Lord Ellrich was happy to be back at Settsted Stronghold. The familiar stone walls around the keep, with its little bailey yard, single tower, and its bird’s eye view of the seemingly endless and empty green swamp marsh that began on the other side of the river channel, made him feel comfortable and safe.
The smell of Rosila’s cooking wafting up from the kitchen, and the reassuring sound of the men – the few of them King Glendar and his wizard had left him – drilling in the practice yard, were sensations he had never thought to enjoy again. How he had managed to keep his head from being piked at Lakeside Castle was a mystery. He was sure it had more to do with King Glendar’s interest in his daughter than anything else.
Thank the heavens that Zasha was safe at Lake Bottom with Lady Trella. His only hope was that she still might be able to turn Glendar’s eyes away from her. Maybe Trella could get him interested in another maiden. He would send her a message as soon as he was settled and invite them to visit. Lake Bottom was probably a sad sort of place without Lord Gregory around to lend it his cheer.
The week had been extremely busy. Riding out daily to cull men from the garrisons had been no easy task. His huge, old horse could only go so far, so fast, with his great bulk riding on its back, so the work had taken some time.
The soldiers were mostly river folk, his folk. No matter who Lord Ellrich sent off to Wildermont to fight, he found protesting mothers, fathers, and wives. Some, he had managed to appease, others were still cursing his decisions. They were his people and he was their liege. It pained him to do his duty, but the new King of Westland was waging war against the east, and Ellrich would sooner anger a few families than donate his head to the cause.
The river folk were only a portion of Lord Ellrich’s responsibilities. Besides guarding the stretch of Westland shore that contained the Leif Greyn Rivers western channel, he held sway over a huge section of the kingdom’s southern lands. Farmers, herders, and craftsmen alike, all lived and worked under his banner. Lord Brach’s recruiters had come through, and hauled every able bodied man and boy away from their homes to fight. Very few people were happy in this part of the kingdom. Ellrich couldn’t imagine it being much better anywhere else. His people might not be happy with him, but at least it was his people that were around him now. He was home.
On the desk before him, was the remainder of the petitions and grievances that had piled up during his absence. Dealing with King Balton’s funeral, then Glendar’s coronation, and then the matter of sending the King most of his men had taken well over a month. What matters his captains hadn’t been able to resolve, were left here for him to review. It seemed that they hadn’t resolved much. He had thinned the stack down a bit over the past few days, but since the news of his return had spread, it was growing again.
Several people had sighted flocks of the big swamp dactyls flying into the farmlands. Dozens of goats, a few sheep, and even a milk cow, had been reported missing. The next report said that a handful of barges had sunk or been pirated before reaching their destinations. This was a fresh copy of an old report and he quickly tossed it away. A young girl had been raped by men in uniform, probably Lord Brach’s recruiters. Ellrich’s men knew better. She had just come forward with the claim. Her family most likely bade her to wait for Lord Ellrich’s return before she made the accusation. It was probably too late to find the men responsible, now that the invasion of Wildermont had begun. Lord Ellrich sighed and rubbed at the folds of his chin with his sausage-like a fingers. What a shame.
Another report said that a rash of burglaries along the riverfront had occurred in more than one town. “Highly organized,” Captain Long had written in the margin of the report. Ellrich tried to remember if Long had been sent to the Wildermont front or not. If he had investigated the thefts enough to learn how organized the perpetrators were, but still hadn’t managed to find them, then maybe the battlefront was the place for him. Or, maybe, Captain Long would like to lead an excursion out into the marshes to wipe out some of the pesky dactyls. Ellrich liked that idea better. A few of the big leathery birds hanging from the trees in the towns along the coast would make the people feel a little bit better. He started to read the next page, but sighed again, and tossed the stack of papers back onto his desk.
Since he had been home, he had been forced to deal with these sorts of matters personally. He used to assign a man to each and see what came about, but he didn’t have the resources of his garrison anymore. A few thousand men had suddenly turned into a few hundred. He would deal with it, on the morrow. The scent of Rosila’s meal had him salivating. Not even the upsetting matter of the molested girl, whose father he knew personally, was going to disturb his dinner this night.
The table was loaded with his favorites. Rosila had cooked and cared for him since he was knee high to a swamp bug, and knew just what would satisfy his vast hunger. Since he had been home, he had been too busy culling the outposts, and making the rounds, to sit down at his own table and enjoy one of her feasts, but she had insisted that he stay put this night. She had also invited his advisers, and warned them what would happen if they didn’t leave the Lord to get a good night’s rest after supper was finished. They knew better than to argue with her, as did Lord Ellrich. She was as old as Settsted itself, and as stubborn as the stone it was built from.
