Dawn of Dusk

Vistyral led his horse into the city. This would be the last opportunity to restock his supplies and get information on the Elves until he got to Elven Springs. When he got to Elven Springs he would have to wait there until Landif sent an escort to bring him into the Elven Woods.

Vistyral knew the way to Arborlea himself, but it would be a breech of protocol to come in unescorted, and his goal was to improve the relations with the Elves for all of Karrondor but especially for Cryarlac.

Living Elven wood was almost non-existent in Cryarlac. Wood that was still alive would be taken from the Matriartree (or Mothertree) and trained to take a certain shape. In the form of a chair, it would conform itself to the body sitting in it to make a perfectly comfortable seat.

The best nights sleep found is in a bed made of living Elven wood. With no cushion the solid wood conforms to the exact shape lying on it and as the person shifts in their sleep, the bed readjusts to the sleeper’s needs.

As Chertal reined in his horse, Vistyral dismounted and went to check the local posting board to see what public information was available. There were five or six men and a few women around the posting. One man was reading them aloud as most of the others could not read. “...is to be considered dangerous. He travels with another man who has dark hair, black eyes, and a scar on his left cheek and carries a short sword with a golden handle. This man is reported to be extremely dangerous and the two men are believed to be heading to the Land of the Elves in Arborlea. If seen make no attempt to detain or apprehend these men, contact Pa Vernal who will place the men in the care of the Guardians of Karron for further enlightenment.”

It was obvious to him that the description and the location were describing him and Chertal. Since no one had noticed him walk up he decided to leave town as quickly as possible rather than get involved in an altercation with the guardians of Karron. He turned walked back to his horse and used hand signals to tell Chertal to ride out of town. As Chertal rode away, Vistyral rubbed his tattoo on his heel and thought of Chertal. He tied up his horse and again walked up to the posting board. He read the beginning of the notice.

“Be it known that the Great High Priest of the Gods of Karron has seen a danger to the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Karrondor. A demon masquerading as a man has been seen traveling west of the city of Karron. It is believed that the demon may be found in either the ports of Pottswine, Flageran, or Port Menia. The demon looks very much like the Crown Prince of Karrondor except his hair is black instead of brown. He carries a sword of royalty but he is nothing but an impostor. The Demon is to be considered dangerous. He travels...”

Vistyral wondered how Mon Treel managed to get this information to his priests so quickly. He had been making good time and it was unlikely that someone from Karron got here before he and Chertal had arrived. They had slept in the saddle two nights because of the urgency that Vistyral felt to get to the Elves. The use of trained birds was a possibility, but Vistyral felt uncomfortable and how quickly his description had been disseminated. It looked like this parchment was older than the three days it had taken him to arrive from Karron. Could it be that Mon Treel had anticipated that Vistyral would reject his offer?

Could Mon Treel have anticipated his response in Karron and expected him to come this way on his father’s diplomatic mission? If that had indeed happened, he had grossly underestimated Mon Treel.

He waited until most of the people had moved on and removed the parchment. He went to his horse and hid it in his pack. Then he removed, wrapped, and hid his sword in his bedroll.

He removed any signs of Karron or Cryarlac and tried to look like he was from Vermilion Duchy. He bought in the marketplace an old, striped poncho that is popular in the Vermilion Mountains. He then went to the armor shop and bought two Scimitars which also are used in the Vermilion Range.

When he was finished with all of this he stopped rubbing his tattoo. Instantly a man and woman came over to him.

“Hello stranger.” The man said, “Where are you from?”

“I have just ridden in from Movis; I am on my way to Karron to negotiate a good price for my sheep. I have a merchant there who knows my stock and we make a deal every year.”

“Really, I have relatives in Karron” the woman said, “With whom do you deal?”

“I deal with a merchant who goes by the name of Bags. He is old; in fact he did business with my father before me as well.”

“Yes, I have heard of him, I hope you get a good price.”

