Episode Twenty - Reaper's Path

Kadocasitari, the Reaper, brought his steed to a halt at the crest of the hill and looked down into the City of Elders. He dismounted, took hold of his horse's reins, and gently lead it down the hill.

Miles to the west, armies threw themselves into battle. Around the edges of the fray, Aisorbmii mages tried to maintain a perimeter around the Kingdom forces, throwing as many of them as possible into disarray with their siren spell.

They were starting to adapt, however. In order to prevent themselves from going insane, they were charging into battle without battle-cries, without declarations of ancient wrongs about to be made right. An eerie silence fell across the battlefield, occasionally interrupted by a commanding officer delivering critical instructions or a force of Aisorbmii Paladins charging within the perimeter and singing songs at the tops of their lungs.

Songs about cold rice pudding. Something to infuriate every Kingdom soldier on the field, who wouldn't dare respond with songs from his own land without risking deafening all his countrymen.

Kadocasitari smiled. History would like this tactic very much.

Prime Minister Terovaniceti ordered his troupe of over-eager musicians to signal new orders. It wasn't a system which the Paladins were used to, but it demoralised the silenced enemy and it made use of the bards who would otherwise just be watching events from the sidelines. He cast a superior smile at the Kingdom general, who at this time hadn't arranged for some form of sensory enhancement spell, and therefore couldn't see this gesture.

High General Manus iw Elbirt walked down the hill he'd chosen to view the battle from. Terovaniceti watched him converse in whispers with a young woman. He couldn't hear the actual words spoken, and he wasn't in the siren circle.

A helpful young Aisorbmii warrior, who was within the siren circle, did hear the whisper clearly, and would have happily run back to inform his Prime Minister to take cover had he not been disembowelled a few moments later.

Terovaniceti couldn't read lips. But when the woman's hands burst into flame, he reached for the Sword.

Aisorbmii troops all across the battlefield cheered as the Prime Minister held up the Sword in the Stone. Some of them switched songs. Some of the Kingdom troops got angrier and sloppier, and died quicker. Others became more dangerous, and survived.

The sorceress on the High General's hill threw a fireball at the Prime Minister. He swung the Sword in the Stone, which caught the brunt of the attack and cast it back into the far reaches of the Kingdom army. Only when it impacted did the Prime Minister see the sorceress casting more fireballs at points along the perimeter.

Kadocasitari felt for a moment the fear in each mage as the fireball prepared to engulf them, and pulled out before the actual moment of death. He'd faced it before; it was too grisly for his liking.

That and it smelt like bacon.

He strode down the hill, into the City of Elders. He asked directions to the Town Hall, and when he arrived he introduced himself to the Minister Setovarinesa, who instructed a Marshal to escort him to the Ranger House.

'Do you know why I was summoned here?' Kadocasitari asked the Marshal.

'The Rangers captured someb'dy high up in't Kingdom, but he died before we could get 'im 'ere fer interrogation. One of them suggested yer.'

'I see. Which Ranger?'

'I wouldn't know. Don't know 'em all. The Rangers does what they likes.' The Marshal paused in his speech, then added, 'I was wondering, do yer know what's going on at the front lines? The news doesn't come through me anymore.'

Kadocasitari stopped. 'Who wants to know?'

The Marshal realised Kadocasitari had stopped, and did likewise, turning to face the Reaper. 'What d'yer mean?'

'What's your name, Marshal?'

'Rekowarilara.'

'And the ghost in your head? What name does it answer to?'

The Marshal's jaw dropped. 'How'd yer know about that? I've told nobody about 'im. They'd lock me up straightaway!'

'Rest assured I'll tell no-one, Marshal Rekowarilara. But who is the ghost?'

Marquis Endam ar Berrito, sir.

''E's a Kingdom noble. Calls 'imself Endam ar Berrito. Annoying little sprat. Bad enough when I was an interrogator, I'd have their thoughts buzzing round in me head for hours after they'd died, but this... 'e says 'e's been dead for more than a month!'

'And how did you... acquire this ghost?'

'Dunno. I want 'im gone, though, he's driving me demented. Not that I was in the peak of me mental health before he arrived, but at least I was alone in me own mind then.'

