The Protector of Esparia (The Annals of Esparia Book 1) (23 page)

In only a few hours, twenty flags stood ready for the travelers, just as Larone had promised.  Reese’s uniform displayed the extra bars on it as proof of his promotion; Lepsis wore a new uniform, and an armed troop of twenty men from the Maronian contingent followed him.  Ophir was ready to march south with a thousand well trained men.

When Ramadine’s great bell rang out at mid-afternoon, the staff and students crowded along the main road, while the soldiers assembled in strict formation outside the broad, open gates.  A pole had been erected on the northern gate tower.  Gaylee, John and Larone stood atop the battlement.

Gaylee held a newly made flag in her hands.  Holding it high for all to see, she shouted.  “This Banner of Freedom will fly over every school, Justice building and Tiern Center throughout Esparia.  It is a perfect, honest square of loyal blue, fringed by the silver of justice and centered with an eternal ring of red courage.  Let every man, woman and child who looks on it remember the day when a new Protector came to aid us in our struggle against tyranny.” 

Her speech finished, she gave the flag to John and Larone, who hoisted it up the new pole.  Every onlooker gave the Salute of Loyalty, then a mighty cheer filled the air. 

Once down from the tower, John and Gaylee went to Jessica.

“We’ll see each other soon.”  John sounded confident.  “I’m very proud of you.”  He gave his daughter a gentle hug, being mindful of her still tender ribs.   

“I love you too, Dad.  Everything will be all right, you’ll see.”  Jessica tightly squeezed Gaylee.  “Good-bye, Grandma.  I’m proud to be a Saylon.”

“I know you’ll bring honor to our name.”  Gaylee smiled with pride.

Lastly, Jessica bade farewell to Lyrista.  “We’ve only known each other for a few short days, but I feel I’ve known you a lot longer.  I know you’ll be busy organizing your Special Units, but could you do me a favor and keep an eye on my Dad?”

Lyrista’s cheeks went a deeper shade of pink.  “I’ll do my best, but I don’t know if I’ll be seeing much of him.  When he won’t be with Larone, Cordon has him scheduled for the training field, but I’ll see to it he eats and rests a little.”

Larone and Anton nodded to each other while Reese waved good-bye to his Aunt Lyrista and Uncle Cordon.  A lightweight buggy was prepared for Jessica with her horse, Web, harnessed to it.  Jessica felt embarrassed by not being able to actually ride her animal, but if she was to make this journey, she needed to travel this way until her ribs healed more. 

Amidst great fanfare and wild cheering, the ambassadors rode out of Ramadine.  Anton led the grand procession, with Reese and Jessica directly behind him and the ten security soldiers directly behind them.  Varnack trotted at Jessica’s side, strong and alert, the worst of his wounds nearly healed.  Lepsis and his men followed while Ophir with his thousand came last.

Anton’s loud voice could be heard over the crowd as he passed through the soldiers assembled outside the main gates, “Hey Jessi, ya got yer brush?  It’s a girl thing, Reese, a girl thing.”

* * *

The following week flew by for those left at Ramadine.  Anton sent daily messages and John received communiqués from both Lepsis and Ophir.  The Red Feathers Center had not been this busy in years.  Lepsis was successful in securing Marone’s aid and was busy organizing an army.  Marone was not as large as Esparia, but the people were a hardy lot and quite fierce by nature.  Living in the northlands made them strong.

Ophir had his hands full with the people of Galland.  The Gallish were willing to help, but were far from ready for a battle of any sort.  Had Daenon been aware, he could have crushed the small country in less than a week.  Ophir was frantically fortifying the border between Hent and Galland, and John’s first business was to send five divisions of ten thousand each to aid Ophir.  He knew it was easier to maintain land than it was to retake it once lost.

John spent his days busy with maps, strategies, training and establishing supply lines.  At the end of the first week, to his great surprise and delight, the animal preptor turned physician, Alberod from Ider Hoffle, rode into Ramadine.  John wasted no time in training Alberod with crash courses on medical procedure.  He wanted the taxidermist with him on the battlefront as a medical man.  The kind of injuries they would encounter would require a skilled sewing hand and Alberod scored among the best John had seen.

