A Warrior's Legacy (16 page)

Lennia let go of my hand, which I had
forgotten that I was still holding and started hobbling as fast as
she could for the stairs. I swooped in front of her and folded her
over a shoulder making sure to grab her crutch before it fell off
to the side, as I then turned to run down the stairs with her over
my shoulder.

I tried to keep her leg stationary, but she
was probably feeling it some coming down the stairs. She didn’t
seem to mind, as I set her back onto her good leg at the bottom of
the stairs and gave her crutch back to her. She gave me a grateful
look before hobbling toward the indomitable figure of Holon
standing in the middle of the courtyard.

He was covered in blood, but he would be
okay being the big healthy animal that he was. He was being wrapped
up by several caregivers, when he saw Lennia hobbling toward him.
He pushed away from the people attending to him and started walking
towards Lennia a big sappy grin spilling across his rough featured
face that only his mother could have loved.

The smile went away abruptly however when
Lennia leaned up and slapped him across the face with all the
strength her slim muscular body could muster. She almost fell in
the process.

Holon’s face twisted into a frown as he
grasped her shoulders quickly to keep her from falling.

“What was that for?” He bellowed out.

“For scaring me!” Lennia replied equally
stormy and then she dropped the crutch and locked both her arms
around Holon’s neck and proceeded to kiss him with everything she
had.

I couldn’t help the laughter that escaped
me, when I saw the look of utter confusion on Holon’s face at what
was happening. I wasn’t the only one laughing. The two of them were
center stage to the amusement of the whole courtyard.

Holon reached down and picked Lennia up into
his arms their faces still sealed in a kiss that might go on for
forever.

How he did it I’m not sure, but Holon
started off in the general direction of his living quarters amid
the rampant cat calls and snickers of the onlookers. The two lovers
didn’t seem to care though. Two hearts had found each other for
life and it was clear that they intended on celebrating their
reunitement together with passion.

I shook my head still chuckling. Lucky dog!
Truth be told we all had been very lucky or more accurately stated
blessed by the Creator to still be alive. We had inflicted maximum
casualties on the enemy, while only sustaining minor losses on our
own part. It was in all accounts a tremendous victory.

It was possible that we had reduced the
enemy force that would be coming against us by almost a third
before we had ever met in the field of battle.

My pressing needs took over then. I needed
sleep and then food. No make that food and then sleep followed by
more food. That sounded like a good plan.

My pleasant thoughts were rudely interrupted
as Talin exploded out of the doorway in front of me with far more
energy than one should have after going through what we had the
past several days.

Seeing me he grabbed my shoulders and shook
me violently, “It’s a boy!”

Pounding him equally hard on the back I
said, “Congratulations Talin best wishes now let me go!”

Talin’s face turned sheepish looking, “It’s
not my child Zevin!”

Before I slipped past him I laid a hand on
his shoulders and gave him a serious look, “Perhaps not but maybe
you should change that. Every child needs a father, which is
something I know that you can personally attest to.”

Talin’s father had been killed in battle
when he’d only been five years old and it had been hard to grow up
without a father. I slipped on past after giving his shoulder
another hard pat.

Talin’s voice burst out after me, “I hardly
know her!”

Turning back smiling I said, “She’s well
spoken, she’s tough, she’s very pretty and she even seems to like
you matchmaker man. What more could you ask for?”

I turned away leaving him there staring
after me. Commitment did not come easy for Talin. I hoped that he
didn’t let that stand in the way of what I thought would be the
best thing for him.

Talin stared after Zevin for a long moment
and then he turned to go back inside. While he had been gone the
women, who had assisted in the delivery had cleaned Salien up and
she looked much better, but still very tired.

She smiled when she saw him. The little
bundle in her arms cried out and she gave her attention to the
little boy, who was still hungry, but not quite getting the way
things worked yet in terms of feeding.

Getting him satisfied she looked up at Talin
and blushed slightly, “I did not mean to hold on to you and keep
you here throughout the whole birthing! I can never repay you
enough for what you have done for me and my baby! Thank you so
much!” She said her voice full of emotion.

Talin spoke huskily, “Don’t thank me I was
happy to help you. I’d do it again for you. I’m glad everything
turned out well.”

He looked like he wanted to say more, but
after an awkward pause he turned to go.

“Talin?”

He turned back, “What is to become of us
now? Are we to be slaves here to?”Salien asked hesitantly.

Talin studied her for a long moment until
she grew slightly uncomfortable under his direct gaze. He broke eye
contact with her and closed the door. He then unbuckled his sword
and then his armor laying it all piled up on a chair.

Salien watched him closely, what was he
doing?

He sat down in another chair and pulled off
his boots and then he took off his sweat stained over shirt.
Standing he walked over to the bed and gently eased her forward a
little and then he slipped in behind her.

He pulled her back to rest against his chest
as she lay between his legs. One arm came around her and helped to
support her arm holding the baby and the other hand slipped down to
enfold with hers, which rested on his thigh.

His breathing evened out and she thought he
had gone to sleep, when he spoke up suddenly surprising her, “You
will never be a slave again and you will be answerable to no one
except me and your son will have a father, even as I now claim you
for my wife. Does that sound good to you?”

“Yes!” Salien breathed out unable to believe
what she was hearing.

“Good.”

After a while she heard and felt his
breathing deepen and she knew that he was asleep. She looked down
at the big hand that held hers, even as she felt the steady beat of
his heart against her back.

Tears coursed down her cheeks, but they were
happy tears and not sad tears for the first time in her life. She
wanted to just ball her eyes out because she was so happy, but she
restrained herself because she didn’t want to wake Talin or the
baby that had fallen asleep against her breast.

