Master of Chains

Chapter 15

"We'll be riding out a communique for Baron Purdun to King Korox of Erlkazar," explained Captain Beetlestone. "The road will be treacherous, and we expect resistance either from the Awl-"

Liam squirmed a little when he said this.

"— or from another source."

"Sir?" One of the other soldiers stood up from his chair.

"Yes, Buckwald?" acknowledged Beetlestone.

"Another source?"

The captain took a deep breath, looking at each of the soldiers around the table. All of them belonged to the unit that reported directly to Beetlestone. He was going to be leading this mission, and none of the other troops in the baron's army would accompany them.

He nodded. "There have been an alarming number of scouting reports recently about an incursion of the walking dead in the region surrounding Duhlnarim, particularly in the areas near Dajaan and along Shalane Lake."

Though no one spoke, Liam could feel the room tense. They would no doubt be headed to Klarsamryn, the king's stronghold in Llorbauth. The road to the capital ran parallel to Shalane Lake almost the entire way.

"If there are no other questions," said Beetlestone, "then we will mount up and head out immediately." The captain placed his hands behind his back, waiting.

The room remained silent.

"Very well, then," he said. "To the stables."

The soldiers all stood and filed out of the briefing room. Outside, the sun was just coming up.

The stables had been a late addition to the north end of Zerith Hold. It was attached to a special holding cell used to deal with large groups of prisoners. The dungeon in the Hold wasn't very large, so long-term criminals were moved to other facilities. Or so Liam was told.

The stable boy brought the soldiers' horses into the courtyard. The young man approached Liam and handed him the reins of a beautiful brown mare.

"This one's yours," said the youth.

Liam took the reins. "Thank you." He'd never had a horse of his own. And this one was magnificent. Tall and lean, it was a young horse in its prime. It had been well cared for, and its eyes were bright and clear.

"Hello, there," he said, running his hand along the horse's mane.

The horse let out a whiny.

"Liam," shouted Captain Beetlestone.

Liam looked up from the horse to see that all the other soldiers were already mounted and ready to ride.

"Do you know how to ride, son?" asked the captain.

Liam placed his left foot in the stirrup and swung himself up onto the horse's back in a single fluid motion. Once he was situated, he turned and saluted the captain. "Yes, Captain."

Beetlestone smirked. "Very good." He turned his horse and headed toward the gate out of Zerith Hold. "Let's ride."

The gate opened, and the soldiers filed out of the courtyard. They fell into line, two abreast, and headed down the cobbled path, the horses' hooves clanking on the stone.

Liam rode beside a gray-haired man. Though he didn't appear to be too old, his skin was beginning to wrinkle on his forehead and below his eyes. He had an easy confidence about him that put Liam at ease. The man smiled when he saw Liam looking at him.

"The name's Knoblauch." The veteran soldier touched his helm in a familiar greeting, one Liam had seen other soldiers use with each other.

"Liam," he replied, repeating the gesture.

The older man nodded. "I know who you are."

Liam shrugged. He didn't know how the old man was going to react to him. Judging from the way Captain Phinneous had responded, he didn't want to make any assumptions. So he kept his mouth shut.

Knoblauch must have sensed Liam's reservations. "Don't worry," he said. "I hold no grudges."

"That's good to know," replied Liam.

"In fact," the veteran leaned in his saddle closer to Liam, lowering his voice, "Captain paired me with you as a precaution. Asked me to look after you, make sure none of the other men got any wrong ideas."

"Oh," said Liam, "aren't you the martyr."

"Well," said Knoblauch, sitting up as he rode, "if you're going to be like that about it."

Liam sighed. "I apologize. It's just that things have been pretty rough for me the past few months."

Knoblauch gave Liam a knowing nod. "I'll bet."

The two men rode on quietly into late morning. In the silence, Liam mulled over all the thoughts Knoblauch could be having about him. What if their roles were reversed?

"Hey, Knoblauch," Liam said after some time, "can I ask you a question?"

The veteran nodded. "Yeah."

"Did you ever fight the Crimson Awl?"

Knoblauch squirmed a bit in his saddle. Then he nodded. "Yes."

Liam felt a chill run down his spine and a knot formed in his stomach. He steeled himself then asked his next question. "Did you ever kill any?"

Knoblauch took a deep breath. "I already told you I don't hold grudges."

Liam shrugged. "Yeah, but maybe I do."

