The Pinnacle Of Empire (Book 6), page 13
part #6 of Neuyokkasinian Arc Of Empire Seroes Series
“There’s no reciprocation needed, Saxthor. It’s you that’s in need of protection.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve sensed evil stalking you since it moved out of Dreaddrac and into the west. I’ve heard rumors of a recent attack on you in Mendenow as well. You must be very careful. Whatever is after you, it’s powerful and resourceful. You’ll need all the protection you can get.”
Saxthor rolled the amulet between his fingers, feeling the smooth, cool surfaces of the gold and jewels. It warmed to his touch. “Perhaps you’re right. I worry about the empress as well and the baby soon to come. Once again, I am in your debt.”
The two monarchs shared drinks and talked through the night before Saxthor again took to the road to hurry along his tour and get back to Engwaniria before the baby’s expected arrival. Like his dragon ring, Saxthor would feel the amulet frequently. I wonder how I’ll know when it senses danger, he wondered.
* * *
Xthilleon paced his tower workroom, considering how he might get close enough to Saxthor to destroy him.
“Memlatec will know who I am by now,” he mumbled to a captive tortoise that roamed around on the floor seeking an escape. “We encouraged that moron, Governor Hedrak, to disguise an attack, but he bungled that. The emperor is still alive. There’re too many deterrents in Ossenkosk to attack him openly there. Nindax won’t venture an open attack at this point. There must be another way…”
The tortoise bumped into a table and a dried creature, left from some concoction, fell on the floor. Xthilleon kicked the tortoise, sending it skidding across the room. The wizard picked up the black, shriveled carcass, returning it to its container as he glanced at the tortoise.
“A toy… I hear that meddlesome King Zirkin presented Saxthor with a tittletot as court jester like some toy. How considerate. Perhaps I too can infiltrate the palace with some such gift as well. My earlier attempt isn’t bearing fruit.”
* * *
At his wizard’s tower just south of Konnotan, Memlatec read through the books from the hidden room in the Ossenkosk wizard’s tower. The first two were very rare indeed. Memlatec had only seen one of them before. One delved into experiments using magic to bend energy and cross planes of physical being. It was the work of Menadon, one of the most famous of the High Wizards at Wizards’ Hall. The third book was the journal of the last imperial wizard at Ossenkosk, and in it he related that the Wizards’ Hall’s next to last high wizard, the primal master wizard Menadon, was displaced due to his dabbling in research involving dark energy. The wizard had disappeared shortly after the conclave removed him from his position.
I remember that now, Memlatec thought. It was hushed up by the high council. No more was heard of the wizard, but clearly he continued his research and had come to imperial lands with the manuscript documenting his research. Menadon wanted to transcend time and space and possibly travel to other planes of existence.
The journal related the primal wizard had worked obscurely somewhere within the empire’s boundaries until the imperial court’s high wizard discovered his activities and was able to raid the hideout. They confiscated the books and this seven ring instrument. There was no more mention of Menadon in the journal. He must have escaped or been killed in the attack.
As Memlatec read further in the journal, he discovered the court wizard’s powers were far beneath Menadon’s. Without Menadon to reveal encrypted explanations in the journal, the court wizard couldn’t decipher much of the master wizard’s discoveries. Numerous attempts testing the ball of rings to decipher what they did produced nothing. In Menadon’s manuscript, there was a picture of the ball with some runes explaining what each circle was and did, but neither the court wizard nor Memlatec could interpret the runes. In the court wizard’s journal, he noted he had discovered each ring was attuned to a different energy frequency and that when two or more were spun in the correct sequence, and degree angles, and given direction by an incantation, their frequencies synchronized and resonated in a new wave that produced a certain activity with a display. The wizard discovered and documented that the first and fourth rings in phase together could produce an image of what was happening at the conjunction of the rings relationship to the planet. Thus, the ball could display what was happening to a specific person within the Sekcmet Palace in Sengenwha at the time it was spinning, much like visions in magical moon water pools.
