CHapter 27

Chapter 27

 

Half answers and part truths…

 

 

“Let me guess,” Skiff sighed, eyeing Cameron up and down, “you stuck your foot so far down your throat, you’re gnawing on your knee.”

Cameron flinched, he hated how his friend and former Captain could metaphor his predicaments perfectly, “Something like that, yeah.”

“So what’d you do?” Don leaned into their conversation, his horse snorting at his antics.

The group had left Central post haste before Xerkieda could recover enough to figure out how to twist them into staying. Cameron glanced at his Caster’s back, riding on her black mare. She hadn’t said anything, let alone looked at him, since they had fought in the borrowed apartment. The pain in her eyes still haunted him, but he couldn’t shake the doubt.

When Cameron answered Don’s impertinent question, his voice cracked slightly, “I called her a liar.”

“Oh-ho,” Don’s laugh was merciless, “you’re not gnawing your knee, man, you’re chewing on your as-“

  “What happened?” Skiff smoothly cut Don off before he could finish, giving the younger man a reproachful glare. Don grinned in response but wisely fell silent. Cameron recounted what he saw in the dream in hushed tones, though Kailah, Esma and Chelry were far enough ahead it didn’t matter. Skiff and Don listened in polite silence not commenting, though Skiff’s eyebrow arched higher as he finished.

“And you believed a Chaos Dream Caster’s apparition of your deceased previous Caster, over your current, quite un-deceased, Caster,” Skiff’s tone was incredulous as he blinked at Cameron, “why?”

Before Cameron could answer Don butted in, again, “Was this the pointless point, Shaliah was pointlessly trying to point out?”

“Point taken,” Cameron sighed heavily, “I don’t know why, but something about the whole shenanigans doesn’t sit right with me.”

Don nodded sagely, “That’s the problem with shenanigans caused by Chaos Dream Caster Apparitions of DEAD people they aren’t shaped to sit right.”

Skiff ignored Don’s remark, “I’m assuming then that you confronted Kailah with this?”

Cameron nodded silently. His eyes darted once again to Kailah’s back, slightly hunched as if bearing a great weight. Chelry and Esma, as if in difference to her feelings, rode silently with her between them.

“Well,” Skiff spoke slowly, weighing his words carefully, “the way I see it, Cameron, you have two choices.”

Cameron tore his gaze from Kailah to Skiff’s dark blue eyes. Seeing he had Cameron’s attention, Skiff continued, “Choice number one: You can sit here, distrusting your Caster, that has put her life on the line more than once for you, all because some purple twit insinuated she wasn’t completely truthful about her past. Which I’ll point out neither are you.”

“Hey now-“ Skiff cut him off with a look.

Cameron bit his tongue while Skiff offered the second choice, “Or, you can pull your foot out your mouth and your head out your butt and apologize.”

His cheeks flushed red but Cameron didn’t reply. He knew it was foolish to doubt Kailah, and it was true he hadn’t revealed all his past to her. In fairness he shouldn’t have expected her to either. At the same time though, Cameron mused, her confession of torture didn’t jive with her previous admittance of the sweet-nothing visits. Cameron’s horse snorted loudly startling him out of his thoughts.

Up ahead their final stop before reaching Kalm came into view.  Gelmack, the small town he and Kailah had stayed at on their first contract, sat peacefully in the dying light of the sun. A small smile played at the corner of Cameron’s lips, his mind reminiscing.

“Pick up the pace,” Skiff’s voice snatched Cameron’s mind back from the past, “we’re losing daylight.”

Without waiting for an answer, Skiff kicked his grey speckled steed into a canter. Don’s red gelding followed without any urging from its rider. Cameron took a deep breath, letting it out slowly not wanting to be near Kailah at the moment. Swallowing hard, he kicked his chestnut to catch up with the rest of them. Skiff motioned for the front three to follow him as he passed.

The sun’s final rays seared the sky above as the six of them thundered down the remainder of the highway. Summer grasses danced in the wind of their passing, catching the last golden hues of the sun as it sank below the horizon. The group slowed to a tamed pace as they approached the tavern. Thankfully, the stalls were completely empty this time around. Cameron sighed in relief that he wouldn’t have to share a room. His back twinged at remembered cramps from the tiny bed.

