Hammer the Exalter by Anthony Payne
Chapter 14
Isaac and Darion stared at the ashes and then each other. ‘He’s gone,’ said Isaac in a croaked voice. The sounds of the battle around them diminished and the boys had tears on their cheeks. ‘We killed him.’
Both men felt a heavy hand on their shoulders. ‘Think Isaac,’ said Kolin standing next to them virtually unscathed from the battle with Muntare. ‘Wodan knew what he was doing. They are neither of them dead. They have entered the void and it is there they will remain. There will be no fighting and no murder in the night, for it is always night there and nothing beyond. They live but cannot live. They are suspended in the void for all of eternity with his action the balance remains. The evil of the beast still exists, as does the good of Wodan and the world we are in moves on.’
‘He has made the greatest sacrifice he could. He forever looked for the secret, trying to find the hero to save us all and all the time it was he.’
Darion was thoughtful. ‘The beast would never have willingly entered the Ginningagap. I suppose it was inextricably linked to Wodan and it could not resist following him.’
‘Correct little Darion, the Rok of Salvation. Wodan’s sacrifice has granted the rest of us life and he will be known so forever. I give him my Aeserian name Wodan the Great and he will be the only to wear this mantle.’
The three turned to the battle field and saw the Tusse armies dissipate in front of them. The Aeserians and Omarins slaughtering many thousands more of the Tusse as they retreated and the remaining Ratite fled to their eyries at the Ice Mountain. Bands of Tusse were trying to escaped south and west and the Silver City armies followed them led by the Chief Marshall, to ensure their own lands would be free from menace.
To the East, the less orderly Tusse were scattering across the plains like mice when a light comes on, disappearing into the smouldering forests, a leaderless rabble. It took less time for the battlefield to clear than it did to form and soon only the dead and dying bodies of allies and enemy alike remained lying on the blood soaked earth while the giant Aeserians and the smaller Omarins began tending their wounded.
Le Tare, Le Fidler and a bloody Le Vulk, ran towards Darion and Isaac. Le Fidler had a huge smile on his pock marked face as he and Le Bow took the boys him in an embrace.
They looked around at battle weary faces not yet seem fully aware they had been victorious. The smoke cleared and the men saw a limping Minar struggle with the limp body of Arad cradled in his arms. Tears fell down his drawn face as he lowered the body respectfully to the ground.
‘Here lies Arad and I call him again Arad the Generous, and in him the spirit of the Jotenhiem of our ancestors lived.’ Minar kept stroking the forehead of Arad and the others gathered around the huge form, their heads lowered. Isaac slowly walked to the body and kneeled next to the enormous round face, the curly brown hair covering his eyes. Arad face was ashen and streaked with blood. Mud and dirt plastered his body and his clothes were charred from the monsters breath. The heat had thankfully sealed some of the wounds while others leaked blood freely. His chest was open from the monsters blow and bits of flesh and muscle hung raggedly from his jerkin.
‘You were my first friend in this strange land Arad. I will miss you.’ Isaac stroked the giant’s head with his tiny hand and he pulled it away as if it burnt him
‘His head is hot. He is not dead just unconscious.’
Kolin knelt besides Isaac and placed an ear to his chest. ‘Isaac is right, he breathes yet although shallow. I fear this reprieve may only be temporary. We need to get him to the city.’
Minar and Kolin gathered Arad and moved as quick as they dared mindful of Arad’s fragile state and headed to the gates of the mountain. Hundreds of Omarins and Aeserians moved in the same direction like an arrow head and many stopped to marvel at Kolin who to this moment they had only heard fought in the battle. Even dirty and battle scared, he stood an enormous figure, his shield and sword glistening at his side and his warrior face full of concern for his fallen friend. All that saw him, be they Omarins or Aeserians, saw a King.
Le Tare arrived and the armies parted to allow the group through the gates now opened to allow the armies to pour in.
‘Bring him this way,’ said Le Tare as he led the way into the mesa and past the great Staircase. ‘We have an infirmary where we can do our best with the medicine we have.’
