Portals of Infinity: Book Five: Demigods and Deities Page 21

  Eklin was now living in the castle as the Duke of Marland, as a reward for his services in the war, and his fealty to the people, so he was rather satisfied with the way things were going. Furthermore taxes had been lowered to bring them in line with Hiland's, so both the merchants, and the people were happy.

  Also, a rather large contingent of Hiland, Holden, and Marland troops were now stationed in the region, to hopefully deter any further attacks by Barassa, and because they were there not as conquerors, but as protectors, they were rather well received by the people. Of course, the story that Fordessa's minstrels had spread, that King Ruusolf had raided the treasury and stole off into the night when it looked like Barassa might win, while the brave allies of Holden and Hiland had joined with the faithful Duke Eklin to win the war may have had a little something to do with that.

  In fact, the only person who had been unhappy at all was Rachel, who'd really wanted me to kill off Ruusolf, but she got over it. Eventually.

  "So," I asked Rachel as we relaxed by the fire, and sipping our tea enjoying a rare day of nothing to do. "What does Rigel have to say about our friends in Barassa?"

  Rachel gave a small shake of her head, "Not much really, there is turmoil of course, we wiped out half of their entire military. That's a lot of males who did not come home to their families, and the country has nothing to show for it."

  "Does that mean Barassa is ripe for the plucking?" I asked and curled up a little closer.

  "I wish," Rachel sighed. "But with mercenaries and the levy, Rigel believes that King Stivik still has close to seventy thousand soldiers available to him."

  "How much of that is the regular standing army?"

  "Less than ten thousand. He's trying to promote more up out of the levies, but Rigel's reports have him suspecting that the levies aren't exactly cooperating."

  "How many mercenaries does he have?"

  "Around twenty thousand, give or take a few thousand."

  "Wow, that has to be costing him a fortune," I said thinking about the numbers.

  "It is. He has to be running low on funds in his treasury at this point."

  "So if the mercs leave, and enough of the farmers revolt and don't send their sons and fathers in for the levies, he's going to have a very small army." I said smiling, "A very small and inexperienced army."

  "You've seen Barassa, it wouldn't take much of an army to hold their capitol city," Rachel grumbled.

  "True, but it means their days of attacking us are over. Well, at least for now."

  Rachel smiled and purred curling up against me as well. "There is that. A few years' peace would give me time to consolidate things, and get our own defenses built up. With all the new lands we've added, it's going to take a while to get everything and everyone sorted out."

  I nodded; Rachel's kingdom had increased drastically in the last ten years.

  "Oh, Rigel did have on other piece of interesting information."

  "Hmmm?" I asked.

  "Seems like several of Barassa's northern neighbors have noticed Barassa's plight, and are considering relieving King Stivik of some of the outlying parts of his kingdom."

  "Oh, that would definitely keep him out of our fur for a while."

  "That's what I thought," Rachel smiled.

  I was just about to suggest retiring to bed a little early tonight when a guard stepped in rather hastily.

  "Yes?" Rachel said looking at him.

  "Summons from the temple for William, Your Highness. They said it was rather urgent."

  I untangled myself, and kissed Rachel, "Duty calls, my Love,"

  Rachel sighed and looked as unhappy as I felt, "And it always has the worse timing. If you're going to be gone long, let me know."

  I nodded and left, stopping only to grab my weapons as I left.

  "What is it, Fel?" I asked as I stepped into the temple.

  "Your son Cameron has been kidnapped." His voice said as I entered.

  "What?" I said and swore, "Who, how, when? Is Darlene all right? What happened?"

  "I am going to open a gateway through to the temple in Riverhead. You can find out yourself."

  "Where? And what can you tell me?"

  "Here by the altar, and I sent for you as soon as I found out. Aryanna can tell you more than I can, ask her."

  I nodded and strode up to the main altar. Fel didn't open portals often, because it was difficult for him to do so, and even then, the other god had to be helping him.

