The End of Surrender, page 1
part #4 of The Stalwart Link Series
THE END OF SURRENDER
By B.T. Narro
Book 4
The Stalwart Link Series
Copyright 2019 by B.T. Narro
Cover and Map by Beatriz Rare
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is coincidental. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written permission of the copyright holder.
CHAPTER ONE
Darren sat between the human and Analyte kings, watching his sons. It was a joy to see both Leo and Andar smiling, but especially Leo, after he had buried his mentor, KRenn Trange, beside so many ally soldiers. King Dasfis Meplr, the ruler of the Analytes, did not want to host a feast. He said it was not right after a funeral, but that was just another cultural difference between Analytes and humans, as Darren had pointed out.
He’d also reminded Dasfis that a failure to understand each other’s cultures had led to many deaths and could lead to many more. However, the greed of Jarrel Marks and Prince Gavval had been underestimated by everyone, not just Analytes. Darren felt partially responsible for his failure to predict that they would fight for the treasure of the Analyte king, but he would use that guilt to make sure he did not make such a mistake ever again.
The remaining soldiers needed to celebrate. Although many among them had died, they had won the battle against Jarrel Marks and Prince Gavval. King Mavrim Orello, the leader of the humans, had helped convince Dasfis not only to provide a feast but to hold it in the banquet hall of the palace.
The leaders needed to do everything in their power to keep morale high. The great battle against the rift beast would take place tomorrow. Many would fall, as they had in the last battle. There would be another funeral, but the rift would be destroyed.
There were many injured as well after the last battle, Darren included. It would be a long time before his leg was fully healed, but at least he could walk now that it had been a few weeks. He had never been off his feet for so long before. It had been maddening, though there were plenty of worries to occupy his mind.
One of the most surprising concerns had been the amount of time he noticed Andar spending with the Analyte princess, Siki Meplr. Darren had tried to lecture his eldest son that it was not healthy to develop feelings for her, but Andar had told him that it was too late. Now Andar just wanted to make the most of the time they had together. Darren didn’t approve, but Andar was too old for Darren to demand that he stop.
Darren tried to forget his worries as he watched his boys at the long table nearby. The celebration was far too loud for him to make out any conversation, but he could see that Andar seemed to be doing most of the talking. Siki had left her seat beside her brother at the royal table to sit at Andar’s side. She and Andar were quite flirtatious toward each other in plain sight, Darren had noticed with growing concern. Through their quips and laughs, there was a look shared between them that Darren was certain Siki’s father had noticed as well. This was the reason for his concern.
Darren’s younger son, Leo, sat on Andar’s other side, with Rygen Nexi next to him. From the smiles upon their lips, they seemed to be enjoying the feast as well as everyone else. Darren still thought that Leo, at fourteen, was too young to invest so much of his heart into a young lady. But this couldn’t be helped, for no amount of lecturing could change how he and Rygen felt about each other. Darren figured it was common to be concerned and sometimes powerless as the father of teenage children, but that didn’t make it any easier.
Leo looked over and smiled at Darren, then gave a nod. Darren smiled back.
Darren’s gaze shifted to Siki, as she put her hand on Andar’s arm while laughing at one of his quips.
Oh no.
Darren turned to find the king glaring at him, Dasfis’s expression tight with growing anger.
“Shouldn’t you tell your boy that he needs to focus on tomorrow?” Dasfis complained. “Much depends on his success.”
That was true. Andar had the greatest responsibility out of all the six thousand troops that were left. But there was something else that was true about Andar that Dasfis needed to know.
“Since Andar was a boy, he has always been able to focus when it’s time to do so. He knows how much is at stake. He is merely trying to enjoy this night.”
“He’s enjoying it a little too much,” said the king.
That might be true, Darren thought as he watched his son put his flat palm against Siki’s as if to compare something about their hands.
“I told you!” Andar exclaimed. “And you didn’t believe me.”
Darren didn’t hear Siki’s reply as she laughed, but he would have to be blind not to notice the two of them interlocking their fingers as they let their hands rest on the table.
Dasfis grumbled something in Analyse as he gestured for a servant. One hurried over. Dasfis said just a few words before the servant was rushing toward Siki.
She turned and noticed the woman coming and quickly put her hand on her lap. A nervous look spread across her face as the servant spoke to her. Darren imagined the pale skin of her cheeks would blush red if they hadn’t already been that color.
A moment later, Siki was following the servant back to her chair beside her brother at the royal table. Dasfis leaned forward to catch her gaze, but she wouldn’t look at him. Her brother said something that eventually convinced her to turn to Dasfis reluctantly. Her father spoke sternly.
Darren didn’t need to understand the language to know that it was a lecture, a rightful one at that. She was engaged to be married to a man who was the heir of his father’s great wealth. Darren didn’t know much about this family, except that they had agreed to help Dasfis pay for the rebuilding of the Analyte cities that were lost because of the massive growing rift. Siki would be wed soon after it was finally destroyed.
