Blood of the Earth (26 page)

“Ithilian harvest estimates are good this year and we have quite a bit of grain stored away for hard times,” Abel said. “I’d say this qualifies. Your people won’t go hungry this winter.”

Alexander nodded. “Thank you, Abel. Dad, you’d better take the remaining legions in the north and see what you can do about the Lancers.”

“I read General Talia’s report on his fight with the Lancers down south,” Duncan said. “With the Sky Knights’ help, I think we might be able to lure them into a bad spot again. I’ll set the infantry and archers moving and take a legion of cavalry east today.”

“It’s a good bet Phane is sending more to the port in Warrenton,” Alexander said. “We’d better see about reinforcing Buckwold’s defenses, and I’d like the Sky Knights to begin patrolling the coastline.”

“I’ve already talked with Mistress Constance,” Duncan said. “For some reason her people are eager to fly patrol, so that shouldn’t be a problem.”

“I have a team trained and equipped to make firepots,” Lucky said. “The Sky Knights are armed and ready. In fact, they’ve been practicing with stones to hone their aim.”

“Good, I’ll feel a lot better if we can drown those Lancers rather than fight them,” Alexander said. “Dad, as much as I’d like to stay and help with this, I have to go.”

“I know, Son,” Duncan said. “We all have to fight the enemy we’re best prepared to fight. Between the wizards, Sky Knights, and the legions I have under my command, we’ll manage against the Lancers.”

***

Within an hour, Alexander was standing on the Gate platform with Isabel, Jack, Chloe, Hector, and Horace. Wizard Jahoda and Commander Perry were there as well. The severe and highly disciplined commander had volunteered for the most dangerous mission of all. His regiment of a thousand battle-hardened soldiers would take and hold the Reishi Keep in the midst of the most wild and untamed scrap of dirt in all the Seven Isles while Wizard Jahoda would supervise the building of a wall around the Keep. Two wizards had been handpicked by Kelvin to accompany the task force, and Cassandra would be sending a wing of twenty-four Sky Knights to assist as well.

Alexander feared it wouldn’t be enough. He’d traveled across the Reishi Isle and knew how perilous it was. More worrisome was the tentacle demon loose within the Keep. There was no telling what it might do or how many men it might kill before they brought it down … if they could even kill it.

With a deep breath he opened the Gate to the Reishi Isle. It opened to the plain outside the Keep, as Alexander knew it would.

“Commander Perry, secure the area,” Alexander said.

“By your command, Lord Reishi,” Commander Perry said, then motioned for his cavalry to move through. Two hundred men on heavy horse stepped onto the Reishi Isle and fanned out around the Gate, followed by six hundred infantry and two hundred archers. Alexander and his party were the last through. He closed the Gate behind him, cutting off any hope of escape for the task force he’d assigned to secure the Keep.

“Work quickly,” Alexander said to Wizard Jahoda. “The nights will be the most dangerous. The sooner the wall is built, the safer you will all be. I’ll be back in two or three weeks. We’ll assess your progress at that point and determine if more resources are needed from Ruatha.”

“Be safe, Lord Reishi,” Jahoda said. “We’ll begin construction immediately.”

“Stay sharp, Commander,” Alexander said to Perry.

“Always, Lord Reishi. Safe journey,” Commander Perry said with a crisp salute.

With that they were off into the wilderness of the Reishi Isle.

Chapter 22

They traveled for two uneventful days through the thick forest. Occasionally, they heard a predator in the distance, but nothing that was interested in a group of five. A few times they thought they were being watched but nothing ever came of it.

The forest teemed with life, most of it small but all of it very busy with the business of survival. The Reishi Isle had been bereft of civilization since the fall of the Reishi Empire. Worse, the island was home to some of Malachi Reishi’s more ambitious experiments and summonings.

Dark things stalked the wilds of the Reishi Isle.

Alexander was wary. Every step brought him closer to Jinzeri. He remembered all too vividly how hopeless and powerless he felt in the brief time that Shivini had been in possession of his body.

He also remembered the feelings of despair and self-doubt he was experiencing at the moment when Shivini had taken him. His emotional weakness had opened him up to the shade. He had no intention of allowing that to happen ever again.

As he walked, he reflected on how poisonous such feelings were. He already had enough going against him … he couldn’t allow his own mind to entertain thoughts that plotted against him as well. He renewed his silent vow to remain ever vigilant lest his thoughts betray him again, and he resolved to entertain only those thoughts that accurately reflected reality or the vision of reality that he was attempting to create.

Self-doubt, worry, negative fantasies, and guilt were no longer welcome within his mind.

And yet, he did feel guilt, a nagging and terrible guilt deep within his psyche that he couldn’t shake.

He had killed Boaberous.

His purpose had been just and necessary.

His need had been great.

His friends and family, allies and advisors all agreed that it had to be done.

And yet, he had killed an innocent man—violated the Old Law … the very law that he’d sworn to protect.

He couldn’t reconcile the conflict within himself and so it played out on the battlefield of his mind, unbidden and unwanted, yet inescapable.

He snapped back to the present moment when Hector suddenly stopped in midstride, urgently signaling for stillness. Alexander froze, stretching his hearing and his all around sight to the edge of its range. Within seconds, a rustle in the brush brought his attention to the wolf that was stalking them. After a closer look, he breathed a sigh of relief. It was a grey wolf, just an animal.

“Wolves,” he whispered.

Isabel tipped her head back and closed her eyes, sending her vision to Slyder.

“I count seven,” she said.

Alexander saw her colors flare with power as she called on her ability to control animals.

“They’re mine now,” she said. “They’ve accepted us as part of their pack … for the time being anyway.”

