stiffened. The elf was whiter than snow with matching robes draping down to the floor. His eyes were a cold, uninviting blue that made Thomas’ hair stand on end.
“It would deeply sadden us to learn if this was true ,” the elf continued.
“Beggin’ your pardon, sir, but who might you be?”
“I am Chancellor Vontanado,” the elf replied, crossing his arms across his chest. Thomas couldn’t tell if this was meant to impress or intimidate, so he chose to treat it as neither.
“Name’s Thomas, Chancellor,” the farm boy said, “and this here is Zach.”
“Zacharias in an old friend to Verdonti,” Chancellor Vontanado replied sternly, “but you are not. I’m afraid I cannot simply allow you to pass into elven lands without any proof of this ‘invasion.’”
“It’s true, sir,” Zach piped up, moving to stand directly beside Thomas. “These things, these wooden monsters, they came like insects. They burned my home to the ground. My family…” Zach broke off as he realized he could go no further without completely breaking down. Privately, Thomas wondered how the other man was keeping it together.
“I understand your plight, Zacharias,” the Chancellor replied in a voice that was not unkind, “but we need to get a full account of what transpired, of what is truly happening over in Lucinda.”
“The Dark Priest.”
It was all Thomas said, but it was all he needed to say. The Chancellor stared at Thomas as if his senses had left him, but Thomas didn’t blink.
“I don’t know if it was the real Dark Priest, but if it wasn’t he has a pretender who’s making a strong case at being a con tender. He’s who we have to thank for all of the Others.”
“The… what, sorry?”
“The…” Thomas had to fight down a surge of embarrassment. He hadn’t even been the one to come up with the name. “The Others, sir. It’s what the fake Priest called them.”
The Chancellor had no response, but his face made it quite clear that he didn’t think much of the name.
“We will send an inquiry to the Capital at once to confer with the King there. Then we shall decide on…”
“The Capital has fallen.”
Again it was all Thomas said, and again it was all he needed to say to bring everyone to a grinding halt. Thomas belatedly realized that he hadn’t even told Zach about it.
“What?” The Chancellor appeared aghast, as confused and wrong-footed as a foal asked to run. He looked from Thomas to Zach and back again, but neither man elaborated. One didn’t know, and the other couldn’t explain.
“How… how did this happen? Start from the beginning.”
It took nearly ten minutes, but Thomas recounted the story. It wasn’t until he got to the part where he drew the General’s sword that the Chancellor interrupted him.
“You say you were able to draw Chromwell’s sword?”
“Yes sir,” Thomas said, reaching to his belt where the sword was hastily tied. He drew it, where it sparkled a dull blue in the sunlight. For the first time, Thomas wondered what material it was made out of.
“So it’s true,” the Chancellor said, “then I guess this is all the proof we need.”
“I don’t understand,” Thomas said. He had just picked the sword up, why was that so important?
“After General Chromwell defeated the Dark Priest on the slopes of the Silent Mountains, he placed the blade in a glass case and put a sort of blessing on it – others believed it to be a curse. He was the first human magic user, and as such no one knew how to break the spell. But he cursed the glass case to never open unless the blade was needed to smite evil again. Since then, the sword and shield have sat in that glass case, untouched.”
Thomas said nothing, staring down at the blade in his hand. To think, he could barely summon fire and General Chromwell was able to put a spell or something on a glass case…
“Cynthia came here and said you were having troubles with brigands marching on the land. How has
“It would deeply sadden us to learn if this was true ,” the elf continued.
“Beggin’ your pardon, sir, but who might you be?”
“I am Chancellor Vontanado,” the elf replied, crossing his arms across his chest. Thomas couldn’t tell if this was meant to impress or intimidate, so he chose to treat it as neither.
“Name’s Thomas, Chancellor,” the farm boy said, “and this here is Zach.”
“Zacharias in an old friend to Verdonti,” Chancellor Vontanado replied sternly, “but you are not. I’m afraid I cannot simply allow you to pass into elven lands without any proof of this ‘invasion.’”
“It’s true, sir,” Zach piped up, moving to stand directly beside Thomas. “These things, these wooden monsters, they came like insects. They burned my home to the ground. My family…” Zach broke off as he realized he could go no further without completely breaking down. Privately, Thomas wondered how the other man was keeping it together.
“I understand your plight, Zacharias,” the Chancellor replied in a voice that was not unkind, “but we need to get a full account of what transpired, of what is truly happening over in Lucinda.”
“The Dark Priest.”
It was all Thomas said, but it was all he needed to say. The Chancellor stared at Thomas as if his senses had left him, but Thomas didn’t blink.
“I don’t know if it was the real Dark Priest, but if it wasn’t he has a pretender who’s making a strong case at being a con tender. He’s who we have to thank for all of the Others.”
“The… what, sorry?”
“The…” Thomas had to fight down a surge of embarrassment. He hadn’t even been the one to come up with the name. “The Others, sir. It’s what the fake Priest called them.”
The Chancellor had no response, but his face made it quite clear that he didn’t think much of the name.
“We will send an inquiry to the Capital at once to confer with the King there. Then we shall decide on…”
“The Capital has fallen.”
Again it was all Thomas said, and again it was all he needed to say to bring everyone to a grinding halt. Thomas belatedly realized that he hadn’t even told Zach about it.
“What?” The Chancellor appeared aghast, as confused and wrong-footed as a foal asked to run. He looked from Thomas to Zach and back again, but neither man elaborated. One didn’t know, and the other couldn’t explain.
“How… how did this happen? Start from the beginning.”
It took nearly ten minutes, but Thomas recounted the story. It wasn’t until he got to the part where he drew the General’s sword that the Chancellor interrupted him.
“You say you were able to draw Chromwell’s sword?”
“Yes sir,” Thomas said, reaching to his belt where the sword was hastily tied. He drew it, where it sparkled a dull blue in the sunlight. For the first time, Thomas wondered what material it was made out of.
“So it’s true,” the Chancellor said, “then I guess this is all the proof we need.”
“I don’t understand,” Thomas said. He had just picked the sword up, why was that so important?
“After General Chromwell defeated the Dark Priest on the slopes of the Silent Mountains, he placed the blade in a glass case and put a sort of blessing on it – others believed it to be a curse. He was the first human magic user, and as such no one knew how to break the spell. But he cursed the glass case to never open unless the blade was needed to smite evil again. Since then, the sword and shield have sat in that glass case, untouched.”
Thomas said nothing, staring down at the blade in his hand. To think, he could barely summon fire and General Chromwell was able to put a spell or something on a glass case…
“Cynthia came here and said you were having troubles with brigands marching on the land. How has
Similar Books
