The Prophesy: Book 3 - The Hammer of Atlantis

 

The next morning, Viola walked in and crossed path with Ian, who was leaving the meeting that had been held with the city's notables. He had not spent time with Ian yet and was looking at a diminutive four not yet five-year-old child walking toward him with purpose and focussed on his problem. He had only a vague memory of his meeting with a bunch of kings and princes and the status of that nude boy totally baffled him. Nonetheless, he decided to play it safe. As the two neared each other, he coughed up gently, trying to get the boy's attention without seeming to be rude. Ian, who had been thinking of what to do with the duke's legions, was surprised to see one of them in the palace, as they were technically confined to barracks.

"Can I help you?" Ian asked, "You seem lost!"

"Err, well, I'm looking for my brothers."

"Why do you expect to find your brothers here?"

"They were at the meeting where I was introduced to a whole load of princes and kings, and well..."

"Well, what?"

"I was in too much shock when they identified themselves, I sort of lost track of everything else before or after. Then there was this non-stop run and I've never been so tired in my whole life, I've been sleeping for two days in a row, and ..."

"And?"

"I need to talk to them. I'm lost! I don't know what to think anymore! Can you tell me where they are?"

Ian tried to remember all the events that had happened since they had begun moving south and east, and he finally remembered the meeting with the Decurions. The man seemed to wear a fresh out of the presses basic trainee uniform of the Atlantean Legions, which probably was why Ian had been confused.

"So you are one of the guys Harp brought to the Atlantean legions. If I remember, at that meeting, there were only Decurions and a subset of the Royals of Atlantis."

"I do not know if it is only a subset or not, but there was enough crowned heads in there to sink a barge."

Ian laughed at the image, relaxing. "Ok, let's begin at the beginning. If I remember, you were their spokesman, and your name is Viola, right?"

"Yes! Do you know where my brothers are?"

"And your brothers are Princes Harp and Sitar, Protectors of the Heir to the Throne of Atlantis, right?"

"That is their name, but I do not remember any mention of their role as protector to the Heir of any throne. I don't even remember being introduced to any heir of anything. I was too in shock to give a damn about anything else than my two brothers sitting in front of me!"

"I think the introductions were curtailed somewhat as we saw the uneasiness that was overwhelming the Decurions. Anyway, we had other issues to deal with and flaunting titles longer then a tax list wouldn't have helped you in explaining what we needed to know."

"I suppose so. For me, titles meant nothing the moment I recognized my brothers: they could have been mass murderers for all it mattered, they are my brothers first."

"As for mass murdering of orcs and criminals, Harp and Sitar have been swimming in blood since they joined dad at the burned out shell of your old farm."

"Err, dad?"

"You really lost it, Viola, didn't you? We were lucky to extract coherent information from you! Dad is King Harold, Pharaoh Horus, Thorus, God of the Forges according to the Dwarfs, King of the Atlanteans, Liege Lord of the Wolves, Equines, Dragons, Dwarfs, Fairies, Centaurs, Unicorns, Pegasuses, Trolls and Elves, and Legate of the Legions. That is what I meant by an unending list of titles."

After a few hiccups, Viola looked at the young boy wide-eyed, with tears in his eyes. "And you are?"

"Oh, me? I'm just the heir to all that. Dad says he has more white hairs growing since he has a heir then before but I keep telling him it's old age, not my fault!"

Viola gulped and looked at the boy. How was he going to deal one on one with him? Finally, he resolved to go back to his first line of questioning.

"Prince Ian, can you tell me where my brothers are?"

"Oh, I almost forgot. Come with me, the path to the conference room is complicated, and there are legionnaires stationed all along the way. You would take the day to reach them without my help."

As the two followed a series of complicated passages to reach the intended room, Ian asked a question of Viola.

"And why do you want to see your brother now more than anything?"

"There are many causes. First, I need to confirm with them what I remember is not a dream; second, there is a growing, persistent rumour that has the legions sent back somewhere. I do not want to be separated from my brothers again."

"As to the first question, I can confirm everything. As to the rumour, it not just sent back to somewhere, Viola, it is sent back to the kingdom where we live, so your people can be incorporated and trained to contribute effectively to our war effort. I have had reports on the preparedness, or should I say more truthfully, the lack of preparedness of the unit to which you belong. I will be blunt: our two year-olds could take any number of your centurie and give them a beating that would make you want to sit your butt in an ice-filled bucket to get it cooled down. You are slow, have learned flawed methods of fighting, lack corps cohesiveness, and are slow to respond to command and change tack when situations evolve. You need retraining from how to breath and walk to how to hold a sword and tie up your shoes. That is why your unit is being sent back to our kingdom, along with all ducal units. You are a dead weight to us, and we feel a responsibility to see to your protection. We do not have the time to train you now, but the academy has. You will learn quickly that the art of fighting is bred into us and that even a crawling baby is a force of nature when he is properly motivated. I had at first considered incorporating you in the army, like we did for the Elvin conscripts, but your physical condition is so poor it turns out it is not possible, so I decided a day or so ago to send you behind our lines."

"You decided?"