She’d had a few happy moments in her life
before now, but this was the first time in her life that she could
remember ever feeling as safe as she did now in Talin’s arms.

The God of the strangers must be real
because nothing like this had ever happened to her until now and
couldn’t be explained in any other way. She had been praying to the
God of the strangers ever since the old woman, who had helped her
up off the street after she had been raped yet one more time by the
men of her people, had told her of the great Creator.

She didn’t deserve any of this, but she
would gladly take and live every moment of it to the fullest. She
turned her head to listen to the heart of a man she knew would
never hurt her, even as she felt the warm presence of a new life
snuggle deeper into the crook of her arm.

This man would teach her son how to be a
better man than the men of her people had been for a very long
time.

There was hope for the future and peace and
more joy than she had ever known possible in the present. She
closed her eyes and restful sleep soon overtook her.

I awoke to the sound of hammers. Rubbing my
eyes I tried to get rid of the tiredness I still felt. From the
sounds of it the General was hard at work on the next phase of the
plan.

I hadn’t seen anyone the day before on my
way to my quarters where I had collapsed. There had been something
I was going to do before I slept.

Eat!

I had forgotten to eat! My stomach was one
long grumble as I sat up and I received a pleasant surprise. There
were three trays heaped high with steaming food in front of me.

“God bless you Gavin!”

There were certain perks to being a king’s
brother after all it would seem.

“How’s it going General?” I asked from
beside General Lasho as I viewed the construction of the temporary
shelters.

The General was as ebullient of mood as I
had ever seen him before. “Everything is going according to plan
Master Zevin! We should be done with these shelters in two more
days and then we’ll send the fleet out north!”

“Good! I’ll head north myself tonight.” I
said.

“Tonight! Shouldn’t you rest more before
starting out on that phase of the plan?” General Lasho asked with
evident concern.

I shook my head no, “Now is no time to rest.
Resting can be done after the war. Now is the time to keep eating
away at the enemy, while we have them thrown off guard by our
aggression.”

“I understand Master Zevin. You are wise to
keep pressing at the enemy’s throat.”

“I really wish you would stop calling me
master General Lasho.”

There was no comment from the General.

“If I’m successful in convincing the North I
will be back with the relief troops needed for the battle for the
city. If they do not come with me I will return any way and take my
place in the city and together we will see what comes of us.”

The General turned to me and said, “Let us
hope that they see the side of reason and decide to throw in with
us. I look forward to your return Master Zevin!”

The old general moved off to bark an order
out at someone, who had the misfortune of being at the wrong place
at the wrong time.

The night was cool and quiet as I stood
beside Relentless checking my gear. He was eager for the trip and
the next adventure. I wish I could say the same. I was getting a
little adventured out in all honesty.

Gavin was beside me protesting, “I really
think you should take some men with you Zevin! What if you run into
trouble or have an accident and are unable to get north to broker
an agreement?”

I snorted, “Don’t write me off that easily
brother please!”

“Well if you won’t take a party of warriors
at least take Holon and Talin with you!”

“They’re both preoccupied and needed here in
the defense of the city Gavin.”

“You won’t see reason will you?”

“I’ll be all right Gavin. Trust me it’s
better that I go alone.”

Gavin walked off frustrated, but then came
back to give me a brief hug before he left again.

Zalisha stepped out of the shadows of the
night and I indicated after my brother’s retreating form, “Watch
over him. He worries too much.”

“In this case I’m inclined to believe that
his worrying is somewhat justified. I wish you safe passage
Zevin.”

I nodded and was about to mount Relentless
when she spoke again, “Zevin.”

I looked back at her.

“There’s something I neglected to tell you
about the mountains. They’re dangerous in many ways, but one of the
worst dangers they hold are the mountain demons.”

“Mountain demons?” I asked skeptically.

“Yes they have the form of humans only they
have glowing eyes and sometimes their bodies glow as well. They
like to play tricks and worse on people. Avoid them at all cost!
You’ll only have to be concerned about them at night, as that is
when they come out of their caves to hunt unwary victims. I just
wanted you to know about them before you left, as I neglected to
mention them before to you. Godspeed Zevin.”

Zalisha moved off into the darkness and I
watched her go. I hadn’t given her much credit for a sense of humor
before and I didn’t give her any now. Her sense of humor was as bad
as mine.

Mountain demons? ‘Oh by the way I forgot to
mention that the mountains are crawling with demons, who glow in
the dark and come out and feed at night on unwary travelers, have a
safe trip see you back soon.’

If she thought I was that gullible well……
well I wasn’t! An involuntary chill went down my spine, as I gazed
at the distant snowcapped mountains highlighted by the moon, as I
thought a very unkind thought in regards to my new
sister-in-law.

By moonlight I made my way out onto the
plain and then headed north for the distant mountains and their
glowing demons.

By day I stayed in the ruined cities and
towns of the Eastern Kingdom and at night I traveled northward. I
didn’t see anyone or anything of note worthiness.

It was a depressing ride traveling through
the empty ruined cities and vacant fields of the once vibrantly
thriving kingdom. Hopefully one day, after the battle was won and
balance was restored to these lands, these cities would become
occupied and prosperous once again.

The morning of the third day I reached the
trees at the base of the mountains and I kept riding up through
them not stopping.

It was like being home only different. It
was with relief that I welcomed the cooler temperatures of the
mountain atmosphere. Other than the mountain demons my only worries
were slipping past the Blue Castle unnoticed as well as the city of
Unasa.

It wasn’t populated by the Western Kingdom,
but rather by the private forces of the sorcerer. It was from these
troops that the assassins that had killed Zalisha’s family had come
from.

They were to be avoided, which meant I had
to go farther up into the mountains in order to avoid any possible
contact with them.