Rise of Heroes

Chapter 17 - Tigossa's Revalations

Tamara patted her horse on the neck, trying to calm the animal as she watched the guards of Tigossa lower the bridge to let them into the city. Most of the cities now regularly kept their gates shut and allowed people in only at particular hours of the day unless there was an emergency. Opening the gates and closing them took too much time and effort to do for every visitor. She could barely remember the time when the gates stood open from early dawn till late in the evening and everybody could come and go as they pleased.

The gate finally gave in as the soldiers inside got it wide open and she nudged her horse forward, followed by General Mayern and the rest of their party. Passing by the soldiers on duty, she couldn’t help but notice that all of them seemed tired, hungry, and nervous — some of them even frowning at the passing procession. Even though she had expected the city to have grown in population over the past few months, especially after the demon attacks had increased, she was not prepared for the massive crowd on the streets, for the countless dirty, hungry faces. The overall misery was almost unbearable.

Tamara noticed how General Mayern wrinkled his nose and she herself had to do her best not to pinch hers. The smell was almost as bad as the view, and she was more than eager to leave it behind. Her impatience grew as they slowly pushed their way toward the citadel, but she couldn’t help and look at each and every face on the way.

Some of those people were sleeping on the street with their blankets hanging overhead like low rooftops, providing but small protection from the wind and the rain. Others had stashed their few belongings under their wagons or hung them around their necks as if too afraid to leave them out of their sight. She had never seen their people be so distrustful, so desperate, and scared.

“Tamara?” General Mayern spoke, and she realized her horse had stopped in the middle of the street. She had been staring at the dirty crowd, most of them now huddled together and whispering to each other. Tamara nudged her animal again, angry at herself, and kept the swift pace until they reached the Citadel, its gates standing wide open.

Chancellor Prium was waiting for them, his wife and two sons standing patiently by his side. Despite their glamorous new clothes, one could clearly see the traces of exhaustion and malnutrition on them. They waited until Tamara and her entourage got inside the yard before he gestured to his men to close the gates. Tamara jumped off her horse, handing its reins to the stablehand.

The Chancellor bowed down, his family doing the same. Tamara waited impatiently for them to rise, giving only a single, abrupt nod. Her eyes stopped on the Chancellor’s wife for a single moment, then switched to the two boys — one of them seemed older than her, with a thick, well-groomed beard covering most of his face. The younger one was around Estelle’s age, no more than thirteen or fourteen winters old. His eyes watched her with pure curiosity, and he couldn’t stop glancing at the sword hanging from her waist.

“Welcome to Tigossa, Princess Tamara!” The Chancellor greeted her and Tamara almost scowled at the title. She couldn’t care less for it, especially since in Roder it had little value. Commander, on the other side, brought her pride, satisfaction, and honor. She was the first woman in a very, very long time to become the Commander of the Black army, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to let anybody take that away from her. “Where are the rest of your men? I thought there’d be more. Where is Prince Jaden?”

“My men are settling outside the city,” she said coldly. “As for Jaden, I’m afraid he won’t be coming. He had other matters to attend to.”

The Chancellor seemed a bit disappointed at first, but then he simply nodded, regarding her with another smile. Then the smile quickly faltered.

“Did you say outside of the city? Is that wise?” His voice sounded genuinely concerned as he glanced at his wife, who looked even more startled. “We had so many attacks recently that nobody dares to show their nose outside. As you probably noticed, we have a lot of refugees. We can’t sustain so many people — we never had to before, you see. We are struggling with food, shelter, and soldiers. We even had a few fights break out and my men had to arrest the troublemakers. Things are bad, really bad.”

“They are about to get worse, I’m afraid,” Tamara added in a grim tone. “I’ll get my men to hunt. Hopefully, there will be some game left close by.” She nodded toward Auria, her second-in-command, who simply turned to the rest of the soldiers accompanying them and quietly passed the order. Two of them got back on their horses and left through the gate right before the castle guards closed it. “Your message said that I needed to come urgently. I’m here, so talk.”

“Don’t you want something to eat first? Time to refresh yourself? Now that you’re here, we can afford some time to…” The Chancellor began, but Tamara shook her head.