Knoblauch laughed. "All right. The answer is no. I never killed any of your 'Brothers' or 'Sisters.' " The veteran continued to chuckle to himself.

Liam nodded. He wasn't sure he believed the man, but he guessed it didn't matter. Would it make a difference in his situation if the guard next to him had killed members of the Awl? Probably not. And knowing for sure which of the soldiers around him had killed his friends and which hadn't would only serve to torture him more.

The same was likely true for many of these men. They surely had friends and comrades killed by the Awl. None of them would know if it had been by Liam's hand or some other. Liam looked around at the soldiers in his unit. If they got into a fight, would one of them turn on him?

Then he looked at Knoblauch. Guess the captain already thought of that.

Liam settled into his saddle. He wished Ryder were here.

Up ahead, the road took a turn to the east, and Shalane Lake came into view. It was a beautiful deep blue.

"There she is," said Knoblauch. "Big Blue."

"Big Blue?" asked Liam.

"You've never heard of Big Blue?"

Liam shrugged. "Should I have?"

The veteran looked at Liam with astonishment. "Then you don't know the tale of Ellhimar's Tower?"

Liam shook his head. "No."

A smile bloomed on Knoblauch's face, and he rubbed his hands together. "Well," he started, "lakes this far inland usually look green and less pristine than Shalane Lake. This one, however, is the sapphire blue of the tropical ocean."

Liam looked at the water. It was remarkably blue. He'd never seen the tropical ocean before, so he'd just take the veteran's word for it.

"As the story goes," continued Knoblauch, "there is a wizard who lives at the bottom of the lake."

"At the bottom?"

Knoblauch nodded, a knowing smile on his face. "At the bottom. Ellhimar's Tower is said to be surrounded by a protective magical bubble that keeps the water out and the air in."

"Sounds reasonable," said Liam, trying his best to keep a straight face.

"The brilliant blue of the water is a result of the magic that powers the wizard's enchantment." Knoblauch looked at Liam, who obviously wasn't buying the story. "You can ask Lord Purdun if you like. He studied with old Ellhimar before becoming baron."

"What?"

Knoblauch nodded. "That's right. Purdun is a mage."

"But…" Liam stumbled for words. "He pulled a sword on me."

"I heard about that." The veteran chuckled.

"You and everyone else in Ahlarkham," said Liam, sulking.

"Well," said Knoblauch still laughing, "I'll give you this-you certainly have courage,"

Liam tried to hide his smile by turning his head and covering his face with his hand. Finally he couldn't hold it back, and the two men had a good laugh.

"Purdun only dabbles in the martial arts," explained the veteran, his laughter subsiding. "At heart, he's an evoker."

"An evoker. Really?" Liam didn't know what an evoker was, but he didn't want to reveal his ignorance.

Knoblauch smiled. "You don't know what that is, do you?"

"Uh," Liam started. "Of course. An evoker, sure I know what one is."

"All right." Knoblauch shook his head. "I'll let you off the hook. Evokers manipulate arcane energies to create things out of thin air."

The regiment rode around the bend. The road turned west again, away from the lake and into the surrounding forest. The clopping of the horses' hooves grew quieter as the ground turned soft and damp under the canopy of trees.

Liam shrugged. "Yeah."

"You know the battle mages who patrol the top of the wall at Zerith Hold?"

Liam nodded.

"They're all evokers."

Liam understood. "You mean the ones that shoot the big balls of flame?" He blurted.

"Have you heard Lord Purdun ever referred to as the Firefist?"

"Yes." Liam had heard him called that more than a few times. Ryder had even used that nickname the day they had ambushed the carriage.

"Do you know how he got this nickname?"

Liam relaxed, glad to get to a different topic. "No, I don't." Making up stuff to sound like he knew what he was talking about was hard work.

"Well, you might not guess it now, but as a younger man, Purdun was a brash, foolish, hothead with a quick temper." Knoblauch leaned away in his saddle, taking a long look at Liam. "Not unlike someone else I recently met."

"Is this part of the story?" asked Liam.

Knoblauch ignored him and continued. "Just after he married Princess Dijara and became baron, Purdun had a meeting with one of the princess's previous lovers, a minor noble by the name of Stanley Smorthby."

"Stanley Smorthby? What a name," replied Liam.

"I know. Anyway, Stanley had been in line to marry the beautiful young princess and become the Baron of Ahlarkham. So naturally, he was a bit uppity when meeting the man who had taken away not only his woman but also his political power."

