Seers of Verde: The Legend Fulfilled: Book One (25 page)

WAR

1

The steward inspected the ten young men standing at perfect attention before him. None blinked as he paced in front of them, stopping often to examine each one. This day was to be their last and most difficult test. The youngsters, all 18 or 19 harvests old, would pass or fail as a group to become the most revered of Nuven warriors — a Defender circle.

With a shrug to indicate he was unsure of their worthiness, the steward stepped aside. Hundreds of quiet onlookers watched from seats in Temple Darya’s small arena. Two veteran Defender circles had been standing nearby, watching the trainees going through the usual tests of archery accuracy and hand-to-hand knife fighting.

The older Nuvens laughed and joked as they neared the group of younger men from all sides. It appeared they were going to welcome them to their ranks. Without warning someone screamed, “Defenders! Kill them for the honor of Mother Verde!” The approaching warriors drew knives and rushed toward the trainees.

Instinctively, the young Nuvens closed ranks in a protective circle, each facing outward as they prepared to take on the attackers. The circle did not budge from the onslaught. Each member defended himself, repelling one attacker after another. In a secret code, the circle brothers called out to each other with warnings and encouragement.

The group moved in unison to fight off the attackers. The young warriors would spin clockwise, then at a signal, would reverse counterclockwise or go forward or backward as the necessity of the fight dictated.

One by one, the older Defenders threw themselves furiously at the young men in an attempt to break through the circle to gain access to their vulnerable backs. If the circle was breeched, the attackers and the test would stop. The young warriors would be congratulated for their efforts, but they would fail to become Defenders.

However, the circle proved to be impenetrable. It constricted and expanded as needed to withstand the assault. In a surprise move after one of the members called out a signal, the circle tightened to where each member was shoulder to shoulder. It spun forward with surprising quickness, cutting a swath through the older Defenders.

Once free of the attackers, the young warriors stopped and charged the Defenders, forcing those who had not been repelled to form their own defensive circle.

At this turn of events, a giant gong boomed throughout the arena, stopping all fighting. The combatants stood panting from their exertions. No one had been injured other than the occasional black eye and bloodied nose. The fighters wielded unsharpened wooden knives to prevent fatal wounds.

A tall, white-haired elder ambled toward the young men. A smile lit up his face. The old Defender moved with a grace that belied his age. It was rumored that he had seen more than 80 harvests. However, he loved to joke that he could only remember 70 harvests.

At an order from their steward, the circle formed a straight line and again stood at attention. The young fighters’ bodies glistened with sweat and a few streaks of blood.

“Magnificent, simply magnificent,” the elder proclaimed then broke into a proud laugh as he walked down the line, patting each young man on the shoulder. “We have never witnessed such a feat during a test,” he said, waving to a small group of elder Defenders in formal attire who stood behind him. “You managed to turn a defensive stand into an attack. Brilliant.”

Turning, he gestured for the circle’s steward to approach. “Witt Peyser, you are to be commended for the training of these skilled Defenders. They have succeeded beyond our expectations.” Then said in a whisper only Witt could hear, “I’m proud of you, grandson.”

The steward bowed. “Thank you, Elder Xander. These youngsters have taken to their training with an energy and dedication I have not seen before. I am proud of them.”

Although still at attention, the young men beamed with pride. This was the first time they had heard their steward offer them such high praise and to do so in front of one of the Defender elders was a great honor.

Xander Vonn looked back at the men behind him. Seeing them all smiling, he turned toward the Defenders who had just tested the young men. “What say you? Is this circle worthy of joining the ranks of the Defenders?”

One by one, each of the older Defenders raised his arm with a thumb pointing toward the sky and shouted “aye.” Soon the arena was filled with a raucous cheering of “Aye! Aye! Aye!”

Holding up his hands for silence, a grinning Xander addressed all those in the arena. “By unanimous decision of the Council of Defenders, as well as the warriors who have tested your mettle today, we proclaim you Defenders, protectors of all Nuvens.”

Turning toward the new Defenders he asked, “What name has your circle chosen?”

As one, the ten young men stepped forward, drew their knives, clashed them together and shouted in unison, “Circle Sankarikiller.” A surprised hush fell over the onlookers and older Defenders in the arena at the audacity of these young men.

