Chapter 18
Kae leaned against the broken ruins of a once majestic pillar, left where it fell during the battle of Ebulon, and watched the officers try to teach a group of peasants how to handle a sword. Kae could see potential in some of them, they had courage and determination, both great attributes for a warrior to have. But bravery and determination didn’t replace experience in battle or long years of training, both of which took time, something Ebulon had a serious lack of.
The more Kae witnessed of the poor state of the Ebulon defenses, the more he understood why King Yadi wasn’t helping or protecting the refugees. He couldn’t because he barely had enough troops to keep his own city safe. Ebulon needed warriors and Kae would give anything to have the rest of the Errent Corps there by his side. But even if he did reach out to them through his separated self, he doubted they would abandon Rhaldan and come to Ebulon’s aid.
With his head still full of troubling thoughts and his stomach all but empty he was glad to see the servant approaching him. A bowl of some kind of stew was held carefully in his hands, the steam rising warmly above the bowl.
“Here you are sir Kae, I do apologize for how long it took to make. Meat is becoming scarce I am afraid.”
“By the smell it certainly seems like it was worth the wait,” Kae lied. It actually smelled rather quite bland, and Kae could hardly smell any actual meat in it. It was mostly vegetables, boiled beyond recognition, probably reused for as many meals as could be squeezed from them. Back at the Keep, Protectors always ate well, but this was no time to brood on that.
Besides, several of the training officers were now staring at him. He didn’t need them to speak, their gazes revealed their anger plainly enough. It didn’t take a genius to figure out just how desperate Ebulon really was, whatever speck of meat this stew contained must have been taken from their rations. Kae turned away from their glares, seeing no need to pick a fight. With his knowledge of the Ulnath and the other world villains it seemed likely plenty of fighting was going to take place in the near future. The servant wasn’t as oblivious to the officers’ glares.
“I believe it will be warmer inside the eating hall, Sir Kae,” the servant said with wide eyes. It may have been true, but Kae knew that wasn’t the reason the servant brought it up. Concern, fear even, wafted off the man. Kae could take on a good number of the officers if it came to a fight, but the same could hardly be said for the hunched over servant. He nodded and allowed the servant to lead the way towards the hall.
The servant only opened the door and allowed Kae to enter then rushed away on some other errand. Kae glanced over to the officers to see if they were still staring. Some of them were, but most now were again focused on the peasant troops.
Kae allowed the door to close behind him. The hall was empty, save for a man dining alone at a far table. Only a few years older than Kae, the man looked in need of several good nights of sleep.
The simple layers of brown that the man wore gave little identity to his social standing. Save for the king himself and Regent Jenner almost everyone in Ebulon looked like weary peasants. But this man was clean-shaven, which seemed out of place next to his otherwise tousled appearance. And when the man looked up from his own bowl of food his green eyes weren’t filled with accusation or arrogance, they were kind yet strong eyes.
After swallowing the morsel in his mouth the man spoke, “I am afraid that most of the water is gone but there is plenty of Vaas left.” The man’s voice was soothing yet slightly strained, like honey that had gone sour only yesterday.
Kae took the words as an invitation to join him and sat down across from him.
“What is Vaas?” Kae asked, the term completely lost on his mind. With narrowed eyes the man used his spoon to point at the jug on the table.
“The local brew of Ebulon.” The man’s tone really made the statement sound more like a question though. He leaned back from the table and asked, “You’re not a shadow mage?”
Kae smiled at the man’s assumption. It was true that the mages wore dark garments, but his uniform bore no fine details as the ones worn by the mages did.
“No,” Kae began. “I am not even from Ebulon.”
“Oh,” the man said surprised. “Well there is plenty of Vaas left. To be honest with you I don’t care much for the taste, but they brought it for me to drink so help yourself if you would like.”
“Thanks,” Kae said, but didn’t take any. This was no time for getting drunk.
The man reached out an open hand. “My name is Edo Volis by the way.”
Kae glanced at his hand, still trying to figure out who this man was. It seemed impossible that he was a refugee. Kae was certain that any refugee would be thrown out of the city and this Edo Volis was far too calm to have sneaked into the city to steal a meal.
“I apologize,” Edo Volis said. “Am I suppose to salute you?” he asked, there was no condescension to his words, Edo Volis appeared genuinely curious.
With a slight smile of bewilderment Kae shook his hand. “No, you don’t have to. My name is Kae.”
Edo Volis ate another spoonful of his stew. But unlike Kae’s, his was not steaming. It actually looked as cold as stone.