"I was in command at the time, and a policy is that the calls made by the one in command are never debated afterward or contested, unless there is reason to do so. There are none. Sitar will be in command shortly, as the army begins to move. Paschal will be sending Riverside's population behind our lines with the help of Harp, so your two brothers will be busy shortly. Prince Typhoon is already away doing aerial surveillance of our intended path, while King Thorsten is handling the peripheral protection and prince Timor is doing the rear with the help of the hyenas, the same that kept snapping at your rear while you were dragging your feet during our last displacement."

"I thought the ultimate command of an army rested on the shoulders of the Legate?"

"They do, Viola. However, dad has noticed we, and I mean all those in the royal family, have a knack for command and taking quick, decisive and above all, proper actions. The Legions trust us with their life, and we have led them in battles whose odds against us were well over one hundred to one, and won without much loss within the Atlantean army while giving the opponents a run for their money. You seem to have that trait too, Viola."

"Me? I'm just a Decurion in a decrepit unit!"

"But you were selected spokesman by your fellow Decurions, without even a glimmer of protest, and they did not know you were linked to the royal family of Atlantis. This vote of confidence speaks louder to our ears then rank. Anyway, here we are. I suggest you talk to your brother of the last point only. I have covered the other two already."

Ian opened the door and brought Viola to the conference table, still occupied by a map drawn by the care of Paschal and exposing the different settlements and cities leading to the Arc of Safety. Viola had never seen such a detailed map of the terrain and he couldn't help whistle his admiration at the artwork.

"There you are, Viola. Be quick about it, as Paschal and Harp will need to begin the transfer shortly. I have to run, I got an equine army waiting on me!" Ian turned around, closed the door, and his running footsteps could be heard fading beyond.

The unexpected return of Ian and the irruption of Viola in the room had stopped the discussion. Harp and Sitar lifted their eyes from the map, where Paschal was pointing to a characteristic of the road that led to one of the settlements.

Sitar looked at Viola, wondering what had brought his older sibling to the meeting. "Yes, Viola, what can we do for you?"

Viola took a deep breath and plunged.

"Harp, Sitar, I wanted to talk to you. Prince Ian has already clarified two of the three points as he brought me here; however, the third, he left in question."

"And what point is that?" asked Harp.

"I want to stay with you. We are finally reunited, and I don't want us separated again! It's too painful!"

Harp and Sitar looked at Harold, as if asking for guidance.

"Do you ride, Viola?"

"Only the rich and the buttered rode in the legion, Legate."

"I see. Harp, do we have a horse that is an easy ride for a neophyte?"

"An easy ride, no, but one that will keep him on his or her back even if he tried to fall, yes we do. I'll have to see to it the stirrups are adjusted, the saddle right, and tell the horse what to do. Viola, you will have no bridle, just a pommel to hold to. The horse will know what to do and where to go, when to stop, and the rest. You will be framed by a group of expert horsemen, more to protect you and stop you from falling than anything else. I hope you are not afraid of speed!"

Harp made for the door, and hollered: "Alaric!"

The centurion quickly came to the call and after getting a rundown of what was needed he took Viola to the stalls, where a nice chestnut mare was waiting placidly. The groom had already saddled the horse, and Alaric helped him adjust the stirrups after measuring Viola's inner leg length. Then Alaric taught him how to get in saddle, which was not too complicated, and how to get off, which he did by falling.

"You better select an area without needles if it's the way you plan to get off a horse, Viola," the groom said, laconic. "Poison ivy is also to be discouraged, as well as rocks and logs!"

"Ok, Viola, on your left is your bottle of water. Since you are a lefty we put your sword on the right side. For now, leave it in the scabbard, unless you plan sawing your leg off," Alaric added. "We might as well start teaching you proper horse etiquette. You always, and I mean always get on the saddle on the left side of the horse. Do not forget that. This horse will be in constant telepathic communication with one of the princes. It will do what it is ordered by the princes, so do not try to interfere. Her name is Pokawonka, and she comes to the call. If you ever decide to be a horseman in our army you will get picked by a warhorse, which Pokawonka is a female of the subspecies. She is slightly smaller, but considerably faster. She is ill-tempered by nature, as are all warhorses, but she has consented to carry you, because she respects Harp as the one that brought back from the dead Silver Moon, the Prince of Horses, at birth. Every Equine obeys Harp as a given. He only asked for a volunteer and we almost had a riot in the stables. Take care of her, respect her, and she may decide to pick you when the time comes."

"I know nothing of how to care for horses!"

"Observe the other riders then. You are not blind, and being of royal family, you are not stupid either!"

"I'm not of royal family!"

"You are, like it or not! You are Princes Harp and Sitar's blood brother, and brother to Ian by alliance! Therefore you are a prince, not only in title but in fact!"

The declaration by Alaric shook Viola deeply. It had never occurred to him that since his brothers were princes, he was too! Now, he understood why the atmosphere in the tent had changed so much. He needed to send a message to what was left of the centurie before they were ported to Thebes.

"Is it possible to send a message to my centurie before we move?"

"Certainly. Do you need something to write?"

"No, just send a courier with a verbal message. Tell them I will not forget them and that I will join them in Thebes as soon as this campaign is over."

Alaric snapped a finger, and one of the legionnaires converted to dragon form and flew out.

"Your message will reach the centurie in two minutes."

Just then, a horn sounded, and Alaric took his leave from Viola.

"I have to go. The first units are moving out, and I'm in the lead today."

