The Unmentioned

The War Within – Chapter 2 – Birth and Betrayal (Ferdinand)

Without warning, a sudden burst of fire tore the dirt and running men from the earth behind me, tossing both into the air with ease.

“Captain, look, the gate!” I screamed, trying to be heard above the sound of crumbling stone and magical explosions.

My comrades and I had barely had time to slip into our armor and walk out into the courtyard to take up our morning posts before the siege began. It was so unexpected; no one had realized that the sorcerer was capable of casting shadow magic until it was too late. The only person in the palace capable of seeing through such illusions had gone missing when the assault began, and no one was able to find him to help us see our hidden enemies.

We could not determine the numbers or the nature of our foes, but we knew well enough from the intense hum of magical energy in the air that the size of the army was immense. The captain had made a wise decision to scale the steps to the top of the ramparts and rain down destruction upon the cowards with magic and arrows. Even if we were not able to see them individually, the fact that there were so many would ensure that we would at least be able to hit some of them and provide a meager but worthwhile counterattack.

The reason that I had brought the gate to my superior’s attention was all too apparent to him now, as was evident by the expression of horror that claimed his face: a large bulge had begun to form near the bottom, causing the iron to bend and tear in several places. It looked as though some giant had taken his thumb and pushed it into the solid surface from the other side, trying to poke a hole in our defenses.

When we had reached the base of the nearest tower with steps leading to the upper levels of the palace walls, the captain turned about rigidly on his feet and grabbed me by the cloth of my undershirt, pulling me right in close to his face.

“Soldier, go now, and find Lord Satyrmeth! Tell him to get out here now!” he yelled above the continuing noisy barrage, his features now twisted into obvious urgency.

“Y-Yes sir! I will find him without fail, I swear it!” I replied hastily, rocking back on my heels and immediately bolting to the side, making my way along the wall until I came to the door leading from the courtyard into the palace’s main room. As I took a last glance behind me, going inside, I winced and shut my eyes tight to avoid seeing more of the confused men standing in the middle of the grounds torn to shreds by shrapnel.

The interior of the palace was in nearly the same condition as the exterior, the piles of arms and armor that were once neatly stacked in rows now lying in one gigantic heap in the middle of the floor. It made it very slow going, and I witnessed several crooked arms and other limbs sticking into the air above the mess, the rest of the bodies that went with them apparently buried beneath the mounds of mithril and steel

Upon reaching the hallway that lead to Lord Satyrmeth’s quarters, a young woman, one of the palace maids, suddenly came barreling through the entryway and very nearly knocked herself flat by running into me. I attempted to steady her by taking hold of her arms, but she obstinately began to flail them about, smacking me in the side of the face once before I shook her to try to get her to stop.

“Let me go, let me go! I must alert the runners!” she cried, tears of frustration welling up in her eyes.

“Miss, miss, please! Calm down! Where is Lord Satyrmeth? Have you seen him? Where is he?” I asked as quickly as I could, pleading to Mystra in my mind to grant the girl some peace so that I could understand what she was saying.

“Pet-Lord Satyrmeth is not here, he ran off already!” she fumed at me, again writhing against my grip to try to free herself.

“Where, where did he go?” I asked again, a feeling of relief beginning to wash over me at this news. I was starting to assure myself that he must have seen the enemy already and gone to work at dispelling their enchantments.

“I don’t know, I don’t know! Now, let me go!” she repeated, at last squirming away from me and disappearing as quickly as she had arrived down another corridor.

I decided that I had best check his room just to be sure the maid was honest in her claims, and stepped lightly through the first door on the left inside the hallway she had just fled. There were books, glass, and toppled furniture scattered everywhere, all over the floor, and the bed looked as though it was about to fall right through the floor beneath it and crush whatever was below. There was no sign of Lord Satyrmeth, so I gave a brief sigh of hope and dashed out of the room, into the hall again.

Making my way to the courtyard door again, I found it to be stuck against something on the outside, well enough that I knew I would not be going out that way. I turned left and ran down another hall past several healers’ quarters and the kitchen, sliding to a stop when I had noticed a bleeding young woman lying propped up against the cold marble wall on my right. She looked rather large; probably one of the kitchen matrons, as I had become accustomed to thinking.

“Oh, please sir…Bring Luric, bring him to me,” she moaned, obviously in great pain.

