Arm Of Galemar (Book 2) (106 page)

Something had changed though.  As to what it might be,
Adrian struggled to define.  The air no longer felt the same.  He continued to
walk.

A dot of light appeared far away.  This was the first
time he had ever seen anything in the blackness.  His hands were invisible, as
were his feet and clothing, but logic insisted he must have a body to be able
to walk.  Adrian studied the white dot.  It must have relevance, least why
would it appear?  Walking brought him no closer.

He paused to consider that before noticing the dot
waver of its own accord.  What might that mean?  Should he walk toward it?

Before he could decide, the dot rushed for him.  It
split as it closed the distance at frightening speed, becoming a pair
side-by-side.  When they drew closer, the whiteness took on color.  All sorts
of colors that resolved into shapes.

Almost like looking through windows, he thought.  Two
windows, one slightly to the side of the other.  The views were slightly
offset.  In fact, it was like looking through…eyes?

The two dots shot toward him faster than he could
react.  He screamed, or wanted to scream, but the two viewing portals continued
to grow.  Through them he saw men fighting, men in black Arronath armor
fighting others, a few dressed as misfits, most clad in green.

Both portals flew at him, filling his entire vision
until they crowded the black void out.  They struck him with force enough to
rock his head back.  He teetered, nearly tumbling when the portals grafted to
his own vision.

“Sir!  Are you hurt?  Were you shot?”

Adrian looked down.  He could see his hands, could see
his clothing and the horse he sat upon.  Also the guardsman with concern
painted in every facial line as he gripped his general’s leg to prevent his
officer from falling to the ground.

“Wh…wh…what?”

“Bayonne!  I think the general has been arrow shot! 
Grab the Healer!”

“What’s…happening…to me?  To me?  Where am I?”

Adrian stared around.  The guardsman’s concern grew
palpable.  It looked like he was in the middle of a battle!  But what—

Behind him, frightfully close, came a great fiery
explosion that rent the ground, shook snow from the surrounding trees, and
flung the general high into the air, horse and all.

*        *        *        *        *

“You killed entire innocent village.  Pay you the price
now!”  Colbey waited for the comprehension to dawn in the Dead Man’s eyes.  The
vile killer simply looked back, not a trace of understanding illuminating those
pale orbs.  He acted as if he had completely forgotten!

The dull look persisted until Colbey could stand it no
longer.  He had his knife out in an instant, stabbing the murderer through the
ribs.  It would surely kill the black-hearted mage, another greedy power feeder
lusting after the village pool.  Clearly the true face all mages wore, this one’s
unconcealed where others hid their nature.

He killed the murderer’s follower before the criminal
could react.  In short order he dealt with the others at hand.  None were much
trouble, and his fury still burned brightly hot.  When the last sat clutching
his eviscerated belly and screaming, Colbey stepped closer to the Dead Man.

Only moments of his life were left.  Blood bubbled
from the mage’s mouth and he wore of look of terrified horror.  Good, except
only the least of what he had deserved.  Mages were all the same, killing woman
and children, babies and elders, for no better reason than that they could gain
a shred of power to set them above others.

Yes, all mages were alike.  He glanced back to where
the mercenary mage lay on the ground.  His shorter friend knelt by his side,
frantically checking the body for life signs.

No, Colbey saw, what he actually did was different. 
He pealed away the mage’s clothing, those garments that had been splashed by
his melted sword.  The little rapier man also dug at his pouches for bandages.

He would not be working so frantically if the man were
dead.  Colbey smiled, a portrait of teeth.  Good.  That damnable man had not
only lusted after his village’s dormant power, he’d also meant to cheat Colbey
from his justice.

The detestable mage had made a hard drive to reach the
Dead Man before Colbey could work his way through the invader’s ranks, meaning
to steal his vengeance, meaning to kill the man first so the souls of his
people would never find a peaceful rest.  If he still lived, then Colbey would
see to it the man understood that he could never prevail against him.  Not
him
,
the Guardian chosen to exact due payment from the murderers who slaughtered
helpless innocents, killed children, destroyed the tree-born walkways,
shattered the buildings, ripped the flesh and limbs from weaver women and
candle makers and spinners and forest gatherers and mutilated their corpses and
tore their bodies to shreds and trapped their souls in a limbo purgatory unable
to rest or sleep or find peace…

While he slowly walked to the prostrate mage, the fog
crowded in, obscuring everything except the mage.  The roiling black, the
turbulent darkness, focusing his awareness on this poisonous man who was no
better than the mage he had just killed.  Given any opportunity, he would have
done no different.  Rage sharpened the thick noir fog, highlighting curves
inside the clouds with red flashes of interior illumination.

Yes, if this mage lives still, I will make such an
example of him that no other mage in all the world will ever dare so much as
look at a Rovasii tree without shuddering.  I will make the burning of steel
seem a refreshing swim, and see to it that he does not die until he has been
reduced to a quivering pile of madness!

“Against all…”

Colbey nodded to agree…then stopped cold.  He felt his
lips come together, which must mean they had been open.  Open…to speak?  Had he
spoken those words?  Or had the restless spirit spoken through him?

He felt…Colbey frowned.  How did he feel?  Any different? 
Did he feel the presence of the third spirit at all?  Liam had fallen silent,
surely so he could listen, but Sylvia’s hand no longer rested on his shoulder. 
Where had she gone?

Against all?  What does that mean?  I have already
avenged you by killing the leader of these murderous swine!  Has Sylvia gone to
rest?  Are you staying with me, Liam, to help me continue fighting off the
mages to come?  What—

He never finished the thought, because the world
exploded in noise, rumbling earth, and fire.  The ground bucked him.  A
blistering hot wind grabbed him before he could fall.  With force beyond that
of his first plummet while learning to climb, Colbey was slammed into the
frozen ground from which all snow had been stolen by the angry wind.