Vistyral let himself be drawn into about a dozen different conversations so the word would get around that the stranger was from Vermilion. Soon he was getting all the information he needed. He stopped by the Temple of Karron and went in to see the priest Pa Vernal. As Pa Vernal came up to him he made the bow of obedience.

“Father, my name is Baccal, I am from around Movis. I traveled here on my way to Karron to arrange the sale of some of my sheep with the merchant there who goes by the trade name of Bags. When I arrived into town today I saw your posting for the demon.”

“Do you know something about the demon and his avenger?”

I don’t know anything about an avenger but I saw two men that matched the description of the demon. I got a good look at his sword and I can describe it if that will help.”

“I don’t know if it will help or not but describe it to me.”

Even though Pa Vernal appeared to not care about the description of the sword, his body language indicated interest.

“Well it was a long sword, maybe an arms length and half more. The Scabbard had a symbol on it, it was green and silver. The handle was long and thin wrapped in green leather and at the bottom there were three branches coming out. The one on the right curved to the right, the center one was straight, and the one on the left curved left. The cross piece (I’m sorry Father, I am not well versed in swords, as you can see I carry an old one for protection but nothing fancy. The cross piece on the handle was shaped in an outward crescent with a scroll on each end.”

“Yes,” Pa Vernal said, trying to conceal his excitement, “That sounds like the demon’s sword all right. Where did you see them?”

“It was just yesterday, I ran across them on the road. They did not seem very happy to see me but they couldn’t avoid me without being suspicious. I talked with them and they said that they were headed to Movis but it looked like they were going to Elven Springs to me.”

“Elven Springs, huh? Well that would make sense; I should get one of the Chief Guardians of Karron to lead a party after them. They wouldn’t be hard to find.”

“Oh, I don’t mean to contradict you Father, but with the rain we had yesterday, not much hope of a clear trail to follow.”

“That is true, and they apparently know that we are looking for them because they bypassed town altogether. A party sent up-river might overtake them and Elven Springs is the exact spot they would need to go to.”

“As smart as you are, I would be surprised if you didn’t have those demons in the hands of the Guardians right away.”

Pa Vernal smiled, “yes, I would bet that the guardians have the demons in there custody within a short while.”

He signaled to an acolyte. As he approached, Pa Vernal said, “Take this man to eat and then bring him back here so he can help us to search for the demon and his avenger.”

“You are too kind Father, but I really must be getting on toward Karron. You see I have left my herd with a friend and have come to negotiate with Bags for the best price I can get.”

“What price did your animals bring last year with Bags? Thirty bekars each Father, but this year my heard is better, I...”

“I will buy your animals this season at fifty bekars; you will get my offer in writing after you eat. Is that acceptable?”

“Oh yes, Father, that is wonderful, I get to sell at a higher price and I don’t have so far to go to deliver them.”

To the Acolyte he said, “Take Baccal to the lower dining area, please.”

Vistyral started to feel alarmed. He didn’t know where he was being taken to. For all he knew he was being led down to the dungeon, if there was one under the temple he wouldn’t be surprised.

The turned a corner and there in front of him were four men with the symbol of a circle with black rays going into it that met almost at the center; Guardians of Karron.

One of them spoke as two others stepped forward, “Welcome Duke Vistyral we were afraid that you wouldn’t want to join us. We have been preparing a warm welcome for you here.”

“I don’t understand, my name is Baccal, I am not a duke, and there has been a ghastly mistake. I want to speak with Pa Vernal, let me go!”

Pa Vernal came around the corner and smiled at him, “I am sorry that we let your man-at-arms get away, I have sent some Guardians out after him, and I hope to have that resolved soon.”

“I am the son of the king. I’m on a diplomatic mission to the Elves and you have no authority whatsoever over me. I demand to be released immediately.”

“You are in the position to demand very little. I however am in a position to demand whatever I want. Do you see these men, the Guardians of Karron? Their duty is to see that heretics are taught in the most convincing way possible to believe in the Gods and not speak blasphemous thoughts. They really are quite good at what they do.”

