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 Disclaimer:  I own nothing related to Bioware, Interplay, or the Baldur's Gate series other than copies of the games themselves and an overactive imagination.  Thank you.  :)


Journey to the North
Chapter VII



Janus opened his eyes. His sleep had been dreamless, and he thanked Helm for that. Twice.

Tentatively, he moved one arm, then the other, nodding in satisfaction as he felt them respond easily to his commands. He lay back on his pillow and looked around the tent. The sunlight could be seen on the other side of the thick canvas walls, and somewhere near, he could hear the song of a dove. It seemed strangely out of place in this Helm-forsaken place, but it gladdened his heart to hear it.  He managed a faint smile as his eyes fell upon Anomen Delryn, who was seated beside the bed.

Anomen returned the smile and said in a gentle voice, "It is good to see you awake, Janus. You've been sleeping for two days and a morning. I thought perhaps that you had decided to return to Helm, after all."

Janus sat up in his bed and laughed softly. "With all respect and honor to the Watcher, my Lord, I have no desire to return to his presence just yet.'  He nodded tiredly toward the tent flap, indicating the quiet hum of voices on the other side.  "I would thank the healer that tended my wounds and spoke his spells over me, Sir, if you would give me his name."

Anomen bowed slightly in his seat, touching a hand lightly to the newly cleaned armor over his heart. "You are most welcome for my assistance, Janus, and I thank you."

So the young commander had healed him himself.  Janus made a slight movement like a bow from his bed.  Anomen nodded in acknowledgement, but said nothing, and Janus could see in his eyes that there was more he wished to say.

Janus knew instinctively the line of questioning that would follow, and took a deep breath, steeling himself against the dark images that quickly invaded his thoughts. Janus shuddered slightly and said, "No doubt you have heard my report already.  But there is more that you wish to know about what I saw in Duruth'Usk."

Anomen hesitated, and then nodded. "I wish that I could leave you in peace, Janus, but there are things in your account which trouble me, and I feel that I must ask you a few more questions."

Janus frowned. Surely young Delryn didn't mean….

"My Lord, if there was anything I said that cast doubt on my loyalty to the Order and to you…."

Anomen smiled and spoke quickly, interrupting the man's thoughts. "No, no! It is nothing like that, Janus. I know your heart to be strong, and your loyalty stronger. There is no doubt in my mind that you spoke the truth." He sighed quietly and lowered his voice. "That is what troubles me."

Janus shook his head.  He did not understand.

Anomen went on. "You believe… nay, you are certain that the man that you saw in the courtyard was none other than Melanath himself."

"Yes, Sir."

Anomen furrowed his brow thoughtfully, then leaned over and rested his elbows on his knees, steepling his fingers. "He was cloaked in a mage's robe?"

"Yes, Sir."

"And you are certain that he was hooded? That his face could not be seen?"

"Yes, Sir.  I swear it."

Anomen paused again, seemingly losing himself in memory.  His sapphire eyes gained an intensity that made Janus suddenly uneasy.

"You said that his voice sounded unnatural. Flat. His movements… Were they also… unnatural?"

Janus shuddered slightly and nodded. "They were, my Lord. Almost as though…." He paused and frowned.  How could he explain what he had seen?  The shuffling gait, the jerky movements, the voice….

Anomen's gaze was still far away, but he spoke, his tone grave and filled with remembrance, "Almost as though it were a corpse…. A lifeless body moving on a puppet master's strings."

Janus looked at Anomen strangely for a long moment.  The description was perfect. Too perfect.  He nodded. "Exactly that, my Lord. You have seen this before."

Anomen nodded darkly and sat back in his seat. "I have."

He sat motionless for several moments, his eyes moving slightly as he turned a thousand thoughts over in his head. At last he focused his gaze again, and looked at Janus, managing a forced smile as he asked. "How do you feel?"

"Well enough, Sir. Helm works through you in great power for one so young."

Anomen laughed, shaking his head.  Janus thought he could see a bit of a flush under the well-trimmed beard, but he said nothing of it.  Instead he smiled and said, "My body is strong and ready."

The smile remained on Anomen's face, though his gaze was serious. "And your mind?"

Janus looked down at his hands. "It will heal in time, my Lord." He looked up again. "It is not often that one sees evil itself walking the earth, Sir, however it may be accomplished."

Anomen lowered his voice even further. "Magic, Janus. The most evil and dark of magics." His voice was quiet, but his eyes were blazing. "A blasphemy that I cannot, nay will not tolerate."

Janus watched Anomen for several moments before slowly moving back the blanket and rising from his bed. He stood tall, though several inches shorter than Lord Delryn, and he looked at him with a determined gaze. "What, my Lord, would you have me do?"

Anomen stood, as well, and said in a low voice, "I need you to make a journey."

***

The food and wine remained untouched on the rough surface of the table in Anomen's hut.  Duncan sat frowning as the young commander paced the floor, his massive arms folded over his chest.  His mind was reeling from the revelations of the past few minutes.

"Surely, Anomen, Janus must be mistaken."

Anomen shook his head gravely, continuing in his rhythmic movements. "Janus saw a lich, Duncan. What he described to me can be nothing else."

Duncan sat in a stunned silence for several minutes.  Then he shook his head and said, "How is that possible? Melanath was a warrior for Helm, a knight of the Most Noble Order. And now a lich? Not only would he have had to be blasphemously false in every tenant of the codes of the Order, but…."

Anomen finished his thought. "He would have to have been a mage." He slowed in his steps and turned to face Duncan, but his arms remained folded over his chest, and his handsome features were dark with anger. "Something the Order neglected to mention when they sent me to this Helm-forsaken place."

Duncan shook his head. "Perhaps they did not know, Anomen. I've heard nothing of such an idea, and…."