"Ok, thank you and the groom for the help. Where is the assembly for the unit that is to frame me?"

"Let the horse lead you where it wants. It will know."

Alaric left at a brisk pace, and was gone. The groom began taking horses out of the stalls, and they aligned themselves to be loaded for the trip. The entire procedure fascinated Viola, which had never seen horses so disciplined. The warhorses were readied for their riders, which came into the outer yard walking in step. They began leaving the yard in line and Viola's chestnut inserted herself in the line naturally. The groom took his own horse out of the barn, already saddled, and took the lead of the packhorses. The barn was empty of all equines. The only life left was the barn owl, which suddenly found itself ported to the aviary in Thebes. The moment the last horse turned the corner and the barn was out of sight, it disintegrated into sawdust, to the dismay of the rats and termites.

***

Viola held to the saddle's pommel for dear life, as the horses trotted on the road to the next settlement. He wondered if his family jewels would survive the trip, but one of the horsemen noticed his discomfort, and while there was a break in the onward rush, he engaged a chat.

"Do not sit on the saddle during the run, but stand on the stirrups! It is your knees that must take the spring of the ride! If you sit, you will have mashed balls for lunch!" explained the rider.

"I am scared stiff!"

"We noticed! It is normal, especially since we are at full gallop and you have not been introduced to horses the usual way! But the prince is doing the ride for you as he keeps an almost constant eye on Pokawonka! We hear him tell her what to do to keep you on her."

"Is it Harp?"

"No, it is Lord Agramon, who is amongst us, carrying Ian."

"I don't understand?"

"Prince Ian and Lord Agramon Silver Moon go a long way. They were born on the same day, and have lived together with Lord Duke Greywolf, as a family. It is hard for strangers to understand that synergy; Lord Viola, it is hard even for us, and yet we have been with them from the beginning, and we can talk to the wolves and horses as well as they."

"Can you please keep the lord thing under wrap? I feel sick in my stomach each time someone calls me that!"

"You are one of them to the tip of your fingers then; they too have problems with titles and all that. It is one of the many thousands of things that endear them to us. You will fit right in!"

"But I cannot talk to animals!"

"That will come. It took us some effort to relax an unspoken barrier and open up our mind to the animals, but we can all do it now. Be as it may, you probably spoke to animals when you were young, and they answered you; your parents told you this was all fantasy, and you finally built that wall to maintain what you thought was your sanity. Now, that wall must come down."

"It seems difficult!"

"Are you set in your ways, mentally rigid, or flexible and adaptable? The greatest obstacle is you. Our babies talk to animals before they talk to us, and we now encourage them to maintain the channel open."

"How did it begin for you?"

"You want to know my first experience with talking to an animal? It was during one of our earliest campaigns, we were retaking the Elvin kingdom from rogue elements that had betrayed their solemn oath of fealty. We were still few in the cavalry, and I had been riding this horse for less then a month. We met a column of orcs and were outnumbered, and we were fighting foot by foot their enraged charge. At some point, I don't know how, I heard a strange command: look down on the right! And there was an orc, hidden in a bush waiting for me to pass by to jump and bring me down. I was able to behead the beast with my sword and I thanked the voice. It replied there was no time but that I owned him a few fresh carrots! I knew it was my horse then, because he always will go out of his way to get fresh carrots! From then on, we talk all the time, and we know each other inside out. I have advanced to being able to see the world through his senses and he through mine. We are now one, indivisible. I have extended this now to other horses and I'm learning to do it with the canines. It is a marvellous feeling to be able to talk to my family dog, to chat with the wolves, and all that. I can keep an eye on my family from here, and see my last little boy learn to kill with his short blade, and talk to him and my wife. I am never away from home. He is already a good rider; he will be better then me when I come back. He literally sleeps on his warhorse, rides the house wolf like a champion, and is learning how to string his first bow! He will do his family honour, my little warrior! His sister, a year older, is already able to shoot a target while riding at full gallop on the house wolf, and is learning the use of an axe; she found the Dwarves axe so fascinating during the training she managed to convince a Dwarf weapon master to make her a hatchet! Yesterday, she rode her warhorse standing at gallop and managed to cut the Centurion's arrow in midflight, to his utter surprise. She had already bested one of the unit's fighters by cutting a leg tendon with it a week before. The man got healed and is running with us now, but he told me he had relearned to never judge ability on size, again!"

"Do you have discipline problems with children able to handle weapons like they breath?"

"Oh no! They have a healthy respect for weapons! No training is without pain, Viola, and they have their share. Yes, they cry at first, but they quickly learn to use the pain to fuel their fighting spirit. A hurt Atlantean is like an enraged beast, and in real battle, nothing short of death will stop him or her. They have taken Harp's motto to heart: Victory or death. The children are conditioned to answer to a coded command when they train, or we would quickly lose many veteran legionnaires during training! The legionnaires know how to train the children according to their level, and they encourage initiative, cooperative assault, and change of command according to situations. Everyone must be ready to take the leadership in a battle, to protect one of our kinds, and to recognize who is best to handle a specific situation. Some are good strategists, others are exceptionally well suited to deal with desperate situations, others can lead a retreat that will leave so many enemies behind dead that it will be thinking it was being attacked, others know how to heal and bandage wounded, and some have an innate feeling for the nitty-gritty of intendance, as they are able to judge situations on food and water needs of their group. The children form a tight unit, and they bond to each other and to the larger units, each contributing in his or her own unique way to the solidity of the group."