The court wizard had discovered several of the actions or visions produced when pairs of rings were aligned, but there were seven rings. Adding a third, spinning in conjunction with two others, produced a response geometrically more complex.
What happens when all seven rings are spinning in the correct sequence and angles? Memlatec wondered. Reading on, he discovered the wizard had suspected that the seventh ring in the interior moved the activities of the other six rings to a different plane of being! In the last pages, the wizard was preparing to test his theory. There the journal ended.
The wizard must have discovered how to move to another existence or cross time itself, Memlatec thought. Perhaps he attempted to test his theory before discovering how to return and was trapped there. I wonder if both wizards did that. If so, perhaps the master wizard killed the imperial court wizard on his entry onto the new plane. Could the old master wizard still be alive and trapped in another world? Now I remember the Dark Lord had once been an apprentice to Master Wizard Menadon too. Perhaps Menadon’s experiments also infected the Dark Lord. If Menadon is still alive, he must still be looking for this seven ring instrument the court wizard hid in Ossenkosk’s wizard’s tower.
Memlatec ran down the tower stairs, nearly knocking over Aleman when he reached the ground floor.
“Saddle my horse!” the wizard said as he rushed past toward his study to pack.
“Careful now, you old fool,” Aleman responded. “You’ll kill yourself and me with you if you run around like that.”
“Enough chatter,” Memlatec said over his shoulder. “Saddle the horse and pack some food for a long journey. I must make for Engwaniria with all haste. A new evil is born in the west. I don’t know what it is, but its intent is sinister and its strength extreme. If it finds Menadon or his instrument and learns to move about across planes, we may never stop the Dark Lord’s attacks on Saxthor or the world.”
“Who’s Menadon?” Aleman asked, but Memlatec had rushed on past.
When Memlatec had packed, he met Aleman at the front door and rode off down the road to the west. Looking back, he saw Aleman mumbling as he went back inside and closed the thick oak door.
* * *
In the royal palace’s private audience chamber at Varnakak, King Nindax trashed a message from one of his spies then waved his hand, dismissing a courier. The chatra stood by.
“My informants tell me the emperor is touring his provinces in something of a good will tour,” Nindax said. “What a fool. He’d have done better to behead Hedrak and a couple of other governors. That would’ve ended any opposition plots.”
“Perhaps, Your Majesty,” the chatra replied, “but then the other governors, fearing Saxthor, would wait and rebel at the slightest indication of weakness. If he concludes this tour and binds the provinces to him, it will strengthen his position and weaken yours.”
Nindax glared are the chatra. “What do you mean?”
“I mean once he’s secure on the throne, he can turn to conquest and not fear rebellion within the empire behind him.”
“I see, and you think his thoughts of conquest would focus on Senoshesvas?”
“We know he is on the best of terms with King Zirkin of Zenobia. King Nemenese is his grandfather-in-law. The kingdoms of the peninsula are his old allies. Your Majesty is the only monarch on the continent that didn’t attend the emperor’s coronation or wedding. It’s likely that the emperor would perceive Senoshesvas as the best candidate for conquest.”
“Well then, we must waste no more time with Nemenese. Implement the war plan. We’ll attack Velstorbokkin as soon as possible. We’ll knock out Nemenese as a potential ally of the empire before the old fool concludes it wasn’t Saxthor that initiated the attack at Engwaniria. We must add the kingdom’s resources to our own to remain independent of this usurper. We shall proclaim our-self Emperor of the West once we conquer Velstorbokkin.
“Indeed.”
“I see you hesitate.”
“May I suggest you allow Nemenese to remain on his throne for the time being… as Your Majesty’s puppet.”
“Puppet? Are you mad?”
“To prevent rebellion among his people, should the empire attack.”
“Send for Xthilleon. We’ll speak with him and see what assistance he might provide to the war effort. Personally, we trust to our own troops rather than to wizards’ entanglements, but we must win this war and before Nemenese can discount his aversion to the emperor and call upon his grandson-in-law for aid.”
