The Aperture

Chapter 9

The Melancholy Chapel

Connie tapped on Rahl’s shoulder. “Since this is a chapel, there’s going to be good spirits inside, right?”

“If Chaos is inside, there is no telling what we will find,” Rahl replied. “The nature of Chaos is to be what ought not to be and what is most unexpected by the rational mind.”

“Are you saying that a person has to be insane to understand Chaos?”

“Indeed, Alyndia. Why must you ask such obvious questions at a time like this?” he said with annoyance. “Step back, please. You are in my way.”

Connie did as she was told, and she and Theo watched while Rahl dragged the body away from the doors to the chapel so that they could open it. Then, sword in hand, Rahl grabbed the loop on the door and gave it a hefty pull. A short length of chain pulled out of the door. Hidden mechanical gears rattled inside the wall, there came a snick from above, then the heavy wooden doors opened outward.

Rahl looked into the chapel and entered it while Connie and Theo watched him from behind. Moments later, Rahl stepped out again.

“Stay close behind me. And don’t touch anything.”

Rahl reentered the chapel. Connie and Theo followed close behind. Just inside the doors was a small vestibule with a short staircase leading up to another set of huge wooden doors. One of the doors was held ajar by another body. Painted on the door was a coat of arms encompassed by a shimmering green dragon that seemed to glow in the darkened vestibule with its own light. Rahl looked back to Theo. Theo silently gestured toward the large, wood doors with his staff.

Rahl poked his head through the doors. A few seconds later, he pulled open the door wider and stepped inside. Connie heard the sound of weapons being unsheathed somewhere beyond the doors. She quickly stepped over the body to join Rahl in entering the chapel. Theo followed shortly thereafter.

Before them was a quaint representative, Connie thought, of an Old World European church out of the 1500s. Light from stained-glass windows lining both sides of the main worship area illuminated the rows of pews with multicolored light. The chamber itself was in shambles. Corpses of the recently slain were strewn everywhere. Most of the pews were smashed to splinters, and the glorious tapestries that hung from the walls between the stained-glass windows were splattered with blood or ripped to shreds. The carnage was immense. A messy wad of entrails hung from the rafters thirty feet up. To Connie, it appeared that a bomb had exploded within the chapel. She knew this could not be true, for the stained-glass windows were still intact. They certainly would not have survived the explosion.

At the altar area on the far side of the chapel stood six lone figures, three men and three women, lightly armored, with their weapons drawn. They stood facing Rahl, Connie, and Theo, three to a row on either side of a glowing circular pool, perhaps eight to ten paces across, set into a raised area of the floor. Just beyond the pool was a great gold altar engraved with glyphs and the green dragon coat of arms they saw on the door. On top of the altar lay an older man wearing light metal armor. The man appeared to be dead. His dark, greenish blood ran down the sides of the altar, making the altar appear cracked. Some shiny objects rested on his chest.

Rahl held up his hand to the six who stood there. “Hail! We come in peace!”

The six beings did not respond. Instead, they watched them from their places at the pool. They appeared to be guarding both the altar with the body lying on it and the pool.

Rahl called out again. “We are here to see Lord Maray. We have come to aid in the repair of the Calphous Wall. May we speak to someone?”

The six figures remained silent. Rahl turned to Theo.

“Theo, what’s wrong? Why won’t they respond? Are these the six spirits you detected outside?”

Theo did not seem to hear Rahl’s question. He only stared at the figures while wearing a dumbfounded expression, his mouth agape. He trembled slightly.

“Theo?” Connie asked, also noticing his state. She waved a hand in front of his eyes and snapped her fingers. “Hey!”

“Yes, this is them,” Theo replied finally, his voice quavering. “There is great magic here.”

“What magic?” Connie asked.

“They are—” Theo swallowed hard, “Those beings are not spirits of divine origin. They are of the negative plane.”

“You mean, they are demons?” Rahl asked.

Theo shook his head. “No, they are conjured spirits. They were conjured from the negative plane to animate flesh.” He swallowed. “I would have to live a hundred years before I learned to cast the spell that conjured beings such as these.”

“What are they doing here?” Rahl asked.

“They are here to fulfill a mission, or perhaps to protect.”

“It looks like they failed.” Connie said.

“No, they are still protecting something.”

“What are they protecting?”

“Wait!” Theo said. “His eyes darted suddenly to the pool. I sense another spirit. A spirit of the departed. It is here in the chapel. It somehow knew we were coming. It lingers, waiting for us to approach before it can travel to the higher planes. It calls to us now. It calls us to the pool. We must go there.”

