The Grim Wanderer (31 page)

‘Noble sentiments from a righteous king,’ said a powerful voice from a door on the far side of the room.

Logan noticed the smile drop from Balthus’s face.

‘Logan Fornor,’ Balthus withdrew to a formal tone. ‘Please meet my counsellor, Isornel, an emissary of the Sceptre.’

Isornel stepped forward into the room, and his flowing robes of purple and crimson swished as he walked. Isornel stood tall and straight, and Logan was reminded of a powerful bird of prey. Isornel looked to be in his middle years, but he was a wizard so you could never tell his age. He was suave and self-assured, with a sculpted beard that gave a severe point to his chin, and circled round his mouth to join the facial hair on his top lip – in the Jinen style. His black hair was covered by a purple skullcap, and his black eyebrows were jagged. He had a presence that exuded power. Logan detected no warmth in that face at all. And when he saw Isornel’s frost coloured eyes, the Sodan knew this Wizard was absolutely ruthless.

‘My Lord Balthus has told me all about you, Logan,’ Isornel said knowingly.

Isornel wore splendid jewelled rings on all his fingers, and some of those gems were as big as a thumbnail. Logan regarded the metallic six-pointed star that hung on a golden chain around Isornel’s neck. Each of the bronze star’s points was embedded with a different coloured gem. Logan recognised the significance of the colours of the six gemstones, each represented one of the six strands of magic. Red for fire, blue for water, white for wind, green for earth, yellow for spirit and grey for metal. Logan was certain the medallion was a powerful magic item.

‘Tell me,’ Isornel said, ‘is the Wizard Hirandar with you?’

‘I do not know her current location,’ Logan said awkwardly, ‘and have not seen the Wizard for some time.’

‘
Really
?’ Isornel scorned. ‘I have heard she is in Dolam at this very moment, and you
were not aware of this
? That
does
surprise me. I would very much like to meet the “great” Firefist. For she and I have a mutual friend. I am the student of the Firefist’s student.’

Logan did not move, but his mind leapt. ‘Your Maestro is Calagar of Geldor – The Lord of Storms?’

‘Yes,’ Isornel said aloofly.

Faster than a flying arrow, Logan swept his blade from its sheath and brought it up to Isornel’s neck. A look of terror flashed in Isornel’s eyes.

‘Logan!’ Balthus cried. ‘What are you doing?’

‘Give me one good reason,’ Logan glared at Isornel, ‘why I should not end you right now.’

‘Guards!’ Isornel shrieked, and he dared not move. ‘Guards!’

‘Your Maestro is my enemy,’ Logan said to Isornel, ‘and he is Maliven.’

‘That can’t be, Logan!’ Balthus said. ‘Stop! Stop this at once!’

‘Kill him!’ Isornel screamed at the Defenders that ran into the room. The seven soldiers encircled Logan, all with their swords drawn.

‘Hold, men!’ Logan roared. He did not take his eyes from the Wizard. ‘I do not want to spill your innocent blood, but attack me and you will not live to see another sunrise!’

The Defenders looked fearfully to each other. They were all trained soldiers, and they had the man surrounded. But this was the Grim Wanderer. And the surety in his voice made them all draw back.

‘Answer me Wizard!’ Logan said menacingly. ‘Are you Maliven?’

‘This is madness, my King!’ Isornel looked to Balthus.

‘Stand down Defenders,’ Balthus said strongly. ‘There will be no killing in my castle! Logan, for my sake, and the sake of my men, sheath your sword.’

Logan continued to glare into Isornel’s petrified eyes.

‘Logan,’ Balthus said sternly. ‘I am King of this castle, and I am ordering you to sheath your sword!’

Logan held Mantioc up to Isornel’s throat for a few more moments, before he stepped back and lowered his blade.

Isornel glowered at the Sodan with pure hate. The Defenders watched Logan warily. They kept their swords fixed on the Grim Wanderer.

‘This is madness,’ Balthus said. ‘Logan, I would not allow a Dark Servant into my counsel!’

‘No pupil of Calagar could be a Wizard of the Sceptre,’ Logan watched Isornel warily. ‘Calagar was thrown out of The Order!’