*
In the palace’s private audience chamber, Nindax and the chatra were going over maps of the western continent. In the background, crude clanging and banging of swords and shields from elements of the Senoshesvasian army practicing maneuvers on the plain outside delighted the two men. With a knock, guards admitted the wizard to the king’s presence.
“Xthilleon,” Nindax said, seeing the frown on the wizard’s face when he looked toward the window. “We see the music of battle annoys you. But then, you do prefer more subtle means of accomplishing your objectives.”
Xthilleon frowned; Nindax returned to the maps.
“We can’t cross the Urgenak Forest with an army,” Nindax said to the chatra. “The evil that dwells there remains as Nemenese confirmed recently. Those souls would destroy our army before we reached Velstorbokkin. But we need to attack before Nemenese realizes we’re his enemy and not his ally. He mustn’t have time to consolidate and prepare his defenses.”
“The only pass around Urgenak into Velstorbokkin would require the army first pass through the bordering imperial province. That could provoke the empire into joining the war.”
“Well, Velstorbokkin’s strength lies in its superior navy. We dare not attempt to land troops from the sea. The pass is the only possibility. We’ll have to risk the emperor’s anger crossing his territory. Perhaps if we pass through fast enough, we’ll be in Velstorbokkin before word reaches the emperor of our transgressing his territory. He may not wish war at present. Is he not still on his grand tour?”
“So we’re led to believe, Majesty.”
“An auspicious opportunity,” Nindax said.
“All the more important we attack before the emperor returns to Engwaniria. We need to be out of the imperial province before Saxthor can organize any response to our trespass.” Nindax then turned to Xthilleon, whose ruddy face reflected his seething at being kept standing and waiting without recognition.
“We have missed you at court, Xthilleon,” Nindax said.
“How may I be of service to Your Highness?” Xthilleon asked. The low guttural tone was almost a growl, making Nindax hesitate.
“We’re about to make war on Velstorbokkin. What assistance can you offer to the war effort?”
“I thought Your Majesty wished to eliminate King Nemenese all together.”
“We’ve now decided to conquer Velstorbokkin and retain Nemenese as our subject. We wish to have him a puppet king to prevent rebellion as we consolidate his kingdom into a western empire. We need a force capable of resisting the Powterosian Empire, should the emperor decide to expand his holdings.”
“And what if the emperor decides to intercede on behalf of his relation?” Xthilleon asked.
“I must take the risk and seize the opportunity at hand.”
Xthilleon nodded to the king and general. “I shall leave the military conquest of Velstorbokkin in your most capable hands, Highness. I’m sure I can offer nothing more to the war effort there, but I’ll attempt to infiltrate the empire and divert Emperor Saxthor in my own way.”
“I see. I won’t inquire into your methods. Keep the war effort in mind and see what you can come up with to augment the army’s strength.”
“As you command, Highness.” And with that, Xthilleon bowed and withdrew to return to his tower and further his own plan.
* * *
8: The Seer
;
Invasion of Velstorbokkin
“I’m glad you suggested we take a day out from my grand tour for a hunt,” Saxthor said to King Zirkin. They looked out along the mountain ridge dividing the kingdom and empire. The verdant valleys below on either side were clusters of forests interspersed with small farms, pastures, and open glens. The horses snorted, excited by the hunt and ride to the summit where they now stood. “It’s like the top of the world here.”
“Look two thirds down the slope there,” Zirkin said, leaning forward, pointing to movement among the trees.
“I see them, the deer we chased up here. How did they get so far ahead of us?”
“We must be getting old,” Zirkin said with a laugh.
They were about to race down the slope after the deer when Saxthor noticed a cave further along the slope in a break in the trees. A wisp of smoke drifted upward from the cave before the wind dispersed it.
“That’s a strange place for someone to live. Must be a hermit,” Saxthor said.
“We must hurry or the deer will escape, Saxthor.”
“I must see who inhabits that cave.”
“Whoever it is, he can’t be of consequence. Clearly he must want to be left alone.”
Saxthor didn’t respond, but tapped his horse’s flanks and rode along to the cave.
