The smell of breakfast cooking aroused the rest of the Alcea Rangers and one by one they rose and began their morning exercises. Kalina finally stopped staring into the forest and relieved Arik of the cooking duties so he could join the exercises. Nobody spoke about Garth or the confrontation the previous evening. Kalina served breakfast and left the cleanup to the others. She wrapped up her gear and secured it on her white mare and Garth’s black stallion. When she was finished, Garth’s horse turned and walked into the forest.
“Ten minutes,” Kalina called. “Everybody secure your belongings and make ready for the trail.”
Tanya started to say something and everyone stopped and stared at her. Flushing, she bent back to the task at hand and left her thoughts hidden. Quietly the Rangers mounted their horses and Arik led the group along the trail. The midday meal was eaten while riding and Tedi took the lead and Tanya the tail of the procession. Tedi still detected the elves tracking them, but he said nothing. In fact, nobody spoke. The Rangers rode on in silence until the darkness came upon them.
They set up the campsite as efficiently as always, but there was a gloom that hung over the campsite that had nothing to do with Sarac’s darkness. The Rangers practiced as always, but Tanya felt as if the blows directed towards her were slightly more deliberate than during normal practice sessions. The Rangers broke for dinner and ate quietly. After dinner, the time when Garth would light his pipe and talk for half an hour, Tanya tried to apologize to the rest of the Rangers, but they walked to the practice areas and began honing their skills in silence.
Kalina approached Tanya who was throwing Lanoirian Stars with more anger than skill. “Tanya, do not blame yourself for Garth’s actions,” soothed Kalina. “It is not your fault.”
Tanya turned and snapped at Kalina. “It’s not my fault?” she ridiculed. “How can you, of all people, say that? Everyone here knows that it is my fault. I have taunted and needled Garth until he ran off and abandoned us. Everyone knows it is my fault. I will be lucky to live through the next practice session. How can you even look at me with sympathy?”
Kalina wrapped her arms around Tanya and hugged her. “I, of all people, know Garth,” she stated. “The words you spoke were true, too true. Sometimes the truth hurts and people have a hard time accepting that. Garth is slow to anger and even slower to cool off. He is not gone from us, but he is hurting deeply. He needs to work the hurt and anger off in solitude. It is the only way that works for him. He will come back when he is better able to accept your feelings for Alexander Tork. In the meantime, he is quite capable of handling himself alone in the woods.”
“If he is so capable,” Tanya sobbed, “why do you spend all of your time staring off into the woods for him?”
Kalina turned and gazed at the endless trees surrounding them. “He will not suffer at the hands of a predator out there,” Kalina declared. “My fear is for the enemy within himself. He pushes himself to the limit for others and even beyond. When that is not enough to help the others, he blames himself. He does not consider it heroic when he succeeds. When you idolize Alexander Tork as a hero, he thinks to himself that there are no heroes. He has seen thousands of good men die trying to help others and, in his mind, they are the only heroes and even they are failures because they are no longer around to help people. You should not feel sorry for Garth nor should you feel anger for his beliefs. He believes in them deeply, as you do in yours.”
Tanya picked up her Lanoirian Stars as Kalina left to sit near the fire. Tanya renewed her practice, but this time with more skill than anger. Eventually, the Rangers finished practice and drifted off to sleep. Tanya closed her eyes on the figure of Kalina still sitting and gazing into the forest.
Tanya awoke with a stabbing in her ribs and the smell of breakfast in her nostrils. She looked up to see Fredrik poking her with his staff. Biting back a sharp remark, she followed Fredrik’s gaze and saw Garth cooking breakfast. Hurriedly, she got to her feet and headed towards Garth. Fredrik and Tedi were awakening the rest of the Rangers as she approached the campfire. When she got close to Garth, she started to speak and Garth looked up at her and held his hand up to halt her words.
