I looked into his eyes, hoping to see a glimpse of whatever he was seeing of the realms of Shamayim but it was to no avail. His eyes refocused onto seeing only me and he said with a soft smile, “Thank you for teaching me and showing me the way back to the beliefs of my fathers', long since passed.” And with that said he was gone from the land of the living, the smile still on his face but his crushed body devoid of its soul.
I laid his hand to rest on his chest and rose up to my feet. Everyone was looking at me. I had a nation at my feet, but I was a man without desire for such a responsibility and yet it had always been that way. Ever since my days with Kuri, more and more had been asked of me.
“See to removing the King’s body from the city and the withdrawal of our troops before the fires become too great.”
The Knights leapt to obedience, even as I made my way away from them.
*****
I climbed up the battlements that I had taken an hour or so before and stared out into the night. I was now the king of an entire nation. What did that really mean?
Why was I so little enthused by the prospect of being a king? Susori would be ecstatic. She was forever about my advancement, but all I really hungered for was a simple life far from the maddening crowd where I could live and raise my children in peace.
Now the responsibility of not only the men who pledged themselves to me, but that of an entire nation, weighed on the decisions I made. El Elyon give me strength as this was all just too much to bear!
My attention was gained by light given off by torches that flared brightly in the darkened valley below the city. Who was this rushing in the night towards the scene of conflict and war?
The group of riders boldly approached the city and I made my way down off the battlements. The party of riders was put to a halt by surprised Knights not expecting the appearance of a third-party.
As I approached the riders I pondered on who they could be. As near as I could tell they were all warriors of which several were women. I came to a halt before the lead rider, a woman.
There was something familiar about her and then she spoke and opened up old memories to me, “Kuri sends his regards.”
She smiled as I exclaimed, “Mayrin?”
She nodded, still smiling, but then her face sobered, “It’s time. Kuri wants you to face the witch of Vella in his stead and convince her to let the Yesathurim people under her control go. They are the last of the tribes to be gathered.”
I looked at her blankly as everything happening this night was all just too much for me to continue comprehending clearly. “Gathered?” I asked.
She nodded her head quickly, “The Targon Mountains are overrun by every vile creation of the fallen ones imaginable! The Yesathurim have been gathered together in the valley that you helped clear in the Holy Mountains years ago. We have built a city, along with a great wall, to hold our enemies out. It has been our only task since Kuri has drawn us all back together from the nations. The only clan that remains abroad is that which the Witch at Vella controls. You will help us won’t you?” she asked, suddenly looking uncertain for the first time.
I was the King of a people who needed a leader. I was the husband and father of a family that needed me. But I was first and foremost the trusted servant of the man who’d made me to be the man that everyone seemed to think was impossible to do without.
How could I betray that first and most sacred trust? I couldn’t.
“I will do as Kuri asks and go to confront the Witch at Vella.”
There was a general stir in the Knights around me and focusing on them I said, “And then, if El Elyon permits, I will bring my wife and children back here in order to rule as your King, but this I must do first. If this is not to your liking then elect another king to rule over you.”
“No!!! We will wait. We will have you and no other as king, as ruler over us!” one Knight said.
Another Knight stepped forward and said, “As our king the army should go with you to Vella.”
I shook my head, “The army stays here to protect Smirnaz. The men under my command will also stay in order to ensure that the people are safe from attack by anyone emboldened by your leaderless state in my absence.”
Strong objections began to be raised, but I shut them off, “I am the King and I have spoken, even so do as I have commanded!”
In the silence that followed I turned to Thanuel, who’d come up to the scene, “I place you in command in my absence.” To his credit, Thanuel voiced no objections before the others, but I knew it would have been far different should I have given him the order in a more private setting.
Then turning to the crowd of Knights I said, “I have long awaited the call of this mission to Vella. Years have gone by since it was given to me by my master and I shall not fail him, even as I know you will not fail me in doing what I have asked of you. I believe this mission heralds in the end of our time as we know it. It is my strong belief that the time of kingdoms is at an end and that the Kingdom of Shamayim is close at hand. Prepare your hearts and look closely to your lives to make sure that you are right with El Elyon. I would also caution you to put your houses in order and to be ready to leave the lands that we have fought so hard for these past few years and be ready to go to the East, even as prophecy would have us believe such will be the way to the Kingdom. I leave you now as there is no time to be wasted, but know that you will be in my prayers.”
Sar’ran had brought Phalon up to the back of the crowd and I made my way through them and mounted up. Sar’ran had already lightened the load by taking off Phalon’s battle armor and I thanked him for it.
Sar’ran gripped my arm and looking down to his face I saw tears make their way through the soot that caked all our faces. Meeting his eyes I said, “I will be back and I will ride with all my friends again. We have yet more battles to face together, of this I am sure.”
He gave a firm nod and let go, even as Jarken handed both of my swords up to me. I waved farewell and took off for the broken gate of the city, not waiting for Mayrin and her band of warriors.
