Chapter V:
The Stage is Set
Strangers in the Daunrys
So thoroughly had the men of the Galva army dismantled their settlement in Ram-u-Nar, that even after the war, the men of Ramlos never discovered the exact location of their encampment. This, more than anything else, frustrated the King to no end. 'How could they have survived the mountains and hidden themselves away in our own land for so long a period?' Scouts searched the land, but found no trace of their lodgings. They came to Ram-u-Nar at last, but there was no evidence of them to be found there. The scouts could not say one way or another whether it had been the place in which they had for so long taken up refuge. To further complicate matters, Dynamis had sent ten men into Heyan, ere their departure, to find men of little means who would be willing to take up residence in that land. By the time the governors of Amlaman undertook to investigate the region, it had been taken over by a great many paupers and peasants along with their families.
Nonetheless, a great store of weapons had been left hidden in that region, and to this Dynamis now hastened. At his side was Forge Collesirne and Aoder the huntsman, and several other strong men of Noras. It was evening on the fourth day of the month Indest that Dynamis and a small band of his companions returned to Ram-u-Nar in the guise of peasants. There they purchased a carriage from those who now lived there and some provisions. They then went to a certain cave that they had very cautiously hidden from sight and brought from there a great many swords and daggers and other light armaments, all of which had been purchased in Heyan, not forged in Noras. 'We will not be waging war, my friends,' he told his companions. 'For this reason we must leave behind us all insignias of our homeland and garb ourselves as men of Heyan. We have come without the leave of Cheftan Biron, my father, and we must not pretend to be acting under his direction. Noras is not prepared for a war. We are here to help the son of Biron, and that alone is our purpose.'
When they had taken what weapons they could fit in their carriage, they covered them up with food and clothes and slipped quietly from that territory, making their way slowly to the west. There was a crude trail leading from Ram-u-Nar down toward the forest of Heyan in the northwest. This they followed until they came to a place where the trail was hidden from view by trees and bushes. There they met several other men of Noras, and distributed the weapons as evenly as they could. In the end, however, they came up one blade short. 'I will go without,' said Revere, who had also just arrived. 'A sword would be wasted on me. Besides, my knife was not made in Noras, but in Titalo. It would not, therefore, be a bad thing at all should it be found among our corpses.'
'You speak as if we hadn't a chance, Revere,' Dynamis said.
'As do you, my lord,' Revere laughed. 'Otherwise, you would not take such care to conceal our identity. It is the privilege of human beings, to plan for many outcomes - even the worst.'
'Indeed,' Forge said with a nodding head, 'and it is also his privilege to pray for the best.'
As they started on their way Dynamis remained in place for a moment, considering how different was this man Revere, who had once betrayed them. 'Now he will march to his death with no promise of reward?'
Though Daryas had said nothing at all to his brother, Dynamis could tell that the dreams and the voices that troubled him had only intensified since the end of the war. Lady Marima had attempted to find a suitable girl for him to wed, hoping his resolve and his despair might be lessened. But he would have nothing to do with her suggestions. He met one of the girls, but he was so sullen and gloomy, and so tormented by the voice of Evna that she left Peiraso almost in tears, saying to her guardians, 'I should cast myself into a river headlong after one week of marriage to such a lamentable man!'
Dynamis perceived that it was only a matter of time before Daryas took his leave of Peiraso. Knowing his state of mind, Dynamis took great pains to prepare for his departure, though he said nothing to his brother about it. To this end he sent Forge and Revere and many other men of Noras into the west to prepare for their coming. 'Daryas will go to the Nunnery of Agonistes, to take away the Princess if he can. The people of Amlaman will not part with her easily. We will make sure that either he makes his escape, bringing his love at last to Noras, or that he dies not alone nor unavenged.'
'And take heed,' he said with great care in his voice, these lands crawl with the spirits of the dead. At times they will pass through you, like a cold wind through an open window, at other times they will look down upon you from the trees through the eyes of beasts and birds. Some live in the very stones upon which we tread. Legend says a great terror lives in the stream that is called the Meretris, which passes through the Nunnery of the dark god, whither we hasten.'