“Is anyone home?” the emperor asked at the mouth of the grotto, but there was no response. He dismounted and went to the entrance but darkness descended just beyond the cave’s mouth. Smoke was the only hint of habitation. It had the aroma of oak, but there were other unfamiliar sweet and acrid scents mixed in.
“Have you seen enough?” Zirkin asked.
“What are you doing here when the war is in the west?” came a deep, scratchy voice from the darkness somewhere far back in the cave.
King and emperor looked at each other. Then a small haggard old person hobbled from the darkness, half naked except for animal skins wrapping the torso. The hair was long, wild, gray, and uncombed for years perhaps, and wrinkled skin hung from all exposed limbs.
Saxthor wasn’t sure if it was a man or a woman. “What do you mean?” Saxthor asked. “What’s your name?”
As the hermit approached still further, the stale scent of an ancient person mingled with the smoke. Then brilliant eyes radiated from the decrepit form staring straight at Saxthor. “I said, ‘What are you doing here when the war is in the west?’”
“I heard the question, but what does it mean? What war? There’s no war that I know of.”
“As emperor, and you sir, as king, you should know of the war. The old woman was clearly unaffected by the regal status of her visitors. She turned back into the cave then stopped, peering at Saxthor with a steel cold eye. “One day that war will spawn an empire and topple three.”
Saxthor glanced at Zirkin. “What does she mean?”
“I have no idea,” Zirkin shrugged his shoulders. When they looked back, she had disappeared again.
“Old woman, please explain what you mean,” Saxthor shouted into the darkness, but there was no response.
“Perhaps we should continue on the hunt,” Zirkin suggested.
“I must resume my journey. A war in the west, what can it mean? Is there rebellion in my absence? I must return to Engwaniria.” The two men rode back to the border fortress, where they said goodbyes. Saxthor terminated the tour and rode directly for Engwaniria.
Half way back, through the nearest province, an imperial messenger overtook the emperor’s coach. The man was quite out of breath and wild-eyed but soon recovered enough to speak.
“What is it, man?” Saxthor asked.
Still hunched over, catching his breath, the man said, “Majesty, the chatra sent me to find you. King Nindax of Senoshesvas has declared war on King Nemenese of Velstorbokkin. The Senoshesvasian army has invaded the empire, crossing through the northwestern tip to invade Velstorbokkin!”
“What madness is this that King Nindax dare invade the empire?”
“Apparently, it was the only land route into Velstorbokkin other than through the Urgenak Forest, which no one passes through. King Nindax has sent a message to Your Majesty asking for permission to pass briefly through the empire. He doesn’t wish war with you, or so the chatra said the letter says. No one knows what his intentions are, but he didn’t wait for a reply.”
“Captain!” Saxthor shouted. “Give me your fastest horse. Have the coach continue on to Engwaniria. I’ll travel faster on horse with only a small escort to the capital.”
The captain nodded and went to retrieve a suitable horse for the emperor.
“Young man,” Saxthor said to the messenger. “It’s clear you have nearly ridden yourself and your steed to death. Rest at the nearest village for a day, then return to Engwaniria.” With that, Saxthor and his escort left behind the state coach and rode at full gallop toward the capital.
* * *
Dressed in garish war regalia, with metals dangling everywhere across his chest, King Nindax stood atop his warhorse, looking down on his troops. They marched precariously along steep slopes and cliffs just west of Shinnadda, the Neuyokkasinian imperial fortress guarding the mountain pass. It stood at the juncture of the two kingdoms and the empire. The king’s hair flipped in the wind where it extended beyond his helmet and his sparkling eyes reflected his excitement, surrounded by his generals.
“The crossing is going well, Majesty,” the senior general said. He looked toward Shinnadda where imperial troops stood shoulder to shoulder along the massive battlements, but none came out to challenge the army passing below on the slopes.
