The Paladin Archives Book Two The Withering Falseblade Read online

  The Paladin Chronicles

  Book Two

  The Withering Falseblade

  By Jason Psilopoulos

  Althea - Third Epoch

  Eastern Continent - Calidor

  Marcus Kasidyne was five. He had seen many things in his young life. Not many of them really mattered to him. In fact, he had forgotten most of what he had seen that anyone thought would be a hallmark in his youth. Marcus didn't remember his first step, or his first word. He didn't recall when it was he had first recognized his parents. But those things were not important enough to remember at five. All Marcus was concerned with right now, was making sure his father kept his promise.

  The house was always quiet when Wren Kasidyne went on one of his ‘business trips’. Marcus didn't know what his father did for a living, and frankly, it didn't much matter. Wren was a hero to his son, no matter what he did. Marcus had filled his time the last few days of summer running around the house, driving his mother crazy with questions about everything. Where did Daddy go? Why did he have to go up the stairs when the stairs went around and around in a twirl? Wouldn’t he get dizzy? Did God have feet? Finally, Marina Kasidyne had decided that Marcus needed some time outside.

  The day was too bright, and the sky wasn't blue. In fact, it was kind of a washed out white color. It was too hot to just go running around, and Marcus wasn't the type to just go anywhere he pleased. He preferred to sit alone, thinking of big, adult things. Marcus was active, like any other boy. He was just a little contemplative. And if the weather wasn't just right, Marina and Wren were sure to find him sitting on the porch, daydreaming.

  Marcus was a skinny little kid, wiry and awkward. There wasn't much in the way of muscle on him at all. He seemed to be taking after his mother and her slender physique, though Wren assumed that his manly frame would fill out when he hit puberty. Some of the other kids had said he looked like a pipe cleaner stuck into a beach ball.

  A slight breeze blew past, rustling the leaves of the old oak in the front yard. Marcus pulled his arms together around Steiner, his plush Sky Warrior, holding the aging toy as close as he dared. The old knight decked out in golden armor and wielding a sterling blade, had belonged to his father when he was a boy. It was starting to show its age. Though Steiner was a tough little toy, having survived nearly twenty years of Kasidyne punishment, his seams looked to be wearing down. Marcus had been careful, but Steiner's left side was starting to peek out cotton, and it was all Marina could do to hold the old doll together.

  Marcus watched the horizon for a long time. The Kasidynes didn't really have any neighbors. It had been a sticking point for Marina, who so wanted to have people to talk to. But Wren's work made it impossible for them to live around large groups of people. Instead, they had a home in a grass clearing in Wynton Woods, some six miles outside of Calidor Province on the Eastern continent. The land and the property were beautiful. It was just a shade lonely.

  That's when Marcus saw the dust billowing in the distance. He didn't want to get too excited. A lot of people got lost on the old dirt road. Marcus was used to giving them directions back toward Sindel City. He waited for a long time, and recognized his father's horse, Lansdowne. Marcus let out a whoop and a holler, jumping up and down and tossing Steiner in the air.

  "Daddy's coming! Daddy's coming!" Marina glanced out the window from the couch and smiled. She could see little Marcus dancing around the yard, so happy that Wren was finally home. The warmth in her heart couldn't be helped. Marcus brought her such joy. And Wren brought Marcus such joy.

  The front door flew open and Marina set down the little project she was working on. Marina had taken to Holo-Albums lately, and was trying to finish her first one. "Mommy! Daddy's coming! Come on!" Marina got to her feet, Marcus tugging on her hand. She followed him gladly, and stepped out of her air-conditioned home to see her husband riding up, a broad smile on his square face.

  "Hey Marcus! How're you doin' bud?" Wren stepped down from his horse and knelt down to hug his charging son. Marcus threw his arms around Wren's neck and smiled.

  "You were gone a long time, Dad." Wren tilted his head a little, pulling Marcus off his neck so he could look at him.

