Sapphire of the Fairies, Book 1 of Sword of Heavens Read online

  “Well, why did he have to say those nasty things about Alex abandoning his own child?” cried Tanya.

  “He is just echoing Alex’s own feelings,” Kalina answered. “Alex Tork’s child was abducted by Black Devils while Alex was running around the world trying to save the Prophecy babies. Alex never forgave himself for that and became a very bitter man. Do not take Garth’s statements literally. Every Ranger idolized Alexander Tork and would have laid their lives on the line for him. Garth would have done the same as Alex in the situation that existed at that time. That should help you understand his bitterness. That anger will fade when Alcea rises. Until then, please don’t push your views of Alex on Garth. I have learned not to and I think you are a stronger woman than I.”

  Tanya nodded and wiped her tears as Kalina escorted her to the campfire. The boys looked up sheepishly as they approached and their conversation stopped. Kalina dished some rabbit stew onto a plate for Tanya and then helped herself. Nobody said anything about Garth’s absence over dinner, but the usual quiet time after dinner when Garth would light his pipe and talk to the Rangers was missed. Instead the Rangers went back to practice and Tanya worked off her fury and hurt.

  After practice when everybody was tired and drawn they turned in and went to sleep. Only Kalina stayed up and stared into the forest. When Arik woke in the morning, Kalina was still sitting there and still staring into the forest.

  Chapter 22

  Sagina

  The smell of breakfast cooking aroused the rest of the Alcea Rangers and one by one they rose and began their morning exercises. Kalina finally stopped staring into the forest and relieved Arik of the cooking duties so he could join the exercises. Nobody spoke about Garth or the confrontation the previous evening. Kalina served breakfast and left the cleanup to the others. She wrapped up her gear and secured it on her white mare and Garth’s black stallion. When she was finished, Garth’s horse turned and walked into the forest.

  “Ten minutes,” Kalina called. “Everybody secure your belongings and make ready for the trail.”

  Tanya started to say something and everyone stopped and stared at her. Flushing, she bent back to the task at hand and left her thoughts hidden. Quietly the Rangers mounted their horses and Arik led the group along the trail. The midday meal was eaten while riding and Tedi took the lead and Tanya the tail of the procession. Tedi still detected the elves tracking them, but he said nothing. In fact, nobody spoke. The Rangers rode on in silence until the darkness came upon them.

  They set up the campsite as efficiently as always, but there was a gloom that hung over the campsite that had nothing to do with Sarac’s darkness. The Rangers practiced as always, but Tanya felt as if the blows directed towards her were slightly more deliberate than during normal practice sessions. The Rangers broke for dinner and ate quietly. After dinner, the time when Garth would light his pipe and talk for half an hour, Tanya tried to apologize to the rest of the Rangers, but they walked to the practice areas and began honing their skills in silence.

  Kalina approached Tanya who was throwing Lanoirian Stars with more anger than skill. “Tanya, do not blame yourself for Garth’s actions,” soothed Kalina. “It is not your fault.”

  Tanya turned and snapped at Kalina. “It’s not my fault?” she ridiculed. “How can you, of all people, say that? Everyone here knows that it is my fault. I have taunted and needled Garth until he ran off and abandoned us. Everyone knows it is my fault. I will be lucky to live through the next practice session. How can you even look at me with sympathy?”

  Kalina wrapped her arms around Tanya and hugged her. “I, of all people, know Garth,” she stated. “The words you spoke were true, too true. Sometimes the truth hurts and people have a hard time accepting that. Garth is slow to anger and even slower to cool off. He is not gone from us, but he is hurting deeply. He needs to work the hurt and anger off in solitude. It is the only way that works for him. He will come back when he is better able to accept your feelings for Alexander Tork. In the meantime, he is quite capable of handling himself alone in the woods.”

  “If he is so capable,” Tanya sobbed, “why do you spend all of your time staring off into the woods for him?”