“I am the son of the king and second in line of succession to the throne of Karrondor. You cannot hope to benefit from this. What do you hope to accomplish?”

“My dear sir, you came into my temple and in front of various witnesses told me that you are a man called Baccal from Movis. From what I know of their dress and weaponry, you appear to be precisely who you say you are. I am sure that within two weeks the problem will be resolved and if a mistake has been made, apologies will be tendered.”

“Why will it take two weeks for this to be resolved? What is so important about that time period? It is important that I get there at once.”

“I was told to tell you this, ’Now you know the reach of the Justice of the Gods of Karron. The next time you think to treat the voice of the Gods in a casual fashion, you will have these reminders. What ever you become or do not become, it is the will of the Gods.′ You will be well cared for while you are my guest. Please remember, while you do not have the liberty to come or go as you please, you are my guest and will receive of my hospitality as long as you act as a guest. If you begin to act as a prisoner, you will begin to be treated as one.”

“I understand will I be held under lock and key?”

“I don’t think that will be necessary. You would have to walk past forty Guardians of Karron to leave; I don’t think they will forget you. Take our guest to his room please.”

Outside the city of Flageran, Kingdom of Karrondor

It had been almost a day since Vistyral had given him the sign for “danger, get out and wait for me.” Chertal suspected that Vistyral would not be coming anytime soon without help. He had seen men wearing the uniform of the Guardians of Karrondor searching the area around the city. It was a good bet that they were involved in the danger.

He tried to get one isolated so he could incapacitate him and “borrow” his uniform. Once he could get into the temple, he could find out what the danger was. If the duke could leave the city, he could have done so by now. Since he personally knew the duke of Meadowlands Duchy, Duke Foroostal, it was unlikely that he was being held in Foroostal Castle.

There was only one place he could be held, and that was in the Temple of Karron. In a city this size, the Temple would hold two or three priests and about fifty Guardians of Karron.

He quietly slipped out of the tree wherein he had stowed his supplies, saddle, and weapons. He had released his horse almost immediately upon leaving the city because it limited the places where he could hide.

Five times a Guardian had ridden right under him, but he could do nothing because another was in sight. Now all had left but one, but he was a good fifty feet away and there was no cover between the tree and the guardian.

He picked up some acorns and climbed back into the tree. When he had prepared himself he began throwing acorns at the Guardian.

The first missed entirely, the second hit the horse. It stirred but made no big response. The third missed but the guardian heard it hit the ground. He began looking around for the cause of the sound.

The next acorn hit him almost on the nose. After determining that it was an acorn that hit him, he started moving the horse toward the tree Chertal was hiding in.

“Unbelievably stupid,” Chertal thought. “There is no way an acorn could fall that far away from the tree, yet he hasn’t even drawn his sword or alerted a comrade.”

If the Guardian moved another five paces, he would be within striking distance. The horse came slightly closer; Chertal hoped he couldn’t be seen and held his breath. The guardian needed to come slightly closer.

The horse took two more steps and stopped. Chertal tensed and sprang. Just as he jumped the horse took two more steps. He threw his weight to one side and grabbed for the guardian.

He missed a grip but did manage to knock the Guardian off of the horse. As he hit the ground, he rolled onto his feet and was upon the Guardian before he could recover. He hit him with the hilt of his knife, knocking him unconscious. He removed his clothes, gagged him and tied him into a tree. He secured him in the tree in a way that if he tried to free himself, he would fall, putting all of his weight on the arms tied behind his back.

He dressed in the Guardian’s clothes and was pleased to find that they almost fit perfectly. He chased down the horse and used it to go into the city to help his duke.

Once in the city he decided to wait for dark even though there was a possibility that the guard he attacked and tied up could escape and raise an alarm before he approached the temple. He positioned himself to watch the temple and waited until an hour after dark.

By watching he had learned that it was not uncommon for guardians to enter and exit alone. When they exited the temple, they would always turn and kneel on their right knee in front of the eastern door, and when they returned they would kneel on their left knee in front of the western door.

