A Warrior's Journey (7 page)

After he was done laughing manically he said
to father, “You have disrupted a holy ceremony meant for the
enjoyment of the gods of the world. This ceremony is also a vital
moment in the enlightenment of these people and for these offences
you shall pay dearly Roric son of Lorn!”

The priest started to yell forth in some
unknown language. The sky’s overhead turned dark and brooding and I
felt fear grip my soul.

The grey robes of the dark prophet were
covered in dark looking symbols, such as the ones that we had
washed off the buildings that we had come across. As the fervor, by
which the man spoke his strange words increased, the symbols began
to glow in a greenish yellow color.

The carved symbols on the poles also began
to glow. Out of an ingrained loyalty to my father none of his men
withdrew even though they looked as afraid as I felt by the display
of power all around us by the dark prophet.

The townspeople had drawn back out of the
circle of poles and stones quivering as the dark prophet’s
imprecations continued to rise in a crescendo of shouted darkness.
Through it all my father continued to calmly stand beside the
altar, but a couple of feet from the dark prophet.

Did he not see what was happening? We needed
to get out of here, but my feet remained rooted to the spot. The
air began to spark with an electric charge and then a visible
energy could be seen shooting from pole to pole.

I and my father’s men withdrew from the
circle of the poles and electric power that was circulating between
them. The air within the circle of poles seemed to darken and then
the air itself began to whirl violently as if entering an unseen
whirlpool.

Currents of energy sparked from off the
poles into the swirling cloud that was descending upon father. I
took a step toward father even in my abject terror at what I was
beholding with my eyes. Someone had to get him out of there!

I took another step, but stopped in the
attempt of another, as I watched my father move for the first time
during the whole unholy ordeal. He unsheathed his sword that shone
brightly, even through the darkness of the swirling cloud.

The storm seemed to reach its peak and with
a final shout from the dark prophet it descended on my father and I
screamed out in desperation for him. I watched father lift his
sword up high and as the storm descended onto its point everything
changed within a moment of time.

Light rays shot out from the sword and
ringed the dark cloud and began to bind it within a net of color
streamed power. Light rays radiated out from my father’s feet to
the surrounding stones and carved poles. As the light touched the
stones they exploded into nothingness and the poles were consumed
in flame that left no ash.

The whirling dark cloud of energy was
completely ensnared by the light cords cast off by the sword in my
father’s hand and the mass of darkness began to writhe and moan, as
it was chained in by the light. The dark prophet standing within
feet of my father, stood with a look of incomprehension on his face
at what was happening, was suddenly hurled upward into the dark
cloud by some unseen force.

He screamed horribly as he flew around
within the chained cloud of his own spoken request. Father moved
his sword and the light bounded mass moved over top of the stone
altar.

My father spoke for the first time his voice
easily carrying over the tempest of moaning darkness. “Oh Lord so
that those gathered here may know that no power of man is at play
in the binding of this manifestation of darkness I pray that You
would show them Your sovereign power and remove the powers of
darkness from this place.”

His words had but ended when the dark sky’s
parted and fire shot down from the heavens to consume the altar and
what screamed in peril upon it. My heart failed within me and I
fell to the ground in far greater fear than ever before.

The altar was consumed along with its dark
burden and I watched as the dark skies overhead raced away to
reveal once again the clear light of day and the bright blue of the
cloudless sky.

The fire retreated upwards and there was
nothing left standing where the outdoor temple had been except for
my father. I stared in utter amazement at the empty setting. Father
his sword now sheathed stepped toward the quivering
townspeople.

They drew back in fear, but stopped when he
held up a hand. “I know you’re afraid and you don’t understand what
you have seen, but know this! There is a God in heaven and He is
one God. He does not require the sacrifice of your children! All He
asks is for you to believe in Him and His Son, whom He sent to lead
us all out of the darkness of our time. In the saving knowledge of
the Son is peace to be found, as He has been given both power in
heaven and over all that the Creator has made. Fear not the dark
acts of power perpetrated by evil men and the demons that haunt
them, but rather fear Him who is able to divide the spirit from the
body and sentence the spirit, which is eternal to an everlasting
eternity of fire and torment. Stop serving darkness and traveling
its twisted paths and walk in the clear light of the Creator’s word
and He shall set you free from all who would oppress you.”

My father turned from the townspeople to
remount his horse and head back to the main column of the army and
we followed suit in sort of a dazed memory of practice. The
townspeople were already making their way in a weeping mass toward
the little grave by itself on the hilltop.

I had so much to learn and become better at!
In my fear of the dark power manifested by the dark prophet I had
completely forgotten the ultimate power over the universe that the
Creator of all, which resided in me, possessed.

My father had stood firm in his belief in
what his Creator could do despite the storm of darkness that had
surrounded him. I needed to be more like him in yet one more
way.

Somehow I found myself riding back to the
main column beside Talaric. He looked over at me visibly excited,
while all I felt at the moment was a deep comprehension of how much
distance I had to improve upon in order to equal my father in terms
of faith.

Talaric couldn’t contain himself, “Father
sure knows how to make the sparks fly!”

I looked at him askance; surely he didn’t
think father had vanquished the dark prophet on his own, just
because he wielded a special sword?

I didn’t say anything, and just continued to
study him. It dawned on me that was exactly what Talaric thought!
It had been Father’s faith in the Creator that had given him the
victory over darkness. Father was but a vessel for the Spirit of
the Creator to move through and the sword was but a tool to that
end. Following Talaric’s reasoning he no doubt thought that upon
inheriting Father’s sword one day, as was his right being the
firstborn that he too would have the ability to do the things that
Father just had. How could he think like that?