‘I know these walls Le Tare, I lived here for centuries.’ Le Tare did not reply and led the group to the only hospital in Mesania. It was ill equipped to handle the numbers now filling the room which was nothing more than a large hall. In it the Mesanians erected hundreds of makeshift beds filling quickly with bodies both large and small. White coated doctors and nurses sped from table to table administering poultices onto wounds and foreheads and doing their best to stem the bleeding from hundreds of wounds. Darion looked around in despair. It was not the images of the dead and dying affecting him, rather the groans of pain or the silence as another died which stunned him. He approached one bloodied man who lay on a makeshift bed. The man looked at him and reached out an arm.
‘Have you seen my friend Le Gream,’ he asked. ‘I am sure he needs help.’ Darion looked at the bandage covered man. The doctor tending him shook his head slowly and Darion knew this man would not last the night. He felt shame he could not shake. This man would shortly die and his final thoughts are for another. Darion felt tears pooling in his eyes.
‘I will do my best to find your friend. Now rest while you can.’ He stroked the bandaged forehead which brought a slight smile from the man.
‘Come this way Darion,’ said Isaac as he pulled at Darion’s sleeve.
Darion shook him free. ‘You go ahead and tend Arad. I have to stay here and do what I can.’ Isaac looked at his best friend through new eyes. Darion was no longer a timid intellectual, reserved and shy. What he saw was a man, multi skilled, strong, caring and a glow of leadership about him he had never recognised before. Darion moved from body to body stroking cheeks, whispering to scared faces and helping clean wounds. It was an image Isaac wound never forget. Many other hands joined his and soon there seemed to be more carers than injured, Darion directing them effortlessly to those in most need until the groans abated and smiles replaced frowns on many faces. He followed the rest of his group as they entered an antechamber and he could clearly hear a low peaceful chant of ‘The Rok heals, The Rok heals,’ pulsing through the hall.
The antechamber housed a single enormous bed and Kolin lay Arad gently down and covered him with a sheet.
‘I have many skills,’ he said, ‘but I cannot heal him. He has lost too much blood. His wounds can be healed, his blood we cannot replace so easily. He may be strong however his injuries are great and I cannot see him living any longer than a few hours. I have stemmed the bleeding and he rests as best he can. Minar openly cried watching his best friend dying and he hammered a table with sledge like fists in frustration.
‘It cannot be allowed Kolin. We have come so far and now in victory the gods take one of the best among us. It makes no sense to me.’
Le Bow watched the face of Arad as it sunk into a paler and paler shade of grey and he excused himself from the group and took Darion in search of Le Carra. He quickly found her, knowing where she would be, tending to the injured.
He hugged her tightly and took her and Darion to one side looking seriously into her face.
‘Sister the time has come. The mighty Arad whom we know, is dying. It is time to show yourself?’
Immediately Le Carra sped to the antechamber and pushed the others away. She looked for a long time at the big man’s face and examined his wounds, concern etched across her beautiful face. She gently touched the charred skin and the deep wounds across Arad’s body and then she sat back looking quite exhausted.
‘His wounds are very great,’ she said in a resignation. ‘They seem to great for my skills. A normal man would already be dead. He has lost too much blood.’
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‘Le Carra there may be a way for me to transfer some of your blood into Arad. Maybe by doing this your regenerative powers could transfer to him.’
‘But how can this be done?’ she asked shaking her head in wonder. ‘I cannot take a bottle of my blood and pour it into Arad although I would give it all if I could.’
Darion knew she was serious. She would willingly sacrifice herself for others just as a queen would. ‘I think we can do it. We need to work quickly and I need to speak to your glass makers and artisans. Time is of the essence.’ Isaac picked up on Darion’s thoughts.
‘Are you going to try a blood transfusion? They wouldn’t have needles or plastics. How are you going to do it? And besides she is so tiny compared to him, there wouldn’t be enough blood in a hundred Le Carras to replenish Arad. And don’t forget we have no idea about blood types here and you could kill Arad if they are a mismatch.’
