The Descendants Book One: The Broken Scroll (3 page)

This Deverell would most likely have every soldier in this regimen executed if they didn’t at least try to recapture their prisoner.

Egan made a quick decision.  He wouldn’t let them take him back, but he also wasn’t going to ruthlessly murder men that were just following orders.  The governor may have been evil, but these men weren’t.

He raised his hand and called the power of the wind from the Driocht orb.  The gust came strong and fast, creating a wall preventing the soldiers from getting to him.  With his other hand he sent a rush of wind that put out the court house fire.  

The blaze went out but there wasn’t much more than the skeleton of the building left.  Egan took this chance to take one last look at the former governor.  His burned remains were all that was left.  It was time for him to make his exit.

At last, he lowered his hands.  Everything became still.  In an instant he was running in the opposite direction.  He knew that his speed greatly exceeded the soldiers, but he didn’t want them seeing what way he left town.  He turned left and right, dodging between the buildings until he reached the outskirts and the farmland beyond.

He was certain of one thing.  He had to find out if there was any record of more Descendants still living and if they had turned corrupt.  Also, if King O’Hara was attempting to collect them, the fate of this land could possibly rest on it. 

***

Back in the town square the First Captain stared down at the former governor’s body.

One of his men came to his side and faced down as well.  “First Captain, if I may be so bold, why did you let him kill a governor if you knew he was dangerous?” he asked. 

“The governor’s death was necessary.  I allowed this Egan to take care of it for us.  Gradis was becoming too outspoken about O’Hara’s plans.” 

“Will the King understand the death of one of his loyalists, sir?” the soldier spoke again, feeling bold.  

“I have no doubt that he will.” 

The soldier standing next to Deverell gaped, still mesmerized by shock. “What exactly happened here tonight, sir?  I’m not sure I understand where that power came from.”  

“Read up on your history, soldier.  That will be all.”  The soldier nodded in acceptance of Deverell’s command and spoke no more.  

Deverell looked up in the direction Egan had run and said, “We have found an unexpected prize.  Contact one of my
Dous
Captains to send word to the capital and inform O’Hara of this news.  We will not rest until he and any others are found and brought to justice before the King.” 

Chapter 2 Dreams and Announcements

Davin of Lemirre awoke with a start.  He rubbed his face and tried to clear his head.  The sun beat down on him through the window of his small cabin, causing him to squint in the bright light.  This made it hard to orient himself. 

The dream had come to him again.  This was the tenth night in a row, and it showed no signs of leaving him alone.  What the dream meant, he couldn’t riddle out.  Every night that he didn’t sleep well was accompanied by that same one.  There was a woman calling to him, telling him it was time.  Time for what, he didn’t know.  The dream was so vague that he would have dismissed it, had it not plagued him so many nights already.  He wanted it to simply leave him be. 

The idea of going to the town Cureist occurred to him before.  It had merit, but dreamless sleeping draughts brought on strange side effects
.  It was a long shot at best. 

He pulled on som
e clothes and headed outdoors.  Before this week, he had had no problem rising at dawn to catch the rare and valuable animals that called the Ancient Forest home.  He would then have some for himself, or bring them into town and trade food and other necessities. 

Most people steered clear of the Ancient Forest because of its reputation.  The common folktale was that it was haunted by the spirits of the Ancients that once resided there.  Davin knew better, however, and spent many a morning wandering its outskirts.  The only real dangers were the animals themselves, but Davin h
ad become quite the hunter throughout the last several years. 

He headed around the back of his cabin to his shed, where he kept his hunting supplies and stored his meats.  The interior was still cool even in the daylight and gave him a quick shiver. 

Staring up at his supply, he realized he didn’t have much to trade this week except for aging Crocata meat.  Crocata weren’t the favorite of most appetites, being an unappealing snake-lizard with tough meat, but they were easier to find and capture than other beasts. Groaning at the lack of substance in the shed, he grabbed the remaining Crocata off the rack.  He turned and marched out of the shed, starting down the hill that led to town. 

Lemirre was the only town located in the foothills of the kingdom.  The Asnine Mountains ran the entire border of the kingdom to the south and the Ancient Forest took up many square miles in the east foothills.  Davin’s home rested on the edge of the Ancient Forest, not far above the town. 

On the way into town, Davin’s idle mind drifted to his parents.  They had come up in his mind a lot lately.  There was no reason for it that he knew.  He had never known his father and his had mother never talked about him, which meant there probably wasn’t anything nice to say.  But she had loved him more than any woman could love her son.  This he knew, which made it even harder to accept that she had been had disappeared from his life one night many years ago.  He still sometimes wondered if she were still alive.  There was always a part of him who wanted to believe this, being that he hadn’t actually seen her die. She had simply vanished          

For months he had researched any relevant information, pouring over endless rolls of parchment that told news about the going’s on in the kingdom.  He hoped that her sketches or name would show up somewhere.  It didn’t happen.  Since then, he had let the anger of those who had destroyed the life of such a nice woman consume him.  It had lost him many friends, but he didn’t care, being alone made him feel better.  Any time he thought of her or his father, a deep pit in his stomach opened, one that had never seemed to properly fill back up. 

He snapped out of his reverie when he saw the buildings of Lemirre rise up before him.  As he came down the hill he could observe the structures that occupied its central street.  The main portion of the town had streets that were paved in brick just like most cities in the kingdom.   The symmetrical, rectangular buildings were tall and pleasant, if a bit boring.  The steep shingled roofs gave way to tall but narrow windows.  On some of the shops and homes a little more creative flavor was introduced with their cross-gables and thick, brick chimneys.

