The Destiny of Amalah (91 page)

That evening, Rufus and Bryce used their magic and saw where Cador and his army were. They had settled a number of soldiers in Parades and the rest were now in Lansten.

‘Tomorrow we begin,’ Rakan told them.

Chapter 30

Later in the evening, Rakan returned to Maddox’s cave, he looked upon Maddox’s broken and lifeless body one more time, before he rose to his feet and made his way out of the old man’s cave and into the dark night. He stood in the open air and looked around; he was all alone on top of the mountain and looking at everywhere and everyone. He drew in a deep breath that was long and slow and as he inhaled, he thought to himself; he thought of Maddox, Salwar and Adriel, and then he thought of how far he had come – what he had become and where he was going.

He had felt sorry for Maddox and he had been sorry for killing him, but in those moments that Rakan stood alone; any sorrow he had felt, died almost instantly when he realised that those feelings were making him weak and making him feel what he did not want to feel. Rakan continued to breathe slowly and deeply as he took in his surroundings and thought through what he was thinking and feeling and as he pondered his thoughts and feelings, he felt a resurgence of power within himself.

Then – at that moment, he no longer feared Salwar or the pain that he could inflict on him and he certainly no longer feared Adriel. “This was his journey, his destiny – he was the one who was bringing the world to its knees – not them,” he thought. He was the one doing their bidding and he knew, that for the most part, he was doing their bidding because they could not – Adriel had tried once before and failed and Salwar – with all of his power had never even tried. “I will play along with them for now,” he thought to himself. “But I will be free of them one day – we all will,” he vowed to himself. “We will not be beholden to them forever.”

Rakan smiled to himself, he felt truly alive and truly powerful now, especially with the cloak, he turned around slowly viewing everything around him and his smile grew broader as he felt a new sense of purpose.

‘It is ours for the taking,’ he said to himself as he surveyed all that could be seen in the darkness of the night. ‘And we take it now,’ he said decisively.

A smirk spread across his face and a glint appeared in his eyes and Rakan turned on his heel and went in search of the other five. He found Waldon, Kenaz and Rufus in one cave and when he entered, they looked up and greeted him. Rakan did not speak; he simply stared at his friends and somehow, kept eye contact with all of them.

‘What is it?’ Kenaz asked.

‘Let us take Equer now,’ Rakan said fervently.

‘Now?’ Rufus said, quite surprised.

‘Yes, now,’ Rakan said, with the same fervour.

‘Why now?’ Waldon asked.

‘Why not now?’ Rakan asked. ‘What on this earth stops us from taking Equer now?’

‘Nothing,’ Kenaz said. ‘But if we were to take Equer now, we would reach Amalah before we are supposed to and Cador would reach there long after he was supposed to.’

‘It would or could mean defeat,’ Waldon added.

‘We do not have to leave Equer; we could take it and remain. We can enter Amalah when we are ready and not before.’

‘Rakan, why are you in so much of a hurry to take Equer?’ Rufus asked his friend.

‘We have remained in these mountains for many months now. At first through necessity and then because of tactics but Cador has now reached Lansten and his soldiers are rested. I do not wish to spend another night here; besides, the remaining soldiers are becoming restless, or lazy or both – it is time to move them.’

‘Move who?’ Luxor asked, as he entered the cave with Bryce behind him. Rakan turned and looked at Luxor and Bryce and nodded at them.

‘Move the soldiers,’ he answered.

‘Move them where?’ Luxor asked.

‘I said we should take Equer – tonight,’ Rakan said as he looked at Luxor and Bryce and then back at Waldon, Kenaz and Rufus, waiting for and answer.

Luxor laughed and shook his head a few times and Rakan and the others looked at him as his grin spread across his face.

‘They would never see it coming,’ he said, still laughing to himself, as he and Bryce moved further into the cave and sat down next to Waldon, Kenaz and Rufus. ‘The whole nation could be up in smoke by sunrise and I will wager that there is nothing that they could do to stop us – I too say we take it now,’ Luxor said, agreeing with Rakan.