"What happens with a selfish, self-centred child?"

"The child does not survive the first battle."

"Isn't that a bit harsh?"

"It is, but the good of the many override the need of the one."

***

As the day wore on, Viola began to look around more, as he finally was able to relax. At first, nothing strange seemed to happen: trees succeeded to trees, streams to streams, the road went up and down, twisted left and right without much to differentiate the next mile from the previous one. He was getting bored and almost fell asleep when suddenly he noticed something that woke him up with a start. Since they were in the middle of one of these runs, he decided to observe with more care the scenery, and to wait for the next slow walk that was sure to follow. It did not take long for the horses to slow down as they came to a rise in the road and began to climb. He turned his head to talk to the horseman that had been so informative on the life in the Atlantean cavalry and saw a huge smile on his face, as if he was watching a family scene. Viola held his questions and observations in check, waiting for the man to come back to reality, well Viola's reality. After a few minutes, the man noticed Viola watching him.

"My boy shot his first arrow today, and hit the target smack in the middle! His first arrow, can you believe it? My wife is having it framed!"

"That is remarkable indeed, I must have spent a few hundred before I even managed to get one to reach the target!"

"I know, I wasn't any better! But practice makes perfect!"

"I wanted to ask you something. But I do not want to sound too crazy."

"Ask away, Viola. Far from me to judge a person on a question, if judgement must be it is on the answer. Anyway, I have learned in this outfit that crazy is the norm!"

"Ok, here goes. While we were running, I was watching the countryside, and I suddenly noticed something strange. I was half-asleep. We were crossing a field of rocks, and a huge boulder was coming on the left side, and I was thinking that this would be a nice place for a sniper, but then the boulder disappeared! I looked around and I found it was now behind the column, five hundred feet behind us, to be exact! And then an orc stood up from behind the rock only to have his head cut by an axe that flew from nowhere and vanished as quickly! I was so shocked I almost fell off! Believe me, I woke up with a start! After that, I kept my eyes open, and this has repeated itself numerous times: in some circumstances, we were nearing a river, and we found ourselves on the other side without even touching the water; in other occasions, we had a steep hill ahead of us and suddenly it was replaced by a down hill scenery! In other occasions we were going along a long left curve, the river on our left in plain view, and it continued to curve in the same direction, but the river was on our right!"

"Let me ask, ok? I've not observed this, but I do not discard what your eyes have seen, Viola. You are of royal blood, and they have powers we have yet to discover!"

A few minutes later, the horseman whistled loudly, startling Viola.

"Well, my prince, you are right. Ian is playing with time and distance. While we run, too busy to hold to our horses, he has us jumping through space. We have covered in half a day two days of horse riding. We should reach the next settlement by sext! We have gained in three hours two and a half days of travel. Now I understand why Harold says the boy will be his death! Can you imagine the fine control this requires for horses not to fall while jumping through space? And I don't count the canines and foot soldiers. This is porting brought to its ultimate level of control. The orcs that were along the road were left in the dusting of their own blood. That you even saw one get killed is remarkable. It was Thorsten. He has been running a contest with his dad as to how many heads they would bring to the camp for lunch. I hear they are neck to neck in their bloody sport, if you allow the pun."

"Why the title, again?"

"Oh come on! Only a true prince of the blood would have been able to detect this manipulation of reality! None of the Equines, Canines or Atlanteans was able to do so! I had to talk to Ian himself to get the information! Lord Agramon himself was unable to detect it!"

"You know, I feel overwhelmed!"

"The reality of this is spreading like a wildfire in the army, prince, and it is overwhelming us as well. But we are used to shocking events! Seeing dragons that can crush a house or set a forest on fire with a breath has made us immune to most shocks. This is just another tiny one, that gives us even more respect for the Royal House of Atlantis."

The two men kept silent as the cavalry kept on a slow pace for a while. Then there was a horn blown in a specific pattern, and the cavalry pulled their swords out.

"Ian timed our arrival to the settlement so it would be exactly at sext, where the legion would be in the mess for lunch. There won't be many available at the gates!" said the soldier to Viola. Stay close to us, and nothing will happen to you. Keep that sword in its scabbard; you might hurt one of us, or worse, yourself, with it! We are not in the front line; we are the fifth cavalry unit to charge in the settlement. By then the cleanup should be completed. But we have orders! And there might still be some uncontrolled elements in the area, even after four of our units have scoured the place from top to bottom. When you hear the next horn call, hold tight, we are going to charge, and if you believe the run was fast, you have seen nothing!"

Viola nodded and relaxed, trying to recover the feeling of unity he had with his horse during the time he had almost fallen asleep. Suddenly, the horn blasted and he found himself carried forward at a speed he thought impossible. Trees blurred, dust rose from the road, and then the settlement appeared at a turn, below the charging column. The doors were closed! He was about to panic when he heard a tremendous explosion, and saw a Hammer smash into the door, reducing the entire wood palisade to flying shrapnel and demolishing a building that stood in the middle of the central place. He remembered this was the only stone building of the entire settlement, the governor's fort and prison. As his eyes widened, he saw the Hammer hit the building repeatedly, and boulders that made the masonry explode on impact. By the time he reached what was left of the palisade, he saw a huge gap in the ten-foot thick wall and legionnaires, elves and wolves quickly taking the place, with roars of fury and blood-curling growls. Viola, for all his living in the army, had never seen such a furious assault, and much less such a bloody mess. The defenders were overwhelmed, and only a few pockets of resistance remained by the time Viola was with the unit in the settlement. He noticed his unit stayed back, well out of range of a stray arrow. He felt sorry for these men, reduced to babysitting him.

