Chapter 15: Dark Clouds

Something about the air felt off. It felt like it was pulling at the inside of Fen’s head, like the beginning of a headache. He knew that something was wrong, but he couldn’t tell what it was.

Until he saw the clouds.

Off to the north, in the direction of Unger, there was a tall pillar of dark, heavy clouds. It lay low over the city, casting a deep shadow. All around Fen the rest of the sky was a bright, lively blue.

Fen redoubled his pace, fueled by concern for what this storm might mean for his home.

The sky kept growing darker as Fen covered ground, and by the time Fen was under the pillar of clouds he was looking down at Unger from the rolling hills just outside the city.

There was no rain, nor even wind, but the low pressure air that had first clued Fen into the storm was ferocious, pounding the inside of Fen’s head and making him very aware of the injury he had sustained during his brief bout of torture that morning.

The pain spurred him onward, and he rushed the last mile into Unger. From within the city, the storm didn’t look like anything out of the ordinary, and if Fen had woken up to this he likely wouldn’t have been concerned, especially since the pressure had normalized directly under the front.

Fen’s first thought was to seek out Regis and see if the informant had any insight on the situation, but then a rash thought came to him and Fen decided to follow it.

The calm of the city going about its day to day life was unnerving, but Fen found the chaos he expected as he came near the palace. The gates were closed, and guards were bustling around in the courtyard and on the wall top. People who had regular business in the palace were piled up, refusing to be turned away at the gate by a green looking guard.

Seeing this, Fen turned away from the palace and went to the local guard post. Captain Goran was out in the middle of the office, walking around and taking frantic reports from a dozen guards.

“Fenrir.” Goran snapped. “You tend to be in the middle of all the big messes, please tell me you have information about what’s going on.”

“Probably.” Fen admitted. “What’s going on?”

“Those cultists you asked me about, they did fourteen more raids this morning, all at the same time.” Goran said. “The King shut down the palace and has gone reclusive, and we have no idea what’s going on.”

“Well, I know very little about that, but I’m starting to put some pieces together. Do you think you could get me in to see the King?” Fen asked. The guards all gave him exasperated looks.

Goran looked like he was actually considering it for a moment before he sighed, running a hand through his hair. “No. I don’t think I can get you in to see the King. That’s a different department.”

“Ok.” Fen said. He turned to leave.

“You’re going to try anyway, aren’t you.” It wasn’t a question.

Fen shrugged. “The cult is hastening their plans, clearly, and I still have no idea what those are. The King probably has information that can help me stop this, and I’ve got to do whatever I can.”

“Fine. I’ll come with.” Goran tied a sword to his belt and slapped a helmet on his head. “You guys, keep doing what you’re doing. Bent, you’re in charge until I come back.”

Goran followed Fen out onto the street. The sky was even darker. “This storm feels ominous.” Goran noted.

“Well, I have some bad news for you then.” Fen said. “The storm is only over Unger, the rest of the countryside is all clear blue skies.”

“Damn.”

“Indeed.”

The two of them made it to the gates of the palace complex. The crowd had grown even larger, and the beleaguered guard was having trouble getting anyone to listen to him.

He almost looked relieved when Goran walked up. “Captain, can you help us?” He asked.

“Only if you can help us.” Goran responded. “We need to speak with the King.”

The young guard got a panicked look. “I don’t think I can do that.”

“Just let us in and we’ll send you reinforcements.” Fen said. Goran glared at him, but didn’t correct him.

“Ok.” The guard hesitated before opening the gate just enough for Fen and Goran to squeeze through.

Goran placed a signet into the man’s hand. “Send this to the central guardhouse, tell Corporal Bentley I approved a squad of reinforcements to help the palace.”

The guard nodded his thanks and sent a runner with the message.

Fen led the way into the palace. Now that they were through the gates nobody bothered them, assuming that they were supposed to be there.

The door to the throne room was just as busy as the gates, insufficient guards barely keeping an unruly crowd from bashing down the door. Fen elbowed his way through the crowd, Goran right on his heels. The guard at this door was a veteran, and he didn’t even bat an eye at Fen’s attempts to speak with him.

Fen gave up and backed off to confer with Goran. “I have an idea, but you’re going to hate it, and it might backfire.”

“What is it?” Goran asked.

“It’s actually really hard to explain.” Fen said. “Do you trust me?”

Goran hesitated, but after a minute he nodded.

Fen reached his hand out to the side, feeling the tingle of his connection to his new sword. “You might want to cover your ears.” Fen muttered to Goran. He called the blade to his hand, a blinding flash of light and a thunderous boom filled the chamber, sending the crowd scattering and the guards into defensive postures.

Fen stood alone in the middle of the chamber, a glowing, crackling sword in his hand. Even Goran had pushed his way to the side.

“We have urgent business with the King.” Fen said, as calmly as possible. “It has to do with this.” He gestured with the sword.

The main guard looked at his two companions, perhaps judging their ability to fight a man with a magic sword, before he nodded and opened the door a crack. Fen dismissed his sword and walked into the throne room. Goran shot him a nasty look that Fen interpreted as a why didn’t you tell me about that sooner? And Fen grinned back.

The King was sitting at his throne, a scattering of shocked looking advisers and guards circled around him. “Thunderblade, what are you doing here?” He demanded. “I believe our business concluded a week ago.”

“Yup.” Fen said. “But I read some interesting things about the cult you hired in that ledger of yours, so I looked into it for myself.”

The King leaped to his feet, pointing angrily at Fen. “You traitor. I’ll have you locked up for treason!”

“Not before I fix this shit show you’ve created.” Fen said. “What is the cult planning?”

“Why should I tell you anything?” The King demanded. “You’ve done more than enough to prove yourself untrustworthy.”

Fen held his hand to the side and he saw Goran cover his ears. A flash of light and a crack of thunder later and the King was staring at Fen with wide eyes, confusion and a bit of awe having replaced his anger. “I’ve gotten deeper into this mess than I cared to, and now I’m determined to put a stop to it all. What is the cult planning?”

The King stammered for a moment. “They’re going to try and summon their god. They need a sizable storm to do so, and I understand they’ve been hunting for an artifact that they need to finish the ritual. It’s probably that.” He gestured lamely to Fen’s sword.

“Do you know where they are?” Fen asked.

“No.” The King said. “They hit a bunch of warehouses and caches searching for their item. I don’t know how they found out about them all, but they clearly didn’t find what they were looking for.”

“Why do you say that?” Goran asked.

The King cringed. “Because, it’s obviously the sword.” He lied.

“You’re a crappy liar.” Fen said.

The King sunk down into his seat, managing to look like a moping toddler even in the majestic throne. “It was supposed to happen today, and it was supposed to happen in Kheltirm.”

“You’re the worst.” Fen spat. “I hope this spectacular backfiring of your plans has at least taught you a thing or two.” He turned to leave.

“Wait!” The King demanded. “When this is all over, I’ll need your help.”

“No.” Fen said firmly. “When this is all over you’ll get what you deserve, and I won’t stand in the way.”

Goran followed Fen out of the throne room and out of the palace.

“That didn’t go as well as I’d hoped.” Goran said.

“It went better than I’d expected.” Fen admitted. “At least we don’t have to start from scratch in our search.”

“What do you mean?”

“They’re probably still in their warehouse. They wouldn’t have known that I wasn’t out of the way until this morning, and nobody else knew about the location.” Fen said. “If they’re not there, then we’re out of luck.”

“Let’s get some guards and do this then.” Goran said.

“I need to make a stop first.” Fen said. “Meet me at The Vulgar Lake in an hour.”