Preserving the Ingenairii (24 page)

            “You’re serious about being a warrior ingenaire, aren’t you?” Constanc asked.

              
“I think we need to be ready to protect ourselves,” Alec answered, as the others looked at him cautiously.
 
“Harry can go in front, and I’ll take the rear position,” Alec motioned to their remaining guard to lead.

              
The last of the meager camp supplies were
packed,
and the group began to follow the road east towards Three Forks.
 
Stracha was directly in front of Alec, then Nestor, with Constanc and the nameless leader directing the horses behind Harry.
 
It was evident to Alec that Stracha now wanted to talk to him, an attitude much changed from the day before.

              
“How long will it take us to get to Three Forks, and what will we do when we get there?” he asked the girl.
 
He needed to understand better what was happening around him, and this girl right now was apparently eager to please him with answers.

              
“Don’t you remember?” she asked.

              
“No, my memory is not quite right yet,” he told her.
 
“Will we meet other ingenairii there, in Three Forks?”

              
She glanced at him sideways, as he swiveled his head around to observe their surroundings, looking for possible threats.
 
“Yes, the survivors from the Ingenairii Council will have their meeting there, you know that.
 
We’ll meet them and probably join forces with them, then have to decide whether to go to Stronghold or Goldenfields; at least that’s what Parnell thinks.
 
We won’t be able to stay in Three Forks; it’ll probably fall soon too, with a demon leading the Michian invaders right into town.”

              
The mention of the demon startled Alec, and reminded him of the piece of the One Cross he had possessed.
 
He looked at his hands instinctively, knowing they were empty,
then
shoved them into his pockets.
 
He knew he had picked up the piece of the Cross in the ingenairii realm, but had he been able to bring it back with him when he transitioned back to this world?

              
His fingertips felt a rough fragment.
 
He grasped it and pulled it out into the sunshine, examining it carefully as he walked along.
 
It appeared to be intact, unharmed by the spiritually fiery blaze it had ignited in the energy realm as it ended the existence of the demon he had fought there.

              
Alec’s heart thudded in his chest as he realized that he wanted to destroy another demon, and every demon that was involved in invading the Dominion, and those in the land of the lacertii as well for that matter.
 
“We won’t let the city fall,” he spoke through gritted teeth.
 
“We can defeat the demons now.”

              
He felt the girl’s hand grip his
arm,
and he looked down at the long fingers, then up at the pretty face with smudges of dirt.
 
“Are you Alec?” she whispered the question.
 
“Can you truly defeat the demons?
 
They’ve been killing our people for years.
 
I didn’t know there were any warrior ingenairii left after all the battles with demons.
 
But if you’re Alec, if you’ve come back to life, the Dominion and the ingenairii can survive!”

              
Alec gave a sob at the thought that the warrior ingenairii were gone.
 
No Nathaniel or Moriah or any of their successors left to fight for the Dominion; it was a tragic realization.

              
“I will fight the demon and I will win,” Alec said through clenched teeth, ignoring the girl’s tightening grip.

              
“You are Alec, aren’t you?
 
Where has Gordon gone?” Stracha asked.

              
“I am who I am,” Alec said tersely.
 
“I am here to heal, and I am here to fight.”

              
“You said you loved me,” Stracha spoke in a low voice.
 
“Just last week you said you loved me, Gordon.
 
When we get to Three Forks we can go to Goldenfields and join the court there, or we can sneak back into Frame.
 
I hear that once the Michian forces control a city, life is bearable, if you don’t cause any trouble, if they don’t know we are ingenairii,” she said, switching tacks.

              
“When we get to Three Forks, we will see what happens next,” Alec replied.
 
He wondered how much longer it would be until they arrived at the city safely.
 
“This is not the time to talk about living with Michian control; you will never want to try that,” he said as he remembered when he had briefly visited the land of the empire.
 
What had become of Rief, his companion in those days, he wondered.
 
She had returned to the Dominion with him, and then he had left for his long imprisonment with the demon in the ingenairii energy realm.

              
His old life, it had ended fifty years ago.
 
He reeled further as the truth sunk in; he would not be able to pick up any of the pieces of the life he had left behind.
 
There were no friends here who knew him, who could laugh with him at old memories, or mourn with him for lost companions.
 
No one else alive would remember laughing with Jonso the clown, or understand the comfort Helen Millershome provided.

              
He walked on silently, and felt the girl’s fingers leave his arm as he turned to watch the crowd on all sides, looking for potential threats.
 
The landscape was growing populated with houses and buildings, indicative of their arrival at the outskirts of Three Forks.
 
Hours later they reached a mob that was stopped in place on the road.