  "I'll have someone tell Rachel you're going to be a while," Fel's voice said as I saw the small black door-like opening appear before me, and I stepped through.

  When I stepped out the other side, I was in one of the small side altars that existed in the temple. I was also not alone. The head priest for the temple, who I recognized was there, as was a very bloody and half-conscious looking Chaucer, and my wife Darlene.

  "Darlene, what happened?" I said as I took a step forward. I noticed then that her eyes suddenly got very wide.

  "Will?" She said.

  I looked down at myself and swore, I was still in my champion form, I shifted out of it, and looked back up at her. "What happened? Are you okay? Are the kids okay? Where is Cameron?"

  "What, what was that, Will?" she asked blinking at me as I walked up to her and pulled her close. "What are you?" She said looking up into my eyes.

  I was surprised she wasn't trying to pull away from me, but then I think she'd always know there was something more to me.

  "I'm a champion, Hon, just like my sister. Just when I'm there, I look like that. My god and Aryanna are allies, so I'm allowed to come here."

  "But, why are you here, if you, if your god, isn't?"

  "Because I love you, that's why," I told her softly. "Now, tell me what happened?"

  Darlene nodded and then she sobbed, "We were at the temple, for our usual weekend service, and when we got back, we found Chaucer, almost dead, like that." She looked up at me crying, "Harold and Emma are dead, Will, whoever took Cameron killed them!" She buried her head in my chest then and I just held her.

  "How is he?" I asked the priest and nodded towards Chaucer.

  "Alive, barely. But now that he's here we should be able to heal him, but he was pretty badly injured. It's going to take a while."

  I nodded, "How long before I can at least talk to him?"

  "I'm not sure, a few hours, maybe longer. Whatever hit him, it wasn't a regular weapon."

  "How so?"

  "The effects, it seems like it was cursed."

  "Hon, where are our children?" I asked Darlene.

  "At my parents,' the Duke has the Swan being guarded."

  I nodded and kissed her, "Go to your parents' house and wait for me there, I need to go take a look at what happened."

  "Will, will you be okay?" She asked looking up at me.

  "I'll be fine, Hon," I looked at the priest, "Have somebody go with her, okay?"

  He nodded, "I'll see it taken care of."

  I let go of Darlene and ran out of the temple and back to the inn, it was starting to get dark out, so I guess this had happened probably six or eight hours ago. When I got to the inn there were several of the Duke's guards around it all right, and the one in charge nodded to me as I came up.

  "William, they said you'd be here soon, but I wasn't sure I believed it."

  "Who did?" I asked. I knew him of course; it was Sergeant Habe, who I'd traveled to Kingstown with some time ago.

  "A couple of the temple guards that the priests sent over. I guess with your sister being Aryanna's champion, that they're taking an interest in this."

  "You got that right," I said. "Is there anyone else inside?"

  "No, everyone's gone."

  I nodded and walked in through the front door, and then looked around. The place was a mess, somebody had taken the time to smash a couple of the tables and chairs, there was quite a bit of damage to the bar, and blood spattered all over. It was worst behind the bar.

  I looked at Habe,
who'd accompanied me inside. "I need you to wait outside and not let anyone in."

  "I can't do that, Will, the captain ordered me himself, I'll be cashiered."

  I nodded, "Okay, you do follow Aryanna, right?"

  Habe nodded, "Of course I do, Will."

  "Okay, tell anybody what you're about to see, and she's going to be very unhappy with you."

  "What?"

  "Oh, and don't scream."

  I shifted then into my champion form, and I grabbed Habe by the shoulder as I heard the sharp intake of breath. "What did I say about screaming?" I growled.

  "What, what are you?"

  "Let's save that until later, right now, I need to get a good look around."

  I carefully walked around the bar, and sniffed at everything. I could smell Darlene's scent, as well as the children's, but Harold's scent was strongest here, because all the blood was apparently his. There were another couple of faint scents that was fresh, but it might have been those of whoever had taken his body from here.