“It had better. The men must not stop to rest, no matter how exhausted they are from the forced march. We must pass beyond the imperial border before orders come from Engwaniria to allow our passing or to attack us. Winning this war will depend on surprising Nemenese. You’re certain the advance guard can keep Nemenese’s men in their fortress?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve sensed evil stalking you since it moved out of Dreaddrac and into the west. I’ve heard rumors of a recent attack on you in Mendenow as well. You must be very careful. Whatever is after you, it’s powerful and resourceful. You’ll need all the protection you can get.”
Saxthor rolled the amulet between his fingers, feeling the smooth, cool surfaces of the gold and jewels. It warmed to his touch. “Perhaps you’re right. I worry about the empress as well and the baby soon to come. Once again, I am in your debt.”
The two monarchs shared drinks and talked through the night before Saxthor again took to the road to hurry along his tour and get back to Engwaniria before the baby’s expected arrival. Like his dragon ring, Saxthor would feel the amulet frequently. I wonder how I’ll know when it senses danger, he wondered.
* * *
Xthilleon paced his tower workroom, considering how he might get close enough to Saxthor to destroy him.
“Memlatec will know who I am by now,” he mumbled to a captive tortoise that roamed around on the floor seeking an escape. “We encouraged that moron, Governor Hedrak, to disguise an attack, but he bungled that. The emperor is still alive. There’re too many deterrents in Ossenkosk to attack him openly there. Nindax won’t venture an open attack at this point. There must be another way…”
The tortoise bumped into a table and a dried creature, left from some concoction, fell on the floor. Xthilleon kicked the tortoise, sending it skidding across the room. The wizard picked up the black, shriveled carcass, returning it to its container as he glanced at the tortoise.
“A toy… I hear that meddlesome King Zirkin presented Saxthor with a tittletot as court jester like some toy. How considerate. Perhaps I too can infiltrate the palace with some such gift as well. My earlier attempt isn’t bearing fruit.”
* * *
At his wizard’s tower just south of Konnotan, Memlatec read through the books from the hidden room in the Ossenkosk wizard’s tower. The first two were very rare indeed. Memlatec had only seen one of them before. One delved into experiments using magic to bend energy and cross planes of physical being. It was the work of Menadon, one of the most famous of the High Wizards at Wizards’ Hall. The third book was the journal of the last imperial wizard at Ossenkosk, and in it he related that the Wizards’ Hall’s next to last high wizard, the primal master wizard Menadon, was displaced due to his dabbling in research involving dark energy. The wizard had disappeared shortly after the conclave removed him from his position.
I remember that now, Memlatec thought. It was hushed up by the high council. No more was heard of the wizard, but clearly he continued his research and had come to imperial lands with the manuscript documenting his research. Menadon wanted to transcend time and space and possibly travel to other planes of existence.
The journal related the primal wizard had worked obscurely somewhere within the empire’s boundaries until the imperial court’s high wizard discovered his activities and was able to raid the hideout. They confiscated the books and this seven ring instrument. There was no more mention of Menadon in the journal. He must have escaped or been killed in the attack.
As Memlatec read further in the journal, he discovered the court wizard’s powers were far beneath Menadon’s. Without Menadon to reveal encrypted explanations in the journal, the court wizard couldn’t decipher much of the master wizard’s discoveries. Numerous attempts testing the ball of rings to decipher what they did produced nothing. In Menadon’s manuscript, there was a picture of the ball with some runes explaining what each circle was and did, but neither the court wizard nor Memlatec could interpret the runes. In the court wizard’s journal, he noted he had discovered each ring was attuned to a different energy frequency and that when two or more were spun in the correct sequence, and degree angles, and given direction by an incantation, their frequencies synchronized and resonated in a new wave that produced a certain activity with a display. The wizard discovered and documented that the first and fourth rings in phase together could produce an image of what was happening at the conjunction of the rings relationship to the planet. Thus, the ball could display what was happening to a specific person within the Sekcmet Palace in Sengenwha at the time it was spinning, much like visions in magical moon water pools.
The court wizard had discovered several of the actions or visions produced when pairs of rings were aligned, but there were seven rings. Adding a third, spinning in conjunction with two others, produced a response geometrically more complex.