Chertal practiced the bow a few times to be sure he could do it correctly and approached the western door. He kneeled on his left knee and entered the temple. Not being sure which way to go’ he waited near the western door to watch the next Guardian to enter.

After another few minutes went by another guardian entered. Chertal had been acting as though he had been praying. As the other guardian entered Chertal completed his prayer. He rose and began following the Guardian into the temple.

He fell far enough behind that he didn’t appear to be following, yet stayed close enough that he could see and hear what was going on. As the Guardian of Karron reached what looked like the main barrack and mess area, Chertal took the nearest passage way and followed it. He shortly came to sleeping quarters. There were some guardians there talking about the day’s activities. They talked of the weather. One complained that his duty was too dull and the others showed their sympathy by laughing at him and making jokes.

“Well today shouldn’t have been too dull.” one said, “It isn’t everyday that the king’s son is taken captive. Even if it is house arrest, he is royalty, the Gods’ anointed.”

“Be quiet you fool, while the leaders are the Gods’ anointed, Mon Treel is the voice of the Gods. It was Mon Treel that ordered him arrested, well not arrested only detained. Our loyalty is first to the Gods, then to the men that the Gods place on the thrones. It maybe the Gods just want to humble him, to show him who is really in charge, and that men serve at the will of the gods.”

“I didn’t mean anything by it. It just seems strange that’s all.”

“Where are they keeping him?” another asked.

“He is being held in the guest quarters. It is real nice back there and the food is much better than we eat over here.”

“I’d like to see this duke. The closest to royalty I’ve ever been is guarding Lord Caravel. He just seemed like a loud, fat man, if that is all the Royals are, then why do we need them?”

“This man is no loud, fat man, I like him,” the guard explained. “If you want I’ll take you back there and let you look into the observation port. It looks like a mirror on one side but you can see into the bedroom from the other side. I don’t have any idea why a priest would want to have a view port into the guest quarters.”

“Well I can, I’ve seen some of the beautiful women that stay in those guest quarters I can imagine why the priest would want to make sure that they were completely safe at all times.”

All the men laughed and rose to follow the guard on duty. After a few minutes the guard released a latch around a picture and the wall opened. Chertal noticed the location of the latch and backed down the hall. After a few minutes he found a path that minimized exposure to the guards’ room. He went back to the guards’ room and waited for them to return.

When they returned, he made his way to the trap door and sprang the trap. The door opened and Chertal stepped in and closed the door.

“What are you doing here?”

Chertal jumped and turned around to find a sword pointed at his stomach. This man didn’t look the least bit friendly.

“I, uh, ohm, I came to see the duke.” They told me he was real nice and I’d never seen real royalty up close like before.”

The sword lowered and the man smiled, did Phertel send you down here?”

“Did Phertel send me down here?”

“Yeah, the guard on duty, Phertel, you know the guard on duty?”

“Oh, Phertel, the guard on duty; yeah, he asked me to take a shift for him last week, but, I couldn’t do it because I had to meet my girlfriend. He said he would get me for it, why?”

“He was just here with some of his buddies; I chased them out and had to threaten him with extra duty if he didn’t leave right away. It looks like he tried to get you some extra duty by sending you down here after getting me upset.”

Chertal took a step closer and noticed this was a captain in the Guardians of Karron. The captain sheathed his sword when he looked closer at Chertal.

“Hey, who are you? I know all of the Guardians in this temple!”

Chertal pulled his dagger and hit the captain over the head with the base of the hilt knocking him unconscious. He picked up a chair and shattered the window into the guest room.

Vistyral looked up, when he saw it was Chertal he smiled and said, “What kept you?”

“You were kind of hard to find.”

“Can we safely get out of here?”

“If we can get to the guard station before you are missed, we have a fair chance. Take the captain’s sword and dagger; I’m sure he has access to those taken from you. If he didn’t profit from the transaction, it was because he was so stupid.”