Captain Layson, a tall, thick man in his graying years, with a clean military demeanor and a balding head, had been invited. He was Lord Ellrich’s second in command here at the stronghold.
Captain Munst, a slightly younger and bulkier version of Captain Layson, was there as well. He was over all the men who manned the string of outposts that Lord Ellrich had just gutted.
Sir William, the wily old Weapons Master, who had trained nearly every man that served under Lord Ellrich, was there as well. He was getting on in years, but his wild explosion of snow white hair and his hardened physique, were still imposing. Especially on the training yard where he often proved why he was still the Weapons Master.
The rock-walled dining hall wasn’t very large. It held only one long table and was lit by torches spaced evenly along the long walls. The big fireplace at the foot of the table was blocked off with a wooden folding partition, and was painted the same dark and dreary shades of green and brown as the two swamp scene tapestries hanging on the walls that ran alongside of the dining board. Even this early in the summer, a fire would have made the heat in the windowless room unbearable.
The occasion was informal, old friends who trusted and respected one another, just socializing, and enjoying the return of their Liege Lord. These were the three men who had shaped Lord Ellrich’s ideals and raised him after his father had passed away many years ago. His title meant little in their company; they were like family, and none of them would hesitate to speak their mind. All three of them were pleased to get to enjoy Rosila’s feast. It was rare that she let them share the Lord’s table.
Not much was said while they were eating. Roasted game hens, and sliced pork, drenched in gravy, seemed to keep their fingers and mouths busy enough. Fresh baked loaves of bread, heavily buttered, sweet jellies, and a mix of green vegetables, weren’t ignored either. The best cask of red in the cellar had been brought up, and Rosila and her daughter kept the goblets full. Dessert was sugared moss cakes, with candied gar root, a swamp land delicacy that was as rare as snowfall to the men. They ate their fill of all of it.
The conversation stayed light, until Lord Ellrich, who was sweating profusely, and bloated like a boar hog, had a pair of candelabras brought out so that the torches might be extinguished. After wiping the grease and sweet jam from his hands, he belched loudly, and then touched on the subject of King Glendar’s campaign against the east. He was buzzed from the wine and had a green smear of icing from the moss cake on his cheek. His manner and tone were almost comical.
“You think this war is a winnable thing?” he asked the table.
“Why that Highwander Witch would set such a thing off at Summer’s Day, I cannot imagine,” Captain Layson offered.
“I heard it was a Seaward bastard who started the blood flowing, after Lord Gregory killed their fighter,” Sir William said.
The mention of the Lion Lord caused a long moment of head shaking reverie as they all thought about the much loved, and greatly missed Lord of Lake Bottom.
“He was a fine man,” Lord Ellrich slurred. He raised his flagon up in toast. “To a fair and noble warrior, who will be sorely missed.”
“Aye, he was that,” Sir William added.
“Here, here,” the others agreed.
“They say ol’ King Jarrek is already holed up in that castle fortress of his, like a scared rabbit.” Sir William changed the subject before the loss of Lord Gregory ruined the mood of the evening completely.
“Those Redwolves like to snarl and bark a lot, but when it comes time to really fight, what do they do, but run like curs.”
This came from Captain Munst, who was obviously the least intoxicated of them. He had only been sipping at his goblet while the other men had been drinking deeply. He had three daughters, and an anxious wife at home. With the loss of manpower along the riverfront, he was sure that he wouldn’t get another chance like this for a good long while. Always traveling from outpost to outpost limited his time here. He had the chance this night to go and see them, and he wasn’t about to come home to them in a drunken stupor.
“If they had policed the festival like they were supposed to,” Munst continued, “then none of this would’ve happened. They brought it upon themselves.”
“THAT FOOL’S PUPPET GLENDAR!” Lord Ellrich roared out quite loudly.
Only here in his home, with these men whom he trusted completely, would he speak what was truly on his mind.
“He and Lord Brach would’ve found a reason to go after Wildermont sooner or later. They’ve been scheming on it since long before King Balton died.”
“Another great man who will be sorely missed,” said Captain Munst, hoping to detour his Liege Lord’s treasonous line of thought, before it went too far. “To good King Balton,” he toasted. “May he lie with the gods for all eternity.”
“Agreed,” the others chimed in, getting the drift of Captain Munst’s intention.
