The Iron Forest: Ancestor's Legacy

Sana shifted with a mixture of anticipation and anxiety of the gathering in the great hall. The village continued to welcome her and Victor with open arms, although the atmosphere had a slight hint of apprehension since Chief Batan expressed concern at the sighting of Chotukhan scouts.

Elders surrounded the chief, who sat at a long narrow table the width of the great hall, as they had, many times before. But this meeting was different. Representatives from other tribes gathered under winter’s protection. Dressed in finery that reflected their people, they stood patient and waiting.

“What’s going on?” Victor asked, sitting next to her. On his far side, Anshu sat with crossed legs, drinking mulberry. His services as a translator were not as needed, since Victor gained better grasp of the language. Instead, he sat there as a friend and companion to him and Sana.

“This is a tribal gathering of chiefs. They have been discussing matters for weeks with the other clans and tribes. This is something that hasn’t happened in generations.” She nodded toward the new arrivals across the hall. They stood frowning through shriveled faces like crumpled copper. Much of their deerskin clothes was adorned with wolf skins and hawk feathers. “Those people are elders from the Shankur clan to the northwest.”

“And those people?” Victor pointed, while biting into a piece of bread.

Three men with golden hair beneath bone covered metal cowls stood on the opposite side of the hall. The thick fur coats did little to hide their tree trunk arms and barreled chests.

“Members of the Atani. They were our biggest supporters the last time we fought the Chotukhan.” She shifted Victor’s focus to another group of warriors, three women and two men, in boiled leather tunics, covered in steel rings that entered the room. “Those are the Totan tribe. They came from the red rock canyons to the west.”

Victor waved at one of the Atani warriors, who stared him down. They made no response to his gesture.

“Princess Sana,” an old man with a long gray beard greeted.

Immediately at seeing him, she stood and knelt. There was little doubt the subject of the meeting had much to do with her and Victor. For months, the elders debated as to the best course of action to ensure the safety of the clans. The discussions stopped, and they all focused their attention on them. Her stomach fluttered with anticipation of their indelible judgment.

“We have decided that you and your companion, the Sky-Man, cannot stay here with the Shankur in Dirasha.”

The crowd burst into a roar. Chief Batan raised a meaty hand to silence them.

Sana, however, lowered her head. She expected the decision, but hearing the words still stung. “But I am Shankur.”

“Yes, you are,” he agreed. “But you are also the queen of the Chotukhan. Because of this, your presence poses a threat to our village and our people.”

Murmurs flowed through the room.

“You may stay here for the winter until the snow’s first melt.”

Sana nodded. “I understand your fear. But I am not their queen. Our marriage was never consummated.” She could feel Victor’s gaze on her. She spoke to him about it before, but didn’t go into much detail. It was a memory she’d rather not let surface, and he understood.

Chief Batan leaned forward. “According to Chotukhan law, you have been wed in front of their gods, which is binding enough. Consummation is not a requirement. As far as they are concerned, you are still their queen.”

Sana scanned the room to see the men and women looking back at her as if she was an outsider. I am a queen without a tribe. Cursed to a throne I’ll never sit on, damned to rule a people I wish to die. “If I am queen, then I’ll take the throne for the Shankur.”

There were nods, but few. None of the elders at the table before her appeared to agree.

“Princess Sana is right!” one of the Shankur elders from the north shouted. “If we can defeat King Shunlin, she can sit on the throne and rule in our favor.”

Sana nodded. “I—”

One of the Totan warriors stepped forward, slamming the butt of his spear on the floor. “I second the idea. King Shunlin is determined to wake Abaddon. If he does, then the sleeping god will destroy us all.”

The crowd erupted in a roar again while the elders considered in silence.

Chief Batan raised his voice over the crowd, asking, “With what army?”

“With this one!” Sana jumped in. “We can combine our forces with warriors from the Atani, Totan, and Shankur clans. If we unite under one banner, we can take the Chotukhan and stop King Shunlin.”

Chief Batan smirked at her. She knew, for a moment, he was looking at his twin—her mother. She felt honor in that.

The oldest member of the Shankur elders stroked his broad white beard. “All the tribes and clans together are not enough to defeat the Chotukhan, spear to spear. We stand a better chance of defending ourselves in the mountains than to take the battle to the Great Valley.”

“I agree,” the Atani chief said. “We stand a better chance defending our lands under protection of the surrounding mountains.”

More arguments erupted with a mix of warrior pride and doubt. Sana watched as her dream began to fall apart within a room full of indecision. Her mind wandered, remembering Lady Tani’s warning: You must stop the king from waking Abaddon. Talk to the chiefs and gather their warriors. That sparked an idea. She took a deep breath and shouted above the chaos, “What about the Shainxu?”

There was immediate silence.

“With their help, we can put the battle in our favor. One Shainxu wizard is worth more than ten Chotukhan soldiers.”

The crowd started to chuckle, which soon merged into loud laughter.

She glanced around, frustrated.

“The Shainxu have not left the Iron Forest in generations. Even during the War of Five winters, they stood by and did nothing. How is it going to be any different now?” the white bearded elder asked.

“Simple. We have the Sky-Man.”

