The Devil's Deuce (The Barrier War) (38 page)

Within minutes, the only living creatures wearing Merishank
colors were the rider-less horses whinnying in fright. The denarae killed the
horses, too, as a necessity of war. Horses were worse than useless to them in
their current guerilla fighting. They had no means of caring for the beasts,
nor of getting them to those who could use them, and if left alive the horses
would only return to the Merishank army and be used again. Danner grimaced at
the screams, but it was over quickly, and they led the newcomers to meet with
Gerard.

Garet was beaming with pride at the sight of his son not
only as a paladin ─ and of the Red Facet no less ─ but leading men
with skill and precision. The two men had embraced, practically shaking the
forest with the force of the impact of their mountainous bodies, both encased
in steel. Garnet had grown and filled out unnoticed by his friends who, having
seen him every day, hadn’t noticed the gradual change. But Garet was pleased to
see his son was now larger than he was and would soon hear from Gerard just how
skilled Garnet had become. Danner wondered if he would one day see that same
pride glowing in his own father’s eyes.

- 2 -

James eyed Gerard with respect as he listened to what the
Red paladin had accomplished. While he sensed there were things Gerard was
hiding, even from a fellow paladin, James was an accomplished diplomat and knew
better than to press for information. Gerard had good reason for holding back
whatever it was, the Yellow paladin was sure, and James probably had no
business knowing. In the meantime, he held nothing back from his own report,
seeing no reason to do so.

They spent the entire day exchanging information. The group
assembled in Gerard’s sparse command building was made up of all paladins,
except for the denarae Trebor Dok. Gerard had said he was cleared to hear
anything, however, so James wasn’t worried about speaking freely in front of
him.

He glossed over their initial journey until they had reached
Den-Furral, the dwarven capital where Birch had slain one of The Three and
they’d lost Wein Drolgis. At this point Danner broke in and mentioned his own
demonic encounter, to which James intended to return and cover more thoroughly
when he was finished with his report. He then told of their sailing with the
dwarves and the encounter with Danner’s father and the elf on their way to the
elven island, with the resulting split in their
jintaal
. From there, the
three of them had sailed to Tal Horam and then traveled through the Dormaal Rak
Mountains into southern Merishank.

“It was smooth sailing all the way through the mountains,”
James continued, “then abruptly we had to dodge patrols almost every mile as
soon as we reached the foothills. The closer we got to the city of Merishank,
the more frequent and well-armed the patrols. Everywhere we went, we saw
preparations for war. Blacksmiths working day and night, supply wagons being
loaded and carted north, training camps to turn boys into soldiers. Merishank
is perpetually on the brink of another war, either with their neighbors over
territory or with itself in yet another civil war, but this was something far
and away different from their usual state.”

Garet stirred in his seat and addressed the group as James
left off. “I don’t know how much you boys know about
Merishank’s
history, but they have multiple armies. At any given time they can field
anywhere from three to five standing armies without overly straining their
resources, any one of which is enough to make another country sit up and take
notice. That’s not counting the Imperial Army in the capital, which isn’t the
ceremonial body you might expect.

“The force that’s come calling here was initially the First
Merishank, but they’ve been augmented by units from the Imperial Army, which
has never happened in the history of the war-torn nation. The sole function of
the Imperials is the protection of the emperor and the capital city at large.
For them to have deployed here speaks to something unprecedented and wholly
dangerous at work.”

“Why wouldn’t they send more than one of their armies?”
Garnet asked. “It seems to me that no matter their goals here, more men would
only further them. Why be shy about it?”

“They’re deployed around the nation, son,” Garet replied. “
Nocka’s
not that far from the northern border, and that’s a
lot of land to move troops across to funnel them here.”

“Right,” James concurred. “My guess is timing. Whatever
timetable they’re on, it’s happening soon and they couldn’t wait for
reinforcements. Whoever’s running the show, they seem to feel this one army is
enough for their purposes.”

“There’s a happy thought,” Flasch muttered.

“You said patrols were thick,” Gerard said brusquely,
steering the conversation back to James’s narration. “How far were you able to
get?”

