Read Dreams of Fire and Gods 2: Fire Online
Authors: James Erich
Tags: #Juvenile Fiction, #Love & Romance
Dreams of Fire and Gods 2: Fire (17 page)
“It helps to have a senior priest visible,” Father Tönz had once told him, “so people feel that everything is in order. Your presence on the pulpit gives the novitiates more authority to act on behalf of the Church and the gods.”
So Father Kaüsim endured the heat of Atnu at midday a couple of days a week, taking his turn on the pulpit. He said nothing, merely smiling and waving at the crowd as if to say, “The gods are watching over you.”
Lately this had been even more important, as the strange blue clouds that had settled in Harleh valley to the south had everyone on edge. Worlen was built on a hill, and the unnatural phenomenon afflicting the valley was plainly visible from the city. At night the clouds even gave off an eerie bluish glow! The
vek
had returned from there after the clouds had settled in the valley and had recently gone back, so one had to assume it wasn’t dangerous. But many residents of Worlen had family there—now cut off by royal decree—and the
vek
’s secrecy was merely adding to the anxiety.
Father Kaüsim sat in the chair the
caedan makek
had kindly had provided for him, smiling and waving to the crowd, while the novitiates wandered here and there, waving the censers. It was a particularly hot day for this time of year, not a cloud in the sky. He distinctly remembered that.
Then an odd thing occurred. Someone in the crowd near him gasped and exclaimed, “There are two Eyes!”
Yes, of course there were two Eyes, thought Father Kaüsim. There had
always
been two Eyes. What of it?
But as more and more people turned to look at the sky, he couldn’t avoid doing so himself, shielding his own weak eyes with one hand. It was far too bright. He had to look away. But he’d seen it for just a moment—there
did
appear to be two Eyes of Atnu in the sky, one much larger than usual.
He heard a roaring noise, growing louder while the crowd raised their faces to look at the bizarre phenomenon, and even the novitiates ceased their chanting to stop and peer in wonder from behind raised hands. Was it a miracle? A sign from the gods?
Father Kaüsim felt the searing heat just a moment before he heard the impact behind him. Then a wall of flame exploded outward from the door of the temple, engulfing anyone unfortunate enough to have been standing there. The air was pierced with screams. Kaüsim stood with much difficulty and turned around to see flames licking up from the temple skylight. Every window in the temple was alight with fire, and he saw the stained glass shattering from the intense heat of the blaze.
A moment later, the strong arms of one of the novitiates were around his waist and lifting him bodily from the pulpit. The novitiate was a large man— Gonim, if Father Kaüsim recalled his name correctly—and he more or less carried the old man to safety, shielding him from the panicked crowd with his body. When he set Father Kaüsim down in the doorway to the dormitory, the two were able to look back at the courtyard and the ruined temple without fear of being trampled.
It was a horrible scene. The fire was burning so intensely within the temple that no human could possibly still be alive inside. As the soldiers in the courtyard rushed to aid those people who had been caught by the blast from the doorway, aided by the novitiates, the upper part of the temple collapsed inward. The falling stone tumbled into the interior and another tongue of searing flame exploded out of the doorway to engulf victim and rescuer alike.
“Will you be all right, Father?” Gonim asked. “I have to get back out there!”
Kaüsim watched as the young man rushed into the chaos, cursing his frail body for being useless at a time like this and praying for the injured and dead.
Men began forming lines to pass leather buckets of water to those near the temple from the river that ran through the center of the city, while soldiers maneuvered wheeled carts into the courtyard, fighting against the tide of people who were pushing their way out. These carts had large hand-operated pumps on them to siphon water from the river through hoses and spray it on the burning building. But Kaüsim feared it would be a long, hard struggle against the white-hot flames consuming the temple.
He turned to see Father Yanekh rushing toward him with a small group of soldiers trailing behind him. “Thank the gods you’re all right,” Yanekh said breathlessly as he drew near.
“These men are being sent to Harleh to inform the
vek
of this catastrophe,” Yanekh told him. “And they feel that one of the Fatherhood should accompany them.”
Father Kaüsim knew where this was headed and decided to volunteer, rather than embarrass both himself and Father Yanekh by forcing the other priest to point out that he was otherwise of little use in this crisis. “I would be honored to accompany them, Father Yanekh.”
OW
many
caedan
survived?” the
vek
asked.
Sael had asked Diven to prepare the library and they were there now, seated around the fire, while the old man relayed his news. Diven had put out a bottle of sherry before departing, and Father Kaüsim sipped his now to steady his nerves.
“Less than a dozen, Your Grace. Mostly young men, novitiates with little experience, though there were a few senior
caedan
in the dormitory at the time.”
“He must have been, Your Grace. He was presiding over the service inside.”
The priest shrugged and raised one quivering hand to his chin. “I don’t know for certain, Your Grace, but I don’t think so. None occurred while I was still in the city, and we saw no more of these… fireballs falling from the sky while we were on the road here.”
“It’s begun,” Worlen muttered quietly, as if to himself. He got up from his chair and went to stand by the window.
Sael waited for his father to say something further, but he seemed lost in thought. So Sael asked the old man, “Would you like something to eat, Father?”
Penent
.”
Sael stood and went to pull a thin strip of embroidered silk near the wall to summon a servant. When Diven appeared at the door, Sael told him, “Please see to it that a meal for our guest is brought to the dining room.”
“Yes, Your Lordship.” Diven paused a moment and then said, “Begging your pardon, but there is a young man from the temple waiting to escort the Father to the temple dormitory.”
vek
. “Father?”
Worlen turned, looking surprised, as if he’d forgotten there were other people in the room. “What’s that? Oh, yes. Let him go. We’ll talk more with you later, Father Kaüsim.”