Hadn’t he been listening to Father give God
all the credit for his delivery from the power of darkness? I was
but sixteen and I knew more of faith than he did at twenty two.

Something I had heard Rolf say once came to
mind, he had said, “Some people choose to see and believe only what
they want to, regardless of any facts or instruction to the
contrary.”

I wasn’t like that in any way was I?

I sure hoped not! This was serious! Talaric
one day would be the head of our family and he would be a disaster
at it if he didn’t change his perspective on things.

Silently I prayed, “Dear Lord please help my
older brother remember his father’s teachings and live by the
example that he has set for him before he is tasked with having to
lead our family and Thunder Ridge and help me to be whatever part
of that plan You would have for me to be.”

We continued our patrol through the Ernor
Hills along the northern border of the Zoarinian Empire and
encountered no more resistance of any kind. We continued destroying
all evidence of the dark cult that we found along the way.

No more dark prophets turned up. Word of
what had happened seemed to have spread fast. One village we came
upon had already destroyed their own altar, which was certainly an
encouraging sign.

This close to the border it had been
extremely likely that we would encounter some sign of enemy troops,
but our scouts found nothing on the Southern Settlements side of
the border.

Father sent out scouts below the border
against the wishes of several commanders, who didn’t want to
provoke the Zoarinians. The scouts reported large numbers of enemy
troops massed in concealment just over the border, but they showed
no sign of wanting to engage us in battle.

They shadowed our movement along the border
for the rest of the patrol, but they stayed well clear of engaging
us in any action. Many thought them to be scared of us, but I
wasn’t so sure.

When we reached the end of our long patrol
through the Southern Settlements Father gave the command to head
toward home. We’d made our show of strength and our continued
interest in the area, now it was time to head for home.

I couldn’t help but feel oddly dissatisfied
with the outcome of my first military endeavor. True the encounter
with the dark prophet had been wild, but there had been no action
otherwise throughout the length of the campaign. I had wanted at
least a taste of war before returning home.

I was staring into the fire not really
seeing anything when there was a sudden flurry of action in the
fast approaching night. We had just made camp an hour ago, but that
didn’t explain the sudden rise of voices near my father’s tent. I
rose from the fire and went to investigate.

It looked as if every castle lord and major
officer was in attendance. I drew close enough to hear my father’s
voice rise over the dissension of the southern officers.

“General Karsa my orders are final! You will
take the main body of the army on to Kingdom Pass in the morning
without cavalry support. I will remain in charge of the cavalry
detachment for the purposes of further investigation. We shall join
you at Kingdom Pass in roughly two week’s time. You and your men
will remain camped here for the night and continue on in the
morning. Any men caught leaving the encampment are to be executed
immediately! Cavalry commanders return to prepare your men for we
leave within the hour. Now all of you go as there is much to
accomplish.”

“But what shall I tell the governors?”
General Karsa asked looking visibly shaken by what was happening so
quickly around him.

“Tell them? Tell them nothing! Now go!” My
father said savagely and General Karsa quickly left the fire’s
light.

Commanders rushed off into the night leaving
my father alone to stand by the fire of his campsite and I couldn’t
but help think he was the epitome of what a leader should be. When
he noticed my presence he approached me and I felt humbled all over
again at the knowledge that I had come from this legend among men
that both friend and enemy alike respected and feared.

“Gather your gear together Zevin and mount
up. Soon you shall discover what war is all about.” He said softly
before passing by me into the night a warm hand squeezing at my
shoulder in his passing.

Things got faster paced and I hung onto my
stallion, as the cavalry peeled out of the camp with no light to
guide us, but the light of the almost full moon above us.

The air of excitement all around me was a
palpable feeling as to a man we wondered what grand adventure we
were on the very cusp of experiencing. This was no steady trot
along slow moving troop formations, but a pace eating gallop.

We traveled south down a narrow valley all
through the night. By morning’s early light we made camp against
the sides of the valley that had narrowed even further. There were
to be no fires or loud noises of any kind.

The men tried to get some rest, but it was
difficult with the bright daylight and rampant excitement of what
was taking place. A lot of the men that I had been riding along
with came to me to ask what my father intended and all I could tell
them was that I knew no more than they did. I wasn’t about to ask
father either. If he wanted me to know he’d tell me.

In the two nights that followed we repeated
the exercise of the first night continuing southward at a quick
pace. The next morning we didn’t stop though, but continued to ride
on into the daylight.

The route we were taking seemed to be
avoiding any sign of settlement and it was clear to all of us that
we were headed for some target deep in Zoarinian held territory. It
was hard to imagine how we could go on much longer without being
detected.

The mood of the men grew strained at that
very prospect and what would result with us being so deep into
enemy territory.

We got a big break. The clouds that had been
building up for days broke loose into a heavy continuous downfall
of rain. It was miserable to ride through, even worse to camp in
without any fires, but it provided us cover to continue moving on
undetected as no sane person would be out in this tempest.

Five long days later we pulled up under the
light cover of a marginal patch of forest as the rain continued. We
were allowed to make shielded fires and I had the first hot meal in
days.

I felt completely exhausted from the ordeal
of riding endlessly through the beating rain not to mention the
double time action of my nerves. Surprisingly we stayed camped in
the forest all of the next day as the rain began tapering off.

That evening we mounted up and rode on
quietly. After darkness had fallen we began entering cultivated
fields and passing by small settlements. There was no way that our
passing would go unnoticed in the morning by startled farmers
rising to find their crops trod under by several tens of thousands
of cavalry.