'Is this all true, my lord,' Forge said with a hint of fear in his voice. 'You know that I fear no man. But spirits! What can a man do to a spirit?'
'It would be as well to ask, of course,' Revere said skeptically, 'what could a spirit do to a man?'
'Do not scoff, Revere, and do not fear overmuch, Forge,' Dynamis responded. The spirits of the dead can indeed be a danger, but they oughtn't be feared more than the living, for their powers, uncanny though they be, are not greater than our own. But at times the greater devils will take up residence within some beast of prey. When I first parted with Daryas on that fateful night when first he went to the Nunnery, I was followed for quite a while by a dark shadow. I made great haste, but still I could not evade it. At last I came to an open place, where I expected the creature would leave off its pursuit. But much to my surprise, the beast came out after me, and indeed, soon overtook me. It was an immense wolf with glowing eyes of red. I turned upon my horse and faced him. The size of the horse alone would have scared away any other wolf. But this creature just stared at me as one unafraid. He approached me in the darkness slowly and with great malice in his eyes. I could almost sense his hatred. Hatred, I say! One would have expected to sense hunger, or bloodlust or some other brutish motive. But hatred is a sentiment born by rational creatures, not animals. At any rate, he was not to be driven away by anything I could do.
'At last, when he drew so near that I could smell his foul coat of fur, I drew the Conjurer's blade, at the sight of which the beast perked up his ears for an instant and then fled into the night with amazing speed.
'We go into the heart of the devil's kingdom, my friends,' Dynamis concluded, 'Beware!'
Whispers
Even as Daryas and Rahdmus took the mountain road through Coronan and into Ramlos, and as Dynamis with his men made their way to Sten Agoni, strange voices began to manifest themselves to Lyris, who yet remained in Peiraso, the home of Cheftan Biron. At first she ignored them, thinking they were signs of exhaustion. She soon found herself quite troubled by them, thinking them to be the sign of madness. But after several days had passed she concluded that she was being tormented by spirits.
She grew restless and suspicious, and would often be found haunting the halls of Peiraso with a candle and a dagger, with her eyes filled with fear. Lady Marima took compassion on her, and brought her, in the middle of the night, down to the kitchen, where she was given something warm to drink.
'A madness comes over me, I fear,' she said, with great sorrow. 'Then I shall be broken of body and mind alike.'
Marima poured her a cup of tea and gave her some bread that had been baked that evening.
'A time there was,' Lyris said with a quaking voice, 'when I was a Marshall of Olgrost. But now I can lift neither shield nor spear, for my bones, though they have mended, are not strong as they once were. Now devils have come to take away my mind.'
'War brings so much sorrow to the young,' Marima said with great compassion in her voice. 'But I do not believe that you have ought to fear from devils while you rest in Peiraso. This is the house of Biron, and no evil spirit can easily enter this place.' She put her hands upon Lyris' fingers and said, 'Rest, and fear not the voices, for they cannot harm you while you are within these walls. It may be, even, tha
t they only vex you for your benefit. It has long been believed by the people of the forest, that spirits come to us sometimes with messages of help and at other times for their own comfort. Resist not the voice, and see what comes of it. But no spirit can do to you any evil in this place. The light of the stars, even that holiest of Astral Lords, rests upon our roof at all hours, though the sun hides them during the day.'
The mention of the stars seemed to comfort her, and she was brought back to her room. As she lay herself to rest, Lady Marima opened up the window, letting the gentle starlight enter more clearly.
By the time she turned away from the window Lyris was in a deep slumber. She slipped away quietly, leaving the girl to her dreams.
As soon as the lady of the house had shut the door, Lyris opened her eyes and there beheld a glowing being, like a child in stature, but like a god in radiance. 'Who are you?' she asked, no longer afraid.
'I am Duri,' he answered.
'Why do you trouble me?' she asked him.
'I had failed you before, when more strength was in my hands, but now, I can do nothing, and so I weep here every night.'
'But how can you have failed me? For what do you owe to me in the first place?'
'I was the companion of Natham, and I left him out of selfishness, and was not there to be his eyes and ears, though I knew he would have need of me.'
'Explain yourself, please, for I do not understand what you are telling me.'
