Amendments (4 page)

              Fafnir had told Noir the fastest way to Lithe, and then on to Inderrin, which he confirmed on the map.  He would follow the base of the mountains eastward until he came across a small river flowing from the hills.  He would then follow it south and come to Lithe within about three days of walking.  Inderrin would be another couple days southeast through sparse forests.  Noir didn’t like not having a horse, but he had traveled farther on foot before.  He pushed that thought aside and started on his way.

Chapter 4

Escaping past transgressions

              Noir stood watching hundreds of men slash at each other and fall to the ground. Noir couldn’t discern which soldiers were Tierian and which were Chiron.  He tried to use lux to protect the nearest soldiers, but somehow the power that he had become so used to eluded him.  He was helpless to do anything as men were slaughtered all around him.  Then a familiar sight rose above the battle.  Blinding wings sprouted from Asiada's back and she gained height above the warring men.  Noir was at first exhilarated to see her figure again, but then immense dread sunk in as he remembered what happened next.

              In perfect, horrifying detail, Noir could see Aimee’s yellow blade pierce through the front of the Lumin’s torso.   Then he noticed the ring of soldiers around him were not watching the angelic figure as he remembered, but instead pointing at him.  Their faces were twisted with horrible scowls that made them look almost inhuman.  Noir felt himself being drawn to one of those faces.  He tried to pull away but his feet could not find traction on the ground.  Noir shrieked out in horror as he flew into the grotesque, accusing face.

              The first thing Noir noticed was the ache in his spine from lying on bare earth for the first time in months.  He blinked at the sunlight pouring through the sparse trees realizing where he was.  Once satisfied he was not on the Lumin battlefield, he closed his eyes again and lay down tenderly in defeat.

              Birds who had flown south from even colder climates for the winter chirped around Noir heralding the newly risen sun.  His Luxin cloak held the winter chill at bay fairly well and his plain brown cloak on top doubled the warmth.  He pulled the two back over him and wished, as he had hundreds of times before, that he were back home in his own bed.

              The visions that Noir had just seen in his dream came back to him, though some of the details were fuzzy.  However, Noir could fill in the rest with parts from previous dreams.  There were many variations of the horrible dream, but the focus was always consistent: the soldiers always pointed at him.

              Noir took a deep breath and tried to calm the emotions that always came with the dream.  He opened one eye slightly, then the other to get used to the light, and then finally sat up again.

              Noir had only traveled about four hours the night before.  Despite his ambition to be gone to look for Aimee and Ratt, his fatigue from using lux in the stragh battle convinced him to finally rest for the night.

              Noir stood up, picked up the thick cloth he used to sleep on or under, depending on the weather, and gathered his things.  He put on his Luxin armor and fastened his sword on his belt.  He then hefted his pack on top of his Luxin cloak on his back.

              The low rolling hills that prefaced the cliffs and mountains to the north were easy to traverse.  Noir made good time.

              Late in the afternoon, Noir came to the river that was shown on his map.  Downstream, it should flow through a small valley that came down from the mountains.  He checked the map to be sure, and then followed the banks of the river to the south.