Xander folded his arms, gazing at the newly anointed warriors. Seeing their fierce conviction, he thrust his right arm into the air. “So be it. You have been born and bred for this purpose. May you make your ancestors proud and live up to your name. Welcome, Circle Sankarikiller.”

The arena erupted in a roar of approval as the new Defenders were swarmed over, this time by well-wishers.

¶ ¶ ¶

Egan Pozos flashed a giant smile as he slapped his circle brother on the back. The two new Defenders had proven to be particularly vicious during the test. Many of the veterans had targeted them because they were smaller than their circle brothers.

“We did it, Aron. We’re Defenders,” Egan yelled, relishing their accomplishment. “This is what we have worked for since we were younglings. And the others were worried we would be the ones to fail.”

He pointed at one of his circle brothers. “Did you see how I had to help Tanzer when he got knocked down? He almost let that Defender through the circle.”

Aron Nels nodded and laughed. “That was a pretty hard kick to the head you gave that Defender. I think he’s still a bit woozy.”

Egan chortled as he looked at a large bruise on Aron’s forehead. “What about that Defender you laid flat with the head butt? I think you broke his nose.” Before the two could enjoy their moment further, their eight circle brothers surrounded them.

A somber Tanzer Unota walked over to Egan and looked at him nose to nose. However, he could not maintain his pose for long. “You two were targeted by the other Defenders, but proved to be our best fighters. Well done, and thank you for helping me when I fell.” He smiled and clasped Egan’s shoulder.

Before they could react, Egan and Aron were hoisted on their brothers’ shoulders and paraded triumphantly around the arena, drawing even more cheers from their well-wishers.

2

The silence was heavy. All the members of the High Council of Seers frowned as they read the report from their spy in Temple Darya. Until now, the campaign to undermine the Nuven influence in Verde Valley had been going well. The Sankari, secretly encouraged by the Seers, had managed to keep the Nuven fervor at bay with their attacks on their temples and, in some cases, isolated villages.

Only Temple Darya remained unharmed. However, the Nuven mother temple also was the most well built and heavily fortified. Now another problem had surfaced — a strange new warrior group of Nuvens who called themselves Defenders.

“The audacity of these vermin calling themselves Circle Sankarikiller,” High Seer Rufina said, while she crumpled the report and threw it to the floor.

Another Seer stood to address the High Council. “Forgive me, High Seer, but it is more worrisome to me about the second part of our watcher’s report. Besides these new Defenders’ foolish bravado is the fact they were unreadable. This is very troubling.”

Rufina nodded in agreement. “Lanella is correct as always,” she sighed, ignoring smirks from some of her sister Seers seated at the crescent-shaped table. “We have never seen this before in the Defenders. This new circle could prove to be most difficult for our Sankari.”

Seer Abitha stood. “Until now, the only males who were unreadable to us were a few of our Sankari and Tarylan guards, who were sons of Seer mothers. How have they achieved this?”

Rufina dismissed Abitha with a disgusted snort. “It is too late to worry how the barbarians have accomplished this. We have been at an impasse with the Nuvens for months now. This new circle could put us on the defensive.”

Lanella, eager to prove her worth to her elders and earn a seat on the council table, again requested permission to speak. “We need more than the occasional watcher among the Nuvens, especially with the threat of this unknown circle. I propose we offer them assistance.”

Rufina scoffed at the younger woman. “Why should the Nuvens accept help from us? We have ignored their pleas for help so far by claiming we have no influence over the Sankari.”

Lanella flashed a sly smile. “Perhaps a particularly vicious attack on one of the Nuven villages might change their mind. They may be more receptive if it appears the Sankari are stepping up their attacks against them.”

Rufina and the other council members stared in wonder at the audacity of this young Seer. Her bloodthirsty solution surprised them. Until now, the Seers were satisfied with attacking temples in an attempt to keep the Nuvens at bay. So much the better if Nuven warriors, especially Defenders, were killed. They sanctioned an occasional attack against a village, but only to scare the barbarians.

“How vicious of an attack would this be?” Rufina asked.

