The House of Yeel (10 page)

***

Yeel regarded the would-be combatants and
decided that they would fare better without their weapons, at least
in the short term. There were enough other armed refugees about,
including the Crescent Knight, to ward off any attack by wild
animals that might materialize overnight. Yeel collected the
weapons and placed them in a pile obscured by some bushes.

Next Yeel considered the value of the garden.
The red flowers would be much more useful if properly processed
from their raw form.

“In fact, it may be that there are other
valuable herbs in this place,” Yeel told himself.

As night had fallen the
humans had separated into several groups, each centered around a
large fire. Avorn had organized a system of watches among the old
soldiers who had been revived, and occasionally one of these
patrols would walk nearby, although they always gave Yeel a wide
berth.

“Hmm, I’ll collect what I
can here, and then head back to my laboratory later. I assume I
have my roveport here somewhere?”

Yeel felt about his packs and found the
roveport at his belt.

“Ah yes, there it is. Now,
which of these plants might be valuable? They don’t seem to be
marked…I may have to take samples of all of them!”

Yeel worked his way through the grounds by
the light of the moon. He collected cuttings from flowers here and
there, also adding some berries and roots to his bags. At some
point much later he looked up and saw Avorn facing him from across
a bed of plants. The knight wore his pearly armor, gleaming in the
moonlight.

“Hello, Avorn. I’m surprised
to see you up this late. Surely you aren’t harboring some interest
in these roots and herbs yourself?”

“I’ve come to finish my
quest to the Far Coast,” Avorn said, tromping around the
intervening foliage.

“Ah, no more negotiation is
necessary, I assure you my friend. I’ve already resolved to help
your people against the invaders. A daunting task to be sure, but I
believe that through the application of—”

“You don’t understand, Yeel.
I didn’t come to the Far Coast to ask for your help. I came there
to slay you.”

“Is it a common human trait to interrupt the
speaker? I have noticed a tendency in many of you to do that. And
now you say you want to do me harm? Is there some connection
between the interruptions and some kind of animosity that you—”

“I am the fifth generation
to wear this armor. And your meddling in our affairs has been
described from father to son the whole time. You ruined my
ancestor’s plan to become king. You saved a part of the city that
had been purposefully sacrificed, for the better of all.” Avorn
drew his sword and advanced on Yeel.

“Ah, perhaps you could briefly smell these,”
Yeel said, offering a bunch of red flowers.

“That won’t work again,
sorcerer. Your magic cannot affect me under the light of the moon,”
the Crescent Knight growled. “Tonight you die!”

The knight stepped forward
and thrust with his longsword. Yeel retreated rapidly out of range
of the blade. Avorn charged but then slipped on the slime of Yeel’s
track.

“What trickery is this? Come back here and
fight!”

“Oh, I shall fight I assure
you. I’ll meet you in combat most fierce but momentarily,” Yeel
said. He backed away rapidly, fishing out his malinthander and
placing the idea of a sword in hand to his aggressor.

“I didn’t even know you
possessed a sword,” said Avorn. “This will be more pleasant than I
thought.”

“One moment, I ask of you, my fine opponent.
I must simply remember one thing, then we may resume our
adversarial activities,” Yeel said.

Avorn growled and thrust
again, but Yeel dodged to one side and leaped over a bunch of
flowers with surprising grace. The Crescent Knight was not far
behind, his augmented strength allowing him to keep up with Yeel’s
retreat.

“Patience, please. I tell you that I will be
ready in but a moment,” Yeel urged. Avorn ignored him and pressed
on.

Yeel ran across an open area of grass,
angling to one side. Avorn swiped at a foot with his sword, barely
missing.

“I’m sorry to delay, but I
must remember…”

Avorn burst forward again, his blade back to
strike. Then he plummeted downward through a hole in the ground. He
grunted as he struck a wall and then slammed down onto a stony dirt
floor.

Yeel slid forward and
positioned some of his eye pods over the opening to see through
it.

“…
where that hole is!” Yeel
finished.