“Is the stew that hot you had to wait for it to cool down, or is it so terrible it has taken you that long to eat it?”
Kae had meant these words in jest and Edo Volis understood them as such. Weariness had overcome him and he had fallen asleep for several hours before he had a chance to even take a bite. He wiped off his mouth and chin, for an instant surprised to feel such smoothness. Torrin hadn’t lied, he really had given him a clean shave. But that wasn’t what made Edo Volis pause. He was remembering the nap he had taken. It had been deep enough to be dreamless and he was grateful beyond words that Voak’s image hadn’t returned to his mind. However that wasn’t enough to explain why the image had suddenly returned in the first place.
“I traveled a really long way to get to Ebulon and when I finally had a chance to sleep on something that wasn’t a damp cave floor or a pile of rocks my mind took full advantage of it,” his words weren’t a lie, just not a whole truth.
Kae ate a spoonful of his own stew, a little unnerved at how long Edo Volis took to reply to a simple question. Especially since his answer was just as simple. The stew tasted exactly how it smelled, bland. It was also the single worst meal he’d ever tasted.
“You’re from another world?” Kae asked, between bites.
“Apparently,” Edo Volis replied, wondering if Kae’s hot stew tasted any better than his cold one. Kae looked at him questioningly.
Edo leaned back and once again ran his hand across his smooth chin. “About three months ago I heard a voice in my head, telling me that a kingdom called Ebulon needed my help and so I answered the call…or at least tried to…”
He paused to take a long breath. His last three months had been hard and desperate. “I got lost in the mountains and had to wait the winter out, and by the time I arrived here the battle was over.”
Kae could see the disappointment in the eyes of Edo Volis, but it wasn’t the disappointment of one who had lost a chance for glory. It was purer than that, like when an honest person is forced to break their word.
Just like I was.
Swallowing the stew in his mouth, trying to ignore his rising guilt over breaking his Protector oaths.
“The battle of Ebulon was one of the bloodiest I have ever been apart of.”
“You were there?” Edo Volis asked, his voice flattened by the weight of his words.
Again Kae nodded. “The orcs were too many to count. They came over the walls like waves from an ocean. I had never seen creatures like that before, their drumming alone was possibly the most haunting sound I have ever heard. But it was the screams from their twisted lips that were the most sickening. I didn’t think living creatures could make such sounds.”
“You answered Yadi’s call as well?” Edo Volis asked, wai
ting a few long moments to speak. He tried to picture the scene Kae described, and realized he would rather not.
“That I did,” Kae replied before taking another spoonful of stew.
“By yourself?” Edo Volis asked.
Kae shook his head as he swallowed, “No I came with fifty other Protectors.”
“Protectors?” Edo Volis asked before taking another slurp of the stew.
“Protectors of the Realm, sworn to keep it safe from the dangers beyond the Veil…” His words trailed off as his mind became heavy with thought.
Not that long ago the words would’ve rang true to him, but now they didn’t. Even to his own ear they sounded distant and hollow. He remembered standing there within the Priests’ Palace, hearing the words of Yadi swim around his head.
It had been only his third day as a protector, but he had been ready to defend Ebulon with his very life. He had done so because of the vows he had taken, vows he was proud to have on his lips. Vows he had waited fourteen years to take.
It was those vows that gave him the strength and will that was needed to stand against the orcs, to keep Ebulon safe, to keep his own world from harm. Yet with each day that passed since then, the vows became more hollow, their meaning felt uncertain. They made him a follower. It disgusted him to think that Aneeku’s taunts about being a sheep held any truth to them. But it wasn’t his fellow Protectors that were to blame, it was the priests, those nefarious men who had manipulated their vows for personal gain, men like Rhaldan.
“It can be quite a burden…” Edo Volis said with slow words. “Keeping the realm safe.”
The fact that this wasn’t spoken as a question made Kae curious. “Your tone tells me you are speaking from experience.”
“That I am,” Edo Volis said placing the spoon on the table. “My homeland, a kingdom called Denarchia is one of the smallest countries you can find on any map. To call it tiny would be like calling pitch-black somewhat dark.” A long breath left his lips and it was clear Edo Volis had his own burdens. “Denarchia is surrounded by empires and countries as powerful as empires, each of them countless times more powerful than my homeland and they all try to invade and conquer it.”
“And you do what you can to keep Denarchia safe?” Kae asked.
“I vowed to do everything in my power to ensure that Denarchia would remain free.”
“And is it free?” Kae asked.
