Ancient Prophecy (22 page)

Fly, Yorra, fly. There is trouble here and we must get the baby to safety.

Yorra needed no further instructions. Her wings popped out and Yorra leaped into the air.

Where is Alex and Jenneva? Why are they not here?

They are on their way to Trekum to rescue Aurora’s baby. I came to bring their baby and Shanor to Tagaret so they would not be left alone. Black Devils have already killed Shanor and I think they are looking for the baby.

Oscar pointed eastward and Yorra followed his direction. Within an hour they caught up to the storm and the turbulence was unsettling. The sun had already set and Oscar realized that neither he nor Yorra would ever know when they were over land, not to mention that the rain was soaking all three of them.

Yorra, swing to the left. There is land much closer in that direction and we need to get the baby out of the rain. We will need to be careful, though, because the people there are not friendly to us. See if you can find a desolate stretch to set down in.

Yorra turned towards the Cordonian coastline and eventually passed out of the storm. Neither Oscar nor Yorra had any idea where they were, but they saw lights of towns and campfires between the towns. Finally, they set down in the darkest area they could find. They had seen no campfires or torches for a good distance around their landing site. Oscar removed his vest and stripped his purple tunic with gold stitching off of his body. The tunic was not exactly dry, but it was the driest piece of cloth that he had. He wrapped the baby in the tunic, trying to keep the wettest parts away from the baby’s skin. Oscar vacillated over starting a fire. They could all use the warmth of the fire to remove the chill brought on by flying through the storm, but he did not want to alert anyone of their presence.

Finally, he compromised by gathering as much dry grass as he could find and heaped it over the infant. It probably wouldn’t do much for warmth, but it would act as a wind block and trap some of the body heat, as well. Yorra and Prince Oscar agreed to take turns keeping watch during the night. Whoever was not on watch would sleep close to the baby and try to keep the infant warm.

Sometime during the night Prince Oscar heard the twang of a bow just before he felt the arrow strike his back and the world turn black.

Dalgar rummaged through the bookshelves in Jenneva’s study, searching for the Book of the Beginning. His last remaining Black Devil stood watch in the hall in case there were other people about on the island. The tiger managed to kill two of his men before he hit it with a Freeze Ball. He had no idea why some young girl was living on Jenneva’s island and he didn’t really care. He just wanted to find the Book of the Beginning and get out of there before Jenneva showed up. Dalgar would feel more comfortable with a few more men around if he was going to have to face her skill.

After he finished trashing all of the bookshelves, Dalgar started going through the desk. In the bottom right-hand drawer he found what he was looking for. He grabbed the book and headed out of the house, his remaining henchman close behind.

Alex and Jenneva stepped through the Door into the Continental Shipping Company warehouse. Eddie, an old friend of Alex’s from Lavinda, came over to greet them.

“Well, aren’t you a friendly sight!” exclaimed Eddie. “Congratulations on your marriage.”

“Thanks, Eddie,” greeted Alex. “What is the status on our magical Empress?”

Eddie did not take offense at the brevity of Alex’s greeting. He knew that Alex was always short on speech when he had a job to do. “She hasn’t been out of the Royal Palace since she buried the Emperor. We can’t get anyone near her. We sent a man over the wall and heard his screams less than an hour later. We sent a woman in through the front gate posing as an emissary from Lanoir. We never heard from her again. If the woman knew we were trying to protect her child, maybe we would stand a better chance.”

“I don’t know,” mused Alex. “That woman is so cold-hearted, I think she would only care for herself. Heck, if she knew that killing the baby would help Sarac, she might even offer her child up.”

“Don’t say such a thing,” scolded Jenneva. “I don’t care how callous the woman is, she can’t help but love her baby. She wouldn’t let Sarac harm her child any more than Kirsta would have.”

Alex flushed and averted his glance from Jenneva’s eyes as he remembered how Jenneva’s mother gave her up so that Sarac would never find her.

“I’m sorry, Jenneva,” apologized Alex. “Now you know why I keep my mouth shut. Whenever I open it something foolish comes out.”

“I’m sorry, too, Alex,” soothed Jenneva. “You are the finest man I have ever known and I know what you meant. I have never met a woman as foul as Aurora is and she certainly is no Kirsta. Who really knows what she would do?”