“And why do you think that is?”  Thomas studied the
eight scout trainees.  The fourteen-year-old boys and girls, excepting Colbey
at a year younger, studied the instructor right back.  Certain answers were
never handed to the trainees when the subject touched a vital portion of their
training.  If they were unable to reach the correct conclusion on their own,
then it would be necessary to reevaluate that person’s aptitude for serving as
a scout.

Thomas allowed the youths what time they needed.  Life
could demand quick thinking, but life also demanded careful consideration more
often than not.  Finally Ramon ventured, “Probably because, when you’re out
working the patrol routes, any tensions with one partner will effect the
performance of both.  It’s best for the second person to help the first resolve
their personal problems beforehand.”

He glanced at Thomas, who smiled.  Before the Guardian
could comment on Ramon’s deduction, Enid stormed in, her tone an inch short of
mocking.  “Since when can boys ever do anything but make a woman’s trouble’s
worse?  What do you know of the woman’s world, Ramon?”  Ramon flushed, yet
refused to back down from his position.  She countered, “The obvious answer is
that partners need to know they can trust each other implicitly.  Working to help
your partner outside of scout duties lets you come to know each other far
better than if you only spent time together when on patrol!”

They glared at each other across the room, neither
demanding that Thomas support either, knowing the Guardian would speak in his
own time.  Colbey snorted deliberately, letting the two know exactly what he
thought of them flying past the true answer without seeing the forest for the
trees.

Enid glowered while Ramon challenged.  “You think you
have a better answer?”

“Of course I do.  I’m surprised you don’t.”

“Meaning?”

Colbey rose to his feet, knowing it would make the
point better, even if it irritated his fellow trainees.  “It is because we are
brothers.”  Sylvia coughed, and Gwendda joined Enid in arching her eyebrows at
him.  “Or sisters,” he allowed.  “We are family.  Family by choice, not
happenstance.  We choose the scouts.  We believe in our duty and mission. 
Closer than real brothers, closer than the family we happened to be born to. 
That is why we look after each other in all aspects of our lives.  Because we
are deeper than blood.”

Enid and Ramon both looked surprised, not by the fact,
but by the youngest in their number seeing the most clearly.  All knew it for
the true answer, none needing Thomas to confirm it, as was usually the case
when the correct response finally came forth.

Thomas spoke anyway.  “That is exactly correct,
Colbey.  We are all of us family of the heart.  But that is not exclusive to us
alone.  It extends to our friends and family, people we know.  A person need
not be a scout or a Guardian to be treated with respect
by
a scout or a Guardian.  A community is never a
single society, so though you are always loyal to your fellows in
your
society, a true scout treats everyone with equal respect for we are all of the
same community.  To betray that simple truth is a betrayal of all that the
scouts are supposed to stand for, especially since we are charged with the
village’s safety.  To do otherwise goes

“Against all teachings.”  Colbey felt cold, his body
shivering.  Was it time to wake up?  He knew not, and felt sore.  Sore and
achy.  Too much to think about with his head throbbing so badly he felt his
pulse beating through his temples.  May as well dissolve back to

“No!  Such is proscribed!”  Farr looked indignant
beyond normal, or normal for when Colbey was close at hand.  Colbey cast an
annoyed glance at Kell, who had hardly run off to fetch the overseer, but
certainly had welcomed him into the discussion when Farr happened by.  “May as
well open all the sealed areas and let them run free as they please!  Then
what’s the point of the last few thousand years, I ask you?”

“That is an absolute, and not what I suggested at
all,” Colbey grimaced.  “Stories and rumors aren’t keeping the outlanders from
the Euvea groves as they once did!  They have increased their frequency by
three or four times lately!”

“That is hardly unusual.  And consistent with
established patterns since the village was founded.  It is only an indication
that it is time to switch routines, to put a fresh wave of superstitious fear
through the fringe towns.”

“That is exactly what I was suggesting!  If we pick a
ferocious creature from beyond the seals,” he urged, then added when Kell
frowned mightily, though Kell had not approved of
this
idea either, “or one that has died but not
decomposed yet, then the outlanders will never enter the forest again.  Or not
for fifty years at the soonest!”

“And parade it around the forest border until a
wandering hunter encounters it, correct?”

“Exactly!”  Colbey snapped his fingers.  “They would
never come into the trees after that.”

“And if your ‘tamed’ beast kills the hunter before you
can control it?  What then, young master tactician?”

Colbey shrugged.  “Natural hazards of a wild area. 
People die while out hunting all the time.”

“Dies, and takes your wonderful story with him.”  Farr
held up a hand to halt Colbey before the protests could begin.  “And before you
suggest a hunting party with members escaping to spread your horrid tales,
allow me to add this.  Rumors are always more terrifying when the person’s mind
fills in the unknowns with whatever personally frightens them the most.  If it
became a certainty that such wild beasts prowled the Rovasii, then the king of
Galemar would be honor-bound to send hunters into the forest to eliminate such
a dangerous threat and ensure the safety of his people.  Or else he would offer
a fortune as bounty for the beast’s head and let every fool with visions of
riches do the job for him.  Your magnificent plan would only bring down and
endless stream of outsiders into the Rovasii’s depths.”

“But—”

“But nothing, young Colbey.  You are still a Guardian
trainee, so please remember any idea you might have had has, in all
probability, been considered by several minds before it found yours to settle
in.  Using the beasts beyond the seals in such a fashion is nearly the equal of
a Guardian misusing the Higher Skills for personal profit.  You remember the
scout laws?”