‘I know all that,’ said Darion, ‘She is not merely a beauty queen but a queen of nations and here that means you have some special gifts. She has some incredible powers of recuperation. I’m betting a pint of her blood would be enough to transfer some of those powers to Arad, at least temporarily and maybe long enough for him to recover. We don’t have another option really. It is this or watch him die and as far as equipment, have you seen some of the art work on the wall and sitting on tables. I have seen drinking straws made of the finest glass I have ever seen and they do have needles here I have seen them. They must use them for embroidery or something. They are hollow, strong and as fine as anything we have back home for medicine. We only need a tube and I am sure there would be rubber tubes somewhere especially if they are surrounded by forest, some of those trees must have sap in them.’
Le Bow and Le Fidler took a list of what Darion required and soon they returned with the requested materials, as well as enormous crowd as word spread of an ancient princess living among them. Most Mesanians knew the legends of the magical queens of their past, who could only perish from old age and rarely from wounds and disease, their bodies blessed with altered mortality. They lived long and seldom died before their time unless war came to them.
Darion lay Le Carra down next to Arad and spoke to her softly so no-one else could hear. ‘Do you trust me Le Carra, I would never hurt you?’
‘I trust you with my only life my love, you need not ask such a question.’
‘And you are all right to do this?’
‘Of course. It is you who have asked and that is enough. I also cannot watch this great and good man die when I can save him. You must do what you can.’
‘How about when this is all over, we go on a holiday somewhere, just you and me and we can get up late everyday and swim and walk in the sun just the two of us.’
‘It sounds like a dream. I like the part about getting up late and we can go to bed early as well,.’ she spoke with a mischievous gleam in her eye that meant only one thing and Darion felt himself going red all over. She caressed his face with her tiny soft hand and her smile made him love her more.
He instructed Le Tare and Le Fidler to place all the objects in a pot of boiling water and washed his own hands and after five minutes he was ready. He asked everyone to step back and he and Isaac placed a tourniquet on her arm and flicked her forearm and crease in her elbow for a vein. The perfectly round needles and the rubber hose and jar for the blood were no worse than anything he could have found back home. Le Carra closed her eyes and Darion gently slipped the needle into her vein. She jumped slightly at the initial pin prick and then relaxed and watched as a jar filled with her crimson blood. The others in the room gasped and Le Bow placed a hand on Darion in support.
‘I know you would do her no harm, tell me what you do.’
‘Well, I take some of Le Carra’s blood. Not enough for her to be harmed at all. Within a couple of days her body will reproduce that amount again so long as she rests and doesn’t try to do too much and eats and drinks well she will be fine. I will then transfer this blood into Arad.’ With this he turned to the group. ‘People there are a great many things that can go wrong here. More importantly if we do nothing then Arad will die. He may not be the same blood type as Le Carra and even if the transfusion is successful there is no guarantee he will recover the way Le Carra does. It is chance only and that is all we have.’
The group did not understand what Darion meant by blood types or even what the recuperative powers of Le Carra might really be. They only knew the Rok of Salvation, demanded it and this served them well enough.
Darion slipped the needle from Le Carra’s arm and placed a small bandage around it and kissed her smiling lips gently, as Isaac prepared the bottle. He transferred the blood into a leather water flask used for travelling and placed a lid on it. He punctured a hole for another tube and needle, this time larger than the first for Arad’s larger arm. They hung the flask above Arad and restarted the process this time slowly squeezing the bottle to allow a gentle flow of blood from the flask into Arad’s arm. At first they struggled to create enough pressure for the blood to flow as it fought the giant’s own blood pressure. Eventually a steady stream left the bottle, travelling into Arad’s arm. The amount looked a trifling compared to the huge form of Arad and soon the flask was empty and everyone stared at Arad, looking for any sign of change.
At first nothing happened and then noticeably his face began to lose some of its ashen features and coloured into the red they knew so well.