Yeel peered down through the roots into the
cavern. Avorn had rebounded from the walls of the hole and landed
in a different spot than Jymoor. By a stroke of bad luck, the man
had fallen onto a sharp boulder, hitting his unprotected head and
killing him instantly.

Yeel replaced his
malinthander at his belt and peered down at Avorn’s
body.

“Most curious,” Yeel
commented. “One can’t even save innocent lives without incurring
animosity from others. I suppose that now I shall have to find
another to take up the role of the Crescent Knight. Someone of
upstanding moral fiber and with respect for science and knowledge.
I know just the one for the job.”

Chapter 8: A Knight Reborn

Yeel led Jymoor into a side
grove of the garden at first light. Jymoor watched the wizard,
curious to see why he had so urgently called for her to follow. The
scout caught sight of a set of shining armor plates stacked neatly
in the overgrown grass.

“What’s that, my
lord?”

“This is the artifact, the
moon armor as you called it. I’m afraid that your hero has met with
an unfortunate end. But that’s a secret that you and I shall keep,
Jymoor. Something that only you and I will remember. And I did take
great care to remember it.”

“Dead? How? Why is it a secret?” said
Jymoor.

“Avorn suffered an
unfortunate blow to the head. Watch your step around here, by the
way, as you remember there are dangerous openings in the earth’s
surface in this region.”

“Terrible…I can’t believe
he’s dead. My people will take this as a terrible blow.”

“You said you wanted to save
your people from the menace of the invaders. You must now play a
greater part in this grand scheme of conflict between nations.
Having the revered Crescent Knight at my side will help lend
credibility to my efforts and rally support behind our plans to
stop this invasion. As you say, hearing that the knight has fallen
at this point, when things are most dire, would only demoralize
your forces further. So you see, it is most clear that we must
instead instate you as the next knight and perpetuate this
legendary figure to advance our aims.”

Yeel handed Jymoor the
finely crafted helm. The armor’s lustrous white surface held hints
of blue and pink whorls of color.

“Me? Wear the moon armor? Ridiculous!”

“It was many, many years ago
that I last traveled in your lands, Jymoor. Nevertheless,
understand that I have seen this artifact before. And it wasn’t on
Avorn. You see, the Crescent Knight is whoever wears the armor. You
can become the next Crescent Knight. In fact, this artifact was
designed to be transferred from one generation to the next, and it
actually adapts to each new bearer over time.”

“Well, I, ah…”

“The armor lends the wearer
courage as well,” said Yeel. “It will mold you into the woman you
must be to wield such a powerful artifact. Don’t fear, my friend, I
know of what I speak.”

Jymoor regarded the helm with a sense of
awe.

“But I’m but a scout, a
low-born woman without any training in the knightly arts of
war.”

“I believe I can address
that issue. You leave it to me, and I’m sure I can find a teacher
for you, one who has remembered these arts you speak of. We have
great resources at our disposal. It makes sense. I know myself. I
would have accumulated a lot of useful friends and
items.”

“Then they would know that
I’m not the real knight, and they would reveal our secret,
destroying our plan of deception,” Jymoor said. “Female knights are
very rare, no one would believe…”

“Then that will only serve
to make you more singular, more noteworthy. There are others we may
enlist to our cause besides the people of your nation. Tonight
we’ll go find one of them. Until then, just get used to the armor
and take a role in leading the people back to your lands. You can
do that, can’t you? After all, you know the way back well, as you
are not only a skilled scout but also have traveled this way
before.”

“Lord Yeel, this is all a
bit too much. I’m immensely flattered that you would consider me
capable of this, but I…I’m not a hero like you. I’m not
legendary.”

