Fate Rides Wicked: Volume I of the Lerilon Trilogy (41 page)

“The nobles are all recruiting men from their land for
the army and the other people are working. You have just
relieved my boredom.”

Lendril had a more business-like request. “According
to your son, the xadineft have begun to vanish. Our guess
is that they are heading north through the mountains.
Could you have your army join up with the neftiran army
and chase them right up to the Andarins? Then you could
join the army in the Field of Scars.”

“It sounds like a good plan. You are very wise, Lendril.
I will have my son take them. He is a master of the
wilderness.” The king waved his left arm forward.

“Enough business. Let us enjoy ourselves.” At six foot
four with a noble carriage, the king naturally caused people to
obey. So they turned to fun topics. After all, they would
leave the next day from this oasis of human kindness, and
head back out to the last three kingdoms of the trip, Vrefez,
Lake and Murlan.

For the two-day ride out of Seftrel, clouds added
themselves to the cold air and the expedition wore their
warmest clothing. Now, as Zif left them overlooking
Vrefez, snow began to fall. Tych felt relieved to have
missed it until now when they could ride into an autumn
rain. In typical fall fashion, sunshine fell on them from the
end of the clouds as the sun made its way down in the east.

Three hours after sundown, a soaked group of travelers
arrived at a small clearing in the conifers where twenty
horses and a pemilon waited. Flandroke spoke briefly with
the pemilon while the others unpacked the floorless war
tent King Ubel gave them. Ten minutes later the tent was
up and they began moving things in.

As soon as they unpacked the horses, Tych opened the
chimney in the tent and started an artificial fire in the center
of the floor. Silently, laden with exhaustion, the crew laid
down tarps and stripped to nothing. They ate Seftrelian
beef and warmed themselves, ready to crawl into bed. The
unpredictable northern autumn had begun and their spirits
began to drop.

So fierce was the rain that the expedition had to slow
down and it took a week in the incessant rain to cross the
kingdom. Finally, the clouds broke and a rainbow
welcomed them to Vrefak. The expedition removed their
rain gear and broke into their usual pace. The planet began
to warm up in this small corner of Li and Vrefak rose to
meet them. Two days worth of plain guarded the capital in
every direction. So, while they had avoided soldiers
earlier, nobody stopped them as they rode into the city.

They rode between short houses along narrow but clean
streets until they came to a very wide road running north
and south in front of them. To the right they could see the
castle. Upon reaching its gates, Tych and the others
dismounted. The prince wore his royal white metal plate
mail, which flashed in the sun as he took off his robe. The
fortress sat on the edge of The Great Lake, with low walls
on the street side and high battlements facing the water.
The others removed robes and cloaks, revealing equally
fine armor or clothing.

With his staff, made in the journey across Vrefez with
Nandel’s help, Tych rapped on the heavy wooden door. In
a moment, a peephole opened above them and a pudgy bald
head appeared. “Who visits Castle Vrefak on this beautiful
day?”

“Prince Tych di Corl and his escort, sir. We wish
audience with the king.” His father’s gift hung at Tych’s
side and the jewels in the scabbard caught the sun
momentarily.

The face examined the group then studied Tych’s
armor. “One moment.” He disappeared and they heard a
lot of scuffling behind the door. The doors swung open and
they stifled surprise. The bald man stood shorter than
Bratif, the almost-four-foot-tall neftir warrior. “Follow me.
The king holds audience with King Daubert III of Polentair.
I will see if he can see you.” They walked across a large
courtyard, with tall torches every ten feet or so in all
directions.

Moments after entering the throne room, the midget
emerged with a surprised look on his face. “Daubert asked
you to join him immediately. I guess he knows you.”

“Yes, yes he does. I’m the commander of his armies as
well as almost every other army in Li.”

As they entered, the midget responded, “You must be
as impressive as your armor makes you look.”

Lendril chuckled.