Lyrista held to the promise she made to Jessica.  Several times she nearly sat on John to make him take food and once she threatened him with bodily harm if he did not rest. 

“I swear, John, I’ll take you out myself if you don’t go to bed.  You’ll be worthless without some sleep.  You cannot make the best decisions or retain what you’re learning without resting your mind for at least a few hours.”  Realizing she was right, he agreed to take better care of himself. 

At the beginning of the second week John met in his new office, formerly known as the conference center, with Larone.  Several maps of the southern border lay open on the desk.  John pointed to the Colossus Mountains, a thousand filon long barrier between Galland and Esparia.  “Tell me about these mountains.”

“They are enormous.  Even the plant life grows to mighty proportions.  They are nearly three hundred filons wide and consist of over two hundred soaring peaks.”

“Gaylee once mentioned giants live in these mountains, is this true?”

“Yes, they live there, but we have little contact with them.  They do not welcome outsiders.  They do not speak Esparian, and I am not aware of anyone who knows their tongue.  Anton met a giant once.  He had wandered in the Colossus Mountains for several weeks, trying to make contact.  Then one evening, a man, at least five heads taller than himself came into his camp and through basic sign language told Anton to leave.”

“Do you think they would talk to me?”  The potential aroused John’s interest.

Larone thought for a moment.  “Anything is possible, but you do not have weeks to wander around, John” 

“I know, but I want to try.  I have a gift for languages, maybe that’ll help.  I’ll take Cordon and we’ll leave tomorrow.  You and Lyrista can wrap up the details here.  You know where to deploy the troops.  We need to finish fortifying the western borders.”

“Lyrista and I will handle the western front.  The giants would be valuable allies.  In fact, if I were a few years younger, I would go with you.  The possibility of seeing a giant is tantalizing.”

In the morning, John and Cordon began their expedition to the Colossus Mountains.  John rode the magnificent Fireguard while Cordon used one of the best stallions Ramadine could offer.  During the journey from Ider Hoffle, as well as the days spent at Ramadine, John had taken extra effort to care for his animal.  As a result, a bond of affection had been forged between the two.  John now felt confident as a rider, fully trusting the intelligent horse. 

After nearly three long days of constant, high speed travel, the western rim of the Colossus Mountains came into sight.  Each peak in the range rivaled Earth’s Mount Everest in size and height, the summits being lost in white, cloudy mist.  On a clear day it would have been difficult to see the actual tips from the range base, they reached so high.

It took another day and a half to reach the range base.  While the two men made their way into it, John admired the majestic redwood-like trees towering above.  “If I were a giant, I’d live here, this place is spectacular.”

Everything in the forest grew to enormous proportions.  Multicolored mushrooms, the size of dinner plates, spread across many of the tree trunks.  Tall, feathery ferns arched up to a height of nearly twelve feet.  Clumps of green vegetation with stalks the width of John’s arm and six foot long leaves dotted the forest floor.

“This is overwhelming,” Cordon said.  “It makes me feel insignificant.  I don’t like it.  We could travel for weeks and never come across another soul.  In fact, we’ve been traveling for hours now and I haven’t seen one sign of human life.”

“Larone did say they were masters of concealment,” John mused and he reined in Fireguard.  Cordon stopped beside him.  “They’re probably watching right now.  I’ll bet they’ve been keeping track of us since we entered the forest this morning.” 

“We passed a small clearing about half a filon back, why don’t we return there and make camp,” Cordon suggested.

“Works for me.”  Upon reaching the meadow, John’s first course of action was to cut a sturdy sapling, then strip its branches with a dagger.  Cordon held the new pole while John retrieved a Banner of Freedom from his saddlebag and attached it to the makeshift staff.  After gathering a pile of rocks, they planted the flag.

“We’ll stay three days and nights, that’s all the time we can spare.  Larone can handle things for a while, but I don’t want to be gone too long,” John decided.  “Hopefully, curiosity will overcome their mistrust long enough for us to communicate.  We only need a few minutes.”