“Oh yes, but rarely is there no danger at the door,” Edo Volis said, his voice weighted so much by truth it was almost a whisper. “I may not have the title of protector Kae, but I protect Denarchia with every ounce of strength and power I possess.”
The strength of his voice made Kae remember the day he took his own vows, he had had similar conviction in his voice then.
“Edo Volis, my full name is Kiyarran, but people call me Kae, do you mind if I just call you Edo?”
“Not at all,” Edo replied still not claiming his spoon from the table. Kae felt a little more comfortable with this. It made Edo less distant to him, which made the words he was about to say slightly easier, but not by much.
“When I took my oaths as a Protector, I had believed I would always fight on the side of good. That does not seem to be the case.”
“Why?” Edo Volis asked, half-concerned, half-curious.
“I have been called to this world twice Edo, the first time it was to save Ebulon, the second time it was destroy it. The Protectors take their vows seriously, and loyalty is a valued trait for any Protector to have. But I can’t be loyal when it involves killing children and people too weak to defend themselves,” Kae explained. “A part of my vows was to serve and protect the priests. I was always told it was the right thing to do. But how could I protect and serve a man who so willingly condoned the killing of such people? To betray Ebulon without a second thought? Head Priest Rhaldan, that’s this man’s name. It is disturbing to me how a man that carries so much respect and loyalty from others could exploit it in such a way.”
Kae eyed the jug of Vaas. The ale wouldn’t solve any of his problems, but at the least it could calm his nerves a little. He was about to reach for it when Edo Volis spoke up.
“I knew a man like that once.”
Now far more interested in what Edo Volis had to say Kae placed his spoon down, the stew needed cooling anyway. Edo Volis ran his hand across his mouth once more, but this time it was like he was trying to rid himself of a terrible taste. This was partly true, speaking of the memories of Voak always made his mouth dry. It was all the excuse he needed to take the jug of Vaas and pour himself a cup of it. Though using the Vaas to calm himself was like trying to heal an amputated limb with a single length of cloth. But it was better than nothing. Seeing the hesitation in Edo’s eyes, Kae claimed a cup of Vaas for himself and drank slowly.
“Voak came from a place called Slute, a kingdom that had been bled dry because of a tyrannical king. He began a revolution by the people and fought a war against the ruling classes in a bid to secure a better way of life for all Slute peasants. Because of his bravery and leadership the king was overthrown and those who had taken up arms alongside him had so much respect and loyalty for him that they chose him as their new king. But…” Edo paused to take a long swig of the ale. “He eventually exploited such loyalty for his own personal desires, he ravaged Slute to such an extent that people lost everything, their homes, their lands. They didn’t even have enough food to feed their own families. This man became a worse ruler than the king he had overthrown, because instead of respecting the loyalty he had once gained he exploited it. By the sounds of it this Rhaldan is just such a man…”
Kae thought well about what Edo had said, and in some ways, Rhaldan did resonate with this story. Though the priests always did everything in secret, and Kae could hardly be sure what Rhaldan’s true plans were.
After taking a long drink of the Vaas himself Kae asked, “This man from Slute, did you ever swear loyalty to him?”
Edo Volis shook his head frantically.
“No,” Edo Volis said, holding the cup much tighter than before. “But he tested my vows in a different way…I said before that I have done everything in my power to keep Denarchia safe. I stood against enemy armies of all kinds, I never let a single one get within a mile of any Denarchian town. But when I came up against this man from Slute, I was full of fear… When I first looked into his eyes all I wanted to do was run away and hide. He was the first enemy I ever faced that made me want to abandon my vows.”
“But you didn’t?” Kae asked.
Edo Volis slowly shook his head, “No…I didn’t.” He quickly finished off what remained of his cup of Vaas. “But if I had sworn loyalty to him and he tried to exploit that loyalty and go against everything he had once preached, like he had done to the people of Slute, I would have broken that vow, though I definitely would have lost sleep over it.”
A bond began to form between Kae and Edo, since Edo’s words were definitely a reflection of what Kae was facing. He didn’t want the Protectors to have to face a situation like Slute, where everything they once believed in was exploited and everything they had worked for was ravaged. But it wasn’t as easy for Kae. Even if they disagreed with Rhaldan’s orders, the other Protectors would obey him nonetheless.
“So this Rhaldan has returned to this world with an army of Protectors? Is he planning on attacking Ebulon?”