Theo blindly started walking toward the pool. Two of the beings raised their weapons. One carried a cruel-looking scimitar. The other held a battle axe. On seeing this movement, Rahl grabbed Theo by his bony shoulder and held him still.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Rahl said.

The spirit is beckoning us toward the pool.”

“What about them? I cannot take on all of them at once.”

“They will not harm us. Their task is almost complete here. The wizard that conjured them is dead. Lord Maray himself is dead—fatally wounded in the attack. It was here he died. It is his body that rests upon the altar. Now, his spirit awaits us. Let us go now.”

Rahl released Theo. Theo started forward with Rahl close behind him. Connie followed close behind Rahl, carefully stepping over the bodies and broken furniture.

At last, they reached the pool, where three of the six beings stood between them and the body on the altar. Outwardly, they appeared as adult men and women. The men were quite handsome, and the women were exceptionally comely, all healthy looking and in the prime of life. Connie thought that none of them would look out of place on the cover of Vogue. The six held a wide array of weapons, from halberds to scimitars to battle axes. They watched Connie, Rahl, and Theo unblinkingly, not sharing a word between the three visitors nor themselves. Connie could not believe they could be spiritual beings, for two of them, a male and a female, were wounded, though not seriously. Blood from their untended wounds wicked into their clothing and had even dripped to the chapel floor. In her book, spirits did not bleed, but these people did.

As for Lord Maray, he was a robust-looking man but unfortunately quite dead, having sustained a grievous wound to his neck and shoulder. Upon his chest, clutched in his hands, were six medallions on a stout silver chain amidst a pile of ashes. The amulets were in the shape of a cross, with the top member of the cross set into a semi-oval loop. Connie instantly recognized their shape as that of the Egyptian ankh. The material these amulets were made of glowed with the phosphorescent light emanating from the pool, as would a fluorescent color beneath a black light. Connie stared into the bottom of the pool. She could not see the bottom for the strange murky water that churned and swirled like a jacuzzi in slow motion.

Theo took a step toward the body of the Lord Maray on the alter. One of the figures, a good-looking male with dark green-black hair, moved to block Theo. He held out his scimitar, threatening to strike Theo with it if he came any closer. Theo stopped and did not approach further.

“Theo, what are you doing?” Connie asked. “These guys look like they mean business.”

“Just as I thought,” Theo said to her, not taking his eyes off the body on the altar.

“What?”

“They were conjured to protect Lord Maray, and now they guard his body, even after death.”

“Why are they doing that?”

“I do not know. Perhaps his spirit has not yet departed.”

At that moment, a slight breeze blew through the chapel. The three of them looked around for the origin of the breeze. With the doors shut and windows intact, there did not seem to be an origin. When their attention returned to the pool, a fine green mist was floating across the water, emanating from the center. After the mist completely covered the pool, it swirled upward and coalesced into the figure of the man lying on the alter. His breastplate bore the symbol of the green dragon. The man stood unmoving, diaphanous, floating inches above the pool with his hands clasped together in front of his eyes as if in prayer. Gradually, he lowered his hands down to his chest. Rahl and Theo took a step back. Connie scanned the cathedral for the projection equipment that was producing the convincing illusion.

Then the figure spoke with a sonorous voice that seemed to emanate from the corners of the chamber where they stood.

“Greeting, fair travelers. I have awaited your arrival.”

Rahl and Theo got on their knees before the figure. Connie did the same, not out of respect, but only to not stand out for the wrong reasons.

“Lord Maray?” Rahl asked in awe of the ghostly apparition.

“Yes, it is I.”

“It grieves us to see what has been done to your noble estate. Is Chaos responsible for this?”

“Indeed, Rahl. Chaos was the agent of our death. It came silently as a thief in the night. It crept beneath our doors. There was no time to prepare. Even now, Chaos Death restlessly wanders the catacombs beneath the castle in a form of evil that hides from the sun. Even as I speak, it waits to rise to the surface with the setting sun to cause more death and destruction.”

Rahl held up his sword. “Chaos shall pay for what it has done here!” he said with defiance. “We will avenge you.”

“Rahl, you are courageous, but there is a deeper calamity in the winds of which Chaos is merely a manifestation. Avenge not my life or my humble estate, but fear the pestilence that is unleashed on our fair land. For now the days of darkness are upon us, and the darkness shall never lift. Divination of the Four Winds speaks of a spell that is dying, an old spell, a spell that must be recast, or all we know and all we love will cease to exist.”

“Is it the Calphous Wall?” Theo asked. “Is the wall intact?”

“All that can be done for the Calphous Wall was done before your arrival. But the power of chaos has become so great that a mere enchanted barrier can hold it back no longer.”