Rakan smiled back at Luxor and nodded his head; he was just about to speak when Waldon beat him to it.

‘Do not underestimate the people of Equer. They have lived off the lands for the longest time, they use the weapons that we use and they know the lay of the land – they will not be defenceless.’

‘Perhaps not, but they will not stand a chance against us and the army,’ said Rakan.

‘If we attack in the dead of night, they are the ones who will have the advantage,’ said Kenaz. ‘As Waldon has said, they know the lay of the land, and do not forget Rakan and Luxor; our soldiers have only inhabited two mountains and each one is different. There are at least a dozen mountains that we would have to take, so we must ask ourselves – can we take them one at a time without the others being alerted?’

‘No,’ said Bryce. ‘We cannot.’

‘Then we will have to take two or three at a time,’ Rakan said adamantly. ‘Night time may be our disadvantage but it will be theirs too,’ he said to his friends. ‘If we attack, they will want to evacuate the women, children, the very old and the very sick, or they will want to protect them; either way, it will slow them down. We on the other hand, have no such problem – all of our soldiers are fighting fit.’

‘This is true,’ Kenaz said. ‘But attacking now has its dangers.’

‘Why do you wish to attack now?’ asked Bryce. ‘We had an agreed plan and it depended on Cador also.’

‘Why wait?’ said Rakan. ‘We can still meet with Cador as agreed.

‘I am with you brother,’ Luxor said.

‘Thank you brother,’ Rakan said, looking at Luxor.

He then turned his gaze to face Waldon, Kenaz, Rufus and Bryce was sat, stared at them as he waited for an answer. The four men did not answer straight away; they simply stared back at him. The three oldest friends remained silent and remained locked in the gaze; each wondering what the other would say. “Why now?” the three thought. “Why at this time?”

They wondered if they would be able to take Equer if they began at night and they wondered why Rakan had suddenly become so impatient to take Equer. They knew he could be impulsive and stubborn – they remembered how adamant he had been about them climbing Qomolangma and how he had brought them together to take on the nations. They had never failed at anything that they had embarked on together – why would they fail now, was also a thought that crossed their minds.

‘If you wish to take Equer tonight then I will stand by your side and fight with you,’ said Waldon.

‘Thank you Waldon, brother and friend,’ Rakan answered. He acknowledged Waldon and then looked at Rufus and Kenaz.

‘I thought you were positively mad when you told us we could climb Qomo and live,’ said Kenaz. ‘But we did; you have taken us this far and we have succeeded: so even though I do not understand the impulse to take Equer tonight, I will stand by your side Rakan – I will always stand by your side.’

‘Thank you,’ Rakan said, nodding at Kenaz before he turned his full attention on Rufus and Rufus stared back at him.

‘Life in the cave was getting a bit too quiet and I did not have any plans for the evening – so yes, I will join you.’

‘Good,’ said Rakan, before he turned to face Bryce – who had remained fairly quiet throughout.

‘I will fight now but I think that you are being very impulsive,’ answered Bryce.

‘Then it will be done,’ said Rakan, ignoring Bryce’s reference to his impulsiveness.

‘Excellent,’ said Luxor, smiling widely and clapping his hands together.

Luxor had been itching for a fight, it was what he loved to do – that or magic. He was happy wielding his sword and fighting among the crowds, for Luxor loved mischief and danger, and if it didn’t find him – he would go looking for it.

Luxor had been a bane to the people in the village in Parades, where he had lived. From his teenage years Luxor was forever in trouble; if he was not abusing magic and playing magical tricks on the neighbours, he was fighting and been a young tearaway, or he was drinking ale and stealing food or making promises to young girls and women that he knew he would not or could not keep.