  "I was?" Marcus nodded sternly. "Yeah, but I told you Lansdowne would bring me home. And I always keep my promises, don't I?" Marcus yupped in confirmation and Wren stood up to his full height. Marina looked at him and nodded. Wren could see the question on her face. Wren nodded back slowly. He'd finally finished. Whatever it was that he had to do, he was finally done, and he wouldn't leave anymore. Tears started running down Marina's cheeks. She didn't bother to hide them. Wren threw his arms around her and kissed her gently.

  "The last one, Baby. I'm done." Marcus hugged their legs as they kissed. He didn’t care what Wren meant, as long as it meant he was staying home.

  "So, can you tell me what's going on finally?" Marina asked as the two lay in bed that evening. Marcus had run them ragged all night, regaling Wren with stories of adventures in his imagination, fighting off imaginary creatures with Steiner and his Sky Warriors. Fortunately, Marcus had run around so much, he had worn himself out, and Wren had carried him to his room, tucking the limp little boy into his oversized bed.

  "I still can't give you specifics, Baby. But my job as a Preserver is done. I am official an Observer now," Wren said, stroking his wife's midnight black hair. Marcus's hair was the same, and Wren knew that would not change. The boy had a lot of his mother in him.

  "I've been watching you leave this home for well over a year now. I'll take what I can get." Wren shifted a little and nodded.

  "All right. Well, putting it simply, I've been collecting artifacts. The Paladins have me guarding these things in the vault downstairs. Dangerous things. Things that no one should have." Marina got a grim look on her face.

  "If people shouldn't have them, then why do we have them? Why don't the paladins destroy them?" Wren had argued the same. It was the simple explanation. And it made logical sense.

  "They can't." Marina wasn't so sure about that. She knew that the paladins could do almost anything. Before Marcus was born, she'd seen Wren do things that no one seemed capable of. He was near invincible when it came to battle, and he had pulled off what she could only define as miracles in his time.

  "What do you mean, they can't?" she asked skeptically. Wren let out a frustrated sigh. He’d already been down this road. He didn’t like where it led.

  "All right. They can't,” he groaned. “At least, that’s what they say. The Council deliberated on it for a few days. That's why it took me so long to get home. And since they feel that the time is not right, they want them guarded until they can get the means together to destroy these things properly. So, I stay here, keep these things under lock and key and that’s it. Observer." Marina wasn't sure she'd followed all of that, but the Council had been wise in most things over the past six years. Though there was a tendency for them to over intellectualize their decisions. Still, Marina figured they knew what they were doing.

  "All right. Is that all you can tell me?" Wren nodded. Marina frowned only slightly before pulling her husband closer. "Anything you want to tell me about your trip?" Wren grimaced a little. He didn't want to say it.

  "I lost my wallet." Marina looked a little chagrin.

  "Lost it?"

  "Well, not lost really. The Innovan I was fighting for the artifact cut it out of my uniform by accident and ran off with it." Wren had put a fake ID in the wallet, so he didn't think they'd get tracked. It wasn't his identification that bothered him.

  "You told me you'd take good care of that w
allet. It was your birthday present." Wren nodded.

  "I tried to get it back. Jacob had to stop me from running after the guy." Marina was about to berate him more, but she could see the look on Wren's face. He was broken up about it. That wallet was his most beloved personal belonging. It had pictures of her and Marcus in it. Wren would not have let it go lightly.

  "Well. Okay." Marina snuggled in against Wren's shoulder. He hugged her close. "So long as you're staying home, I can probably forgive you." Wren smiled.

  "So, what do I have to do to change that probably to a definitely?" Marina smiled and kissed him. She pulled back suddenly, and Wren got a questioning look. "What is it?"

  "I need you to talk to Marcus tomorrow. He's been getting into a lot of trouble lately." Wren smirked a little. He was five. How much trouble could he have been getting into?

  Althea - Third Epoch

  Sixteen Years Later

  Marcus rounded a corner and saw that the coast was far from clear. He pressed himself back and tried to be as quiet as he could. Ian and Rebekah came up short behind him, not able to see what he was looking at. He pressed himself back against the wall even further and keyed his glove, turning up the gain on Lacey's sound augmentation equipment so he could hear what the two guards were saying.

  “. . . don’t show anything.” The conversation came to a halt as the guards resumed their posts. Marcus cursed himself for being so slow with Lacey’s audio pickups.

