A Warrior's Redemption (The Warrior Kind) (17 page)

“But of course it is our honor to welcome you the son of one of our hero’s and proudest families home after so long. It will bring great joy to the people to know that a Ta’lont has come back to us in these dark times.”

Gesturing towards the fallen Zoarinians he asked, “Are there any more than these following you?”

“No I do not think so, but I cann
ot be sure of it.”

“Well let’s
get out of this valley before anymore of them do show up. Are you able to ride Roric? You look a little roughed up there.”

Seth had just finished wrapping my side, which felt better with the pressure of the bandage against it. I rose to my feet and mounted Flin, who ambled up at the sound of the whistle call that Eliak had taught me to use.

One of the Valley Landers intrigued by the uniqueness of my whistle call tried to duplicate it. Flin didn’t even so much as bat an ear in his direction.

“A fitting mount for a warrior such as yourself.” Said General Nadero in frank appreciation of Flin.

“I need to meet with the high council as soon as possible General.” I said.

“And so you shall.” General Nadero responded. “The high council is currently gathered at the Governor’s resi
dence at Kingdom Pass. If we ride through the night we
should be able to reach the wall by early morning tomorrow.”

Swinging into the saddle had caused the gash in my side to twinge again and my desire to talk had diminished consi
derably so I just nodded and turned Flin towards the pass in the mountains ahead, where the fabled wall of the Valley Lands was situated at the head of it where the mountains gave way to the interior recesses of the Valley Lands. Flin fell in with the rest of the column of riders as they headed toward my homeland that I had never seen before.

Chapter Seven

Strength of the Past

The glow of the early morning was beginning to lighten up the sky, when we neared the end of the long pass through the mountains to the city of Kingdom Pass. It was the only viable access point into the Valley Lands that I knew of. It was said that there were other smaller passes higher in the mountains, but they were extremely dangerous and hard to find and sometimes weren’t open for years at a time.

Large majestic snow capped peaks rose to the sky all around us, as far as the eye could see to either side of the pass. Never had I seen such grandeur exhibited in nature be
fore. The only definition to the land that could be discerned earlier had been the deeper darkness of the passes side walls to either side of us as we had rode through the pass at night. But now a vast panorama of majesty rose all around us, as it was steadily backlit by the morning sun burning away the misty fog cloaking the pass and mountains.

The floor of the pass was a relatively flat dry river creek bed that spanned roughly anywhere from five hundred to twelve hundred feet across at any given point. We rode on a slightly-elevated highway of crushed stone that led us through the flats ever upwards.

The walls of the pass rose into even steeper mountain sides further above us. Rounding a bend in the pass I saw it before us, the wall of Kingdom Pass. The pass opened up into a wider space, and stretched across it
lay
the battlement fortifications of Kingdom Pass. It had been built long ago just after the colonization of this continent had begun. Our forefathers had come across the northern seas in ships that were of a creation that had not been equaled since. I knew little of the early days of our world only that we had come here from another world.

There had been sharp dissension among the early settlers over the use of technology that had led to a fracturing of loyalties, which had ultimately led to war. It had been a terrible war lasting over a hundred years and it had culminated in the building of this wall. It had been an attempt for survival by those in the minority, who had believed that the technology that had been used to get to this world was no longer some
thing that was good for the people to know. Building the wall had worked. For over six hundred years the wall and its defenses had stood as a dividing rod between those who came to be known as the Valley Landers, and the world at large that lay beyond the mountain valleys.

Now, as I looked at the wall being unveiled in the early morning light I could not stop the sense of awe that overcame me at the sight of it. The wall and its towers appeared to be one massive block of golden mountain granite that reflected the early morning light back at us. The wall ran out into the valley in a soft bell curve that faced down the pass at
us. There were towers going up the sides of the pass for a distance away from the wall towards us and the wall itself was studded with towers and defensive battlements. Most interestingly
though
was that I didn’t see any gateway through the massive wall. After a few moments of searching I saw the gates. There were two of them, but they weren’t in the wall itself. They were located in the walls of the pass to either side of the wall.

There must be tunnels behind the gates that led through the mountains to either side of the wall in order to access the city beyond. It was a smart way of resolving the inherent tactical weakness of a gateway. Gates are typically the weakest points in a fortification; get enough ramming, bombardment, and a heavy enough massing of troops and any gate can fall, except maybe these gates. The angle they were at put them out of range of being fired upon directly by projectiles. The massing of troops in the narrow tunnels would create a bottleneck that could prove catastrophic, if they had death holes through which boiling oil could be poured down onto the attacking troops and the tunnels themselves could likely be caved in, if need be to stop an invasion. If there was any weakness to be found in the defenses before me it was probably the overconfidence of the soldiers defending it, thinking that the wall could never fail, which is a very dan
gerous weakness to have, as overconfidence breeds laziness and inattention to detail.

As we drew near to the leeward gate I could see sentries ringed along the top of the wall above us watching us intently. It was hard to believe upon seeing this place that my fa
ther had been in charge of all this at one point in time.

Silent well hidden warriors rose up from the ground all around us, with arrows at the ready placed in their bow strings. Flin not liking it shied back ready to make a bolt for freedom. Holding the reins firmly I held our position in the line, as I frankly admired the skill of the outer guardsmen at remaining unseen.

I had not suspected their presence, until they had risen from the ground as quiet as shadows. Looking over at Rolf I noticed that he didn’t seem to share my surprise at the occur
rence of the armed warriors. The man had senses as keen as any marsh cat.

