Shadowland

Chapter 12 - Peace - Part 08

Sun Tai sighed. This would perhaps be more difficult than they had anticipated. But Duval was already turning on the charm.

"Your most august majesty," he flattered, "I am afraid we do not bring information so much as seek it, though we will gladly tell you anything you wish to know. We are trying to find people with a peculiar affliction, a sudden loss of memory which happened to each on the same day, perhaps even at the same hour. These people may also say strange things or seem to be different in personality than they were before this malady occurred. In truth, we are subject to the same illness, and hope that any others we might find can shed some light upon its causes and cure. If you wish, my companion can provide descriptions of the people who may reside within your realm that we are looking for."

King Lorris waved a hand, a thoughtful look on his face. "No need," he said with the air of someone making a difficult decision. "I know three of those of whom you speak. Sir Elric of my Royal Guard, my court wizard Master Dunnistan, and Father Javier, a cleric of the Light God. They are among my most capable courtiers, and their memory loss has proven quite inconvenient, for all that they retain their skills and continue to serve me with exceptional prowess."

Duval immediately brightened up. "Is it possible that we might speak with these men?" he asked.

Lorris shook his head. "Much might they wish to, for they seek also to find others who could shed light on their mysterious curse. But Sir Elric and Father Javier ride to address a problem with the Elves who live on our western border, and Dunnistan did not return from the last quest on which I sent him -- I know not where he is now, or even if he yet lives. But you are welcome to remain as my guests until they return."

Duval made another flourishing bow. "We would greatly welcome your majesty's generous hospitality," he said. "Yet there is another matter I must raise. We have come from a city some days' journey to the east, beyond the snow-capped mountains. Arc City is a place of great wonders, of clever mechanics and potent magics, but also of terrible repression; many there are enslaved, and we and our friends seek to free them from their bondage. The city has also been invaded by a force of technologically superior occupiers whose boot lays heavily on the citizens' neck. As you do not seem to practice slavery in your kingdom, we had hopes that you might wish to assist us in these aims; and I know something of the mystical powers your people possess, which I feel might be enough to turn the tide against our enemies."

The king stroked his beard. "Well might it be that we should help; we are always seeking new trading partners, and indeed it has been long since we drove the blight of slavery from our fair land. Yet the times are taxing. Orcish raids have increased of late, and very recently we were forced to fight Shadowfiends at the very city gates. And of course there is this damnable dispute with the Elves over logging rights. I would not see our forces sent off to fight in some foreign city only to leave Rohm itself open to attack. Perhaps once Sir Elric and Father Javier return, we can turn to the plight of your Arc City. In the meantime, you must tell me all you know of the problem which belabours my finest servants; perhaps working together, we can devise a cure."

As he was saying this, there was a disturbance at the front of the throne room; Sun Tai turned to see several people entering. On seeing them, particularly an elderly, bearded man wearing robes and a pointed hat, Val Duval's face became pale, and he pointed a shaking finger at the man and shouted "You!" But the surprise he surely felt couldn't have been greater than Sun Tai's own, for standing before her were the perfect image of several of the people she had seen in the vision -- the elderly man, the knight, and the priest, as well as the ISC agent, the tall woman with the mechanical ferret, and their short, snub-nosed companion. She barely even needed to look at the backs of their hands to know that each of them had a tattoo of a gear-like circle with a number inscribed inside. There was no more doubt; her visions were prophetic, and had shown her exactly who they needed to find.

***

Sun Tai sat uncomfortably on the hard bench in the back of the lurching war machine as Elin drove it steadily north. In the scramble to send parties out to contact all of Rohm's potential allies against City One, she had not been able to get to know these newcomers as well as she liked, and for all that they claimed to be deserters and rebels, she still didn't quite trust them. Too, she somewhat dreaded the prospect of having to help repair this horrid unnatural machine if it came to battle with the Orcs. The mechanic Cariane had given her a crash course the previous night on how to operate the repair drones and jury-rig solutions to some of the problems that might come up, but she hardly felt confident that she was equal to the task. Her new companions just sat silently as the walker strode along, lost in the dark thoughts that meeting her and Duval had stirred in them.

It took most of a day and night to travel beyond the fields and villages of Rohm and to a small fortress that marked the border with Orcish territory, at which they briefly stopped to obtain directions toward the presumed location of the inhabitants' nearest village. The temperature had grown increasingly hot as they traveled, and bit by bit the prime farmland of Rohm gave way to a scorching veldt, dry grasses dotted with spiny trees. No road penetrated the savannah, but the walker was easily able to traverse the gently rolling hills. They continued for several more hours into the grasslands before spotting, far in the distance, a collection of simple thatched huts. "We've found them," Elin said with grim determination.

"Go slowly," Krebbs advised. "We want to impress them, but not to threaten them. Don't make it look like we're on the attack."

As the village grew closer in their monitors, it became a beehive of activity. Slowly they were able to make out the rust-coloured skins of the inhabitants, then their rough fur garments, and finally the tusks that jutted from their mouths. A large portion were driving a herd of scrawny cattle off into the distance, while others gathered at the village edge, spears and bows raised. Elin stopped outside what she judged was their likely range; such primitive weapons could surely not threaten the walking tank on their own, but the Rohmish had advised them that Orcish shamans enchanted these crude tools with dangerous magical energy.

As they stood, waiting for the Orcs to make a move, Sun Tai caught sight of an elderly tribeswoman wearing a cow-hide headdress with the horns still attached. She was mumbling and making passes through the air with a stick festooned with gemstones, feathers, and other charms. "Get ready!" Sun Tai warned, just as a form began to appear from the ground in front of the mob of Orcs. A rush of thick black smoke clouded their vision, and within it bloomed a massive form of roiling liquid fire, nearly as tall as the walker itself, a femenine figure which mimicked the shape of the Orc shaman who had summoned it.

"Okay," Krebbs murmured in an awestruck voice, "now we're in trouble."