“I must apologize to you,” Garth said loudly. “To all of you. You are young enough yet to know great optimism and enthusiasm. It is wrong for me, in any way, to dampen that bright outlook you hold on life. I can warn you of the pitfalls which you will face on your journey towards death, but the attitudes you carry with you on that journey are yours, and yours alone.”
Tanya started to say something and Garth halted her again. “To you, pretty warrior, I owe an extra apology,” Garth smiled. “You are right to seek a person who you think represents the ideals you would wish for yourself and I was wrong to water the fire of your search for excellence. My views may differ from your own, but I will no longer attempt to lessen your ideals. Please forgive me.”
Tanya did not try to speak, but threw her arms around Garth and hugged him. An embarrassed smile clouded Garth’s face as he returned the young warriors hug. After a few moments, he broke the embrace and laughed.
“Now for the fine breakfast I negotiated out of a Klandon farmer,” he chuckled. “Fresh eggs and bacon with bread and a pitcher of cow’s milk.”
The campsite turned festive as the Rangers devoured the breakfast. Kalina stood behind Garth and placed her hands on his broad shoulders and smiled. Within twenty minutes the breakfast was eaten, the campsite cleaned up, and the Rangers were back on the trail.
The days that followed were free of tension within the group. Tanya still showered the other Rangers with tales of Alex and Jenneva, but Garth did not object, he merely walked away from the talk and performed other duties that required attention.
As they approached the Boulder Mountains, Garth began to hear the Rangers speak of Lavinda, the settlement Alexander Tork led his villagers to when he was a boy. The villagers had named it Lavinda in honor of Alexander’s mother who died during the trip in a misfortunate accident. Tork had taught the villagers to think in terms of defense and the village was designed to repel attacks. The design saved the village from the Yaki, goblins, and bandits. The village had become famous and the term “Lavindan” was used to describe someone who was wary and defensive and usually sat with his back to the wall and an eye on the door.
Tedi was chosen to ask Garth if the group could stop in Lavinda for an overnight stay. Garth smiled grimly and explained that Lavinda had a reputation for not accepting strangers and that their path lay in another direction. While Tedi spread the word of Garth’s answer, Garth made the decision to ride later than usual and camp on the other side of the pass, effectively eliminating the need for any further questions about Lavinda.
That evening during the talk session when Garth lit his pipe, there were a lot of questions about Lavinda, the unnamed village where Tork grew up, and the cave of Alex’s first battle with the Yaki, which was somewhere nearby.
Garth looked at the eager faces around the campfire and pointed with his pipe at the Boulder Mountains. “That is what should occupy your thoughts,” Garth proclaimed. “Mount Kalas, the highest mountain of the Boulders, is where the Dark One is imprisoned. We are at the center of Sarac’s domain and on a trip that will lead to his death, or ours. If this were a pleasure trip, we could all get excited about seeing sights where legends were born, but the longer we stay in the vicinity of Sarac’s castle, the longer we dare death to visit us. Let’s get our practice going early. I plan to move out of here before first light.”
The Rangers split into groups and began their practice sessions with Garth supplying instruction as needed. Tanya chose to battle Fredrik with the staff and Tedi challenged Arik with knives. Niki and Kalina worked on health magic. The practice was especially long and tiring and the Rangers worked up a sweat. Fredrik and Tedi were soon stripped to the waist, but Arik kept fighting with his shirt on. Garth wondered if Arik’s rash was still bothering him. Since the first night out of Tagaret when the rash was noticed, Arik had not removed his shirt except to change it, which he managed to do when no one was around.
“Break,” Garth called to Arik and Tedi. “Arik, why don’t you shed your shirt? You are going to create a muddy pool on the practice area.”
“I’m all right, Garth,” Arik replied sheepishly.
“Has that rash gone away yet?” Garth probed.
“It’s still there, but I hardly notice it anymore,” Arik answered. “We’re going to switch to throwing knives soon anyway and I’ll just catch a chill.”
The boys went back to fighting and Garth noticed that Kalina and Niki had split up. He strode over to Kalina and spoke to her in a low voice. “Have you checked Arik’s rash lately?”
