Sword of Spirit (Salvation of Solandeus) Read online

  Sword of Spirit

  By David J. VanBergen Jr.

  Copyright © 2013 David J. VanBergen Jr.

  Edited by DH Bryan

  Cover illustration by David Ogilvie

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Except for review quotes, this book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the written consent of the author.

  This story is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual people, places, or events is purely coincidental.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Epilogue

  In the year of our Lord 1200, a child will be birthed on the darkest night. He will be born to the house of kings and carry the potential to save the kingdom from generations of suffering. To fulfill his destiny and save his people, he must reassemble the Armor of God and learn to harness its power.

  - Unknown Prophet

  Chapter 1

  Mat awoke suddenly as he sensed somebody in his room. In one fluid motion, he rolled out of bed, drew his sword, and prepared to face the intruder.

  It was completely dark outside and still two or three hours until sunrise, but his vision was almost as good in complete darkness as it was in full daylight. He slowly looked around, ready to defend himself from attack. After scanning the whole room but seeing no one in the dark, he flipped open the door on the shuttered lantern next to the bed and filled the room with light. To his surprise, he was the only one in the room.

  He stood there between the bed and the door for a minute surveying the room. Against the opposite wall was a small table with two chairs. In the far right corner was a stand with a basin of water on it.

  On the wall to the right was a window that looked out onto the street. The window was open, but he had left it that way because it was unseasonably warm. His second floor room had no balcony, so no one could have come in through the window and left again without a ladder. There was nowhere in the room to hide and his search did not reveal any hidden intruders.

  Mathias Octavia Vanderwal had been staying in the Roaring Dragon since arriving in Danton a week before. It was the town’s nicest inn and was where anyone who could afford it stayed. He had made the two-day trip the day after his 17th birthday and was still deciding where to go next. His mother’s sister was the queen so he was royalty, but he didn’t have any direct line to the throne. He was the third son in his immediate family, which removed him even further from any possible ruling responsibility. As such, he was free to find his own purpose in life, and that is exactly what this trip was all about.

  To all outward appearances, Mat, as most people knew him, was nondescript. He was average height; physically fit but not overly muscular or slender; brown hair and eyes. In short, there was nothing visible to make him standout in a crowd, but he was far from normal.

  At an early age, Mat had learned he understood people, animals, and nature in general better than anybody else he knew. He could sense what people were thinking, he could communicate with animals in ways nobody else could, and he knew when something in nature wasn’t quite right and understood how to make it better. He couldn’t explain how he knew, but it had always been that way for him.

  His ability to sense other people’s thoughts and feelings made him an excellent swordsman, but he had no love for violence. When training, he could defeat any sword master he faced, but he never sought out combat outside the training ring. His ability to sense other people also meant he was almost never caught by surprise, and, while he carried a sword and would defend himself if attacked, violence was always the last option.

  After searching the room, he walked to the water basin and splashed some water in his face to clear his senses, but he was unable to shake the feeling that somebody had been in his room. He had always been able to sense the presence of other people – especially those who meant to cause him harm. It had allowed him to play many practical jokes on his brothers who used to try to sneak up on him and had enabled him to escape countless tea parties with his two younger sisters. His ability to sense other people was simply never wrong and he just couldn’t accept that it had been wrong this time.

  As he walked back to his bed, he glanced at his equipment on the floor in the corner and noticed something that would change his life in ways he never could have anticipated.

  Lying on top of his equipment was the finest pair of bracers he had ever seen. They were made of black leather with steel plates to provide protection. The steel plates were intricately woven into the leather, it was almost as if the leather had formed around them.

  From across the room he could sense their power. He knew that if he put them on, his life would never be the same, but didn’t know if that was a good thing or not. Before he made that decision, he had to find out where they came from.

  Despite the fact that he had gotten very little sleep before being suddenly awakened, Mat was unable to go back to sleep. He spent the rest of the night at the small table examining the bracers and wondering who left them for him, why they left them, and what he was going to do with them. As he sat there, he couldn’t help but think that these bracers were part of God’s purpose for him; that both excited and terrified him.

  Chapter 2

  Persephonie looked up at the lighted window across the street on the second floor. She stood in a dark alley directly across from the inn, the hood of her cloak covering her face, berating herself internally for being careless enough to almost get caught in that room. She didn’t regret what she had done but knew she would have to be more careful in the future.

  What she didn’t understand was how he sensed her presence. She was sure she had been completely silent, and she was using her Druid powers to further mask her presence, but he still sensed her and almost caught her in his room. She was forbidden from having contact with the young nobleman, but in her heart she knew that she had to do something to help him find his destiny. She could justify her efforts to herself as long as she didn’t have direct contact with him. Hopefully that would keep her from being banished from the Druid Order.