  Kalina turned and gazed at the endless trees surrounding them. “He will not suffer at the hands of a predator out there,” Kalina declared. “My fear is for the enemy within himself. He pushes himself to the limit for others and even beyond. When that is not enough to help the others, he blames himself. He does not consider it heroic when he succeeds. When you idolize Alexander Tork as a hero, he thinks to himself that there are no heroes. He has seen thousands of good men die trying to help others and, in his mind, they are the only heroes and even they are failures because they are no longer around to help people. You should not feel sorry for Garth nor should you feel anger for his beliefs. He believes in them deeply, as you do in yours.”

  Tanya picked up her Lanoirian Stars as Kalina left to sit near the fire. Tanya renewed her practice, but this time with more skill than anger. Eventually, the Rangers finished practice and drifted off to sleep. Tanya closed her eyes on the figure of Kalina still sitting and gazing into the forest.

  Tanya awoke with a stabbing in her ribs and the smell of breakfast in her nostrils. She looked up to see Fredrik poking her with his staff. Biting back a sharp remark, she followed Fredrik’s gaze and saw Garth cooking breakfast. Hurriedly, she got to her feet and headed towards Garth. Fredrik and Tedi were awakening the rest of the Rangers as she approached the campfire. When she got close to Garth, she started to speak and Garth looked up at her and held his hand up to halt her words.

  “I must apologize to you,” Garth said loudly. “To all of you. You are young enough yet to know great optimism and enthusiasm. It is wrong for me, in any way, to dampen that bright outlook you hold on life. I can warn you of the pitfalls which you will face on your journey towards death, but the attitudes you carry with you on that journey are yours, and yours alone.”

  Tanya started to say something and Garth halted her again. “To you, pretty warrior, I owe an extra apology,” Garth smiled. “You are right to seek a person who you think represents the ideals you would wish for yourself and I was wrong to water the fire of your search for excellence. My views may differ from your own, but I will no longer attempt to lessen your ideals. Please forgive me.”

  Tanya did not try to speak, but threw her arms around Garth and hugged him. An embarrassed smile clouded Garth’s face as he returned the young warriors hug. After a few moments, he broke the embrace and laughed.

  “Now for the fine breakfast I negotiated out of a Klandon farmer,” he chuckled. “Fresh eggs and bacon with bread and a pitcher of cow’s milk.”

  The campsite turned festive as the Rangers devoured the breakfast. Kalina stood behind Garth and placed her hands on his broad shoulders and smiled. Within twenty minutes the breakfast was eaten, the campsite cleaned up, and the Rangers were back on the trail.

  The days that followed were free of tension within the group. Tanya still showered the other Rangers with tales of Alex and Jenneva, but Garth did not object, he merely walked away from the talk and performed other duties that required attention.

  As they approached the Boulder Mountains, Garth began to hear the Rangers speak of Lavinda, the settlement Alexander Tork led his villagers to when he was a boy. The villagers had named it Lavinda in honor of Alexander’s mother who died during the trip in a misfortunate accident. Tork had taught the villagers to think in terms of defense and the village was designed to repel attacks. The design saved the village from the Yaki, goblins, and bandits. The village had become famous and the term “Lavindan” was used to describe someone who was wary and defensive and usually sat with his back to the wall and an eye on the door.

  Tedi was chosen to ask Garth if the group could stop in Lavinda for an overnight stay. Garth smiled grimly and explained that Lavinda had a reputation for not accepting strangers and that their path lay in another direction. While Tedi
spread the word of Garth’s answer, Garth made the decision to ride later than usual and camp on the other side of the pass, effectively eliminating the need for any further questions about Lavinda.

  That evening during the talk session when Garth lit his pipe, there were a lot of questions about Lavinda, the unnamed village where Tork grew up, and the cave of Alex’s first battle with the Yaki, which was somewhere nearby.

  Garth looked at the eager faces around the campfire and pointed with his pipe at the Boulder Mountains. “That is what should occupy your thoughts,” Garth proclaimed. “Mount Kalas, the highest mountain of the Boulders, is where the Dark One is imprisoned. We are at the center of Sarac’s domain and on a trip that will lead to his death, or ours. If this were a pleasure trip, we could all get excited about seeing sights where legends were born, but the longer we stay in the vicinity of Sarac’s castle, the longer we dare death to visit us. Let’s get our practice going early. I plan to move out of here before first light.”