As he rode with the unit in the settlement, he saw the little blond boy that had been his mentor fight a man armed with an impressive sword. A cold sweat came over him: he knew that man! That was one of the most dangerous man he had ever seen in a fight, and the man had a reputation for dirty fighting. He had seen him kill people with an evil pleasure. Viola roared with rage and pulled his sword, literally overriding Harp's control of the horse, and charged! The sound of the charging horse attracted the man's attention and he turned his attention to the horse's rider, neglecting the boy. Viola stretched on his horse, face right on the neck, and took a swipe at the redheaded man, who brought his sword up to deflect the blade coming for his neck. The blades met, and the giant man's sword, of lesser quality and badly maintained, broke at the guard. The young boy, which had instinctively backed away from the charging horse, took the opportunity to throw a knife at the man, cutting his spinal cord and air flow cleanly as the blade slid neatly between two vertebras, sticking out from the front. The man's eyes opened in shock as he fell, dead before hitting the pavement.

"Prince Viola! What mosquito bit your ass to run charging like that?" hollered the man who had been talking to him all morning. "I thought I had it made clear you were to stay put!"

Viola didn't even look back and rode on the dead corpse with his horse, directing it to crush the man's skull with his front hoofs.

"Justice is done, bastard!" he growled, loud enough and with such hatred that the others backed away from him. His grey eyes flashed with fury as he spit on the bloody pulp that was in the middle of the street. He then put his sword back in the scabbard, and turned to look at the boy.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"Yes, I was playing with him, too bad you killed the fun!"

"That man was not a game, he was a certified mass murderer. Treachery was his game."

"I know, I read his intentions in his mind. He was planning to play dead and take me by surprise as I turned my back on him. His play would have been his last."

"Why did you disobey the instructions given to you so clearly, Viola? Had things turned out differently, we would all have committed suicide rather then live with the shame of failure!"

"I had to do something, anything! That man killed so many innocents, some of which were my friends! Justice called for action, and nothing else mattered! Had he been in the midst of a thousand orcs, I would have charged nonetheless! Better death then to let this man live!" replied Viola.

"Damn it! Not only are you of royal blood, but you also suffer from their hot temper! Harp butchered the Diviners in Riverside to such a point even scavengers stayed away from the mess! Now we are supposed to babysit you, and you prove to be as ill tempered as they are! May Gaia have pity on us!"

Just then Ian and Silver Moon materialised within the group.

"Viola, Harp is expecting you at the royal table, all affairs ceasing! He is pissed! You have some explaining to do! He was handling the horse when you kicked him out of Pokawonka's mind. He has a searing headache for it! Guys, relax, we have to consolidate the control of this settlement, and then Paschal and I will move everyone out to Thebes. And do not worry; you did what was expected of you today. No blame will come your way for Viola's actions. Tomorrow morning, we leave an hour after prime for the next settlement. Dismissed! Viola, ride with me!" The last command left no place for argument.

***

The two princes walked to a retired area of the settlement, a bit less seedy then the rest. There, Ian jumped off Silver Moon, and Viola dismounted with a lot less grace, but without falling. He petted his horse affectionately, and asked for a bundle of carrots, which he generously gave to his horse, while a groom got a bucket of wheat and a couple of buckets of water. While the horse ate, Viola eyed the other horsemen around him and followed their procedure in untying the saddle, removing the bridle and the bit, petting the horse on its nose. He noticed the horsemen take a brush and rub down their mount; so he did the same, following their lead. Ian had been watching Viola, and he had to admit the man had poise. He was going to get his ass chewed by Harp and he acted as if nothing was going to happen shortly. He watched Viola inspect the straps, stirrups, bit and bridles carefully, asking questions as to what to look for, and then put and rub the oil that kept the straps supple and soft. Pokawonka did not move a muscle during the entire process and followed Viola's every move carefully. Once everything was done, Viola inspected the hoofs, removed a few bits of dirt and rock that had managed to stick to the hoofs. Then Viola followed the other horsemen to the corral and released his horse with a gentle pat on his neck.

"We have spent a good day together, Pokawonka. I will be expecting to ride you tomorrow, if you let me." The horse neighed and shook its head. "Ok, I will call you tomorrow."

Ian followed the exchange, pleased that the prince had found another one of his powers so quickly. Necessity really drives people to stretch their limits, he thought. Ian then led Viola to Harp, Paschal, and Sitar, who were sitting at the end of a table with Enron, Typhoon and Thorsten. Their arrival stopped an animated discussion. Harp looked at Viola, fire in his eyes.

"You took your time to come!" he said, icily.

"I had to take care of my mount. You could wait, it could not!" replied Viola, not really intimidated by Harp one bit. "What is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

The calm demeanour of Viola in front of an evidently furious Harp took the princes by surprise. That was going to be quite a show!