They dismounted and stalled their respective steeds in silence. The voices of the night began to sing, escalating to higher decibels with each decrease of the sun’s presence. Cameron took his time with his horse, making sure it had fresh water and clean food. The rest filtered out slowly as they finished with their mounts and soon enough he was alone. Or so he thought.

“Ganvez!” Xerkieda’s shout startled Cameron, causing him to jump a good two feet back and draw his sword.

On seeing who it was Cameron sighed in disgust, “Don’t do that! Nearly gave me a heart attack.”

Xerkieda’s thought projection shimmered as she tilted her head back, “Who gave you permission to leave?”

“Our own good judgment,” Cameron answered flatly, rolling his eyes, “What do you want, councilwoman?”

He probably should have been slightly more polite to the councilwoman, but he was through dealing with her ilk. To his small satisfaction his impertinence took her aback, albeit only for a fraction of a second. Her haughty countenance returned and she crooked an eyebrow at him.

“Why, pray tell,” Xerkieda sneered, “did you believe you exercised good judgment by leaving so soon after a battle?”

Cameron huffed disgruntledly and sheathed his sword, “Personal reasons.”

Xerkieda’s eyebrow, if possible, arched higher at his flippant response, “Those being?”

“Reasons,” Cameron said slowly, “of a personal nature.”

Xerkieda’s eyes narrowed sharply, “Have a care Sword, your impertinence is not as charming as you think.”

“Neither are these games you councilmembers seem to enjoy playing,” Cameron rebutted, crossing his arms, “What’s your game, Xerkieda, you send my Caster and me to retrieve a tablet for you, against the law I might add.”

Xerkieda’s projection remained unfazed as Cameron went on, “All because it had something to do with what Surkaust is obsessed with. Then while on the way back from a contract, my group just happens to be at Central when said obsessee pops in for a visit. And lo and behold, we’re attacked by a Chaos Pair looking for the exact same tablet Kailah, Turrel, and I risked our lives to get.”

Cameron lowered his voice threateningly, “Now, that’s a lot of coincidences all rolled into one giant mess, don’t you agree?”

“Are you through?” Xerkieda calmly asked her voice soft but most definitely threatening.

At Cameron’s nod she continued, still in the same soft threatening tone, “I do not have to answer to a mere Sword, such as yourself, but since you did haphazardly fight off the Chaos pair, I’ll indulge your impertinence once more.”

“Surkaust was there at my invitation,” She confessed as she began pacing slowly, “I had hit a snag on deciphering the Paradigm tablet and needed his expertise on the ancient language it was written in.”

“What is this Paradigm?” Cameron cut in, “I keep hearing this term.”

  Xerkieda snorted in a very, undignified fashion, “Isn’t that the question of the millennia.”

“Your thoughts on it then,” Cameron sighed, he wanted to go inside but his curiosity held him there.

 Xerkieda’s shoulders rose in a delicate shrug, “Best guess, a myth. My own research has led me to believe the origination of the myth lies with the dwarves. From what I’ve gathered, it’s a supper being that rights the wrongs of the world when it comes once every ten thousand years.”

“If that’s true,” Cameron spoke slowly, “why is that evil b*****d Surkaust after it then? Kailah had mentioned he was looking for something to end the war between the Order and Chaos, but that can’t be true.”

“His bastardly-ness aside, Surkaust is loyal to the Order,” She held up a phantom hand cutting off Cameron’s scoff, “Yes, his methods are a bit borderline psychotic, but what heart he has is as loyal as your dear Maltoris.”

“Borderline psychotic?” Cameron sputtered, “He murdered us, gruesomely, in cold blood!”

“In a dream,” Xerkieda stated, “Ganvez-“

“Gantervez,” Cameron corrected tersely, “It’s Gan-TER-vez.”

Xerkieda chose to ignore his interruption, “When that detestable tart stabbed me, the rest of you were being sucked into the dream state. I had a choice of whom to shield from the dream state. I chose Surkaust.”

Cameron said nothing and she continued, “My reasoning being, yes the orange giant was a Healing Caster, but he wouldn’t have had the stomach needed to do what had to be done. Namely, murder you all gruesomely in the dream.”

“Why murder us?” Cameron asked, he partly guessed the reason but he needed it confirmed.