“He is planning on assisting in an attack on Ebulon, or rather exploiting it. We were summoned to this world by the Ulnath, who, I have recently been told, are the oldest of the orcs tribes.” Kae still struggled somewhat to accept that the enigmatic Ulnath were of the same species as the brutish barbarians he had faced during the battle of Ebulon. “The Ulnath have summoned help from other worlds to aid them as well. An army of red dressed monsters led by a mysterious woman, a group of talking animals…a fool in a red mask. Dragons and beings who can ride them…”
“A giant rat like creature?” Edo Voli
s asked.
“Yes,” Kae answered curiously.
“I saw them in the mountains gathering dragons,” Edo Volis replied.
The gathering of dragons didn’t overly concern Edo Volis now, though he was aware of the danger they could impose he was more worried about another memory. It shivered him to his very soul. But seeing the image of Voak in his head like he had recently done was more than just a memory. Hating the possibility but needing to know Edo Volis asked, “These other world beings that have come to help was one of…”
Before he could finish the sentence the door to the dining hall opened and in his ear it sounded as loud as a roar. Kae and Edo Volis both were quick to look towards the figure that now entered.
“Soin?” Kae asked, a little surprised to see the shadow mage here, considering how quickly he had rushed back to the Tower of Ebulon.
“Kae, hello again. And you are Edo Volis?” Soin asked, glancing to the green eyed man with the messy hair.
Edo Volis gave a nod of acknowledgement but kept silent.
Soin stopped at their table, but didn’t sit down. “The King has decreed that Ebulon will march to face the Ulnath and this Red Army at Sorn field. But because of the lack of manpower, we would benefit greatly from the help of the refugees. As long as every able bodied man and woman agrees to aid Ebulon in this upcoming battle, we will house their young and elderly within the walls of this city for the time being.”
“They have little love for Ebulon,” Kae pointed out.
“I understand that,” Soin began, “As does the King. That is why I ask you, on behalf of Ebulon, to lead them into battle alongside us.”
Hearing this Kae felt strengthened slightly. It was against everything he believed to let the desperate die. And this was his chance to prevent just that. Yet Kae still remembered the refugee’s sneer and contempt for Ebulon.
“They might not be so willing to help the city, not even if it means safety,” he said.
“But with the Red Army and the Ulnath at their backs they might reconsider,” the mage said. “You should go and ask them and then lead them in the battle. You are not of Ebulon, so they might trust you.”
“They may,” Kae began. “The only other problem is a lack of weapons. The few they have are sub-standard to say the least.”
He’d only seen the one man’s sword, but there was no reason to believe the other refugees were armed any better.
“That isn’t a problem,” Soin replied. “We may be running low on everything else, but Ebulon has plenty of weapons they can use.”
Kae scrapped the last of the stew from the bowl and took a long drink of Vaas. “I will go right away and try to convince them. For Ebulon’s sake, I hope I succeed.”
“Your diligence is admirable Kae, but please give me a little time to gather an Ebulon escort to accompany you. The Red Army is still at large after all, and with the mines evacuated there is a very good chance they are now moving in greater numbers towards Ebulon.”
“I understand. Still, I think it would be best if I go alone. They might not welcome the sight of Ebulon soldiers,” Kae protested.
“That is true,” Soin said, “However the idea of you going by yourself isn’t wise I…”
“I will go with him,” Edo Volis said standing up from the table. “I am not from Ebulon, so the refugees do not hold any ill will toward me. The trek might prove dangerous with the Red Army and the Ulnath now working together.”
Kae grinned. “I don’t need protection.”
“I am sure you don’t need protection, however I need a sense of direction and you did find me in this city quite easily.”
“I wasn’t looking for you,” Kae said, keeping his smile when he saw one appear on Edo’s face.
“Even better. It just goes to show how good a sense of direction you have, you can find things without even meaning to look for them. If I stay with you, I won’t get lost again. Sure I might get killed but at least I would know where I am when I die.”
They both shared a small laugh and Kae was warmed by it. It was the kind of exchange he would have with his fellow Protectors when they were off duty or away from the sneering eyes of the strictest of their order.
The smile disappeared as Edo Volis looked to Soin. “I came into this world because I heard the voice of your king. I wasn’t able to help your city then, but I can now.”
Soin had heard how this Edo Volis had survived three months alone in the mountains. He knew what it felt like to be desperate and most importantly much like Kae, Edo Volis had answered the call for no other reason but to bring aid.
“If it is alright with Kae, I have no problem with you accompanying him,” Soin said.
“Sure,” Kae said keeping his own smile. “But be aware, Edo, chances are you will definitely die. It sounds like your sense of direction is so bad you would trip over your own boots,” Kae added before chuckling.