Sneak Peak of "Irling"

Chapter One - 3020

A light breeze whipped through my brown linen cloak, tussling with it like a cat would a leaf floating in the breeze. I bobbed up and down in the saddle as my brown chestnut horse sauntered through the Still Plains.

I still didn’t like riding horseback. Horses were so unpredictable sometimes. They got spooked too quickly, that’s why I always kept the blinders on.

Beside me, Bremus rode tall and strong astride his sturdy black mare. Even with his plain white tunic and dirty stained pants, he still managed to look like the brave knight he was.

Though, today we were just two traders, coming from beyond the South Sea. If we wanted to get across the Tluthundrian border, that’s what we’d play at.

“Ah,” Bremus started in his booming yet cheery sounding voice. He dipped his head north, “There it is. You ready, lad?”

I shrugged, “Nah,” he looked at me, confused, then I gave him a playful smirk. He laughed.

“You still have an edge to ya, boy,” he boomed.

“Don’t worry,” I said, “I’m ready.”

A year ago, I wouldn’t have said that. A few moons ago, I would’ve stuck with my original answer. But last year had proved to be a test for me. A test of courage and a show of who I really was. The man I buried deep down inside.

            A year ago, I lived in Cathendraal, a city on the far Northwest border of Tluthundra. I was so ignorant then, so innocent.

            I lived with my brother and sister, Linny and Ephir. Ephir was a blacksmith’s apprentice, but Linny had come down very ill. Me and my brother pushed ourselves to the limits every day, but we didn’t make it in time for her.

            My brother, though, thought he could save her, so he sold himself as a slave, but returned just as Linny had died.

            That’s who I was going to look for now, my brother, who was somewhere out there.

 

            We came nearer and nearer to the wall which offered Tluthundra protection. The guards saw us coming, so they sent a small delegation of horseback soldiers galloping towards us.

            “Who is this who approaches?” one of the soldiers called out to us as the group approached and steered their horses to a stop. The horses shuffled on their hooves making the riders bob up and down.

            “Traders,” Bremus replied, “From across the South Seas.”

            The soldier raised his brow, “Your goods?”

            “Are right here,” Bremus finished, twisting to pat a large pack mounted on the horse’s rump.

            The guard gestured to it with a gauntleted hand, asking silently if he could take a look. Bremus waved his hand over the bag welcomingly. The man dismounted, his few pieces of armor and weaponry clinked together. He walked around the back of Bremus’s horse and examined the contents of the sack. Satisfied he turned to me.

            “Yours now,” he said to me.  

            I nodded and reached over to open the sack for him. He waved a thanks and moved on to examine mine.

            “You look fine,” he nodded, then pointed again, “Noticed you have swords as well, for any particular reason we should know about?”

            I unhooked my sword and scabbard from the side of the saddle, “None other than just to be cautious,” I replied truthfully.

            The guard took the sword from my gloved hand and unsheathed it, examining the blade. Then finally he pushed it back into place and handed it back.

            “You two are clear,” he said and made his way back to his stallion, “Follow me and do not veer from your current path. If you do you might not be able to enter. Security is… tight.” the guard said, suggestively.

            Bremus nodded, “Understandable, given your current situation.”

            I knew this was probably not the greatest time to be sneaking into Tluthundra. The Tluthundrian army had just attacked its neighboring kingdom; Arnidia, and lost.

            I was still getting used to the fact that Tluthundra even existed. When I was in Cathendraal right after my sister died, I had thought that beyond this south wall there was nothing but the South oceans and plains. But I was wrong, very wrong. I soon learned that the king had used a powerful magic to hide the fact that Arnidia existed from his subjects.

            The guard clicked his tongue and nudged the stallion. The horse cantered forward, the other three members of the delegation followed suit and Bremus and I behind them.

            I moved my chestnut mare closer to Bremus’ side. If all went well, we’d be inside that wall in matter of mere minutes. I was eager to be back in Tluthundra, but yet, all at the same time, I was terrified.

I hadn’t been here in nearly one year. It was the kingdom I grew up in, though now it wasn’t my home. My home was in Arndia. But there was a reason I’d left Tluthundra.

Right after Linny died a mysterious wolf came howling to my now empty house. I caught whatever sickness Linny had and that night I had been in so much pain. Somehow, the wolf got inside, and what happened next was something beyond what I had believed before. The wolf healed me and left something that would forever change my life: a bond mark.

In Tluthundra I had always heard stories of fierce warriors called Tluth. They were knights bonded with animals who fought together in combat.

