The Black Sword Trilogy: The Four Nations (27 page)

             
“He’s right.” Terri added.  “What they need more than anything else now is to see someone holding the Spear and leading them on.  If there is any fighting for you to do, let the Spear do what it wants and let nature take its course.”

             
Firth took the Spear in his hands and in mere seconds, his whole demeanor changed.  The frightened boy disappeared and something far more confident and stronger took his place.

             
“Now get your ass on one of those boats.” Kenner told him.

He looked at Kenner with a steely eyed will that impressed even Terri.

              “They’re called ships.” He said proudly and then ran in the direction of the largest vessel.

             
Kenner then turned his attention back to Shorn.

             
“Now about getting us off this damn island.” He said to him.

             
“My ship is ready and waiting for your orders.”

Chapter Thirty

              Leyews paced nervously in front of the face in the blue flames.

             
“Why so worried, Doctor?” The face asked him.

             
“I have just received news that General Krypt is still alive.”

             
“Of course he is.” The face said in its familiar icy tone.  “You didn’t really think five hundred Wolfen led by one officer would be able to fulfill such a mission, did you?”

             
“But you said…”

             
“I said the Wolfen would isolate and surround Krypt.  I never said that they would actually succeed.”

             
“Master, I don’t understand.”

             
“You’re not meant to understand.” The face said in an ever colder tone.  “It is merely your place to follow my orders.  Now, I believe it is time for you to attend to your King.”

             
“Would it now be wise for the King to die now, Master?”

The face laughed.

              “This is why you could never rule, my servant.  You have no mind for anything more than being told what to do.”

             
“But surely…”

             
“I need the King alive!” He said sternly.  “I need him ineffective, but alive nonetheless.”

The blue flame began to fade slightly and the face began to disappear.

              “Stay the course.” The face said to Leyews, its voice beginning to sound more distant.  “And do nothing without my command.”

             
Leyews bowed before his master; but when the face had gone, he wondered if his master’s plans were as clever as he thought they once were.

Chapter Thirty One

             
When Tulles awoke from having passed out, the first thing that came into focus was Kenner standing over him.  Remembering the events of the night before, he again tried to slither away on his back away from the Lord of the Black Sword.  Kenner stabbed at the wooden planks underneath him and he stopped.

             
“My Lord,” He began to plead.

             
“Shut up and listen.” Kenner interrupted him.  “I’ve discovered some interesting things about this sword in the last couple of years.  One thing I’ve learned is that if I place the blade next to someone’s head, like it’s next to yours now, it has an interesting effect.  Apparently, the person lying on the ground like a snake…like you are now will tell the truth no matter what question, however embarrassing or ridiculous I ask them.  Allow me to demonstrate.  Have you ever had sex with a woman?”

             
“Yes.” Tulles was surprised to hear himself answer.

             
“Have you ever had sex with a man?”

             
“Yes.”

             
“Wow!  That is interesting.  Did you ever have fantasies about farm animals?”

             
“No.”

             
“That’s a shame.  I really was hoping you’d say yes.”

             
Kenner then knelt closer to Tulles.

             
“Now listen to me very carefully,” he told him.  “Right now, you’re on a ship in the middle of the ocean and it’s at least a five mile swim to the mainland.  I’m more than willing to let you live, and after I’m finished with you, Captain Shorn will put you in the longboat for you to row to shore.  However, if you piss me off; and right now that’s very easy for you to do, I will toss you overboard.  Captain Shorn says that if you’re a fast swimmer there is a chance…a slim chance, but a chance nonetheless that you can reach the shore before the sharks eat you.  Is that clear?”

             
“Yes, my Lord.”

             
“Don’t call me ‘my Lord’.  I hate that.”

             
“I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

             
“For once, we agree.  Now, you don’t seem anywhere near clever enough to have come up with that plan to take over Sheyron on your own.  Whose plan was it?”

Tulles didn’t want to answer, but felt compelled.

              “It was Lord Edum’s plan.  He had the help of members of the ‘Shoes’ faction.”

             
“Where did they get the money to hire the mercenaries?”

             
“From the temples.”

Kenner then looked at Captain Shorn.

              “The temples require that their members pay ten percent of their earnings in order to remain members and stay in the good graces of the Lady.” Shorn told him.  “They pay no taxes, so many of the temples and their priests grow rich and fat off the earnings of ordinary citizens.”

             
“We serve the will of the Lady!” Tulles complained.  “It is only right that we should have to pay no taxes to a worldly nation.”

             
“Shut up!” Kenner barked at him.  “How many others were included in the plot?”

Tulles began listing names for several minutes until Kenner told him to stop.

              “That’s half the council.” Shorn told Kenner.

             
“Did Edum come up with this plan on his own or did he have help?”

