Savage Messiah

The wall exploded. Pieces of wood flew everywhere, and the dust raised by the blast obscured everyone's vision for several moments. When the scene finally cleared, even Wulfgar was stu

The entire wall was gone. Pieces of wood no larger than toothpicks rained down, covering everything. The monster screamed once more and lumbered into the compound.

With another swipe of the thing's tail, the first of the Minion buildings exploded into nothingness. Then another, and another. Soon nothing of consequence stood in the i

The creature walked to one of the remaining walls and, with another concussive blast, tore it apart. The other two walls and the remaining lookout posts quickly followed. Shards of wood drifted down slowly, and all became quiet once more.

"Come to me," Wulfgar ordered the beast.

The Earthshaker returned to its master, and Wulfgar affectionately rubbed the front of its face. The beast moaned softly.

"Return to the ship," Wulfgar ordered.

The Earthshaker walked slowly back to the vessel from which it had come. Once it was aboard, the demonslavers hauled the ship's stern door back up into place. Wulfgar turned back to look at where the Minion outpost had once stood. Nothing remained.

"Come here," Wulfgar ordered Merriwhether. The captain obeyed.

"I leave for the azure pass," Wulfgar said. "Take six of the Black Ships and make for Tammerland. Whatever remains standing, once the polluted Sippora has set the city ablaze, have the Earthshakers blast it to ruins. Make your way to the palace and begin the siege. I will meet you there after I have released the Heretic hordes and overseen the destruction of the orb. If you can take the Jin'Sai alive, then do so. He and I have unfinished business. But feel free to make an example of the populace in whatever ma

Wulfgar took another step closer.

"Do not fail me, Merriwhether," he added with menace. "It was I who plucked you and your brothers from the icy depths of the Sea of Whispers, and I can just as easily oversee your return."

Merriwhether bowed his dark head. "Have faith, my lord," he answered. "Everything shall be as you order."

"Good," Wulfgar said. "Go now, and may luck be with you."

Merriwhether walked to the first of the great vessels and boarded, barking out orders. As Wulfgar watched, six of the massive ships slowly righted themselves. Their black sails snapped open and their hulls rose into the air, heading south over dry land, toward Tammerland.

Soon they were gone from sight, leaving the Enseterat with one ship, one captain, and a host of demonslavers. The remaining captain was Cathmore. As his dark heart beat within the tattered folds of his uniform, he smiled at the honor of escorting his savage messiah to the pass in the Tolenkas.

"Make way," Wulfgar ordered. "We leave at once."

As the ship lifted into the air, Wulfgar and Cathmore levitated themselves onto her black decks. Her sails snapped open and she turned toward her mission and her destiny.

CHAPTER LXXV

Why does my shoulder hurt so much? he wondered. can't they just leave me alone? I wish they would stop talking and let me sleep. Don't they know that I'm the Jin'Sai?

With a groan, Tristan opened his eyes. At first everything was out of focus. Soon things became clearer. Celeste's lined face looked down at him, and her gray hair brushed against his cheek.

Wigg and Ox's faces appeared behind her. Celeste and Ox smiled broadly. Wigg wore the typically condescending scowl that seemed always reserved for castigating him.

"So you have finally decided to return to us," the First Wizard said. "By the time we reached you, you had lost a great deal of blood. How do you feel?"

Tristan tried to sit up, but the pain in his shoulder forced him back down. He was in his tent, lying on several Minion blankets.

Wigg pressed a wooden cup against the prince's lips. "Drink," he said.

"What is it?" Tristan asked thickly.

"If you must know, it is ground root of canckleberry, sliced blossom of synthia, and boiled water. It will help you to recover your strength. It will also aid the spell of accelerated healing that I granted over your wound. Out here in the wilderness, it was the best I could come up with."

Tristan took a gulp of Wigg's potion; it tasted awful. He winced.

"Your cure is worse than my injury," he said.

Smiling, Celeste bent to kiss him. "We were so worried about you," she said. "For a time, I thought I was going to lose you forever."

Tristan smiled back and gingerly raised himself up onto his elbows.

Suddenly it all came flooding back. Satine, the fight in the meadow, his wound, her death…He twisted to look down at his left shoulder. The arrow shaft had been removed. Bandages had been wound around the joint, and spots of azure blood dotted the fabric. The front of his black leather vest was streaked with dried azure blood. Pain momentarily overwhelmed him, and he settled back down upon his makeshift bed.

"It was Satine," he said.

"We know," Wigg answered. "Her body matched the description given to us by Uther. We buried her in the meadow. I found some interesting items hidden in the lining of her cloak. Faegan was right about her methods of killing. I found something even more interesting in one of her boots," he added wryly.

"And what was that?" Tristan asked.

"A list," Wigg answered. "I haven't made complete sense of it yet, but I think it might be a list of safe houses. I recognize many of the names matching the addresses-all onetime Consuls of the Redoubt. It appears torn at the bottom, as though she wanted part of the list removed for some reason. I suppose we'll never know."

"She hesitated," Tristan said, more to himself than to the others. Then he looked up. "She had me dead to rights, and then she hesitated. Why would she do that?"

Wigg shook his head. "Perhaps it was a sudden lapse in resolve. Who knows? In the end, all that matters is that you survived and she did not."

"How did you find me?"

"I wake up by fire to see you gone," Ox said. "Other warriors say they see you go off to horses. I go to find you. Just as I first see you, you kill Satine. I call out for wizard and other warriors."

"What time of day is it?" Tristan asked.

"Midafternoon," Wigg answered. "Do you feel well enough to travel in a litter? We're losing valuable time."

Tristan raised himself up again. "I'll ride."

"Oh, no," Wigg answered adamantly. "I can't take the chance of your wound opening up again. Besides, we're down to Shadow and one other horse." He gave Tristan a critical look. "You managed to get my mare killed, remember?"

Tristan nodded. "Very well," he answered. "And I'm sorry about your horse."

"If Tristan travels by litter, then so do I," Celeste a

"Very well," Wigg said. "Let's go."

Wigg looked over at Ox. "Tell the warriors to strike the camp," he said.

As Ox went to follow his orders, Wigg and Celeste helped the prince to his feet. Three hours later, Tristan looked down from his minion litter. They were traveling through the flat grasslands of Farplain, as they had been for the last two days. Wigg's spells had helped his shoulder greatly, but it still throbbed from time to time. As a precaution he periodically flexed his muscles to keep them from stiffening. The exercise hurt like the blazes, but he knew that later he would be glad he had done it. His weapons were back in place over his right shoulder. At least the arm I rely on the most was spared, he thought.

Ox flew alongside the litter. He looked over from time to time, as if he were expecting the prince to do something foolish-like dive out to the plain below, perhaps. One corner of Tristan's mouth curled into a smile. After the scare he had given them all last evening in the meadow, he really couldn't blame Ox for being so protective.