None of them wanted to find out what their fate would be if Lord Ellrich got his head spiked for being treasonous against the new king. They had all heard the rumors about how the bailey yards, and the garden gates of Lakeside Castle were sporting the heads of those who so much as irritated young Glendar. It was also said that Lord Brach had spies everywhere. Between the resourceful Northern Lord, and the King’s strange wizard, Captain Munst feared that Glendar’s ears might be privy to the words Lord Ellrich spoke, even here in his own stronghold.
Sir William started to speak, but the wooden fireplace cover fell flat onto the stone floor with a sudden and resounding, WHACK!
Lord Ellrich didn’t seem to notice, but Captain Layson and Sir William both snapped their heads around, instinctually alarmed by the sound.
Captain Munst, who was at the foot of the table, and had his back to the hearth, chose to gauge the reaction of the others, instead of twisting in his chair. Only when Captain Layson’s brows narrowed over squinting, quizzical eyes, and when he stood and strode towards the sound, did Captain Munst’s curiosity get the better of him.
“What caused that?” he asked, as he made to join Captain Layson’s investigation.
Lord Ellrich noticed them, and became only mildly concerned.
“Probably the wind,” he said with a dismissive wave. “Leave it be.”
“What in the name of -?” Captain Layson’s voice was cut short, as he leapt back from a cloud of soot that erupted suddenly from the back of the stone recess.
“It’s a fargin Widow Worm!” Captain Munst yelled, when he saw the venomous marsh lizard.
It was as long as his leg, covered in grey ash, and it was already streaking across the floor. It leapt sideways into Captain Munst’s empty chair, paused for half a heartbeat, then jumped onto the foot of the table, and shot full speed across it towards Lord Ellrich’s wide eyed jiggling head.
As if he were the only man in the room, the determined thing came at the oversized Lord of Settsted. Its claws and teeth were about to find flesh, but Sir William brought his dagger down, and pinned the Widow Worm through its back to the wooden table. Its vicious, toothy maw snapped shut only a hair’s breadth from Lord Ellrich’s face. It lurched and scrabbled in place, its claws seeking purchase on the well used, but polished surface of the table board. It snapped, writhed, and twisted, still trying to get at the huge man, as if it had no other purpose than to sink its teeth into him. Its tail whipped around, and sent the remainder of a serving platter clattering to the floor, and managed to knock over the candelabra; but its thrashing was in vain. The old Weapon Master’s dagger held it fast.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The sound of someone beating heavily on the wooden door startled them all.
Sir William doused the overturned candles with what was left of his drink. Rosila came barging into the hall from the kitchen to see what the racket was about, saw the lizard flopping on the table, and screamed loudly. Her daughter, who had come in on her heels, fainted at the sight of the bloody thing.
Thump! Thump! Thump! at the door again.
This time, Captain Layson went to answer it. On his way, he attempted to bat the ash from his shirt, but only manage to smear it across the front.
“Kill it!” Lord Ellrich commanded as he raised his bulk from his seat.
The Widow Worm was still straining and snapping at him. He stumbled drunkenly backward and nearly fell over his chair. He wasn’t sure which was worse, the insistent swamp creature, or Rosila’s ear piercing shriek.
Sir William was still coherent enough to keep from pulling his dagger out of the writhing thing to stab it again. It wanted to get at his Lord too badly. Instead, he grabbed his empty goblet, and began pounding the creatures head. Blood, and pieces of wet goo-covered scales flew everywhere.
Rosila backed away, and fell backwards over her daughter. Captain Munst made an alert move, and managed to catch her before she went all the way down, but her screaming continued in loud, hysterical bursts. Sir William hammered away at the creature as Captain Layson opened the door, and let in a terrified looking, sweat-covered young soldier.
“Enough!” yelled Lord Ellrich.
Captain Munst recognized the boy and immediately began trying to ease Rosila’s ample body into his empty chair. This couldn’t be good news.
Sir William hadn’t heard his Lord, and was still pounding the lizard into the table. Its body was twitching now, and its hiss had become a gurgling, spewing sound.
“Enough!” Lord Ellrich roared it this time.
Everyone in the room froze in place. Sir William was a sight, with his bloody cup raised for another blow, his expression, a mixture of childish glee, and utter befuddlement. The newly arrived young soldier’s heavy panting, Rosila’s whimpering sobs, and the slow scratching of the dying lizard’s claws as they raked across the table, filled the sudden and relative silence.
The young soldier looked desperate to speak, but afraid to make a sound. One could only imagine how he was interpreting the scene before him. Captain Munst unceremoniously dropped Rosila into his chair, and stepped around.
“What is it?” he asked, with a tinge of fear in his voice. The boy, he knew, had come a very long way to bring whatever message he was carrying. “Tell us now!”