“He won’t let me near it,” Kalina replied. “I think all of the fuss involved with trying to clear it up embarrasses him. It’s not serious, Garth. It is just a reaction to something. Perhaps the Palace Shadow has vermin after all.”
“More likely the Royal Palace,” chuckled Garth. “I know there are vermin residing there. The Children are progressing better than I could have hoped for. Their skills rival many soldiers whom I have served with. At this rate, they will soon be able to rightfully call themselves Rangers. How are Niki and Fredrik doing with their magic skills? Are you getting enough time with Fredrik or should I curtail his staff practice?”
“Fredrik is doing fine with the time we spend together,” Kalina commented. “He is a fast learner and he picked up more than he knows from spying on the Black Devils. Many spells he has already seen performed, but didn’t understand how they worked. Once I explain it to him, he is fine.”
Kalina lowered herself to a sitting position and Garth slid down beside her. “Niki is another story,” Kalina continued. “She is very stubborn and refuses to accept my direction. Her ability is not as strong as Fredrik’s and she insists it is much greater. Sometimes I think that reality doesn’t exist in her mind. Even in the area of health where she has some special gift that I have never seen before, she will not take my word for anything. I have to get the book out and show her before she will accept what I am teaching.”
“How about the cloak or her parents?” Garth inquired. “Have you gotten anything further out of her?”
“Not a thing,” Kalina sighed. “Every time I bring it up, she develops a bad mood and stalks off. That is what happened to our session today. I was probing about her mother and whether or not her mother had magical ability. She got moody and claimed she had a headache. Then she just got up and walked away. It is so damn frustrating working with her.”
“You should try showing her how to fight with a knife as I have,” Garth laughed. “I think she might stab herself in the arm trying to get her knife out of the sheath.”
“Maybe I am just expecting too much too soon with her,” mused Kalina. “Your push to get through the path to avoid Lavinda did not fool the Children, Garth. They know there was time to detour through Tagaret and one night in Lavinda would not have been far off the track.”
“You know I have a hard time dealing with some things, Kalina. So they know it now, too. Does it really matter? We have a task before us and the sooner we get to it, the sooner we will get to our goal.”
Kalina laid her hand gently on Garth’s arm. “No, I suppose it doesn’t really matter. You cannot hide the truth about the end of Alex and Jenneva forever, though. Some day we will have to atone for our sins.”
“Perhaps, but that day is not today,” denied Garth. “I am not ready to live with mine yet. I am going to halt the practice for tonight. I think we should get an even earlier start tomorrow. We are very exposed this close to Sarac and I want to put some miles between him and us. Is the Sword of Heavens still providing direction?”
“It is actually getting stronger,” Kalina acknowledged. “It is swinging more West than North now. I suspect we will be going over the West Mountains and into what was Cordonia.”
Garth nodded as he rose to break up the practice sessions.
The early morning start allowed the group to be within sight of the West Mountains before stopping the next night. Early practice consisted of tracking, camouflage, and stealth. During the after dinner talk session, Garth got tired of hearing about Alexander Tork again.
“Why do you not ask questions about Oscar Dalek?” Garth inquired of Tanya. “Your uncle must have been full of stories about him, being a traveling merchant.”
“Oh, he was,” conceded Tanya. “Most of Oscar Dalek’s life is fairly open and well known, though. You can not be the Prince of Targa without having books written about you.”
“I’ve never read anything about him,” Tedi interrupted.
“Nor I,” Arik added. “Was he a friend of Alex’s?”
Garth groaned and shut his eyes. “Yes, they were very good friends,” Garth sighed. “Oscar’s fame did not have anything to do with his friendship with Alex, though. He could have been a great warrior as well, but he never trained his skills in those areas. Instead, he used his head to amass a great fortune while benefiting Targa. In fact, his contribution to Targa far outweighed Tork’s. Without Prince Oscar, there would have been no Targa ships on the Targa Sea, no canal connecting the Targa Sea with the Sordoan Sea, and probably no victory in the war with the goblins. His ships and wagons allowed the Targa Army to move quickly to entrap the goblins.”