Alexander smiled at his wife. She had truly come into her own. She was Lady Reishi by marriage, by right, and by virtue of her power. He was proud of her and he loved her completely, but he was also afraid for her. Her colors held the taint of Phane’s darkness and he wasn’t sure if he could save her.

As the thought entered his mind, he forced it aside and replaced it with of a vision of them happily growing old together, then told himself, yet again, that he wasn’t going to feed dark thoughts with his attention.

Two more days passed without incident. They were making steady progress toward their objective, even if it was slower than Alexander would have liked. The forest was thick and overgrown, untended and wild. Finding a path was challenging at times, cutting a path was tedious and time-consuming, but occasionally necessary.

Alexander’s all around sight was becoming clearer the more he used it, but it came at a price. He was beginning to have headaches, especially late in the day. It took some measure of concentration and effort to see with his magic and using it all the time was taking a toll.

On the fifth day, the gently rolling hills of the Reishi Isle’s northwestern forests gave way to the foothills of the mountain range that formed the northwest corner of the island. Alexander felt a sense of expectancy as they neared his goal. If he could secure the keystone from Jinzeri, he would have plenty of time to figure out a more permanent solution to the problem of the Nether Gate.

They were struggling through some particularly dense underbrush when Isabel stopped, looking up and closing her eyes.

“We’re being followed,” she said. “I count over two dozen.”

“Two dozen what?” Alexander asked.

“They look like primitives, similar to some tribes that live in the eastern wilds of the Great Forest. They’re armed with stone-tipped spears.”

“Stone-tipped spears can be pretty sharp,” Jack said.

“How far back are they?” Alexander asked.

“Ten minutes, maybe less if they can move through this brush faster than we can,” Isabel said.

“I don’t want to fight them if we can help it,” Alexander said. “Maybe I can scare them away with Mindbender.”

“They might not be looking for a fight at all,” Jack said. “They could just be curious.”

“I’d rather avoid them altogether,” Alexander said. “We don’t have time for distractions.”

Before he could make a decision, there was a terrifying roar from the south. It came from a good distance away, but not nearly far enough for his liking. Whatever made that noise had to be big.

Everyone froze, waiting expectantly.

“That was unsettling,” Jack whispered.

Alexander nodded and gestured to the northwest. Hector set out again but more quietly and cautiously than before. The forest had gone silent. The birds and small animals that had only moments before filled the forest with activity and song had all gone to ground.

“The wolves are spooked,” Isabel said.

“I know how they feel,” Alexander said. “Can you get a look at that thing?”

Isabel nodded and closed her eyes for a moment. She inhaled sharply as her eyes snapped open.

“It’s huge, and it’s headed straight for us,” she said. “There are some cliffs to the north where we might find cover.”

“How big is huge?” Jack asked.

“Twelve feet at the shoulder and twenty feet long,” Isabel said. “It runs on all fours and has massive shoulders and huge jaws with lots of teeth.”

It roared again, only this time it was much closer. They could hear it crashing through the dense forest.

“Run!” Alexander yelled.

They headed for the cliffs and the hope of cover. As they fled through the brush, they heard the dying yelp of one of the wolves that Isabel had been using to scout for them. She released her hold on the rest so they could flee the beast and at least have a chance for survival.

The forest thinned as they reached a sheer cliff face that reached several hundred feet into the sky. Alexander scanned it with his all around sight, looking for any break or opening that they could hide in, but found nothing.

The beast broke through the thick underbrush into the shade of the cliff and stopped to roar at them. It was terrifying and awesome all at once. Alexander saw in a glance that it was a creature of magic and darkness rather than a natural-born species. At least there was probably only one.

“I’ve found a cave, My Love,” Chloe said in his mind. “Come quickly.”

The beast charged. Alexander drew Mindbender and called forth the illusion of a dragon, rearing back, wings spread wide as though preparing to strike.

The beast’s charge faltered and it roared in challenge but held its ground against the illusion.

“Run along the cliff,” Alexander said. “Chloe’s found a cave.”

They raced along the base of the cliff through the ferns that covered the forest floor. Alexander split his focus between running for his life, maintaining the illusion of the dragon, and watching the creature with his all around sight. It was a delicate balancing act. When the beast attacked the dragon and found nothing but empty air, it roared in rage and frustration before turning its attention on Alexander and his fleeing friends.

They reached a narrow crack in the cliff face and filed in one by one. Alexander was the last to enter and squeezed into the safety of the fissure just as the beast reached him, snarling and snapping. Alexander was just out of reach but still close enough to smell the beast’s fetid breath as it roared in frustrated rage at his narrow escape.

The fissure ran for twenty feet into the cliff before opening up into a cave. Alexander was so focused on the beast that he had paid no heed to the cave. When he stepped into the large semi-round cavern, he realized that he and his friends were surrounded by more than thirty men armed with stone-tipped spears. From the looks of the cave, the primitives took refuge there regularly.

Hector and Horace stood in front of Isabel with swords drawn. Jack was nowhere to be seen. Isabel’s colors flared with power as she cast her shield spell. The colors of the men surrounding them showed mostly fear and apprehension, but no malice.

“Hold,” Alexander said as he deliberately sheathed Mindbender and stepped forward with his hands held palms up.

“We don’t want to fight you,” he said.

The man leading the group of primitives stepped forward and appraised Alexander for a moment before he gestured for him to follow. He turned on his heel and headed through the gloom to a passage leading out of the cave on the far side. The primitives encircled them, motioning for them to follow their leader.

“I guess they’ve invited us in,” Alexander said. “Remain vigilant,” he added for Jack’s benefit. As long as the bard was unseen, they had an advantage. Chloe also remained invisible, and Isabel kept Slyder in the trees outside the fissure in the cliff.