Cordon built a blazing fire, a constant signal of their presence.  They passed the long hours by practicing swordsmanship and exchanging stories of their youth.  On their second night of camping out, John decided to broach a sensitive subject.

“Cordon, why have you never married?”

“You’re brave,” Cordon grinned. “Not even Lyrista has the courage to ask me that question.”

Fully expecting a reply, John waited, but when Cordon remained silent he felt a prod was needed.  “Well?”

“I’m a career soldier,” was all Cordon offered.

“So was I, but I married Shallenon.”

“Were you ever home?”  The question shocked John, but before he could answer Cordon continued.  “My father is a career soldier, and he was never there.  I remember how difficult it was for my mother to raise three kids alone.  Late at night, when she thought everyone slept, I would hear her crying.”  He shook his head.  “I couldn’t do that to a woman I loved or my kids.  A family deserves to have a real husband and father, not a phantom in their lives.  If it weren’t for Lyrista, Reese would have been an orphan.  After our sister died, his father came around even less often than mine did.  No.  Career soldiering and family do not go together.”

“I understand how you feel, but I disagree.  My father was army.  In fact I’m third generation military.  We moved around a lot, but I have good memories of my dad.  He went missing in action in a conflict my country was involved in many years ago.  Until that time, however, he always tried to be there for us.  Shallenon and I had a great relationship.  I tried very hard to make her and Jessica my number one priority.  I was home as much as I possibly could be.  I never took on extra work, unless it was vital to someone’s life, and I found creative ways to keep in touch.  My hobby was my family.  Being married was my lifeline, it kept me grounded.”  He threw another log on the roaring fire.

“I do understand how Reese’s dad felt though,” John continued.  “Losing your greatest friend and lifelong companion is devastating.  I know firsthand how effective hard work and new challenges are in filling the void.  When Shallenon died, I was lost for a long time.  Luckily, Jessica had Gaylee.  It’s ironic, just when I’d decided to change my workaholic ways, she gets transported here.  I just hope my fatherly efforts aren’t too late.”

“It’s never too late to be a dad.  When I was newly graduated from the Esparian Defense Academy, Gammet and I came to terms.  I was fortunate to work beside him these last fifteen years.  I’d say I understood him better than anyone, even better than Ophir.”

John nodded.  “I’d never give up the twelve years I had with Shallenon, even though the last ten have been tough without her.  But I know how fortunate I am, I have a great daughter in Jessica.”

They sat in silence, both men staring into the fire.  After a long time, Cordon spoke.  “After the war, I’ll give family life serious consideration.”

John was beginning to feel like a boy scout again, sleeping under the stars and foraging for wood to keep the fire constantly blazing.  Finally, on the evening of the third day, a loud thud shattered the quiet twilight.  Mindful not to draw their weapons, John and Cordon stood and faced the sound.

After several tense moments a deep voice asked from behind, “Why have you come?”  John jumped and Cordon whirled around, his hand instinctively on his knife.  A towering man stood before them.  At least thirteen feet tall, this giant would have made Anton feel small.  He was clean-shaven with long, thick white hair pulled back in ponytail fashion.  He appeared to be alone, but John sensed others were around.  To his amazement, he basically understood what the giant said.  He felt both relieved and stunned.   He quickly gathered his thoughts. 

“I am the Protector of Esparia,” John said.  “We need help to defeat a murderer.  If he takes Esparia, he will soon invade your mountain home.”

The giant regarded John suspiciously.  “What is that?” he motioned to the Banner.

“Our Banner of Freedom, our flag.  Blue is loyalty, silver is justice and red is courage,” John explained.  “Our honor.  A gift for you.”

The giant looked from the flag to John and then to Cordon.   “Leave by morning,” he commanded.  “Do not return.”  He left as quietly as he had come.  Within seconds he vanished into the darkening forest.

John and Cordon stood speechless.  After sitting back down next to their fire, Cordon stared at John, mouth open and eyes wide.   “How did you do that?” he asked breathlessly.