Trilverda - Winds of the fall

Chapter 23

“Desban is the first fortress they will capture, no doubt on that” Alvard whispered to Vivian.

Vivian sat on a creaky wooden chair, thoughts dangling from every nerve. The Castle had no defence, no warriors, except few retired soldiers of Crustonian army. Their only defence was the name they chanted every once in a while now, Lord Timmer. Everyone had recognized Timmer as a God by now, but the priests still scattered gossiping and blaming it on mysticism. But they didn’t whisperer it in the ears of common people but their ranks. Her face creased by the noon's lukewarm wind, her eyes were fixed but not in the present juncture, “If anything Melvis is afraid of, it is the Serpent God”

“What if that fear he had as a child is no more?” Alvard asked. “Lady, all I suggest is we build something around the fortress. It will take them weeks to arrive here with good men … and food for the garrison they will lay here”. His forehead shone, every possibility of death crossing his mind. His desire to protect everyone didn’t compile with the strategy Lord Kelvin had put out. He simply didn’t wish to get railed on the chest by horses of Olfran.

Vivian got up, gliding her hands through her robe behind, “We are priests, our enemy is Olfran, not Hairnipolis. They are no savages, they are our brothers. They will never harm people who have dedicated their lives to the gods and nothing else … we are safe, these people are safe”. She walked to the window, glanced the daylight captured by clouds, screaming to come out. “But … if it pleases the people and you, I will actively take part in whatever you are trying to build as our defence. My only condition is – you will announce the defences are against wild animals, not the army of Olfran”

“Thank ya, I'll see to it” Alvard walked away at the centre of the hall. He began to notify the people of their next plan, “People of the gods, wild animals have been spotted near the castle…”

Vivian hiked away from the scene, she had robes to fetch inside. The whistling wind and slowed river made a harmony, it calmed her heart. She watched the thick clouds, rigid, not preferring to move as they would during the fall. She neared the wooden pole where the robes were hung. Before she touched anything, her eyes blurred. Her mind and senses swivelled, mist everywhere. But her body remained straight, just like the pole in front of her.

Unclear vision of something, something blue. A clear sky unlike in Desban, mildly infuriating heat of the sun and a deep blue sea below. Higel. A picture shaped in her mind, a familiar boy, Erton, laying flat, floating beside his boat. His wet, undone braids and swollen eye sockets made her heart skip a beat. His skin, paler, as if he had no life inside him. But he lay breathing, his stomach widening and contracting. The vision darkened, vanished in the darkness.

Voices began crawling inside her skin, not one, not two, but a thousand voices. She could hear a man, a woman, a child, an old man, an angel, a demon, a murderer, a sage and many voices chanting a single phrase. The sound overpowered her strength to stand, she fell to her knees, strengthening her fists and jaw. The pain became excruciating, she screamed as she fell on the ground. A single phrase kept reiterating until it drove her into numbness. There will be a storm … there will be a storm.

Her cry cut Alvard's speech short, he shot his sights outside the door. Vivian lay on the ground, her feet and hands twitching in the damp ground. He rushed out to help her, other priests followed and the people followed the priests. He kneeled and jerked her body, “Lady Vivian, can ya hear me?”

Vivian's limbs didn’t stop violently twitching, made it hard for him to grasp her tight. He called some other priests and held her still. They held her still for some time, people got terrified, their High Priestess lay on the ground, looked as if she got possessed by some demon. Her twitching became less violent as time passed, it stopped. The priests hauled her inside and rested her on a mattress which lay on the floor.