His fathers’ door would often be knocked upon by angry fathers of broken hearted young women, but what mystified Luxor’s father was why – after all he had done – women still got entangled with his son. He was known by reputation as a womaniser and heartbreaker and he had barely reached twenty years of age and yet, knowing all that they knew; women loved Luxor and they flocked to him.

It was not difficult to see what the attraction was; Luxor was tall and lean and had a strikingly beautiful face that was perfectly chiselled. He had beautiful long blond hair and a smile that was not only beautiful; it oozed sex appeal and humour. Luxor himself could be unbelievably charming and hysterically funny when he wanted to be, and when he was around women – he always wanted to be.

It was not long after his twentieth birthday that his father asked him to leave. He could no longer cope with the incessant visits from angry fathers and neighbours and he could not bear the shame that his son was bringing upon him. He had done everything he could to raise his son to be a good, kind and decent man, and at times Luxor could be, but for the most part, he was just too wild for him to handle. Nothing or no one, he ventured, could rein his son in or tame him and he wondered if that would ever change – he doubted it.

‘I know that Parades is mostly snow and ice and there is not enough here to keep your mind occupied but the way you behave in the village is unacceptable,’ Luxor’s father told his son.

‘Father I am no wilder than the men my age,’ Luxor said, almost dismissively.

‘
Yes you are
,’ his father said, shaking his head. ‘You are the wildest and the worst and you constantly bring shame on this house. I am only consoled by the fact that your mother is not alive to see you behave in this way.’

‘Why do you care what the others think?’

‘It troubles me that you do not know the answer to the question you ask, and if you do not know why, then perhaps it is too late for me to teach you.’

‘Father…’ Luxor began.

‘I wish you to leave,’ Luxor’s father said abruptly.

‘Leave where?’ Luxor asked, not quite believing that his father meant what he said.

‘This house, this village; I cannot have you here anymore. You bring shame on me and your younger brother and sister, who have yet to grow up among the same people with which you treat with such contempt.’

‘Where am I supposed to go?’ Luxor asked sharply.

‘I do not know my son. All I know is that for the sake of my other children and my sanity, you cannot remain here. Luxor, please, I urge you to take this time to travel and venture through Parades and the other nations. You will never be bored and it will open your mind – and – perhaps the time travelling and being alone will mature you. Hopefully that day will come soon and when it does you may return and I will welcome you back with open arms.’

‘And if it does not?’

‘Then I cannot.’

‘And if I refuse to leave father – what then?’

‘You have no choice Luxor. I am asking you to leave of my own volition but the people from the village and the next village have told me that if you do not leave when I ask you to, they will remove you themselves.’

‘Really!’ said Luxor rather indignantly. ‘Those meddling idiots, I won’t be made to leave by them.’

‘Luxor, you do not have any choice. They will remove you and remove you by force if you try to resist them. Luxor please, you are my son and I love you. I do wish for you to leave here but I do not wish for any harm to come to you – and it will, if you remain or if you resist. Please Luxor, I beg of you, leave this village and leave quietly.’

‘I am not scared of them,’ he said defiantly.

‘Not only will they force you out, but they have told me that they will bind your powers.’

‘They cannot,’ he said angrily and objecting to the potential binding.

‘They can and you know they can. The elders carry a lock of hair and a piece of cloth belonging to every person in the village. It is a record of our time here but it is also a way to bind powers where necessary – and believe me Luxor – they feel it is necessary.’

Luxor looked at his father and he knew he was beaten; he was prepared to fight the crowds but not prepared to have his powers bound and in that moment, he knew that he would have to leave. As long as the elders held his hair and his cloth, he was at their mercy and as long as there were elders; the rest of the villagers had nothing to fear.

‘When must I leave?’ Luxor asked with contempt.

‘The day after tomorrow.’

‘Fine,’ Luxor said decisively. ‘I shall leave then.’

‘I am sorry that it came to this,’ Luxor’s father said.