The HaRT Knight Decaverse

Heir of Magic

Chapter 29

The Silver General

I swear, the heat from this desert seems like a constant reminder of how unwelcome we are in this wasteland, Kohr thought as he took a drink from his water-skin. He turned in his saddle to look back at the small cloaked figure riding behind him and said, “Drink up, blacksmith?”
“Thank you, General,” said the small mousy voice from beneath the cloak as he caught the water-skin Kohr threw to him.
“General!” Ailwyn called as he came racing over the dune. “We’re here, General.”
“Thank Arc’han. Finally,” Kohr said. It had been a long trip, and ever since his four-year campaign in the Wánggá waist, he had despised deserts.
The procession made its way to the mesa known as the Palace of the Pride, and a few minutes away, a pride warrior came out of the canyon hallway to greet the procession.
In his extensive travels across the world, Kohr had seen his fair share of strange beings, but this lion-person was unlike any of the other races of Anarchos. Though, as strange as this man’s fur-covered body, wild main of hair and feline feature were to Kohr, he suspected his ebony skin, glistening muscles, and bald head must have been just as alien to the pride warrior.
“Welcome, friends of the Phoenix King,” the pride warrior said in a deep voice when the procession from Pensilisurbis reached him.
Kohr reigned in his draco-equus and gave the pride warrior a curious look. Phoenix King? Is he referring to Alexander?
“Thank you,” Kohr said, and he had to fight back the urge to grin. Judging by the look of shock on the pride warrior’s face, this lion-man had never met a human with a voice even deeper than his own. “We have traveled far to find the one named Alexander. I am to be one of his new teachers—” he gestured to the blacksmith “—as is the young man behind me.”
“Master Dante has informed us of this. Please, follow me, the People of the Pride have been expecting you. We have prepared places where you and your men can rest,” the warrior said, gesturing at the canyon hallway behind him.
Kohr slipped off his draco-equus and whistled. The rest of the procession followed suit and leading their mounts by the reigns, they all followed the pride warrior as he led them through the canyon.
The Pride emissary talked the whole way through the canyon to Kohr, telling him of all the wonders his village held. But Kohr was only half listening. He focused most of his attention on the cavern walls. Now that Kohr was closer, he saw the walls of the cavern looked like quicksilver except it was a golden color.
Kohr shot a questioning look over his shoulder at the blacksmith who was poking at the quickgold with a metal rod. When he saw Kohr looking at him, he just shrugged and shook his head.
Even he doesn’t know. It would seem the pride have more magic than my sources thought.
When the procession passed through the other side of the cavern, six more pride warriors were waiting for them. Behind the warriors, the rest of the pride village was hustling and bustling about as they completed their daily chores. The men and women worked together, smiling and laughing as little children ran about yelling as they played.
“Welcome to the Palace of the Pride,” the warrior who had led them through the cavern said. “If you wish, I shall take you to meet our mutual friends while the men here lead the rest of your group to the place we prepared for your stay.”
“Yes, I think that would be a good idea,” Kohr nodded. “Blacksmith, give your steed to Ailwyn and follow me. Dietz, you take mine. You are to all feed and water the beasts before you may rest, understood?”
“Yes, General!” they all replied in unison.
“Very well.” to the pride warrior Kohr said, “Then lead the way, my friend.”
“The phoenix king is sparring with the wolf at the moment,” the pride warrior said as he led Kohr and the blacksmith through the village.
“The wolf? I assume you are not referring to the old man,” Kohr said.
“You mean Master Dante? No, the wolf is their other companion,” the pride warrior said and Kohr gave the blacksmith a questioning look.
“I don’t know, General. Like you, I only ever met with Master Dante,” the blacksmith said.
“As I understand it, the wolf joined them only a little while ago. Shortly before they arrived at the Palace of the Pride,” the pride warrior said. “You need not worry, he is a capricious man, but his heart has been proven to be pure in the training he received from us. But do not take our word for it, judge for yourself.”
They reached the top of what looked like a crudely made fighting pit and the pride warrior gestured down to where two men were sparring with wooden swords. Their movements were so fast their arms and feet blurred. They changed positions and stances in the blink of an eye without losing a stroke.
“Alexander? Mister Merrick?” the blacksmith said in surprise.
“You know them?” Kohr said.
“I do,” the blacksmith said sounding very pleased. “the one with the long black hair tied back in a warrior’s tail is mister Merrick.”
Kohr sized up the man the blacksmith was indicating. He was the more muscular of the two warriors, and showed bouts of remarkable speed and strength but only ever to react to the other man’s attacks, never to initiate his own.
“The other one with the dark brown hair is Alexander,” the blacksmith said.
“Yes, the Phoenix King,” the pride warrior nodded his confirmation of the blacksmith’s words.
The truth was, Kohr had not needed the pride warrior or the blacksmith to tell him which one of the two men was Alexander. a mere glance at the young man with the mahogany hair was all he needed to know the truth. The prince emanated enormous strength and power that surpassed anything a mere mortal could possess.
“It would seem the tides of fate have been hard at work even in the absence of my clumsy intervention. It would be a comforting feeling if it did not make me feel superfluous,” an ancient voice that echoed with wisdom said.
“Mister Dante!” the blacksmith exclaimed with delight.
