There was no point talking more about my father. We knew nothing, could find out nothing, unless I wanted to go ask my uncle. “Can the blade be repaired?” I asked, changing the subject.
Woltan nodded. “We will send one of our smiths with you, to the Kriek, to try to repair the blade. We need all the blades we can find. Already the dark lord has sent a small force our way. They will be here soon.”
“How soon?”
“Less than two weeks. More than three days. I can’t tell with more certainty.”
“What weapons does the Dark Lord dispose of?”
Woltan shrugged. “We don’t know nearly as much as we would like to know. He has many demons and imps, and we hear he has a great staff, that breaks enemies apart with one blow. We can only imagine some major demon imprisoned inside the staff. Demons are very powerful but they have none of the subtlety and intelligence of a pixie. They have none of the dexterity either; they are rather clumsy. But they have strength…”
“Which I don’t at the moment,” I said.
Kara nodded. “We have been waiting for you to get better, Anders. I wanted to come for you, but Woltan insisted you yourself would know when you could leave that room. We need you. Woltan has agreed to accompany us to the Kriek council, where the book of Id will be read. We Kriek will then come to the aid of this city, and attack the dark lord’s expedition from the back, as those remaining defend it from the front. Will you come with us?”
I thought for a moment. They needed me, and I needed them. Without them, I had no hope of freeing my parents. “What about my parents?”
Kara frowned. “They will have to stay. Jona will look after them — we can’t move them until they are free.”
I looked away, then nodded. “They will not be free until I can reach whoever did this, and defeat him. And to do that I need to come with you. I need the knowledge of the Kriek and in the Book of Id.”
Kara nodded. “The question is how. I don’t think we have time to walk, and the forest is not secure. We have no mounts either. Kalle and I can make a gateway, but without your help, I’m not sure we can get Woltan and the smith through. Do you think you are strong enough?”
He is strong enough. But I will bring him more strength. You will need it in the land of Kriek. I will be there in a moment, and Kalle, as well; he brings the smith.
I looked around at everyone. They were all staring at me. “Elias. Marga’s nephew. But we can’t take him.”
You will take me because I’m needed. And I will go because I must. I have spoken with my aunt’s spirit, and she gives me her blessing, Anders Tomason. You will not stand in the way of fate, nor in the way of my vengeance.
Woltan looked very frustrated. “I’m afraid Elias is right. Young as he is, I have never seen anyone as powerful. It is his right to seek vengeance, no matter what his age. No one has taken that right for centuries; we have lived here in peace. But the boy knows the law; he feels it here vibrating in the walls of the city.”
I did not know what to think. First I’d caused Elias to lose his aunt, and now I’d take him on a trip into who knew what dangers? But Woltan was right, as much as it upset me — and it wasn’t safe to stay here either. The world was in motion, and there was no way for anyone to stay still, not even for a boy who had just lost his aunt, not even for a young man whose parents had been put into eternal sleep.
I sighed. I felt weary, a weariness so deep that I felt sure it would never go away. “What must be done will be done, I guess.”
Kara nodded. “Kalle will help me make the gateway, but then he will stay here to help with the battle preparations. I can contact him at will.”
Then Elias was running through the door, with Kalle and the smith walking in behind him. I was afraid to look the boy in the eye but he came right up to me and hugged me. “I am glad to see you’re better, Anders.”
“I’m so sorry, Elias.”
“Your apology is meaningless.”
I didn’t know what to say. I looked at him in astonishment.
“It wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, except for a certain evil uncle of yours. But your apology is accepted, anyway.”
I looked at the boy who was so powerful and so adult in his speech. “Have you talked to your parents? To your cousin?”
The whole of this city knows of my departure. My parents are upset, but they choose to understand. My cousin, your friend Karsten, is bitter; like you he had been lonely, and the loss of his mother, his cousin and his friend is too great for him to deal with; and so he works extra hours baking bread.
Woltan spoke then. “Karsten shall not lose you, Elias, nor Anders here. We will come back to defend this city and defeat its invaders.” Then Woltan froze. Someone else had just walked into the room, and he had a bag packed beside him.
Karsten stood there looking at us all. “You will all need to eat, won’t you?” He cracked a smile. No one laughed, and his face hardened. “I claim my bloodright. I will come along, to seek vengeance for the death of my mother. I am not as powerful as my cousin Elias, here, but I am trained in combat, and in spellwork. And I can fry eggs on a fire, if need be.”
“You are not a fighter, Karsten,” I said, looking to Woltan for support. “You’re a baker and cook. And a great one, at that.”
“Thoug