"What I want to talk about, he says!" exploded a furious Harp. "I'll tell you what I want to talk about! You unceremoniously kicked me out of the horse's mind! You did it with such force I still have problems focussing! That's what I want to talk to you about! It's just not something that is done!"

"I don't care if it is done or not! I had a man to kill, and nothing, read my lips, nothing, would have stood in my way, neither you nor God! I needed the horse, and I took the horse! Got it?"

"I got it for sure. I had Paschal get me an extract of codeine from Thebes and believe me that drug tastes foul. It is the only way I can function. Hopefully, tomorrow I will be back to normal. Meanwhile Sitar and Paschal will have to do the population move, I'm too out of it to do anything safely."

"Who was that man that triggered such a rage you managed to override Harp's control over the horse?" asked Sitar.

"The man is, or rather was, one of the governor's handyman, known for his savagery and inhumane treatment of both prisoners and civilians. He had killed in the most atrocious way some of my best friends, while I was stationed here. When I saw him, I lost all sense of restraint and charged without regard for instructions, the fact that I did not have prior knowledge of horse riding or the use of a sword in those conditions. I had only one objective in mind: kill him or die trying! Nothing else mattered, nothing else matters. You can holler, yell, complain as much as you want Harp; if I had to redo it, I would in a heart beat!"

"I see. Harp, he is our brother, and I remember a four-year old biting a legionnaire so hard we thought we would have to use a crowbar to open his jaws. He has our temper, and we are ill placed to blame him for it!"

Harp looked at Sitar, furious. "He was attacking you!"

"Yes indeed, he was, and you acted with the same blind fury Viola just showed. We have no reason to expect anything different from him."

"And I carry the teeth marks to prove Sitar's statement," commented a Centurion that had been listening from not too far away, eliciting a roar of laughter from the legionnaires that were stationed around the table. "They are deep enough to mould you a new set of dentures, Harp!" completed the Centurion, to another explosion of hilarity. "My wife married me because of that trophy!"

"She likes to bite?" asked Harp, looking at the Centurion for the first time.

"Oh no! Anybody can get a tattoo, even if you discourage it; but a complete rack of teeth mark from you, prince, is unique! Some people claim they sit on their fortune; for me it's true!"

Harp began laughing then winced. "Don't make me laugh, guys. It's painful with a headache!"

"Viola, sit with us and enjoy lunch. We have not been able to talk much since we discovered whom you were, and I would like to remedy this situation," said Sitar as he invited the young man to sit beside him. Ian moved to sit in front of Viola, across the table, as he was as curious as his brother about Viola and his life.

"First, Viola," began Ian, "I hope you are at ease with us, notwithstanding the dressing-down Harp gave you. It's the first time I see Harp cut short by anybody."

"Except you, Ian, except you! That blowout in Riverside was to behold! Unfortunately, Viola's unit was still in the mountains above the city when things occurred."

"You better check the weather before pointing at tempers, my dear Enron! You melted an entire lake of ice, created a fog bank that required my intervention to lift, all this over a prick trying to kill you," replied Harp, defending Ian.

Viola looked at the two protagonists, wondering in what kind of nuthouse he had landed.

"See what kind of Liege Lords I have to put up with," replied Thorsten, smiling, clearly indicating he understood Viola's thought process.

"Anyway, not only do you have our temper, Viola, you also seem to have quite a powerful mind of your own. First, you notice I manipulate space and time to speed the progression of the legions, and then you take control of your horse. I also observed you with the warhorse, you have already bonded with her, and you can unconsciously communicate with her. That is the first step leading to direct, explicit, and conscious exchange with your mount. And you did all this in a single day. This is remarkable, Viola. Welcome into this family of nutcases!"

"Ok, well, I still have problems with all this, but the cavalryman I talked most of the morning told me he had trouble adjusting and he had been around since day one, so I do not despair of feeling better about it at some point. I'd like to ask a few questions of my own?"

"Go ahead."

"Well, I saw the arrival here and I don't understand what happened?"

"That was dad and Thorsten," replied, laconic, Ian.

"That answer does not explain anything!"

"Oh, my bad! Harold and Thorsten had a Hammer throwing competition, and the score was the extent of damage done by each hit. Thorsten destroyed the wood door and palisade, but dad's hammer hit the governor's house first, bringing down a good segment of the northern wall. Then it was a competition as to who could destroy the most of the building."

"Who won?"

"Dad. His Hammer is the Hammer of Thor, while Thorsten's is a baby version of the original in Thor's possession."

"How come they never seem to run out of hammers?"

"The Hammers destroy their target and rematerialise in their hand as soon as the target is hit."

"Isn't this dangerous? While the hammer is off to hit their target, they are unarmed!"

The comment brought a huge roar of laughter from the table.

"What did I say?"

"Viola, your concern is legitimate, but the Hammers travel so fast that people can't see them move. Plus, dad has his shield, and Thorsten has his axe; these are only the visible tiny tips of the whole arsenal at their disposal. Dad carries a stave he made after giving his old one away; plus he carries a blade we took from an orc general that, if of lesser quality then those he makes, is still a remarkable make. Dad also carries a bow and quiver of arrows and has been giving cold sweats to the Elves in speed and precision with it. So, do not worry, unarmed he is not, ever. And he can shift shape. His dragon form can do a lot of damage, believe me."