Lanella shrugged. “To be effective, there would have to be no survivors. Every shelter burned. Every possession destroyed.”

Abitha stood up. Her face paled at the reality of what Lanella was proposing. “Their women and children? The Sankari would kill them, too?”

Lanella regarded her coldly. “This will have to be an attack so effective that it will make every Nuven shake with fear. They will be very grateful when we offer our assistance.”

Rufina paced back and forth in back of the room. Her arms were crossed against her chest. She stopped to gaze out of one the windows that looked out over the fortress’s courtyard. The High Seer wondered what her predecessor would do with this new threat. She was new to her leadership duties after the death of Yseni.

“This conflict with the Nuvens has gone on too long. If we are to crush their expansion and stop their barbarous religion from spreading, we must take drastic measures. I propose we act on Lanella’s idea. What say you, council members?”

One by one the Council of Seers voted aye. Only Abitha objected.

¶ ¶ ¶

Vatan and Alim sat quietly in the huge pine tree they had shimmied up. They could hear their father calling for them on the forest floor. He sounded angrier with every shout. “Boys, it’s getting dark. Answer me now!”

It seemed like he was directly under their tree. But he kept moving, looking for his wayward sons who had run out to play before finishing their chores.

“Maybe we should go down,” whimpered ten-year-old Alim.

Twelve-year-old Vatan grabbed his brother’s arm. “No, you know what he does to us when he is this angry. We won’t go down until Mother calls. She will be so worried, she won’t let Father use the switch — maybe not so much, anyway.”

Alim wiped away a tear. “We should have done our chores.”

Vatan tried to spot his father in the darkening forest. “I’ve never seen him this angry. Maybe the beating won’t hurt too much if we promise never to run away again.”

Their father was making his way under the tree again. He had not calmed down much by the sound of his voice. “Vatan and Alim, if you don’t show yourselves, you can stay out here all night and be food for the …”

His voice was cut off, and then the boys heard something heavy fall to the ground. The two younglings looked at each other. Sensing something was wrong, they started to climb down when strange voices made them freeze in position.

“Good throw, Tarko. I thought his yelling would rouse the whole village,” a deep-voiced stranger said with a Verdan accent. “Are the others in position?”

Another man answered. “Thank you, Captain. He made an easy target when he stopped so often. Yes, sir. All troops report they are ready.”

The first man grunted an acknowledgment. “Good. Give the signal. Let’s be quick and get this business over with.” A short blast from a horn startled Vatan and Alim. Moments later they heard bodies crashing through the forest.

Almost instantaneously, screams from their village pierced the early evening air. From their vantage point, the boys could see fires from the shelters shoot into the sky. The terrified brothers clung to their limbs as they watched their little mountain village burn into the night. The screams and shouting didn’t last long.

An eerie silence hung over the forest as the heavy smoke from the village filled the sky, making it difficult for Alim and Vatan to breathe. The youngsters had no way of knowing how long it had been after the attack when they heard those frighteningly familiar voices return through the forest as they left the village. Some of the men were laughing.

“I thought them Nuvens would put up much more of a fight than that, captain,” a Verdan called out.

The first man answered. “We caught them completely by surprise. Burning them out made it easy. Lucky for us there were no Defenders or else we would have lost more men. Tarko, what were our casualties?”

The gruff-voiced man started to count aloud. “So far, six dead and eleven wounded, Captain. I counted about fifty villagers, though many more died in the cabins we burned.”

Choking from the smoke, the leader called for his men to retreat. He coughed. “We’ve done our job. I’d say we sent the Nuvens a clear message.”

Vatan and Alim fought back sobs and coughs while the strangers returned from where they came. Shaking with fright and cold, the boys stayed in the tree until the first rays of morning filtered through the forest.

Even though some smoke still hung in the air, birds started singing, a signal the strangers were gone. After climbing down, they found their father lying face down on the forest floor, a javelin wound in his chest.

Alim let out a wail and threw himself on top of his father’s lifeless body. Vatan shook from his sobs then turned and ran toward the village, frantically shouting, “Mother! Mother!”

