Chapter 17: Haley’s Story—Alborg Spring

The outpost from which the boys of Alborg watched the road to their village had been built using the same skills their ancestors had used to build the temples and palaces of Herten—chief city of Eblis—and after that, their own town, the Alter Berg or high fortress in the Iron Mountains. Even to a close observer, the outpost would appear only to be a random pile of stones. A boulder on the uphill side concealed the entrance. Smaller rocks camouflaged the windows.

Seth was watching while Tyler prepared their breakfast.

“Tyler! There are travelers on the road.”

“How many?”

“Eight, and two are Red Robes!”

The site had been selected to provide an extensive view of the multiple switchbacks of the road that led to Alborg—the High Fortress of the Builders. Even a horseman could not climb the entire road in less time than the watchers could alert the town. Travelers on foot required a day and a night and most of another day before they reached the level of the shelter.

“We must be careful,” Tyler said, “at least one of the Red Robes will be a Finder.”

“Will the rocks truly protect us?” Seth asked. The shaking in his voice was fear. Seth had been captive of the Red Robes once, and would rather die than become so, again.

Tyler hugged his friend. “Grandfather says they will,” he assured Seth. “The old millstones that surround us still contain much magic.”

Tyler took his place at another of the windows.

“There’s no one below them, and I’ve seen no one on the Great Road,” Seth said. The boys’ view of the Great Mountain Road from which the road to the village branched was limited, but useful. “Watch carefully, please,” Tyler said.

Seth acknowledged, and resumed his place at the main observation window. Tyler selected a tiny token from a wooden box. The token was marked with symbols. To Tyler and the token’s intended recipients the symbols meant, eight on foot danger. Tyler threaded a string through a hole in the token, and carefully tied it to the leg of one of the several pigeons that rested in wicker cages. Taking the pigeon outside, he gave it a few moments to adjust to daylight. He released the bird and watched as it circled three times getting its bearings before homing to the mill atop the mountain.

The next morning, Seth and Tyler woke to the pigeons’ cooing just as the sky brightened. Tyler took position at the window. “I don’t see them, yet,” he reported. Seth handed him a pemmican bar. Tyler continued to watch as he chewed slowly.

“There they are,” Tyler announced shortly thereafter. “They’ll reach this level by noon. Perhaps they’ll see the spring, and stop.”

Hours later, the boys watched as Red Robes and Soldiers turned off the road and began scrambling up the rocks toward the watch post.

“What can we do?” Seth asked “They must know where we are!”

“I will kill them,” Tyler had said. The boy had tied a token on another pigeon and released the bird. This token read simply, discovered. Now, Tyler took his hunting bow and arrows from their leather case. “I will kill them, and they will not take you.”

Seth’s stomach boiled at the thought of his friend killing. Seth had killed, and he knew the dread and darkness that came afterwards, eating at the spirit and darkening the world.

“No,” he said. “You will not kill, especially not for me. I will give myself up and you will escape up the hill, hidden by the rocks while I distract them.”

Tyler had argued, but Seth was adamant. “You can find your way back; I cannot. You can warn the Lodge. I could not do so as well, especially if I returned without you. I can defend myself without weapons, if I have to. You cannot.”

Reluctantly, Tyler had agreed. The boys hugged tightly, and Tyler turned away so that Seth would not see the tears in his eyes.

Seth stepped into the view of the Red Robes and the soldiers. He stumbled, and fell. When the first soldier reached him, Seth mumbled, “Food . . . please, do you have food?”

“He lies! Others will come to rescue him. Kill him!” one of the Red Robes ordered. The soldier closest to Seth drew his sword and stepped toward the boy. The other soldiers were splattered with blood and brain matter as the man’s head exploded. Seth gasped, and gathered more magic.

Before Seth could strike, a volley of arrows flew down the mountain. Four of the soldiers and one of the Red Robes fell; the others turned to flee. Seth struck at the remaining Red Robe. The man’s panic had addled his mind. He had dropped his shield and he died, unpleasantly and instantly. The remaining soldier stumbled, and fell—and kept falling until his body struck a boulder some 500 feet down the mountain.

Tyler ran to Seth and hugged his friend.

“I killed them,” Seth sobbed. “I didn’t learn—”

“You killed them to defend yourself, the boys you love, and your brothers in the Lodge,” Tyler said. “It was right!”