Yeel stroked his strong chin
and gazed at Jymoor for a moment. “Very well. Here is what we’ll
do, my friend. You have only to put the armor onto your body. We’ll
walk out together in the camp, and you’ll simply lead the way back
to your lands. I’ll help shield you from any conversation so you
won’t have to interact with anyone directly. I can make some
excuse, a sickness perhaps. There’ll be no need to converse so
there will be no chance of anyone noticing that your voice has
changed. You’ll have to do nothing but wear the armor. Then,
tonight, we’ll visit the friends that I have spoken of. Things will
change, you’ll see. It’s a brilliant plan, one that affords you a
great deal of safety and a good probability of success.”

Jymoor took a large breath of air. She held
the helmet up in the growing light. Her hands shook slightly.

“Very well, Great Yeel. I
shall trust in you because I’ve seen amazing things since I met
you. This will have to be another wondrous adventure.”

“Excellent! Wonderful! You
can accomplish this I assure you. You’ll see. No need to worry
or—”

“Yeel, if I’m truly to play
the role of Crescent Knight, then I may have to….interrupt you from
time to time as you digress, since the knight was known to do
that…I hope you understand.”

“Of course! Of course, I’m
glad to see that you’re taking your new role so seriously, and
indeed –”

“Yeel. Please. Just help me
put this on?”

“Yes, of course. Er, um,
yes, yes…talking less now. I can tell you prefer short and terse
interactions. Though to tell you the truth, I find it quite
difficult! Limiting communication can even be dangerous! Stifling
the exchange of ideas can bring about great misunderstandings, you
know.”

Jymoor struggled with the plates, trying to
deduce their positioning as Yeel handed them over. As the weight
increased, Jymoor started to breathe faster, feeling the pressure
pushing her feet deeper into the grassy earth.

Jymoor grunted. “I thought
you said that it would lend me strength,” she complained. She felt
clumsy encased in the unfamiliar equipment.

“Soon, Jymoor. You must don
more of it before the effect can be noticed. Lock your shoulder
guard into place and I’ll hand you the helm. That should be enough
to gain the muscular enhancement. I believe the effect is even
greater under the light of the moon.”

Jymoor staggered for a moment, trying to
connect the upper body pieces onto the massive breastplate. Yeel
reached out and dropped the helm over her head smoothly.
Immediately a burst of energy flowed through Jymoor, straightening
her spine. Her heart slowed and she took a few cautious steps
forward.

“I feel it! Yeel, you’re
right again!”

“Yes, you see, we’ll
overcome these challenges. I suggest one problem at a time. Perhaps
we should complete the armor by putting on greaves and gauntlets.
Then we can tackle the issue of your first public appearance as the
Crescent Knight. By isolating these challenges we can simplify the
process of analyzing and addressing each step—”

“Divide and conquer?”

“Divide and conquer? Divide
and conquer! My, what a typically human way of describing the
stratagem! The succinct encapsulation of a concept that spans
broad—”

“I understand, Yeel,” Jymoor
said confidently. Under the helm, Jymoor bit her lip. Had she just
left off Lord Yeel’s honorific? Perhaps the armor did change a man,
and women too…Once again, Yeel had slipped and spoken as if he were
not human. Jymoor knew he looked human, but seemed like something
more.

“That’s the last of it,”
Yeel said, handing Jymoor an intricately designed gauntlet. Jymoor
donned the glove and moved her fingers in it, amazed at the
craftsmanship that allowed each finger its own motion, albeit with
a somewhat stiffened feeling.

“Very well, one task behind
us,” Yeel said. “A great success thus far. You see the subproblem
was easily conquered. On to the next. Now, just listen to me and
I’ll tell you exactly what to say…”

***

Jymoor strode out
purposefully, walking around a giant patch of thorny flowers and
coming into view of the main camp. The refugees were walking about,
shaking off the night’s cold and obviously waiting for
direction.

She looked out over the
people. Jymoor felt a wave of certainty engulf her soul. She needed
to step up and take over if they were to be led back to
civilization safely. Someone had to provide the leadership to keep
everyone working together and traveling quickly so they could get
back and help Yeel defeat the invaders. She didn’t understand why
such a task would have daunted her before; now it all seemed
straightforward. She was a scout and she could find the way back.
She would do it.