What happens when all seven rings are spinning in the correct sequence and angles? Memlatec wondered. Reading on, he discovered the wizard had suspected that the seventh ring in the interior moved the activities of the other six rings to a different plane of being! In the last pages, the wizard was preparing to test his theory. There the journal ended.
The wizard must have discovered how to move to another existence or cross time itself, Memlatec thought. Perhaps he attempted to test his theory before discovering how to return and was trapped there. I wonder if both wizards did that. If so, perhaps the master wizard killed the imperial court wizard on his entry onto the new plane. Could the old master wizard still be alive and trapped in another world? Now I remember the Dark Lord had once been an apprentice to Master Wizard Menadon too. Perhaps Menadon’s experiments also infected the Dark Lord. If Menadon is still alive, he must still be looking for this seven ring instrument the court wizard hid in Ossenkosk’s wizard’s tower.
Memlatec ran down the tower stairs, nearly knocking over Aleman when he reached the ground floor.
“Saddle my horse!” the wizard said as he rushed past toward his study to pack.
“Careful now, you old fool,” Aleman responded. “You’ll kill yourself and me with you if you run around like that.”
“Enough chatter,” Memlatec said over his shoulder. “Saddle the horse and pack some food for a long journey. I must make for Engwaniria with all haste. A new evil is born in the west. I don’t know what it is, but its intent is sinister and its strength extreme. If it finds Menadon or his instrument and learns to move about across planes, we may never stop the Dark Lord’s attacks on Saxthor or the world.”
“Who’s Menadon?” Aleman asked, but Memlatec had rushed on past.
When Memlatec had packed, he met Aleman at the front door and rode off down the road to the west. Looking back, he saw Aleman mumbling as he went back inside and closed the thick oak door.
* * *
In the royal palace’s private audience chamber at Varnakak, King Nindax trashed a message from one of his spies then waved his hand, dismissing a courier. The chatra stood by.
“My informants tell me the emperor is touring his provinces in something of a good will tour,” Nindax said. “What a fool. He’d have done better to behead Hedrak and a couple of other governors. That would’ve ended any opposition plots.”
“Perhaps, Your Majesty,” the chatra replied, “but then the other governors, fearing Saxthor, would wait and rebel at the slightest indication of weakness. If he concludes this tour and binds the provinces to him, it will strengthen his position and weaken yours.”
Nindax glared are the chatra. “What do you mean?”
“I mean once he’s secure on the throne, he can turn to conquest and not fear rebellion within the empire behind him.”
“I see, and you think his thoughts of conquest would focus on Senoshesvas?”
“We know he is on the best of terms with King Zirkin of Zenobia. King Nemenese is his grandfather-in-law. The kingdoms of the peninsula are his old allies. Your Majesty is the only monarch on the continent that didn’t attend the emperor’s coronation or wedding. It’s likely that the emperor would perceive Senoshesvas as the best candidate for conquest.”
“Well then, we must waste no more time with Nemenese. Implement the war plan. We’ll attack Velstorbokkin as soon as possible. We’ll knock out Nemenese as a potential ally of the empire before the old fool concludes it wasn’t Saxthor that initiated the attack at Engwaniria. We must add the kingdom’s resources to our own to remain independent of this usurper. We shall proclaim our-self Emperor of the West once we conquer Velstorbokkin.
“Indeed.”
“I see you hesitate.”
“May I suggest you allow Nemenese to remain on his throne for the time being… as Your Majesty’s puppet.”
“Puppet? Are you mad?”
“To prevent rebellion among his people, should the empire attack.”
“Send for Xthilleon. We’ll speak with him and see what assistance he might provide to the war effort. Personally, we trust to our own troops rather than to wizards’ entanglements, but we must win this war and before Nemenese can discount his aversion to the emperor and call upon his grandson-in-law for aid.”
*
In the palace’s private audience chamber, Nindax and the chatra were going over maps of the western continent. In the background, crude clanging and banging of swords and shields from elements of the Senoshesvasian army practicing maneuvers on the plain outside delighted the two men. With a knock, guards admitted the wizard to the king’s presence.