“They’ve come out of the marsh, Captain!” The words came like water, bursting through a breaking dam. “I’ve run all the way from the Mids. It was happening at Half Point when I passed, and now here. Dane, a rider from Last Post, has just come into the yard bearing the same news from the other end.” The young man gasped for another breath, before continuing. “They’re armed to the gills and coming in swarms. We haven’t the men left to stop them.”
“What in all the bloody hells are you saying boy?” Lord Ellrich asked.
Neither of his two captains waited for the answer. They were bolting out of the hall to assess the situation for themselves. Sir William understood that something was very wrong and waited, still frozen in place, with his cup held high over his head, for the young soldier to answer his Liege Lord.
“We’re under attack, milord,” the boy said, with tears pooling in his eyes. They were obviously tears of terror. “We’re being overrun by the Skeeks!”
“The Zard?” Lord Ellrich looked to Sir William stupidly.
The Weapon Master’s arm finally fell to his side, and his mouth formed a perfect “O.”
The Zardmen had been hunted to extinction in the days of Lord Ellrich’s grandfather. Or so they had thought. Sightings had been reported from time to time over the years, but they had been dismissed as hoaxes or mistakes. In all his life, in all of the treks into the marshes to hunt snapper, dactyl, and geka, during all the deeper excursions to hunt wibbin and skirlsnake, not one of his men, nor any of his father’s men, had ever produced a shred of evidence that the Zard still lived. Ellrich couldn’t believe what he was hearing, and neither could Sir William.
“Master William,” the boy went on, after wiping away his tears. “They number in the thousands, we should see to our Lord’s safety.”
Shaella looked down from the dragon’s back at the squat blocky shape of Settsted Stronghold with an expression of deep concentration, and purpose on her wind-raw face. Her satiny black cloak fluttered at the collar, and anywhere it wasn’t pinned between her shapely bottom and the dragon’s scaly hide. Her mind was clear and focused on her purpose. All thoughts of Gerard and Pael were pushed aside for the moment. She was invading Westland. She couldn’t afford to think about trivial matters. She was the Dragon Queen now, come to conquer Westland and make it her empire.
All along the river border, Shaella’s Zard army was attacking. The whole stretch of Westland was being overrun. The military outposts, and the cities and towns that sprouted up around them, were getting the worst of it. She had concentrated her forces in those heavily populated areas. They were the only places where enough people remained to put up any sort of organized resistance. Smaller groups of Zard were attacking the fishing villages, and it was her soldiers, riding on the backs of the big geka lizards, who were now patrolling the river roads. The metropolis of Southport would have to wait. She would use terror tactics to take hold of its people’s fears. That would have to work in Portsmouth to the north and Castleview at Lakeside as well.
“Nothing like a great big fire-breathing dragon to get the city folk in line,” she mused.
Between Claret and the savage breed giants she was about to let loose on the northern parts of Westland, she was sure that there would be very little resistance. Who could stop her? All the able-bodied men in the land were off with King Glendar. Westland would fall like wheat before a scythe.
When she was finished with Settsted, she had to fly to Locar, and then to Coldfrost. She couldn’t allow word of Westland’s demise to reach King Glendar, with enough time for him to pull out of Wildermont, and come home. She would use the half-breed giants to cut him and his army off soon, but she had to get Settsted out of the way first. It was the only place in Westland, save for Lakeside Castle, where a sizable group of trained soldiers remained.
The destruction of Settsted would be an example to the rest of the land. The fall of the much loved, and over-fed southern marsh lord, would be a blunt statement to those he had been sworn to protect. The message would be clear. Westland has fallen. You were never safe. Bow to your new Queen, or be roasted in a blast of dragon fire. Pledge your allegiance, or face slavery and torture, or a fate worse than death. The geka, after all, had to be fed.
The thrill and glory that Shaella had thought would accompany this moment was absent. So was the anger and passion she had felt in the dragon’s lair with her father. That night was intense, yes, but her mood and demeanor were cold and deliberate. Her actions and decisions seemed almost mechanical. Her emotion had been left up in Claret’s lair with the blackened stain that was once Gerard.
Mindlessly, and without feeling, she would take this kingdom, and squeeze the life out of it. She was too drained by the loss of her lover, to even savor the revenge she was taking out on King Glendar for stealing her father’s attention her entire life. She just didn’t care anymore.
