Читать книгу The Vlishgnath Chronicles - Daniel Mitchell - Страница 20

Episode 1

Peace between times of war. It was a luxury not often afforded the chosen champion of Mithos. Several months after the Drenton incident, Sir Vlishgnath the Cleansing Light found himself idly wandering the streets of Ascention. People bustled all around him, many recognizing him and offering a friendly nod and wave. Carrying his helmet tucked under his left arm, Vlishgnath would always nod and smile in return, his warm expression betraying no hint of the horrors he had borne witness to.

Only two others had been there with him when the Baron Jonathan LeFay had fallen, and had seen the depths of his madness and depravity. Presently, those two were not with him, Sir Thunderclese having been sent to the city of Forthos to oversee a garrison of paladins that had been sent in as reinforcement and Sir Maximus having been dispatched to deal with a barbarian uprising in the North.

Sir Vlishgnath came to a full stop, the unceasing flow of busy people going about their busy lives parting around him like a stream around a jutting stone. As he stood, watching them all go about their daily routines, he sighed, smiling faintly. Most of them rarely ever left the safety of Ascention’s mighty walls, so even if the church had decided to divulge what he and his companions had discovered in the basement of the LeFay mansion to the general public, the simple fact of the matter is that the majority of them wouldn’t be able to wrap their minds around it. As a result, it was times like these that Vlishgnath found himself feeling very alone, unsure of what to do with himself and prone to taking long walks through town.

After several moments of standing idle, Vlishgnath decided a visit to the nearby tavern was in order, as The Vagrant Bard inn often hosted some sort of musical entertainment and at the very least had a story or two to be heard.

Turning about abruptly and apologizing to the woman carrying a basket of what appeared to be rolls of fabric that he bumped into, Vlishgnath carefully weaved his way through the crowd in The Vagrant Bard’s direction. Once inside, Vlishgnath headed for the counter. A large, square-jawed man he’d never seen before with a bulging stomach motioned with a finger for him to wait a moment while he finished up a conversation with a patron. Vlishgnath nodded his understanding, leaning his elbow on the bar and surveying the room.

The usual gathering was all here; merchants having a hot meal while discussing the ever-changing prices on goods; University wizards gathered around a table in the corner, huffing away at their pipes and drinking their strange concoctions; travelers seeking room and board for the evening; and various other sorts. The Vagrant Bard was without question the most popular of Ascention’s inns, although for less than half the price one could enjoy the comfort of some bedding on a cold floor and risk being robbed at The Vulgar Cleric in the riverfront district. Standing at the end of the counter, Vlishgnath contentedly observed the patrons present.

When the barkeep finally began making his way towards Vlishgnath, the tavern doors suddenly flew open. A young woman looking to have just recently come of age burst into the room, her eyes in tears. She was dressed in a pair of form-fitting, light brown pants tucked into a pair of slender, leather boots, and a dark red top cinched just below her bust to reveal her well-toned stomach. Strawberry blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail that hung down past her shoulders, her bright blue eyes looking pitiful as she glanced around the room quickly before making her way over to a table of merchants.

Vlishgnath blinked once. Then again. When the barkeep came over to take his order, he shook his head and gestured for the man to be silent, pointing to the girl. The barkeep shrugged and went back to his friend, resuming their conversation. Meanwhile, the girl had found herself a captive audience, the gaudy merchants surrounding the circular table more than eager to hear the pretty young woman’s plight.

“…his name is Kragen, and he’s only seven! He’s the only family I have left, ever since our mother passed away, and I can’t find him anywhere! Have any of you seen him?! He’s about this tall, with brown eyes, short brown hair…”

Vlishgnath shook his head silently. Incredible, he thought to himself.

After several seconds, as if on cue, one of the merchants nodded enthusiastically, claiming he’d spotted a boy that met the very generalized description she’d given them, his eyes widening and glancing to his friends when she swooped in to hug him, sobbing with tears of gratitude.

Also as if on cue, Vlishgnath moved in, speaking as he approached, using his best hero voice and doing a spectacular job of it. “Excuse me, miss, I’m with the church. My name is Sir Vlishgnath the Cleansing Light. I couldn’t help but overhear your story…you say your little brother is missing?”

The girl froze in place for only the briefest of moments before letting go of the merchant and spinning around. With her backs to the men at the table, the very well-faked sincerity in her voice didn’t even come close to matching the look of disbelief on her face as she locked eyes with Vlishgnath. “Y-yes, I saw him heading this way…”

Putting on a very concerned expression, Vlishgnath nodded. “What was his name? Kragen?”

The girl rolled her eyes at this point, her voice still perfectly delivering her lines. “Yes! His name is Kragen, and he’s just a boy! I have to find him! I don’t know what I’d do without him!”

Vlishgnath nodded enthusiastically, reaching out and placing a gauntleted hand on her shoulder for emphasis. “It’s alright, Miss. I’m going to help you find your little brother.” Then Vlishgnath delicately slid his arm around her shoulders in a comforting manner, guiding her towards the door. Stopping suddenly, he turned back to face the merchant she had hugged. “Oh, excuse me, sir, but I believe you dropped this.” That said, Vlishgnath held his hand out, a golden chain dangling from his fingers.

The merchant quickly reached up, feeling around his neck, his eyes widening. “Oh, why thank you, church knight! I didn’t even notice.”

Vlishgnath smiled his warmest smile, his hand reaching back to grab hold of the girl’s shoulder before she could slink out the door without him. “You’re quite welcome. Mithos’ blessings be upon you.” That said, Vlishgnath turned back around, disappearing from the tavern with his arm draped around the young woman.

Once they got outside and were a few steps away from the door, the girl let out a disappointed sigh, and Vlishgnath removed his arm from around her. Turning to face each other, the girl looked up at him unabashedly, her arms folded defiantly across her chest as she furrowed her eyebrows at him angrily.

Smiling patronizingly in return, Vlishgnath spoke his amiable greeting. “Hello, Sidonia.”

“What are you even doing here? I figured you’d be off on an assignment by now,” Sidonia said, as the two of them began walking side by side down one of the main streets.

“I figured you’d have come up with a new way of relieving lecherous old merchants of their possessions. Looks like we were both mistaken.”

Sidonia rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Oh whatever. What were you doing in a tavern, anyways? I thought paladins weren’t supposed to drink on duty.”

“Technically, I’m not on duty. Not to mention, I wasn’t drinking to begin with. What’s the going rate on a stolen chain of gold?”

“Enough to afford me a comfortable living. You’re not going to turn me in, right?”

Vlishgnath sighed heavily. “No…I doubt you would learn anything from it, anyway. One of these days, we’re going to find out where that thieves guild is holed up, and you’re going to have to make an honest living like the rest of us.”

Sidonia laughed. “When that day comes, I’ll reconsider your offer to come work for the church. But I don’t see it happening anytime soon.”

“Neither do I.”

Sidonia glanced over at Vlishgnath, grinning triumphantly. After a moment, she caught her gaze lingering and quickly looked back forward. “So, what, there aren’t any wars going on so the church has you on guard duty?”

Vlishgnath chuckled, shaking his head. “No, believe it or not I was actually out for a walk and just happened to overhear your sob story. Very convincing, by the way.”

Sidonia shrugged her shoulders, tilting her head. “I know.”

Heaving with silent laughter, Vlishgnath was about to speak when something caught his attention. His eyes narrowing, Vlishgnath straightened up, trying to see over the heads of the crowd to identify the source of the disturbance.

Glancing over and noticing his behavior, Sidonia followed the direction of his gaze, standing up on her tip toes to try and get a look at what was going on, a task that proved somewhat difficult considering she was a full head and a half shorter than Vlishgnath. “What is it? What’s going on?”

“I can’t tell…” That said, Vlishgnath began gently making his way towards the center of the market square, where a small gathering of people was beginning to form a circle around something, or rather, someone.

Right on his heels, Sidonia expertly ducked and weaved her way through the assembled crowd, coming to stand next to Vlishgnath. There, in the center of it all, stood a man, his eyes wide with a crazed look in them. He wore bedraggled clothing, several days of facial hair growth on his chin, and a mostly empty bottle of cheap spirits was clenched in his left hand.

The man Vlishgnath stood next to looked over, noticing the paladin’s presence. He nudged Vlishgnath with his elbow and nodded toward the man before speaking in an amused tone. “So tell us again, what was it exactly you saw?”

“The whole city was covered in a dome of bright blue light!”

Vlishgnath spoke, his tone lacking the mocking quality of the man next to him. “Which city? What are you talking about?”

The man took a swig from his bottle and stomped his foot. “Khaarm! I was on my way back from Forthos, and I made my usual detour to Khaarm like I always do, and the entire city was covered in a big dome of bright blue light! Why don’t any of you believe me?!” That said, the man took another drink.

Vlishgnath looked down at the ground for a moment, picturing a map of the continent in his mind and locating Khaarm to the southeast of Ascention, roughly a month’s ride by horse. Looking back up, he spoke to the man again. “What were you doing traveling from Forthos to Khaarm?”

Standing in High Priest Vogoth’s office, Vlishgnath placed a hand on the drunken man’s shoulder, his voice sincere. “Go on. Tell the high priest what you saw.”

Vogoth sat at his desk, glancing over at Sidonia who stood near the door. With nothing better to do for the moment, she’d decided to tag along, but suddenly the high priest’s penetrating gaze made her shift uncomfortably, as if he knew what she’d done (or at least tried to do) earlier. When the man spoke, Vogoth turned his attention back to him, much to Sidonia’s relief.

“I was on my way back from Forthos after I delivered some smithing equipment for Terran, the blacksmith down across the river.”

Vogoth nodded slowly, his expression a mixture of genuine belief and uncertainty as to how to react to the man’s demeanor and vernacular.

The man continued. “An’ on my way back, I went to stop at Khaarm like I always do, visit my favorite tavern. But the city, the whole thing, was covered in a dome, like. Bright blue light! It was made of bright blue light!”

After a moment, Vogoth spoke, his voice soft and limitlessly patient. “I see. I thank you for reporting this to us, sir…”

The man hiccupped, and answered. “Duncan.”

Vogoth nodded. “Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We will call upon you if we have any further questions.”

“Yeah, okay…” Was all Duncan could muster, turning and staggering his way out of the high priest’s office.

After several moments, Vlishgnath spoke. “I think there is truth to his story, your holiness.”

Vogoth smiled a tired smile, clasping his boney hands in front of him. “As do I. Unfortunately, exactly how true is a matter of great dispute, seeing as his merit is somewhat questionable given his state of mind while delivering his report. While I do not doubt that in his mind he saw the city of Khaarm covered in a dome of blue light, for all we know his eyes could have been playing tricks on him or, given his fondness for the drink, it could have been a hallucination.”

Vlishgnath pondered the high priest’s words for a moment before responding. “Something tells me this isn’t the wild fantasizing of a drunken delivery man. Someone should investigate and ensure the safety of Khaarm; it is, after all, a rather important destination in the trade route network.”

Vogoth’s expression turned somber. “Without question, Sir Vlishgnath. However, I’m afraid I cannot justify sending a column of paladins on a several-month mission to Khaarm based on the testimony of a drunkard.”

Vlishgnath nodded, conceding the point. “Then I’ll go.”

Vogoth furrowed his brow, tilting his head slightly. “While it is true you are free to travel as you see fit, I must remind you this is not a church-sanctioned assignment, and you will be acting solely on your own.”

“I understand, your holiness.”

Vogoth’s tired smile returned, and with a practiced hand he gestured a sign of blessing at Vlishgnath. “Go then, chosen champion, and may Mithos’ blessing be upon you. And…do be careful, Sir Vlishgnath.”

With a humble bow of his head, Vlishgnath answered. “Yes, your holiness.”