“What can we do, o great lord?”

“You must go straight to the wizard Calicus in Roggentine. He will explain all.”

The apparition of Lord Maray began to flutter and weaken. His voice now sounded more distant; its sonorous quality was replaced by a distant, unearthly quality. “My time here is short, and I cannot remain with you any longer. Do not remain here past sunset, or by morning you will have joined me, my family, my friends, and my garrison in death.” The image fluttered again, and now it was only a thin outline of the former apparition. “Go now to Calicus. Do not stop in any of the towns along the way, for they are already doomed.”

“Which towns are doomed? Is Zeranon doomed?” Rahl asked, his voice quavering.

Connie looked to him, surprised. She wondered why he was so concerned about Zeranon, aside from the fact his brother owned a small farm there.

The apparition abruptly vanished into thin air. Fragmented, distant words of warning continued from some faraway, otherworldly place: “…go now, and do not sleep until you reach the…” The voice trailed off, and then the chapel was silent.

The mist now began to dissipate from the surface of the pool. Rahl got to his feet.

All six beings stared at Connie, Rahl, and Theo.

“I don’t like the way they’re looking at us,” Rahl said, as he turned toward the door to the chapel.

“I agree,” Connie said. “Let’s get out of here.”

At that moment, one of the figures, a male holding a halberd, turned and slowly walked to the edge of the pool. Rahl, Theo, and Connie stepped away from them.

Now slowly, as though a ceremony were taking place, the figure stepped into the pool. He walked forward toward its center, sinking lower with each step. When the water reached his neck, his face remained in a strange expression of bliss, then he disappeared beneath the surface. Connie waited for him to reappear, almost holding her breath for him. He never resurfaced. Moments later, there came a sharp, crackling noise from Lord Maray’s body as one of the amulets clutched in his dead hands shattered, sending shards of fractured metal tinkling to the metal floor around the alter. Five amulets remained.

Next, a figure from the opposite side of the pool—this one a woman with electric green hair, done up in twin braids—stepped into the pool. As did the male, she walked toward the center. Her face wore the expression of perfect ecstasy just before she vanished within its depths. Seconds later, a cracking sound issued from the clutch of amulets at the lord’s breast. Now there were four. Next, a male figure stepped into the pool.

“Theo, what is going on here? What are they doing?” Connie asked, not taking her eyes off the spectacle.

“Their mission is fulfilled,” Theo replied. “They are returning to the netherworld from which they came.”

“You mean, the netherworld is in the pool?”

Theo did not answer at first. He seemed preoccupied with watching the descent of a male figure into the pool, all the while shifting his gaze between the figure and the amulets clutched at Lord Maray’s breast. “I do not know for certain,” he answered her finally with a tremble in his voice. “I am only guessing.”

“They look like they’re under the influence of some drug.”

Another male figure had vanished into the pool. Now three remained. A female figure slowly and gracefully stepped into the pool. Moment later, she too slipped beneath the surface, her ceremonious exit climaxing with the shattering of another ankh.

Now only two figures remained, one on either side of the pool. The male figure with the scimitar, who had been watching Theo, turned his attention away from the spirit magician and himself stepped into the pool. Without looking back, he stepped forward into the depths. Finally, he too disappeared, his exit sealed with the cracking of another ankh.

Such a good-looking guy, Connie thought. Such a waste. She envisioned him, along with the four others that preceded him, drowning at the bottom of the pool.

Only one figure remained: it was a dark-haired, statuesque woman holding a cruel-looking battle axe. She walked toward the pool. Now with the passage to the altar undefended, Theo dashed toward it. The woman had just stepped into the pool with her left foot, her eyes looking into its depths, when suddenly she froze and looked back at the altar where Theo was now holding the remaining ankh. Now he stared at her, and she stared back, or rather, scowled back at him. An evil, defiant grin appeared on her face. She turned and brought her other foot into the pool.

“Stop!” Theo shouted, his voice sounding reedy and thin. “I command you to stop!”

The figure took another step forward into the pool, though seemingly with hesitation. Now the churning water of the pool came up to her knees.”

“I command you to stop!” Theo shouted again.

At those words, an expression of shock and then uncertainty appeared on the figure’s face. She seemed confused on what to do. She looked back up at the upstart who held the ankh out to her in his outstretched arms, her master lying dead on the altar behind him. While she faced Theo, her eyes wandered back to the pool that seemed to beckon her.

“Come out of the pool!” Theo commanded.

The woman gave Theo a look of unalloyed hatred and contempt. Theo withered visibly at the sight of this malicious expression directed toward him.

“Theo!” Rahl called out. “What are you doing? Let her go! We can’t stay here.”