The gluttonous Lord hadn’t shown himself on the walls yet, but his two old captains had. Time was running short. She had to make a calculated concession. Lord Ellrich was probably somewhere in the stronghold, shoveling food into his face. Shaella thought that he might be too fat to get himself up on to the wall anyway. What she had to do in Coldfrost couldn’t wait much longer.
Through the magical link of the collar, she commanded the dragon to destroy the stronghold. With barely a tweak of her huge wings, Claret started her dive towards the dark stone structure, drawing in a deep, billowing breath as she went.
Captain Layson sent half the men of the stronghold garrison, about a hundred of them, out to meet the attackers. The rest were scrambling up onto the walls with long bows and pikes.
Captain Munst had ordered the fire pits to be fueled and lit, and the tar pots to be brought out. The mile or so of town between the stronghold wall and the riverfront, was already half in flame. The men outside the walls were holding back the armed lizard-men, but barely.
“There are hundreds of them,” Captain Munst observed aloud. “And there are more of them riding on the backs of those geka. Why don’t they just rush the walls?”
“Probably too stupid,” Captain Layson spat. “They’re just Skeeks! They might…”
He was about to say more, but Captain Munst’s pointing finger and sudden wide-eyed gasp of breath, stopped him.
“No, they’re staying out of the way of that!” Munst’s tone was deflated. He knew then and there, beyond all doubt, that he would never see his wife and daughters again. All he could do was close his eyes and say a prayer for them.
“Gods,” was all Captain Layson could manage, before Claret’s flaming breath charred them, and the men around them, to smoldering husks.
Lord Ellrich, bodily pulled Sir William toward his office. The young soldier followed nervously. He was too afraid to put his hands on his Lord to help the Weapon Master stop him, even though his superior, Sir William, was ordering him to do so.
Sir William wanted Ellrich to go with him to the stables. There, they could gather enough men to escort Ellrich away from the fighting, but the Lord of Settsted wouldn’t hear of it. After glimpsing the burning town from one of the arrow slits in the long hall, he had only one thing on his mind. He remembered as clearly as if it had been an hour ago, Pael and King Glendar arguing for the soldiers of his border guard to be taken away. The wizard had a hand in this, Ellrich was sure of it. And if it was so, then all of Westland was in trouble.
He ordered both Sir William and the boy to get out, then changed his mind, and ordered the young soldier to follow him to his study. The Weapons Master was doing everything, short of physically assaulting his Lord, to try and get him to see a reason, but it was no use. Ellrich just dragged him along as if he were a child.
Once in the study, Lord Ellrich sent Sir William stumbling across the room with a heavy shove. Sir William slammed into the wall, and decided that he had tried as hard as he could. His Lord was determined to do whatever it was that he was about to do.
Lord Ellrich took a parchment and quill, and after clumsily spilling ink all over the stacks of unanswered petitions and reports on his desk, he began writing with furious intensity. He sanded the paper, and burned his hand lighting a wax candle in the torch flaming on the wall sconce. He showed no regard, not even a wince, as the flames licked, and blistered his knuckles. The room filled with the acrid smell of burnt hair. Lord Ellrich didn’t care. He blew the sand from the note, rolled it quickly into a scroll, and then blotted a globule of wax on it to seal it. After pressing his ring into the cooling stuff, he handed the scroll to the boy.
“You are to ride!”
He said it quickly, placing a hand on each of the young man’s shoulders for emphasis. They were eye to eye then, and the Lord’s order took on a deadly weight.
“Ride like the wind to Lakebottom, and give that to either Lady Trella, or my daughter, Lady Zasha. Do you understand? Lady Trella or Lady Zasha only!”
“Yes, milord,” the soldier answered dutifully. The idea that he was being ordered away from the slaughter taking place around him, the hope that he might not die this night, filled him with confidence.
“Stop for no man. Not even for the King himself!” Ellrich said sharply. “And take as many horses as you need to make it through without stopping. Now go!”
The boy didn’t hesitate. He was off in a flash of boot heels and elbows, leaving Lord Ellrich and Sir William alone in the room. A bright, orange blast of light suddenly shone through the shuttered window that overlooked the training yard. It was accompanied by an earth-shaking roar, which chilled both men to their core. There was no time to even think after that. The building shook, and pieces of the ceiling beams splintered downward. A huge piece of stone flooring came down on them from above, crushing both of them to death in an instant. The last sound either of them heard was Claret’s battle roar as she tore Settsted Stronghold to the ground.
Lord Ellrich would never know it, but the young soldier managed to get clear of the stronghold and the Zard army that was closing in around it. The horses he chose were fast, strong, and more importantly, they were rested. There was a good chance that he would manage to escape the two geka that were chasing him.