“He’s more than that.” Daubert walked towards them
and embraced Lendril and Tych. A startled Lendril noticed
Olera sitting with the Queen of Vrefez. “Am I glad to see
you guys,” the king stammered excitedly.

“Just calm down and tell us what is going on,” soothed
Tych.

“King Yendel called Olera and me here to ask for
assistance. He thinks Napfin, Concrof and Fendol are
invading him.”

“Did you tell him about our gathering army?”

“Yes, but he’s having a hard time believing it.”

Tych turned to King Yendel and strode towards the
throne. “I am Prince Tych di Corl of the endarils. You are
not being invaded. Those armies march north to join mine.
If you join them and give them free passage, you will be
honoring my request for your armies.”

“I understand you plan to take on Rangdor, Prince
Tych. How do you plan to do it?”

“Your armies will join the twelve other armies in
defeating his minions. I will defeat Rangdor personally.”

King Yendel stood. “What about Seftrel?”

“They are moving north through the Efres with the
neftir, chasing the xadineft into the Andarins. There are
many races involved in this battle. Where are your armies
now?”

“At the border. The other armies won’t engage them,
so they sit and wait.” The king scratched his gray head.
“This explains why they haven’t run us over. I must notify
them.”

Tych came closer. “I will take you there now. I can
teleport you and have us there in a blink of an eye.”

Olera reassured the king as skepticism showed on his
face. “I’ve seen him do it. It’s quite safe.”

The king said, “What are we waiting for then?” The
king saw Tych touch him, then found himself standing in
the middle of his army. A soldier with two blue and white
bands crossing his chest stepped towards them but the king
held up his hand. “This is Prince Tych di Corl. Let’s go visit the
other army.” As they mounted nearby horses, the king
said, “All your questions will be answered, General
Olaida.”

As they approached the other camp, a lone rider came
to meet them. It was King Eflat of Napfin. “What is this,
Tych? I thought all the continent would be marching
together.”

“I got held up by weather, Your Majesty. King Yendel
will send his armies north with yours. I did not arrive in
Vrefak until today. This is General Olaida. He is now also
under my command.” Olaida looked at Yendel with wide
eyes and the king nodded. “Start your armies marching
north. Now Vrefez marches with you.”

“I will inform Concrof and Fendol. We will join you in
an hour, General Olaida.” The King of Napfin started back
towards his lines.

Olaida stared at Tych. “Four kingdoms march north
together. This is unheard of. Whom do we attack?”

Tych turned his horse to face Olaida behind him.
“Your goal is the Field of Scars, where you will join
Polentair, Efreiden and the western kingdoms. In the
spring you will take on Rangdor’s hordes. Report to Cort
di Corl. He will explain our plan. The king and I must
return to Vrefak.”

“Do as he says, General. We are allied with all of Li.”
They left the horses empty in the middle of the neutral zone
between the two armies. General Olaida took their reins
and led them slowly back to the Vrefez army, confused but
thoughtful.

The king turned back towards the throne upon his
arrival in the castle and seemed disquieted. “There has
been tension between the southern kingdoms for a long
time. I worry about what might happen.”

“Get together with the other rulers and set penalty of
death on any violence between the men. Then, when they
get to the Field of Scars, they will be diffused among the
others. Eventually, the common goal and the excitement of
it will unite them all. Soon they won’t be fighting for
Vrefez, or Fendol or any other kingdom. They will be
fighting for Li.”

Olera stood and walked over to Daubert. “We want all
thirteen kingdoms to become one when this is over. That is
why we will travel with you when you go north. Six rulers
is a beginning and the others can be let in when we arrive.
This won’t happen again if we’re all one kingdom.”

“We will discuss it as we travel. For now, you are all
invited to lunch.” As the midget led them all out the back
door of the throne room, the king said to him under his
breath, “This is turning out to be a very strange day.”

They only got about half way through lunch when
screaming reached them. Chairs flew back as the
expedition grabbed their weapons and charged out of the
room. At full sprint, they ran through the throne room,
down the hall and into the courtyard. They could see fire
consuming a nearby building.

