Ten of Swords (Draft Only)

Chapter 41

The transport arrived at their destination half a day earlier than anticipated, in thanks primarily due to Yormr's constant pestering that they keep moving instead of taking their planned breaks. The court mages and their assistants were irritated by his behaviour, but his special appointment by the king kept them from saying anything to his face. Rather, they complained about him behind his back, and the air grew tense with hostility. Yormr did not blame them. His motives were entirely selfish, after all. There was no reason why they should sacrifice for his sake, but if he could make them do it then he would. He wanted to return to the city as quickly as possible.

As the wheels of the cart crossed over from dirt to stone, the movement of a flame in the darkness indicated that someone was approaching them. The messenger came out to greet them on horseback, carrying a torch to light the way.

"Are you with the royal mage?" she asked.

"I am the royal mage, why do you ask?"

"I work with the birds. An urgent message came for you this morning. We would have sent a rider out for you if we knew you were coming before morning. I have a copy here."

The group had been identifiable by the colours on the wagon, but she had to double-check regardless. With her free hand she fished around in her satchel and pulled out a piece of parchment much too large to have been carried by bird. A copy made by translating the minuscule characters from the sliver of cotton paper that actually was small enough to be carried by bird. It was the primary job of the bird scribes to turn long messages into short encoded ones, and to in turn de-code them so they could be properly read by whomever the message was intended for.

The royal mage snatched the letter out of the courier's hand, and she stayed to ride beside them as the wagon continued on its path into town.

The royal mage cried out. "Is this a joke? If it is it is terribly unfunny. And may I remind you that impersonating the king is a capital offense!"

"I assure you this is no joke! I have the original slip with the royal seal back at the office if you wish to verify. You can take your time translating it with the codex yourself if you are still unconvinced."

"Stop the wagon," the royal mage mumbled, still in disbelief. "Stop!" He cried out, realising no one had heard him the first time.

The horses were made to hault and the wagon rolled to a standstill. Yormr and Rell came around to the front to see what was going on while the royal mage stood up next to the wagon driver, holding up the letter. "I need someone to head into town to verify this letter at the courier birds' office."

One of the assistants held out a hand to take the letter, which the royal mage gladly handed over. The assistant then jumped onto the horse with the woman who had brought the message, and they headed off into town without another word.

"If that letter is legitimate, I am afraid we will need a new plan. It seems as though he city is under attack. By walking corpses and demons, no less."

Not believing a word of it, the mages and assistants murmured amongst themselves. Rell wasn't entirely convinced either, but with a sinking dread, Yor knew it to be true. He remembered the half-dead arsonists that he fought with Elise. Even back then he knew that would only be the start. "Rellane," he hissed quietly.

The young woman turned her head to him questioningly, a sudden spike of panic rising insider of her at the tone of his voice and the suddenness of it. It was rarely a good sign when she was called by the entirety of her given name. "Y-yes?"

"We still need to find the source they are using, but we need to go back to the city. If what I know about undead is accurate, they will be resistant to conventional weaponry. This is the worst possible time for the city to be without us."