              Following the side of the river proved difficult in places.  Sometimes the banks grew into steep cliffs that Noir had to find a way around.  Also, smaller streams would join up with the larger river causing more obstacles.  By the time the sun sank below the trees, Noir was sore and tired.  However, as bad as he felt, it was the first time in months that he felt like he was doing something meaningful, so he ignored the pain and fatigue and made ready to sleep for the night.

~~~

              Grandel stood on the southern edge of New Talik’s border and absentmindedly surveyed the land that stretched out from the cliffs.  Two clusters of tents, campfires, and well-trodden ground were separated by a healthy distance.  Grandel was annoyed that during the previous two months, neither kingdom had decided what to do with their armies.  It hinted at the tension that was still present between them.  Neither army pulled out because the other was still there, and neither wanted to be the first to go against the Lumin’s decree of peace.  However, Grandel didn’t put it past either to ignore the words of the Lumin and destroy him and his town.

              It had been over twenty-four hours since Luxin Noir had left, and Grandel missed him greatly.  Two more attacks of this new kind of straghs had come.  One had to be repelled without the aid of a Luxin.  Two men died in the first attack, and six were badly wounded.  Grandel himself had brought the ill news to the two men’s families.

              For the second attack, Fafnir, calling herself Luxin Solrius, was there and no physical harm had come to his men.  He could barely believe that the simple looking woman was actually the ancient dragon he had heard so many stories and fables about.  She usually helped them distantly and fleetingly, so Grandel was surprised at her direct involvement.  In all the legends of Fafnir, he had never heard of her doing something like this.

              “Captain,” a man blurted from behind Grandel jarring him out of his thoughts.  He turned and saw Devner – one of the men that he had assigned to scout the western perimeter that day.  “Twelve refugees from Chiron just came into town, sir.  I escorted them in.  They await a hearing with you at the main hall.”

              “Thank you, Devner.  Lead the way.”

              The two hastily made their way through the small, tightly packed town.  When they got to the central clearing, Grandel took the lead and strode up to the group of travelers.  They all sat on the ground, tired from their long trip.

              “Welcome to Talik, my friends.  I am Grandel, captain of the forces in Talik and leader of its free people.”  Most of them stood up.  Some bowed.  “You are free from the oppression here, friends.  We are the only free town in all of these lands and you are very welcome here.”

              “Thank you sir,” one of the men responded with a deep bow.  He spoke haltingly as if he were not used to speaking.  “You do not know how much this town has been an object of hope for us.”

              One of the women started to cry tears of joy.  Grandel was used to people acting in such a way when they finally realized they were free, but he noticed something odd about the woman.  She had a patch of pale skin that circled around her neck.  The rest of her body was dark, leathery tan as if it had seen many years of direct sunlight.

              “You’re him!” one of the older women said.  “You’re that general.”  Grandel saw that this woman also had the pale skin around her neck.  He looked around.  They all had it!  The woman turned to another next to her and pointed.  “Remember?  That’s him, isn’t it?”

              Grandel’s stomach knotted angrily as he realized the situation.  The band of pale skin was where their slave collars had been removed.  The Lumin’s second decree was finally being upheld.  These were freed slaves of Chiron.

              The original man who spoke for the group now had a stern look on his face and spoke sharply.  “Are you the same Grandel who was a general for Chiron around ten years ago?  Because of that man, my son is dead and most of us here have spent the last decade of our lives in a mindless fog as slaves.”

              Grandel could not think of anything to say.  His face felt drained of its blood as the memories of all those dead young men were flooding back to him.  The former slave took an aggressive step forward and shouted, “Are you that man?!”

              “Yes,” Grandel answered and lowered his head in shame.  “I am that man.”  A few of the refugee women took a few steps back and the other men clenched their fists and had expressions full of rage.  The Talik soldier took a defensive step forward to defend his captain if need be.  Grandel continued.  “I am that man... and yet I am not.  I did those things in the past because I felt I had—”

              Another of the men took a step forward.  “We don’t care why you did it.  Our lives were
ruined
because of you.  Our foggy memories hint at abuse and torture that you couldn’t even
begin
to imagine.”  A few people had gathered in the central courtyard and watched the situation warily.

              Grandel did not know what to say.  He had gone over theoretical situations in his head thousands of times and had decided each time that he would leave himself to the fate of those who suffered because of him.  “Stand down, Devner.”  The Talik soldier looked back at Grandel.  “Stand down, soldier of Talik.”

              Devner hesitated a moment, and then turned and walked away from the refugees.  As he walked past Grandel, he said quietly, “I know what you're doing.  Don't.”

              Grandel undid his belt and tossed aside his sword.  “I stand before you an unarmed, broken man.  You say you have lost sons and daughters.  I have lost hundreds of good men who were my friends in the fight for freedom from the two kingdoms.”  He fell to his knees and held out both of his hands.  “Please listen when I say my actions have always been with good intent.”  He looked into the eyes of those before him and saw their rage only increasing.  “However, I have no excuse for what I did to you and all those people.  I didn’t stop what was happening to you, so you deserve your retribution.  Go ahead and do what you will with me.  Neither I nor my men will stop you.”  Grandel closed his eyes and was ready for whatever they did to him.

              The foremost man stepped forward and punched Grandel as hard as he could in the face.  Grandel felt sudden, intense pain and fell back into the dirt.  The pain brought back memories of Kit with his body contorted to look like his own, beating him into the dirt.  Though the pain was harsh and Grandel was pretty sure his nose was broken, it felt good.  It made those dead faces from his past go away just a little.  He got back up to his knees and said to his attacker, “Please, again, if you will.  I deserve it.”

              A shrill screech came from overhead and Grandel knew exactly what was happening.  The former slaves cried out as Isis dove from the sky at a tremendous speed with her sharp talons extended.  He sent a quick and firm command for her to back off through the invisible connection he had with the falcon.  The mental, bird-like equivalent of a scoff returned to him through the connection.

              “He's sent birds against us!”

              “Get him!”

              “You selfish idiot,” came a woman’s voice from behind Grandel.  A light barrier appeared in front of Grandel as a second punch came.  The man’s fist collided with the shield and he pulled it back with a wince.  Grandel turned to see Adeel move and stand beside him in her full Luxin armor and Luxin cloak.  “This man has done horrible things to you in the past, I know.  But, as much as the fool would want you to, beating him to death would solve nothing.”

              One of the woman took a step forward.  She put a hand on the man's shoulder who had punched Grandel and cautioned, “She’s right, Menoh.”

              “You have come from unspeakable horrors.”  Adeel looked at them all.  “We offer you respite and freedom here.  Grandel has built this town for that purpose – for people like you in an attempt to redeem himself.”

              Grandel finally stood and wiped the blood from his face.  The former slaves looked at each other to gauge how they each felt about the proposition.  Menoh, the one who had punched Grandel, said to the rest, “I don’t care if they offer us mountains of tali and grand mansions.  Out of respect for my son, I will not live near or accept anything from this man!”

              The others nodded in agreement.  Adeel growled, “You are being fools!  Grandel is a good man.  He built this town for people exactly like you in an attempt to--”

              “I think our minds are made up, lady Luxin,” one of the women said, cutting off Adeel.  “Where is The Diviner of the Lumin?”

              “The what?” Adeel asked.

              “We owe the Lumin everything.  We wish to speak with The Diviner for he is the closest we can get to speaking with our savior.”

              Adeel turned to Grandel.  “The Diviner?”

              Grandel grumbled, “I think they mean Luxin Noir.”  Grandel spoke to them.  “The one you speak of has left.  He is not here.”

              “Where is The Diviner?” Menoh asked.

              Another refugee said, “We heard he was here.”

              “He left on a mission of his own,” Grandel replied.  “It is of the highest importance to him.”

              “Tell us where and we will follow.”

              Grandel shook his head.  “For all that I owe you, I will not tell you where.  It is his business and he wished to pursue it alone.  I am sorry.”

              Menoh scowled.  “If you will not help us, then we will wait for him.”  The others gave sounds of agreement behind him.  “We will wait for The Diviner’s return.  Even after a decade of waiting to be free, we will now wait for him.”
              Adeel sighed and asked, “If you will not stay in Talik, where will you go?”

              “We will figure that out on our own.”  Menoh turned to the rest of the refugees.  “Let us leave this place and never again be in this man’s presence.”