              
Alec walked up to the front of the ingenairii group.
 
“What’s the hold up?” he asked the leader, Parnell, Stracha had called him.

              
“The rumor is that there’s a checkpoint ahead, and there’s a regiment of Goldenfields Guards trying to pass through to reach the front,” the man replied.

              
“If that’s true, I’m going to go with the Guards to the battle,” Alec said.
 
“Where will I be able to find you in the city after the battle?”

              
Parnell looked at him strangely.
 
“We’ll take refuge at the Ingenairii Hall, next to the cathedral, until the city has to evacuate.
 
After that we’ll be on our way, probably to Goldenfields.
 
Stronghold may be safer longer, but the court is there, and we don’t want to get caught in those politics,” Parnell bowed his head.
 
“If you go to battle, I don’t expect I’ll see you again.”

              
“I’ll take my chances,” Alec said simply, as he heard a commotion in the distance.
 
Minutes later there was a clear disturbance moving towards their knot in the congested traffic.
 
Soon after that, a Goldenfields standard appeared above the crowd and made steady progress towards their location.

              
“Good luck to all of you,” Alec told the group of healers.
 
“Keep up your good works.”

Constanc pushed towards him and looked at him with an admiring gaze.
 
“Gordon, you make us proud.
 
Please, please be careful while you help the soldiers, and come back safely,” she said kindly as she hugged him and Nestor came over to grip his arm reassuringly.
 
Stracha simply shook her head.

              
“Alec, be careful around the demons,” she said, in a tone that was both concerned and taunting.

              
The vanguard of the Goldenfields unit was passing Alec’s position, and he hitched his pack on his back as he shouldered into the crowd and then began striding hurriedly beside an officer in the Guard.
 
“I’d like to join your unit, sir,” Alec said respectfully.

              
The tall man looked down at Alec’s puny size.
 
“We have enough drummer boys and we don’t need a mascot, son,” the man said matter-of-factly.
 
“You go back home to your mom or the girl you’re trying to impress.
 
There’s still going to be a need for more soldiers when you’re a little older; come back then.”

              
“I can fight now.
 
Look,” Alec held up his arm to show the warrior mark.

              
“Nice tattoo, youngster.
 
Now stay out of the way,” a non-commissioned officer commented as he held out an arm to drive Alec away from the passing soldiers.

              
Alec stood in disbelief for several minutes as the column moved past him.
 
It appeared to be a small battalion, possibly three companies, with no more than six hundred men.
 
He saw the last ranks of men pulling carts with supplies, and fell in among them.
 
“Can I help?” he asked a team pulling a rough-hewn wagon loaded with arrows.

              
A man pulling a shaft looked over and grunted.
 
“Stay behind the wagon and shove it when we get into the ditch,” the man directed without looking.

              
Alec thankfully took his position and followed the wagon, frequently putting his thin shoulder against the wagon to help it over the mangled roadway.
 
Within four hours they reached the edge of the battle zone, Alec could tell, as the shouts and orders around them took on an exclusively military tone, and the number of refugees around them fell dramatically.

              
“Leave the materiel here, and join your platoon,” an officer ordered.
 
“What’s this?” he asked, grabbing Alec’s shoulder.

              
“The kid came out of the crowd and offered to help push the arrow wagon,” one of the soldiers said defensively.

              
“So you worked your way up here anyway, did you?” the man said, and Alec recognized the lieutenant he had first approached.
 
“God help you.
 
Stick with these men and stay out of the way,” he ordered and gave a gentle shove that sent Alec forward.
 

              
Alec could tell they were headed directly to the front, as his companions resolutely trudged through the mud towards the loudest sounds of combat.
 
He could smell the faint stench of death.

              
“We’re going right into the line.
 
Stay low,” a soldier next to Alec advised him as they began to convert from a column on the move to a three rank line.
 
Alec struggled forward, to where he could peer over the shoulder of the front rank to see what was happening.

              
His eyes immediately focused on the horrific creature that was standing in front of the Michian forces, near a single black robed sorceress.
 
The demon was staring at the Dominion line as it began to move forward, and Alec felt as though its eyes were piercing his own soul.
 
He felt nauseous as he knew what he was about to do, and suddenly he was down on his knees vomiting in panic.

              
“Hey!” one of his companions said angrily.

              
“Leave it alone.
 
That’s the least of your problems right now,” another soldier said.

              
Alec braced his legs and spurted out beneath the shields held by the front line, entering the open space that defined where danger was waiting.

              
“Get back in here kid!” a voice shouted, but Alec stood up and sprinted towards the demon, which watched his approach passively.
 
Help me now, Lord.
 
I need your protection and your strength
, he prayed fervently.