“Go on without me,” he said.

“We can’t leave you here. It’s not safe to be here alone.”

“I’m not alone. She’s with me.”

Rahl took a few steps forward and looked at the figure knee-deep in the pool, clutching an especially cruel-looking battle axe. She persisted in a burning stare at Theo as if willing him to die.

“I don’t think she wants to go with you.”

“She has no choice but to obey,” Theo said, not sounding entirely convinced this was true. He wiped the sweat from his brow. “Come out of the pool. Now!” he commanded the figure.

The figure continued staring back at Theo, and Theo returned her stare. The ankh trembled in Theo’s hand, but neither she nor the figure flinched. The air was thick with tension. There seemed to be some unseen communication going on between the figure standing in the pool and Theo. Then the figure stared back at the pool, and her expression melted from hatred to a sad, wistful expression of longing. She lingered there, gazing into its depths for a moment. Slowly, she turned and stepped out of the pool, water dripping from her knees to the tiled floor of the chapel. From her expression, she looked as though she had just kissed a loved one goodbye.

Both Rahl and Connie released a long sigh of relief. Connie grudgingly admired Theo for his persistence and bravery in commanding her out of the pool. He had nothing to defend himself against that weapon she carried. Connie doubted that Rahl could have gotten to Theo in time if she turned on him.

Suddenly, the pool went dark, as if a light switch had been flipped. Connie rushed up to the pool. “What happened?” Curiosity got the best of her. She knelt by the pool and touched the water, which, although still rippling, was no longer churning as it had been a moment before. She dabbed her finger into the pool. It was cool but not cold, and the water was clear. Now she could see a green-tiled bottom, maybe a few feet down. She slipped off her shoes, hiked up her robe, and stepped into the pool with both feet. The water was a little higher than her knees.

Rahl rushed up to her, alarmed. “Alyndia! What are you doing? That is an enchanted pool. It might be dangerous.”

“Hush up, Rahl. I’m the sorceress here. Remember? I’m supposed to know everything about magic, and that should include enchanted pools.”

Unable to readily protest the logic of that statement, Rahl mutely watched from the edge of the pool, ready (but not wanting) to jump in to save her if need be.

Connie slowly, cautiously walked toward the center of the pool, feeling each step with her feet. To her surprise, though the pool was bowed downward in a slight concave fashion, it essentially remained relatively shallow. Now at the center of the pool, the water barely breached her upper thigh. She spun around, feeling the tiled floor of the pool with her feet, feeling for any exceptionally large breaks in the tile work.

“Where did they go?” she asked Rahl, standing at the dead center of the pool. Rahl held up his arms, his sword clutched in his right hand. Connie felt slightly foolish being out at the center of the pool, but she wanted an explanation. She turned to Theo and the figure, who still stared at one another. The woman had that expression of hatred on her face again, and Theo looked very nervous and not entirely in control of the situation. Connie shook her head when she looked at the woman. Connie thought that if her looks could kill, then Theo would already be with Lord Maray and the other inhabitants of the castle.

Rahl called out to both of them. “Come hither, the both of you. We have many leagues to travel with only short hours of daylight. Come now and follow me out of this forsaken place.” Rahl started walking toward the entrance of the chapel.

Connie waded back to the edge of the pool where Rahl had been standing. “Wait for me!” Once out of the pool, she quickly put her shoes back on. She was ready to follow Rahl when she saw that Theo had not moved from his place at the altar. She walked up to him. Casually, she noticed that he had wet himself. She looked to the woman who stared at him. Though the woman was very comely, Connie could not remember seeing such a contemptuous look on anyone in recent memory as the look she gave Theo.

“Come, Theo. Rahl is leaving, and they’re still waiting for us outside the castle.”

“She is strong. She has been on this plane a long time. I prevented her from returning, and now she is angry with me.”

“You had it coming. Women don’t like to be talked to the way you did to her. And you don’t even know her.”

Theo broke his gaze at the woman. “Do you jest? Since when do you know anything about controlling spirits?”

“Well, I don’t know how to control spirits, but I do know a thing or two about women, since I am one. And if you barked orders to me the way you did her, I’d be pissed with you too right now.” She took Theo by the arm. “Come along now. Rahl is leaving, and we don’t want to be hanging around this creepy place without a good sword to protect us. Besides, you need to change your diaper.”

Theo shook off her grasp and returned his attention to the woman with a battle axe, who stared at him with hatred a mere five paces away. “I realize I’m not powerful enough to control her. She may kill me if I lose my concentration. What shall I do?”

Connie shrugged. “Really, I think you ought to give her back the amulet, then leave her alone so that she can be with her friends, wherever they might be hiding.”