For a moment, Tulles said nothing.  Kenner noticed that he looked struggling as if trying to resist.  His answer should have been automatic.

              “Tell me!” He barked at him.

Tulles continued to resist and looked to be in pain; but then he spat out the
name, “Bleylock!”

             
There was something about the name that caused Kenner a momentary sensation of nausea and pain.  He noticed Shela, lying behind Tulles shutter a little and growl.

             
“That’s impossible.” Shorn said.  “Bleylock was the name of the last of the Dark Lords cast down in the Dark Times.”

Kenner noticed the sensation again.

              “Can we not say that name anymore?” He asked Shorn.

             
“Fine by me.  The name makes my bones ache.”

Kenner then turned his attention to Tulles.

              “Alright, get your ass off of the deck and get to the boat.  If I hear one more word of your preaching, you go swimming.”

Two of Shorn’s deck hands lifted the priest off of the deck and then began pulling him toward to the longboat.

              “It can’t be.” Shorn said in a frightened voice.  “The last Dark Lord was cast into the pit by the Weapons Masters hundreds of years ago.  It’s impossible for him to have survived all these centuries.”

             
“Did you notice something?” Kenner asked him.

             
“What?”

             
“For a moment, he was able to resist the power of the Sword.  That’s supposed to be impossible too.”

             
“But the Dark Lords were just men.  They had evil powers, but no man or woman is more powerful than death.”

             
“One of the things I’m learning is that nothing’s impossible.” Kenner told him.

             
Terri had been given some clothing and a pair of boots from one of the deck hands who was similar to her size.  Although they still fit loosely, she at least was no longer in only the undergarments that went with her dress.  She had the Bow slung across her shoulders and vowed to herself that it would never leave her side again; no matter what the circumstances.

             
Kenner wasn’t talking to her and it hurt her.  Every now and then, he would pass her on the deck and not even look at her face.  He didn’t seem angry, but she could tell that his attitude had changed.  There was no look of affection or friendship in the rare times she saw his eyes.  They shared the same cabin as they did on the journey from the Blackwoods, but he hadn’t come in the night before and he was absent from dinner with the Captain.  When they passed each other on the decks he didn’t say a single word to her.  That night, alone in her cabin she consoled herself with half a barrel of ale and a cigar from the boxes given to her by Kayla.

             
For seven days, the Golden Serpent sailed east from Sheyron.  The huge city of Korsh disappeared after the third day and in the distance only rough shore and swamps could be seen from the ship.  On the fourth day, they passed by the beach of Tenav; sight of one of the fiercest battles from The Great War.  Throughout the voyage, Kenner paced the decks quietly and at night, he sat at the stern by himself.  Food and drink were brought to him and he always accepted it with a polite smile, but never actually spoke to anyone.

             
The whole time he was quietly contemplating and worrying about the future in front of him.  What am I supposed to do now, he wondered?  Is it really my ‘destiny’ to lead an army and wage a war of conquest as Faraday had?  Shadow had told me that “Destiny is a choice”; but I don’t seem to have very many choices.  Everything that is happening is pushing me towards a destiny I don’t want and I can’t see any way of staying away from it.  Yes, I could have said no to Terri and stayed home.  But what of my friend, Krall?  He has the Silver Axe, but the whole world is likely hunting him.  Should I abandon him to his fate?  And what if the Silver Axe falls into the hands of King Melkur or Edum?  What would they do with it?  What would happen if a weapon like that fell into the hands of evil?  And why does it have to fall to me to be the one to keep it out of such hands?

             
On the night of the fourth day, he was sitting at the stern and staring up at the stars.  The air was cool, but not cold, the sea splashed under the ship and the wind made a kind of music with the billowing sails.  He noticed a taste in the air that he hadn’t known on land.  It was a salty and sweet flavor and every now and then some spray from the ocean would send a gentle mist over his face.  He was staring at the stars hoping to see the shooting star he had seen so long ago on his way from Kallesh; the one that seemed to tell him that everything would turn out the way it was supposed to.  It was then that he noticed the presence of Shadow close to him.  He looked over in her direction and saw her bathed in a silver light, not unlike the light from the Blackwoods.

             
“It’s about time you showed up.” He said to her.

             
“It’s not easy to keep up with you when you’re on the move.” She replied.

He laughed a litt
le and then looked up at the stars again.  Not wanting to, but feeling like he had to, he asked her a painful question.

             
“Is there any way you could have warned me of what was to happen back there?” He asked her.

He felt her come closer to him.

              “We knew things were moving in that direction,” She answered him sadly.  “But we cannot predict the exact future.”

             
“I thought not.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he then saw appear to sit next to him.

              “I’m sensing some guilt on your part.” She said to him.

He
closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the sea air.

             
“I failed to stop it again.”

             
“Stop what?”

             
“The battle, the massacre; I could have stopped it all.”