The Marshal's eyes lit up for a moment in realisation, and then his brows furrowed in concentration. Kadocasitari closed his eyes and listened to the argument. 'I don't know if I can remove him or not, Marshal. My talent is in listening. I can sense a person who is dying... I can read the mind of a corpse.'

Might I ask how skilled you are, sir?

'Are yer any good?' asked Rekowarilara. Kadocasitari realised the Marshal had learned to find answers to the Marquis's questions, and that this was somehow giving his mind reason to stay in line, healing from whatever mental problems he'd had before.

'Good enough. People die all the time... the good Reapers can be selective of who they see die.' Rekowarilara gave him an odd look, so he added, 'The good ones stay sane. The... unlucky ones stay attached. It unhinges the mind. Even causes some to die with those they read.'

'Might know something of what yer meaning,' said Rekowarilara. 'I felt me brother die. Shook me real hard. Maybe I have some of yer talent?'

'Maybe,' smiled Kadocasitari. He realised he was enjoying the discussion; he rarely got the chance to talk to people, and this new talent with ghosts in living minds was fascinating him. His talents had often driven him away from other people, because to them he was a bad omen: he predicted death. Then the Reapers came for him; they understood that he could merely see further than they could, and had a talent for spotting the grim messenger coming over the horizon. Even with them easy, free conversation was difficult, and using ones abilities to serve was demanded of each of them.

Only Cafi had been so close. She was the exception. Everyone else had shielded themselves from his powers by staying away, following the same line of logic which led people to go indoors if the rain fell, because they would get wet. She maintained that if she got wet she would get dry later, and had strayed close to him and his talent without worrying that she would be changed irreparably by him.

She was changed, though; they had been through the first ritual of marriage almost a year ago. But neither regretted it.

'We're almost there,' said Rekowarilara. 'Tell yer what, after this, we'll get us a drink. Maybe a tin of puddin', too. It's good stuff, it always shuts the Marquis up.'

'I don't eat the stuff,' said Kadocasitari. 'But I'd like the drink. The talent makes you thirsty.'

'Aye, it does. All right, here we are. There's a bar down the road there, on the left,' indicated the Marshal. 'Ask fer Rek, that's me.'

Something about the Marshal's name finally clicked in Kadocasitari's mind. 'Wait. Your brother died? Was he Tekowariaura?'

'Yeah. He's me half-brother, really. Died a month ago.'

'I know, I felt him too.' Kadocasitari turned to enter the Ranger House, then turned back for a moment. 'By the way...'

Rek turned, himself on the way to the bar. 'Yes?'

'Not you. Endam. I don't know how to contact your Baroness.'

'He's suitably disappointed at hearing about that,' said Rek.

'He's an idiot,' said Kadocaitai, and entered the House.

Several Rangers were gathered within. He recognised none of them, but two apparently recognised who he was and they brought him into a small chamber where a body lay on the table.

'This is Commander Reglan,' said the lead Ranger.

The Reaper sat near the head of the table and placed his hands on the head of the corpse. 'You're listening?' he asked the lead Ranger.

'I am. We want to know his plans.'

Kadocasitari pushed his fingers to the temples of the corpse's head. He closed his eyes. His speech lost the nuance of tone, becoming a drone. 'Commander Reglan ar Crestis. Appointed by the King. Commands the Second Army. He was ordered to... to...'

'To...?' asked the lead Ranger.

Kadocasitari moved his fingers, concentrating to separate himself from the organised thoughts of the dead man. 'Please,' he instructed the Ranger in full voice, 'only speak when you're spoken to. In this state of mind, noise interferes. Once the memory is accessed, it fades... the information may be lost forever.' He let the importance sink in, then spoke softly. 'You might want to tell all the other Rangers in the corridor to use one of their countless dead sign languages. I need silence, or more may go wrong.'

The lead Ranger bowed, and indicated to his second that the Reaper's instruction be followed. Kadocasitari returned his hands to Reglan's head, and began to drone.

'Commander Reglan ar Crestis... ordered to... to... ordered to take No Man's Land. Purge the city of heretics.' The Reaper could hear the fingers moving in the enclosed space, but could ignore these small things now. He was making progress. 'Then... move east. Invade villages, making camp in Aisorbmii houses. Move around the north of the forest... avoid Anilomes.'

That disrupted his searching for a moment. 'Why avoid Anilomes? It's been destroyed.'

