Chapter XL

It was a relief, truthfully, to be out of the city of Bogeid. Val had allowed Galia and Ardal to grab whatever supplies they could carry before they left, and they were on the road. That first night Ardal let Galia sleep in the tent while he slept outside. It was nice for both of them to be able to rest easily, without worrying about hateful Nihilites coming after them in their sleep, or their sleep being interrupted by an Arxian attack. It was strange, when Galia thought about it. Part of the reason human beings lived in cities together was so that they would be safe from the animals of the wild, and yet their fellow human beings often proved to be far more dangerous predators than any bear, wolf, or snake. Predators only attacked because of hunger or in order to protect their territory. Human beings killed for hate.

After a day and a half of aimless travel, however, Ardal was nervous. They had no destination, no direction. He thought of perhaps going back to where Deidra was hiding, but he was terrified of what the possessed soothsayer might do to an Agalmite priestess like Galia. He knew they couldn't go to Arx, he wouldn't be safe there, especially if Arx truly was in the middle of a civil war, like the rumors were saying. Shadia was far too cold and barbaric for them to survive, and Sabura's beasts would surely eat them alive.

When he found himself truly stuck in his attempts to figure out what to do, he finally stopped and prayed to Elykos for answers. Again he prayed silently, not wanting Galia to know from where he got his guidance.

“Val threw me out of the city, me and Galia both. I need to know where to go.”

Ardal waited several minutes without an answer. For a moment he thought that perhaps Elykos no longer heard his prayers, and decided to stand and try looking for wild berries or other food for he and Galia to eat.

“Can't you do anything right?” came Elykos' voice in Ardal's head. Ardal stopped dead exactly where he stood. Galia looked up at him from the tent she'd been rolling up and wondered why he was just standing there, staring off into space.

“I couldn't stand his atrocities, we argued, and he threw me and Galia out of the city.”

“Exactly. You can't seem to do anything right. This is war, Ardal. We are trying to bring about the end of this world, aren't we? If that is true, you will see far more destruction by the time it is over. In the end, when humanity roams the Void, free of tyranny, free of pain, free of oppression, and free of hate and fear, won't that be worth it all? Your spirit is weak if you cannot look past this life and see the paradise Val will bring to these people!”

Just hearing this Ardal decided he'd had enough. Elykos was just beyond sickening. He spoke about eternity, justified the most horrific crimes imaginable, and Ardal had realized that this was the same rhetoric the Inquisition used. They spoke almost identical words when they tortured people or brutally executed them. Their constant “think of eternity” mindset had been their justification for all of their crimes, and Ardal would not simply fight for a new Inquisition, not after all he'd seen.

“Don't you dare abandon me!” Elykos growled in Ardal's mind.

“I want nothing more to do with you!” Ardal thought back.

“So you're willing to sacrifice her?”

Ardal looked up at Galia, who stared at him with a quizzical look on her face. By giving his total loyalty, even his soul to Elykos he had bought her survival. If he tried to take his soul back from Elykos would Elykos in turn take away what he'd bought?

“Ardal, what's wrong?” Galia asked as she walked towards him.

“Just now I've thought of one-hundred easy ways to have her killed. That pretty head dashed against a rock, that soft heart cut out, that smooth flesh burned in a fire. She's a priestess of Saklas, and therefore my enemy. Only your loyalty has kept her alive. Turn on me now, Ardal, and I will make sure she dies, and I will make sure she suffers horribly when it happens!”

“Damn you!” Ardal practically screamed in his mind. Elykos had won, Ardal would never be free of him, he loved Galia too much to sacrifice her for his own freedom. All the deaths he'd helped Val cause, all the atrocities he'd seen, all of that was worth it to keep Galia alive. Ardal found himself utterly disgusted with himself, willing to trade the lives of countless others in exchange for Galia. He couldn't help but think it would have been better if he'd just let the Gavish claim him. Yes, turning into sand sounded more and more appealing by the second. He could have just accepted death, never worked with Elykos, never killed those people, never fallen in love with Galia. “What must I do?” Ardal asked, before realizing that he'd said the words out loud.

“I don't know,” Galia said. She walked over and touched his arm affectionately, “But we'll figure it out together. What's important is that we stay with one another, we don't separate.”

“Go to the castle of Duke Sahar,” Elykos told him. “Since Galia is a priestess she will get you both in.”

Ardal smiled at this. In a castle run by Arxians Galia was sure to be safe, and if Elykos wanted him to go there it meant that he would be safe as well.

“I think I know where we should go,” Ardal said. “The castle of Duke Sahar.”

“Wouldn't that put you in danger?” Galia asked.

“I'll simply pretend to be a former pilgrim again, your charge. For the time being we'll be safe.”

“Are you going there to spy on him?” Galia asked. “Or to kill him? Ardal, if you're going there to assassinate Duke Sahar I can't be a part of it.”

“I'm not going so that I can kill Sahar,” Ardal said. “After what happened in Bogeid I've had enough of all the killing.”

Galia stared at him a few seconds more. She gave him a skeptical look, one that soon faded and softened, and she said, “I believe you. Very well, I believe Duke Sahar's castle is northeast of here. Help me finish rolling up this tent and we'll get moving.”

Ardal did as she asked and packed the tent away in the bag. As he did so he prayed to Elykos again, “Please, please allow us to see peace this time. I'm no warrior, I'm no soldier, please don't make me kill anyone.”