“Xthilleon,” Nindax said, seeing the frown on the wizard’s face when he looked toward the window. “We see the music of battle annoys you. But then, you do prefer more subtle means of accomplishing your objectives.”
Xthilleon frowned; Nindax returned to the maps.
“We can’t cross the Urgenak Forest with an army,” Nindax said to the chatra. “The evil that dwells there remains as Nemenese confirmed recently. Those souls would destroy our army before we reached Velstorbokkin. But we need to attack before Nemenese realizes we’re his enemy and not his ally. He mustn’t have time to consolidate and prepare his defenses.”
“The only pass around Urgenak into Velstorbokkin would require the army first pass through the bordering imperial province. That could provoke the empire into joining the war.”
“Well, Velstorbokkin’s strength lies in its superior navy. We dare not attempt to land troops from the sea. The pass is the only possibility. We’ll have to risk the emperor’s anger crossing his territory. Perhaps if we pass through fast enough, we’ll be in Velstorbokkin before word reaches the emperor of our transgressing his territory. He may not wish war at present. Is he not still on his grand tour?”
“So we’re led to believe, Majesty.”
“An auspicious opportunity,” Nindax said.
“All the more important we attack before the emperor returns to Engwaniria. We need to be out of the imperial province before Saxthor can organize any response to our trespass.” Nindax then turned to Xthilleon, whose ruddy face reflected his seething at being kept standing and waiting without recognition.
“We have missed you at court, Xthilleon,” Nindax said.
“How may I be of service to Your Highness?” Xthilleon asked. The low guttural tone was almost a growl, making Nindax hesitate.
“We’re about to make war on Velstorbokkin. What assistance can you offer to the war effort?”
“I thought Your Majesty wished to eliminate King Nemenese all together.”
“We’ve now decided to conquer Velstorbokkin and retain Nemenese as our subject. We wish to have him a puppet king to prevent rebellion as we consolidate his kingdom into a western empire. We need a force capable of resisting the Powterosian Empire, should the emperor decide to expand his holdings.”
“And what if the emperor decides to intercede on behalf of his relation?” Xthilleon asked.
“I must take the risk and seize the opportunity at hand.”
Xthilleon nodded to the king and general. “I shall leave the military conquest of Velstorbokkin in your most capable hands, Highness. I’m sure I can offer nothing more to the war effort there, but I’ll attempt to infiltrate the empire and divert Emperor Saxthor in my own way.”
“I see. I won’t inquire into your methods. Keep the war effort in mind and see what you can come up with to augment the army’s strength.”
“As you command, Highness.” And with that, Xthilleon bowed and withdrew to return to his tower and further his own plan.
* * *
8: The Seer
;
Invasion of Velstorbokkin
“I’m glad you suggested we take a day out from my grand tour for a hunt,” Saxthor said to King Zirkin. They looked out along the mountain ridge dividing the kingdom and empire. The verdant valleys below on either side were clusters of forests interspersed with small farms, pastures, and open glens. The horses snorted, excited by the hunt and ride to the summit where they now stood. “It’s like the top of the world here.”
“Look two thirds down the slope there,” Zirkin said, leaning forward, pointing to movement among the trees.
“I see them, the deer we chased up here. How did they get so far ahead of us?”
“We must be getting old,” Zirkin said with a laugh.
They were about to race down the slope after the deer when Saxthor noticed a cave further along the slope in a break in the trees. A wisp of smoke drifted upward from the cave before the wind dispersed it.
“That’s a strange place for someone to live. Must be a hermit,” Saxthor said.
“We must hurry or the deer will escape, Saxthor.”
“I must see who inhabits that cave.”
“Whoever it is, he can’t be of consequence. Clearly he must want to be left alone.”
Saxthor didn’t respond, but tapped his horse’s flanks and rode along to the cave.