As I streamed down the mountain valley I heard Mayrin and the others catch up. Vella was before me in the distance across the length of Ayenathurim, but my mind was filled with the sad reality that I still could not go to my family that I had left in Crona, even though I had won this last battle.
The battle of this night was just to be the first of many, even now I rode towards a battle of the spiritual. I was committed to the task of freeing Kuri’s people in Vella, but I hoped that El Elyon handled the Witch. Indeed, it was out of concern for what the Witch could do that had in large part made up my mind to leave my personal army here.
This coming battle with a powerful Witch would be far different than any physical engagement of war such as this night had heralded and yet I had confidence it could be won. I had confidence because Kuri thought I could do it and if he believed so then I knew that even so it would be done.
Chapter Seventeen
Armored Faith
I stared into the flames of the campfire pondering on what would happen on the morrow.
“You have changed.”
I glanced upward from the fire to Mayrin and said, “I could say the same of you.”
She blushed profusely before smiling and nodding, “Yes, I have come a long way since you and Kuri held me down to cut off my bug infested hair.” She shivered involuntarily then and smiling I went back to staring into the flames.
“What bothers you? Are you concerned about confronting the Witch?” Mayrin asked.
“Are you?” I asked knowingly.
She looked down, suddenly pensive, before nodding her confirmation of my question.
“Why?”
“She is very powerful. None have ever overcome her.”
I stared at the flames for a moment before I posed a question to her, “If you had to choose a winner in a battle of the spirit between Kuri and the Witch, who would it be?”
“Kuri,” sh
e said, not hesitating in the slightest.
Nodding I said, “Then why fear since he was the one who sent you on this mission?”
“Because he’s not here,” she replied honestly enough.
“Perhaps not in body, but in spirit I would say, yes, he is.”
“I don’t understand.”
I tried to explain it to her, “People have come to look at me as a man of importance, a hero if you will. They think I can accomplish anything that I set my hand to do. That there is no enemy that I cannot vanquish, but I tell you now that they are all wrong. I am but a man. There is nothing greater in me than any other man, save for one thing, and that is obedience. When Kuri found me, I was a boy on the verge of manhood with no purpose in life. He gave me purpose. He showed me the hidden aspects of the spirit realm that takes place all around us. He trained my body for combat, my mind he sharpened with wisdom, but his greatest gift of all was that he showed me that my spirit is the only aspect of me that will continue past any deeds I accomplish in this life. From there the decision has been a simple one and yet a hard one. I pledged my allegiance to the Creator of my spirit in that I have purposely done that which I knew to please Him and obey His will in my life. He is the force behind all my greatest successes and the gracious giver of all my greatest joys in this life. To Him I deny nothing. I forsake all in place of my obedience to Him. Whether I live or die in this coming confrontation is of no concern as I know it is El Elyon’s pre-destined will for my life to be here in this moment. I tell you a truth that many are yet unaware of, Mayrin, and that is that El Elyon and Kuri are one and the same!
She stared at me in shock. “I…… I…… I always wondered,” she breathed out at last.
Nodding I added, “Now you see why going to face this Witch under the direct guidance of Kuri is the same as if he was right here beside us. All these years away from Kuri I have never truly been apart from him, because I have never stepped out of the Father’s will for my life.”
“Then what gives you the sadness I see in your eyes?”
I dropped my eyes from hers to stare once more into the flames in brokenness of spirit, “Despite all I have done I am at heart a man of emotions like any other. I miss my family and more and more I fear that I may never see them again. I do not deny El Elyon anything He asks of me, but the cost of doing so can be great. The thought of dying does not bother me as I do not fear the life to come after this one, but dying and being without the ability to protect my family gives me great distress. So you see, I am a man of faith and yet one who is faithless.”
In disgust at my lack of trust in El Elyon to provide for my family, I buried my head in my hands and asked for forgiveness of this continued weakness of mine.
Mayrin stared at the man across the fire from her.
How he had changed since she had first met him as a girl and yet he was the same in many ways. Perhaps it was only her that had changed.
Drawing her sword free, she brought out a honing stone and began to pass it down the already sharp blade. She doubted how much a sword would be of use against a powerful witch, but it was something to do to pass the time.
She did feel better about the coming confrontation though. Her mind ran full of what might happen, but such musings were worse than useless. She would just have to trust in El Elyon that the impossible could be accomplished.
*****
I had come close to Vella years before when I had rescued the children of Crona, but never had I passed over its borders. Vella was its own kingdom, but in actuality it was more of a system of clans than any united leadership under one banner.
All the clans were hostile to outside intervention and had little to do with the neighboring countries. For the most part Vella had been left alone through the years and little was known of it. Over the years I had managed to learn that the principal population center was gathered around a temple in the northern foothills of the country and it was to this temple that I headed.
The men and women accompanying Mayrin were of the formidable sort and I didn’t doubt that they would hold their own in a fight. They talked often among themselves, but rarely to me. They were Yesathurim, the chosen people, and to them I was but an outsider. An outsider picked by El Elyon to confront a witch of their own national identity. El Elyon must have a sense of humor.