“That’s just it,” James told him with an incredulous wave of
his hand. “While we were still trying to infiltrate the palace, the entire city
went quiet overnight. The First had already begun its march north before we arrived,
but the Imperial Army was stirred up beyond anything we expected outside of an
active war, like they were expecting an imminent invasion. We were about to
give up hope of entering the city when we saw a sizable chunk of the Imperials
leave, and suddenly there weren’t enough troops left in the field to patrol a
farmstead. With a move like that, I expected a member of the imperial family to
be on the move. But we learned the emperor and his entire family were still in
his palace when the patrols suddenly ceased, so it had to be something else.

“Eventually, we discovered the calmness coincided with the
departure of the emperor’s new chief advisor, a mysterious man who appeared
from nowhere and gained the emperor’s ear in a day.” James paused. “Within that
same day, the emperor began issuing orders for the First to muster and prepare
for war, and the target was Nocka.”

“I think we found our demon,” Gerard said, “and I’d wager a
year of latrine duty that he’s still with the army now. That ‘special guest’ you
overheard mention of the other night, Trebor.” He paused a moment in thought,
then stared intently at James. “If we can get you into Nocka, you can fill in
the Prismatic Council and get clearance for us to assassinate the advisor.
That’s something I might be overstepping my authority to authorize alone. When
you get authorization, come back here and we’ll arrange it.” He looked
significantly at Flasch and added, “Without the demon’s influence, maybe words
become an option again.”

The Violet paladin calmly returned his gaze, then winked
impudently.

“And if they don’t authorize it?” James asked. “It’s
possible we’re wrong, you know.”

“We’re not just going to stab him in his sleep,” Michael
pointed out. “If it’s truly one of The Three, only the
Tricrus
will destroy
him. If he’s nothing but a man, we can apologize for scratching him afterward.”

Gerard jerked his head in approval at his officer, then
turned back to James.

“Even so, if the Council decides not to risk it, let me know
and I’ll arrange it anyway. As long as you give me word before I receive
official orders
not
to assassinate him, there’s nothing to stop me. I
suppose I can always apologize later, if need be.” Gerard grinned wickedly. “A
tragic miscommunication, I’m sure.”

 “I think I could grow to like you, Gerard,” Garet
said.

“That’s because you didn’t have to train under him,” Garnet
said to his father, at which they all laughed ─ even Gerard.

“So then what?” Gerard asked after a moment.

“Pardon?”

“After the city quieted and you discovered the role of the
advisor, what happened? Did you investigate further or decide to follow the
army north? What and why?”

“We stayed for few more days and eventually decided there
was little or nothing we could do there, and it was important for us to inform
the Council of our discoveries,” James said. “We started north to follow the
army and see if we could learn more about this advisor, avoiding supply trains
and straggling units as best we could. Just the other day, we had to fly on our
dakkans to escape a trap, but Vander’s dakkan was seriously wounded in its
wing, and we haven’t had a safe spot for enough time to devote to healing him,
to say nothing of the resulting healing sleep. We’ve had some limited success, but
none of us even has the skills to properly heal it at this point, I’m afraid.”

“Trebor,” Gerard said meaningfully.

“Yes, sir,” he replied, then left the room. Vander had left
his wounded dakkan (still in bulldog form) with some of the denarae in a nearby
camp rather than try to climb the tree with the beast in tow.

“Trebor was quite an accomplished healer and should have
been a Green paladin of top-notch caliber,” Gerard explained. “He’ll be able to
fix your mount in no time. And if it’s too far gone for him, there’s always
Danner, who either cures or kills his patients.”

Danner glared at him, but had to acknowledge the
truthfulness of that statement. He’d never killed anyone, of course, but the
joke had stuck from his training.

“I’ll go with him, to see he stays calm and will accept his
hand,” Vander said, then followed the denarae down the tree.

“I’m glad you all spotted us and came to our rescue,” Garet
said. “We were trying to decide whether we could learn anything else or just
pack it in and fly home, but it seems we underestimated their patrols. You
saved us a bit of embarrassment and possibly a life or three.”