‘He lies, my King,’ Isornel turned to Balthus, with his arms spread wide.

‘I never lie!’ Logan said coldly.

‘All that wandering with that killing rage has fuddled his brain,’ Isornel’s icy eyes turned to stare at Logan.

‘Enough!’ Balthus cried. ‘I have had enough of this! Logan, I will speak to you tomorrow. In the evening I am holding a party here for The Festival of Masks, and you are my guest.’

Logan nodded, as he continued to glare at Isornel. He did not want to go to this party, but he could not decline the offer of a king. And something told him his old friend was in desperate need of help. He did not have to be Sodan to know that.

‘I must return to the court,’ Balthus gestured for the Defenders to leave the room. ‘I will send for someone to show you out the castle.’ Balthus said to Logan as he left the room.

‘You are dead, Wanderer!’ Isornel hissed, once Balthus was out of earshot.

Logan saw the look of pure malice in the Wizard’s eyes, before he followed after the King of Grantle.

Logan sat down in one of the luxury chairs, and someone he had hoped not to see slipped into the room by a different door. Logan thought she had barely aged a day, even though it was years since he had last seen her. Her long silky hair was jet black, and it shone whenever it moved in the light. She had an oval face, with a delicate nose and full lips. Her body was slim and sleek, just as Logan remembered it. But it was her dark eyes that were truly enchanting.

‘Alyssa,’ Logan said coldly.

‘It’s good to see you too,’ Alyssa said warmly. ‘Somehow, I knew our paths would cross again, one day. And now you come back to me,
the great man
. The legendary warrior I always knew you would be,’ she purred as she edged toward Logan.

‘I am no different from the person I was twenty years ago,’ Logan said angrily, ‘neither, I doubt,
are you
!’

‘Oh I grew up,’ Alyssa snapped. ‘But you
didn’t
?’ She mocked him with a dry smile. You haven’t changed,
Grim Wanderer
?’

‘What men call me might have changed,’ Logan said, ‘but my belief in what is
right
has not.’

Alyssa scoffed as she raised her eyes skyward.

‘What happened to you?’ Logan asked. ‘There was a time, long ago, when you were a good person. What happened to her?’

‘I was a child then.’ Alyssa said callously. ‘I am a woman now.’ She smiled the most seductive of smiles.

‘Well, I remember.’ Logan said. ‘I remember how a beautiful girl fell from grace to become a heartless woman. It was an evil change.’

‘Evil?’ Alyssa said innocently. ‘A strange choice of words – oh
mighty Grim Wanderer
,’ Alyssa smirked. ‘From you, who has faced and killed
true
evil, Logan. Surely I am not that?’

‘Bad then,’ Logan said reluctantly.

‘I realised a few things about life,’ Alyssa shrugged, ‘that it was not so simple as we once thought it to be. How naïve we were!’ Alyssa crept towards Logan, pretending to be meek – as if a lioness could ever be considered meek. ‘Your heart is heavier than it once was.’ Alyssa’s voice was lined with care. ‘Your burden greater than ever. Your hair is greying,’ she reached out to run her hand through the silver hair at Logan’s temples. ‘But if anything, you look more handsome with age.’

‘A heart as cold as yours would not warm with time,’ Logan pulled his head away from Alyssa’s hand.

Alyssa pretended not to notice. Her hips swayed sensuously as she came forward, to stand in front of Logan. She bent down, so Logan could see down the top of her dress, and her silky hair trickled onto his shoulder.

She moved to whisper in Logan’s ear, ‘Why is it you were the one man I could not tame? When others would fight to court me, kill to have me.’

‘I was a man,’ Logan said, ‘who could see what lay
beyond
the outer beauty.’

Alyssa reared her head back to glare at Logan. He saw anger flash in those dark eyes, but it passed. Alyssa lowered herself to sit on Logan’s lap and lace her arms around his neck, bringing her face so close to his that their noses were touching. Logan could feel the throb of her heart as blood pulsed through her soft, warm skin. He tried not to think about running his fingers over that smooth skin, and through her dark hair. Logan did not move a muscle as he stared into those bottomless dark pools, those eyes that he once could have lost himself in – but never again, he urged to himself!

Alyssa edged closer to whisper into his ear, ‘You could have had me you know. Imagine if we had married?’ she nibbled on the top of his ear. ‘We still could,’ she murmured, as she gazed back into his eyes. ‘Together, we could do anything.’

Alyssa made to kiss him, but Logan turned his head away.

‘You once told me you loved me,’ Alyssa said softly.

Logan thought she sounded sad and, for the first time, he was reminded of the girl he had once known, before he had even been King Aswan’s First Sword, during his first year in the Lion Guard.

‘Many things change,’ Logan said softly. ‘That girl is gone forever.’

Alyssa’s sable eyes flared with wrath.

‘I know you,’ Logan met her furious gaze. ‘I know what you are capable of. I will never want you again.’

Alyssa leapt off him and flew into a rage, ‘I offer myself to you – what other men could only dream of – and you throw it back in my face? What is with you? You are so moral, so high and mighty, and just look where it’s got you! There is
nothing
in your empty life!’

‘You are wrong,’ Logan said strongly, ‘there
is
good in my life.’

His eyes gleamed with a noble purpose, and that look infuriated Alyssa further.

Logan watched as Alyssa’s eyes became burning black coals of glowing hate. A hatred greater than Logan had thought possible. That scorching glare shocked Logan. Were her eyes actually blazing with fire? He could almost see flames in them.

‘I’m sure your brother is awaiting your return,’ Logan got up and made towards the door, ‘he could never see through you like I could.’

‘
Balthus is mine
!’ Alyssa spat venomously. ‘You could not take him from me then, you will not take him from me now!’

Logan was shocked by the anger in her voice. It was almost unrecognisable. He opened the door but, to his alarm, it slammed shut as he did so – moved by some unseen force. He turned to look at Alyssa, ready to unsheathe his sword.

‘You see,’ Alyssa’s eyes flared with hatred, ‘I have not been idle over the years. Your
Wizard mistress
,’ Alyssa curled her lip in contempt, ‘the one you follow round like a lapdog, she refused to teach me the magical arts, so I found someone that would.’

There was real menace in Alyssa’s black gaze now. Logan tried the door handle but it would not budge.

‘Open this door now!’ Logan said.

‘You will not leave me this time,’ Alyssa hissed. ‘Perhaps you could become my slave! Do my bidding, and my pleasure,’ her eyes flashed. ‘It may be hard on you at first, but I think you’d learn to enjoy it. We both know, deep down, you want me.’

‘The only thing I feel deep down for you,’ Logan raised his leg high, chambering his knee against his chest, ‘is
pity
.’ Logan thrust his foot out to the side. Breaking the lock and smashing the door open.

The guards came running down the corridor and rushed into the King’s private chamber, the same Defenders that had flooded the room earlier. Logan stepped back into a fighting stance from Stag Knows no Fear, side on and right foot forward, with his hand on his sheathed sword and his weight back on his left leg. In an instant the Sodan could draw his blade and explode forward. The Defenders took one look at that stance, and the fury in Logan’s face, and they made sure to get well out of his way.

Taem, Forgrun and Baek were eager to go and explore Dolam, as Hirandar left them to go off to the library. The first thing the friends saw was the Cathedral of the Light, with its world renowned fresco ceiling. The trio of friends stood in awe under that breathtaking dome. Taem gazed up in wonder at how the ceiling was a huge painting that showed the Light giving life to the first Sartorians and Rhungars.

‘I still find it amazing,’ Baek said, ‘that men can build such a thing.’

‘This dome be a good piece o’ engineering,’ Forgrun said reluctantly.

Taem saw the pillars and the floor were gleaming marble. He gaped at the statues of pure gold, and the walls adorned with precious stones. But amongst all the wealth, there was the plainest of altars, fashioned of ancient stone.

The companions left the cathedral to tour the winding cobbled streets of the city. Every which way they turned the streets rose up and down with the lay of the land. As the warriors approached the Rhungari Quarter in the north-east of Dolam, the streets grew more crowded. Over the throng Taem could see the high stone wall that enclosed the Rhungari Quarter, see how it was unlike anything Men could fashion. He marvelled at how it was not visibly sealed together in any way, but appeared to be just one piece of stone.