Theo gazed at the ankh in his hand. “No, I cannot give it back to her. Should I do this now, I will have no control over her at all, and she will surely kill me.” He looked back at her. “Neither can I leave her, for by taking possession of the amulet that binds her spirit to the material world, I have broken the spell through which she may return. I must find a way to cast it again so that she may return to her plane, but I have no idea how it is done.”

“Then it’s damned if you do, and damned if you don’t,” Connie said.

“I curse myself for getting into this mess.”

“Believe me, Theo. I know the feeling.”

Connie sized up the woman. She was lightly armored and armed with a battle axe, and though she was not large or overtly muscular, Connie’s instincts told her that she knew very well how to use the battle axe she carried.

Connie shook her head. “I can’t do anything if she decides to attack you. I have a dagger, and she has a battle axe. If she knows how to use that thing, like I suspect she does, things can get ugly for me. Shall I get Rahl to help you?”

“No. I got myself into this predicament. Rahl should not have to battle her over my foolishness.”

“Well, we have to go back to Roggentine now, and we’re not about to leave you behind.”

“What can I do?”

“Ask her to come along with us until we find a way to get her back to her own plane, or whatever.”

“Ask her?”

“Yes. I said ask her. That commanding shit will not get you anywhere with ladies. Especially a classy-looking one like her. Haven’t you figured that out yet?”

Theo gave Connie a bewildered look and then turned back to the woman. He swallowed hard. “Please come along with us,” he entreated. “We will find a way to send you back to your plane.”

The woman did not respond but only stared at Theo intently, without loosening her grip on the battle axe.

“Why doesn’t she say anything?” Connie asked.

“They never speak.”

“Why not?”

Theo turned to Connie, perturbed. “Why do you ask so many questions, Alyndia?”

“Because I don’t know the answers.”

“Then what makes you believe I know the answers you seek?”

“Don’t you get huffy with me, Theo. I just asked you a simple question.” She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him away from the altar. “Let’s go now.”

She led him over the broken pews and bodies. He kept looking back at the woman who stood by the pool, unmoving.

“She’s not coming,” he said once they reached the door.

“Give her a chance to think it over.”

“What if she doesn’t come?”

“Then good riddance.”

“I must go back to her.”

“Why? So she can whack you with that battle axe? You’re better off with us.”

Just as they turned to leave the chapel, they accosted Rahl, who was on his way back in to get them.

“What is taking you two so long? I’ve been waiting for you.”

“Theo is having girl problems,” Connie replied.

“What is your meaning? Where is the spirit?”

“At the pool,” Theo said.

“Very well, then. Let us go now. It is not safe here, and the others are impatient.”

The three of them made haste over the corpse-strewn courtyard back to the main gate of the castle, where Jalban, Yalden, and Sind waited for them. When Connie appeared at the broken portcullis, Sind ran across the drawbridge to meet her. He hugged her waist.

“Alyndia!” he cried out. “I was so worried about you. I want to leave here. Take me from this place.”

“We’re leaving now,” she said, taking resting her hand on the boy’s head.

Once at the gate, Rahl took Yalden aside and spoke to his brother in hushed tones. Theo went to his hanyak and sulked. Jalban came up to Connie.

“What did you see?” he asked.

“It was bad in there. A whole legion is dead. No one survived.”

“What about the spiritual beings?”

“Oh yes. That is a story in itself.”

Connie was just about to explain what they had seen when Jalban noticed some movement behind her at the castle gate. He quickly pulled his morning star from the loop in his belt.

“Who is that?” he asked.

Connie turned and saw the woman from the chapel slowly walking out the gates of the castle, gingerly stepping over the bodies as she went. Jalban let out a whistle to alert the others. Connie deftly snatched the morning star from Jalban’s hand, disarming him.

“What are you doing?” he asked, reaching for his weapon.

“That’s Vanna White wanting to turn Theo’s letters,” Connie replied, deftly keeping the weapon out of Jalban’s reach.

“Give me that back, Alyndia. And who’s Vanna White?”

Theo ran up to where they stood, followed quickly by Yalden and Rahl. The figure approached the six of them fearlessly, letting her battle axe hang from one hand.

“It’s a woman!” Jalban said.

“I assure you—she’s much more than a woman,” Theo said, his voice trembling again.

“All right. She’s a woman with a battle axe. And why would a woman who looks like her be carrying around a battle axe?”

Connie replied for Theo, “I don’t think she’ll use it on you, Jalban, not unless you give her a reason to.”

The woman stopped five paces from the group, wearing a sullen expression. She held the ax firmly, inhaling deeply, seemingly waiting for a response from anyone.