Le Carra rose rubbing her arm and joined them as they surrounded the table watching as Arad’s wounds began to seal, the scarred and charred skin softening and returning to normal. Slowly he began to breath deeper and his eyes began fluttering until they opened completely and he sat up on one arm.
‘What happened, I’m hungry,’ he said to the cheers and laughter of all his friends.
‘Then we must get the man a cow to eat,’ said Minar as he hugged his friend and the rest all patted him on the back and took their turns embracing him. Isaac jumped onto the bed and tried throwing his arms around the Aeserian’s giant neck and Arad returned the embrace. ‘I think you and Darion might have something to do with this, have you?’ asked Arad with a broad smile on his round face.
‘With a little help from Le Carra,’ said Isaac.
Kolin moved to Darion and Le Carra and took their tiny hands in his.
‘It has been written there are great ones among us and we seldom know it and here are two of these to be sure.’
The crowd cheered and slapped each other on the back and choruses of, ‘The Queen has come,’ spread throughout the cavities of Mesania with throngs of people pressing towards the market circle. A carnival seemed to erupt spontaneously as the victors began their celebrations. Darion and Isaac chatting to people they did not know like family and the giant figures of the Aeserians were lauded and led to the eateries to join the celebrations. The whole mountain seemed to be released from a darkness they did not realise they lived with. Relief filled all the faces and the world seemed to be a far less violent and conflicting place.
Le Tare took Le Fidler, Le Bow and Le Vulk, to ensure a government of sorts still existed and to recruit men to oversee the celebrations so they did not degenerate into chaos. Everyone felt excited and even those in the infirmary brightened at the news of Queen Le Carra, who miraculously appeared, was leading them out of the darkness of the Black order’s reign as well as the uniting of all the races of Salnikov.
Darion looked to his fiancé and he could see doubt and pain on her face. He put his arm around her.
‘What is the matter, are you feeling sick from the transfusion?’
She smiled bleakly, ‘Not the transfusion itself my love. What of all the others who are dying right now in this mountain. We could walk only a few feet and see men and women dying from their wounds. Can my blood save them?’ Tears welled in her
‘You don’t have an endless supply of blood Le Carra. If you give more than you did then you could get anaemia or worse. We shouldn’t try that again for at least three months. You simply do not have enough for all the people of the world.’
Le Carra thought about this and began crying freely. ‘So I am to watch others die when I can save them? I should keep my gift to myself. How can I live so selfish.’
‘I do not know the answer Le Carra. We did as best as we could in a difficult circumstance. I do know one thing and that is you cannot be the saviour of the world.’
‘Why not, you are?’
She slipped into a maudlin mood Darion did not like and it worried him.
‘People die Le Carra, sometimes we help and at other times nothing we do can stop it. That is the life we have been allotted. Your gift is yours alone and there may be times when you can share this and other times when you cannot. I think you will know when that time is and maybe we can do this again. I believe sincerely no one, especially those who gave you your gift, expect you be anything other than what you are.’
Le Carra seemed to take comfort from Darion’s words and she held his hand tightly. ‘I am beginning to understand the burden you must bear as the Rok of Salvation.’
Darion hugged her shoulders as they shook from her tears and he led her to the others who drank and sang freely. Le Vulk and Le Tare took Kolin, Minar and Arad on a tour of the mountain and they began formulating a way where they could coexist.
‘It will be difficult to convince your people to give up territory,’ said Arad now feeling much better and quite hungry. He ate what the Omarins would consider a platter of food in one gulp and looked around for more.
‘More importantly I would think you will empty the granary in a few hours Arad the Large Stomach,’ said Le Tare. Arad seemed aggrieved but got over it as Minar agreed with Le Tare.
‘It is true that we cannot live together under the current structure. We would all starve.’