Vistyral smiled, Chertal always joked when the odds were not very good. He wasn’t to sit around here and let Mon Treel have his way, however. He grabbed the weapons and was ready to go out the door when he got an idea.

“Help me undress the captain. He will be less conspicuous than the duke they have all seen.”

A few minutes later, the captain and a corporal headed for the exit of the temple. The duke was lying on his bed with his face turned away from the window.

As they neared the guard room, Chertal moved to place himself between Vistyral and the guards.

The guard named Phertel looked up. “Hey, captain, how about a little game, let me earn back some of the money I lost to you last night.”

Vistyral answered in the voice of the captain, “Maybe later, I have to let Pa Vernal know what I found out about the duke tonight. Give me about an hour and I come take the rest of your money.”

“In your dreams, I will be waiting.” All the Guardians laughed at that.

Vistyral and Chertal were almost at the main temple when the bells began to toll. Both men broke into a run and headed for the eastern door. Chertal grabbed Vistyral’s arm and pulled him onto his knee in front of the eastern door.

Chertal started off into the city and Vistyral followed. As soon as they were out of sight from the temple Chertal ducked into an alley-way.

“What is the matter?” Vistyral asked.

They probably found the Guardian of Karron that I borrowed this uniform from. It won’t take them long to realize that the captain who just left isn’t who he was supposed to be either.

We have got to get out of these uniforms. We would never get out of the city in them now. Where can we find some clothes?”

“I am a little short of funds. Pa Vernal decided that I wanted to donate to his temple. He felt that it should be all that I had with me. He was keeping me safe until I could have funds sent to me from Cryarlac. He figured that by the time my request for funds arrived in Cryarlac and they could get it to me by messenger, a good two weeks would have passed, and I would have benefited from the generosity of Karron and would be in debt to the Gods.”

“It is amazing how the can justify the kidnapping of a royal, holding him hostage, and extortion for ransom, and make it sound like they have done you a favor.”

“The king will hear about this, if we can get out of here, we can hurt Mon Treel in his political power for a while. He gambled big here. If he could get hold of me and make it work, I would never DARE speak against him, for public opinion would brand me ungrateful and spiteful. He knows doing this, however will make an enemy of me. He apparently doesn’t care that I will be his enemy, or he knows something that he thinks will keep me from fighting him. Maybe he had a spy listening to our conversation in Karron. Luckily I had one too, with a lot of credibility. Not only can he testify on my behalf, he can recreate the entire conversation start to finish. It would be embarrassing for me but it would be treason for Mon Treel. He could be banished from Karrondor. It would be hard to remain High Priest of the Gods of Karron if he couldn’t enter Karrondor.

If we can get away from here, we will have our way with the great high priest. He will be unable to deny requests from me for some time.”

“So it looks like the cash that I am carrying and the emergency supply is all that we have left. We could buy clothes, but then we might not have enough supplies to get to Elven Springs either.”

“Foroostal does not seem like the kind of leader that would cave in to the local priest; however I understand his wife is very religious and does whatever her priest tells her to do. Foroostal is madly in love with her. He knows she is doing everything her priest tells her to do. Unfortunately for him most of what he tells her to do is supposed to be reserved for his marriage bed.

She would have him turn us over to Pa Vernal if she knew we were there. If we tell him not to tell her, we will let him know that his wife’s affair is well known. He will lose face, and most likely be unwilling or unable to help us.”

“I will never understand all of this intrigue. A man at arms only has to worry about one thing, protecting his charge. I am glad that you treat me as a friend, however,” Chertal said. “What if we tell him that you are on a mission for the king and no one can know where you are? That is about as truthful as we can get.”

“Brilliant, if we can just get in to see him unobserved our problems will be solved.”

“It might be easier to fly to Arborlea, quicker too,” Chertal smiled.

“Not near as fun though. I’m not very familiar with this part of town. When we have visited here with father, we have seldom left the fortress. I know the temple is east in relation to the palace and we went east when we left the temple. We are probably in the section of the city called “The Ways.”

