The Serpent Tower

Chapter Seven

Lady Asea strode down to the stream. Rik and his comrades accompanied her. Her bodyguard, Karim, silent as a shadow, drifted along behind them. Asea inspected the bodies that remained in the water waiting to be dragged away and burned. The pyres had already been built behind them, and Rik could hear the regimental chaplains chanting the words of the ceremony.

Asea paused for a minute and contemplated the carnage. “Do you have any idea where you saw the Serpent Man statue?” she asked eventually.

“I reckon I could find it, milady,” said Weasel. “We left a track a blind man could follow when we blundered away from the river last night.”

“Lead on then,” she said.

Weasel found the riverbank where they had struggled ashore, and the bushes they had trampled as they walked away. Rik was not sure a blind man could have followed their tracks, but Weasel certainly could.

“Best be careful, milady,” Weasel said as they continued along the track. “There may be enemy around here who fled the battle. They’d see us as a nice juicy target.”

Asea simply tapped the hilt of the wand that was holstered on her belt. “If they do, they may be surprised.”

“As you say, milady.”

“May we ask why you are interested in this Serpent Man site, Lady Asea?” Rik asked. All three of them were dying to know, but he seemed to be the only one with the nerve to raise the question.

“I am interested in anything to do with these creatures. They are said to have died out in this part of the world millennia ago.”

“Could there be ghosts, milady?” the Barbarian asked. He seemed tongue-tied, quite in contrast to his normal manner of speech.

“Perhaps. There are strange sorcerous currents in this area and tau is strong and tainted here.”

Rik was not at all reassured by even the possibility of some ancient and doubtless infernal being involved in last night’s encounter. Enough of his temple orphanage upbringing remained to occasionally make him fear for his soul.

They emerged beside the shores of the circular lake. Asea looked at it thoughtfully.

“Is this artificial?” Rik asked. “It looks more like a carp pond than a lake. Like someone made it, but it’s so big.” He realised something else now that he looked at it in the daylight. “The edges are so steep it is almost like a crater.”

Asea said, “Legend has it that an ancient fortress of the Serpent Men stood on this spot.”

“What happened to it?” Rik asked.

“No one knows. It may be only a legend. Certainly there is no sign of it now. We’d best get on if we are going to find this statue of yours…”

“This is the place,” said Weasel as they entered a grove. The woods were dense around them, cutting off a good deal of the sunlight. Rik noticed now that the rise on which the statue of the Serpent Man stood actually had brickwork emerging from it. There appeared to be other humps and bumps around them, hinting at more buried buildings, or perhaps something else. It reminded him of a necropolis.

“The Scaled Lords dwelt here, mistress,” Karim said. “The statue is of one of the Nest Guardian caste although one larger and heavier than any guardian I ever encountered.”

All three Foragers had turned to study the bodyguard. So the rumours were true and Karim was indeed from the Southern continent.

“Are they dangerous?” Rik asked.

“A Nest Guardian’s jaws can tear off a man’s arm with one bite. They are as deadly with their blades as Ninth Element Swordmaster.”

“Well that certainly improved my understanding of the situation,” muttered Weasel.

“A Ninth Element Swordmaster?” the Barbarian asked. He looked bemused.

“I am only of the Seventh Element,” said Karim, as if that explained everything. “Very few humans reach even that far.”

“What Karim is saying is that you were lucky you did not encounter one in the flesh,” said Lady Asea. “It might have been more than a match for even three such stalwart warriors as yourselves.”

Rik looked for traces of sarcasm in that remark but could not find any. It seemed Asea was sincere, at least as far as he could judge.

“The question is, what is this site?”

“I cannot say, mistress,” said Karim.

“I reckon I could have taken it,” whispered the Barbarian to Rik. Rik just nodded. His whole attention was focused on Asea and Karim. The pair had access to lore that was not common even among the thieves of Sorrow, who liked to think themselves well informed on every esoteric subject under the sun.

Asea inspected the pattern of the mosaic they had seen the night before. She questioned them about what they had witnessed in a way that made Rik feel very uncomfortable. After a while she produced a blue crystal from her purse. She moved around the area muttering in a manner that made the hairs on the back of Rik’s neck rise.

