Spirit of Empire 4: Sky Knights (12 page)

The number of attacks exceeded anything the city had yet seen. Prior to the arrival of the marines, gleasons took a few people each night and occasionally during the day. Very few domesticated animals had been taken.

“It’s like we’re attracting them,” Galborae complained.

Havlock took the thought one step farther. “I think you had it right back in Waerton. The gleasons aren’t just killing to eat. It’s like we’re their flock. They’re killing for sport, and the more challenging the foe the better.”

The thought baffled Galborae—he had never heard of killing animals for any reason other than food or disease.

Havlock leaned back on his bench high on the battlement, a hand going to his chin as he considered. “We know they harvested all the prey on their home world and resorted to hunting each other. It’s almost like they learned their lesson and are managing their resources here by limiting the killing. I wonder if we can turn the gleasons’ need for sport against them?”

“Isn’t that what we’re doing right now?”

Havlock shook his head. “In a way, yes, but we need a bigger test. If you’re right, if we’ve attracted the gleasons to the city, our presence is actually a threat to the people here. When we leave, maybe the gleasons will come after us and leave the city alone.”

Galborae considered, then his gaze bore into Havlock’s. “I don’t think I like where you’re going with this. I’m imagining a lot of gleasons out there, and the gleason finder doesn’t work.”

“I’m not sure where I’m going with it either. Let’s sleep on it and see what we think tomorrow.”

Galborae looked up to the stars and the positions of the two moons, one just rising as the other set. “It’s already tomorrow,” he muttered.

* * * * *

Sergeant Kori and Milae did not get a break when they left the king. Milae begged Kori to visit other injured and sick people throughout the city. Two other local healers joined them, though one of them scoffed at the ideas promulgated by Kori and left.

On the way to their third house call, Milae asked a favor of Kori. “Do you have other clothes? It hurts my eyes to look at you.”

“Oh, you mean the uniform. I’m sorry, I didn’t think about that. Actually, it’s supposed to hurt your eyes. I have other clothes, but they’re on my ship.”

“If I get you something proper, will you wear it?”

“I will if it’s clean. It must be clean.”

She worked through the night and into the next day without stopping. By then she was mostly supervising Milae and the local healer. Cleanliness was always her first order of business, and though her surroundings were anything but clean, hands and utensils had been sterilized and wounds had been cleaned by the time they left.

When she returned to check on the king, he was awake, hungry, and growling about getting out of bed. Milae blended into the walls while Kori spoke commandingly to the most powerful man in the region.

Leaning over the bed, she said, “You are not going anywhere today. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe. You trusted me yesterday, so trust me today as well. You feel better now, I know you do, but another day in bed will give you that much more strength.” She leaned closer and spoke confidentially. “You know that as soon as you show yourself, you will not have a spare moment. Do you want your people to see you weak?”

He glared at her, but he held his tongue. Deep down he knew he was far from healed. She helped him to sit up in the bed and ordered lunch for him. While they waited, she called Milae to his side and had her re-treat his wound in the manner she’d been shown during the night.

“You broke your hip,” she told the king. “Unless you want to be lame for the rest of your life, you have to follow my instructions. You cannot place any pressure on that leg for at least a week while your bones finish healing. If you break it again, the pain will be worse and I might not be able to heal you. We’ll get you some crutches so you can get around, or someone can carry you, but no pressure goes on that leg. And no fighting! I don’t care how bad things get. Your people need a strong king, not a weakling.”

Havlock and Galborae arrived along with the king’s lunch, and Tennisol seemed to thrive on all the attention. Havlock pulled Kori aside. “Gone native, have we?”

She looked at the plain dress she was wearing and sighed. “I guess I have. You might want to try it yourself, sir. The uniform hurts their eyes, and local clothes make us more approachable.”

“Hmm. Maybe I will. How’s he doing?”

“He doesn’t know it, but his body is deeply fatigued. He’s agreed to spend one more day in bed, then he’s yours. Even tomorrow, he’ll tire after an hour or two, so you might want to plan things out.”

“When’s the last time you slept?”

“Uh, yesterday or the day before. I’ve sort of lost track.”

“I’m hearing good things about you, but we can’t afford mistakes. Rest here or on the ship, but get some sleep.”

“Aye, sir.” She thought about bed bugs and an involuntary shudder passed through her body. “Truth be told, I wouldn’t mind cleaning up. The ship is definitely calling me.”

* * * * *

The hard part and the crux of the mission’s success started the next day: convincing a king to accept some amount of modern technology despite feeling threatened. Havlock started the process by shocking the king, then giving him time to get over it. He demonstrated blasters, then one of the ships dropped from the sky right in front of the city’s main gate. The king crutched up to the ship and touched it, but he was not willing to go aboard, nor was anyone else.

The king held a formal conference the following day. “Why have you come?” he demanded. “And where have you come from?”

“Let me answer the where first,” Havlock answered. “We come from a city in the sky. It is very, very far away. I can take you there, but you would have to go with me on the ship and you would be gone for half a year.”

King Tennisol scoffed. “I can’t leave for that long. I wouldn’t have a kingdom to return to.”

“It’s not necessary that you go,” Havlock said. “Sir Galborae has seen my home and he vouches for us.”

“So you live in the sky. Are you gods?”

Havlock smiled. “Definitely not. The demons like our blood just as much as they like yours.”

“Then why have you come?”

“To right a wrong.” Havlock got up to pace, then turned back to the king. “You have knights and lords, which means you have wars.”

“Nothing more than border disputes in my lifetime, but we have stories of greater wars.”

“If one of your townsmen poisoned the water in a neighboring kingdom, what would you do?”