Viola ate silently, digesting all the information he had been given so freely. Once the meal was over he resumed his questioning, taking the princes by surprise.

"First, you keep refering to Harold as dad. Can you explain?"

"We were adopted by him, as was Paschal. Ian and now Alexander, in the care of the wolves at the den in Thebes, are his and mom's only real biological sons. He treats us no differently then he treats Ian or Alexander."

"Then why are you Ian's protectors? That sounds like servitude to my ears."

"It is we that decided, of common accord, to serve, Viola. It was not imposed. We decided to protect Ian the day he was born, and we have been holding that station with pride."

Viola took the time to eat his dessert to digest that last bit of information before asking his next question.

"Do you think he would adopt me and, if we find the others, will he extend that to them as well? I had hoped to one day make it back to the family farm but now I know dad is dead, the farm a burned out shell, and I have only you as family."

"I am sure this is on his mind. He just wants to wait for you and the others to feel at ease with him and us. It is easy for him to proclaim a decree of adoption. Anyway, for the legions, you are already part of the family."

"I noticed!" replied Viola, dejectedly. "I get prince this, prince that all day long and I look around to find the prince before it comes back to me it's me they are referring to!"

"We all hate titles, it seems!" replied Harp. "It's probably another family trait. You will make headway about this. I am sure the cavalry will be the first to drop the prince title."

"I've already managed to convince one horseman to drop it, but it is hard for him. He falls back into the prince routine the moment he is stressed!"

"That will pass."

"You think so, Harp? The man told me they use the title behind your backs, because they feel it is improper to do otherwise. Habits die hard!"

The roar of laughter around the table at Viola's comment brought home to the princes and kings how exact it had been. This brought a frown from the aforementioned royals, who discovered their men had sidestepped them on protocol!

***

Lunch over, table clean and food dispersed in the woods to feed the animals, Paschal and Sitar quickly dispatched the residents of the settlement to Thebes. Then the two princes joined Harp, who had kept company to Viola while this was done, and materialised a map of the next day's run. This time, Viola understood Ian's comments and interventions, as well as the reports of orc concentrations given by the dragon prince. Every step was planned meticulously, every jump, and every meeting with the opposing forces clearly detailed, from the sudden bombardment of an orc concentration along the road to forcing them to the river with a concerted forest fire, to the destruction of the settlement, the recovery of the farmers along the way, and the destruction of a small group of Hunters and Crocodile Priests trying to escape the orcs that were tracking them. Nothing was left to chance.

Repeated references to the need to bring animals to the arc or port plants to Eden brought questions to Viola's mind, which he resolved to ask at vespers, during the evening meal. For him the arc was a military roadway, and he could not understand why it would be necessary to bring animals there.

Another repeated comment ticked Viola. Everyone was refering to Riverside in the past tense; yet it was standing, not something gone and past. He chalked it down in his growing list of questions for the evening.

Viola had been so fascinated by the whole process, so taken by what was happening under his eyes he missed the gradual disappearance of the inhabitants of the settlement. It was only as the darkness fell and that he noticed the total absence of brawls between drunkards that he finally realized how silent and calm the village was. As he went to visit Pokawonka that he really noticed the change. That change, at least, he could explain, as he had heard reports done to Harp about the progress of the different stages of the transport to Thebes of the population. But it came as a shock how total the transfer was. There were no children, no soldiers, no women, and no men, other than Atlanteans. Then he noticed that even night birds were gone, as he heard not a single owl hoot in their nightly hunt. An occasional thunder flash was heard in the distance, which surprised him, given the sky was clear and he could see the stars.

Fires were lit, and the evening meal was quiet. Harp seemed to have recovered his aplomb, and was joking with the others as Viola ate his meal silently. Enron finally noticed the taciturn man and engaged conversation.

"You seem to be preoccupied, Viola. What is troubling you?"

"I have chalked up a whole scroll of questions, but I do not know where to start."

"How about starting with the first one?" replied Typhoon, as he swallowed the last piece of watermelon on his plate, "I really like this! Eating raw meat as a dragon is fun, but this is delicious!"

"Well, first, why do you need to bring animals to the arc? It's a road, I never heard it ate anything except shoes!"

"When we say we want to bring something to the Ark, A R K, we are talking about a refuge for animals, not a road," replied Sitar.

"Why a refuge for animals? They have survived quite well to our Ancients' stupidity, thank you!"

"That is because something terrible will happen, and we are the guardians of bio-diversity, of life, and we must protect as many members of each species we can. The Ark project is running full steam, and we are discovering thousands of new and old species we thought had disappeared. The counterpart for the plants is the Eden project."

"Ok, that was the second question. And now I know where the owls have gone. How do you manage to know where the orcs are?"

"The dragons and Pegasuses do an aerial survey. The dragons, with their infrared eyes, can see the heat left by a column of orcs on the move, even at night, and right under the tree covers. The poor orcs stand out like little fireflies on the ground. We let them do their little travel, and when they stop, we know where they are. Just before we come within their reach they get a visit from our air force. The dragons drop boulders on them, the Fairies shoot them with their poisoned darts, and it makes them run in all directions, like an ant colony getting a good kick."

"What are those strange lights I see in the distance? The sky is clear, yet there are flashes of light?"

