Chapter 36 Faron
FARON
S everal hundred feet of barren, rocky land separated the Frostlash Forest and the sudden, sharp rise of the Crowning Mountains.
Nestled against those gray spires loomed the Grand Castle of Kanth.
Its walls were steep, its spires tall and pointed.
Stained glass covered the windows, and across the front fluttered an enormous crimson banner.
Embroidered in gold was the Silvein royal crest, a mining pick whose handle morphed into the shape of a blue-pine tree.
And fully surrounding the castle walls was an entire second city.
“I think we found Kanth’s survivors,” Faron said. His tone was grim and had been since they discovered the foul creatures tainted with radiance.
“But why here?” Sariel asked as Isabelle ordered her army to halt at the forest’s edge.
The entire way they had battled strange beasts, which thankfully never posed much of a threat when confronted by prepared soldiers.
This strange town, however, built of dilapidated homes, hastily and poorly constructed, gave Isabelle pause.
“It’s like half the nation packed up and moved to live beside the castle, and built what shelter they could,” Faron said.
Iris whined at his feet, and he patted her head.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I won’t make you go anywhere near there if you do not wish it.”
Faron and Sariel closed their eyes and then reopened them with the faint light of stars glowing within. With vision significantly enhanced, they observed this strange town.
Most homes were barely more than cut boards placed in vaguely square and triangular shapes.
Faron caught sight of a small well, so a village had likely existed here before it swelled to such gargantuan size.
People milled about the gaps between buildings, while others peered out from windows and doors.
At least fifteen thousand people, Faron guessed, if not more.
All of them shone with the faint light of radiance.
“They are tainted,” Sariel said.
Faron wished he could disagree.
“How badly, though?” he asked. “They still seem human.”
“For now.”
It did not take long to confirm such fears.
The people’s flesh was extremely pale, far beyond what might be justified by their environs.
Many sported little feathers in their hair, while others walked on legs that resembled tree bark.
The more he looked, the more things Faron saw wrong.
Necks that stretched a bit too far. Children hanging upside down from windows with no visible way to support themselves.
And then there were the guards patrolling the place.
All of them bore a second set of arms underneath their first. They were gloved and wrapped in cloth to hide their flesh, but Faron suspected it would look anything but human.
“Come with me,” Sariel said, dismissing the blessing from his eyes. “We must speak with the queen.”
As expected, Isabelle was busy in her command tent, fielding questions of logistics, where to position armies, where to dig latrine trenches, and of course, what to do with the strange, sprawling town.
Isabelle noted the brothers’ arrival but let the conversations play out for several more minutes before interrupting.
“I have a task I must discuss with the Godsight brothers,” she told those with her. “Please, give me a moment with them.”
Plenty of grumbling, but at least the leaders were getting used to it at this point. Faron entered the tent and crossed his arms.
“We are here,” he said.
Isabelle’s shoulders sagged now they were alone, and she did not even pretend to smile.
“I trust you have looked out upon Stone’s Refuge?” she asked.
“You mean the town about the castle?”
“Indeed. My father said it was a small place of maybe a thousand workers, servants, and traders. Clearly it has swelled far beyond its original size.” She hesitated. “Tell me, is it as dire as you feared?”
“Worse,” Sariel said. “I suspect each and every person here has been claimed by the curse that has overtaken Kanth.”
“So they’re beasts, too, like those that assaulted us in the woods?”
“Akin to them,” Faron said. “But not quite. They don’t seem as far gone, but it is only a matter of time.”
“And should you wonder, they cannot be saved,” Sariel added. “There are but two fates awaiting them. Either they die by our hands, or they become creatures as strange and twisted as those we have already faced.”
Isabelle approached the far side of her tent, and she peeled back one of the flaps. Beyond was the castle, and the surrounding town.
“You speak so callously about thousands of lives,” she said. “As if ending them would be such a simple thing.”
“Their lives are already ended,” Faron said, trying to break the news as gently as he could. “They are suffering, Isabelle. These forms they take, you saw them. It is unnatural and causes them great pain.”
Isabelle closed the flap. Resolve hardened in her gaze.