I was glad to at least have Mayrin to talk with. Turning to her I asked, “This wall protecting the city in the Holy Mountains, tell me about it.”
Without hesitation she began to tell me all the important points of its structure and purpose. “It fans out across the valley where it opens up to the desert. The very place that you vanquished the Saber Cats.”
I smiled, “Kuri told you of that.”
“Oh yes! Kuri speaks often of you and your exploits.”
I nodded, “It seems as if all that happened a lifetime ago.”
Time went by and I asked something I was curious about, “Kuri was the one behind building this wall?”
Mayrin’s face darkened, “No, he was not. In fact he has been against it from the start. He says that it is better for the people to put their trust in the Most High than to rely on the wall and a strategically placed mountain range to save them from the evil that is coming upon the land.”
I nodded as I confirmed my suspicions. “So Kuri’s plan is to gather the Yesathurim from Vella into the valley beyond the wall with all the rest, even though he opposes this wall?”
Mayrin hesitated a moment before saying, “That was the plan, but the people have rejected Kuri’s leadership over them.”
I stared at her in disbelief as I exclaimed, “Then where’s Kuri and why did he send you on this mission?”
“Kuri left the Holy Mountains over a year ago, when the people would not hearken to his command to stop building on the wall. He said that the wall would not stand. He went so far as to say that there would not be one block of it left upon another. The people do not know who he is to us. Like you, I have often wondered as to who Kuri really was, but now, since our conversation of several days ago, I am sure of it. Kuri is he who was written of in the Holy Scrolls from the time before. It is him on whom the faith of the Kingdomer Nations was first founded after we the Yesathurim, El Elyon’s chosen people, denied and even slew him. He has been at work all these years in the spirit and in body and yet my people still deny him!” Her fist smacked down hard on her saddle horn for emphasis.
I patted her shoulder consolingly and asked, “Where has he gone?”
“He went to the East, past the Wastelands, and into the Forests of Darkor. He told me he was going to prepare a place for us. A place that could never be lost to a siege of any proposed length. He made it sound so wondrous to me that I’m not sure whether he spoke of this world or the next.”
“The Kingdom. He spoke of the Kingdom of Shamayim.”
“Yes, I think so,” Mayrin affirmed.
“Tell me then, what purpose is there for confronting the Witch if Kuri no longer remains in the valley?”
“He told me to wait until specific changes in Ayenathurim and in the skies above occurred. When I saw the signs I was to know that the end had begun and that I was to leave the Holy Mountains and find you.”
“What purpose do I serve other than reconciling this last tribe of your people to the valley?”
"Kuri told me that you would be tasked to gather all those who believe in the Holy Scrolls and the promise of the new covenant recorded down in them and take them to the East.”
“Take them where?”
“I do not know, but if I had to say, it would be self-evident in that you now possess a kingdom of your own. A kingdom that lies to the east.”
I regarded her closely for a long moment before nodding, “It could be.”
“Kuri told me that he would return when it was time, but other than that I do not know what else to do but to be in readiness for that day.”
I nodded and asked her nothing more on the matter. The day after next woul
d see us at the Temple. It was time to set all fears aside as there was work to be done and prophecy to be fulfilled.
*****
Susori leaned back against the pillows of the bed in weariness from the day’s travails. Her heart was burdened from some unknown source that seemed to steal the joy she should be feeling in this moment. She glanced down to where her newborn son had fallen fast asleep against the warm comforting contours of her chest.
This had been a day of blessing and yet a sense of deep sorrow threatened to overwhelm her in the moment. Quickly she brushed her tears away before they could fall on the baby, which she held a little tighter to her.
She glanced to the window where the last rays of daylight were disappearing from the land. Fear rose up to clench around her heart and something of her inner turmoil transported to the sleeping infant in her arms, causing him to stir fitfully.
“Shhhh, my young Prince. It’s okay. Daddy will be all right. I promise,” she whispered and the baby’s restlessness stopped, but Susori’s tears did not.
A soft white rag suddenly appeared and gently wiped at the flow of open grief caused by the soon expected death of her husband. Startled, Susori pulled back from the tall figure standing beside the bed.
“Who are you?” she quivered out as she held the baby protectively away from the tall figure.
The figure in robes knelt down and put his hood back, “My name is Urtholan. I believe your husband has spoken of me to you?”
She nodded, as she felt peace come back into the room. Then, in sudden paralyzing fear, she asked, “If you’re here, then who is protecting my husband?”
“Be at peace Susori, for the Spirit of my Lord is even now with your mate. He is in no danger.”
Her breathing calmed, but then in a whisper she said, “I’m in danger aren’t I?”
“Yes, and for that reason I have been sent to you as well as others of my order." More hooded beings briefly lit up about the room, which somehow had the resemblance of fire to them even though they were dressed as Urtholan. They were visible for only a moment and then they were gone from view.
Susori had never seen the like of such warriors before and she had no doubt that one could slay 10,000 or more on his own. Urtholan remained beside her, still visible. Looking to him she asked, “I am far from such an honor as this!”