Taking a breath Xerkieda answered, “Dream Casters are a subtype of Psychic Casting. The way they keep their victims in the dream is to meld their mind partly with them. To sever that link required a big enough shock to the respective psyches to startle the Dream Caster. I needed someone who wouldn’t hesitate to ‘kill’ you all, within a very marginal amount of time. Too slow and the Dream Caster would be able to cope.”

“Surkaust was never in the dream?” Cameron asked, his stomach sinking slightly.

Xerkieda laughed, it was a melodic sound, “Not quite, he was in enough to not tip our hand so that purple maniac wouldn’t notice the difference. Once the woman left to find the tablet, I waited until you were all together, then I dropped Surkaust in where he could do what needed to be done.”

 “So you saw the whole dream?” Cameron asked as he hugged himself tighter; the temperature had dropped along with the light, “Even the part where Surkaust met with a Chaos Pair.”

“Yes.”

“And still you say he’s loyal,” He sighed in contempt.

Xerkieda smirked, “I’d say he’s clever. Surkaust isn’t the only council member to deal with Chaos not with the business end of a sword.”

“Spies?” Cameron’s mind made the connection, and he didn’t like it one bit, “You’re saying Mistress and Skrim are our spies?”

“I’m assuming you mean the two from the dream,” Xerkieda spoke slowly, “not necessarily. It could be Surkaust was playing the double agent. Something is happening within the Chaos ranks; my own spies have reported as much, though they cannot tell me for certain what.”

Cameron’s mind went back to what Mistress had told him about not all Pairs being Chaos or Order and the storm that was coming. He shivered involuntarily remembering how close he had come to losing Kailah that day. So much had happened since then. Thinking of Kailah made his heart ache. Xerkieda noticed the change in his countenance.

“Listen, Sword,” She said sternly, “Take what I’m about to tell you as payment for your discretion and services.”

His interest piqued Cameron gave her his full attention. Taking a deep breath, Xerkieda went on, “When the Dream Caster had you all trapped I was able to look inside your minds.”

Cameron winced; it wasn’t a pleasant feeling knowing all your secrets have been discovered. There were quite a few he wished he could bury into the deepest pit on earth and forget. Looking into Xerkieda’s eyes, Cameron knew she had seen those exact ones.

“Everyone has their deep dark secrets, Demon of Kalm,” Xerkieda whispered softly.

The sounds of the night echoed loudly in the sudden chilly silence between them. Cameron studied Xerkieda carefully. The moniker was given to him by the solders he had served with after he had lost Shaliah. The memories of those missions haunted his nights to this day.

 “Tell me this, Councilwoman,” Cameron spoke his voice soft and tired, “Can I still trust her?”

“Fair question, Gantervez,” Xerkieda’s form was starting to waver and dissipate, “If she knew all of your past, could she still trust you?”

Cameron sighed dejectedly as Xerkieda’s projection faded into the night air. As much as he hated to admit it, Surkaust acting the double agent fit easily enough. A noise at the entrance to the stable caught his attention. Kailah stood framed in the doorway, the lights of the lanterns dancing in her eyes. He noticed with a twinge of guilt, she had been crying. He also noticed, as she walked toward him, by the set of her jaw she was done crying.

“Cameron,” she stopped in front of him hands on hips, “we have to talk.”

“Kailah I’m-“

She cut him off, “I have no idea what you saw in the dream. I have no recollection of ever having a clandestine meeting with Surkaust, Mistress, or Skrim.”

Cameron waited patiently as she took a deep breath, this was probably hard for her, “That being said, I do have gaps in my memory from when I was in council training. I get flashes every once in a while but nothing coherent. All I can tell you is I have never lied to you. I will never lie to you Cameron. You don’t have to believe me, but it’s the truth.”

“I believe you.”

“But Cameron I do-“ She stopped, her brain registering what her ears had heard, “Wait, you do?”

Cameron nodded, “I do.”

“Why?”

“I had a talk with Skiff, he said I was a right git for the way I treated you,” Kailah snorted as Cameron shrugged, “Not quite in those words but you get the idea. Had a chat with Xerkieda also.”

“Oh?” Kailah raised an eyebrow. It spoke volumes about the councilwoman’s power that Kailah didn’t question.