. . .

Now with an army of several thousand soldiers, Mahla marched south again. The mess with the Shadian invaders had proven to be surprisingly fortuitous, as these newly-acquired soldiers followed her out of true loyalty, not just because she had been declared their duchess by the very queen she was about to depose.

Once they had their own suits of armor on and their own weapons in their hands Mahla was pleasantly surprised at just how disciplined this army from Laherig was. Truth be told, she wanted to take all of them south with her, but she knew there was a risk of Shadians invading again, especially with Mt. Marwah utterly destroyed, so she had to leave some of them behind.

In order to deter future Shadian attacks, though, she had her soldiers impale the bodies of the Shadians they'd killed and set up the corpses by each town and at the gates of the castle. The bears in the cages were butchered as well, their fur spread out into banners and their heads put on spikes as a warning. Hopefully any Shadian invaders would see these horrific sights and realize they'd have to be fools to try to invade Arx. Mahla did not deal kindly with her enemies, which, in her mind, was part of what made her the Queen that Arx needed right now.

The few members of Mahla's small peasant militia had returned to their homes. She figured they'd done enough, and if Shadia invaded again they would need to be there to help defend the towns the little they could. After what she'd seen in Laherig, Mahla had promised her subjects that once she was established as Queen her first order of business would be to take the Arxian army north, into Shadia, to avenge their loved ones lost.

. . .

As the scout came running back, faster than Nerissa had ever seen any of her scouts run, she knew something ahead was very wrong, and she trotted her horse forward to meet with him. Her knights were riding behind her, and she gave them all the signal to hold back as she went to see what this scout was upset about.

“Easy, Zvi,” Nerissa said as she drew close. “Tell me what you saw.”

“An army!” Zvi shouted, out of breath. At first Nerissa thought he'd found the Grand Duke's army in a place he'd not expected it, but then he continued. “An army from Sabura! Some of,” he wheezed, “their warriors ride on,” he gasped, “monsters bigger than a house!”

A Saburan army? Nerissa shuddered at the implications of this. She'd not heard that Queen Aryn had sent a messenger to Sabura to try and broker an alliance, so Nerissa was understandably afraid of a foreign army on Arxian soil. Perhaps spies from one of the Saburan tribes had heard of the civil war in Arx and thought it was the perfect opportunity, strike the Arxians while they are divided and weak.

Nerissa gestured for her knights to follow, and they began riding in the direction the scout had indicated. She would see this Saburan army for herself, and decide what to do about it, and the “monsters” that their warriors rode.

Over the next hill she saw them, warriors with dark skin, clad in white, and several of them riding on the backs of strange-looking, enormous animals. Zvi had spoken truly.

Queen Morowa rode with her warriors and saw Nerissa's banner. She recognized it as the flag of the March of Muri. “Halt, everyone!” she called out. “Malachi, come with me.” She cracked the reins on the horses pulling her chariot and rode out ahead of the army, with Malachi, the royal messenger, following.

When Nerissa saw the chariot she gave her knights the signal to halt again. Obviously this wasn't meant as an attack, no military leader was foolish enough to ride out that far in front of her army. No, whomever this Saburan general was she meant to negotiate. Perhaps to negotiate a surrender? In any event Nerissa would have to hear her out, and so she rode to meet Morowa.

Morowa pulled the reins as she got close, and her chariot squeaked to a halt. “You are the Marquise Nerissa, yes? Queen Aryn's aunt?”

“Yes, that's me.”

“I am Morowa, Queen of Tajiri. Queen Aryn sent Malachi here, the royal messenger, to ask me to help Queen Aryn keep her throne. Given all that her majesty has done for my people, I have agreed to do all I can to help keep her in power.”

Nerissa couldn't tell if it was the truth or a ploy. Calling for the aid of a foreign army, especially one that size, in order to defend your homeland was a very risky move, even for Aryn. Too easily armies that size, after the conflict was over, began arguing that since they had a hand in keeping you in power they should have a say in your politics. Still, whatever Queen Morowa's true motives, she had Malachi with her, which indicated that she was at least telling the truth about Aryn calling for her aid.

“My army is on its way to Domford Bridge,” Nerissa said. “We're going to help reinforce the army at the capital.”

“Domford Bridge has been destroyed,” said Morowa. “As have most of the other bridges leading to the capital. Malachi directed me to you so that we could work together to cross the river. He said you might have some ideas.”

“If the bridges are indeed out then the only practical way to get across is by boat,” Nerissa looked at Morowa's elephant riders, “And I'm guessing we don't have boats big enough to get your beasts across.”

“I can assign one of my husbands to building a bridge strong enough to support our elephants while we take the rest of my warriors across in whatever boats we can find,” said Morowa. Nerissa wasn't sure she'd heard her correctly at first when she said “one of her husbands.”

“A sound plan.”

“Shall we be off, then, my lady?” Morowa asked.

Nerissa hesitated a moment. Was she about to lead a foreign army to the capital truly to defend it against Jachai and his supporters? Or did this Morowa from Tajiri have something else in mind? Eventually Nerissa decided that, in any case, whether she led Morowa to the capital or not made little difference, she'd be able to get there. If Nerissa rode with Morowa she'd at least be able to keep an eye on this foreigner.

“Yes,” said Nerissa. “Let's ride together. We'll find a way to cross the river.”