I simply nodded and whipped around again, striding back to the set of healers’ rooms and peering into the one belonging to Luric, the palace’s most powerful cleric. It was completely abandoned. I checked the others, but had no luck, so I returned to the woman’s side.

“I’m sorry ma’am, the healers are all missing. Is there anything that I can do for you? I’m Ferdinand, one of the guards; we’re trained to deal with most wounds,” I said with as much reassurance as I could muster.

“I don’t-Ohhh,” she groaned against the pain, taking a moment to catch her breath before continuing, “I don’t think they train you to deal with labor.”

My mind a whirlwind of nonsense at this point, I stared at her for a moment, puzzled.

“What do y-Oh, labor!” I exclaimed, suddenly becoming much more concerned about finding a qualified healer to assist her. She nodded vigorously, her breathing ragged.

“I-I’ll do what I can. What do-What do I do?” I asked, looking her over in absolute bewilderment.

“Help me!” she growled in a rather frightening voice, sliding her back and head a little further down along the wall.

I tore off my gauntlets and tossed them aside, using a knife from my belt to tear her awkward, bloodied dress and make it easier for her to move. She grunted and spread her legs wide, squeezing her eyes shut and letting loose a piercing scream that echoed even above the racket outside. I now realized she must have already been pretty far along when I found her, because I could see the child’s head and part of its arms. The woman gave another screeching wail, gasping for breath as I used my hands to help as best I could. Within a few more minutes, I at last had a crying babe in my arms, which were now stained red with blood that matched the coating over the child’s skin.

It was a very odd thing, to be in such an urgent situation and to be taking part in such a procedure, but even in that cramped hallway, with the smell of flames and smoke pouring in from the window above the woman’s huddled form, I had to admit that I was pleased with myself for a successful delivery.

I actually laughed a little as the little girl whined and kicked her feet, protesting this sudden change of scenery. I took to one knee, leaning up to offer her to her mother. She was, of course, exhausted from the effort, her eyes still shut tight and showing no sign of doing labor of any sort anytime soon. I tried to coax her into forming her arms into a cradle, but she wouldn’t move them, so I simply sat back on my haunches again and set to work cleaning off the child with the cleanest part of the dress that I had torn off.

While I was working, I kept shifting my gaze to the new mother, and was surprised to find that not only was she remaining as still as possible, it seemed as if she was sleeping, not moving at all. I reached out with one hand and patted her arm again. Finding it rather lifeless, I thrust my fingers to her neck and checked for the pulse of her heart. Despite the fact that she had just worked so hard, it was not beating much. In fact, it was not beating at all.

My eyes went wide with the realization of what had just occurred, and I could feel hot tears stinging a small cut on my cheek as I stood up and backed away, still holding the child. I turned my gaze upon the now quiet little girl, squinting to try to clear my watering eyes.

“We’re just going to let your mother rest for a little while, okay?” I said, more to myself than anyone else, walking a little down the hallway, away from the fresh grave. A few tears refused to be held back any longer, and slid effortlessly over my numerous scars and onto the still unblemished face below mine, causing its features to twist again as the cries began anew.

Without further fuss of my own, I swept the child into a room with me and wrapped it up as well as I could with some blankets I found sitting on the floor, folded and propped up against one of the dressers. I then carefully carried her away with me, back to the main room, to try and find someone who could look after her and allow me to return to my search.

I had no sooner arrived at my destination before I immediately wished that I hadn’t. There were several figures in foreign robes standing at the entrance to the palace, surveying the wreckage of the room and noting the entrances and exits along each of the ruined walls. I recognized the symbols on their sleeves and colors of their dress, nearly tripping over a half-melted chest plate on the floor as I tried to back up the way I had come.

The figure nearest to me jerked his head around and stared at me in silence from the darkness under his hood. He turned back to the others and whispered something, after which they all turned to look at me. Gently lifting themselves into the air with sorcery, they began to glide towards me as a group, the hum of magic in the air becoming dangerously high-pitched.

I could not understand it; there were hundreds of guards left in the courtyard when I had come inside. ‘How could they have gotten past them all so easily, if they weren’t hidden by shadow magic?’ I thought. Then, to my surprise, the figure that had noticed me first drew back his hood to reveal himself. I nearly dropped the poor crying babe as I gaped in shock.

This was not an enemy, it couldn’t be. I was staring face to face…with Luric.