‘And with hungry stomachs come short tempers. We don’t want a civil war in a fledgling nation,’ said Kolin. ‘I will not permit or tolerate any misgivings of generosity if it will fuel old hatreds. If Le Tare and Le Vulk will permit us, we will recover from our wounds and return to our lands. We will commence regular commerce between the two cities of Mesania and Salnikovia and welcome emigration and transfer between the two. The merchant class will no doubt lead the way in this as they find new markets for their wares. Perhaps small settlements will develop.’ Kolin stood tall and regal, looking over walls of murals as they walked slowly through the mesa. ‘It will be hard to leave these lands and some of my people will resist but rather than rule we will share this land over time and we leave not as refugees, but rather as equals and allies. Our races will be friends if I have to break the neck of every Omarin and Aeserian to make it so. I know it will take time and as I possess some power of prescience, I can foresee a golden era for the people of Salnikov. We will extend our alliances to the people of the Silver City, who were our friends when we needed them most, and a commonwealth will develop. There are great times ahead if we work together. There are no more monsters left to divide us.’
The group wished the words of Kolin could be heard by more than just themselves, for they felt a vitality and sense of hope they never knew before. Images swept into their minds of parades and pennons, feasts and parties and always the two races talking and laughing together. As if Kolin read their minds he pointed to a hollow in the wall nearest him.
‘I remember the acoustics Le Tare. My words carried further than you remember they can.’
Surely enough Kolin’s speech was broadcast through the pocketed cavities of the mesa magnified in some places and mere whispers in others. The same vents which helped the rebellion, now transferred words of hope and peace throughout the mesa and cheers could be heard erupting throughout.
Arm in arm Minar and Arad reached down to Le Tare and Le Vulk who took their hands. ‘It is curious,’ said Arad. ‘Our people could not wait to reclaim their lands and now I am desperate to return to Salnikovia. It is the land of my birth and I love it more than where I am, although I recognise the depth of the roots of my family here. My home is on the eastern shores and I want for it now.’
‘I too want to go home Kolin. It is enough for me to know I can travel to these parts and see my new friends at my will and not be forbidden. It is freedom and it is all we have wanted.’
‘You forget one thing,’ said Kolin. ‘You are exiled from your lands.’ Kolin saw the worried looks and smiled as he lent towards one of the vents. ‘Here now all Aeserians. I Kolin, your king has returned and forthwith we go back to our homes in Salnikovia to tell all of our new friends in the west. We return with Arad, who I redeem as the Generous and the Source of Peace and Minar the Loyal whom I re-admit to the empire. Their exile expunged from the records due to brave deeds in battle for our people.’ He turned back to his friends. ‘There that should do it.’
Kolin smiled at his friends. ‘I have said it before and I know it is true. You are the true stock of the Jontenhiems of past, incarnate again. We will leave as soon as all are well.’
The men continued walking, running their hands along the walls stopping to admire a piece of art from bygone days and equally casting appreciating eyes over the Omarins works. They dawdled and talked and met hundreds of both races as Arad continued to be plied with food and drink.
Darion, Le Carra and Isaac ran up behind them along with Le Bow and Le Fidler who also joined the group.
‘Kolin, I think I might have a surprise for you,’ said Darion. They moved to within a few feet of where Darion entered the mountain weeks earlier and he thought now as good a time as any to reveal his secret. He worried about the remains of the ancient battle inciting animosity, but the explosion seemed to clear the hall and tunnels of vestiges of the past and maybe they could all get some closure.
He spotted the coin he placed next to the opening when he arrived, picked it up, and searched the wall until he felt a slight recess. Reaching up he pushed slightly against where he guessed the handle would be and slowly and silently the wall opened and the light of their tunnel streamed into the cavity.
He had not noticed it before, but the walls did not seem to be made of rock, as he suspected and they gave off a yellow hue. He looked closer and the cave was enclosed by golden walls. The Aeserians and Omarins immediately knew where they were and they urgently cleared the rocks and rubble from their path, moving down the corridor and into the main hall where a slight smell from the tar still could be sensed. The Aeserians reverently trod over every crack and rock, picking up a blackened sword here and an arrow head there and surveyed the whole room. They moved to the tunnel where Darion nearly got burned to a cinder and ran their hands over the walls. Darion originally thought the murals had been destroyed and now he saw the explosions had merely covered them in black carbon from the smoke which they easily removed, revealing the faces of long dead soldiers.