  The Rangers split into groups and began their practice sessions with Garth supplying instruction as needed. Tanya chose to battle Fredrik with the staff and Tedi challenged Arik with knives. Niki and Kalina worked on health magic. The practice was especially long and tiring and the Rangers worked up a sweat. Fredrik and Tedi were soon stripped to the waist, but Arik kept fighting with his shirt on. Garth wondered if Arik’s rash was still bothering him. Since the first night out of Tagaret when the rash was noticed, Arik had not removed his shirt except to change it, which he managed to do when no one was around.

  “Break,” Garth called to Arik and Tedi. “Arik, why don’t you shed your shirt? You are going to create a muddy pool on the practice area.”

  “I’m all right, Garth,” Arik replied sheepishly.

  “Has that rash gone away yet?” Garth probed.

  “It’s still there, but I hardly notice it anymore,” Arik answered. “We’re going to switch to throwing knives soon anyway and I’ll just catch a chill.”

  The boys went back to fighting and Garth noticed that Kalina and Niki had split up. He strode over to Kalina and spoke to her in a low voice. “Have you checked Arik’s rash lately?”

  “He won’t let me near it,” Kalina replied. “I think all of the fuss involved with trying to clear it up embarrasses him. It’s not serious, Garth. It is just a reaction to something. Perhaps the Palace Shadow has vermin after all.”

  “More likely the Royal Palace,” chuckled Garth. “I know there are vermin residing there. The Children are progressing better than I could have hoped for. Their skills rival many soldiers whom I have served with. At this rate, they will soon be able to rightfully call themselves Rangers. How are Niki and Fredrik doing with their magic skills? Are you getting enough time with Fredrik or should I curtail his staff practice?”

  “Fredrik is doing fine with the time we spend together,” Kalina commented. “He is a fast learner and he picked up more than he knows from spying on the Black Devils. Many spells he has already seen performed, but didn’t understand how they worked. Once I explain it to him, he is fine.”

  Kalina lowered herself to a sitting position and Garth slid down beside her. “Niki is another story,” Kalina continued. “She is very stubborn and refuses to accept my direction. Her ability is not as strong as Fredrik’s and she insists it is much greater. Sometimes I think that reality doesn’t exist in her mind. Even in the area of health where she has some special gift that I have never seen before, she will not take my word for anything. I have to get the book out and show her before she will accept what I am teaching.”

  “How about the cloak or her parents?” Garth inquired. “Have you gotten anything further out of her?”

  “Not a thing,” Kalina sighed. “Every time I bring it up, she develops a bad mood and stalks off. That is what happened to our session today. I was probing about her mother and whether or not her mother had magical ability. She got moody and claimed she had a headache. Then she just got up and walked away. It is so damn frustrating working with her.”

  “You should try showing her how to fight with a knife as I have,” Garth laughed. “I think she might stab herself in the arm trying to get her knife out of the sheath.”

  “Maybe I am just expecting too much too soon with her,” mused Kalina. “Your push to get through the path to avoid Lavinda did not fool the Children, Garth. They know there was time to detour through Tagaret and one night in Lavinda would not have been far off the track.”

  “You know I have a hard time dealing with some things, Kalina. So they know it now, too. Does it really matter? We have a task before us and the sooner we get to it, the sooner we will get to our goal.”

  Kalina laid her hand gently on Garth’s arm. “No, I suppose it doesn’t really matter. You cannot hide the truth about the end of Alex and Jenneva forever, though. Some day we will have to atone for our sins.”

  “Perhaps, but that day is not today,” denied Garth. “I am not ready to live with mine yet. I am going to halt the practice for tonight. I think we should get an even earlier start tomorrow. We are very exposed this close to Sarac and I want to put some miles between him and us. Is the Sword of Heavens still providing direction?”