“She’s lovely, but in a sad sort of way,” Jalban said. “What’s your name?” he asked her.

“She doesn’t speak,” Theo said.

“Not at all?”

“Probably not.”

“Well, she still has to have a name. Do you know it?”

Connie turned to Theo. “Tell us her name, Theo.”

Theo shrugged his bony shoulders. “I don’t know. I suppose it’s whatever name I chose to give her.”

Connie thought this over. She wanted to suggest a name that would be fitting for the mysterious woman who would not speak, a woman that Theo claimed was energy from the negative material plane encased in flesh. The perfect name came to her.

“Tristana,” Connie said.

Theo looked at Connie. “Tristana?” he repeated, feeling the sound of the name as it slipped over his tongue. “Tristana.”

Connie saw by the look in his eyes that he was impressed with the name. Jalban was too.

“I have never heard such a name,” Rahl said. “What is the meaning of that name?”

“It means, sad one,” Connie replied. “Maybe she doesn’t talk because she’s sad.” She looked over at Theo. “What do you think of that name?”

“Indeed, I believe it is a fitting name for her,” he replied. “I sense the name pleases her too.”

Everyone nodded in consensus that the name was appropriate. Jalban stepped forward from the group to meet the woman they’d named Tristana. On his approach, she swung her battle axe into a fighting position, ready to attack. The sudden movement startled him. He tripped backward and fell, landing on the blood-soaked soil. She had him now if she wanted him. Rahl and Yalden drew their weapons.

“Wait!” Theo said. “Tristana,” he addressed the woman. “It is all right. These people are friends. They will not harm us.”

“What are you doing, Jalban?” Connie asked, helping him to his feet.

“I was just going to shake her hand in greeting.”

“Are you nuts?”

“I don’t trust magic,” Yalden said. “I don’t think we should have her around if she’s magical.”

“It’s not your decision,” Theo said.

“And who are you?”

“Theodan Parsas of Esamane. I practice the art of spirit magic.”

Rahl interrupted. “Theo was sent with us to repair the Calphous Wall.”

“But she wasn’t. For all we know, she is tainted by Chaos.”

“It is impossible for her to have a chaotic taint,” Theo said. “She is a spirit made of negative energy, the Void. And the Void is immune to chaos. That is why she and the other five guardians with her were not harmed by whatever form of Chaos invaded the castle.”

“Why should we trust any word you say?” Yalden shot back.

“You don’t have to trust his word,” Rahl said, coming to Theo’s rescue. “I checked her when we entered the chapel. It is true. She doesn't carry a taint.

Thick veins bulged in Yalden’s muscular arms as he stared at Theo. It was obvious to Connie that Yalden did not like him. She could not exactly blame Yalden for this, for Theo was on the strange side. Still, Connie did not think Theo’s brand of strangeness was anything that would evoke animosity in most people, and maybe Yalden was either a bully or a hothead.

Yalden spat on the ground at Theo’s feet. “I will warn you, spellcaster. If either you or your beast should come near me, I swear by the gods that I will cut you ear to ear.”

Connie expected skinny Theo to back down from this exchange with the burly Yalden, but to her surprise, Theo escalated further.

“Your words sound brittle in my ears,” Theo said to his face. “It would be a grave mistake for you to follow through on your threat.”

“You bastard,” Yalden said, infuriated.

Weapon already drawn, he advanced toward Theo with malicious intent. Before Yalden could follow through., Rahl grabbed him with both arms and yanked him back.

“Let go of me,” Yalden said, trying to fight off his brother’s strength.

“Cool your spirit,” Rahl said. “He is one of us.”

“I will not allow myself to be spoken to like that by a spellcaster,” he said, twisting angrily as Rahl held him back.

“He’s on our side, Yalden,” Jalban said as Rahl pulled his brother further away from Theo.

Theo, for the most part, stood where he was, as though safe behind some unseen wall. “Yalden does not curry my favor either,” he said, addressing Rahl. “Perhaps that is why you are the Swordbearer, and he is the farmer.”

“You had best hold your tongue, Theo,” Rahl warned him. “You must not forget that my brother is as strong as I am, and if driven by anger, he could break free from me.”

“Are we merely going to stand here and quarrel?” Jalban broke in, sounding annoyed by the whole exchange.

“Would you prefer a fight?” Connie asked him.

“That’s not what I meant.”

Connie addressed Theo in a calm tone in an effort to defuse the situation: “You don’t really want to fight Yalden, do you?”

“I’ll slay him cold!” Yalden shouted on hearing this.

