Mighty Hammer Down (48 page)

Rommus completely ignored the people
even though most of them stared at him. He made no attempt the hide
the sword anymore, and it caught the sunlight when his cape
billowed behind him as he strode down the stairs. She wondered what
he must be thinking. He walked tall and proud, but she knew that he
had to be feeling anger about the confrontation with the gods. She
had already forgotten her own feelings about the matter, and
instead she was overcome with awe from the entire mystical
event.

Rommus reached into a pocket when he
reached the bottom of the stairs. "Vohl, take these coins and
purchase another horse. Go get the horses we left tied at the pile
of stones. Take water with you. I don’t want them to suffer and die
out there. Bring them back here and meet us at this temple at
sunset. Hurry."

Vohl took the money and did as he was
told immediately. She watched him break through the line of stunned
people and run off to complete his task before she returned her
gaze to Rommus. The people still stared silently, but he seemed not
to notice them at all.

"Rommus, what are you going to do?"
she asked.

"It’s hard to say at the moment, but
something must be done. There are people going to war over gods who
do not care about them."

The crowd gasped. "How can you say
such a thing?" a woman asked.

Rommus ignored the woman and turned
back to Alana. "Come with me. We need to find Silas. Do you think
you can remember where that building was in
Burnhamheade?"

"Yes, I know where it is. But how do
you know he’ll be there?"

"I don’t know where he’ll be, but I
assume with all the maps and open books we saw that he spends a lot
of time there. Come on."

They entered the temple again and to
her amazement the same strange light filled the spaces between the
columns. He walked down the line of them, searching for the blurry
image of Burnhamheade, and when he found it, he pulled her through
it. When she entered the light, she watched the columns shift and
change shape until they had become the more ornate pointed archways
found in Burnhamheade. Again she stood on at the top of the steps
of a temple, but this time in the familiar capital of her
nation.

"Rommus do you think those people can
see the portals? Do you think they can use them?"

"No, I think they can only be seen
from inside the temple. We can’t see them unless we’re inside. I
don’t think they can use them either. I can feel the portals
somehow. They’re connected to me in some way."

He took her by the arm and led her
through the gathering crowd of curious people. She heard them
whispering to each other about how the they appeared in the temple
magically, but she took Rommus’s lead and ignored them. When they
got into the open streets she led the way down a long alley where
chickens pecked at the ground. The birds paid them less attention
than the nosey people, but they still refused to move out of the
way. She tried to gently shoo them away but Rommus just ignored
them like he ignored the people. Soon they came to the building
that Silas had taken them to.

She pushed on the wall like she saw
Silas do but nothing happened. "It doesn’t open. Maybe we’re in the
wrong place."

Rommus touched the wall and she was
astounded to see it open easily. He said nothing but walked inside,
holding it open for her. She wanted to tell him how amazed she was
that he could do that; that it looked like he was able to use
magic, but she said nothing and followed him down the wooden
stairs. Soft candlelight lit their way.

"Who goes there?" came a voice before
they reached the bottom steps. "How did you get in
here?"

"I opened the doorway the same way I
saw you do it, Silas," he said as he stood tall. "How goes the
planning for the war?"

"What do you mean you opened the
doorway? You do not know how to do that."

"Yes I do. I’m standing in front of
you am I not?"

Silas peered up from under his
eyebrows and stood, placing a pen in its holder. "The war is going
to be a massacre I’m afraid. We are only going to be able to
minimize the damage temporarily while we try to hide some of the
women and children. We saw flashes of colored light at the horizon
last night, and we assume that the army is practicing magic. From
what we can guess, we stand no chance."

"Where is the Vindyri army? Why have I
not seen them guarding the city?"

Silas twisted his face as he scratched
his neck. "As I told you when I saw you last, we do not speak
directly with the King. He has not made his plan known, and we do
not know where he is hiding the army. We assume that he has them
strategically placed somewhere near the city. Perhaps they have
already merged with Commander Soterus and his men."

Alana took a step forward. "Is there
any word on if Medoran soldiers are coming to help?"

"No my Lady, not yet. I’m afraid that
we do not have the benefit of sending scouts to check on these
things, and we Mages are not able to leave the city. We are needed
here to protect what the soldiers do not."

"How many Mages are here in
Burnhamheade?" Rommus asked.

"There are only about 25 here now.
Some were sent to the smaller towns to serve as some kind of
protection, but I am thinking it was a mistake to send them there.
The army will attack Burnhamheade, not the small
villages."

"Yes that was a mistake, but there is
little we can do about it now. Silas, I feel something. I think it
is magic but I don’t know anything about magic. I need you to tell
me what it means."

Silas stroked his beard. "Well what is
it that you feel?"

"It’s a feeling. I feel it here, in
the pit of my stomach. It feels like someone is watching me but
it’s stronger than that. At first I felt it off towards my home of
Brinn, but it feels like it got closer and closer. When I was in
Reyth I felt it all around me. It was harder to tell what direction
it was coming from. Now that I am in Burnhamheade, I can feel it
off to the north. Do you know what it is?"

Silas slowly shook his head. "What you
describe sounds like a feeling of magic, but I don’t have any idea
what it could be trying to tell you. Does it feel like some kind of
warning?"

"I don’t know. It’s actually a
pleasant feeling, but for some reason it alarms me too."