It took more than Tyler’s words, but the feelings that came through the boys’ bond comforted Seth. At least, he stopped crying and let Tyler lead him up the road to the town, leaving the archers in the rescue party to clean up the mess and resume the watch.

Seth lay in a bed deep in the underground complex that held the lodge. Tyler had shooed away Haley, Jason, and Troy. “He needs time,” Tyler said. “Later, when the hurt is not so great, he will need your comfort and love. I will tell you when that is.”

The other boys, acknowledging the bond that had formed between Tyler and Seth, as well as Tyler’s healing powers, nodded, and went to wait in another room nearby. Haley scurried to the door when he heard footsteps, but it was Maccus.

Maccus saw Haley, and paused. “Haley? Seth will be all right,” he said. “In fact, I think this lesson will make him stronger and happier than before. Yes, he has killed, but so has Jason, yet Jason is strong and happy, isn’t he?”

Haley’s lower lip protruded past his upper in a pout. Maccus could feel thoughts flying through Haley’s mind before they settled down.

“Yes,” Haley said. “Will you make Seth strong and happy?” Something in his voice and mind let Maccus know that Haley wasn’t asking a question, but making a demand.

“Yes, Haley. But it will be Seth who heals himself, as he did before.”

“What did he do, before?” Haley asked. “He has not told us, yet we see and know that he is different. Jason said that the darkness is gone.”

Maccus shook his head. “I do not know. Perhaps he will tell me—or you. Someday.”

Whether it was Maccus’s words or Tyler’s cuddles, Seth rejoined his companions that afternoon.

“I have something to say,” he said. “Will you listen and then wait at least a few minutes before condemning me?”

Haley, Jason, and Troy were surprised—too surprised to speak, at first. Then, Haley said, “Seth? I will wait forever if it takes that long to understand, for I love you.”

The other boys nodded, and mumbled, but Seth understood. He could not stop tears from rolling down his cheeks as he told them about the boy who had appeared to him when he was about to kill in order to save Devin. He cried harder when he told about killing the soldier and the golemage.

The boys sensed when he had reached a conclusion, and surrounded him. Their arms wrapped around Seth. Haley, understanding at last his role as leader, spoke for them all.

“We love you, Seth. Thank you for protecting us. Please, let us share your sorrow, and your joy, for what you did to save Devin and us should bring joy, and not sorrow.”

* * * * *

“Haley, you showed great maturity when you spoke to Seth,” Maccus said. He had called the boy away from the supper table, and spoke to him in a quiet corner. “You will need that maturity, for you are to lead your friends on a great quest.”

Before Haley could say anything, Maccus added, “It is Spring, and you must leave.”

The commons between the mill and the village of Alborg was covered with the innocent green of spring as seeds, dormant through the winter, began to push their way through the soil. Spring came to the mountain village later than it came to the foothills and the plains that lay along the mountain road and river. Elsewhere in Eblis, Arthur was pushing through a swamp at the beginning of his search for Robbie; Robbie and his companions had just escaped their bonds, and were moving south in hopes of escaping the soldiers and Red Robes who had captured them. Golgi and Gonde were watching the body of their mother burn while Golgi planned their escape from an uncle who wanted to sell them into bondage. Deep in the magical field, three inchoate quests existed only as clouds of possibilities.

“We cannot stay here,” Haley said to his companions. “We said we would find a way to fight the red-robes and soldiers, and perhaps rescue others, like us, that they had taken. We cannot do that here.”

“Haley’s right,” Jason said. “The Stonemasons of Alborg did what they thought best. They escaped from Herten and established themselves here where they would be safe. They have preserved magic and secrets so that when we have destroyed the evil they may return . . .”

“When we have destroyed evil?” Seth asked. “We?”

“Yes.” The boys were startled by Tyler’s voice. They had been talking in the lodge room, and had not heard him approach.

“Just as Seth has destroyed the blackness that once held him in thrall, so we will destroy the blackness that holds Herten in thrall.”

“Maccus has seen it,” Tyler said. “He will be here in a moment.”

“There is an old story,” Maccus began, “about a hero who did something evil and needed to be purified. It’s the same story told about a hero who wanted to be the lover of a beautiful prince whose father, the king, refused to allow it. It’s the same story told about a hero who sought to rid a kingdom of evil.