The Rangers communicated their suddenly frantic new understanding of the situation to each other. To Kadocasitari it was like screaming without disturbing anybody else. He probed.

'Attack the City of Elders from the north. High General Manus iw Elbirt will attack from the south.' He smiled, but unlike his normal smile it was somehow more toothy, his cheeks slightly more stretched. 'The Commander had arranged to have dinner in the City of Elders in two weeks. With the High General. He wanted to recite a poem or two.' Another disengage; the Reaper blinked a few times and yawned before asking the Rangers, 'When was he killed?'

'Eight days ago,' said one Ranger.

Kadocasitari probed again. 'The next target is Rene Ponit,' he said. 'Take the holy place. Demoralise the Aisorbmii scum. And prevent...' he disengaged. '...what happened last time.'

'The Sword in the Stone,' said one of the Rangers. Kadocasitari's eyes closed, and he swayed.

Several miles west, the siren spell was gone, the circle of mages dead. Terovaniceti watched the Kingdom warriors charging into the fray again, shouting, screaming, chanting their own melodies. The Aisorbmii were holding, for the moment, but their numbers were inferior. They weren't going to hold for long.

Defiantly, the seventy-year-old Prime Minister walked forwards, holding the Sword in the Stone like a talisman. Aisorbmii reinforcements charged forwards to defend him as he advanced into the enemy.

The door suddenly opened, slamming against the wall. Kadocasitari spun around, but the Rangers had moved quicker, and were now holding a young man against the wall.

'I was told that you were the one,' said the young man, his pronunciation of the Middle tongue a little too careful. 'Kadocasitari. You can read his mind.'

'I did,' said the Reaper. 'We've learned the general tactics. I have numbers, strengths, organisational details, supply wagon routes. I must now provide these for the Ministry.'

'You can read his mind about other things,' insisted the young man. 'I just want to know... can you see if he knew anything about someone called Yeonan?'

'No rest, no rest,' muttered Kadocasitari. He moved to the door but the young man shrugged off both Rangers and pushed at the Reaper. Kadocasitari tried to shrug his assailant off in turn but saw the scar on the young man's arm. It was sword-shaped. Curious, he nodded. 'Anything specific?'

'My father told me, on his deathbed, that my name was important. I had to find my name. My name is Sunder pi Yeonan. I'm hoping he was some important figure, someone this general may have read about.'

'He's a commander, not a student of literature,' said Kadocasitari. Then he corrected himself. Reglan wrote poetry, he'd learned this. Perhaps he had studied literature. And what could one more scan hurt? 'All right,' he said.

He sat at the head of the table, indicating that the man, Sunder, be silent. He touched the temples of the corpse, probing, probing... 'Commander Reglan ar... ar... something,' he droned, knowing the name was already fading from memory. 'Yeonan... Yeonan, prophet of Inesa... he wrote about times to come. Sunset, nightfall, darkness... end of days. When the Sword will be drawn from its Stone at Rene Ponit.'

Kadocasitari heard the scratching of skin, and guessed that the young man was scratching around his scar. Nervousness, he thought. No wonder, either... the threads of destiny were drawing together. He disengaged a final time. 'Look for the Book of Inesa,' he said.

Several miles west, a company of Kingdom warriors engulfed the Aisorbmii fighters they were facing and managed to reach the Prime Minister. As one, the company of a hundred piled in.

Kadocasitari shook. He was weakening now, and was thirsty. 'I'm going to the bar,' he said. 'Look for the Book of Inesa, young Sunder,' he reminded the youth. Then he froze.

He was staring through his own eyes. The battle to the west was drawing to a close. Pulled in one too many a direction in the last few hours, he heard the deaths of dozens of Aisorbmii. They were looking for something specific to inspire them before they resumed the battle and saved the day, but it was gone... and suddenly their hope was gone too.

'The Prime Minister is dead,' droned Kadocasitari, feeling things slip away. Cafi... Fer... his duty... the Sword, hope of all Aisorbmii. Fading away... into oblivion, limbo... who knew?

The Rangers around him were surprised at the news the Reaper was speaking. Kadocasitari knew they would not like the rest. He just knew... but it wasn't important now... it was all falling apart... and he was as good as dead...

'The Sword in the Stone has been captured by the Kingdom,' he said.

*sounds of sobbing in the background*

To Be Continued...

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