Taem felt delving fingers brush under his cloak. He slapped them away as his hand went to his sword hilt. He scoured the heaving crowd, as a hawk sweeps for mice. He caught a cloaked individual dogging Baek’s footsteps up ahead. Taem rushed up to his friend as the pickpocket lifted the Aborle’s purse.

‘No you don’t,’ Taem clamped a hand on the pickpocket’s wrist, and snatched Baek’s leather purse from the thief’s hand. Taem was surprised that the wrist was so thin and delicate.

Baek swivelled, and Taem passed the purse back to his startled friend.

‘What ’ave we ’ere then?’ Forgrun grabbed the short crook round the throat, as other walkers stopped to watch.

‘Stop!’ A female voice squealed. ‘You’re hurting me!’

‘Eh?’ Forgrun pulled back the crook’s hood. The Rhungar released his grip when he saw it was a girl. ‘What? Aye! A girl? Forgive me, I nay be meanin’ to hurt yhee–’

The pickpocket kneed the Rhungar in the groin hard.

‘Oooohhh,’ Forgrun winced, as the pickpocket scampered off, evading the grasping hands of people who had seen what had happened. Taem and Baek let her run off as they reached out to steady their trembling friend.

‘By Odrin that ’urt!’ Forgrun gasped, as his companions got him walking again, each with a shoulder under one of the Rhungar’s gigantic arms.

By the time the friends reached the gilded gate to the Rhungari Quarter, Forgrun had shrugged off the blow.

‘If that sneak nay be a girl,’ Forgrun snarled, ‘she do be in fer a knuckle sandwich!’ The Rhungar mashed one fist into the other palm. ‘O’ course, I be nay hittin’ a woman so I let her go.’

‘We know,’ Taem slapped the Rhungar’s shoulder. ‘You did the right thing.’ Taem could see the blow had hurt Forgrun’s pride more than his crown jewels.

‘Aye.’

‘How do you build things like this?’ Baek ran his fingers over the smooth walls of the Rhungari Quarter. ‘No mortar, no joins, just one single piece of rock?’

‘That be secret,’ Forgrun tapped the side of his nose.

‘I do not understand it,’ Baek murmured, as he gawked at the shut Rhungari gates, strapped with burnished silver. ‘Why do people
steal
from others?’

‘There jus’ be some treach’rous scum!’ Forgrun glowered. ‘Specially roun’ Dolam!’

‘And,’ Taem said, as Forgrun went to talk with the Rhungar gatekeeper, ‘there are others who are so poor, that the only way they can eat is to thieve.’

Baek gasped, ‘But there are so many rich people round here! Surely, if everyone gave a little to everyone else, there would be plenty to go around?’

‘If only everyone thought like you, my friend.’ Taem smiled.

It took much deliberation on Forgrun’s part to try and get Taem and Baek inside the Rhungari Quarter.

‘Non-Rhungars do only be allowed on official business,’ the Rhungar gatekeeper said. He was much smaller than Forgrun, and he wore bright green and gold clothes. ‘But I trust ye look o’ ye Aritian,’ the gatekeeper pointed his axe at Taem. ‘Ye Aritian can pass, but nay Aborle can do enter ‘ere.’

Baek frowned at the gatekeeper, and crossed his arms.

‘Well,’ Taem held his palms wide. ‘If Baek’s not allowed, then I won’t go either.’

‘Do yhee nay hear me, Man?’ The gatekeeper said harshly. ‘Yhee can pass.’

‘If my friend cannot go in,’ Taem gestured to Baek, ‘then I am no longer interested.’

‘Suit yheeself,’ the gatekeeper said gruffly.

‘But Taem,’ Forgrun said eagerly, ‘there do be so many wonders I want ter show yhee?’

‘Go on Taem,’ Baek nodded, ‘I’ll just wait out here.’

Taem was tempted, and he really did want to see the Rhungari Quarter.