"Did you notice that Samson is absent? He is patrolling along the row of farms, preventing orcs from attacking them. His Trident comes in handy as it can shoot three independent beams of fire that burn the orcs to a crisp. The farmers can sleep on their two ears tonight."

"What about those few farmsteads we have crossed?"

"They are evacuated, and the farmers, their crops, and their animals are in Thebes."

"What happens to the farms, the fruit trees, and the new plantings that will live under the snow until spring?"

"Everything is moved and stored. We practice a scorched earth policy as we move. The orcs won't even have wild animals to eat. We move those too. Nothing is left behind, not even field mice."

"How do you plan to go back home if you find nothing to eat on your way back? You'll starve!"

"That's the best one! Do you ever notice what you eat, Viola? We create the food, we used to live off the land, but we decided it was easier to create food then carry it or hunt it, or worse, extort it from poor farmers at the tip of the blade. Anyway, the Breath of the Atom God contaminates most of the food in the area in a way or another. When we move the food, we clean it up and leave the contaminated grub behind for the orcs, who will be eating something they will pay for in the long run."

"How so?"

"The poor orcs will die a slow and painful death: stomach cancer! We discovered that from reading medical books of the Ancients. Before, we actually disposed of everything but we decided it was put to better use by leaving it behind for our enemies to get an indigestion on!" explained Harp, getting a bright smile from Viola for the dirty trick.

"Anyway, Viola, get to your tent, the lights out should be called shortly," commented Harold.

"Just one last question? What happened to Riverside? Everyone is refering to it in the past tense."

"From dust to dust. That is what happened to Riverside. The Orcs will find nothing on the island, absolutely nothing. Everything turned to sawdust or piles of rust or rock dust. The entire island is more polished then a baby's ass, and is exposed to the winter wind. If they do not rush across the water, which they cannot cross since we also disposed of the bridges, they will find nothing since the wind is currently blowing the piles into the river!"

"When you say you practice scorched earth policy, you mean business!" replied Viola as he got up to move to his tent, which he shared with Harp and the others.

***

The next morning came early and Viola was ready for another day. He had slept like a baby for the first time in years, thinking about his friends, avenged the day before. He quickly ate his breakfast, asked and got a dozen carrots for his mount, and proceeded to the field where he had left Pokawonka.

The mare saw him come and quickly headed his way, jumping the fence to reach him and the treats she could smell in his riding gloves. After greeting his mount with a lot of effusions and kind words, Viola gave her the treats, watered and fed her fresh oats, he found in the food reserve. Then he inserted the bit, saddled the horse and set the bridles. Once he was sure he had done his best, he called for a groom to inspect his setup.

The groom straightened the saddle, tightened the belly strap, explaining that the saddle would move otherwise and create burns; he then checked the bit and told him he needed to insert it beyond the last chewing teeth, right on the jawbone, otherwise the horse would have issues eating and chewing its food. The bridles also needed some tightening, and then all was set.

As Viola still had problems getting on the saddle, he asked for help, and the groom explained he could lower the stirrup on the climbing side to help in getting on and then he could adjust the length to his need once seated. He then demonstrated the method, which greatly eased Viola's ascension to the throne. As before, the groom explained the proper seating method and guided Viola in the art of positioning his body properly.

This time, Viola got an explanation in the art of holding reins, and how to use the knees to direct his horse if his hands were busy.

"Remember, a horse goes where it looks. To turn left, you turn its head left, to turn right, you turn its head right. It's simple. It is even easier to govern your horse if you merge with it. I heard you succeeded yesterday. Trust your instincts, trust your horse, and above all, stay calm. A horse feels a panicked rider and panics as well. Since we have at least half an hour before we start, practice all three methods."

Viola relaxed as he had done the previous day, and felt his mind slowly open up to the world. He gradually became aware of all the muscles under him, the breathing, and the heartbeat. To help, he closed his eyes and took deep breath. Suddenly, he heard a voice in his mind.

«So, what are we waiting for? I am getting bored here!»

«Pokawonka? Is that you?»

«It's certainly not Santa Claus. He used reindeer the fool!»

«Hey, it's only my second ride on a horse in my life! And my first explicit exchange with a horse ever! Please forgive me if I sound a bit surprised!»

«You have a way to sweeten reality! I know it's only your second ride! I felt all your mistakes yesterday! I hope you have learned something from your first trip on my back!»

«I hope so too! My ass was raw!»

«Fair's fair! Now, what do you want to do?»

«Let's walk back to the centurie I was with yesterday.»

«That suits me fine! The stallion on my left side was courting me, and I liked his maleness. He is healthy! I will mate him when I am in season, and I don't want him to forget me before then. Males are so fickle!»

«Hey, I'm a male!»

«So? From what Lord Agramon tells us, your species isn't better then ours!»

«Let's get going, we have a long time ahead of us to discuss differences between species concerning mating!»

Pokawonka took off at a canter for the centurie of her suitor, all the time telling Viola what to do and not to do at this speed. The prince got a lesson in equitation from the perspective of the horse, which gave a new light to the relationship between master and student, but also gave him even more respect for the patience of the mare.

The arrival of Viola on his horse was saluted with a number of grins and he took his place amongst the unit, finding his place beside his friend, as Pokawonka followed her nose to the poor stallion she had decided to mate!