“Be quiet, Yalden. I’m not talking to you.” She took a step toward Theo. “Theodan. Are you listening? You don’t really want to fight him, do you?”

Theo answered only after a long pause. “No, I suppose not.”

He stared at Yalden for an instant longer, then he turned away and walked back to his hanyak. Tristana remained where she was. Her battle axe was still drawn, but her stance had relaxed somewhat. Rahl released Yalden. Yalden remained beside his brother, still fuming. Rahl whispered something in his ear. Yalden nodded once and seemed to relax a bit. Connie sighed. She put her hand to her chest, realizing that her heart was racing.

“Glad that’s over,” Jalban said, lowering his weapon.

“What’s next?” Connie asked the group.

“Now that Lord Maray is dead, we no longer have obligations here, and we may promptly return to Roggentine,” Jalban answered.

“No, we must first travel back to Zeranon,” Rahl said.

Connie understood this as contrary to what the spirit of Lord Maray had instructed them to do in the chapel. “Rahl, Lord Maray instructed us to go straight to Roggentine and avoid Zeranon altogether.

“Is that true?” Jalban asked before Rahl could answer.

Connie explained to him all the spirit had said to them, including the dire warning that they return to Roggentine immediately.

“I say we do as the spirit tells us,” Jalban concluded.

“You are forgetting,” Rahl said. “Yalden has family there.”

“The spirit said they were already doomed,” Connie said.

“Damn the spirit,” Yalden said. “I am not leaving Jenada alone so that Chaos may take her.

“What about my brother?” Sind said to Connie, tugging on her sleeve. “What will happen to my brother if we don’t go back for him?”

Connie had forgotten about this. It was she who had talked Sind into leaving the infant in Zeranon. If something should happen to him, then she would be to blame for it. She did not want to live with that guilt. She capitulated.

“Yes. Rahl may be right. Perhaps we should return to Zeranon,” Connie said.

As the words were leaving her mouth, an odd sensation washed over her. She got the uncanny feeling she was at a play in which she was both the lead actor and the audience. Then spots appeared before her eyes, and a loud ringing grew in her ears. She swooned, feeling as though she would faint at any moment. She fought off the feeling and held on to her wits by focusing on being in the then and now. The feeling subsided. When she became fully aware of her surroundings again, all eyes on the party were on her, including those of Tristana.

“Are you feeling ill, Alyndia?” Jalban asked with a concerned expression.

“No. Why do you ask?”

“Your eyes had this faraway look for a moment.”

“I thought you were going to faint,” Yalden said.

“It was just a little dizziness. I’m fine,” Connie assured them, looking into each pair of eyes to quash their concern. “I’m fine. Really, I am.”

Jalban didn’t buy it. “I believe we should take you to the temple in Roggentine to have them take a look at you when we return.”

“No need, Jalban,” she said. “I’m not religious. But me aside, I think we ought to stop over in Zeranon on our way back to Roggentine.”

“Going to Zeranon will add an extra day to our journey. If Lord Maray’s spirit warned us to go straight back to Roggentine, we should do as we are told.”

“Will one day make all that much difference?”

“Alyndia, do you see all the death around us? If we choose to ignore the warnings and instead indulge in our own selfish needs, then this death will spread. At the very least, we must warn the Council in Roggentine of this travesty as soon as possible so that they can take measures.”

“I’m not leaving my wife to die because of what some spirit had said,” Yalden said in a rough tone.

Sind tugged on Connie’s sleeve, this time more insistently than before. His eyes pleaded emphatically to her. “What of my brother, Alyndia? What of my brother?”

“Perhaps we can split up,” Connie said. “Half of us can return to Zeranon, and the other half can travel to the Wizard Calicus at Roggentine. The next day, we can all meet up in Roggentine.”

“No. We should stay together,” Rahl said. “If Chaos is unleashed upon the land, no place is safe. We must stay together, for there is safety in numbers.”

“A lot of good ‘numbers’ served these people at the castle,” Jalban said. “I’m sure Theo would agree; we must return to Roggentine the right way to warn the council. With or without all of you, I will return to Roggentine.” He looked to Rahl. “It is your duty as a Swordbearer to defend Chaos. You must do this.”

Rahl turned to his brother and gave him a pained look. “He’s right, Yalden. I must return to Roggentine.”

“But what of Jenada?” he asked.

“You must go alone, my brother.”

Rahl turned away and walked back toward his hanyak. Yalden watched him walk away for a moment, seemingly stunned by Rahl’s decision, and then he ran to catch up with his brother at the hanyak.

“I will go with Yalden, then I’ll meet you back in Roggentine,” Connie stated.