'I abandoned him to his fate, even as I pursued my own ends in the distant east. The lords of Marin took great advantage of him, and with many lies they caused him to slay innocent men. Had I remained beside him this might have been prevented, for I could have discovered their deception.'
'Do not weep on account of that, Duri,' Lyris said, 'Marin would have waged its war without his aid. Naught could have prevented what came to pass. A little different we can make our fates, but we cannot alter their course entirely.'
'I thank you for your kind words, Lyris,' Duri said with a bow. 'Truly you are worthy of the great love Natham had for you.'
A tear dropped from her cheek, 'And I bore such love toward him as well,' she said as she wept.
Duri looked uneasy for a moment, and then said, 'Would that I might weep once more, even as you do.'
'Can spirits not weep then?' she said with surprise.
'We can feel the pull of sorrow, but not the pangs; we can know suffering, but not feel it. Passion is a gift to those bound to flesh.'
'I am glad to have met you, Duri, friend of Natham. But do not be troubled on account of what came to pass. For I saw with my own eyes the change of his body from what it was to what it ought to be. I saw him shining like the stars of heaven, to which I am convinced he has been elevated.'
'Thank you, my lady,' Duri said.
'But what was it, Duri, that led you into the east?'
'It was my mother. Malia, the Queen of the Merkata, beside whom I have stood for many thousands of years, never knowing who she was. A great disaster overtook her, and in that moment she called out, of all things she might have called out, my name, though I never thought that she knew it. When I heard her speak that name, I remembered that which we spirits are prohibited from remembering, and how we had been betrayed by one who ought to have died in our stead, but who abandoned us to our fates. My mother poured all her soul into my rescue, but in the end I was washed away by the crashing waves that ripped soul from flesh, even as all the other spirits were in those days. She, however, after all the strength that was in her had been spent, lived on, if life one may call it. Always at her side I have stood, though I never understood what it was that drew me to her. When I heard her scream her last, calling me by my name as though she loved me, I could not restrain myself, but went immediately back to Vestron to discover what had happened there. But alas, the Merkata clan is no more; Fhuhar has swallowed them all alive; and my mother's ambitions with them.'
'I am sorry that after all you have suffered,' Lyris said compassionately, 'you have not come to find your comrade still living. But be at ease; he is well nonetheless.'
'It is not only for his sake that I have come,' Duri said. 'There was one whose involvement in your predicament was very significant, but whose origin and purpose I was never able to discover. He dined with Marin some time before you were taken away from Marin to be the prize of that foul Cheiftain. There was a familiarity and at the same time a nobility about him that perplexed me. I was hoping to find him in this land. But Natham cannot help me now, nor I him.'
'There is a man,' Lyris said as all weariness left her eyes. She sat up straight in her bed and rubbed her eyes with her hands. 'There is a man called Rahdmus, who I thought myself to have recognized upon my arrival in this house. But he was very aloof, and spoke only a little to the brother of my beloved. He would see neither the lord of the house nor Dynamis, my betrothed. He left not long ago, but whither he went I cannot say.'
'I am indebted to you, then,' Duri said with a final bow, 'for now I know that my coming here has not been in vain. Farewell, daughter of Marin, and may the gods of heaven smile upon you. We shall not meet again in this life, nor will I ever trouble your dreams again.'
'If I understood this earlier today I would have been overjoyed,' Lyris answered. 'But now, having seen you and learned your tale, I can only receive these words with a heavy heart.'
Smoke on the Mountain
Daryas and Rahdmus entered into Ramlos on the very same road by which the goblins had ascended to the heights of Coronan. 'This path was the work of my own hands,' Rahdmus told him, 'I did it in secret from the King of Amlaman, who would not have willingly lent his aid to such an endeavor. 'Always we meant to cripple your fierce clan; which speaks much to the fear men have of the Galvahirne, even here in the west where all else concerning the Noras is unknown. I had a healthy fear of them, I thought. But when I met your brother upon the mountain, it was clear that even I had underestimated the strength of Galvahir. I will say this also, that among mortal men it is more common for men to deteriorate and for races to weaken over time. But the Galvahirne are unique in that with each generation it seems they grow more vigorous, more powerful, more virtuous, and more wise.'