“The criminal would lose his head, and I would be beholden to my neighbors. Unless I accepted some responsibility, there would be war, a serious war.”

“Why did the demons suddenly show up?”

“The will of the gods. Probably punishment.”

“For what?”

Tennisol shrugged. “Who knows. Gods are gods.”

“Demons are not here because of the gods. They’re here because criminals from my home brought them to you. The criminals have already lost their heads, and my people have accepted responsibility. They sent me to help you right a wrong.”

Tennisol grabbed his crutches and struggled to his feet, leaning into Havlock with his eyes on fire. “You jest.”

“I speak true, Your Majesty.”

Tennisol stared at him for a long, long time, then said, “Can you?”

“Yes, but not easily or quickly. We call the demons gleasons. Many, many gleasons were brought here and they are breeding, increasing their numbers. They have no natural enemies.”

“But I’m told you’re protecting the city.”

“This is where it gets complicated.” He turned to Galborae. “Can you explain?”

Galborae stood up and approached his king. “Sire, unless you go into the sky ship, it will be impossible for you to appreciate the size of the problem. I have been beyond the great mountains in the sky ship, and I have gone beyond the sea. There are more great mountains and more great seas beyond them. It would take years to cross these lands on a gorlac.”

Tennisol looked impatient, clearly not appreciating Galborae’s words, but Galborae did not give up. “Imagine, Sire, every person in your city representing another kingdom. The land is that big, and there are that many kingdoms.”

“Impossible.”

“I have seen them with my own eyes, Your Majesty. Come with us on the sky ship and we’ll show them to you, though that is not what’s important here.”

“What could be more important than so many kingdoms?”

“Sire, the demons are everywhere. Every one of those kings are fighting for their lives. Just like here, many, many people are dying every day beyond our lands.”

The king stared at him, then returned to his chair and lowered himself carefully into it while he considered. It didn’t take all that long. He looked at Havlock. “How many sky ships do you have?”

Havlock nodded—finally, the king was on the right track. He held both hands up with fingers extended, closed his hands into fists, then extended his fingers again. “That many.”

“Not enough.”

“Not nearly enough. More sky ships will come, but it will be at least a year and we still won’t have enough.”

“What can be done?”

“We need to teach you how to fight the demons on your own, without our help. After we teach you, we have to teach the rest of the kingdoms.”

“We’ll need your magic weapons.”

“I’ll give them to you, but they come at a price.”

Tennisol’s lips thinned. “You said you were here to right a wrong.”

“I am, but these are dangerous weapons, powerful weapons. My price for giving them to you is your word that they will not be used against other kingdoms, ever.”

“And if they are?”

“I will make them stop working. You will then be on your own against the demons.”

“You can do that?”

“I can, Your Majesty. It would grieve me, but I would do it.”

“So you’re a sorcerer after all.” Tennisol thought for a long time. When he spoke again, his insight surprised Havlock. “You give your magic weapons to a neighboring king who agrees to your price, and the gleasons kill him tomorrow. The next king might not honor your agreement, or his descendants might not feel bound by your agreement. I might have an enemy as dangerous as the demons.”

“Help me find a way to bind kings. What words can I speak, what agreements can I make that will bind future generations?”

“It’s difficult, but not impossible, to bind future kings. We do it through allegiances. To create such an allegiance, the agreement must be to everyone’s benefit. To continue such allegiances, the benefit must extend to and be appreciated by those future generations.”

“A tall order.”

Tennisol nodded. “I’m inclined to agree. Even now, I have agreements with other allies that must be considered.” He paused thoughtfully, then added, “You should take one of your sky ships to King Harbig of Tricor. He leads our province of allied kingdoms. An agreement with him will be an agreement with all of us.”

Galborae’s eyes widened. “You answer to King Harbig?”

“Only in certain matters. Indirectly, you answer to him as well.”

“That might explain the relative peace we’ve enjoyed for so many years. I knew there was a connection, of course. I just didn’t know the strength of the connection.”

“It’s why our kingdom has the official name of Shanlock d’Tricor. The only recent fighting we’ve had has been with kingdoms outside our province. Within the province of the five kingdoms, we have worked our way peacefully through disagreements. Commerce was thriving before these gleasons came. I have not spoken with anyone from Tricor for months, but I’m certain our agreements remain in place.”

Tennisol’s words came as a surprise to Havlock. “You’ve spoken with them? I thought the roads were impassable with the gleasons out there.”

“Saurons don’t need roads,” Tennisol answered impatiently.

Havlock turned inquisitive eyes to Galborae who answered, “Flying snakes, large enough to carry a rider.” He turned to Tennisol. “I haven’t seen a sauron since we arrived.”

“Mine fell to the gleasons. They hate the creatures and cannot be recalled from an attack.”

“So you’ve been in contact with other kings? How do they fare?” Havlock asked.

“I only received a few messages from Harbig. He claims everyone is in trouble.”

“Your Majesty, I’ll go to him, but before I do I must address another issue,” Havlock said. “My forces could be viewed as a threat to your authority. We are not a threat, and it is not our intention to ever be so, but that is the reality of the situation.”

“Allies don’t threaten each other, they cooperate,” Tennisol said with a dark look. “Is your word your bond or is it not?”

“It is, Your Majesty. Together we will fight and defeat the demons.”

Tennisol stared at him, a hard stare. “And when they’re gone, what then?”

“Aye, that’s a concern,” Havlock said, rubbing the stubble on his chin. “We would like to leave, but by then you might not want us to leave. You’ll have our weapons and some of our healing processes, and by then you might be accustomed to riding in our sky ships. How would you feel about needing only an hour to reach a meeting of your allies?”