The Chronicles of Lumineia: Book 01 - Elseerian (26 page)

Light continued to chase away the night, but the few people they passed refused to lighten with it. By the time they got to the city wall and the markets, Trin had to suppress the desire to run out of the city. Without a word, the four of them lengthened their strides and arrived at the shops just as they were opening.

Erix spoke to a few merchants and ordered several crates and barrels of supplies. The sun finally broke free of the horizon just as the four of them were walking onto the ship with a few dockhands rolling barrels behind them. The moment his boots touched the deck, Erix barked for his first mate: “Frey! Get this ship under way as soon as possible.”

Frey’s bald head popped into view from behind the helm, and he began shouting instructions to the crew who jumped to get the ship back on its way to Terros. Within minutes the
Sea
Dancer
pulled away from the dock as the crew efficiently finished their assigned tasks. Before long they were sailing into the huge lake.

Trin leaned on the rail and forced himself to relax as Tallendale finally began to sink out of view. The horrible feeling that had dominated the city didn’t seem to extend onto the clear waters, and he felt his heart lift as the wind filled the sails. Sunlight danced on the blue water that crashed against the prow as the strong breeze drove the vessel forward.

A light voice spoke beside him. “I love the lake.”

Looking at the source, he found Braon next to him. Chuckling in chagrin, he realized that he’d forgotten all about the lad—but wasn’t surprised to see that he’d made it on the ship.

“How did you get on board?” Trin asked the young man.

Braon shrugged, “They were suspicious of course, but it’s easy for me to not appear as a threat.”

Trin laughed and shook his head.  He didn’t doubt for a second that the chubby youth could play the innocent card well.

On the other side of him a musical voice spoke up. “I thought he was rather resourceful,” Mae said with a rare smile.

They enjoyed the view for several minutes until Trin looked at the young man beside him. “So, are you going to teach me your game, or am I going to have to throw you overboard first?”

Braon laughed easily, and Trin got the impression he was just as glad to be out of the city. “Follow me,” Braon said.

Trin glanced at Mae with a raised eyebrow, but she refused the unasked invitation. “I will let you boys play,” she said with her gaze directed towards the lake and a small smile still on her lips.

Shrugging, Trin followed Braon down to the tiny galley and helped set up a couple of chairs next to a barrel. Braon then pulled out the bag containing his game and laid the flat wooden board onto the barrel. He then placed several pieces onto squares. Some were black or green while others were red.

Looking at Trin, the young man began, “Stratos is a game that simulates a battle between two generals. Each player chooses a different color.” He pointed at one of the small soldiers. “To begin, each player selects an army. You can choose to be elves, which are green, humans, which are black, or dwarves which are red. Each one has its advantages and slightly different soldiers.” Handing Trin a green piece that looked remarkably like an elf with a longbow, he continued, “This is an elven archer. They are better than the human archers and can attack further pieces.” Pointing to several others in turn, he said, “This is a human swordsman, this is a human knight, this is a dwarf with an axe, this is an elf with a short sword. Any questions so far?”

Trin shook his head, so Braon continued. “The field of battle is made up of squares, with ten to a side. Each player moves a single piece on his turn. To attack another piece, you simply move your piece to the same square. We begin by each choosing a race and ten pieces from that race. You have to show me five of the ones you have picked. The other five you won’t show me until we reveal our side of the board. You may place your pieces on the first three rows on your side, but cover what you are doing with this," he indicated a piece of cloth, "so I can’t see where you place your army or what other five pieces you have selected. We won’t play that rule though until you have a feel for the game.”

“Can you explain a little more about the different pieces and races before we start?” Trin asked.

Braon bobbed his head and pointed at the piece in Trin’s hand. “Each piece moves in a specific pattern. The elven longbow in your hand can attack four spaces straight, and one to either side.” Placing it in the center of the board, he indicated the squares that the elven longbow could move to by sliding his finger straight four, then to the side one. “The elven longbow, just like the dwarf axe throwers and human crossbowmen, can’t attack straight in any direction, or any other square in between. The red axe throwers move two straight, and one to the side, and the human crossbowmen move three straight and one to the side. Do you understand how the ranged attackers work?”

