there safely.  Go get me his bed cloth and Grandel's rope and I will wrap his body.  I will bring him away from the water to where we may easily get him tomorrow morning.”

Grandel put a hand to his beard and toyed with it for a moment.  Then he nodded and said, “Ratt, go and fetch Cotaj’s cloth and bring it here.”

Ratt took a step forward and put a hand on Noir’s arm.  He seemed startled by the touch.  Ratt with concern, “Are you alright?”

Noir responded in an uncharacteristically curt way.  “Yeah.  I will be fine.”  Then he softened his tone.  “I just wish I could have done something to prevent this.”  Ratt nodded, then walked off to retrieve the sixth bed cloth that he had laid out.

When Ratt returned, he handed the balled-up cloth and rope to Noir, who was standing next to the cliff looking into it.  The rest were sitting nearby talking sadly about their lost companion.  They were talking about how fast it had happened.  None of them could have ever guessed he would go that way.

Noir took the cloth and rope and turned to the rest.  “Do not worry about my descent.  Now that I am calm, I should have no problem reaching the bottom and coming back up.”  With that said, he slowly walked backward toward the cliff edge.  A small light appeared above him, cutting the night’s darkness.  Noir looked behind him and seemed to concentrate.  Then he leaned back at a ninety-degree angle, defying visible physics, and walked backward down the cliff face.

Ratt had never seen him use lux in that way.  He figured that Noir was hardening the air behind him to support his weight, but it was still very odd looking.

After Noir had descended down the wall, Grandel instructed Ratt and Telfa to move the campsite to their current position.  They walked off together to gather up the bags and other belongings that the group had placed there.

During their task, Telfa talked to Ratt, though Ratt did not know much of what to say back.  “Cotaj had been with Grandel for years.  He has no family back at Talik, so that is one plus.  He was always a good help and a good soldier, though he has been oddly distant the last few weeks.  Perhaps he was beginning to share my views about Grandel’s vain efforts to create an independent town.”