‘No,’ Taem walked away from the Rhungari gates. ‘Let’s go friends. There’s plenty of other things to see in Dolam.’

The warriors followed the imposing curtain wall of Castle Dolam, but they could only catch glimpses of the courtyard and keep within, through open gates. The three companions strolled over the Grendric River, on a spectacular white bridge, and through the Royal Park. To Baek’s delight, deer lived within the walled park. The companions tried out the famous public baths, in the north of the city, and walked on through the main market square, a hive of activity, populated with stall sellers, entertainers and pickpockets.

‘There be horse racing here on Wednesday night,’ Forgrun stopped to read a poster. ‘But who could race an ’orse? Surely, nay man be faster runner than horse?’

‘Surely not,’ Taem grinned, as Baek wandered on.

‘You there!’ A local thug yelled. ‘Squinty eyes!’ He sneered, as he and half a dozen mates swaggered over to Baek. ‘What you doin’ ’ere, freak?’

‘Nothing,’ Baek said earnestly.

‘Nothing?’ The thug sneered, ‘It looks like you’re walking through my square? And it’ll cost ya to walk through ’ere.’

The thug squared up to Baek, leaning his face in close to the Aborle’s, and tensing his shoulders.

‘Will it?’ Baek said seriously. ‘How much does it cost?’ Baek reached for his purse.

‘Hey?’ The thug said in surprise. ‘Oh… umm… two gold pieces.’

‘With whose authority do you speak?’ Taem stepped up alongside Baek, and deliberately put his hand on his sword hilt.

‘Ummm,’ the thug stepped back. At first glance the thug had little to fear. Taem was less than average height, broad for a Man, but he looked young and innocent. The thug saw the blond man carried a sword – nothing out of the ordinary – but it was the
way
he carried the sword that made the thug hesitate. And there was a ferocity in the swordsman’s blue eyes.

‘Forget it mister, all right?’ The thug edged back, spreading his arms.

Baek watched on, with a puzzled look on his face.

‘Oi!’ Forgrun roared as he stomped forward. ‘Bully boy!’

The thug trembled as he set eyes on the monstrous Rhungar, and the great axe in his giant hands.

Taem leapt forward, drawing his sword, and cut the heavy purse from the thug’s belt. The thug froze, as his purse landed on the cobbles, and Taem’s blade point hovered an inch from his ribs. The thug’s mates backed off, watching the swordsman with fear in their eyes.

‘Do not move,’ Taem swung Estellarum down, cutting through the thug’s belt, causing the thug’s trousers to drop to his ankles.

All the watching people burst into laughter, as the thug stared at Taem’s sword with a look of dread. The thug patted his belly to check for blood, and when he found none that scared him even more.

‘Throw me your purse,’ Taem said, and the thug reached a trembling hand down to pick up the leather purse and toss it to Taem.

Taem caught it in his right hand, and passed it to the nearest street urchin.

The boy clutched the purse, and looked at Taem in wonder as he felt the weight of the coins.

‘Now be gone!’ Taem glared at the thug.

‘Unless yhee wan’ ter meet me right hook,’ Forgrun brandished his huge fist, ‘yhee best be runnin’ home ter cry ter yhee mammy!’

‘Leg it, lads!’ The thug screamed to his gang, as he gathered up his trousers. They fled from the market square, as the watching traders jeered.

‘What just happened?’ Baek asked.

‘Hah! Hah! Hah!’ Forgrun bellowed as he walked on. ‘Yhee Aborle do be so gullible! Yhee do thought they thugs do work for ye city? Hah! Hah! Hah!’

Baek’s face went blank, as the Rhungar laughed.

‘They were robbing you, my friend,’ Taem placed a hand on Baek’s shoulder, before he strolled on to join Forgrun.

‘Oh...’ The Aborle went a deep shade of crimson. ‘I see,’ he mumbled, as he followed after his companions. ‘I don’t think I’ll ever understand this city.’

Once through the market square, the companions strolled through the villas and harbours of the North Bank and crossed the River Bodium into Southside. They walked amongst the docklands through into the Entertainment Quarter. By the evening, the three friends were back inside the Jester Inn.

