Good evening friends! Now that the maudlin mourning of 9/11 is over, it's back to regularly scheduled content - the next exciting episode of Silvanus and Empire!

In our last chapter, Dafydd and Bryn set off down the Cliffway, only to be surprised by the blacksmith's youngest son, Einion, joining them in their mission. Now, let's see what's been going on across the river...

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Silvanus and Empire

Chapter Eighteen

image from DeviantArt user Selenaru96

“Mousestep, come in here.”

Mouse sighed. It’s never good when he uses my full name, she thought. She took a deep breath and slipped inside Hammerfist’s tent. “Yes, Father?”

“Don’t you ‘yes, Father’ me, Mouse.” Hammerfist was in the center of the tent. His broad, powerful back was to Mouse; he was staring down at the unconscious form of the Stoneheart prisoner. “You and your brother have plenty to answer for. He seems to have demonstrated the good sense to go hide, however.” He turned around, a frown creasing his stern features. He crossed his arms. “I don’t remember giving either of you permission to kill anyone who got in your way when I sent you to rescue Lost One. In fact, I remember saying there was to be no harm visited upon anyone, and yet I learn that you killed two of the Stonehearted?”

“Father, you said no harm was to come to Lost One.” Mouse met Hammerfist’s gaze defiantly. “We brought her back safe and sound, as you told us to! You can’t possibly be angered by the deaths of two more of our enemies, can you?”

Hammerfist shook his head. “Daughter, have I taught you nothing of their ways? If you had simply taken Lost One in the dead of night with none the wiser, the Stonehearted would have thought she had finally run off. There would be some commotion, but it would die down! In a few days the town would have forgotten the incident. But you two foolish children needed to slake your bloodthirst, didn’t you? Now every Stoneheart from here to Imperial City will know what has happened. You can be sure that they will have already sent for aid.”

“So let them come! We will slaughter them as well.” Mouse grinned mirthlessly. “Hopefully they will put up a better fight than those two mewling cowards.”

Mouse blinked as her father shouted at her. “Silvanus take you, Mouse! You’re not listening!” He sighed and shook his head. “I’m sorry, daughter. I just wish you and Sight-of-Eagles hadn’t done what you did. You just made all our lives harder. And perhaps quite a few of them shorter. I can only hope that we can still move forward with our plans to scare the Stonehearted from our valley without sacrificing any of our own people.”

“But Father, you fought against the Stonehearted when you were young! Why can’t my brother and I do so as well?”

“Mouse, listen to me.” Hammerfist took his daughter’s hands and held them tightly. “Yes, I fought against the Stonehearted. All my life I’ve fought against them, in some way or another. I’ve outlived too many friends, too much family, Mouse; I don’t want to have to bury you or your brother as well. You two, along with Lost One, are the future of the Silvani. You’re too important to our survival to be put in harm’s way. Damn it, Mouse, you’re too important to me to be put in harm’s way! Please, Mouse.”

Mouse sighed. “All right, Father. I’m sorry. I just… I wanted to…”

“I know, daughter. I was young once myself.” He smiled thinly. “Your grandfather would be able to tell you quite a few stories about me, if he were still with us.” He looked down at the Stoneheart captive once more. “Did you really have to be so rough with him?”

“Father, please.” Mouse squirmed. “I already said I was sorry. And it wasn’t easy hauling his dead weight through the forest.”

“All right, I’ll let the matter be. Come, Mouse, let’s go check on our newest tribe member, shall we?” Hammerfist went to the tent flap and held it open for her. She slipped outside, and her father fell into step next to her. “Where is your brother, by the way?”

“He said something about wanting to see if there was any sort of commotion on the Stoneheart side of the river,” she said. “He left not long after we arrived back in camp. He said he should be back by this evening. I told him to go get some rest but he insisted; I hope he sees something interesting enough to warrant being so tired he’s likely to drop to the ground from exhaustion.”

“Your brother’s eyes miss very little,” Hammerfist replied. “He’s one of our best scouts. If there’s something important, I am sure he will not miss it.”

When hey came to the smaller tent that had been set up for Lost One, Mouse ducked her head around the flap and peered inside. Lost One was sitting up on her pallet, rubbing her eyes. She smiled sleepily at Mouse. “Someone here to see you,” Mouse said, stepping inside. Hammerfist followed her in.

“Hello, Lost One,” he said gently. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired,” she said. “Confused. But for once, I don’t feel alone.”

“That’s good,” Mouse said, smiling. “Father has been quite anxious to talk with you.”

“Have you?” Lost One asked, blinking.

“Yes, dear girl, I have.” Hammerfist smiled and sat down on the edge of her pallet. “Your father and I were great friends,” he said. “I am so very glad you are with us at last, Lost One.”

The young woman’s eyes grew wide. “You knew him? Please, could you tell me about him?”

“Of course, child.” Hammerfist spread his hands wide. “What would you like to know?”

“Is it true, what… what my mother said? That he was able to call on the power of the forest, like I can?”

“Oh yes, Lost One. He was quite powerful, just as his father was, and his father’s mother before that.” Hammerfist grinned. “He was quite a mischief maker sometimes, as well. But I won’t tell you the story about the porcupine just yet.”