The wolf, Shina, had bonded with me. Though not in the same way. Unknown to me at the time there was another type of bond. One with knights called Ariens and animals sent from the High Spirit’s council, Spirkans.

The Tluth bond was a forced bond, the animal is corrupted then made to bond with the human. Arien bonds are chosen by the Spirka and the High Spirit and are not forced.

Shina was able to speak to me through my mind, she told me that I had to leave Tluthundra and go to this kingdom called Arnidia. She said the king himself would be after my head! I had no idea what she was talking about then, but I left anyway.

Shina took me to the king of Arnidia, King Afax, who revealed everything to me and also revealed a horrible truth. Ephir and Linny weren’t my brother and sister. In fact, my family wasn’t my family. My father was the horrid king of Tluthundra, Orvek.

“Halt,” a guardsman yelled at the company.

“These men have been checked,” the lead soldier replied, “Everything’s alright.”

“Very well,” the guard at the gate replied warily. Then he turned his head upward to the top of the wall. I followed his gaze, “Raise the gate!”

            I watched a soldier salute then yell something over his shoulder. Then the screech and grinding of a metal gate scraping against coarse stone.

             The delegation of soldiers around us dispersed, leaving Bremus and I alone in the middle of the ring of horse-backed men.

            “Safe journeys to the both of you,” called the lead guard.

            I saluted him in thanks as Bremus whistled for his horse. Flicking the reigns, I plodded after him.

           

            I didn’t even remember clenching my jaw. I didn’t remember holding my breath, as if I would feel something when I passed into Tluthundra. Something like a tingle through my fingertips, maybe a sharp jarring pain shooting through my spine. Though there was none of that. There was no mystical aura surrounding the kingdom. It was just as simple as riding under the rusty old gate, still grinding past the wall, and hearing the grunts of soldiers above rotating the lever.

            My mouth opened to exhale the sharp breath I’d secretly held.

            “Something wrong, laddie?” Bremus had noticed, and he was looking at me concerned.

            “No,” it was nearly a sigh, a breath. Of relief? No. Then of fear? Not quite that either. Words cannot explain the feeling. Like a snake who is at the same time radiating with beauty, but also emitting cold dread. This was the emotion that flooded my insides, squirming and writhing, slithering through me. Cold scales that slithered through my bones, at the same time, were comforting, yet terrifying.

            Now, at this moment, I pushed it all away. I was an Arien knight, now, was the time to focus. I brought to the table my internal map. During my Padling year at Ariath academy, my Master; Sir Jax Blythe, had suggested that I, and my two best friends, Devin and Arali, study Tluthundrian maps. Already knowing most of it, I had aced that part of training and it was becoming ever more useful now.

            “That way,” I aimed a finger in the right direction, suggesting to Bremus the proper way, “Cathendraal was the last place I saw him, that might be the best place to start.”

            “I agree,” Bremus said.

            We began heading in the direction I pointed out. Cathendraal was on the other side of Tluthundra, it would be at least a few days of traveling.

            As we journeyed along, I let my mind wander. I wished Shina were here with me, but both I and Bremus had left both our Spirkans back in Arnidia. Shina hadn’t been keen on it, but if we didn’t want Orvek to sense us in his kingdom then leaving the animals behind would be the best bet. Besides, I was also being able to test my long-range talk with Shina.

            Before I had been able to talk to her through my mind without using any effort at all. Only some effort came when blocking my mind. Now, it seemed the further I got the more reversed it became.

            I opened up my mind. A flood came through, almost knocking me off my saddle. Worry, regret, and fear, pushed its way through.

            “Jay!” I heard the familiar tone of Shina’s voice ringing through my mind, “Are you alright? What’s happened? Have you gotten to Tluthundra yet?”

            “I’m fine, Shina,” I laughed. It was so good to hear her voice again, I missed her terribly, “We’re in Tluthundra now, on our way to Cathendraal.”

            “That’s wonderful, Jay!”

            “Is everything alright there?”

            “Fine, though being stuck here with Kokono isn’t my idea of… vacation,” she remarked, begrudgingly.

            Kokono was Bremus’ leopard, a cat. Frenemies was an understatement for Shina and Kokono. Though Shina argued enemy, I argued rival.

            “Is there a difference?” she’d asked.

            I almost laughed again at the thought.

            “Something wrong?” came Shina’s calming voice again.

            “No,” I thought, “I just… wish you were here.”

            “So do I,” Shina replied, “Yet, if I were there Orvek would sense me, it’s the only way to keep you safe. And to me that’s all that matters.”