“You shan’t do that,” Jalban said. “It is too dangerous for you. You must return to Roggentine with Rahl, Theo, and me.”

“I don’t know who you think you are that you can order me as you please.”

“I swore on your mother’s grave that I should watch over you, Alyndia. I will not fail her.”

“You don’t get it, do you?” Connie barked. “I am not Alyndia. My name is Connie Bain. I am a citizen of the United States.”

“Please, Alyndia. Not that again.” Jalban said with a withered look.

Connie was now fuming. She clenched her delicate hands tightly into fists. She had the strongest urge to punch something.

“You know, Jalban, if it weren’t for all this death and hocus-pocus I’ve seen today, I wouldn’t believe a word any of you are saying. And the only thing that keeps me sane is witnessing how crazy all of this will get before someone pulls aside the curtain and I get a rational explanation for all of this.”

“Alyndia! Please!”

“Stop calling me Alyndia, will you? Do I look like your Alyndia?”

Connie hated the sound of her new voice. When she got angry, it sounded too girlish and whiny to her ears. Of course, no would take her seriously with a voice like that. So, she was not surprised when Jalban turned away from her and began walking toward the hanyaks.

“Jalban! Where are you going? Look at me! Do I look like the Alyndia you know?”

Jalban stopped, turned, and looked her squarely in the eyes. “You are not well, Alyndia. We will take you to the temple when we get to Roggentine. They will right your spirit.”

“Why doesn’t anyone believe me?” she asked him, voice almost a cry. “Why doesn’t anyone believe me when I say I’m not Alyndia the Sorceress?”

Sind touched her arm gently. “I believe you, lady. If you want me to call you Connie, I will.”

Connie looked down at Sind, caught off guard by his expression of steadfast devotion and belief in her. His gaze, as he looked up at her at that moment, touched her so deeply that her anger fell away immediately. She reached down and tenderly stroked his hair. “Thank you, Sind.”

“Let’s go!” Rahl called out to them.

Connie and Jalban turned to see the rest of the party saddled up and ready to go.

They rode slowly out of the ruined village. Tristana, refusing the hanyak that Theo had offered her, walked a good measure behind the party.

Once they were out of town, Yalden took the road west toward Zeranon while the rest of the party continued south on the direct road toward Roggentine. After an hour of riding, they had still seen no sign of life. Tristana walked behind them on her own. She no longer carried the battle axe, probably having dropped it somewhere back along the road. Rahl speculated that she’d gotten too tired to carry it.

The party stopped at the river to water the hanyaks. Five minutes later, Tristana caught up to the party, bedraggled and appearing quite angry. She knelt at the river bank apart from the others and drank by dipping her cupped hands into the water and bringing it to her mouth. Seeing her do this, Theo walked over and proffered her a metal cup to drink with. She responded to his courteous deed by sneering at him. Cowed by her reaction, he fell back to a tree, where he sat alone, pondering the river with a distant look in his eyes.

Rahl had noticed the incident. He walked up to Theo and spoke. “It appears you cannot properly control her.”

“No, I cannot. I have not the power.”

“She looks angry with you.”

“It is not mere anger; she literally despises me.” Theo plucked a blade of grass from the ground and ran it through his fingers. “Can you blame her? I kept her from eternity.”

“Perhaps it was not a wise thing to do.”

Theo did not respond right away. Instead, he kept his eyes fixed on the river. “I have my regrets,” he said.

“She seems weak from the walk, and she no longer has a weapon. Shall I slay her for you—send her off to that eternity she seeks?”

Theo looked over at her. That may be more difficult than you think. She will fight you, for part of her belongs to the living, and life seeks to perpetuate itself.”

“If she bleeds, she can die.”

Theo plucked another blade of grass from the ground. “True, but you have not the right to take her life. She is not Chaos, and she is innocent of all crimes. If either of us is guilty, it is me for bringing her along with us.”

“Suppose you gave her back the amulet, and I protected you from whatever she might do.”

“I am considering it.”

At that moment, Sind called out to the party, pointing to the crest of a hill from the east. “Rahl, Connie, Jalban! Travelers approach!”

Instantly, everyone jumped to their feet, and all eyes were on the hill where Sind pointed. There was a group of men, perhaps six or seven of them. They were dressed in padded leather armor and heading straight toward the party with their weapons drawn. At three hundred paces, they were closing quickly. Theo cast Hawkeyes on Rahl. Rahl examined up close the men who approached. A few seconds later, the men began to fan out to surround the party.

“What do you see?” Theo asked.

“It is not good,” Rahl said, not taking his eyes off the men. “You and Alyndia had better prepare your spells. I won’t be able to take them all on myself.”