“That hardly sounds as exciting as the life of Alex and Jenneva,” Arik said.
“No?” chuckled Garth. “When Oscar was young he lost his father to bandits and his mother was so poor that they could not put food on the table. He rose from that miserable disadvantage to become the richest man in the world and the Prince of the mightiest nation in the world. Killing goblins is easy work compared to that. A thousand men could grow up to lead armies and kill their foes, but I do not think anyone will ever duplicate Oscar Dalek’s tremendous feats. And what is even more exciting about him is that one of you is his son.”
“But he was not a warrior,” protested Arik. “We are training to be warriors, not merchants.”
Garth sighed again. He dared not tell them of some of Oscar’s contributions to Targa because they were still too secret. He could not tell them that while Alex was creating the Rangers, Oscar was creating the Spiders, because the Spiders still existed and still gathered sensitive information.
“Oscar Dalek was no merchant,” Garth insisted. “He started out as a merchant, but that is akin to calling Alex an infantry trainee. Besides, you are already warriors. Imagine being an Oscar Dalek and a great warrior.”
The boys perked up at that and started eyeing each other, looking for the signs of greatness that a king would exhibit.
“Oscar Dalek had visions inside his head that no other person had ever possessed,” Garth continued. “When he saw opportunities, the glee in his eyes was not only for himself, but for Targa. Imagine being able to have that vision to shape your country and the skills of a warrior to demand the respect of your enemies.”
The boys were clearly excited at the prospect of being a warrior and a king. Garth smiled to himself at successfully changing the topic of conversation for several days.
“Do you know which one of us is Oscar’s son?” Fredrik asked.
“I don’t know for certain,” confessed Garth, “but I believe he is among us. Would you really want me to tell you if I knew?”
Affirmative response rang from everybody’s lips and Garth was actually surprised. Being a Prince was a heavy burden and Garth would not want to know if he was in their position. “Very well,” Garth replied. “I will tell you the only clue that I possess. Remember that what I am about to say is not proof of a claim to the throne, but Prince Oscar and Princess Callie were given very special gifts from Jenneva. One of you carries that gift today. How it was come by, we do not know, but its identity is certain.”
“Do you mean a magical gift?” Arik asked. “That would have to be Fredrik. Tedi and I have no magical gift whatsoever.”
Garth watched the boys’ expressions to see if there was resentment created by Arik’s statement. Fredrik appeared shocked and both Tedi and Arik seemed pleased for Fredrik.
“I do not mean a gift of magic,” Garth finally said. “I mean a physical gift. The necklace that Tedi wears belonged to either the Prince or the Princess. We do not know which.”
Tedi turned bright red and Arik and Fredrik slapped him on the back. Tanya looked curiously at the heir to the Alcea Crown, but Niki actually moved to sit between Fredrik and Tedi and examined the necklace.
The next few days were a welcome relief to Garth. The questions about Alexander Tork had ceased and Prince Oscar became the topic of conversation. The most dramatic change in the Children was in Niki. She would not leave Tedi alone. Instead of magic lessons with Kalina, Niki started challenging Tedi at knives and the Lanoirian Star. She even tried to battle him with a staff, but that lasted as long as one swing in which Tedi disarmed her and she complained of a broken wrist.
The Sword of Heavens was vibrating so vigorously now that Kalina could not control it. Tedi took over the job of using the Sword of Heavens to point towards their destination. The terrain of the headwaters of the Black River changed from mountains to rolling hills and eventually flattened out to forested woods just outside the village of Dani. The group had a discussion about entering Dani for provisions and after Kalina pointed out that this area had very few visitors and they would surely be talked about, they decided to bypass the town.