  I walked back around the room, and picked up a couple of pieces of the smashed furniture, but nothing really stood out. So I headed into the back.

  "Where was Chaucer found?" I asked him.

  "Out back, he was either coming in, or he saw what happened here and ran out after them."

  I nodded and looked down the hallway.

  "Emma was in the family room, babysitting Cameron." Habe supplied.

  "Thanks," I growled and went inside.

  There was blood everywhere, lots of blood. I noticed the two dogs I had left here were both dead. I bent down and examined their muzzles; both had bits of fiber and blood on their teeth.

  "At least they bit the bastard," I said and picked out the pieces of fiber and sniffed at them. Unfortunately, the saliva and smell of the dog's mouths didn't let me get any kind of scent off of the pieces. While I had a stronger and more informative sense of smell as a felinoid, it wasn't anywhere as fine as a dog's or most other animals. I looked around the room some more, I'd seen some pretty gruesome scenes in the last ten years, and I'd been responsible for more than a few of them. The dogs had been cut into pieces, by a large bladed weapon, and I suspected Emma had been killed the same way.

  I turned and left the room, and went to Cameron's crib. It took me a minute to find it, apparently Cameron was now old enough that Darlene had moved it into a separate room, and out of our bedroom. There were two cribs in the room, and I was easily able to quickly identify which was Rachel's and which was Cameron's.

  I noticed that Cameron's clothing was in a mess, like someone had dug through it. I checked for scents again, and this time I thought I smelled something familiar, but it was too faint to be sure.

  Standing up I went back to Darlene's and my room, and shifting back I put on fresh clothing. I hadn't been wearing much more than a tunic and a loincloth when I came through the portal, and I had been barefoot.

  I looked up at Habe who was watching but not saying anything.

  I went back to getting dressed. "I'm a champion to a god in a far away land. Aryanna and he are allies. I come here because I love my wife and my family. No, I wasn't a champion when we first met. No, you can't talk about it with anybody, well maybe the head priest at the temple." I said and then looked back up at him. "Any other questions?"

  "Do you know who did this?" Habe asked.

  I shook my head, "No, not yet. But when I do, it isn't going to be pretty."

  I got up and went out and looked up and down the hall. "I need you to hire someone to clean up all of this blood and gore for me, can you do that? And do it right now?" I asked him.

  "I'll have one of the men go turn out the barracks."

  I nodded, "Thanks, tell them all they'll get free drinks for a month."

  Habe snorted and gave a weak smile, "They'll make this place cleaner than the king's palace for that!"

  I nodded, "I just don't want Darlene or the kids to come back here and see all this blood."

  "I'll take care of it, Will, I'll even ask the captain if he knows of any carpenters to come in here and fix it all up."

  "Thanks, Habe," I smiled and shook his hand, then went back to the temple.

  I went back to the small side chapel where I had seen Chaucer last, he wasn't there anymore.

  "Where's Chaucer?" I asked one of the priests.

  "Who?"

  "The man who was brought here earlier, he was seriously injured."

  "Oh, we moved him to a bed in one of the back rooms. Would you like to see him?"

  I shook my head; it could wait a little while yet. I needed a bit more information than he probably had.

  "I need some privacy for a few minutes, if you would leave and close the door behind you please?" I said to him, and the acolyte who I guess was cleaning the floor where Chaucer's stretcher had been.

  "Sir, I must protest," the priest began.

  I put my finger to his lips, "This is not the time to talk, this is the time for you to listen. I need to talk to Aryanna, in private. Now go.'

  He started a moment, and then he grabbed the acolyte and left the room. I sighed and turned to the altar, "I don't have any money on me, but I hope I've built up enough capitol with you by now. What happened?"

  "I'm not exactly sure, William. But I have my suspicions."