That silenced the room again and put a wide-eyed look on Victor’s face. The last thing she wanted to do was drag Victor into the whole affair, but she felt desperate and knew he needed answers to his past and the Shainxu would be the ones to ask.

“He is one of the Ancients who ruled the lands before our ancestors walked the Earth, and he speaks their tongue. The Shainxu worship Gaia above all else and will do what she asks without question. If they will allow Victor an audience, he can persuade them to help.”

“A dangerous task indeed. Are you willing to travel to the Iron Forest and speak to the Shainxu, Sky-Man?” The gray bearded elder of the Atani asked, looking at Victor.

“It will be an—” he leaned toward Anshu for help.

“Honor,” the elder supplied, smiling.

“Yes, it will be an honor to help my new Shankur family.”

The elders nodded with a unanimous approval before one spoke. “Very well. We agree the Shainxu would be instrumental in a fight against the Chotukhan, but our decision to commit to battle has yet to be decided. The snows will protect us, for now, and give us time to prepare.”

Sana looked at the elders and then to Victor. “Your words are wise and fair. May our ancestors protect us.”

The elders and onlookers dispersed, leaving Chief Batan sitting in his seat. He stared at Sana, motioning her closer. “Come walk with me.” He saw Victor rise too and shook his head. “Alone.”

“I won’t be long,” Sana assured Victor, picking up her spear.

Chief Balan strolled through the palace with Sana at his side. They passed through a long hallway of oiled wood paneling to a door, covered in riveted iron. Inside, a fire burned bright, competing with the gray light from a large leaded glass window. He approached a pair of paintings that hung above the flaming hearth. One was of the chief, the other, her mother. She stared in awe. So many winters passed, she forgot what Lady Elen looked like. Some details remained firm in her memory: her porcelain skin, long brown hair, and green eyes, but her overall mental image faded over time.

“I forgot how beautiful she was,” Sana whispered.

“She was. And strong too.” He rested his arm around her. “I realized in the hall that it wasn’t you standing in front of the council of elders, but your mother, with all her strength and charisma.” He laughed. “She wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer from a bunch of old relics.”

“My father would say she was stubborn,” Sana said with a knowing smile.

“Yes. The most stubborn as can be. She never accepted the Chotukhan claim to the throne, always ready to take back what rightfully belonged to the Shankur.”

“She spoke of it often.”

Chief Batan held his hand out for her spear. Taking it, he studied the weapon with a close eye. “When your mother started to become sick, she understood her chance to defeat the Chotukhan was lost.” He swept his hand across the wooden shaft with a gentle touch. “She spent her last days preparing you to fight and protect the Shankur. I think you’re ready.”

He twisted the spear with a strong, white knuckled grip. It snapped and parted, but didn’t break. His face lit in blue light from a glowing strip of metal embedded in the shaft. With two fingers, he pulled the artifact out and handed it to Sana.

She refused to touch it, let alone take it. There was little doubt at what it was. The device in Chief Batan’s hand that glowed so bright, was an object of darkness.

Her village, family, and Ikesh died for it.

“That’s the key,” she snarled, taking a step back.

“It is. The reason the Chotukhan destroyed your village.”

Sana studied the key, still not wanting to touch it. To her, it was a device of evil. “Why not destroy it? Then no one could awaken Abaddon.”

Chief Batan dropped the key and slammed the point of her spear right in the center. It shattered into dust, sparks, and pieces. To her amazement, the pieces recombined to create a new key with no evidence of damage or harm. The spear, on the other hand, shattered like glass. “Fire, cold, stone, nothing can destroy it. The magic it holds is strong, as the Ancients are old.”

Sana picked it up to see not a scratch marred its surface.

“This magic is what can awaken Abaddon. That is why you must keep it safe.”

Sana nodded, picking up the two halves of her spear. The tip was reduced to a jagged shard. “I’ll need another spear.”

Chief Batan grinned. “I have just what you’ll need.”

He motioned toward a long, thin box resting on a table in the far corner of his chamber. The oak wood darkened with age, accentuating the lines and curves of decor carved by a master artisan. He unlatched a pair of gold locks to reveal two shafts of metal. One had a double-edged blade, twice as long as his hand with sweeping lines and curves that made the metal appeared carved of fluid. The other shaft held a spiked pommel for counterbalancing the weight. He gripped the two pieces of weapon as if it weighed nothing. A snap and twist brought the two shafts into a spear like nothing Sana had ever seen before.

“It’s beautiful,” she said, taking the weapon in both hands. The weight and balance surprised her as she flipped it in an arc.

“It holds a powerful magic older than the Shainxu,” Chief Batan revealed, guiding her hand to a sapphire jewel set at the joint between the shafts.

Sana jerked back as blue light shot up the shaft and ended at a stone recessed at the blade’s center. The razor-sharp edges glowed with white light but gave off no heat.

“This weapon was made to fight against Abaddon’s machines long before our people roamed the Earth. It can cut through their thickest plate armor, like flesh.” He smiled. “It should serve you well, as it served our ancestors through the ages.”

Sana shook her head. “No. Not me. It will serve the Shankur.”