Lemirre was a lively enough place during the day.  It was a small town and definitely had the feel of such.  There weren’t generally too many visitors, so everyone knew everyone else.  The foothills kept it fairly isolated from the rest of the kingdom, which was what Davin loved about it. 

***

“Never fails,” Davin said as he strolled onto the streets and found his way to the morning market.  Stands filled with a variety of wares from the each owner’s nearby shop ran down both sides of the street, enticing shoppers better than other times of the day with the convenience of being outside.  The morning was growing late and soon the stands would close, but it didn’t slow business in the slightest. 

A man Davin knew as Quan was arguing with Haskell, one of the fruit merchants. 

“…you must be mad, they’re not rotten, these apples were picked fresh just yesterday,” said Haskell in disbelief, extending arms on both sides and rolling his eyes in exasperation.   

“Have you actually tried one yourself yet, Haskell?  They’re awful.” 

“Come on, they can’t be bad-“he cut off as Davin walked into his line of sight. 

“Hullo, Davin!” Haskell called loudly, smiling and waving.  “Good to see you this morning, my boy.”  Quan turned and greeted him as well.  Davin nodded slightly, but said nothing in return.  They turned back to their business, apparently unabashed. 

Spotting the shop of Roland, Lemirre’s blacksmith and his godfather, he decided to head in for a quick visit.  Roland had the fortunate pleasure of being one of only two people Davin still considered himself close to. 

As he passed some of the other street vendors they waved at him with uncertainty as if expecting how he would respond.  Davin ignored them.  He rarely talked to anyone in town.  Generally, they wanted to have lively conversations about business, travels they’d been on, politics, jokes, and whatever else came to mind.  It was all irrelevance to Davin.  Sometimes he would humor them, but most of the time he didn’t.  His life was exactly how he liked it.  He did his hunting to trade for what he needed to live on, and kept to himself.  Roland and his wife Niahm were the only exceptions. 

Davin rounded the door to Roland’s shop and entered.  The blacksmith looked up from the sword on his bench. 

“Davin,” the smithy greeted him, “what brings you down today?”

“Trading,” Davin answered, “W
hy do you always ask that when you know what the answer’s going be?”

Roland didn’t miss a beat. “I figure
one of these times you’re going come down just to visit me.” 

Davin saw that Roland was quite busy.  There was a large stack of parchment on a desk away from the work station.  He recognized them as a set of orders for new equipment.  The size of the stack got his attention.  It was bigger than he’d ever seen it. 

“Maybe,” Davin looked away and fiddled with some armor on the wall.  “So business is good, huh?” he asked, already knowing the answer. 

“Could be better,” Roland shrugged.  “How are the catches in the forest this season?”  He obviously didn’t want to talk about the orders; otherwise he wouldn’t have changed the subject. 

“You lie,” Davin said casually, ignoring the other’s question.  “You seem to be doing well enough to me.”  He pointed at the stack behind Roland. 

“It’s nothing.” He tried to act normal, but was hiding something.  They exchanged looks and Roland must have known Davin could see right through him. 

He gave in and continued.  “When I was at Swift River a few weeks ago selling my newest equipment, I received a letter from the Blacksmith Guild.  They informed me that the army needed an order of equipment and I was requested specifically.  The fact that the guild is noticing could be good news for me.” 

Smiling genuinely, he replied, “That’s really great Roland.  You’ve alway
s wanted to be a member of the guild.” 

The Guilds were not impossible to get into, but it was still an honor to be admitted, especially with the smithies.  And Roland had graduated a long time ago from his Focus at the Acadeem with high status, so he had spent most of his life trying gain membership. 
The benefits were obvious.  Once someone was admitted, they were taken care of by the guild.  They never ran short work and good pay. 

However, Roland
didn’t seem as excited as he should have been. 

“You sure you’re alright?” Davin asked. 

“Just have a lot of work to do.” 

There were a few minutes silence while Davin watched Roland work.  Did he want to tell Roland about his dreams?  He decided to wait a little longer.  Maybe they would leave him alone yet. 

Wanting to think of anything else and remembering Roland’s question, he sputtered out, “You should come hunting with me some time, maybe get out of the shop for once.” 

“Probably not going to happen any time soon,” Roland began.  “Besides, you don’t want me slowing you down.  I’m sure you’ll be fine.  It
’s like I always say, you’re a natural, just like your mum was.  She was great at anything, really, a strong woman.”

“I know Roland, she was my mother after all,” Davin said.   

Roland shot his head up with a big grin.  “What do you say to dinner with Niahm and me tomorrow night at our place, say around nineteenth hour?”

Davin didn’t speak for a moment.  He saw the happiness leave Roland’s face as quickly as it came.  Davin heard him sigh loudly.  He turned to him.   It looked like Roland was trying to hold back something, but it wasn’t working.

Davin finally said, “I don’t know.  I don’t really plan on spending much time down here tomorrow.  You know I’d prefer to not be down here as much as possible.  You should feel honored I’m even talking to you.” 

Roland snorted, “L
ucky, you’re a real ball of joy most of the time, aren’t you,” he said. 

Davin smirked at Roland.  “Hey at least I’m still here.
  And I was somewhat kidding.”

Roland frowned for a moment and it didn’t waver.

Davin knew what was coming and decided to head it off. 

“You need some help with this stuff?  I’d love to give you a hand,” Davin said quickly.

Roland’s smile came back, “You just want to have a go with new weapons.  Come on then, grab some gloves and stoke the fire for me.”

Roland had taught Davin everything he knew about his trade over the years and was quite proficient.  He had told Davin many times that he wanted him to take over the business someday, but Davin didn’t have the heart to tell him no yet.