  “It is actually getting stronger,” Kalina acknowledged. “It is swinging more West than North now. I suspect we will be going over the West Mountains and into what was Cordonia.”

  Garth nodded as he rose to break up the practice sessions.

  The early morning start allowed the group to be within sight of the West Mountains before stopping the next night. Early practice consisted of tracking, camouflage, and stealth. During the after dinner talk session, Garth got tired of hearing about Alexander Tork again.

  “Why do you not ask questions about Oscar Dalek?” Garth inquired of Tanya. “Your uncle must have been full of stories about him, being a traveling merchant.”

  “Oh, he was,” conceded Tanya. “Most of Oscar Dalek’s life is fairly open and well known, though. You can not be the Prince of Targa without having books written about you.”

  “I’ve never read anything about him,” Tedi interrupted.

  “Nor I,” Arik added. “Was he a friend of Alex’s?”

  Garth groaned and shut his eyes. “Yes, they were very good friends,” Garth sighed. “Oscar’s fame did not have anything to do with his friendship with Alex, though. He could have been a great warrior as well, but he never trained his skills in those areas. Instead, he used his head to amass a great fortune while benefiting Targa. In fact, his contribution to Targa far outweighed Tork’s. Without Prince Oscar, there would have been no Targa ships on the Targa Sea, no canal connecting the Targa Sea with the Sordoan Sea, and probably no victory in the war with the goblins. His ships and wagons allowed the Targa Army to move quickly to entrap the goblins.”

  “That hardly sounds as exciting as the life of Alex and Jenneva,” Arik said.

  “No?” chuckled Garth. “When Oscar was young he lost his father to bandits and his mother was so poor that they could not put food on the table. He rose from that miserable disadvantage to become the richest man in the world and the Prince of the mightiest nation in the world. Killing goblins is easy work compared to that. A thousand men could grow up to lead armies and kill their foes, but I do not think anyone will ever duplicate Oscar Dalek’s tremendous feats. And what is even more exciting about him is that one of you is his son.”

  “But he was not a warrior,” protested Arik. “We are training to be warriors, not merchants.”

  Garth sighed again. He dared not tell them of some of Oscar’s contributions to Targa because they were still too secret. He could not tell them that while Alex was creating the Rangers, Oscar was creating the Spiders, because the Spiders still existed and still gathered sensitive information.

  “Oscar Dalek was no merchant,” Garth insisted. “He started out as a merchant, but that is akin to calling Alex an infantry trainee. Besides, you are already warriors. Imagine being an Oscar Dalek and a gr
eat warrior.”

  The boys perked up at that and started eyeing each other, looking for the signs of greatness that a king would exhibit.

  “Oscar Dalek had visions inside his head that no other person had ever possessed,” Garth continued. “When he saw opportunities, the glee in his eyes was not only for himself, but for Targa. Imagine being able to have that vision to shape your country and the skills of a warrior to demand the respect of your enemies.”

  The boys were clearly excited at the prospect of being a warrior and a king. Garth smiled to himself at successfully changing the topic of conversation for several days.

  “Do you know which one of us is Oscar’s son?” Fredrik asked.

  “I don’t know for certain,” confessed Garth, “but I believe he is among us. Would you really want me to tell you if I knew?”

  Affirmative response rang from everybody’s lips and Garth was actually surprised. Being a Prince was a heavy burden and Garth would not want to know if he was in their position. “Very well,” Garth replied. “I will tell you the only clue that I possess. Remember that what I am about to say is not proof of a claim to the throne, but Prince Oscar and Princess Callie were given very special gifts from Jenneva. One of you carries that gift today. How it was come by, we do not know, but its identity is certain.”

  “Do you mean a magical gift?” Arik asked. “That would have to be Fredrik. Tedi and I have no magical gift whatsoever.”

  Garth watched the boys’ expressions to see if there was resentment created by Arik’s statement. Fredrik appeared shocked and both Tedi and Arik seemed pleased for Fredrik.

  “I do not mean a gift of magic,” Garth finally said. “I mean a physical gift. The necklace that Tedi wears belonged to either the Prince or the Princess. We do not know which.”