“Jared, my boy. How have you been?” the septim wizard said, opening his arms for the embrace he knew would come.
Jared raced forward and the hood of his cloak slipped off his mousy head as he leaped into the old man’s arms.
“It’s nice to see you again, my boy. Have you been training hard so you can teach my friend?” Dante asked, beaming down at the Cevarion boy.
“Yes, sir. I think I’ll be able to,” Jared said with an innocent smile.
“Master Dante, it’s a pleasure to see you again,” Kohr greeted the Septim Wizard as he used his oak staff to get back to his feet. “I must admit though, it surprised me when I received your letter. I had assumed it would be another year or two before I heard from you again.”
“As I said, the tides of fate have been hard at work. There were certain circumstances that forced us to move up our time-frame,” Dante said. “Though, even though it’s only been three years, I hear you’ve already done everything I asked of you in Pensilisurbis.”
“I’ve been doing my best, but it hasn’t been easy. King Crab has a tendency to get in the way,” Kohr said.
With a proud paternal smile, Dante gestured to the fighting pit and said, “So, what do you think?”
“They’re both very skilled,” Kohr said, looking down at the sparring two again. “But they’re still a little rough around the edges. The prince likes to show off too much, while the one named Merrick isn’t even trying at all.”
Dante frowned. “Are you insinuating that Merrick is letting Alexander win?”
“Not at all. I’m saying they’re evenly matched even though Merrick isn’t taking it seriously. He’s just playing around.”
“Hm, well that does sounds like Merrick.” Dante yelled down to the two men, “Alexander! Merrick! Our escorts are here.”
The two men broke apart and stared up at the crowd they had not noticed gather around the fighting pit. Kohr studied Alexander as he made his way towards them. He moved with a demeanor and purpose fitting of royalty, or perhaps even a deity.
“Jared?” Alexander said, coming to a standstill as he saw the blacksmith.
“Mouse cub? What are you doing here?” Merrick asked in a Svartalgard accent as the small blacksmith threw his arms around the two warriors in unison.
“Mister Dante asked me to teach his friend how to use geoturgy. I never knew his friend would be you, Alexander!” Jared smiled.
“You’re my next teacher, Jared?” Alexander said with a shocked expression.
“Yes, I am. I can’t believe it, I’ve always been looking for someone else who can do what I can, and all this time I already met someone,” Jared said.
“I met Jared several years ago. He didn’t even know that what he was doing was geoturgy until I told him,” Dante said.
“Mister Dante taught me how to read and gave me some druid scrolls to study so I would be ready when the time came for me to teach his friend,” Jared added.
“The lad is one of the most naturally skilled geoturgy users I’ve ever encountered. He instinctively knew how to do things most druids would need years to master,” Dante said.
“Why didn’t you tell me, Jared?” Alexander asked.
“I guess the same reason you didn’t tell me who you were,” Jared said. “Besides, I grew up in The Wandering City with Enemone D’Lamkhar getting rid of anyone else who can use magic.”
“So is the muscle mountain here your body guard, mouse cub?” Merrick asked, gesturing at Kohr.
“Ah sorry,” Dante said. “Please allow me to introduce to you, Grand General Kohr. He is the other teacher I told you about, Alexander.”
“Grand General Kohr? As in, the Silver General, the only man who Cain’s armies have never defeated?” Merrick asked.
“Actually, I lost one,” Kohr said, unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice.
“The battle of the Fallen City,” Merrick nodded. “But you didn’t lose that one because of armies, you lost because of Cain and his power.”
“You were the leader of the Silver Legion,” Alexander said, greeting Kohr by grasping his forearm. “I used to serve with The Golden Spear. Our leader Aenor always spoke highly of you. He always said you were the last person in the world he would want to go up against on the battlefield.”
“The Golden Spear? That’s a good company. Honorable. That’s a rare thing in our line of work,” Kohr said. “How is Aenor doing?”
A pained expression flashed on Alexander’s face and his voice cracked a little as he said, “He’s dead. The Golden Spear died with him.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Kohr said. “Sadly, the Silver Legion is gone as well. Your uncle saw to that.”
“I’m sorry,” Alexander said.
Noticing the guilty tone, Kohr quickly added, “I do not blame you for your uncle’s sins. He has taken more from you than anyone else. But together, you and I can pay him back for that.”
Alexander’s ice-like eyes literally flashed and he said, “Yes, we will.”
The coldness in the prince’s voice caused Kohr to shiver. A sense of trepidation took form in the bottom of his stomach, but he ignored it as he said, “Your lessons with me will begin as soon as we make camp after leaving for Pensilisurbis. Jared and I have already made up a schedule to divide your time between us.”
Alexander nodded. “You’ll teach me tactics and leadership skills according to Dante, right?”
Kohr nodded. “From the little I’ve seen from your sparring, I feel safe to say you’re a good warrior, but to defeat your uncle you must be much more. As of today, I will also join your sparring matches. You’re a skilled fighter, but you have some bad habits I need to beat out of you.”
“I wouldn’t mind facing off against you,” Merrick said.
“You are more than welcome to join, but if you do, I won’t allow you to slack off,” Kohr said.
Merrick grinned and opened his mouth to reply but before he could, a young pride cub came running up. “Prince Alexander, the chief has sent me to get you. The elders are ready. The right of surpassing is about to begin.”
“Thanks, Kaya. I’ll be headed for the circle right away,” Alexander said, and Kohr noticed the sudden tension that took hold of the prince. To Dante and Merrick, he said, “Wish me luck.”
“Let’s hope it goes better than mine. Geteye still won’t forgive me for losing,” Merrick said.