“If what you said in the letter is true, then I want to know more. I want to know everything. Now.” Her serious tone seemed to make the Chancellor decide against arguing with her, so he sent his wife to make arrangements for dinner. His younger son followed her while the other one stayed behind.

“This way, please,” the Chancellor said politely. Tamara glanced at his older son, who was preparing to follow. He met her eyes head-on, a confident smile suddenly appearing on his lips. “Oh, Gavyn? He knows everything. He was the one who discovered it.” Tamara nodded, exchanging a quick glance with General Mayern before following. Auria, Tamara’s second in command, and her brother, Bron, followed suit while the rest of the men remained in the yard. Nobody spoke on their way, and soon enough, they all found themselves in front of a plain wooden door. If it weren’t for their hosts, Tamara would have walked right past it.

The Chancellor opened the door and stepped in, his son following right away. Tamara nodded to General Mayern to follow while the other two stayed on guard outside. At first, all she could see was darkness and in it ― vague silhouettes of furniture. The Chancellor and his son lit up a dozen candles, their light chasing the shadows to reveal a small, stuffy chamber containing a long table cluttered with books and parchments, two chairs, and a desk with even more piles of tomes and paper.

There were curtains hanging from one of the walls, most likely obscuring a window, and Tamara couldn’t help but scoff at the whole secrecy. She crossed her arms impatiently, exchanging another glance with the General. The older man seemed a bit confused, and she didn’t fail to notice that his hand rested casually on the hilt of his sword.

“What is going on?” Tamara finally broke the silence and both Chancellor Prium and his son turned to face her. “I understand you don’t want the information to get into the wrong hands, but isn’t this a bit much?”

“Forgive us, Commander,” Gavyn spoke this time. “It’s just a precaution. Step closer, let me show you.” She sighed and went to the table, her eyes skimming through the scattered papers. Most of the scrolls were in a language she did not understand, a few familiar words here and there suggested it might be the Old Tongue. Her confusion deepened, and the moment she looked up, Gavyn spread his arms above the table in a circular motion.

“All of this is the answer to what we are looking for. The demons, where they are coming from, what they want, how to stop them.” He began passionately, his fingers stopping on one of the parchments which he picked up. “I’ve been studying the demons for many winters. Studying the Shadow Wars, the legends, and the old stories. I’ve been trying to learn the Old Tongue as well, but too few know it well enough to teach me that I didn’t have much success…”

“We have twice as big a library in Roder.” Tamara sighed, unsure of what he was talking about. “And we have a trained, experienced Keeper of the Chronicles. What makes you think you can find more than he already did?”

“You’re right!” Gavyn nodded, intertwining his fingers. “I can’t compete with the Keeper or with his knowledge. But we have uncovered something, information that he has not…”

“Get to the point, boy.” General Mayern interrupted him, his attention still focused on the papers and books in front of them. “Did you find what we need or not?”

“In a way, yes,” Gavyn said, grimacing. Tamara waved her hand impatiently, urging him to continue. He picked up one of the papers, clearing his throat. “I believe I know what the demons want, why they are here.”

A moment of silence passed between them, and Tamara opened her mouth, not really sure what to say. Gavyn continued.

“Recently we stumbled upon a sanctum while we were out on a hunt. The place must have been ancient, there were runes and markings that looked like nothing I’ve ever seen,” he said in a single breath. “We found scripts and artifacts. In one of them, there is a mention of an object called ‘Ma brenhaa calha’ which roughly translates as ‘the forbidden touch’ or something similar.”

“So you’ve found a weapon?” Tamara asked, her heart beating faster. “A weapon to stop them?”

Gavyn turned to his father, exchanging a quick glance.

“We’re not sure what this ‘ma brenha calha’ is,” the Chancellor said, scratching his neck. “It may be a weapon, or a talisman, or nothing remotely close. Most of the text is unreadable or we can’t make out the words, but from what Gavyn gathered, it is powerful. It is what brought the demons here.”