The crystal glowed faintly, and as it did so, the look on Asea’s face became more thoughtful. It seemed they had indeed found something of interest to the sorceress, although he did not dare ask what. They spent the next several hours watching her pace out the dimensions of the site, and all of them were grateful when she ordered them to rejoin the army just as the sun started to head down on the horizon. This was not a place any of them wanted to be in after dark.

They found a message waiting when they returned to camp. The Lord Azaar requested the Lady Asea’s presence at his tent urgently.

Sardec watched Lady Asea sweep into the command pavilion, beautiful even in her armour. The rest of the high officers looked at her appreciatively, even thin-faced, precise Colonel Xeno, who Sardec knew disliked her intensely. He felt self-conscious here among all these older more experienced officers and two of the First and wondered at his presence.

“Your presence gladdens me, Lady,” said Azaar then tapped the map on the table in front of him with a knuckle. “I would appreciate any insights your wisdom might give us with our current problem.”

He proceeded to explain what Esteril had said about Ilmarec, and about the weapon of green light, and then pointed to the map.

“As you can see, Morven controls access to the Mor River at this point. Command of that is essential if we are to proceed further north towards Orodruine's old capital at Halim. We need it for transport and we need it for supply.”

“You are absolutely certain that Ilmarec has access to these Elder World weapons, my Lord,” asked Asea. Azaar shook his head.

“We only have Esteril’s words and he may be lying or deceived. But I have some of our people talking with the prisoners, and the new recruits, and most of them confirm the story. Just the possibility of it is worrying. If so large a force was destroyed by sorcery we need to know how. I will not risk the destruction of my command. Do you have anything you wish to say, Lady Asea?”

“We found the ruins of a Serpent Man settlement in the woods today.”

“The Serpent Men have been dead these last several millennia, milady,” said Colonel Xeno in his clipped dry voice. “You are not suggesting that Ilmarec has allied with them surely?” He laughed at his own witticism. A few of the other officers joined in. The wiser ones kept quiet till they heard Asea’s reply.

“No, but the place was definitely the site of powerful sorcery recently. Last night, in fact.”

“What sort of sorcery?” Azaar asked.

“I am not sure. Its nature is dissimilar to our own magic so I cannot even hazard a guess.”

“Is this the place our three messengers discovered last night?” Xeno asked. Asea nodded.

“Have they been disturbing things best left undisturbed again?” Xeno knew all about the business at Achenar. Not all of those present did. The matter had been hushed up quite comprehensively, but it could not be kept from the regiment’s own Colonel.

Asea pursed her lips. “I don’t think so. I think they may simply have happened on it.”

“Is this magic any threat to the army?” Azaar asked. The room fell silent as they waited for her answer.

“Whatever it is, I do not think it is fully functioning,” Asea said. “What I detected were mostly residual energies.”

“Mostly?” said Azaar.

“I think the site is part of a huge pattern. My guess would be that it is centred on the Serpent Tower itself. If Ilmarec has been working great sorcery there, it would leave traces on any pattern connected to it.”

“Why would there be a part of a pattern out here?” asked Xeno.

“Patterns are made for many reasons,” said Asea. “Some of them to feed energy into a central locus. Some of them because they are essential to define the boundaries of a ward or a permanent scrying spell.”

“You think we may be within the boundaries of such a spell,” asked Azaar.

“Almost certainly, or we will be if we pass the ruins.”

“Perhaps Esteril was right,” said Azaar. He sounded thoughtful.

“It’s a rather worrying thought that one of the Serpent Men’s weapons might be used against us,” said Colonel Ascogne of the 17 ^ ^th Hussars. He crinkled his handsome brow and stroked his pencil thin cavalryman’s moustache to show exactly how worried he was. “I am sure none of us have forgotten what happened at Ssaharoc.”

Ssaharoc had been one of the Terrarchs greatest defeats in this world. They had lost an entire fleet to the Serpent Men of the Southern Continent. Sardec’s own train of thoughts were on his recent encounter with Uran Ultar and his slave race, the Ultari. He remembered Asea’s theory that it was no accident either. Could there be a connection? He wondered whether he should bring this up, but decided to keep his own council. If the witch wanted to bring this up now, she could do it herself. If she didn’t want to discuss it, he would only look foolish doing so.

Azaar spoke; “Our main problem would still appear to be Ilmarec. Even without these putative weapons the Tower of the Serpent is a near impregnable fortress. As far as we know not even dragonfire can scorch its walls and it is protected against sorcery by enchantments of awesome power. Is that not so, Lady Asea?”

