The Paladins of Naretia

Chapter 12

  The trail left behind after the wizard and the winged man, was clumsy and made it easy to follow them. Even without the mammoth goat hoof-prints, black blood still showed her the path they had taken. Aria should be overjoyed that it was so easy, but she wasn't.

  "Is there something troubling you, Aria," Edwel asked, the concern in his voice belying his sunny expression.

  "I am the queen of a belligerent people, Edwel, of course there are things that trouble me," she replied.

  Behind her, the army of ogres marched dutifully, but the sound of their footsteps irked her. It was only by the power of the amulet that they stayed in such perfect formation - an unnatural thing for ogres to do. Like her rule over her kingdom, their obedience was a ruse. She had begun to doubt the righteousness of her quest, even her methods, and it seemed that Edwel had picked up on her uncertainty.

  "You have been the queen for two years now Aria, and yet, I have never seen you bite your bottom lip with such ferociousness. Are you sure that there isn't something else bothering you?"

  Aria let out a weighty sigh. There was no hiding it from the golem.

  "As a matter of fact there is," she whispered. Edwel leaned closer to her as they marched, seemingly understanding that she didn't want the ogres to hear. "I fear that there are other forces at work here, Edwel. Something else is guiding either my hand, or the hand of the wizard."

  "Whatever do you mean?" he replied in what he thought was a whisper, but really was louder than his normal voice.

  "Quiet you big boulder," she hissed. "I mean, that I don't believe I was handed this amulet by accident. Why would Dantet allow the creation of an artefact that could take his power away from him? And if he didn't create it, how did it come into being? And why would the wizards give it to me? Aren't the wizards forbidden to murder, or help someone to be murdered? Surely they would be signing their own death warrants by giving me the power to kill Aramus."

  Edwel straightened himself again and pondered the question. He did not answer for the longest time. He trudged through the open fields, unaware of how his heavy frame bent and broke large stalks of corn. He waded through slow moving rivers, still tapping his stone jaw as he submerged under the water, and broke countless branches of thick trees as they made their way through The Shrouded Forest, before finally arriving at a conclusion.

  "Although the amulet originates from dark magic, of that there is no denying, perhaps it was not Dantet who created it. There have been many stories of wizards who have delved into the darkness in order to gain power. I have lived for thousands of years and have seen such wizards. But with this dark power comes a price. It twists their senses until their humanity dies in the gloom, the ogre rising over one hundred and fifty years ago was a direct result of this condition. Perhaps that is what is happening here, and Dantet has had no hand in it?"

  "Then how do you explain this?" Aria said, pointing to a clearing that opened up in the midst of the forest.

  Strewn on the floor amongst the moss and the protruding tree roots, were the bodies of thirteen harpies: Each one holding an expression of anguish across their flayed faces, and each one clutching at their chests too. But as far as Aria could make out there was only one that had an actual wound.

  "These, like the worgen, are the children of Dantet," she said, stepping carefully between the corpses. "Surely you don't believe that he has lost control over them too?"

  Even the ogres wore expressions of disbelief at the sight of the massacre. Stupid as they were, they were not so brainless as to think nothing of the sight. Edwel followed Aria, picking his way carefully between the rotten arms and legs. His stone mouth turned downwards and his square head shook gently from side to side. If he had had any eyebrows Aria was convinced they would be knitted together with worry.

  "I cannot explain it Aria," he said. "See here, this one with the gaping hole in its chest, this is a queen harpy. It's most unusual to see one above ground and usually only under the orders of Dantet himself. Killing a queen would end the lives of its entire hive, and that would be a major blow to him. Harpies are one of his most loyal creatures, often becoming his bedfellow. So if this was by his order, then I'm truly afraid of what it means?"

  Aria clenched her fists until she felt her nails digging into the palms of her hand. 'Aramus must die for what he has done,' she thought. 'But what if I am just a pawn in someone else's plan?' Anger surged inside her chest. 'I will not be manipulated, but I will not be cheated of my justice either.'

  With clenched teeth Aria drew her sword and, releasing a ferocious scream, she decapitated the nearest dead harpy. The harpy's mottled skull did a very unsatisfactory bob before lolling gently to one side, now free of its body.

  "You will return to Lothangard, Edwel, as fast as your stone legs will carry you," she said between her clenched teeth. "You will fetch me the wizard named Mullrode, the one who revealed the existence of the amulet to me. I have some questions for him, and he will answer me or lose his life."

  "As you wish, My Queen."

  Edwel turned and stomped through the forest in a westerly direction, chasing the dying sun. Aria knew that he would not need to stop and rest. His stone muscles would not exhaust themselves, and he would probably return with his quarry before the end of the next day. Until then, she and her army would follow the path the old wizard and Aramus had forgotten to cover up.