  “WHAT’RE THEY SAYING?” Ian’s whisper cut into Marcus like a knife. He winced back a moment, quickly looking for the key that would cut the volume. Ian looked a little shocked as Marcus nearly fell off balance.

  “Watch it Ian. I don’t want to be deaf before I’m twenty-two.” Ian put his hands up in surrender.

  “Sorry,” he whispered.

  “Did you get anything from them?” Rebekah asked, nervously thumbing the handle of her lancet behind her back. Marcus shook his head and frowned. He’d been hoping to get some idea about what was going on in this place. But he and his two charges had been sent in blind. And that meant that Marcus was going in without even the slightest clue.

  The only thing he knew for sure was that a dark wizard was amassing an army in this old warehouse. Marcus didn’t have any idea on which wizard it was, nor did he know what kind of army was being gathered together. He didn’t know what kind of magics he was dealing with or whether he was dealing with Dread Paladins or not. The guards started back in their direction, continuing their patrol.

  “Okay, back.” Marcus ushered the two of them back to a more secure part of the warehouse’s outer courtyard, trying to get out of earshot of the guards.

  “So, what do we do?” Ian asked, a little more boldly as Marcus gave them the all clear.

  “We find a way in of course,” Rebekah said, putting her hands on her hips. Marcus shook his head with a smirk. Rebekah was great at keying into the well-stated.

  “Naturally,” Ian said, a bit of sarcasm in his voice. “Any other pearls of the obvious, Rebekah?” Marcus put his hands up to stifle what he could see becoming an argument. It had become a custom for Ian and Rebekah to take playful shots at one another. But on more than one occasion, that playfulness had all but disappeared. They had gone from silly jibing to nearly full-blown fisticuffs on more than one occasion. Marcus had decided they needed him there as a mediator.

  “All right, all right. Look,” he said stepping between them. He couldn't see why the Innova thought these two were compatible at all. But then, he thought, they could be fighting to keep from doing other things. The animosity between them was almost comical. “The front entrance and the back door are guarded. The docks are mined and there’s a sniper on the roof at every corner.” Ian and Rebekah both became very quiet. Marcus was in command mode. He didn't have time to be nice, and they knew not to interrupt him.

  “We could take out the guards,” Ian suggested. Marcus shook his head.

  “They’d just raise the alarm. What I did catch of the conversation tells me that they report in at regular intervals. We take out the guards, they don’t report in and we have a full-scale alert on our hands.” Ian let it go, knowing Marcus knew better than he did. Marcus had been training as a paladin since he was nine. Ian had only been at this for sixteen months.

  “So, what do we do then, MISTER Kasidyne?” Rebekah asked, her tone sardonic.

  “We do what we set out to do, MISS Norik.” Marcus looked around a bit, thinking about what the best course of action would be. That’s when he saw it. On the ground, next to a crate of low-grade explosives was a rusted manhole. “We can’t go through, and we can’t go over-"

  "Then we go home," Ian said, groping for humor. Marcus frowned a little.

  "Then we go under, Ian.” Marcus pulled up the metal plate and set it gently next to the hole. No sense making any more noise than he had to.

  "Oh man. You're kidding, right?" Ian groused as the smell wafted up toward them. Marcus didn't say anything. He didn't dare open his mouth. "You're not kidding."

  "He wouldn't open the manhole if he was." Rebekah looked at the hole a moment. “You first?” Her eyes had a bit of pleading. Marcus shook his head.

  “Privileges of command. Go.” The frown on her face said it all. Rebekah adjusted her belt and dropped inside. Ian could hear a small splash somewhere at the bottom. "Gross," Rebekah echoed. Marcus looked to see if anyone was coming and motioned for Ian to go.

  "After you."

  “I’m not going anywhere with you again.” Marcus clapped him on the shoulder.

  “You can shower before we report in. Move.” Ian looked a little incredulous, but plugged his nose and plunged.

  "Awwww man!" Ian groused. Marcus smirked a little, stepping inside and pulling the cover over him as he descended.