Cameron nodded, “Yeah, she basically said the same thing just in a lot fancier words.”

“I’m sorry about the way I treated you, Kailah,” Cameron’s gaze dropped to the toes of his boots, “I shouldn’t have let a Chaos Dream Caster apparition of my dead caster rattle me like it did.”

Kailah said nothing for so long Cameron looked up at her. Eyes narrowed, lips pursed, she seemed to be mulling over his apology. One of the horses snorted into the awkward silence as moths danced around the lantern flames.

Finally she shrugged, “I guess I can’t really blame you. I’d have jumped to the worst conclusions as well. That b*****d Opius did a number on all of us.”

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, “I don’t know if I have ever met Mistress and Skirm before we did in Southlands. But I do know that they scare the ever living daylights out of me and they need to be stopped.”

“I’d go along with that,” Cameron nodded, “So are we good, now?”

Kailah smiled softly, “Yeah, I’d say so.”

Cameron returned the smile as she turned toward the door gesturing for him to follow, “Come on, before Don eats all the food.”

The two of them joined the rest of the group at a table in the far back corner of the decent sized tavern. The others nodded in greeting as Cameron pulled Kailah’s chair for her then sat next to her. There was a suspicious lack of Don at the table and when Cameron raised his eyebrow in question at Skiff, the captain indicated with his head toward the bar. Don was leaning against it talking and smiling sweetly at the barmaid behind it. Cameron rolled his eyes when the girl blushed and tucked some hair behind her ear.

“Is all well between you now?” Esma asked, none too gently

Kailah smiled at the grey elf, “Yes, all is well.”

“That is a favorable condition,” Esma replied then turned back to her dinner.

They finished their meal in silence, listening to the chatter of the tavern. Some old timers were complaining about the odd cold snap that was drifting from the Galic Mountains. Cameron discretely watched Don flirt with the barmaid, then silently groaned when the two of them drift toward the stairs.

“Well it’s a good thing ya’ll made-up,” Skiff broke the silence, “Looks like you’ll be sharing a room.”

Kailah turned in time to see Don smack the barmaid on the rear then chase her up the steps. She quickly turned back to the table, blushing a deep scarlet. Cameron couldn’t help but grin at her reaction, it was too darn cute. Skiff rolled his eyes heavenward as if seeking patience from the rafters. Esma stood from the table followed by Chelry.

“A pleasant sleep to you all,” She nodded her head at them then with Chelry in tow the two of them went up to their room.

An older barmaid walked out from the kitchen glancing around wildly. Cameron read her lips say a very un-ladylike phrase then disappear back through the door. He guessed the girl Don had disappeared with wasn’t of duty yet. The lady reappeared through the door with a young man in tow. The young man stayed behind the counter while the lady delivered drink orders to the customers. She wove her way through the crowd and deposited a tankard in front of Skiff.

Skiff had pulled out a small book from his hip satchel and begun to read, half-moon spectacles perched on his nose. He looked up when the barmaid placed the ale and flashed her a thankful smile. The woman blushed but moved on without a word. Skiff went back to his book without a second glance at the woman. Cameron knew Skiff was considered handsome by the ladies his age. He also knew Skiff was still madly in love with his wonderful wife, Morsha.

“Ready?” Cameron smiled turning to Kailah.

She yawned as she nodded, “Yeah, sorry.”

They said their goodnights to Skiff who wished them pleasant dreams then returned to his book. The two of them climbed the stairs, but at the top landing Cameron let Kailah lead to their room. This time there were two beds. Walking toward the one on the right Cameron sat and kicked of his boots. The lantern in the corner was dim but it cast enough light for him to track Kailah as she disappeared behind the changing screen.

Cameron yawned hugely then stretched out on his bed staring at the ceiling, his arms behind his head. Kailah returned a moment later dressed in a frilly nightgown. Cameron couldn’t help but admire her figure as she crossed the floor and climbed into her bed.

“Goodnight, Cameron,” Kailah whispered softy then blew out the lantern.

Cameron rolled under the covers, “Goodnight, Kailah.”

He lay there in the dark drifting off to sleep. He was suddenly thankful for the dark as he blushed a deep crimson. By the sounds drifting through the walls, it was a good night for someone.