Darren normally wouldn’t care who Andar flirted with, but sharing a connection with the Analyte princess would just lead to heartache. Besides, it added tension on top of an already tense situation between the two kings, Dasfis and Mavrim.
Many humans and Analytes had died recently on this land, but it was the Analytes who suffered the worst blow to their strength. There were eight thousand of them not too long ago. But after the dust settled, there were now only three thousand left. Dasfis paid his soldiers well, and they had reason to fight. So Darren knew that recruitment was not the issue. They simply lacked the numbers they needed to grow their army. This rift had taken so many Analyte lives, but many had also been taken by Jarrel Marks and Mavrim’s own son, Prince Gavval, who had survived the battles.
Darren hoped Gavval had led the rest of his followers west, where he would eventually fight the barbarians who had taken over the human capital and the city of Jatn. Darren’s sister, Yune, had been in Jatn when Rygen fled her home there. He feared for Yune, but there was nothing he could do to help her until he was done here. It made Darren fidget in his seat as he thought of depending on one of his enemies, Gavval, to help his sister. The prince was unlikely to make a stop in Jatn, however, even if barbarians had taken control of the city. There just wasn’t enough wealth there compared to the capital, which was under attack last Darren heard through a messenger from the west. That was weeks ago. The city could be lost by now.
When they finished destroying the rift here, would Darren not only have to fight the barbarians but take on Gavval’s army as well? There was no telling what the prince hoped to accomplish after he took back the capital from the barbarians. He might leave Jatn to fend for itself until Darren and the rest of the rebels came to help.
But there were so few of them, three thousand, just like the Analytes. Just a month ago, there had been seven thousand human troops in their army, so they had lost four thousand. But they had fared better than the army of eight thousand Analytes. However, there were reasons for this discrepancy that Dasfis would not soon forget. Darren had put the safety of his men above the safety of the Analytes, but it was only because he had to. Dasfis hadn’t listened when Darren had told him not to surround the palace after Jarrel had taken control. All Darren had been able to do was order his men to a safer location amidst the circle of troops.
At least Dasfis listened now. He and Darren, as well as the other leaders, had spent many hours coming up with the best way to take on the rift tomorrow, and the gigantic beast that guarded it.
*****
It was difficult for Andar to sleep that night, for he knew what he had to do in the morning. He thought it would comfort him to think of Siki, of the beautiful sound of her laugh and the comforting touch of her fingers on his arm. But the more he thought of her, the more he desired her. Although this distracted him from his task tomorrow, it did not help sleep come.
Andar grinded his teeth, jealous at the thought that some man would get to marry Siki just because he was born into a wealthy family. Anger consumed him when he remembered Siki’s reluctance to be married to that man, in the brief conversation that they’d had about it. She did not want this loveless union, and yet she would do it for her people.
Andar relaxed somewhat after he found himself hoping that she would at least find some way to be happy. Eventually he would be leaving this place, and leaving Siki as well. There was no life for him here. He and the other human soldiers had come here to destroy the rift, and they would either succeed or fail tomorrow. If they succeeded, they would leave. If they failed, they’d be dead, and he supposed that meant there would be nothing else to worry about, not that it really helped.
Andar did not dream that night. He didn’t sleep deeply enough to do so. He awoke before sunrise and left his quarters for possibly the last bath he would ever take in this Analyte palace.
Leo had spent the night with Rygen again, and Andar was glad for this. He’d wanted solitude last night, especially after Siki’s merry company was taken away by her father. But this morning, Andar longed to spend more time with his brother.
He was glad, later, when he found Leo eating alone in the common room near their bed quarters.
“No Rygen?” Andar asked.
“I wanted to share this meal just with you.”
Andar smiled. Leo was fourteen, three years younger than Andar, but he didn’t look it. Andar was only slightly taller and stronger now. He wondered if Leo might one day surpass his height.
It was strange for a stalwart link to form between them because they were quite different from each other, at least to Andar. Beyond the similar shape of their bodies, they had many physical differences. Andar’s hair was longer and parted down the center, while Leo’s was very short. Andar knew himself to be handsome, but his chiseled features did not exude innocence the way Leo’s eyes and softer features did. Leo had a good heart, always had. He would never secretly wish for the demise of Siki’s husband-to-be, for example.
Stalwart links were only created naturally, for they were far too strong for any man to make. They were a powerful bond, occurring in portals, like the one Andar had worked near in Jatn. A stalwart link was the only reason it still might be open, the link creating a bond between Artistry in the light realm and Esitry in the dark realm.
It was still a mystery as to how such a powerful bond had formed between Andar and his brother, but they were thankful for it. It afforded them the ability to communicate with one another, not with words but with emotions and thoughts so long as they were strong.
Andar could feel that his brother was scared, but not for himself. He feared for Andar.
“Don’t worry about me,” Andar said. “You’re the one who has to face the kasigerr.”
“But I’ll have the whole army with me. You won’t have anyone.”
