Chapter 108: A Hard Winter

Chapter 108: A Hard Winter

The only good thing about the snows was that it brought the goblin raids to a halt, Jordan decided. It wasnt until later that he learned that was only the case because of their Templar. Hed disappeared for three days after the first fall of fresh powder, and it was only after hed been back for a few weeks that he told one of the other warriors the story after theyd been drinking; it was so unbelievable that the way it spread around the camp like wildfire had to be a form of mockery, but Jordan believed it.

Brother Faerbar had walked out alone into the snow after the raid and used the freshly fallen snow to track the vermin back to their lair before spending days slaughtering every last monster he could find. It was hard not to imagine the old man drenched in the green blood of his enemies, though it was more than a little disturbing.

When Jordan finally cornered the older man and asked him about it and why he didnt ask for help, the Templar simply shrugged. It was my penance, he answered. Nothing more than that.

II understand what youre saying, Jordan answered, trying not to blow up at the obstinate old man who was so different from the Paragon that hed met on that dark road a few weeks ago. The light still burned in the mans eyes, of course, but in his heart, it seemed to have gone out. But we need you here, training the next generation of warriors and protecting us should the read rise up once more. If you were to die in some hole

I was stabbed a hundred times in the foul pit, and now only the faintest scars remain, the Templar answered with nothing but scorn, Unlike the men I led into battle. It seems that I shall not have the privilege of joining the honored dead anytime soon.

Maybe so, Jordan said, trying to comfort him, But then your God works in mysterious ways; perhaps theres a reason that

Jordans words trailed off as Broth Farbaer turned on his heel and left him standing there. My god is dead, he spat. Theres no plan for any of this anymore.

Encounters like that made it hard to keep hope alive in Sedgim Manor, but Jordan did his best. Hed stopped wearing his mage robes and switched back to wearing the clothing of his brothers to seem more familiar, and hed begun taking daily walks to try to put his remaining subjects at ease, but the results of those efforts could be called mixed, at best.

A malaise gripped the whole area as the weather deteriorated. Some feared starvation and other zombies or goblins, but everyone feared something. That was sensible to Jordan. The world had never been more fearful, and he could not sleep more than a night or two in a row without dreaming of that terrible zombie dragon and the way that it had gone insane and ripped itself to pieces.

Shortly before the midwinter feast that would be remarkably spartan this year, a group of starving bandits tried to seize the grounds by force. He sent most of the mob fleeing with a few thunderbolts while a few of their friends lay steaming in the snow. He might not be able to do much to fend off an army of Templars or zombies, but a superstitious mob was another story.

No, by all accounts, despite their misery, they lived in a winter wonderland compared to the rest of the region. So, Jordan would definitely try to hold the fort here as long as possible. As things stood, they were partway between the world going completely insane and the world ending, and though he prayed for the best for his family, just now, he wanted no part of the wider world. In the spring, maybe he would work with some of the other local lords to gather some kind of collective defense, but that was as far as he planned to venture until things started to make sense.

It started with one of Frankos sons. Markez was certain of it. Hed seen the gleam in young Kells eyes early that morning when hed gotten up to go ice fishing. It wasnt very productive, and most days, he didnt catch much, but the little shack hed cobbled together at the very end of the longest pier was a good place to catch a nap and find some peace and quiet in the madhouse that was the mages manor.

Even with servants, only twenty or thirty people had probably lived here before this, and now it was bulging at the seams with almost seventy men, women, and children, with a serious emphasis on the latter. His mission of mercy upriver had saved almost two dozen of the little rug rats, and though he didnt regret it one bit, that didnt mean that he liked the energetic little bastards any more than he had when he was on the stony shore.

The gleam was something new, though. It wasnt quite the glow that the crazed Templar had. That mans eyes always radiated light. It was a subtle enough effect in the daytime, but at night, it was just plain creepy, and Markez avoided him whenever he could once it was dark out.

And now it was spreading. How was that possible? He had no idea, but instead of dashing out young Kells brains with a piece of firewood, he went and got the mage. He didnt like talking to mages either, of course, but better him than the other guy. He might have sold his soul to the dark powers for his magic, but at least he didnt look at you with a gaze of constant judgment.

The mage had no answers, though. It was all just praise for having noticed, and he promised to keep him informed after hed discussed the matter with Brother Faerbar. None of that had stopped that light from spreading, though. First, it jumped to his brother Mason and then to little Gina.

It was contagious, is what it was. By the time the first snows began to melt, half of the children had been infected by it, and no one seemed to care! As far as he was concerned, it was a spiritual plague. To the Templar, it had been a welcome sign of redemption. A rebirth, hed called it, but that just made Markez laugh.

Its disturbing, is what it is, he said, talking to the river through the little hole in the ice as he counted down the days until it started to crack up. He didnt care how many people called it a miracle. To Markez, those looks just made him regret not nipping it in the bud before it started to spread. I didnt work so hard and save all those little lives just so they could join the cult of some dead god.

He spent as much time as possible out here now, worried that if he spent too much time around the infected ones, hed wake up one morning to find his eyes glowing too.

No sir, he told himself. Just as soon as the ice breaks up, me and anyone else that hadnt drunk too deep of the Holy Mans poisonous words - were taking my ship and getting out of here and going just as far away as we can.