The Face of the Enemy
Soon, the time of Sun Descending would be upon Karse, and people in and about the surrounding countryside were preparing for this religious service. In the Throne of Vkandis in the capital of Sunhame, discussions about the subjugation of Valdemar were taking place as well as preparations for the evening's rituals. The Sunlord Vkandis' image as projected here made it's imposing appearance. Nyaren, one of the more experienced Sun-Priests, was listening to a report from Rath, his chief military advisor and strategist.
Rath, an elite member of the Sunsguard, well known everywhere because of it's notoriety in dealing with those who would try to stray from the One True path, appeared to be slightly nervous as he spoke. The SunsGuard is a unit of the Vengeance of the Sunlord, Karse's military. One of the Bandits had reluctantly accompanied Rath here as well. In an adjoining temple you could hear the Sun-Priests, the many Voices of Vkandis, chanting their litanies.
The Bandit did not like these religious rituals, all they knew was direct contact and force; the Bandits knew it almost instinctively and felt that they needed no spiritual guidance whatsoever. The whites of the Bandit's eyes, clearly revealed in his dirt smeared face, looked around apprehensively. Along the rough stone walls a few torches cast their flickering light, distorting and disturbing the shadows of the inhabitants and of the room's furniture.
"We have just come back from Knoll's Ridge, Nyaren"
Nyaren, in his fiery red robe, shifted his penetrating and all knowing gaze full upon Rath, noting the condition of Rath's gritty armor and of his red shield, then smiling smugly said, "And...".
"Knoll's Ridge is history. Of course the Valdemaran witches showed up along with some of their Soldiers as expected; their numbers have and are increasing there. The Bandits made a good show of things and could have 'won' the battle so to speak, but they...eventually retreated as ordered."
"Good, good, we didn't want to get their full attention quite yet, but I bet they're already devising some new witchery," intoned Nyaren with a slight hint of suppressed anger.
Nyaren remembered that incident quite clearly at White Foal's pass. Lavan Chitward, as he later learned the Valdemaran name, almost single-handedly destroyed about a little over a fourth of their military and had burnt much of their cover away with his fire breathing wizardry. They had to retreat in defeat, despite inflicting a good amount of damage themselves against the enemy. It took quite a while for them to regroup.
"So, the Bandits did as instructed...except for one thing.."
Hearing this, the Bandit stiffened a little, his shifty gaze darting about the room.
The image of the Vkandis SunLord stood impassively, yet he was keenly listening in on this interesting diatribe.
Nyaren raised one of his white eyebrows, then folded his bony hands together through the sleeves of his priestly robe. "Do go on Rath," he said, now staring at the Bandit.
"They charged into one of the few remaining houses and they..." Even Rath shifted around here, feeling uncomfortable just talking about this, then continued, "They um murdered a baby in that house and then...gutted it."
Nyaren raised his other eyebrow now. "Tsk, tsk, against orders no less. Well when we hired the Bandits we knew full well what violent and in discriminatory methods they used, hmmm..." here he scratched his pointy chin then returned his all knowing gaze upon the Bandit again. "This could speed up things a bit, this will get the Valdemarans going if nothing else. I am surprised they have waited this long to have defended the Holderkin. So much for their feigned good heartedness. It seems our plan of small attacks and hit and run strategy have delayed them somewhat from taking drastic action. It might play into our hands yet."
Unfortunately for the the Bandit, he chose to smile at this point.
Nyaren appeared to be displeased. "You will come forth!" he bellowed
The Bandit jumped, then slowly came forward with downcast eyes. Rath had a good idea of about what was going to take place here. He withdrew slowly, trying to stay out of Nyaren's way.
"Kneel, miscreant!" thundered Nyaren. Then in a quieter, almost soothing voice he asked the Bandit, "Now...were you ordered in any way, shape, or form to stray from my orders?" Here Nyaren placed his bony hands upon the skull of the Bandit. "Well?
"Yes...I mean um no sir!"
Nyaren began the dreaded process called the 'fireprobe.'
The Bandit felt almost as if his skull was on fire, though it was not. He squirmed and moaned, then felt the 'burning' coursing down through his nerves. Then...it let up a bit.
"I am a little concerned because when you were hired the agreement was to follow orders. In exchange you would be supplied with weapons, food, and some coinage. Is it your desire to forfeit that then?"
The Bandit, still feeling agony, knew they didn't have much choice. They had been caught in a daring attempt to loot Karse, many Bandits had been killed or were captured. Then, this 'treaty' was made. For now at least the Bandits were at Karse's call and command. "No, no, sir we got carried away a l-little, surely you can u-understand.." The Bandit winced at the sudden increase of the burning sensation.
"I know of only one thing, miscreant. I like to keep it simple," he said quietly, yet there was no denying the ominous undertone in Nyaren's voice, "though this may still work out, I get a little annoyed when my orders aren't followed. Rath and I, along with the approval of Vkandis, work hard to develop our strategies. Any further disobedience of our orders will result in your termination," here he paused for dramatic effect, then resumed, "quite literally, so I might add." The rest of you Bandits will then be sacrificed to appease the one and only true God." Nyaren gestured with a sweep of his arm towards the image of the Sunlord Vkandis. "Do I have your attention?"
The Bandit, groaning and sweating profusely felt even more of the burning pain. He slowly nodded.
"Then go about your business! Don't forget to inform your comrades about what has happened here. I would hate to see suffering like this take place on such a grand scale." He said sarcastically, then laughed.
Rath knew the strategy of slowly drawing in the Valdemarans was a good one if executed and timed well. He well knew what the Sun-Priests were capable of, yet at the same time the Valdemarans always seemed to prevail. Unlike most of the populace, Rath was let in on what went on here at the Throne of Vkandis. By and large, the populace knew nothing of such plans as Nyaren came up with; they viewed the priesthood and it's pantheon as beneficent. The people of Karse were convinced that it was the Valdemarans who were the evil ones. He felt, though wasn't told, that they were working on new...techniques to be employed by the Vengeance of the SunLord.
Surely the Valdemarans will catch wind of this and develop their own counter-strategy, he thought with an air of concern.
Regardless of thoughts about possible outcomes, throughout Karse and Valdemar there was an increasingly 'charged' atmosphere; a feeling perhaps, that apocalyptic events were soon to take place...
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from Phoenix: Koromiel and I truly appreciate everyone's interest in this story. This is our first attempt and reviews help help us to write better or change things. Thank you and I hope you enjoy the rest of it too!
from Koromiel: Wow...I know it's been awhile...I JUST got back from my trip to California not even 2 hours ago...see how much I love you guys? I'm taking time out of my sleep to post! hehe. Whee! I won another karaoke contest! Now if I could only get a recording contract...anyway! Time for...
REVIEWER LOVE!
It's so good to see new faces!
Kathleen - lol...it was written fast enough...I was just slow to posting it...sorry!
Cynthia1850- Welcome! We're glad you like it! So here it is! We'll get back to Fenix, Aine and Jewellyn soon enough! I had pushed for this chapter now before everything else.
Sean - Well, once you're a bonafide bandit, you can educate us on their speech patterns...lol. Just messin with ya! Would you let it go with a "do better" slip? Huh? What? Oh...Phoenix says he fixed it...guess I should go look at it...
Ok so with that, we could use more reviews! The next section should be posted within the week...unless reviews aren't submitted :hint hint:
