Alder got his feet moving again and saw one more surprise: Rellin held his helmet under his arm for a reason. On his head was a small crown. What? Had he married Kagan? Was he now the king of the Bedoowan as well as the leader of the Milago? There was nothing good about what Alder was seeing. He was still too far away to hear what Rellin was saying to the knights, but every so often a raucous cheer erupted from the troops. Whatever Rellin was saying, he was firing them up.
“Alder!” came a surprised shout.
Alder bent his knees, ready to be attacked. He turned to see a Bedoowan knight jogging toward him along the treeline. Alder wished he had thought about the possibility of there being guards in the woods. He would have been more careful. Now it was too late. He crouched, ready to fight, until he saw that the knight wasn’t in attack mode. If anything, he looked happy to see Alder. The guy had a big smile on his face. Alder relaxed. Slightly.
“Where have you been?” the knight called to him excitedly.
Alder recognized the man. It was Graviot, one of the knights from Alder’s troop. Graviot was a friend, though he knew nothing of Alder’s calling as a Traveler. Graviot reminded Alder of himself… or at least of the knight Alder used to be. Graviot was younger by a few years. He was also big and clumsy and absolutely honest to a fault, just as Alder had been so long ago. It pained Alder to think that he himself was no longer as honest and naive. He had seen too much of Halla to be able to hold on to the person he once was. He had a moment of sadness for the loss of his own simple life, but shook it off quickly. Alder knew he had to be careful with the knight, friend or not. Too much had happened since he’d been gone to assume anything.
“I traveled with Pendragon and the boy Siry,” Alder answered. “Remember? We unearthed the tak to help a tribe far from here.”
“Of course I remember,” Graviot answered. “We did not think you would be gone for so long. Many things have happened. We will soon be at war.”
“Why is that?” Alder asked. “What has happened? Have we been attacked?”
“In a way, yes,” Graviot answered.
“The Lowsee attacked us?” Alder asked, surprised.
Graviot’s eyes narrowed. “How would you know of the Lowsee problem if you have been away?”
Alder couldn’t admit that he’d seen images of the Lowsee preparing for battle as he flumed through time and space. He had to come up with a plausible response to keep Graviot on his side.
“I never trusted the Lowsee,” Alder answered quickly. “It was only a guess.” It was also a total lie, but Alder was getting used to being less than honest.
“You were wise not to trust them,” Graviot continued. He bought it.
“Yet I did not expect them to attack us,” Alder added. “They are a peaceful tribe.”
“They did not attack us with weapons,” Graviot continued. “But they are trying to crush us just the same.”
“How?”
“By withholding their triptyte” was Graviot’s answer.
Alder knew about triptyte. It was a mineral the Bedoowan had used to create light within their castle. Before the castle was destroyed there was an elaborate system of tubes that snaked across every ceiling. When darkness fell, triptyte glowed brightly. It was a clean source of light that was much safer than fire. It was also a cause for shame, because the Bedoowan had not shared the technology with the Milago. They kept the Milago in the dark. Literally. When the Bedoowan castle crumbled and the Milago village was rebuilt, that changed. Triptyte lights were erected throughout the village. It was an incredible step forward, allowing the Milago village to continue operating into the night without the fear of an accident caused by fire. Many said that triptyte was what helped create a modern Milago.
Alder also knew that the triptyte came from mines on land that was controlled by the Lowsee.
“Why would they withhold the triptyte from us?” Alder asked.
“Because we are no longer mining glaze,” was his answer. “The triptyte was paid for by glaze. Once the Milago stopped mining, we could no longer trade with the Lowsee and-”
“And now we are going to war to take what we need,” Alder said gravely, finishing Graviot’s thought.
“It is a wonderful opportunity!” Graviot said enthusiastically.
“How can war be wonderful?” Alder asked, incredulous.
“Once we defeat the Lowsee, we will not stop there. Glaze has been discovered in the lands beyond the Lowsee. Once we control those lands, the glaze will be ours.”
Alder shot a harsh glance at Graviot. “You are saying that we plan on mining glaze again? How can that be? It is deadly to mine that mineral. Have you forgotten?”
“Of course not,” Graviot scoffed. “But we will not be mining it. That will be the task of the Lowsee…once they have been conquered.”
“And whose plan was this?”
“King Rellin’s of course!” Graviot answered, as if it were a ridiculous question to ask.
Alder winced. It was coming full circle. Rellin once began a revolution to fight the barbaric practice of forcing his people to dig and die in the toxic glaze mines. Now that he had achieved power, he was willing to go to war to force another group of unfortunates to do the exact same thing.
Alder looked at Graviot and said sadly, “So dying for glaze is acceptable, as long as it is somebody else who is dying?”
Graviot shrugged. “The strong survive, Alder.”
Alder wanted to scream. All they had been fighting for on Denduron, all they had achieved was about to be wiped out.
“Why do you look pained?” Graviot asked. “You should be proud! None of this would have been possible if not for you and Pendragon.”
Alder gave Graviot a steely glare.
“Do not be modest,” Graviot chided. “You and Pendragon brought that wondrous machine to unearth the tak. If not for the tak, none of this would be happening. Besides, it may save your life.”
“Save my life?” Alder asked, stunned.
“We are about to go to war,” Graviot announced. “You have been branded a deserter. I fear you will be tried for treason, old friend. It is very possible that you will be executed. Or perhaps sent to the new glaze mines. You should hope that Rellin has mercy, because without you, we never would have recovered the tak.”
Alder struck without thinking. He uncorked a punch that Graviot never saw coming. The unsuspecting knight probably didn’t even know he had been hit. He was unconscious before he hit the ground. Alder felt a twinge of regret. Not that he had decked Graviot, but that the attack had come from an outburst of emotion. It wasn’t professional. Alder was a professional. He wouldn’t let emotions rule his actions again. There was too much at stake. He had work to do.
He dragged the unconscious knight back into the trees, away from curious eyes. There he stripped the knight of his new, modern armor. He took off his own armor and lashed on Graviot’s. It was good that they were the same size. Now Alder could walk among the Bedoowan without attracting unwanted stares. Remaining hidden was suddenly more important than he had realized. He had been gone a long time… too long. Enough time to be charged with desertion and treason. He couldn’t be arrested. That would be disaster, because he had a mission and he could not fail.
The Traveler knight stopped for a moment and took a breath. He was tired. He had just fought a war against an army of dados. There was nothing he wanted more than to sit down, sleep, and heal. Alder was strong. He knew he could keep going physically. It was his mental state he was more concerned with. Would he be able to bring himself to do what needed to be done to save his territory? The tak mine had to be destroyed. If he was successful, the Milago village might be destroyed along with it. Could he bring himself to do that?
He didn’t have a choice. The future of Denduron was at stake. The future of Halla was at stake. He had to go into battle once again. He picked up the long wooden stave that was the weapon of choice for Bedoowan knights, spun it once, and held it close to his side. He was on familiar turf. He left the trees and headed for the village, prepared to destroy all that was left of his former life.
He wished Pendragon were with him.