“I know. But I do not wish to ever make such a decision callously. They are citizens of a sovereign nation, even if I would see them join my protectorate instead of remaining yoked to the Silvein family.”
As difficult as the future loomed, Faron was heartened by her hesitation. Monsters, these people were monsters, and yet she still cared. He could not have chosen a better queen to rule Kaus once the Astral Kingdom fell.
“Some would see your compassion as a virtue,” Sariel said, and he pointedly glanced Faron’s way. “But do not let it become a chink in your armor. This must be done, and my sword is ready to lead the culling.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “There is a task I would have you complete, if you are willing. You two are my best fighters, and more importantly, you seem the least disturbed by the horrors around us.”
She cast a wary gaze Faron’s way.
“There are things I must admit to you, Faron. I was born here, in Kanth, not in Doremy. My adoptive father smuggled me out of the castle when I was a babe, and he has long warned me of the depravity of King Laurence and Queen Alise. He also told me of the hidden tunnel he used to escape the castle. I would have you two use that same tunnel while my army distracts those within by burning Stone’s Refuge. ”
“You would have us enter alone?” Faron asked.
“I would,” she said. “If outside is any indication, I fear what is within those castle walls. I… I would spare my soldiers those sights. You need not conquer the entire castle on your own, only judge the status within. If it is beyond salvation, then I will not bother with a siege. By your judgment, I will burn the castle to the ground and leave Kanth a barren land of ash and graves.”
“And what of your vengeance against King and Queen Silvein?” Sariel asked softly.
“Will I not have found it?” Isabelle asked. “Just so long as they are dead, I will know peace. Do not think me so bloodthirsty as to need it done by my hands.”
“I am willing,” Faron said, and looked to his brother despite knowing the answer already. No other sibling was as ruthless in removing radiance’s touch from humanity.
“So be it,” Sariel said. “These monsters must have their end. Where is this hidden entrance?”
The army of the protectorate marched upon Stone’s Refuge. Hundreds among their ranks carried torches. With blade they would slay the defenders. With fire they would cleanse the corruption.
Faron, Sariel, and Iris kept to the road leading to the drawbridge, their destination close to the castle walls.
They watched from afar as the forces reached the outer edges of the swollen, dilapidated town.
If Kanth possessed an army, it was either isolated within the castle or a pitiful fraction of what it was rumored to have once possessed.
A few hundred guards came rushing to form a wall, and they were a disturbing sight, their extra limbs flailing and waving about.
Isabelle kept the march steady and controlled. Her army formed an unbroken wall of swords and shields. No one would escape the purge.
The battle ended in moments. The torches reached the first homes. Amid the smoke and fire, the inhabitants screamed and fled. They were as gruesome a sight as Faron had feared.
“What happened here?” he wondered as Stone’s Refuge steadily burned.
“I am hoping to find that answer inside,” Sariel said. “They’ve passed by the crypt. Let’s go.”
Faron knelt down beside Iris, and he gently put his hand atop one of her shoulders.
“Stay free of all this,” he told her. “The castle is no place for you, nor is that needed purge. Wait out here, all right?”
The coyote glanced behind her at the swelling fires and whined.
“I know,” he said, and scratched behind her ear. “I don’t like it, either.”
As requested, she stayed behind on the road.
Alone, the brothers headed into the thickening smoke, collapsing homes, and corpse-choked streets of Stone’s Refuge.
It was not hard to find their destination.
Most of the buildings were cut from the nearby blue pines, and so the stone crypt stood out among them, as did the copper statue of Leliel atop it, her wings spread high and her hands wide, the eyes upon her wrists forever open.
“Sneaking alone into a castle,” Faron said, unable to keep the bitterness from his voice as they paused at the entrance. “Does it remind you of Lossleaf?”
“Do you still resent me for that?” Sariel asked.
“I don’t know,” Faron answered truthfully. “But I have no desire to see it done again.”
“And yet here we are,” Sariel said as they watched the destruction of Stone’s Refuge all around them.
“Rumors will spread of Isabelle’s cruelty, and of her burning thousands of innocent people who came to the Grand Castle in search of safety.
It will not matter if we insist they were monsters.
No one will believe the truth. The people will assume it a lie meant to wash away the sin of Isabelle’s cruelty. ”