“The hero, in all the stories, was named Hercules or Heracles. He was, in all the stories, required to perform twelve tasks, all of which were considered to be impossible. In performing some of these tasks, he was aided by others; in some of these tasks, he was aided by magic; in some of these tasks, he persevered through his own strength, commitment, and skills.

“The hero was guided by what we call a quest. It is something magical that is created when a hero—or heroes—makes a commitment to do something important. You have made that commitment, and you are now guided by a quest. I have seen it, and I am bound to help you, just as Hercules was helped by Atlas.

“I find it rather significant that we, at the roof of World, where the mountains nearly touch the sky, should be performing a role like that of Atlas, who at one time held the sky from touching World.”

Maccus chuckled. “If you had a lifetime to spend here, there are many stories I could tell. But you must leave, and soon.”

“We go to rescue boys taken by red-robed men and soldiers, and held in slavery in Herten,” Haley said.

“And, somehow, to destroy the evil that has taken root, there, so that no other boys, ever, will be enslaved in this way,” Jason added.

“I can help them,” Tyler said to Maccus. “You know how,” he added.

Maccus nodded. “Is the Lodge tyled?”

Tyler hastened to close and seal the doors to the great underground room. Once he had done so, he replied, “The Lodge is tyled.” Then, he sat beside Seth, and held his hand.

“When our ancestors built Herten,” Maccus began, “they incorporated passageways and rooms that were not part of the plans, but which were needed only for construction: to move and store materials, to allow the flow of air to dry the cementum that bound blocks. When the construction was completed, these passageways were closed off and sealed. They exist and are unknown to the current residents. We have, in the past, sent people to Herten to investigate and have confirmed that the seals we put in place are untouched.

“Further, we have allies in Herten. These are people who live under and according to the rules of the city, today. However, they are good people. Tyler, as part of his training, knows of the passageways. He and you will be told of people who can be trusted, and of ways to contact them.

“We do this, because your quest formed here, in Alter Burg, and because we believe this may be the time to strike. While you travel to Herten, we will be preparing to follow you.

“Tyler? The Lodge will meet tonight, to provide our blessing on this undertaking and on these boys—and on you.”

“What did Maccus mean about the lodge being tyled?” Seth asked Tyler.

“The lodges once met in public houses,” Tyler explained. “And they employed someone to guard the door against intruders. That is the meaning of my name: a tyler is someone who secures the door of the lodge.”

The meeting of the Lodge was as solemn as had been the boys’ initiation, although the message was different. Acting for the Lodge, Tyler gave each of the boys a dagger. “You know the symbolism of the dagger,” he said. “It is that which binds boys in brotherhood. These daggers bind the five of us and, since they are gifts of the Lodge, they bind us to the Lodge and the Lodge to us.”

The boys remained in their seats after the Lodge was adjourned. When all save they had left, Tyler spoke. “Thank you for making me part of you and of your quest,” he said.

“Maccus said we were on a quest, and that it was magical,” Haley said. “He also said heroes went on quests. We’re just boys, not heroes. And we’re just learning about our magic, so we’re not powerful.”

Tyler laughed, a gentle laugh. “Haley, a quest is more than a journey with a purpose at the end—a purpose such as to rescue your friends. A quest is a journey whose purpose is the journey . . .”

Tyler saw confusion in all the boys’ eyes. “A journey may have a thousand steps. As you make the journey, you will see something different with each step you take, if only the different trees, bushes, and rocks you pass. You may meet people along the road. You may learn from them, just as Troy and Seth learned from Haley and Jason, and as Haley and Jason learned from Troy and Seth—and as I have learned from you, and as you have learned from the people of Alter Berg.

“That is all a quest is—a journey on which you will face challenges, like getting Troy to safety. It is a journey on which you will receive help. It is also a journey on which we will face danger.”

Tyler saw that the boys’ understood enough to accept what they heard, but knew they would need to hear more.

The next morning, the boys found new clothing laid out for them, and, after breakfast, were given packs of trail food and canteens of water.

“This is the last aid we can give you until we see you in Herten,” Maccus said. “Rely on one another, and be steadfast in your resolve.”