Eddie had grown rather uncomfortable during the verbal dueling and made himself busy setting up some mats for the couple to sleep on. “I’m afraid our accommodations are not the best in town, but you’ll be warm, safe, and protected while you’re here.”

“What we really need, Eddie,” Jenneva began, “is some way to get to Aurora. Who runs the Black Devils in town?”

“Best we can tell,” Eddie answered, “would be a guy named Borundi. He was supposed to be Stafa Rakech’s right-hand man in charge of keeping Miriam safe and in luxury. What we think he was really doing was setting Ali Kasim up for the fall. He seems to be at the heart of the Black Devil resurgence and also organized the Servants of Sarac.”

“Where can he be found?” asked Jenneva.

“He purchased a mansion directly across the street from the Royal Palace,” Eddie replied, “but he spends an awful lot of time at the Palace. His schedule is unpredictable. He may stay in the Palace all day and leave in the middle of the night. There is absolutely no pattern there to follow.”

“Eddie,” Alex ordered, “get Jenneva settled in. I’m going out to see things for myself. Maybe I can pick up some information.”

Alex slipped out the door and disappeared into the night. Eddie helped Jenneva get settled and turned to leave.

“Eddie,” queried Jenneva, “why did you get nervous as soon as Alex left. Are you afraid to be alone with me? I promise I won’t melt you.”

“No, Jenneva,” Eddie answered, “I just fear for Alex. I have always looked up to him as my hero and each time he goes into battle I get a little nervous.”

“Eddie,” giggled Jenneva, “he’s only gone to check things out. He’s not going into battle.”

“You forget that Alex has been here before, Jenneva. He’s probably already over the Palace wall.” Eddie regretted saying it almost as soon as it was out of his mouth.

The Sordoan warship cruised the dark waters of the Grakus Strait watching for signs of the Targan Navy. The Sordoan Navy was reduced to only four ships and all of them prowled the waters between Targa and Sordoa. The Captain knew his ship would be no match if the Targans decided to come down in force. The best he could hope for would be to harass as many ships as he could before they sunk him. Still, the situation was not as dark as the night. The last he heard, Targa was not even aware that war was coming. Perhaps the Army would overrun the Targans before their Navy knew what was going on.

“Lone ship approaching!” came the cry from the rigging. “Off the starboard fore-quarter.”

The Captain strained his eyes and still could not see anything in the darkness. Even so, he readied the crew with a barrage of orders. He cut speed and angled to starboard. A lone Targa warship would be a welcome surprise for the crew and, if properly done, the Targans would never know they had already lost one to the Sordoan Navy.

“Where away?” the Captain shouted.

“Off the bow, Captain,” came the shout from above. “A sleek craft she is, but not enough light to mark her yet.”

The Captain maneuvered his dark ship further to starboard. He would take no action until he was sure she was a Targan vessel.

“Do you see any others?” shouted the Sordoan Captain.

“Not unless they’re running without lights like we are,” came the reply.

The Captain continued straining for sight of the mysterious vessel and finally spied its distant light flickering in the haze. The Captain started to make plans for his attack. He could not afford to light fires for flaming arrows without giving away his own position and he had no idea of the forces which might be present on the other ship. He remembered the devastation the Targan ships had caused in the last war and he was not about to give the enemy a fighting chance.

More softly than before, he called to the crew. “Archers, make ready. No fires. We’ll take them by hand if we have to.”

From overhead the voice sounded again. “She’s Targan, alright, Captain. The vessel was in Trekum port during part of the last war. I recognize her, I do.”

The Captain smiled broadly. This was one Targan ship that would never attack Sordoa again. The Captain angled more to starboard and gave orders to pick up speed. He could see the other ship now and the enemy vessel was considerably smaller than his warship. “Stand by to ram,” he warned.

The dark Sordoan warship picked up speed and headed directly for the side of the other ship. The Targans spotted him now and he could see figures scurrying around her deck, trying in vain to maneuver out of the way of the larger Sordoan ship. He smiled when he realized that their efforts were futile.