"Yeah." Liam scratched his chin. "Must be rough."

"As the story goes, old Stanley Smorthby rubbed Purdun the wrong way. Nobody knows exactly what he said or what he did, but all those present could see that Purdun was mad." Knoblauch shifted in his saddle once again, settling in. "When their conversation finally ended, Purdun offered Stanley his hand-presumably to shake and part on peaceful terms. But when Stanley grabbed hold a huge jet of fire launched out of the baron's fingertips, filling up a quarter of the room and looking like a giant piece of molten cherry pie."

"He burned him? He torched his wife's old lover?"

Knoblauch nodded, a mischievous grin on his face. "Scorched all the clothes and hair right off the corpulent, uppity little snob." The veteran laughed. "It was the funniest thing I ever saw."

"You were there?"

Knoblauch smiled. "I was one of Purdun's personal bodyguards."

"Really?" asked Liam. "So what are you doing back here in the guard?"

Knoblauch paused. "I failed in my duty," said the veteran.

Liam laughed. "What do you mean you failed? Purdun's still alive, isn't he?"

Knoblauch nodded. "Yes, but only by the grace of the High Priest of Gond and an expensive resurrection spell."

Liam cocked his head, a huge smile spreading across his face. "Dear Tymora. It's amazing he even keeps you in the elite guard."

The veteran got a sour look on his face, his smile fading quickly into a powerful scowl. Liam felt like a scolded child. His comment was flippant, yes, but he hadn't intended to make the man angry.

"Hey, Knoblauch, I-"

The veteran held his hand up to silence Liam. Then he pointed to the ground beside them. "See that."

A chill ran down Liam's spine, and he looked to where Knoblauch was pointing. While they were talking, they had ridden deep into the Argent Forest, which bordered Shalane Lake. The trees had grown thick along the side of the road and overhead, blocking out the sun's rays and making it very dark. The road was soft and damp, and though it was midday, it felt like an early summer evening.

On the ground, near the horses' hooves, a wispy, translucent mist was seeping out of the dense bushes that defined the edge of the road. It seemed to move with a purpose, growing as it pulled into view. The sight of it gave Liam a very bad feeling.

"What is it?"

"We have company," said the veteran. He pulled up on the reins of his horse and shouted. "Captain, it's the undead."

The entire regiment came to a halt. The horses whinnied and brayed as their riders turned them to face the bushes and trees. The mists grew, taking shapes-ones that looked vaguely human.

"Vampires," said Knoblauch.

The undead creatures materialized, surrounding Liam, Knoblauch, and the rest of Captain Beetlestone's unit. They hissed at the mounted soldiers, their mouths sharp with teeth, and their skin pale and taut against their bones. As they became fully corporeal, several of them leaped into the trees, climbing with both hands and feet up the trunks and into the canopy above. They moved with a preternatural swiftness that caused the hair on the back of Liam's neck to stand on end.

"Stay close," said Knoblauch. "Your blade has been enchanted to hurt them, but vampires and their spawn are very difficult to kill. Take their heads from their bodies, and if we live through this, we'll deal with the remnants so they don't ever come back." Knoblauch pulled his long sword from its sheath.

Liam nodded and also pulled his blade.

Knoblauch looked into Liam's eyes, his countenance serious and dire. "Watch my back. This may be the toughest fight of our lives, and we're gonna need to be a team if we want to make it out of this."

A pair of vampire spawn-both appearing to have at one time been human men-pounced on the two soldiers. Knoblauch kneed his horse.

"Yah," Knoblauch shouted.

The horse jumped forward and smashed its chest into one of the oncoming undead with force enough to knock a normal man to the ground. But the vampire spawn just latched onto the horse's front quarters with its clawed hands and bit down on the mount's flesh.

Knoblauch's horse let out a tremendous wail-a sound that shook Liam to his bones. Then his mount stumbled and fell forward onto the damp ground. Knoblauch tumbled out of his saddle, rolled once, and came to rest on the ground beside the dense bushes on the edge of the road.

The other spawn jumped at Liam.

Bringing his long sword around with both hands, Liam caught the attacking undead in the chest, slashing it open and knocking it back to the ground. The beast let out a hiss, leaped to its feet, and bounded back at Liam, moving with amazing speed.

Pushing the horse with just his knees, Liam turned his mount so that the barding on its left side was between the vampire spawn's teeth and the horse's flesh.