'For one who was once our enemy, you seem to have a great deal of respect for our people,' Daryas said.
'It is only for an enemy, properly so called, that one can have such respect. One may derive a certain honor from having such a good man as a friend, but you can only truly see eye to eye when you stand in opposition. Then you can see that for all your darkness, there is light within them. For all your weakness there is strength. For all your evil, they possess a righteousness in opposition. Of course, when it was that I was full of darkness, my own blindness bade me consider the righteousness of Galvahir to be folly.'
The two travelers in time came to the fields of Golbfein, where the king of Almaman had long ago made a name for himself. From there they passed into the west toward Heyan. But ere they drew near enough to distinguish any one tree from its neighbor, they turned sharply toward the south and made their way past Ram-u-Nar.
When they had passed that land, Radhmus laughed and shook his head. 'Never would I have thought that my deeds would not only fail to destroy Galvahir, but that they would bring that mighty army into the very land I intended to lead to victory against them!'
After several days of riding in the wilderness they came to the place where Daryas and his brother had found the dying Queen of Amlaman, who had entreated Daryas to seek out and help her daughter. There they camped for the night, intending to make the rest of the journey in the morning. 'Have you a plan, Daryas?' Rahdmus asked, his voice seeming to silence all the sounds of the night. Daryas' heart sunk, and he looked to the ground. 'Do you have any idea what you are going to do, when you get to the mountain?'
After a long pause he answered, 'No. I have not the faintest notion of what will come to pass. Nevertheless, I am resolved to find my fate, or doom, or destiny, or whichever so
happens to wait for me, upon that mountain and in that valley.'
'It would be wise, son of Biron, to give this matter some thought ere we descend into the enemy's holiest place, to steal that which the enemy loves most dearly.'
Daryas looked up at him with wide eyes.
'You must know,' Rahdmus said, 'that the King of Amlaman also seeks this prize; and he is not one to give up on his pursuit.'
'Why, if he be king, can he not simply reach out his hand and take her to him?'
'That is a mystery,' Rahdmus answered, 'the solution of which lies under the shadow of the future. From the moment the crown was placed upon his head, he had the right and power to take that which he desired above all other things.'
'What could have happened then?'
'Something prevents him, but what that is I do not know.'
The name of Evna passed into Daryas' mind, and his heart rose a little, knowing that the devil who tormented his days had also the effect of keeping his fierce rival away from the Princess. But from that moment, Daryas became uneasy, and wished only to get to sleep.
'What of our plan?' Rahdmus said with great concern.
'On the morrow,' Daryas said as he rolled onto his side and shut his eyes tight.
That night, when it was Daryas' turn to keep watch, he beheld from a distance a wisp of smoke, rising from the southeast. 'Any number of things it might be,' he thought to himself. Most likely it is some hermit, lighting his stove, or some hunters stoking the flame of their campfire.' But his reasons could not prevent him from feeling ill at ease. In the end, he resolved to depart into the south with haste, seeking his destiny alone. He called Rahdmus' name, thinking it would be foolish to go to the Nunnery alone. But when Rahdmus responded not, Daryas was not willing to try again to wake him. 'So it must be,' he told himself. Novai rode into the south swiftly and quietly, making little more noise than a deer.
Dynamis and the Wolves
Almost the moment Dynamis and his band had begun their ascent into the wilderness surrounding Sten-Agoni they noticed a deep quiet. 'The mountain is calm,' Forge said warily. 'But yet I feel ill at ease.'
'There is not a beast or bird within a league,' Revere said, looking around with fear in his eyes. He had never found such things to be frightening before, but before he had only known of things that were dangerous to the body. 'There is something dark here,' he said. Such words still felt strange on his lips.
'We must have a care in these lands,' Dynamis said. 'The mountain is quiet, but it is not at peace.'
He had no need for an explanation, for all his fellows felt the same unease, not as though nothing at all were happening, but as though everything that was happening was somehow beyond them.
They had barely begun their way into the wilds before one of his men said that he felt as though he were being followed. The others looked around uneasily, their eyes wide with fear. Dynamis was just about to reprimand his companion for raising their fear, but at the moment he opened his mouth to speak he felt the same. It was as though a cold wind blew upon them from every which way. But nothing stirred among the trees or bushes. With armor and sword he yet felt as if he were naked before a hundred hateful eyes. 'We are Galvahirne,' he said, loosening his sword in its hilt. 'Proceed.'