Just west of Dani, the pine forest gave way to an ancient wood of old oak trees. At this point the Sword of Heavens was vibrating so wildly that only Garth and Arik had the physical strength to handle it. Garth gave the job to Arik so he would not be encumbered if trouble arose. The woods were dark and whatever light the day brought was quickly fading, so Garth announced that they would camp for the night and start fresh in the morning.
The camp was full of excitement as everyone realized they would probably meet the fairies in the morning. During the talk period after dinner, everyone had questions about the fairies and what they were like. Unfortunately, nobody had any answers. No one had ever seen a fairy, not even Garth and Kalina. Garth cautioned about being overly excited.
“You must remember,” Garth stated clearly, “that the Universe inhabited by the fairies was also inhabited by ogres. If we are near to finding the fairies, we may also be in the vicinity of ogres and they are ferocious fighters. An ogre is typically stupid, but they are large, strong, and will eat people. If we have to fight ogres, the bow is your best weapon. Their strength will make sword fighting dangerous because their blows, even if they are blocked, can knock your sword from your hand. Knives will be useless unless you score a direct hit in a vital area like the throat or eyes.”
Everyone’s attention was riveted on Garth. No one expected to find the land of the fairies to be a dangerous place, but the thought of fighting ogres had sobered their jubilation.
“You will have to aim at the same vital areas with your arrows,” Garth continued, “but you may do so from a greater distance. As far as I know, the ogres have no magicians, but do not depend on that. If we get into an attack, defense shields will be the first priority of those with magical capabilities. If you can maintain a shield and attack at the same time, do so. There is no such thing as a surrender in a battle with ogres. We either kill them all or they eat us."
The mood had turned rather gloomy as the Children went to the practice area, but the practice itself was tough. All four of the warrior Rangers practiced their archery skills, each trying to outdo the others. Arik with his longbow was clearly the winner, with Tanya second. Each of the Rangers practiced as if the skills they honed today would be used in battle tomorrow. Garth called an early halt to the practice and stated his intention that everybody get as much sleep as possible. They would search tomorrow until they located the fairies, even if they had to proceed after the darkness came.
Garth let everyone sleep until first light and then canceled morning exercises. The Rangers had breakfast and took to the trail. The oak forest got thicker and the coming of light did little to improve visibility. The group rode through the morning with two stops for Arik to check on the direction shown by the Sword of Heavens.
Shortly after their stop for the midday meal, they started seeing live, healthy apple trees. Tanya started to gather apples for dinner until Garth told her to keep her hands free. The light also started to penetrate the forest better as the oak trees thinned. Excitement started to percolate again as there were several false sightings of fairies. Garth did not share in the excitement. Instead he started to grow tense with a premonition of danger and his eyes started scanning the forest.
Tedi was in the lead when his horse just stopped. Garth rode to the front of the procession and asked Tedi why he was stopping.
“I didn’t stop,” Tedi said. “My horse just stopped. Tedi lowered himself from the saddle and checked on his mount.
“He’s sleeping!” Tedi exclaimed. “I can’t believe it, he is just sleeping.”
Garth also dismounted to verify Tedi’s statement. Arik came walking forward from the end of the column.
“All of the mounts are sleeping except yours and Kalina’s,” Arik stated. “What is going on? We didn’t push them hard yesterday. They have never acted like this before.”
Garth shook his head and started looking around at the forest when he heard the shouts behind him. He quickly pivoted and saw Fredrik and Kalina rushing to where Niki had fallen to the ground. His senses reeling, Garth searched for some sign of his enemy. He watched as Fredrik collapsed to the ground and heard either Tedi or Arik falling behind him with a shout.
“It’s magical!” Kalina shouted as she hurriedly tried to erect a shield over the entire party.
Tanya dropped to her knees as Garth heard another thump behind him and turned to find both of the Lorgo boys stretched out on the ground. He pulled his sword from its sheath as he turned back to see Kalina collapse. His arms grew heavy under the weight of the sword and it dropped to the ground as the trees above his head swirled in flashes of green and gray. He struggled to grab onto something to hold him upright as his eyeballs rolled up into his head and his body collapsed beneath him.