"Bite down on that," he shouted.

The spawn slammed its fists against the horse's side, and the mount stumbled sideways from the blow. Liam was jostled around in the saddle, but he managed to stay on top of the horse as it caught itself and regained its balance.

The undead creature pressed on, following up its slam by jumping onto the horse's hindquarters. It crouched and balanced behind Liam. Hissing, it grabbed hold of his shoulders.

Liam tried to swivel in his seat to attack the creature, but it dodged his every blow. With no other option, he let go of his sword with one hand and grabbed hold of the reins. Yanking and kicking, he pulled his horse off its front legs. The mount whinnied and reared. The vampire spawn lost its balance and fell backward. But it had a good grip on Liam's shoulders, and as it toppled off the horse it pulled Liam right out of his saddle. The live man and the undead man fell to the ground, Liam landing on top of the spawn.

As they came to rest, Liam could feel the vampire's foul breath on his neck. He struggled to get out of the creature's grip, but it was tremendously strong. He could feel it lift its head to bite down on his neck. Liam sat up as far as he could, straining, and slammed his head backward, smashing the back of his helmet into the spawn's face. The creature let out a hiss, and its grip temporarily loosened.

"No one bites me." Liam tumbled away, jumping to his feet and bringing his sword around in a single fluid motion. The pale blue-white runes on the edge of the blade flashed lightly as the weapon connected with the side of the spawn's neck and cut its head clean from its body.

The headless carcass fell back to the damp ground, twitched once and lay motionless.

Turning away from the ruined body, Liam looked out at the biggest, most frantic fight he'd ever seen. Horses littered the ground, their riders on foot and fighting for their lives. Vampires dropped from the forest canopy on top of unsuspecting elite guardsmen. And in the middle of it all, he could see Captain Beetlestone, his armor splattered with black blood and gore, his lip curled up to one side as he swung his twin blades, cutting the head off another vampire spawn. Two others lay at his feet, but so too did the bodies of three guardsmen.

Liam looked along the road they had come down. It led back to Big Blue and away from all the vampires. His horse stood patiently beside him, ready to be ridden away from the carnage. The vampires who had guarded the path were now both dead, and Liam could make a clean getaway, leaving the elite guard far behind.

Then he turned to look for Knoblauch. The veteran lay on the ground beside the edge of the road. He was slowly getting to his feet, but it was clear by the look on his face and the way he moved that the fall from his horse had done some damage to his shoulder and hip.

Knoblauch got to his knees with the help of his long sword, its tip stuck deep in the ground beside him. He started to rise to his feet when something fell out of the canopy on top of him. The veteran was knocked back to the ground, and his blade was sent flying into the bushes.

A vampire-who appeared to have been a female elfin life-sat on Knoblauch's chest. She moved her head side to side, like a snake preparing to strike, as she sized up the potential meal pinned beneath her.

Liam's horse stomped on the road beside him, whinnied, and pushed its nose against his back. On the ground, the veteran soldier grimaced, obviously in pain. He opened his eyes and looked at Liam. Their eyes met, and Liam tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword.

Turning around, he put his hand on the horse's muzzle.

"Wait for me," he said, then Liam pushed off, spinning as he came around and threw himself at the vampire on Knoblauch's chest.

The blade whistled as it sliced through the air, headed right for the vampire's neck. But the undead creature was quick, and she ducked the attack, rolling away and scrambling up the closest tree.

Liam had overextended himself, and as his blade came around, he came around with it. He moved his feet as quickly as he could to catch himself, but he still wasn't used to fighting in full armor, and he had to lower his blade to regain his balance. He came up right in front of Knoblauch, looking down on the wounded veteran.

Something hit Liam hard in the back. He was lifted off his feet and thrown into the trees. Branches thrashed at his face and arms as he whipped through the foliage. Liam flailed his legs as he flew.

Liam's forward momentum slowed as he smashed through the trees. He lost his grip on his enchanted blade as he crashed to the ground on a pile of broken branches. The impact knocked the wind out of his lungs, and he struggled to draw a breath.

Behind him, he could hear the rustling of footsteps through the bushes.

Every fiber of Liam's body ached. With much effort, he flopped over onto his back to look up at the elf vampire. In her hand she gripped the collar of Knoblauch's armor, dragging the veteran's partially limp body behind her as she methodically paced through the underbrush toward Liam.

Her words hissed from between her lips. "Looks like you both belong to me."