  After finding the prophecy about the dark days to come and the potential savior, she had spent years researching it, cross-referencing it with other prophecies, and ultimately tracing the subject of prophecy to this young man – Mathias Vanderwall. As she stood there watching the window expecting him to look out and find her hiding in the shadows, she repeated the prophecy silently to herself.

  In the year of our Lord 1200, a child will be birthed on the darkest night. He will be born to the house of kings and carry the potential to save the kingdom from generations of suffering. To fulfill his destiny and save his people, he must reassemble the Armor of God and learn to harness its power.

  There were many supporting prophecies and some that disputed this one, but she knew in her heart this one was true. Finding Mat, as she learned he was called, had been the easy part. Al
l she had to do was figure out that the darkest night was the longest night of the year, the winter solstice, and find the child born to the royal family on that night. The hard part was finding information on the Armor of God. There was almost no mention of it in any written records and she had gotten extremely lucky to find the Bracers of Righteous Might. Unfortunately, she had no more leads and had to hope that the young man in the prophecy would be able to figure out what to do once he had the bracers.

  Now that she had found Mat and delivered the bracers, she was even more convinced that what she was doing was right. She was determined to follow him to help him find his destiny and fulfill the prophecy. The hard part was going to be helping him without ever making direct contact.

  Chapter 3

  After waking in the middle of the night, sensing someone but finding only the mysterious set of bracers, Mat was not able to get any more sleep. As the sun rose, he grabbed his gear and headed to the local training grounds where he set up a series of archery targets and began to practice.

  Weapons training was something that always helped Mat focus. By completely focusing on the training, his subconscious mind could work through problems in the background. He frequently found that he had the answer to a particularly challenging problem after training without consciously thinking about it. He hoped that would be the case this morning because he had no idea what to do about the intrusion into his room and the mysterious armor.

  Archery was Mat’s favorite form of weapons training. In fact, he loved every aspect of it from creating the bow to fletching the arrows to sending arrow after arrow into the bull’s-eye of a target. For him, shooting a bow was therapeutic.

  The bows he used were the finest in Solandeus, and that was because he created them. Just like with people, Mat could sense things about the wood he used. He couldn’t explain it, but he knew which pieces of wood had the right combination of strength and flexibility to create a perfect bow. He knew which pieces would make the best arrows. He made everything he used, so he knew it would be right.

  Once he was on the archery range or in the forest hunting, he became one with the bow and arrow. To him, the bow wasn’t an external tool, it was an extension of who he was - a part of him like an arm or leg. When he pulled back the string and focused on the target, he experienced a feeling of harmony with everything around him and virtually never missed his target.

  Despite his lack of sleep and the crisis on his mind, this morning was no different and he emptied his quiver of arrows into the bull’s-eyes of multiple targets. He had to shoot at different parts of the bull’s-eye because he would invariably hit his own arrows and damage them if he aimed at the center every time. While it was impressive to an observer to hit an arrow that was already in the bull’s-eye with the next shot, it was a needless waste of arrows. Since he made all of his own, he didn’t want to create extra work for himself just to show off his skill.

  As he emptied his third quiver of arrows into various targets, he noticed people were starting to watch him shoot. While he was proud of his skill, he was not one to show off or try to impress others. To him, his skill was a personal thing and not something for public display. He had turned down numerous invitations to compete in competitions and was not in the mood to put on a public display so he decided to gather his arrows and return to his room at the inn.

  As he was gathering his arrows, he pondered the mysterious bracers again. He sensed they weren’t simply forearm protectors. He could almost feel power radiating from them. In his heart, he understood they were meant for him. In fact, they almost felt like they had always belonged to him even though he had never even put them on. Before he did that, he had to learn more about them. He hoped a trip to the local armory would provide information.

  With his mind clear after archery training, Mat gathered his gear and started his trip back across town to the Roaring Dragon. The way back to the inn took him past several armories and blacksmiths, so he decided to ask a few questions as he went. He hoped to find somebody who would be able to shed light on the mysterious bracers. After speaking to several people, he heard about an armory called the Impenetrable Shield which dealt in premium and potentially mystical armor and weapons.

  As he was getting directions to the Impenetrable Shield, he sensed he was being watched, perhaps by the person who left the bracers in his room. His instincts told him he wasn’t in danger, but he needed to know more about this mysterious stranger. As he listened, he formulated a plan to learn more about the stranger. He thanked the vendor for the information and quickly moved down the street.