After he’d followed the butler out of the library, Master Geilin spoke up. “You appear to have been correct, Your Grace. The Stronni are lashing out against the city of Worlen.”
“Yes. And they’ve managed, in one fell swoop, to wipe out the heads of most of the noble families there!”
“But why attack Worlen first?” Sael asked. “They haven’t even attempted to attack Harleh, or we would have seen fireballs in the sky. Wouldn’t we? Even if they didn’t reach the ground?”
“Perhaps,” Geilin answered. “I would hazard a guess that the Stronni don’t yet know whether they
want
to attack Harleh.”
“No,” the
vek
said. “This was a message—a very strong one—to the
caedan
all over the kingdom. The Stronni want answers, and they want them immediately. They’ve run out of patience and they will no longer tolerate delays.”
“Then it seems to me we don’t have much choice,” Sael said. “The Stronni will lay siege to Worlen as long as the return of the Taaweh is kept a secret. And the moment they learn of the Taaweh, they will destroy Worlen outright.”
He knew he was right, and he knew that, for once, he and his father were in agreement. He took a step closer to the window where his father stood looking out at the garden. Outside, once-familiar plants had grown enormous and strange. “Our only hope is to do what the Taaweh ask—send me and Koreh to rescue their queen. They are the only defense we have against the Stronni, and they are weakened as long as she is held prisoner.”
“Your Grace,” Snidmot said, “I fail to see how angering the Stronni further will help us.”
“‘No point changing your mind after jumping,’” Worlen said quietly, quoting an old proverb. “We’ve already angered the gods, Master Snidmot, and they are not in the habit of forgiving.”
He turned to face the old wizard. “And neither am I. The Stronni have attacked my city and killed my people. Therefore they are my enemy. If I was reluctant to side with the Taaweh before, I am not now.”
had been sitting by the fire, keeping to himself as the priest was questioned, but now he realized exactly what the
vek
was saying and he stood abruptly. “You don’t mean you’ll let Sael go!” Worlen quirked an eyebrow at him and Koreh quickly added, “Your Grace.” He didn’t need to alienate the man further at this stage.
“Sael may be correct about our lack of choices if Harleh and Worlen are to survive,” Worlen replied curtly.
“He’s your only heir!” Koreh pointed out desperately, ignoring the glare he was getting from Sael.
Worlen gave him a sour look. “Your concern for the kingdom is admirable. But the Taaweh haven’t given us alternatives. It’s to be you and Sael. Or is this apparent concern for Sael masking something else?” Koreh was uncertain what he meant until the
vek
added, “Are you hoping perhaps that, if Sael doesn’t go on this fool’s errand, you won’t have to go either?”
Koreh felt his cheeks flush with anger at this. He clenched his hands into fists and replied slowly, through gritted teeth, “No, Your Grace. It has always been my intention to go. I just don’t want Sael to go.”
Worlen smiled, though Koreh couldn’t tell if it was because the man thought he was lying, or simply because Worlen enjoyed goading him. Koreh suspected it was the latter.
“That’s enough!” Sael interrupted. He looked just as angry as Koreh felt, but
his
anger seemed to be directed at Koreh. “I’m not a child in need of your protection. I’m the Dekan of Harleh and a Menaük! It’s my decision if I’m to be a part of this, not yours.”
“If you go, you’ll die!” Koreh blurted out. He immediately regretted it as everyone in the room turned to look at him. The look Sael gave him was murderous, as if he’d betrayed a confidence.
Koreh saw no way to back out of it now. “The Taaweh say that he’ll die if he goes.”
One
of us will die,” Koreh amended.
so
much better.”
“I refuse to believe it,” Sael said. “The Taaweh know it’s risky. They know there’s a
chance
one or both of us could be killed—”
“They know one of us will die,” Koreh snapped. He refused to play Sael’s game. Whether Sael believed it or not, the Taaweh could foresee the future. It was infuriating that they wouldn’t clarify the almost offhand comment one had made to him about this, but Koreh had no doubt that it was true.
“
I
don’t have a choice. I’m the only one who knows how to free her. But any
vönan
can lift me up to the hall.”
At that, the
vek
gave a sharp laugh. “In case you haven’t noticed, we have a shortage of
vönan
on our side, now that Master Geilin has—for better or worse —changed his vocation. Unless Master Snidmot would like to accompany you.”
The aged
vönan makek
’s eyes widened in panic. “Your Grace! I really don’t think, at my age—”
“That’s quite all right, Master Snidmot,” Worlen interrupted with an amused smile. “I was being facetious. The point is, if the Taaweh plan requires a
vönan
, Sael is the only realistic option.”
Had the Taaweh known teaching Master Geilin their magic would eliminate the only real alternative to having Sael accompany Koreh? Koreh suspected they had, and it angered him that they seemed determined to place Sael in danger. Why?
Worlen returned from the window and picked up his snifter of sherry from one of the small tables near the fireplace. He sipped it and then asked, “When is this plan supposed to go into effect?”
There was a moment of stunned silence during which everyone in the room seemed to be wearing the same expression of alarm before Sael explained, “It has to be on the night when the Eye of Druma is completely closed. We can’t trust to cloud cover.”
T he
vek
took another sip of his brandy and then put the glass down carefully on the table. “There is no solution to this that won’t put you or Harleh at risk,” he said slowly, turning to look directly at his son. “You may be killed attempting to rescue… whoever this woman is supposed to be. You may succeed and discover that she cannot prevent the Stronni from destroying Harleh and Worlen. But war is ugly and people always die in it. It’s your decision.”
Sael lifted his chin defiantly. “I made my decision last night, Father. I have to go with Koreh and we have to rescue the Iinu Shavi. No other option is feasible.”