  "How can you not know?" I replied hotly, "You're a goddess! Hell, you're the goddess around here! You're the most powerful being I've ever met, or probably ever will! What happened?" I said pacing back and forth. I normally didn't have much of a temper, but right now, I was getting pretty upset with what had happened, as it finally started to sink in: My child was stolen; again, Harold and Emma, two of my oldest friends here, were dead! Violently murdered!

  "What did I do wrong? What did Darlene do wrong? How did anyone even know? What's going on, Aryanna? What's happening?"

  "Sit Down, William," Aryanna ordered me, rather loudly.

  I sat.

  "Better, I know you're upset, but you will respect me, or I will punish you, understand?"

  I sighed and put my head in my hands, "I'm sorry, Aryanna, I know I shouldn't yell at you, and not because you're a goddess, but because I know you would have prevented this if you could have. I'm sorry, I'm just, well, I just can't believe this has happened."

  "That's better, William," her voice continued, still a bit stern, but not as stern as before. I don't know if I had actually upset her, or if she was just yanking on my leash. It didn't matter really, I heeled. "As you know, there are certain people the gods and goddesses can-not track."

  I nodded, "Champions, Priests."

  "Exactly. This was one of those."

  "Do you know who they are?"

  "It is not any god or goddess from this sphere. That is all I have been able to determine so far."

  "Was it Trespon?" I asked looking up.

  "Trespon is so weak right now; he no longer has a champion."

  I blinked, "How did that happen?"

  "Your attack hurt him enough that it gave Sireen's forces an edge, and they exploited it unmercifully. His main temple was torn down, his city was completely destroyed, his followers were scattered. Sireen is not a goddess to be trifled with, she'd warned Trespon off, but he did not listen. So she is destroying him."

  I nodded; I didn't care much about Trespon, I was just happy to know he wasn't involved. I had an inspiration then. "What about Harold and Emma? Can you ask them? Tell me what they saw?"

  "William, you know I can't relay to you what the dead tell me, even if you were my champion, which you are not, you'd have to ask them yourself."

  I slumped back down in the seat, "Well, if you could tell them I'm sorry, I'd appreciate it."

  "Of course, William."

  "Can you tell me why my child was taken?"

  "Not until I know who took him."

  "Do you know where they went after they took him?"

  "Actually, I believe so."

  I sat back up, "Where did they take hi
m?"

  "They rode immediately to a portal far up in the hills; they left through it about two hours ago."

  "How do you know this?" I asked.

  "Because you asked me, William," Aryanna replied with a pleased voice.

  "Why does that make a difference?" I asked.

  "Cameron is your child, so even though he does not appear to me, the same way as priests or champions other than my own do not, he can be tracked, through you, because of that connection."

  "So because I asked, you could track him."

  "Yes, William, but only because we have a prior connection, which is why you appear to me, even though you are a champion."

  "Rules," I sighed.

  "Yes," Aryanna agreed, "Rules."

  "Can you tell where Cam is now?"

  "I'll know when he changes spheres, and which gateway he uses. Beyond that, I can not tell you more."

  I sighed, "I guess I'll go question Chaucer, and reassure Darlene, then go find a horse."

  "Nikki will be by here soon, you should wait for her."

  "Why? The sooner I leave, the better chance I have of catching up!"

  "Because I told you to," Aryanna in a very neutral voice that made my ears perk up.

  "Is there anything you're not telling me?" I asked carefully.

  "There are many things that I'm not telling you, William," She said rather pleasantly.

  "Are there any things you can tell me now, that I need to know, or which will help me?"

  "Do not ride off in a rush, whoever did this, planned it. You should try to plan as well."

  I nodded and stood up. "Thank you, Aryanna. I am in your debt," I bowed to the altar and left then.

  When I found where they were keeping Chaucer, he was still unconscious. As much as I wanted to wake him, I knew that I had to wait for Nikki. I also knew I had to gear up for a trip, and that meant money, which meant waiting until the bank opened.