  Mat’s plan was to move out quickly to force his follower to rush after him then try to circle back and surprise the stranger from behind. As he hustled down the busy street, he could sense that the person following him was indeed speeding up to keep up with him. About 50 yards ahead, just across from the Roaring Dragon, was a short alley that wrapped all the way around the building back into the main street; that was where he planned to spring the trap.

  Just before he reached the alley, Mat glanced over his shoulder to see if he could see someone hurrying through the crowd. He didn’t notice anybody suspicious, so he turned down the alley as planned. As soon as he cleared the corner, he sprinted around the building to get back to the main street. As he rounded the corner back onto the street, he saw somebody in a long dark cloak turn down the alley. The person’s hood was up so he couldn’t see any features, but he was excited that his plan appeared to be working. He sprinted down the street and turned into the alley ready to catch the stranger by surprise.

  As he turned the corner, he came to a sudden stop and was shocked at what he saw . . . nothing.

  He couldn’t believe it, there was nobody there. As he stood there breathing hard from his rapid pace and the following sprint, he tried to focus to see if he was overlooking anything. As he scoured the alley, he found no sign of the stranger and could no longer sense anybody watching him.

  With no other ideas and sweating from the exertion, Mat walked out of the alley and across the street to the Roaring Dragon. Entering the common room, he was struck by the smells coming from the kitchen and realized how hungry he was. He needed ask the innkeeper about the stranger he was looking for so he decided it would be a good idea to order some lunch too.

  After a few minutes talking to the innkeeper, he returned to his room on the second floor with both good and bad news. The good news was that a hearty mutton stew would be delivered to his room in just a few minutes along with a nice mug of fresh apple cider. The bad news was that the innkeeper had not seen any mysterious stranger or anyone at all snooping around his room.

  When he reached his room, he inspected the door for signs of entry. He had wedged a small piece of wood between the door and the doorframe about a foot off the ground when he left. If somebody opened the door, the wood chip would fall to the ground and tip him off that somebody had been there. Finding the wood still in place and satisfied no one had come through the door while he was gone, he unlocked the door and entered his room.

  Once inside, Mat studied the room to see if anything had been disturbed, but everything was where he left it. After returning his bow and quiver of arrows to the corner with the rest of his gear including the mysterious bracers, he went to the basin of water and splashed water on his face and arms. As he dried with a small towel, he looked out the window at the alley where he tried to discover who was following him. He was completely stumped on how the person got away. He had seen someone turn into the alley only seconds before he reached it, but once he got there the person was gone. He turned away from the window, frustrated that his plan had failed, and sat down at the small table to wait for his lunch.

  While he was waiting, he put his arm on the table and put his head down. The lack of sleep and physical exertion of the chase was taking its toll, and he quickly drifted off into a fitful sleep. As he slept, he saw himself putting on the bracers. As he slid them on, they seemed to mold themselves to his forearm
s. He could sense the power in them. He felt stronger, faster, and ready to take on any army. The feelings scared him because he wasn’t a violent person and had no desire to fight anyone; he certainly had no desire to take on an army. As he stood there, he could sense somebody was there beside him. He felt it was the person who was following him and had probably given him the bracers. Before he could turn and look at this person, three quick explosions sounded that shocked him out of his dream. He awoke with a start, his heart racing, not knowing what had happened.

  As he sat there trying to figure out what had happened, he heard the “explosions” again. Now that he was fully awake, he recognized them as what they were. Somebody was knocking on the door. He got up and tried to calm his racing heart as he walked to the door to see who it was. He opened the door and found the innkeeper holding a tray with a big bowl of stew and a large mug of cider. He thanked the innkeeper, closed the door, and went back to the table to eat his lunch.

  Chapter 4

  The night that Persephonie entered Mat’s room and left him the Bracers of Righteous Might, narrowly avoiding detection in his room, she passed the remainder of the night in the alley across from the Roaring Dragon keeping watch, pondering how she could help him. More than ever, she was convinced that he was the key to saving the Kingdom, and she was determined to help him fulfill his destiny even if she was forbidden to make contact with him.

  As the hours before dawn passed, Persephonie reflected on the last three years. She had been just 16 when she found the prophecy about Mat. She had learned so much and traveled to so many places since then. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

  When she first uncovered the prophecy, she shared it with Brom, her mentor. He discounted it and encouraged her to stop studying prophecy, especially this one. Several weeks later, when she showed him a supporting prophecy, he ordered her to stop researching it further, forbidding her from contacting anyone who might be involved in the prophecy. He showed her several prophecies that appeared to contradict the original prophecy, and said she was wasting valuable time on nonsense. Further, he stated that Druids do not interfere in the affairs of Kings, and it should not concern her.