“I’ve heard of The Ways, we are probably safe only because we are wearing the uniform of the Guardians. The people have no scruples, but are religious fanatics. They will kill you for a Bekar of wheat and never think twice, but, speak against the Gods of Karron; they will not only kill you, but, nail your body to the front of the temple as an example as well.”

“Lets go, we will act like we are looking for someone and work our way over to the south side of town where the guards of Karron are not so welcome. If we see any clothes on the way, we will buy them, whether they are for sale or not.”

They left the alley way, and turned down the first street to the right they came to. No one seemed to notice them but they both felt as if they had fifty or sixty pairs watching their every move. The Ways didn’t really have streets; there were alleys and wide alleys. The wide alleys could accommodate a hand cart but the small alleys were for foot traffic only. The one they were on was one of the wider alleys. Every so often it opened up even wider. During the day, the wider areas became a market place. Farmers, cloth vendors, and bakers all pushed carts into the area and sold their goods since The Ways had no shops or permanent commerce. If a merchant opened a permanent shop, his store would be looted and his equipment stolen the first night it was not guarded by armed personnel.

As they neared the edge of The Ways, a group of six to eight men stepped out into the alley in front of them. Chertal as the lower ranking Guardian spoke to them.

“May the Light of Karron fill you always.”

On of the group stepped forward. “And may the light always emanate from those who share the light.” He continued walking toward the pair. There was no overt threat, but, both Chertal and Vistyral tensed as he approached.

The others slowly spread out to span the alley, effectively blocking any attempt either in or out of The Ways. The spokesman approached, and Vistyral and Chertal waited.

The group leader inclined his head and then spoke to Chertal. “You honor us with your presence this night. How can the Friends of the Guardians help you?”

Chertal spoke, “One of my brothers has been attacked and hurt, the infidel who did it took his armor. The Captain wanted me to tell you to be wary of a Guardian traveling alone. He could be the unbeliever. The Captain had also made arrangements to meet with the Duke and get his assistance in finding the heretic. Because it is very irregular that the Guards of Karron ask anyone other than the Friends for assistance, we are meeting them in the Mycene area. We wish to pass.”

“We are happy to comply, with the words of confirmation, we will let him pass.”

The Friend did not move a muscle, but, it was clear that no one would pass without the password. Without it they would have to fight the eight men blocking the exit, even if they were not well trained, numbers favored them.

“Can you not see? This is the Captain of the Guardians of Karron; he does not have time for such childishness he reports only to the High Priest himself.”

“We were taught that discipline makes us strong, we were never told that such was childishness.”

Chertal started to grab for his sword and began to say something when Vistyral put forth his hand to restrain Chertal and said, “You are to be commended, Friend, what is your name?”

“I am Gameel Lord Captain.”

“Just Captain will do, Gameel. I asked my corporal to test you, and you have done well, very well indeed. What rank do you hold within the Friends?”

“I am a group leader of seven, my Captain.”

“I will see if we can’t make you a group leader of fifteen when tonight is successfully completed. I did not check very carefully to see if your code was different from the Temple code, but that code was ‘Lightness is Confirmation of Righteousness.’ Is that the words of confirmation you are looking for?”

“Well, my Captain, the words were, ‘Lightness is Righteousness.’ It is close enough for me, you may pass.”

He turned and signaled to the others that they were to let Vistyral and Chertal pass.

Vistyral spoke again, “we left as soon as the bells were rung, we did not expect to take this route of travel, and do any of you have clothing we could use while in our meeting? Nothing too fancy Gameel, just some clean clothes of any type.”

“Yes, my Captain, I will send for some right away.”

“You are most helpful, perhaps you should, and hurry we are already late.”

Gameel went to get clothes. When he returned, Vistyral and Chertal had changed out of their uniform and they put on the new clothes.

“I will remember your help, Gameel, for as long as I live.” Vistyral shook his hand and then he and Chertal left.