Lost One looked puzzled for a moment, and then laughed. “Perhaps it’s better that I don’t know. It will only give me ideas.” Her expression grew serious. “Do you know how he died?”

Hammerfist sighed. Mouse turned away and busied herself at the other end of the “Not the details, no. I had lost touch with your father shortly before it happened. The last I knew of him was that he took you and your mother across the river and settled in one of the Stoneheart towns. He wanted to build bridges between us and them. It didn’t work.” He hesitated. “He was… betrayed… by those he sought to win over. But truly, it’s not my story to tell. You should ask your mother about what happened. She was there, after all.”

Lost One nodded slowly. “Thank you,” she said. “I’ll ask her, as soon as I am able." She thought for a moment. “Did you know my mother as well?”

“No,” Hammerfist said, shaking his head. “He and I grew up in the same tribe, but Spirit was from farther east of here. Owl – your father – traveled quite a bit when he was younger. Doubtless he met her then. The work of one with the Mark of Silvanus was never done, it seemed. He was always off somewhere making the rains come, or helping the trees grow. He loved Silvanus deeply, your father did. It was part of that love that drove him to try to make peace with the Stonehearted. He knew that only more bloodshed would arise over time if nothing was done. Would that he had succeeded.”

“I know the Silvani and the... the Stonehearted have been enemies for a long time,” Lost One said, “but no one has ever told me why.” She shook her head wryly. “Precious few people on the south bank of the river would look me in the eye, let alone speak with me. I grew up largely ignorant of everything except that my hair color made me an outcast.”

Poor girl, Mouse thought. Father should be praising me for cutting out those monsters’ hearts. She sighed and kept listening.

“It is… a long story,” Hammerfist said. “For nearly five generations have we been under siege by the Stonehearted. They have pushed us further and further north season by season; soon, if nothing is done, they will drive us over the northern cliffs and into the sea. The Stoneheart Emperor will not rest until we are completely eradicated." Hammerfist sighed, locking eyes with Lost one. "You know, once, a very long time ago, he walked among us as friend?”

“What?” Lost One blinked. “I don’t believe it.”

“He did,” Hammerfist said. “My father’s grandfather was just a boy when Jhosin the came to us. It was before he founded his Empire. We had no fear of outsiders then, and we welcomed him into Silvanus openly. He came seeking wisdom, he said, and so those of us with the Mark spoke with him and taught him. There were more of us with the Mark then, you see. Whole bloodlines. Nearly every tribe had one or two families who could call upon the power of Silvanus to keep the forest safe and healthy.”

Lost One rubbed her shoulder where her own Mark was. “What happened? Why am I the only one left?”

Hammerfist scowled. “Jhosin the Betrayer, the Stoneheart, he learned all he could of those of us with the Mark. He left, and when my father’s grandfather was old he returned as Emperor Jhosin. He lured many of those with Silvanus’ Mark to their deaths, so we would be powerless to stop his expansion into our valley. His armies took our land, slaughtered our people, and only a few of us escaped to the north side of the river. With so many of those with the Mark gone, there was little we could do to prevent his usurpation. To this day he sits on his throne and plots to destroy us all.”

“I don’t understand,” Lost One said. “Jhosin founded the Empire over sevenscore winters ago. How could he possibly be the same Jhosin that rules now? He would be impossibly old!”

Hammerfist shook his head. “The Betrayer commands dark powers. My father’s grandfather saw him once more, after Jhosin returned. He hadn’t aged a day.”

Mouse shuddered. I’ve always hated that story, she thought. “The worst part was how he was completely ruthless when dealing with us,” she said. “Father has told me how terribly Jhosin treated any Silvani that he captured back then. They were bound hand and foot and tossed into the river to drown. And to think, we trusted him enough to give him the Mark!”

“My daughter speaks the truth,” Hammerfist said. “Before he left us, we had gifted Jhosin with a token of friendship from our people. He bore a medallion with the Mark of Silvanus upon it, so that any of us who came upon him in the forest would know him as a friend. It was this that he used to lure so many of us to death.”

“A medallion?” Lost One rubbed her shoulder again. Her eyes went wide. “Caddoc! My fiend, the one you captured with me… he had the same medallion. Is he all right? You didn’t do anything to him, did you?”

Hammerfist shook his head. “No, Lost One, he is fine. A bit the worse for wear after being dragged through the forest all night, but he is in no danger from us. We are curious as to how he came to have that medallion, however. Only one other time did the Silvani make such a gift, and that was not too long before you were born. Do you know where he could have gotten it?”

“No… no, I don’t.” Lost One frowned. “It always perplexed me, every time I saw it around his neck, though. I had no idea… may I see him?”

“Of course, child.” Hammerfist looked over at Mouse. “Let my daughter and I go see if he is awake yet. If he is, we will send for you.”

“Thank you,” Lost One said. “I… I would feel terrible if anything happened to him.”

“As long as he is my father’s guest, he will be safe here,” Mouse said, with a smile. “I’ll go on ahead, Father; I’ll call if he’s awake.” With that, she slipped from the tent and walked across the clearing.

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So just what happened all those years ago with the Emperor? And how is he connected to Caddoc, all those years later? For more answers keep reading, and don't forget to follow my blog so you'll never miss a chapter!