The sight that greeted Vatan made him drop to his knees in horror. Nothing was left of his village. Every cabin, barn, and the communal hall were smoldering ashes. A pile of bodies lay in the middle of what had been the market square. Most of the villagers sustained javelin wounds. A few had body parts hacked off.

Vatan covered his eyes, vomited and screamed in anger. Trembling, he rose to search his family’s cabin, looking for his mother and baby sister. The ashes of his family’s home were still smoldering, but he could make out the form of his mother on what had been the floor. She was holding something, probably his sister.

“Mother?” Vatan whirled around after hearing Alim’s sob behind him. The younger boy’s face was sickly pale as he stared at the awful sight. Tears dripped down his chin.

Vatan put his arm around Alim. Seeing his frightened brother stoked a strong desire to protect his sibling. “Mother died trying to protect Nadia. No one in the village is alive.”

Alim shuddered between sobs. “Why did they do this? We weren’t hurting anyone.”

Vatan shielded his brother away from the grisly sight. “I don’t know. They must have been Sankari. We can’t stay here. They might come back to look for survivors.”

Alim looked at his brother with wide eyes. “Wh, where can we go?”

Vatan pointed down the valley. “Uncle Kelfar’s village is only four kilometers away. We can be there in a couple of hours if we hurry.” Taking his younger brother by the hand, Vatan led him away from their destroyed home, toward the safety of their kinsman’s village.

¶ ¶ ¶

The Nuven elders looked at each other with surprise. Never before had the mysterious Seers offered their assistance, even though the elders had sought their help in ending the unprovoked Sankari attacks.

“We are honored by your offer, but are somewhat surprised. Why now?” asked Chief Elder Marco Enriks.

High Seer Rufina raised her eyebrows at the Nuven’s candor. She was not accustomed to being spoken to in such an informal manner, but remembered this barbarian had not been raised to respect her.

Forcing herself to smile, she tried to allay Marco’s suspicions. “My sister Seers and I have grown worried over the terrible fighting between you and these Sankari. We were especially saddened by the tragic destruction of that village and all its inhabitants.”

Rufina stopped and held out her arms to the Nuvens. “We have tried to stop the Sankari’s unwarranted attacks on your people, but have failed to convince these zealots to cease. We offer this resolution to hopefully stop the bloodshed.”

Marco and the other elders seemed satisfied and even pleased with Rufina’s explanation. The Nuven elder looked at his counterparts who had accompanied him to Fortress Bryann. They looked to be in agreement.

Marco stood and bowed to the High Seer. “The Nuven elders humbly accept and welcome your offer of assistance, which we pray will end these unprovoked attacks upon our people. It is our wish to peacefully coexist with our Verdan brothers.”

Rufina was impressed with his eloquence and attention to Verdan formality.
Perhaps there is hope for these barbarians yet,
she thought, but forced herself to follow through with the Seer’s plan.

“Very well, Elder Enriks. Each of the ten Nuven temples will be assigned six Seers. It is our hope our sisters will be able to discourage future attacks by the Sankari and hopefully lead to a peaceful resolution.”

Marco raised his eyebrows. “We are most appreciative of your offer, High Seer, but why so many?”

Rufina scowled. This Nuven was trying her patience. She did not like having her orders questioned. The High Seer fought the urge to scold Marco. It was her duty to convince these elders of the Seers’ good intentions. The only way their plan to destroy those bothersome barbarian temples could succeed was to plant Seers inside and gain the Nuvens’ trust.

“Why, my dear elder, six Seers is the least number needed to ensure one can be on watch at all hours day and night,” Rufina said. “Of course, one Seer can be on watch up to six hours, then she requires sustenance and rest. This will guarantee a fresh Seer will be able to serve you at all times.”

Marco, an older man with silver-streaked thick hair and a salt-and-pepper beard, stared at Rufina while he considered her explanation. After a few moments, he smiled. “Of course. We can’t expect one young woman to bear all the responsibility by herself. Even our Defenders need their rest and meal breaks.”

All the Nuven elders stood and bowed to the High Council.

“We will treat the Seers you send us with the utmost respect,” Marco said. “We will protect them with the same fervor as we would our families.”

Rufina stood and bowed to the elders. “Our Seers look forward to serving our Nuven cousins. We appreciate your offer of protection.”