Trin nodded slowly, trying to commit the movements to memory. “I think so. What’s next?”

Braon had already begun separating the different pieces of the human side, and once he was finished he pointed to the three piles. “Each race has five ranged pieces, such as the elven longbow, the human crossbow, and the dwarven axe throwers. Then each race has five foot soldiers, which can move in any direction but are limited in how far they can go. The human knights move only one space, the elves can move two spaces, and the dwarves move three spaces in any direction.”

Trin was smiling. “The dwarves move furthest because of their endurance, the elves move second furthest because of their speed, and the human foot soldiers are slowest so only move one space.”

Braon grinned. “Correct. Most soldiers are quick to recognize the reasons behind the different races’ strengths and weaknesses.”

“So what are the last pieces?” Trin asked, pointing to the last group.

Picking one up, he gave it to Trin. “The third set is the special group, and the one in your hand is the human cavalry. They can move straight in any direction as far as they want, but can’t move diagonally.”

“Sounds powerful,” Trin exclaimed.

“They are, just as the special abilities of both the others are stronger as well.” He picked up a red piece. “This is a dwarf guardian. As you can see, they are armored and carry a double edged battle axe. They can move in any diagonal direction as far as they want.”

“OK, so what about the elves’ special group?”

“Ah, the elven mage,” Braon said with a smile, “one of my favorites, even though many players think of the elves as weaker because the mages have a handicap.”

“What do you mean?”

Braon placed the elven mage onto the center of the board and laid other pieces on different squares around it. “The elven mage can move diagonally or straight as far as they want,
but
they cannot attack players first. They can only defend other pieces. This means that the only way an elven mage can take another piece is if an opponent killed one they were covering, like this.” He moved a red guardian to take an elven longbow, then took the red guardian with the elven mage. “Understood?”

Trin laughed in delight. “It makes perfect sense. The elves’ magic is more defensive than attack oriented, so it fits.”

Braon grinned. “Exactly. Last of all is the general.” He handed him the most ornate piece of a human man on a horse carrying a raised flag. “All three generals can move only one space in any direction and also carry the flag of your troops. If the general is killed, the game is over.” When Trin nodded Braon asked, “Any questions or are you ready to play?”

“I think I’m ready,” Trin answered, and after a moment’s thought, chose the elves. Braon then showed him how to choose ten of the fifteen pieces and explained how it was better to have a well balanced army.

After a minute of examining the pieces, Trin placed his three elven archers on the row closest to him and two elven swordsmen at various points on his side. Lastly he placed the five mages to cover the rest of his army. When Braon was done placing his human army, they started.

Trin had to laugh at himself. It didn’t take long before the human cavalry had crossed the board and decimated his elves. His archers were able to shoot four squares, but it wasn’t enough to bring down the armored humans. The game ended quickly with Braon the victor. Trin smiled in chagrin, but took notice at how the young man had used the foot soldiers defensively, the crossbowmen as backup, and the cavalry as attackers.

“Want to play again?” Braon asked as he took the last elf.

Trin started laughing. “Of course, but something tells me I’m not going to win, am I?”

Braon smiled, but sidestepped his question. “Which race do you want to be?”

“I’ll try humans,” Trin exclaimed.

Braon’s smile widened and he gave him the human pieces. Trin watched him set up his side with the dwarves. Five minutes later, Trin was watching his general get pinned on the wall and killed.

Laughing again, he tried the dwarves next, but lost to the humans—and then the elves right after. Once he felt he had the hang of the game, Trin asked, “So, why do you have to go back to Terros?”

Braon’s expression hardened in a subtle manner, and he didn’t take his eyes off the board to respond. “My father still lives there, and he doesn’t think I am old enough to live on my own.”

Trin caught just a trace of bitterness, and wondered what kind of father he had. “What about brothers or sisters?” 