With a grinding screech the Sordoan warship slammed into the side of the
Princess
Lidia
. The Sordoan archers let arrows fly at any figure who was available and the Captain saw Targans falling to the decks from bow to stern. The two ships were mangled together and the Captain saw that the Targan Royal Yacht could no longer float. He ordered his ship away from the sinking vessel before his own ship became entangled and drawn into the murky deep.

The Sordoans watched from a safe distance as the
Princess Lidia
listed and slipped beneath the waves. After the troubled waters subsided the Captain moved closer to the scene of the sinking.

“See any signs of survivors?” he shouted. “Look keenly, we don’t want the Targans to know that they’ve lost their precious ship.”

“There’s one off portside,” came a shout from the bow. “Thrashing like he can’t swim,” the man laughed.

The Sordoan ship swung to port and circled until the survivor was along-side the ship. “There he is,” shouted the Sordoan Captain. “Mate, show the Targan some Sordoan hospitality, will ya?”

The Mate scurried down the deck to where the survivor was floundering. A group of seaman followed the Mate to the rail. The Sordoan Mate pulled an arrow from his quiver and sent it flying into the Targan’s body. The Targan survivor stopped splashing his arms and passed under the Sordoan warship.

“I thought we was going to bring him up?” questioned one of the seaman.

The only good Targan is a dead one,” cackled the Mate.

“All of you, listen up,” shouted the Captain. “No Targan can be allowed to live to tell of the sinking. Our Army is just days away from attacking Targa and they need surprise if they’re going to succeed. I’ll have no more crying out of ya. Get back to watch and look for more survivors.”

The seamen returned to their tasks, grumbling under their breath. They didn’t care much for leaving sailors to the fate of the sea when it could be helped, but they knew the Captain well enough to keep their complaints to themselves. Still, they didn’t have to like it much.

The Captain was pleased with himself and hoped he could find another lone Targan vessel before the sun came up. If there were any more survivors, he knew they wouldn’t last the night.

Alex silently slid into the shadows as the Sordoan patrol emerged out of the garden and marched along the path that ran along the wall. The Sordoan Royal Palace was well prepared for intruders, having learned a deadly lesson during the last war with Targa. Alex had made his way undetected to the Palace and over the wall into the garden. Unlike his last attempt to penetrate the Palace’s defenses, the Royal Guard was prepared this time. Colonel Tork had not been able to get past the garden and risked detection with every passing moment.

Instead of six hundred men waiting in the barracks for the call to duty, clearly half of them were already assigned throughout the Palace grounds. Alex waited until the patrol passed down the path and stealthily stole his way back to the Palace’s outer wall. Alex clawed his way up the wall and lowered himself down the other side. Checking the tower guard, Alex made his way across the grass and into a ditch. He crawled his way down the drainage ditch until he was hidden from the tower, ever thankful of the heavy rain that had cleared most of the refuse out of the ditch.

Silently, he crept out of the ditch and pressed his body against a building and melded with the shadows. Even the streets of Trekum were well patrolled this night and for a Targan Colonel to be caught skulking around the capital of Sordoa, there would be an instant death sentence. Several times on his way back to the warehouse of Continental Shipping, Alex encountered roving patrols. Each time he managed to hear them coming and was able to slide into the shadows before they passed.

Alex slid up to the back door of the warehouse and knocked. Seconds later the door opened and the Targan Colonel slipped inside. With a sigh of relief he slumped down on the mat next to Jenneva.

“We need to find a better way,” Alex announced. “There must be three hundred men on patrol duty at the Palace tonight. Even the streets are crowded with soldiers. The Royal Guard does learn from their mistakes and I doubt that we could get in to see Aurora and get back out again. One-way, maybe.”

“One-way is not acceptable, Alex,” declared Jenneva. “There are too many variables at play here. Aurora’s child may not even be with her when we get inside.”

“Why don’t we sleep on it?” suggested Eddie. “Tomorrow may bring another opportunity and haste could ruin our chance.”

Jenneva and Alex nodded their approval and drifted off to sleep. Morning came much too soon for Alex’s liking, but he scrambled to his feet and saw Jenneva and Eddie peering out the door. “What’s going on?” he asked.