'I am not Galvahirne,' Revere whispered to himself. But then he felt ashamed. 'But I am of the line of Lord Proud, servant of the Magic Tower,' he assured himself. But reminding him of the glory of his ancestors did very little to make him, their descendant, feel any braver.
They continued on in this way for several hours, slowly making their way south east toward the Nunnery of Agonistes. Suddenly Dynamis turned, his cloak swinging about in a great whirl of color. His sword was drawn, his companions saw; they followed his suit, drawing their weapons almost in unison. The air was still for almost five minutes, just long enough for some of them to lower their watchfulness. They had stood like statues, poised to attack at any moment. But the moment one of them lowered their weapons a wolf sprang from behind a tree, bringing one of the Galvahirne to the ground. He was dead in an instant, as three more wolves rushed from the growing darkness and torn him limb from limb.
'Wolves!' Forge said, cutting one clean in half with one smooth stroke of his enormous blade.
Dynamis dodged a wolf and struck off its hind legs as it bounded past him.
'What I wouldn't give for a Firesling!' one of the Galvahirne said frustratedly.
'No,' Dynamis commanded. The noise of the Lapulian weapons would carry the news of their coming straight to the temple of Agonistes itself. 'These wolves would not fear such things, if they do not fear a band of armed Galvahirne.'
Seven more wolves rushed in, bringing another of the Galvahirne to the ground. He fought them with all his might, but they were two swift for him. Another wolf rushed in and knocked Revere to the ground. The beast went to clench its teeth about his throat, but Revere's blade was too quick, piercing the animal's eye before it's jaws reached their mark. All the might of the animal seemed to blow away in the wind and its bulk fell aside in a heap. Dynamis rushed toward him with worry on his face. 'Are you alright, friend?' he said, his hand outstretched.
Revere looked around for a moment before he realized that it was to him that the Cheftirne had spoken. Nobody had ever called him friend. He took the Galvahirne's hand and rose to his feet. He turned away from the other man's gaze and brushed the dirt from his cloak. Looking up again he saw a great black shape approaching in the gloom, red eyes glowing in the night. He pushed Dynamis aside and rolled out of the way in the opposite direction. He threw his knife quickly, but the shape darted aside as though it were made out of wind and not flesh. A hundred howls rose up in the night, as if to announce the coming of a king.
The creature charged Dynamis again, but the Galvahirne turned aside quickly and slashed at it, cutting its side. 'So you are not a devil,' he said, 'but flesh and blood.'
A chill came over Dynamis, as if the creature had somehow responded, saying, 'And yet also a devil.' But there was no voice, not even a growl from the dark beast. The monster charged again, and it was all that Dynamis could to do run out of the way. The other wolves had ceased their attacks and now stood at a distance from the Galvahirne as if to watch the contest from afar. The Galvahirne unwittingly fell into the same habit, each watching but not daring to interfere, lest they accidentally harm their lord. Revere pulled his knife from the dirt where he had cast it, bewildered by the speed of the demon.
Dynamis circled the animal, unable to look anywhere but into the wolf's glowing red eyes. It occurred to him as he stared at the monster that it was not hunger or fear in the creature's eyes, but hate and, he thought, perhaps envy. He held his sword up and said in a resigned voice, 'I mean only to aid my brother.' Something in that last word seemed to have shaken the animal for a moment. The wolf blinked, its eyes vanishing for a moment, and pushed back on its paws as if startled. This was all that Dynamis needed to make his attack. His stroke fell upon the wolf, cutting a deep gash into its head. One of the beast's ears fell to the ground in a bloody mess. The dark creature looked at it for a moment and a voice seemed to rise up from the very earth itself, saying, 'Brother, you have the ears of a wolf.' The wolf looked once more at Dynamis, or at his sword rather. His eyes seemed to flash between rage, hatred and sadness. In a flash the beast was gone, leaving a trail of dark red blood upon the ground. Only two of the Galvahirne had been killed, though most of them now carried a number of scratches, gashes and bites upon their flesh. 'Set a fire,' Dynamis commanded, 'although I do not know that it will do us any good as a ward against devils.'