“I don’t need anyone. My task is simple.”
Andar didn’t know why he was pretending to be so confident. Leo, with a simple nudge of his mind, could tell through their stalwart link that Andar was terrified.
But Andar’s brother politely kept from reaching out. Andar wasn’t as polite. He could feel that Leo wanted to know Andar’s true emotions. He was frightened that something might happen to his older brother.
Andar would be strong, not just for himself but for Leo as well.
“Leo, I’m going to be fine. I promise you. I will make it back safely.”
Skyfire and ash, I shouldn’t have said that. Andar had forgotten the letter he’d written for Siki last night before getting in bed. How was he supposed to bring it up now without looking like a fool?
He couldn’t. “But just in case something does happen, can you give this to Siki?”
“Don’t you want to speak with her yourself?” Leo asked, not taking the letter.
“I will take back the letter and tell her the words myself if I return.” He tried to hand it to Leo again. “This is just in case I don’t.”
Leo sighed as he took it. Andar knew he wouldn’t have to worry about Leo reading it. He wouldn’t be dying to find out what was inside, like Andar would.
They ate in silence for a while, and eventually Andar couldn’t put anything else in his uneasy stomach. He faced his brother.
“I’m proud of you. I always have been.”
Leo smiled. “I’m proud of you, too.”
*****
The rift of Esitry was so massive that it did not only surpass the height of the mountains around the Analyte capital, it took up much of the sky as well. It was like looking at a vast ocean where there should be the blue of the sky and the white of the clouds.
Andar marched at the head of the army, next to his father and brother. All the Analyte citizens stood on the outskirts of the main road through the capital. Many nodded to show their gratitude. Some smiled, but most looked at the dwindling army with obvious worry. So many allies had fallen already. So many people had lost friends and family.
The powerful KRenn Trange had not recovered but died from Esitry poisoning. Now Andar would have to go into the rift. If it poisoned him as well, there would be no hope for him, but there was no one better for this task. He had proven he could enter a rift and destroy the source of Esitry in the light realm. He had done so in the barbarian territory of Disetel, but the rift there was tiny compared to this one.
In theory, there was only one reason this rift continued to grow. Many years ago, a wisdom tree grew so large that its roots reached the source of Artistry deep down in the earth. For reasons even KRenn couldn’t explain, this changed the wisdom tree at its core. The Artistry went through the tree and came out as Esitry. The levels of Esitry it produced were not dangerous on their own, but as this Esitry looked for more of the blue energy to bond to, it could only locate that which was in the dark realm.
So Esitry in the light realm begin to bond with Esitry in the dark realm. In this process of the energies pulling at each other, a rift had to be formed for them to reach one another—an opening between the realms.
This was the birth of the rift. Over the last twenty-something years, it grew to support an increasing amount of Esitry bonding between the realms. It was now estimated to be more than one hundred miles in diameter. This estimation was very important to Andar because it was up to him to walk to the center of this rift and find the wisdom tree that continued to produce Esitry. If the rift was a hundred miles long, he would have to walk fifty miles to reach its center.
In his pack were a few things to help him on this trek. There had been much debate with Leo and their father as to what would be worth the weight. They all agreed that matches and flint were essential. But the importance of certain things, like a lamp and light armor, were much more difficult to assess. In theory, Andar shouldn’t encounter any living thing within the rift, so light armor should be unnecessary. But a sword, although unnecessary for the very same reason, felt wrong to leave behind. He needed something to damage the roots of the wisdom tree anyway, so it might as well be a sword.
The lamp was awkward to carry for such a long distance, but the wisdom tree was theorized to be somewhere within the mountains far to the north. It might be in a place too dark for Andar to see without light, and he hadn’t figured out how to make a t-link—a transfer-link—in which he would be able to control a cluster of light. Leo had told him that KRenn had done this, but neither of them had figured out how.
Andar continued to march through the capital as he thought through the choices he’d made. He found comfort in the waves and nods of the Analyte citizens. He wished he could take his horse into the rift, but it would not be practical to do so. The only way Andar was able to enter the rift without being transported through to the dark realm was by maintaining a link to his brother as Leo stayed in the light realm. This link of Artistry would be strong enough to hold Andar in their realm. He had tested this with Siki, using a link of the attraction between them to enter the rift in Disetel. There had been moments within the rift when his nerves had threatened to overtake this attraction, but in the end he had made it to the wisdom tree at the center and damaged its roots enough for the rift to collapse.
Maintaining a bond to Leo would be easy. The stalwart link itself was all Andar needed to focus on. It would not break no matter what Andar might encounter.
But he could not link his horse to anything in the light realm that would keep the animal grounded. So he would have to make this trek without one.
There had been talk of sending a few other mages with Andar, powerful men or women like Lane Writhe, who were confident they could hold a link to someone or something that would keep them grounded. But even Lane admitted that she probably wouldn’t be able to maintain a link at the distance they needed to travel.