Gerard nodded in acceptance of the gratitude.

“So what happens now?” James asked.

“We get you three into Nocka to report to the Prismatic Council,”
Gerard replied. “If Vander’s dakkan isn’t recovered entirely yet, we’ll care
for the beast here and Vander can ride double with one of you. I’ll send Danner
and Trebor with you to make a report of our efforts here and check on some
things in the city for me.

“You,” he said, turning to Danner, “come see me with Trebor
when he’s finished healing the dakkan, and I’ll fill you in on what I need
done. In the meantime, gentlemen, it’s been a long day, and I suggest we all
turn in for the night. You can fly into Nocka tomorrow, if there are no
objections.”

“None here,” James said, stifling a yawn.

- 3 -

Later that night, Marc and Vander were talking alone,
comparing notes as only two paladins of the same Facet can do. Garet and Garnet
were having a similar conversation, linked also by their familial relationship
and need to catch the other up on the past few months. James and Michael were
also talking, with Flasch sitting in to relieve his boredom. Trebor and Danner
had long since received their instructions from Gerard and had turned in for
the night to prepare for the following day.

“You’re probably one of a half-dozen paladins who has ever
read that book,” Vander said, referring to an obscure piece on the angelic
hierarchy. “It’s only half translated, so most people don’t bother trying to
read it.”

“Actually, it’s been entirely translated now,” Marc said.
“Danner can actually read the immortal language.” Belatedly, Marc realized
where that line of conversation could lead, and he mentally cursed himself. But
if Vander noticed, he gave no sign. Instead, he was entirely curious about the
contents of the rest of the volume. No doubt it would later plague Vander’s
thoughts, but for now he was all afire with single-minded intensity.

“What was missing from chapter twelve?” he asked anxiously.
“I wrote an extensive exegesis with postulation on what was lacking, and I’m
eager to know if I was close.”

“I read your piece,” Marc said, then shifted uncomfortably.
“I hate to tell you, but for the most part, you were nowhere near what was
actually in the text. There were a couple areas where you were surprisingly
accurate, dead on in fact, but everything else may as well have not been
written.”

“Which parts?” Vander asked, a bit crestfallen.

“Your theories on God’s relationship to the angels and
Satan’s to the devils were right on, and your extrapolations on souls going
either to Heaven or to Hell. The text confirms these,” Marc said. “But the
rest…”

“Bah, those were the only two that mattered,” Vander said,
waving his hand, his excitement rekindled. “The rest of it was more to please
my fellows who would have rejected the rest had I not included that rubbish.
But to have it confirmed that God and Satan both maintain a mostly hands-off
approach with their immortals as well as with we mere mortals is worth more
than a solid-gold dakkan to me, Marc. Not to mention
proof
that our
souls are actually
judged
and sorted to an afterlife accordingly. I knew
there couldn’t just be demons in Hell and angels above in Heaven, which is what
one of my childhood teachers told us. The sorting has been suggested, and it’s
what most people think anyway, but that’s the first concrete
evidence
we
have.”

Vander smiled in anticipation.

“Is there a translation available for consumption?” the
older Orange paladin asked. “I’d like to cross-reference that with other books
and try to uncover the exact determinant of the sorting, whether it’s an
automated process or an angel with a set of scales to weigh your soul, as some
more artistically inclined scholars have suggested.” This last was uttered with
a disdainful sniff.

Marc smiled at the older paladin’s excitement. He couldn’t
decide whether he liked Vander or thought he was annoying. Sometimes both at
once. He seemed to have something to prove, a problem Marc acknowledged that he
suffered from himself, and he was forever over-thinking points of their
conversation, to the exclusion of other thoughts and possibilities, also
something from which Marc suffered. These traits annoyed Marc when he saw them
in someone else, but that he saw them in himself as well made it more
tolerable, and he could overlook them. It was hard to look down on someone for
something you knew you did yourself. Aside from those qualities, he seemed
fairly laid back and personable.