'There is something strange happening in this land,' Forge said, sniffing the air.
They hastily buried their dead, digging two shallow graves by torchlight. 'Set a mark upon them,' Dynamis ordered. 'They shall be brought back to Noras when all is finished.'
He sat down beside the fire and shut his eyes. 'Why should two die for one?' he asked, wondering if he had be
en selfish endangering all these men for his fool brother's sake. But he knew even as he thought it that, if it were his beloved, he would be the one acting the fool. 'Still,' he thought to himself, 'Daryas has always had a proclivity for finding trouble.' All trouble was inconvenient, but Daryas always seemed to find the most inconvenient trouble available. This latter thought brought many memories to his mind.
Thinking back Dynamis thought he could remember seeing this very wolf on the day his brother first went to the Nunnery, following after that madwoman's words. Twice now it had fled from him; but on both occasions it seemed to have been his sword that had attracted the beast's attention. He drew his blade, drawing many wary eyes from his companions. 'It is nothing,' he reassured them. Nonetheless they looked out into the darkness cautiously.
There was a strange script on the hilt of the sword. It resembled the writing of the elves, which he had learned in Lapulia several years ago. But the words it formed were not like anything he had ever encountered. It did not even resemble the ancient writings that were to be found in Dadron, where the oldest of the elves had ruled for thousands of years.
'Who was that man?' he asked himself, marveling that the Conjuror from whom he had taken the sword should have such a strange relic.
Fire On the Mountain
King Volthamir came to Sten Agoni on the first day of Indest. There were sacrifices being offered that day, and the air was heavy with the aroma of burning fat and cooking meat. But Volthamir passed these by, turning his attention to the north. He looked out upon the ocean of trees that lay beyond the small hill of Daufina. He knew the Nunnery was in that valley. 'There you lie, my love, still reigning over your own little country, and the devil within will not permit me to pass. Nonetheless, if you will not come to me, I will return for your insults such fierce compensation that never again will the name of Aganthos be maligned!' By this point in his reign he answered to no other name than that which had been given him by his mother.
Altogether he had summoned nearly three thousand warriors to the mountain in addition to the usual guards. These were positioned along the southern slopes of Daufina and atop the the ridge of Altola, which overlooks the Nunnery from the east. It is from thence that the stream that feeds the Nunnery's pools originates. All of these warriors were placed under the command of Fanastos, who was ordered to slay without interrogation any who should approach the mountain.
Such madness these orders must have seemed to those who see only the work of man in the world. But when the rivalry of Agonistes and Pelas is considered, it is to be expected that such precautions be taken. The last time Amlaman waged open war against the Noras, the Temple of Agon itself was burned with fire, though no fire could wholly consume those white stones of which it was built. Those stones were quarried from the same secret place from which the stones that adorn Pelas' Temple in Dadron were acquired, and they were as strong as they were beautiful.
Though he shunned his counsel in all other matters, Agonistes was able to convince Volthamir that it would not be long ere the Noras made an attempt against the Temple of Agonistes, which, to them, represented the most ancient of evils.
'Far be it from me to allow some woodsmen to have that which I am denied,' he said to himself, thinking of the ancient days, when the Noras heroes took for themselves wives out of the Nunnery of Agonistes and set fire to the Temple.
On the fifteenth day of the month, he took fire from the temple and lit a great bonfire on the lawn just outside the temple. He took an arrow in his hand, wrapped the end tightly in a bright white strip of cloth, dipped it in oil and, taking the flame of the bonfire, he set the arrow to his bow and sent it flying into the woods, where it instantly burst into a great burning flame. The heat of Indest seemed to have as much to do with his success as the oil. Within a few minutes it was crawling further into the woods, leaping up trees here and crowning whole portions of the forest with leaping tongues of fire.
The Temple itself was set quite a distance from the woods, sufficient to ensure that no flame could be spread to it. Slowly the fire spread, sinking into the valley inch by inch. 'Let us see that devil send the Fire of Agonistes back to Sten Agoni without effect,' Volthamir said with great pride.