Taem, Baek and Forgrun saw Hirandar in the common room, speaking to Bessie about dinner.

‘Hello, boys,’ Hirandar said warmly. ‘I’ve only just got back myself. Good day?’

‘
Great
day!’ Baek beamed.

‘Aye!’ Forgrun said, as Taem smiled and nodded.

‘Good to hear,’ Hirandar said. ‘Come on, let’s go back to the room, and you can tell me all about it.’

They found Logan sat waiting for them in the darkened Sceptre Room, hidden in the shadows as he gazed into the firelight. Despite the darkness, Taem saw something was troubling Logan. Hirandar also picked up on Logan’s mood as they all sat down for dinner, but Forgrun and Baek still chuckled away as they told the Wizard about their day. Logan did not speak as they ate.

Baek had just finished telling Hirandar about the thugs in the market square, when Logan said, ‘Balthus has changed. He is not care-free as he once was, and he has people pulling him on strings every which way.’

The atmosphere at the table became serious.

‘Alyssa?’ Hirandar asked.

Logan nodded.

‘Always,’ Hirandar said, ‘she has had her claws into her brother. She is beautiful like the Moon Shadow Orchid, and just as deadly.’

‘Even more so,’ Logan said, ‘now she has found a maestro to unlock her magic.’

Hirandar’s face became severe, ‘Regardless of how people said Alyssa once was, by the time I met her she had fallen into wicked ways. Alyssa had the potential to become a Wizard of average strength, and I had the authority to send her to the Fortress of Magic for training – but I refused. I knew no good would come of it.’

‘A slight she has not forgotten,’ Logan said warily. ‘There is also a Wizard advising King Balthus, called Isornel, and I distrusted him the moment I first set eyes on him. I sense a darkness within Isornel.’

Taem could tell Hirandar was worried by the intensity in her blue eyes.

‘Isornel claims to be an apprentice of the Lord of Storms,’ Logan told Hirandar.

‘If that is true,’ Hirandar said softly, ‘then Isornel is a servant of an old enemy of mine. No doubt, Isornel has embraced some of his Maestro’s…
darker
ways.’

‘This Isornel is evil,’ Logan said. ‘I sense it in him, the darkness of the Maliven.’

‘Like Calagar before him,’ Hirandar murmured, ‘the great
Lord of Storms
.’

Taem shuddered, and he saw Forgrun was trembling and Baek had gone pale.

‘Who is this Lord of Storms?’ Taem whispered with dread.

‘A long time ago,’ Hirandar said, ‘A bright-eyed young man, named Calagar, came to Calledron, and there was a great Spark within him. Calagar had heard of the
mighty Firefist
, and he sought me out, begged to be my apprentice.’ Hirandar snorted. ‘I was flattered, reckless and proud, and Calagar was an eager student. In fact, he was a maestro’s dream. He learnt quicker than any of The Order believed possible, devouring all the knowledge. Arrogant I was,’ Hirandar shook her head, ‘Calagar’s progress was so rapid that I believed I must have been a great maestro, and I revealed all the secrets of magic to him. At nights, when all the other apprentices were asleep, he would be in the Great Library, researching. During the days off, he would trek deep into the wilderness, always alone. Within six months he rivalled the power of a Keyholder. Within a year, he had the magic to sit on the Celestial Circle. The progress was unheard of. And of course, I was praised for being his maestro.’

By the way Hirandar was speaking, Taem was reminded of when they had talked in the Dredgen. When the Wizard had said how great magic could be a burden.

‘Calagar quickly became a famous hero too,’ Hirandar said, ‘Between us we destroyed an entire Narg Horde with lightning and fire, and The Order toasted how magic had risen to be the greatest power in Hathlore.’ Hirandar shook her head. ‘I was a fool. I will never be that naïve again. I seemed to have overlooked the nastier side of Calagar. He never laughed. Calagar was spiteful, envious and cruel, and he was ruthlessly ambitious. I must have been walking around with my eyes shut. Calagar was a charismatic man – powerful and famous – and he soon gathered a strong following. Other Wizards of The Order began to notice, how anyone that Calagar took as a disciple became harsher and colder.’