“Is anyone home?” the emperor asked at the mouth of the grotto, but there was no response. He dismounted and went to the entrance but darkness descended just beyond the cave’s mouth. Smoke was the only hint of habitation. It had the aroma of oak, but there were other unfamiliar sweet and acrid scents mixed in.
“Have you seen enough?” Zirkin asked.
“What are you doing here when the war is in the west?” came a deep, scratchy voice from the darkness somewhere far back in the cave.
King and emperor looked at each other. Then a small haggard old person hobbled from the darkness, half naked except for animal skins wrapping the torso. The hair was long, wild, gray, and uncombed for years perhaps, and wrinkled skin hung from all exposed limbs.
Saxthor wasn’t sure if it was a man or a woman. “What do you mean?” Saxthor asked. “What’s your name?”
As the hermit approached still further, the stale scent of an ancient person mingled with the smoke. Then brilliant eyes radiated from the decrepit form staring straight at Saxthor. “I said, ‘What are you doing here when the war is in the west?’”
“I heard the question, but what does it mean? What war? There’s no war that I know of.”
“As emperor, and you sir, as king, you should know of the war. The old woman was clearly unaffected by the regal status of her visitors. She turned back into the cave then stopped, peering at Saxthor with a steel cold eye. “One day that war will spawn an empire and topple three.”
Saxthor glanced at Zirkin. “What does she mean?”
“I have no idea,” Zirkin shrugged his shoulders. When they looked back, she had disappeared again.
“Old woman, please explain what you mean,” Saxthor shouted into the darkness, but there was no response.
“Perhaps we should continue on the hunt,” Zirkin suggested.
“I must resume my journey. A war in the west, what can it mean? Is there rebellion in my absence? I must return to Engwaniria.” The two men rode back to the border fortress, where they said goodbyes. Saxthor terminated the tour and rode directly for Engwaniria.
Half way back, through the nearest province, an imperial messenger overtook the emperor’s coach. The man was quite out of breath and wild-eyed but soon recovered enough to speak.
“What is it, man?” Saxthor asked.
Still hunched over, catching his breath, the man said, “Majesty, the chatra sent me to find you. King Nindax of Senoshesvas has declared war on King Nemenese of Velstorbokkin. The Senoshesvasian army has invaded the empire, crossing through the northwestern tip to invade Velstorbokkin!”
“What madness is this that King Nindax dare invade the empire?”
“Apparently, it was the only land route into Velstorbokkin other than through the Urgenak Forest, which no one passes through. King Nindax has sent a message to Your Majesty asking for permission to pass briefly through the empire. He doesn’t wish war with you, or so the chatra said the letter says. No one knows what his intentions are, but he didn’t wait for a reply.”
“Captain!” Saxthor shouted. “Give me your fastest horse. Have the coach continue on to Engwaniria. I’ll travel faster on horse with only a small escort to the capital.”
The captain nodded and went to retrieve a suitable horse for the emperor.
“Young man,” Saxthor said to the messenger. “It’s clear you have nearly ridden yourself and your steed to death. Rest at the nearest village for a day, then return to Engwaniria.” With that, Saxthor and his escort left behind the state coach and rode at full gallop toward the capital.
* * *
Dressed in garish war regalia, with metals dangling everywhere across his chest, King Nindax stood atop his warhorse, looking down on his troops. They marched precariously along steep slopes and cliffs just west of Shinnadda, the Neuyokkasinian imperial fortress guarding the mountain pass. It stood at the juncture of the two kingdoms and the empire. The king’s hair flipped in the wind where it extended beyond his helmet and his sparkling eyes reflected his excitement, surrounded by his generals.
“The crossing is going well, Majesty,” the senior general said. He looked toward Shinnadda where imperial troops stood shoulder to shoulder along the massive battlements, but none came out to challenge the army passing below on the slopes.
“It had better. The men must not stop to rest, no matter how exhausted they are from the forced march. We must pass beyond the imperial border before orders come from Engwaniria to allow our passing or to attack us. Winning this war will depend on surprising Nemenese. You’re certain the advance guard can keep Nemenese’s men in their fortress?”