The guardsmen seemingly satisfied of our authenticity eased off on their bows and parted to let us pass by, as the large outer doors of the gate ahead of us swung open without the barest hint of sound. We proceeded into the tunneled gateway that was lined with lit torches and proceeded to make our way through the tunnel to the upper gate that opened to the city. The clipping of our horse’s hooves ech
oed loudly within the confines of the tunnel carved out of solid rock. Coming to the second gateway it too swung open before us without the barest hint of sound. As the doors swung out a courtyard opened up before us that was ringed with soldiers silently standing in formation.

The level of security was impressive. Making our way out of the courtyard I got my first glance at the city that lay beyond the wall. The city lacked the size of the Zoarinian cities, as well as some of their appearance of opulence, but I liked what I saw here better. The buildings weren’t grandly embellished, but they were neat, orderly, and solid in ap
pearance.

There were throngs of people out and about their daily activities already, something that would have been an uncommon scene in any Zoarinian city, as they lived for the night and shunned the early light of day. Making our way through the crowded streets we drew the attention of the early morning goers. Wondering what they were thinking I made chance eye contact throughout the crowd. Their expressions were almost universal in their shared curiosity, and I sensed a feeling of anticipation directed specifically at me.

We made our way through the city, until we came to a larger and more opulent structure that was set apart from the rest of the city. We paused as the gates were opened and we were ushered into a courtyard lined with ornately dressed guardsman. Pulling up to the stairs in front of the building I dismounted and followed General Nadero, as I handed my reins to a man-at-arms, who stepped forward. Moving stiffly I fairly limped up the stairs. My whole left side was stiff from my injury and the long ride through the night. Seth and Rolf flanked me on either side. I felt more secure for their presence with me in this foreign environment.

We passed through several galleries filled with fineries more opulent than the room before had been. Finally we came to a grand central hall that was lined with men-at-arms and important looking people with less important fancy dressed dignitaries fluttering around them. The busy hubbub of the room came down to a low murmur at our appearance.

General Nadero spoke softly to an attendant, who then turned around and announced to the hall, “Ladies and Gen
tleman may I introduce to you Roric Ta’lont, son of Lorn Ta’lont.”

Hushed silence followed in the wake of his announcement. I looked at General Nadero for direction, as I was on the verge of turning and leaving not being comfortable with the oddities of a social situation as this. He motioned me further into the room toward a broad table at the other end of the hall. I hesitated for a moment, but then I made the decision to carry this charade out to its conclusion and began to make the long journey across the room under the speculative stares of the many onlookers the hall contained. I felt entire
ly out of place in these rich surroundings.

I was dirty, my hair was unruly and hanging about my face, my tunic was stained with dirt and blood and I felt like a sick kitten in need of a fluffy pillow and a bowl of milk. What was I doing here anyway?

This is where the path had led me so I needed to finish it, even if it was embarrassing. Squaring my shoulders I threw off the weight of the stares of those around me and focused on my destination. Before I reached the long table behind
which seven individuals sat, an attractive middle aged woman broke from the seven and started to approach me. Ob
tusely I wondered if she was coming to criticize me for the trail of mud I was leaving down the middle of this beautiful hall.

Glancing around me to see if the sentiment was shared I caught the heated glances of a group of finely dressed wom
en. If I read the intent of their glances correctly the furthest thing from their minds right now was the conspicuous trail of mud I was leaving. There speculative looks of interest had me jerking my gaze abruptly back to the approaching older woman, as a slight tinge of color rose to my cheeks.

Fighting, killing, and the rigors of survival were what I was well versed in; of the ways of women I knew almost nothing at all.

As the woman drew close she reached out and took my hand in hers and said as tears fell from her eyes, “Thank you Roric for bringing my son back to me!”

This must be Larc’s mother, “You have a fine son my lady. Larc is a son that any mother would be proud to have.” Letting my eyes fall towards the floor I continued, “I’m sor
ry that I couldn’t also return your husband to you as well.”

She tugged on my hand and I lifted my gaze to hers again. There was no condemnation to be found in her eyes. Looking deeply into my eyes she said, “Wilton knew the risks. We both did. I lay no blame for what happened to him on you, but instead I rejoice at the miracle in having my son returned to me. Thank you for allowing yourself to be a part
of the Creator’s plan in saving my son and all those other children too!”

With that said she released my hand and stepped back making way for a stately dressed older councilman, who had come up as I had been talking. He had a small neatly trimmed white beard and piercing blue eyes that seemed to look into my soul.

He stepped forward laying a hand to my shoulder and di
rected me with a gesture of his hand towards an antechamber door off of the main hall. “Affairs of state can wait this man needs attending to! Clear out and get someone useful in here that knows what they’re doing, when it comes to being a healer! Make way there!”

I followed in the wake of the steely and somewhat cranky councilman. The interested people before us moved into ac
tion to heed his wishes.

A short time later I found myself sitting on a table in an antechamber room, with an elderly man that I took to be a healer and a capable looking woman, who was assisting him.

“Lie back son.
Can’t be having a hero dying on us now can we.
Wouldn’t look good for my reputation.”

The old healer said chuckling raspily as he continued, “Not that I care about my reputation any.”

I lay back on the table and let him remove the makeshift bandage that Seth had made. He muttered to himself disgust
edly at either the condition of the bandage, or the wound, or maybe both.

“You may be a hero in the flesh, but you’re a dumb fool when it comes to brains boy! Riding all night with a wound like this!”

Lying back on the table I smiled to myself. I may be a dumb fool, but there was no doubt in my mind that someone bigger than me was pulling the strings of my life. If it was foolish for me to follow the path that the Creator had set down before me then let me increase in the foolishness this world thought it to be, as I sought the wisdom of the Creator’s will for my life.