  “I don’t believe we’re doing this,” Ian said, slogging through the waist high water. Marcus didn’t say anything. He was trying not to let the smell overpower him. It wouldn’t be very helpful for him to get nauseous at this point. Though after such a display, the debriefing would have its share of humor. Marcus just didn't feel like letting Ian and Rebekah see his lunch a second time.

  “Think of it as a really wet training exercise,” Rebekah offered. Ian shook his head, pushing away what he thought was a piece of driftwood. The furry creature that scampered away nearly made him jump out of his skin.

  "Nasty. Nasty, nasty, nasty!" Ian made a retching noise as he spoke. Marcus felt the blood draining from his face. “I’m gonna be sick. And you all get to see it.”

  “Can you guys keep it quiet please? I'm trying not to puke.” Marcus asked. Rebekah smiled a little.

  “Sorry. Ian can face down Mordred Landoro, but he can’t handle sewage.” There was a small squeak in the corner. “Or rats.” Ian blanched at that, taking it as a personal affront. But he kept his mouth closed. He just wanted to get through all this mess and up where he was dry and facing an enemy that walked on two legs.

  Marcus pushed slowly on the grate above him to make sure the coast was clear. He looked about in as wide an arc as the angle would allow, and saw no one. He pushed a little more to widen his view. Still, he saw no one. Marcus pushed the grate up all the way and heard the click of a rifle being armed.

  “Shoot.” From behind him, six men came around, all training their weapons on his forehead. Marcus pushed the grate aside and climbed out. Rebekah came up next, and almost went for her weapon. Marcus shook his head. No point in getting killed here. Ian came up last, and looked a bit surprised.

  “You said the coast was clear,” he griped as he pulled himself up from the floor. Marcus shrugged.

  “Sue me Ian.” Another sound filled the air. It was the whine of blaster bolts priming. The red clad guards behind them weren’t all that happy with the banter.

  “Shut up. Hands up! Everyone!” Marcus stood rod still as the men advanced on him, reaching to relieve him of his sword.

  "I wouldn't do that," he said. The guard behind Marcus slap
ped him on the back of the head. He made an annoyed face.

  "Shut it knight-boy!" Marcus smirked a little. He knew exactly what was going to happen. The guard froze for just a second as a small arch of electricity jumped up at him.

  “OW!” Marcus reacted in an instant, grabbing the guard by the arm and snapping the wrist. The guard nearly fainted at the sight. Marcus's hand went quickly to the small caliber pistol in the holster. He swung the guard around in front of him and used him as a human shield, aiming the pistol around at their captors.

  Ian punched the nearest guard in the face, spinning him around once before his knees buckled and he collapsed to the floor. Rebekah spun on her heel, letting her assailant’s swing go wide. Her hand barely moved at all, clipping the man on the back of the neck and collapsing him where he stood. Rebekah kicked her lancet up into the air and grabbed it, twirling it and setting her feet.

  “I said FREEZE!” Marcus pointed the pistol at the guard and pulled the trigger. The man’s leg blew out from under him, the bullet catching him in the shin. Marcus made a quick pivot and flipped his captive onto his back, knocking him cold.

  “Three on three,” Ian said, pulling his fist daggers. “Much better odds.” Marcus pulled his sword and gave it a quick flourish.

  “You guys are really gonna regret this.” It was a standoff. Whoever made the next move was going to start a firestorm. Marcus kept his eyes sharp as the three remaining guards moved to surround them in the narrow hallway. Rebekah and Ian backed in close and stood ready to cover one another.

  “Not the best place for a melee,” Rebekah said out of the corner of her mouth. Marcus could hear her gloved hand tightening on the grip of her lancet. He couldn’t help but agree, though he knew they could take them.

  "Again, not my fault," he added.

  “We stink like a bathroom. That one’s on you,” Ian countered.

  “Shut up, Ian,” Rebekah sniped.

  “Surrender or be shot,” was the only offer they were given. The guard’s tone didn’t ring of confidence as he trained his pistol on the paladin. Marcus watched keenly as his man began to go for his communicator. It only took a second for Marcus to grab the small blade in his belt and give it a quick toss. The two-inch dagger landed in the hand unit and killed the comm link with a small puff of smoke.