“So it is possible that this, ‘ma bra-whatever’ is not a weapon for us to use but rather one for the demons?” Tamara asked, her heart sinking. She did not miss the glance the Chancellor and his son shared again.

“It’s possible. But from what I managed to translate, it is neither good nor bad in its origin. And it is likely that it can be used both by us and by the demons. Still, my most important find is the demons’ biggest weakness.” Gavyn chimed in enthusiastically. His face brightened with a smile, and Tamara found herself holding her breath. They had been fighting this fruitless war for so long, they’d been looking for a way to annihilate the demon threat once and for all that now any possibility of this happening rendered her speechless.

“Well, boy? What is it?” The General pushed just as impatiently. “The weakness?”

Gavyn smiled.

“Magic.”

For a few long seconds, both Tamara and the General simply stared at him, dumbfounded. She would have laughed if she didn’t feel like somebody had just punched her in the gut. She expected something real, something she could actually use during battle. A solid weapon she could hold with her own two hands.

But magic? She had seen her fair share of impossible things, but for her twenty-two winters, she had never actually seen somebody who can wield it. She had heard rumors, and she wasn’t stupid to dismiss them completely, but to rely on it as the only weapon against their enemy ⁠— that was laughable. No, it was unacceptable.

“Tell me you are joking,” Tamara said coldly, her icy glare piercing the Chancellor. “Because if you aren’t, I swear by the spirits, I will punch you in the face, Chancellor or not.”

“Please, Commander!” He sighed almost desperately. “I would not dare ask you to come with such urgency if we didn’t have proof. I was skeptical at first too. Just keep an open mind and listen to what he has to say. I’m sure that in the end, you’ll see it’s not all for naught.”

Tamara pursed her lips angrily, but before she could say or do anything, General Mayern asked the young man to continue.

“It is true that so far we have heard of the conjurers only in fairytales and legends, I agree with you, but until the last forty winters, demons were a myth too. In every story, we know the ones opposing the demons were always gifted with magic. It is not that surprising, really. It’s logical. The demons have returned, and so will the magic users. We just have to find them and use them against the demons. Or anything that possesses magic.” His eyes kept switching between the General and Tamara, but the lack of reaction did not seem to put down his enthusiasm.

“For the sake of the argument,” the General said, making Tamara roll her eyes, “let’s say those witches and wizards live among us. Where are they? Why haven’t they come to fight the demons? This is their purpose, right?”

“We thought you might say that. And the answer is ⁠— they are hiding.” Gavyn said, throwing his hands in the air. “They’ve been hiding for centuries. See how you reacted when you heard of my theory? Now imagine people finding out that among us there are those who possess magic, who have the power to kill a demon. Those who were also rumored to have let the demons into our world. How do you think common people would feel? Scared, envious, angry? What if those witches and wizards turn against their kind like in the old tales? Why have they received that gift? What makes them any more special than me or you?” He sighed, letting his hands fall by his side. As much as Tamara didn’t want to entertain his idea, he did make a good point. Finally.

“Alright, they are hiding,” Tamara said against her will, and Gavyn smiled at her. “How do we find them? Are they marked in any way? How do we make them fight for us? Who in their right mind will go against a demon with nothing but their… magic? What if they deplete it in the midst of battle?”

“I believe I have found a way to find them. Anybody can have magic deep inside. Me, you, a servant or a king. It has been dormant for so long that it will take time and practice to let it out. Some can do it unintentionally ⁠— others may need guidance, teachers.” Gavyn explained, his voice trembling with excitement. “It has been said in the old books that once the demons return, the magic will wake in the blood of those from which it has been taken. It had happened so long ago that I doubt many families can trace their roots so far back, but still…”

“I can’t believe I’m even talking about this…” Tamara shook her head in disappointment. All that nonsense gave her a headache. She had rushed her people day and night for this. She wasn’t stupid to believe it, but the idea of magic existing had crossed her mind. Gavyn was right about one thing ⁠— the bedtime stories of demons and monsters were nothing but fairytales a few years ago and here they were now, fighting them in flesh and blood. “You said you have proof that magic exists?” she said, ready to be done with this tedious nonsense. “Let’s see it.”