Silas went to one of the shelves and
moved some scrolls out of his way. He opened a small silver box and
removed a purple velvet bag. He opened it and removed a small black
stone with a hole in the center, throwing the empty bag on the
table. The flat surface was obviously polished, but the light from
the candles did not shine in it. It had a strange quality about it
that seemed to bring silence to all sounds.

"This is a seeing stone. It is not a
very powerful item, but it can teach you to focus the power you
speak of. When you feel it, hold this in your hand. I cannot
explain how it works; you will just have to use it to see." He
handed Rommus the stone and then removed a pendant that hung from
his own neck. He took the pendant off the leather cord and gave the
cord to Rommus.

"Thank you," Rommus said as he
threaded the cord through the stone. He put it around his neck and
Alana reached up to help him fasten it. "Can I have the velvet bag
as well?"

"Of course you can. Take
it."

She watched him open the bag and then
reach into his pocket. He removed the sand he had collected earlier
and put as much as he could in the small purple bag. She wondered
what on earth he was doing, but she didn’t want to be rude by
asking. She found Silas’s questioning eyes had found hers, but she
could only shrug her shoulders at him.

"What are you doing?" Silas
asked.

"I’m putting sand in a
bag."

Silas smiled. "I can see that. Why is
sand so important to you?"

"This is from the Land of the Gods. I
wanted it in a safer place than my pocket."

Silas cocked his head. "What do you
mean it’s from the Land of the Gods? How could you have been there?
I see no wings on your back."

"I don’t need wings. I walked across
the bridge; although it was almost as difficult as sprouting wings.
Luckily I had friends there to help me."

"You must be mistaken Rommus. There is
no bridge leading to that place. It fell many centuries ago. You
must have it confused with some other place."

"I am not mistaken Silas. The three of
us crossed the bridge not long ago. I know it sounds impossible,
and I am still struggling to believe it myself, but we actually
spoke with the gods."

Silas seemed to believe him as soon as
he finished his sentence. His eyes went wide. "Then it is true, you
are Arius."

Rommus sighed. "I’m afraid I’m not
Arius, but somehow the gods believe that I am his replacement. We
couldn’t stay long to talk to them because they sent us
away."

"What do you mean you are meant to
replace him? How can that be?"

"I don’t know much, but they told me
that humans had killed him, and I was of the proper bloodline to
replace him. That’s really all I know."

"A new god of war?" Silas said to the
ceiling. "What are the gods like? What message do they send? Rommus
you must stay and tell me everything. This is of the utmost
importance."

"We’re not staying, but we will
return. While I am gone, I want you to find men to send to the
towns and get the Silver Mages back here. I don’t care if they are
soldiers or boys; just get the Mages back to
Burnhamheade."

"Yes my Lord, I will find riders, even
though it will not be easy. Not many can be trusted here in
Vindyrion."

"Good. Alana told me that you build
all your cities near rivers. Where is the river that Burnhamheade
uses for its water supply? We didn’t cross one when we
arrived."

"The River Aeden branches off from the
east and runs through the city, although we use both parts of the
river for water."

"So the river stands between
Burnhamheade and the Bhoor army amassed to the east?"

"Yes my Lord."

"Destroy the bridges crossing that
river. Sharpen large sticks and place them in the water in the more
shallow areas. Bind them together so that they form an underwater
wall of spikes. Do this at night so that you are not seen. This
will slow the enemy as they try to cross, and as the dead and
wounded pile up, it will impede them further. The trick will not
last long, but it will fool the Bhoors into being more cautious and
they will not attack the city so boldly.

"They will most likely attack when the
sun is in your eyes, so be especially wary in the morning hours on
clear days. However if the Bhoors think you are intelligent enough,
they will attack later in the day to catch you off guard. Since
your armies have not yet met, they do not know how capable you are,
so my guess is that they will strike in the morning."

Silas looked a little worried as he
ran a hand down his face. "But my Lord, we do not have soldiers at
our disposal for these things. The King has them occupied somewhere
else."

"Then find men, women and children to
sharpen the spikes. Put them in the river yourself if you must. I
don’t care how it gets done, just make it happen. You must hurry;
the Bhoors will not wait long out there as they run out of
food."

"Yes my Lord, I will see that these
things are done as soon as possible."

"Good. We will return
soon."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When she and Rommus arrived again at
the temple in Reyth, there was a much larger crowd waiting below
them. This time Rommus did not ignore them, but raised his hands as
if to silence them, but they were already silent. She figured that
maybe it was just to get them all to stare and pay attention to
him.

Finally, with his cape snapping in the
wind, he spoke. "People of Reyth, I know you have seen me appear in
this temple. I know you are wondering who I am and what I am here
for. I come to warn you, and to tell you that all of the Vindyri
are in great danger. All men who are able to lift a sword must go
to Burnhamheade at once. Warn any other towns nearby so that they
can also send men. There is no time to waste."

"Who are you to tell us what to do
Medoran?" a man yelled.

"My name is Rommus, but it does not
matter who I am. You are already aware of the threat of the Bhoors.
It is no secret that their army waits outside of Burnhamheade to
attack. Either go protect your capital or die here in the flames
after the Bhoors destroy this land one town at a time."

He abruptly stopped his speech and
stormed down the steps. She followed him as he cut a line through
the large group of curious people standing the dirt streets. They
cleared a path for him, although it was not a very wide one. When
they had finally gotten far enough away from the noisy crowd, she
stopped him by grabbing his arm.

"Rommus, what are you doing? I thought
that you weren’t going to fight in this war."