            I smiled.

            “Well, even still,” I began, “I’ll be back soon. With Ephir.”

 

              “’Or, the mount, there waits a flowing river,” Bremus sang while he sat by a small fire, “Who’s banks outpour the river tide and shifts the sand,” he paused and looked over to me, “What’s wrong, boy? Do you not sing?”

            I laughed and shook my head, “It’s good though. Yours, I mean.”

            “Well,” Bremus replied and scooted forward to turn over two sticks. Each held a foul impaled on the sharp point, “Best ye’ get used to it. Soldiers sing a lot, keeps the spirit alive, y’know.”

            I nodded, “We need that.”

            “Exactly why we do it,” then Bremus leaned back to continue the tune.

            I watched the fire shoot off sparks, which flew up into the night, but soon faded out, into the warm night air.

            “You’ve grown a lot, lad,” Bremus said suddenly.

            I turned to him, noticing that he’d been studying me with an attentive gaze.

            I smiled slightly, “Well, it’s good to hear I got something out of training last year.”

            One side of Bremus’ lips poked upward into a soft smile, “When Jax and I first came here for ya, when I saw you, I wasn’t quite sure you were capable of such a task.”

            “No one was,” I replied with a small laugh.

            “Except for one,” Bremus answered thoughtfully, turning aside his gaze to stare out at the horses who were quietly grazing off to the side.

            “Afax,” I said.

            “No,” Bremus surprised me with his answer, “Jax.”

            “Jax?” I had to stop my mouth from falling open, “I’m not sure about that Bremus. Every time he looks at me, his look tells me how much of a failure I’ve been to him.”

            “Ah, that’s just Jax for ya,” Bremus chuckled, “You’ve gotta know Jay, under that face there is a kind heart. That face he puts on, it’s because he has to, we’re in a war, and much weight is on the Ariens. Everyone deals with the weight differently, that’s how Jax does it; a mask.”

            “But, then why does he believe in me?” I inquired.

            “Jax is a special person, lad,” Bremus said, a hint of wonder in his voice, “He doesn’t look at the toughest and strongest. He can take one look at a person and determine their heart. It’s not some magical gift he has, he can just see good in someone by looking at them,” then Bremus looked at me, “When Jax first saw you, he whispered to me, “That, boy, is a true Arien, Bremus.” And now I see what he was talking about; you are built on compassion.”’

 

            After a whole day of riding, of course I was saddle-sore, which made it all the worse when I woke up in the morning still saddle-sore. Bremus had a good laugh watching me as I grunted and groaned trying to just get from the stirrup to the seat. I finally pulled myself into place, still with an aching rump.

            Walking sounded more enticing to me at the moment, but that would only slow our trek down.

            Not even ten minutes had passed before Bremus began to sing once again. I didn’t pay much attention, until the song ended which for me was a bone chilling revelation.

            “Chosen of whom to come. Destroy, destroy, the king ‘or the wall thereof.”

            “Bremus,” I started, slowly, “What is that song?”

            “Ah, that one,” he grinned, “It’s the song of the hero, everyone in Arnidia sings that to their children. It’s almost like… a lullaby,” he smiled, “My mother used to sing it to me.”

            But I wasn’t listening. I couldn’t stop hearing it, “Destroy, destroy, the king ‘or the wall thereof,” but the words were changed slightly in my head, “Destroy, destroy, your father, the one you love,” I closed my eyes. I had just finished my Padling year, it was one year closer to that day. I would have to kill him, but I didn’t want to. I thought about when I first encountered my father. There seemed to be no way to get through to him, “Destroy, destroy,” the words kept on ringing in my ears, “Destroy,”

            The snake curled through my body, curling around my bones, crushing them. The feeling was back daunting and unknown.

            “Jay,” I heard a voice hum through the torrent of emotions, “Jay?”

            I opened my eyes.

            “You alright, lad?” Bremus was glancing back and forth between me and the road worriedly.

            “Yes. Yes, I’m alright, Bremus,” I answered through still clenched teeth.

            Bremus seemed to quickly accept that, “Good, but make sure you focus. Yer mare nearly stumbled back there.”

            “Sorry,” I said, reaching over to pat the horse’s neck, “I was just thinking.”

            “Mm, dangerous thing sometimes.”

            “I’m beginning to see that,” I mumbled.

            Then again, I had to shut my eyes, just for a second. Just to clear myself up, because I heard it again. Clear as day.

            “Destroy.”

If you want to read chapter two you can head over to my Wattpad page here: Chapter Two