She nodded. “They are charms of a range and strength we cannot duplicate now. I would not like to try a spell against them. I suspect there would be backlash.”

“If these rumours are true then the future Queen of Kharadrea is imprisoned in an impregnable fortress guarded by a malignant sorcerer. Our cause seems lost before we even begin to fight,” said Xeno sourly. “Truly this is a cursed land.”

Sardec remembered Xeno has lost a brother here fighting against Koth. He detested the place and he was not scared to let it show even in the presence of his commanding officers. All eyes focused on Azaar. Everyone wanted to know what he had to say. When he spoke his voice was calm and filled with confidence.

“We do not know whether any of this is true. Much is merely rumour and speculation. We need to know whether Ilmarec is really against us, whether he has Kathea, whether he has these Elder World weapons. Once we have established the facts of the matter we can come up with a plan for victory.”

“Victory, Lord Azaar?” Xeno asked.

“Victory, Colonel. There must be things Ilmarec wants and he must know that he cannot defy the will of Queen Arielle forever. The facts of geography are on our side. His lands are much closer to our borders than those of the Dark Empire’s. We can bring enormous force to bear if need be. And there are more ways of taking a tower than by storm.”

Some of the officers were nodding agreement. There were always some who would, Sardec thought. They doubtless thought currying favour with the commander was the quickest way to promotion and power. Xeno was not so easily daunted.

“I doubt Lord Ilmarec is less familiar with the facts of geography than we are, my Lord,” he said. “He is probably placing more faith in chronography. He does not have to hold us off forever, only until Khaldarus is on the throne and the Dark Empire throws its full force against us. We have fought that war before, sir, and this time there is no Koth to stand as a buffer between us and them.”

“You are correct, Colonel,” said Azaar. “Time presses so we should be about our business. I wish to send Lieutenant Sardec as an emissary to Lord Ilmarec to open negotiations with him.”

“With your permission, I would like to accompany the Lieutenant,” said Lady Asea. “I know Lord Ilmarec. We were friends once. And I would like to study the Tower. There is something odd going on with the flows of magic in this area, and I suspect it is the nexus of the problem.”

Azaar looked at her for a moment, and Sardec knew he was considering the risks. Asea was the most powerful sorcerer in his army. Losing her would be as big a blow as losing a battery of artillery.

“Are you sure you will be safe?” he asked.

“I will have a strong escort I am sure. Lieutenant Sardec and I have been through some dangerous situations before and I have every faith in him.”

Sardec just looked at her. The last time he had been in a dangerous situation with Lady Asea he had lost his hand, and damn near his life.

“Very well,” said Lord Azaar. “We shall discuss the details later.”

What was the witch up to this time, Sardec wondered? He wondered until the staff meeting ended.

Rik watched the new recruits being sworn in. They stood in a long line in front of the table before which the Sergeant Major stood, and one by one advanced, placed their hand on a stone carved with Fyel, the Elder Sign of Faith, swore the oath and took the Queen’s silver. Their names were inscribed in the regimental register and they marched off. This evening they were soldiers in the army they had been fighting this morning.

“Most of those bastards will probably desert afore they hear their first shot fired in anger,” said the Barbarian.

“True,” said Rik. “But some of them won’t. Some of them will stay and make good soldiers. Anyway, it’s not our problem, is it?”

“Never a truer word spoken, Halfbreed,” said Weasel.

“Wonder when we will be heading on to Morven?” said Barbarian. “I could do with seeing a proper town and the inside of a proper tavern.”

“No idea,” said Weasel. “You’d think it’d be soon, but I heard Lord Ilmarec has turned against us and that Dark Empire troops are already in town.”

“Something is going on,” said Handsome Jan, breaking off from studying his profile in his little shard of mirror. “Nobody expected to be fighting so soon, did they? How did the bloody Purples get here so fast, that’s what I’d like to know.”

“I’m sure General Azaar will be over to explain it to you himself when he finds out about your displeasure at being kept in the dark,” said Weasel.

“Ha-bloody-ha. Hey, Halfbreed, isn’t that your girl?”

Halfbreed looked over and saw Rena, dark haired and beautiful as ever, walking into the camp, accompanied by two others. His heart skipped a beat. His mouth suddenly felt dry. He had not expected to ever see her again.

“She’s not my girl,” he said sourly.