 He shook his head. “None. You?”

Trin grinned at the memory of Aroet. “One, an older brother. He is probably captain by now. He’s several years older than me, and was a sergeant in the guard before I left. Even then, his men called him Captain Arrow. I don’t doubt that by now he has achieved that rank.”

Braon raised an eyebrow. “I think I have heard of him. I believe he rides with the cavalry, and if my memory is correct, he is quite popular with the ladies.”

“That would be him,” Trin laughed, “but I doubt he realizes it. We used to say that he got the looks, the skill, and the sense of responsibility, and I got the fun.” The nostalgia quickly faded and was replaced by a sadness he did his best to hide. “My father was very proud of him, which was why he helped Arrow get into the army. At the time, the better soldiers were given ranks. Those less . . . skilled, were either sent home, became common soldiers, or if the family could afford it, were sent to train with elves.”

Braon’s expression revealed that Trin hadn’t managed to keep the bitterness from his tone, so Trin grinned wide to soften his words. “I consider myself lucky,” he said. “I got to go to an island in the sea with beautiful elves. Aside from daily, brutally exhausting training, it was like a vacation.”

“I’m sure,” Braon said with a grin that shrank to a tight-lipped smile. “At least you got to go. I came from one of the less fortunate families, so my training did not go as well.”

“What happened?” Trin asked, moving a piece forward, only to see it be taken immediately.

“Let’s just say that I did not excel in weaponry, and my . . . other skills . . . only cultivated enemies.”

“That must have been hard,” Trin said, realizing that despite his familial problems, he probably did have a better life than many of the other students at the early training in Terros. “So how long will you stay in Terros?”

Braon laughed. “Until the next tournament.”

Looking down, Trin watched him take one of his last pieces. “Well, you are certainly winning this contest. Care to start over?”

The kid nodded and they began to reset the board, but Trin found his mind returning to their conversation. Something about it left him feeling unsettled, until he realized that the young man had learned a great deal about him, while revealing very little about himself. The little he did say had served to reinforce a perception of youth and vulnerability. Yet there was something entirely too concise about the way he’d expressed his words.

Never one for subtlety, Trin asked with a sly smile, “Do you always work conversations to your advantage?”

Braon paused and looked at him, his expression calculating. “Most of the time,” he admitted, and then shrugged. “It helps to know those around you.”

 “—and for them to not see you as a threat.”

Braon’s eyebrow peaked. “When you are not good with a blade, invisibility is your greatest weapon.”

Trin started to laugh, a deep belly sound that shook his entire frame. “Kid, you would make a fine general.”

“If they ever let me be in command.”

For the first time since he had known the youth, Trin heard a statement that he recognized as a true insight into Braon’s personality.

“It’ll be their loss if they don’t,” he said. “Now are you going to move or not?”

Braon’s smile returned as he moved his first piece, and as they played the conversation shifted to lighter topics. Trin, however, was left to wonder what kind of life lay in store for such a unique young man. No army would ever rank a person without a shred of combat skill, yet the overweight youth in front of him, even at his current age, would far surpass the strategic ability of anyone alive.

But would anyone ever see it outside of a child’s game?

Chapter 15: Impregnable

Taryn awoke groggy and sore. Recalling the previous night’s conversation with Liri, he realized he still had a few questions for her. Resolving to ask her when he had the chance, he made to sit up but the soreness in his body caused him to wince. The effects of climbing the cliff would take time to heal, and until then he would just have bear it. Gingerly stretching, he stifled a yawn and checked his weapons before getting dressed. Unbidden, Murai’s words came back to him: “Always keep your weapons close at hand. They are your life.”

The memory of his uncle elicited a pang of regret. He missed Murai more than he thought he would, and for the first time he considered whether his quest was worth it. He knew in his heart that it was unlikely at best that he would discover anything about his family, and perhaps he’d said goodbye to the only family he would ever have. Despite its shortcomings, Sri Rosen had felt like a type of home, and he wondered if he would ever feel that again.