Wordlessly they moved to the empty trophy room where the view to the west held them all captive. The smouldering forest far below and the line of mountains further afield with the great Ice Mountain covering the horizon and leaping into the air higher by far than where they stood, left them breathless. Further still they could espy a line of blue signalling the oceans of both their pasts.
‘The view is as I remember it,’ said Kolin. ‘It is beautiful.’
‘Darion you are forever coming up with a new trick,’ said Le Bow as he and his sister walked to the edge.
‘We will repair these walls and this will be a great chamber mighty Kolin. Please trust me with this charge, I will make this the most beautiful place in existence with a throne for you and the Queen Le Carra perched on the edge so you can both see to the ends of your realms.’ To their surprise it was Le Vulk who spoke and his sincerity touched Kolin.
Le Vulk bowed and left in a hurry as if a year was no where near long enough and he needed to start immediately.
The rest walked to the ledge and continued pondering the horizon leaving Isaac and Darion alone.
‘Well old pal, what now? It looks like you have the power. Let’s find a room like old Wodan used and you can get about painting a nice picture of say Paris or London and we can go home.’
Darion smiled crookedly. ‘Yes I suppose we can do what we like. I don’t really know if home is where I want to be.’ He looked longingly at the sleek form of Le Carra as she draped her arm around her brother’s waist, standing as elegantly as the queen she was.
‘Well it was a nice thought,’ said Isaac. ‘You know she is going to be queen around here and what does that make you, her consort, her king I don’t know. Whatever you are called, she will be pretty busy.’ Isaac did not know why he wasted his breath. Darion wasn’t going anywhere. He would do what ever Le Carra wanted and he knew Le Carra wanted Darion and thus ends the debate.
‘I could send you home,’ said Darion nervously. ‘If that’s what you want.’
‘Look, I would love to go home Darion but what about poor Arad, he would be lost without me. I would like to see a bit more of this place first and have you seen some of the women around here. I was talking to old Le Fidler there and he thinks a couple of hero types like us will do very well here. I have to tell you it doesn’t hurt my reputation any to let them keep thinking that way. I’m irresistible to them.’
The others heard the tail end of Isaac’s comments and came over.
‘Master Isaac is quite full of himself,’ said Arad. ‘Me thinks however there is one amongst us who will forever be in love with Isaac until the day he dies and will permit no other to share him.’
‘Oh yeah and who is that?’ said Isaac looking hopefully around the room.
‘Why Isaac of course.’ Arad erupted into a guffaw of laughter along with everyone else and a red faced Isaac stood his ground until he also laughed. ‘Well just watch me in action my giant friend,’ said Isaac. ‘The fairer sex will melt into my arms.’
‘Come and show me then master braggart, I suspect the homely ones will do well tonight.’
They left the room heading back to the central mall with Le Carra and Darion waiting behind. Kolin paused in front of them as he left and looked at them with a contented smile on his face.
He took them both by their tiny hands and them very gently.
‘Thank you for giving us all our freedom.’ His smile widened and he left to follow the others.
‘He is a great man,’ said Le Carra. ‘Along with Wodan maybe the greatest who has ever been,’ she looked Darion in the eyes. ‘Not counting you of course.’ Darion hugged her tightly.
‘I suppose you have plenty of work ahead rebuilding a kingdom?’ he said.
‘Yes I do, but I need you beside me or I can’t do it.’ He kissed her long and softly and finally their lips parted and he took her by the hand.
‘Well lets go home then,’ he said and they left the trophy room as the sun shot plumes of yellow onto the only mural to escape the explosion untouched. Kolin the Great greeting a new day, his sword returning to its sheath.
Will a new world dawn?
Jharnell 102/1
The End