"Or perhaps they did, Duncan, but decided that the appearance of righteousness, of… control must be upheld at all costs. It would not be the first time…."

Duncan sighed and shook his head. He knew instinctively what thoughts were running through his friend's mind at this moment.  The Order had not been happy with Anomen's declaration of his love for the Bhaalspawn Kaelis, and had suggested to young Anomen that it was in everyone's best interest to leave the woman to herself, and concentrate more fully on his vows to the Radiant Heart. She was a child of evil, they had said, and no good can come of evil.

The thought even angered Duncan. After all that she had done for the Order, for the Temple of Helm, for the Elves of Suldanesselar and countless others all along the Sword Coast….  After all of that, that they would still consider her a child of the darkness pricked at his heart and gnawed at his conscience.

He had seen Kaelis on only a few occasions. He had been impressed with her grace, her beauty, her sharp wit and graceful power. Anomen had done well.  But Duncan did have to admit that there was mystery in her eyes, a shadow hidden behind the light and the laughter. He supposed that perhaps that was a part of the attraction.  The danger of it all.  Anomen was nothing if not impulsive and passionate, and Duncan could certainly lay no blame on the young cleric for having fallen under her spell.

Anomen's fist crashed down on the rough wooden table, tearing Duncan from his thoughts and leaving a dent in the rough surface.

"Appearances be damned, Duncan!"  His voice was tight with fury.  "We needed to know! There are men who are risking their lives in this place against an enemy that they have never seen!"

Anomen straightened, running a hand through his hair before letting in rest tiredly over his eyes.  "I have stood in battle against a lich.  I know in my heart that half of those who see his face will probably never live to see another. I have lost too many men already…."

Duncan stood and laid a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder.  "We are not defeated yet, Anomen.  With Helm's aid and yours, we may yet triumph."

Anomen dropped his head and fell silent.

Duncan watched him for a moment, then sighed and let his hand fall, resting it casually on the hilt of his sword.

Anomen said nothing, his eyes hidden. After what seemed an eternity, he raised his head, and Duncan saw with some surprise the tears in the young lord's eyes. "You know that it is more than the truth about Melanath that troubles me, Duncan."

Duncan nodded imperceptibly, but said nothing.

"If they would have allowed me to tell her…."  He laughed grimly.  "She has battled worse than this in her travels. If they would have swallowed their damned pride and asked for her help…."

Duncan smiled inwardly at that.  His thoughts drifted of their own accord to a certain young, insufferably arrogant squire that he had once known.

Anomen stood and sighed.  It was a sigh of utter exhaustion.  Duncan frowned, but Anomen spoke before he had a chance.

"I have no gift for this, Duncan. I lead the best I can, and ask for Helm's aid, but…." He shook his head. "Kaelis led when last I faced a creature as foul as this. I can only guess what she would have done, and pray that I know her as well as I hope I do." He then fell again into a thoughtful silence.

Duncan was still amazed by the changes that had come over Anomen Delryn in his travels with Kaelis. If for no other reason, the Order should certainly be grateful to her for that.

Duncan grinned and slapped his friend on the back as hard as he could, laughing heartily as Anomen stumbled forward, then glared at him with sapphire eyes.

"Quit your girlish whining, boy, or I shall have to put you over my knee."

Anomen blinked in his surprise, then turned and stood at his full height. He was a few inches taller than Duncan, and his shoulders were certainly broader. He was an imposing figure, and if Duncan had not seen the reluctant smile that had crept into Anomen's eyes, he may have been a little uncomfortable.

As it was, Anomen just raised an eyebrow and said in his smooth voice, "You tried that once."

Duncan nodded, arching a thick eyebrow and trying to adopt a more serious demeanor.  He had a feeling that he was failing miserably.

"Aye, I did. As I recall, you ran away crying like a little girl, and couldn't sit for a week."

"That's not how I remember it."

The two men stared at each other in silence for several minutes, taunting each other without a word.

Anomen's face softened suddently, and he laughed, running both hands through his hair.

Duncan joined him, but after a moment, a hint of seriousness returned to his eyes. "Anomen, I follow you without question, and I know that the men do as well. You doubt yourself, but we do not." He placed his fist over his heart and bowed formally. "We are at your command, my Lord."

Anomen paused, then bowed in return.  He seemed grateful, if a little uncomfortable for his friend's display. As Duncan straightened, Anomen spoke quietly.

 "I have sent Janus with two others to the Friendly Arm Inn, two days' ride to the southwest. I have urged him to make the journey as quickly as he can, and he seems to think that he can make the ride back in one day and a half, if he gets a new horse at the Friendly Arm."

Duncan nodded, and waited for Anomen to go on. "We need supplies, potions and scrolls, and the like. It will be impossible to get anywhere near Melanath if we have not prepared ourselves thoroughly. Janus should return no later than five days from this morning, Helm willing, which will give us plenty of time to plan for an assault."

Anomen frowned. "Now that we know what we are up against, it will be easier to know how best to rid Faerun and the Order of this menace. What I would not give for one hundred more men…."

"The men will fight, each one with the strength of two at your command, my Lord." Duncan's voice was sure, his eyes shining with pride.

Anomen nodded. "I know they will, Duncan, and I hesitate to say that there may come a time where I must ask that of them. I pray that the time does not come. For now, we must concentrate on finding a more subtle way into the fortress."

"Yes, Sir."

"Gather the men, Duncan." Anomen rested his hand on the handle of the Flail of Ages that hung at his side. "I will not have them go into battle in ignorance. They will be told the truth, appearances be damned."

Duncan bowed, a smile on his lips. "Yes, Sir."

Without another word, he followed Anomen out of the hut and into the brightest sunshine that he had felt in weeks.