Michael Manning - The God-Stone War

The Knights of Stone, led by my close friend, Dorian Thornbear, had been responsible for rooting out and destroying any hint of the shiggreth remaining in Lothion, and by and large they had been very successful. Unfortunately we hadn’t paid much attention to events in Gododdin until it was almost too late. Three years ago James Lancaster, the current King of Lothion, had received a missive from the shaky new government in Gododdin.

The nation had restored the monarchy, putting a man named Nicholas on the throne. Apparently he was the nephew of the last king, Valerius, who had been deposed by the Children of Mal’goroth. By the time James received his message the Kingdom of Gododdin had been largely overrun by the shiggreth. It had begun in isolated villages and had progressed to the point that many mid-sized cities had been completely wiped out before any organized resistance was formed.

By ‘organized resistance’ I meant the armies of Lothion and the Knights of Stone. The nation of Gododdin was currently not much more than a diplomatic fiction. Initially I had led the vanguard as we swept through the troubled country and our fears were quickly realized. The place was rife with the undead. We moved cautiously at first, for I feared that we might encounter the creature I knew only as ‘Timothy’, but after months of campaigning we never found a trace of him. I could only hope ‘it/he’ had died or was still trapped underground where I had last seen him.

The undead we encountered were disorganized, and although dangerous, they were no match for the newly minted Knights of Stone. With my magic and a new arsenal of enchanted weapons that drew upon the power of the ‘God-Stone’, we cut and burned our way across Gododdin, hunting the fell creatures wherever they tried to hide.

Within a few months the bulk of the fighting was done and half of Gododdin’s remaining citizenry were dead. They were cremated in massive bonfires to prevent them from returning or infecting others with their peculiar form of ‘undeath’. King Nicholas was allowed to resume control of the country, although James had considered annexing the nation while they were vulnerable. I had effectively vetoed that course by refusing to consider those particular commands valid. It had made things a bit tense between James and me for a while, but he didn’t have much choice in the matter.

Today our latest ‘patrol’ was returning. Patrol was the word we used, but it was a strange choice considering the patrol consisted of over two hundred men along with support, wagons, camp followers, and ten of my hand picked Knights of Stone. It was more of a small army. They had passed their relief, a similar force heading back toward Gododdin, two days ago on the road that led to Castle Cameron. We were still finding more shiggreth, and until we were sure they were all gone, the patrols would continue.

In truth though, the main reason I was anxious to see the returning patrol was one particular man, Dorian Thornbear, one of my best and oldest friends. He had been gone for nearly six months and despite frequent correspondence via my magic letter boxes, I had sorely missed him. Worse still, Rose was beginning to show signs of agitation at his continuing absence, and when that happened Penny soon picked up on it, and when Penny wasn’t happy… well you understand what I mean.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, I opened a door leading into the topmost floor of Traveler’s Pinnacle. The room was mostly empty, possessing no furniture and few decorations, other than a tapestry on the wall and a plain rug. Another stair led down into the lower parts of the tower and eventually to the fortress itself. A circle was cunningly worked into the floor as a pattern of darker woods inlaid in the plain golden oak boards.

I stepped into the circle with Elaine and she glanced up at me. I gave her a quick nod to let her know I was waiting on her to do the honors. She already had plenty of practice, but I frequently let her activate the circles since she seemed to enjoy it. I think it might have given her a sense of usefulness, but I wouldn’t have suggested it aloud. I felt the smooth surge of her power and our surroundings shifted. We were back in the hall of circles within my house in Albamarl. A short walk put us on a second circle and Elaine took us to Castle Cameron.

The circle in Castle Cameron actually was placed in a moderately sized building in the castle courtyard. Experience in the past had taught me that the circles could just as easily be used by an enemy to gain entry. To minimize the risk, the circles in Cameron and Lancaster were housed in external buildings with a twenty four hour guard. This didn’t apply to my house in Albamarl, but it had plenty of ‘other’ protections.

“My lord!” announced the guard stationed inside the building as he snapped to attention. I nodded absently toward him as we stepped out and made our way to the exit. To my shame, I couldn’t think of his name, though his face was familiar. Over the years the growth in the number of my retainers, combined with multiple residences and a busy life had made it difficult for me to keep up with all of their names. I knew it was only natural, but I still felt vaguely guilty about my ignorance.

As we emerged from the building I addressed the guard outside the doors, a fellow whose name I felt relieved to remember. “David, has Sir Dorian’s patrol returned yet?”

He had already straightened when I had stepped out. “Yes, mi’lord! Sir Dorian returned early this afternoon,” he answered quickly.

“Where is he now?” I asked.

“I am unsure, Your Excellency,” he replied briskly. I had to admire the guard’s cool professionalism. In his place I would have been tempted to respond with something smart, such as suggesting I should ask the Countess.

I thanked him and headed for the main keep. It was fully repaired now and probably in better shape than it had been ever before. Not that it mattered, since Penny and I didn’t really live here anymore. We dined here, we worked here, and much of our daily lives took place here, but one of my most closely guarded secrets was the fact that we slept elsewhere.

Seven years before, Penny and my unborn son were kidnapped and I had never forgotten that lesson. Time and experience, not to mention the removal of one of my enemies had made them safer, but I would never take their safety for granted again. Part of that involved safeguards that no one knew about, things I hoped might even fool the gods themselves if they were to come calling. Some might call me paranoid, but I really didn’t give a rat’s ass what ‘some’ might think.

People scattered as they saw us crossing the courtyard, bobbing heads in deference to my rank. Mumbled ‘Hello’s’ and ‘Good-day Mi’lord’s’ could be heard as we passed. I had never required any obeisance from my people, aside from a modicum of respect. As we reached the main entry one of the footmen stationed outside opened it for us. I had many more retainers now. I sometimes laughed to remember the early days, when I had been hard pressed to find even a messenger.

Peter met me as we stepped inside. “Good day, Your Excellency,” he said primly. To his credit, not a hint of his deeper disdain for me showed in his voice. Peter Tucker was the grandson of a man I had accidentally slain years before. I had hired him in an attempt to assuage my continuing feelings of guilt. We had never spoken of his grandfather’s death and he doubtless thought I was unaware of the connection.

I had initially hired him as a scribe and occasional messenger, but his efficiency and native intelligence had led me to promote him several times. He now served as my chief valet, man-servant, and de-facto chamberlain. I knew for a fact that at one point in time he had planned to kill me, but over the years I suspected that his secret anger had waned. In any case, he did a good job and I thought we had developed a sort of mutual respect for one another. At the very least, I never saw the flickers of anger in him that I had once seen.