Wayne Batson - The Final Storm

“There is no such place.”

“You said yourself that those who served Paragor well will be remembered in the world to come. You must believe something happens after you die,” Antoinette said.

“Yes…” Kearn hesitated. “It is as I said. Paragor will ultimately triumph over Alleble and hold dominion over all The Realm. On the rubble of Alleble, Paragor will create a new kingdom where those who served the master well will have riches and be revered by all those beneath us!”

“Paragor promises you power and fortune, if you’ll serve only him. It is the same thing he promised the kingdoms of Mithegard, Acacia, and Clarion-right before he destroyed them. It is his way. If I had my Book of Alleble I could show you.”

“You mean that worn-out leather volume over there?” Kearn asked, pointing to the corner of the chamber far outside her cell. Her book lay open, facedown in the shadows. “The guards no doubt cast it aside.”

“My book!” Antoinette replied eagerly. “May I have it… please?”

Kearn looked over at the book and back at Antoinette. “Nay, you have your head already too full of Alleble’s harvest tales. Let it lie there and mock you.”

“Kearn!”

“No, you have said your piece!” Kearn roared. “Now, I will say mine. You came after me, you say, to see me turn from my master and bend the knee to King Eliam. That is your wish?” Kearn turned his back to Antoinette for a moment and continued. “You say to me to leave the riches, adoration, and power I have here to be a common knight in the Kingdom of Alleble? Betray my master simply on your word, and let my eyes reflect back the weak blue of King Eliam’s servants… that is what you are asking, is it not?”

Antoinette stared at his back.

“Well, m’lady of the Mirror Realm,” he said, his voice deep and stalking. “I give you what you ask.” Kearn turned around suddenly, and as Antoinette looked into his eyes, she swayed as if she might fall. For Kearn’s eyes flickered blue as only the eyes of those who follow King Eliam do.

“How can this be?” Antoinette asked.

Kearn laughed and held up a small corked vial. He took out the cork and sipped from the bottle. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, they flickered red in the manner of Paragor’s servants.

“Yewland,” Antoinette gasped. “That’s how you fooled Queen Illaria in Yewland, isn’t it?”

Kearn nodded. “Yewland and so many other places! It is remarkably easy to turn King Eliam’s allies against him. You would think they would be more… devoted.”

“Trickery!” Antoinette yelled. “Deceit! Don’t you see, Kearn? That’s just another example of Paragor’s way!”

“Silence! How easily you cast out such accusations. Do you think your own King, the noble King Eliam of Alleble, is without guile? Would it pain thee then to know that he has kept hidden his true purpose for you in The Realm?”

Antoinette stood very still.

“Oh, yes, your good King has very interesting plans for you, m’lady… for you and the others. But Paragor has plans for you as well-much better plans,” Kearn said. “You see… they are out there. My master knows, and he will find them before King Eliam. And in that moment, Alleble will be utterly destroyed.”

“That will never happen! King Eliam defeated Paragor the first time and cast him into exile. He will do it again.”

“Pity, no,” Kearn replied. “Alleble will fall. Your beloved King knows this.”

“Lies!” Antoinette cried. “Stop it! It’s all lies!”

“If they are lies, Antoinette,” Kearn said with a hideous smile, “then they are King Eliam’s lies. For Alleble’s destruction is foretold in the Scroll of Prophecy written by King Eliam’s own hand!”

Kearn took the torch from the wall, left the chamber, and locked the door behind him. Antoinette was left in utter darkness. Tears ran down her cheeks.

Antoinette awoke with the dawn. She found a new tray of food just outside her cell. She took a bite of the bread and savored it. Surely this was not the kind of food that prisoners in Paragory usually received. She went to take another bite, but then dropped the bread on the floor. Her Book of Alleble, which had lain in the corner of her cell just the night before, was gone.

S ir Kaliam, Sentinel of Alleble, stood at the large window in a lofted keep high in the castle and stared out over the kingdom and the moonlit lands beyond. Sir Thrivenbard, Alleble’s chief tracker and woodsman, entered the room and stood respectfully behind him.

“Well?” Kaliam demanded.

“My Sentinel,” Thrivenbard said, and bowed to the knight. “It is with a sad heart I bring you the news that the body of Sir Gabriel was found among the twisting paths and dark boughs of the Blackwood.”

Kaliam was silent.

“Sir, it has been three days since our search parties have discovered a survivor. We are only finding those slain, and Sir Aelic was not among them.”

Kaliam did not turn around. “Thrivenbard,” Kaliam said quietly, “I do not expect you to find Sir Aelic among the slain.”

“But my Sentinel,” Thrivenbard said. “So much time has passed since the battle and-”

“Nonetheless!” Kaliam shouted, before mastering himself and turning to face the knight. “Nonetheless, you will not find him among the dead. The Battle of the Blackwood raged from one end of the Forest Road to the other, from the borders of Yewland and into the heart of the Blackwood itself. In such a large area, a lone knight might be missed.”

“My men are skilled,” said Thrivenbard. “They have searched every thicket and under every bough-”

“Then you go, Thrivenbard,” Kaliam exclaimed, “and search every thicket and under every bough again! No one in all The Realm has your skills in tracking and knowledge of the woods-not even the elder scouts of Yewland.” He walked over and put a gentle hand on Thrivenbard’s shoulder. “Thrivenbard, much depends upon your success.”

“I will see to it, my Sentinel,” Thrivenbard replied. “With King Eliam as my guide, I will not rest until I find Sir Aelic.”

“Thank you, servant of Alleble,” Kaliam replied. He knew if anyone could find Sir Aelic, Thrivenbard could.

“Never alone!” the Sentinel said.

“Never alone!” Thrivenbard replied as he bowed. Before taking leave, Thrivenbard stopped. “Sir?”

“Yes?”

“Since we have not found Sir Aelic,” Thrivenbard said, choosing his words carefully, “is it possible that he was taken alive as a prisoner of the enemy, as was Lady Antoinette?”

Kaliam turned his back to Thrivenbard and stared out upon the moonlit realm again. “Losing Antoinette to the enemy is already a great blow to our cause. If Paragor has Sir Aelic as well…”

Thrivenbard bowed again and walked swiftly from the chamber.

The moon was much lower in the sky when Lady Merewen entered the library and found Kaliam at the window. “How long will you stand there?” she asked in a gentle voice. With great difficulty she lowered her dark hood, and her long silver hair spilled out upon her bandaged shoulders.

“Merewen!” Kaliam turned, and she went to him. Kaliam looked at her and put the back of his hand to her brow. “Your fever has passed! How do you feel?”

“Sir Oswyn says I was fortunate only to have been scratched by one of the Sleepers and not bitten,” she replied, her violet eyes gleaming. “Herbs to treat my wounds are readily available, but not so for a bite. I am to be fine, Kaliam. But I am not sure you can say the same. You look in need of rest.”

“I cannot rest.” He sighed. “I am the Sentinel of this kingdom. I have charges.”