Tych pointed at a group of soldiers responding to the
scream. “You, go take care of the fire. We’ll take care of
the starters.” He could already sense the presence of evil
nearby.

The soldiers, however, did not feel like obeying right
away. Yendel had followed the expedition out and yelled,
“Do as he says, now!”

Tych turned his head as they left and said to the others,
“Archers prepare your fire. Nandel and Cert, decide which
spell you want to use.”

They reached the wide cobblestone street and ran
twenty feet to the right towards the fire and the open space
between the castle and the next building. The soldiers
began a chain gang and began the process of dousing the
flames. All ten of Tych’s archers crouched in a circle
around the others and the magicians. A pause ensued and
only the sounds of flames could be heard. The magicians
had spells prepared. Far off, in other parts of the city, they
could hear more terrified people. The expedition waited for
it to return, knowing Tych would attract whatever it was.

Some of the archers lost a few seconds as the first
demon ripped off the top of the building next to them,
raining debris. Tych and the magicians didn’t hesitate.
Tych’s beam of energy knocked the creature reeling, its red
skin charred black. Cert and Nandel only got glancing
blows in as the beast twirled out of their paths in pain.

A second of the winged creatures swooped out of the
sky from almost the same direction as the first. Ten
missiles met their mark but three fell off hard armor. The
demon’s flame licked the castle wall as it reared back up
into the sky.

Tych shouted, “Take cover and keep firing.” The
expedition scattered.

The first one came back around at full speed. Tych
turned to the others, crouched up in the alleys and
doorways and said, “This one is mine.” With a short
moment of concentration, he cast a very simple web spell,
placing one in front of the onrushing creature. At its rate of
speed, it couldn’t avoid getting caught in it and slammed
into the cobblestone road. After a bounce, it landed fifty
feet farther down the rocks and exploded, leaving
blackened remains.

The prince headed for cover and shouted, “Let him
have it!” as the second one appeared again. All ten arrows
stuck along with two lightning bolts. The beast careened
off and exploded as it hit the lake.

The nearby fire raged out of control and the buckets of
water had no effect. The expedition rushed in to help.
Tych addressed a nearby soldier. “I need a very, very large
container, about as big as a wagon, that will hold water.”

The soldier just stared at him, perplexed on how to
answer that. Suddenly, as if a light went on, he said, “The
best I can do is beer barrels. I’m sure the inn around the
corner wouldn’t mind sparing them since his inn is in
danger also if we don’t control this.”

“Take three other men and go get two. We’ll keep
fighting the fire.” The expedition had joined the chain
gang and Nandel levitated the buckets up to a height before
dumping them.

It took five minutes to get the beer barrels and the fire
had spread to another building. Tych said, “Stand back,” to
the soldiers. Taking the rim of each barrel in one hand, he
jumped, changing into a dragon at the same time. The
soldiers dropped their buckets in surprise, but nearby
expedition members reassured them.

“Why didn’t he do that when the demons were here?”
one soldier asked of Lendril.

“It would have been too dangerous. He uses our help
whenever possible to conserve his energy. Next time we
get attacked it might be Rangdor.” The soldier almost
dropped the next bucket as he stared at her in amazement.
He looked at the dragon swooping down over the water and
shook his head.

Tych returned with two barrels of water. Each held one
hundred buckets of water and packed a punch as he
dumped them. Before the water hit, he had turned back
towards the lake. Some of the soldiers got wet, but the fire
had been cut in half so they didn’t complain.

The prince returned and carefully placed two more
soakings. This time he landed and placed the barrels on the
ground.

In a flash, he changed back to an endaril and walked
back towards the fire fighters. “Go get ladders and make
sure there are no hot spots. We have lunch to finish.”

As the expedition walked back towards the castle, they
heard cheers. Several soldiers continued clapping as they
ran past them after ladders. The expedition went back to
lunch and accepted the gratitude of the king.