Wolf soldier, p.31
Wolf Soldier, page 31
part #1 of Lightraider Academy Series
The diminutive Silvana paced before the cadets, stroking a long gray braid bound with leather. “Shoddy work, that’s what you lot are. Shoddy work, indeed. The result of disorganized instruction.” She made a tsk sound, frowning down at Lee and Dag, who lay recovering in their beds. “The Rescuer might as well have sent the village cats on a raid. I suppose I’ll have to stay and sort you out.” Her hard gaze shifted to the other three guardians, huddled together in the corner. “And I’ll sort you lot out as well.”
The guardians had slain more than a dozen orcs and goblins during the cadets’ absence. And not long before Teegan and the others returned, a strange item had come through. A red jasper cane topped with a jade ball and collared with diamonds had sprouted from a parapet on the lowest ramparts. When they heard this, the cadets insisted there might be a rotting cave goblin inside, still clutching the cane. But none wanted to crack the wall open and find out.
In the following days, Connor spent many a tick with Lee and Dag, bringing them meals and sitting with them in the barracks—Lee especially, because he’d broken his leg. But Teegan proved the scribe’s most attentive nurse. In the evenings, the two sat on the balcony, while Aethia flew over the glade. They played at spotting the first stars of night or naming the constellations. Lee often twisted the cobalt ring about his finger, but if he told Teegan its story, Connor didn’t hear.
On those evenings, rather than disturb them, Connor walked the ramparts with Kara. Forge was almost upon them, and he wanted to share with her the festival’s many traditions.
“This is how the Great Rescue began,” he told her on one of their early walks. “With the humble birth of a blacksmith’s child at home in his tiny forge.”
Kara lifted her eyes to the uppermost wall, where Tiran pushed a cart of lanterns, helping Belen and Quinton hang them from the battlements. “And what of those?”
Tiran occasionally dabbed his forehead with his rag, speaking in earnest to the guardians, and Connor suspected they were discussing topics far deeper than festival illuminations. “Those lanterns represent the Miracle of Candles. On the night of our Blacksmith’s birth, every standing candle in his mountain village took flame of its own accord. Wax and wick together declared the arrival of a king, because the villagers were blind to his coming.”
They watched Belen lean precariously over a parapet, with Quinton holding the hood of his robe. “So,” Kara said, “on the night of his birth, the Rescuer brought light to the world.”
“And the Order continues that work. This is why we want the Assembly’s blessing to rebuild and send raids across the barrier again.” His words disturbed her, Connor could tell. But he didn’t press her until they turned back toward the barracks. “Kara, something’s troubling you. I can feel it.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Something is never nothing. And Keledan are supposed to be truthful, if you hadn’t heard. Let me help if I can.”
She slowed on a stairway, then stopped to face him from the step below. “I want to be a lightraider, Connor. I want to go on raids with you, back into Tanelethar. But I’m not sure my reason is the right one.”
“What reason is that?”
“The trolls and the dragon, I heard them in my mind. And the things they said . . .” She looked away.
Connor’s throat went dry. He knew what they’d said. A royal pair. A king and queen. What an offense that must have been to Kara, to presume he’d claim her as a bride. He scratched the back of his neck. “I wouldn’t concern yourself. As my patehpa said, dragons feed on lies. And trolls echo their deceit. Whatever they said about you and me—”
“You and me?” She wrinkled her nose. “They said nothing about just you and me. They said if I betrayed your raid party and served the dragons, they’d let me live despite my queensblood. But more than that, they promised to take me to my brehna. Connor”—her voice trembled—“all three of them said Keir is still alive.”
With a little urging, Connor convinced her to share this news with the guardians, as well as her desire to join the Order. Master Jairun asked for her patience while they sought the Rescuer’s guidance, and Kara agreed. In the meantime, she’d stay at the academy.
Not long after, Connor’s parents arrived from Stonyvale. Tehpa seemed to expect the news of Faelin’s passing, and so his tears were few. And with Mehma there to keep the peace, he and Connor exchanged no harsh words. Connor saw Tehpa’s frustrations with the Order in a new light now, and he saw how hard it must be for him to let his son join their ranks. With some prodding from Mehma, he promised he’d remember this epiphany the next time an argument between them boiled over.
On the night before the Forge, known as the Kindling, the whole company gathered in Salar Peroth for a supper of roast lamb. Afterward, they sipped brambleberry cider by the hall’s great hearth, while the guardians and Pedrig told stories of Faelin’s battles and victories.
“I’ll not return to the fight without him,” Pedrig said, muzzle resting on his paws. “It’s time I retire.” He raised his head and looked to Connor’s parents, ears forward. “Perhaps I’ll go to Stonyvale with you and spend my days on the Enarian farm. I could help with the sheep.” As with the wolf in the painting, Connor couldn’t tell if the curl of his lip was a snarl or a smile. The others laughed.
When the fire burned down, the merrymakers left in twos and threes, until only Connor, Tehpa, and Master Jairun remained. They doused the coals with the last of their cider and walked out among the thousand lanterns hanging from the battlements.
Tehpa had gifted Connor a leather-bound book of empty parchments with a quill and ink, a symbol of his blessing for Connor’s future at the academy. Connor had a gift to give as well—or at least, something borrowed to return. He unshouldered a long cloth bundle tied with a leather strap.
Tehpa peeled back the cloth and turned the exposed blade to reflect the many lights. “Faelin’s sword.”
“The scabbard is gone. I’m sorry. I lost it in the cavern where we faced the river troll.”
Tehpa made no reply, caught in some memory.
Connor cleared his throat and went on. “I named it Revornosh, meaning Truthsayer, because Patehpa used it to extinguish the dragon’s lies. Now that he’s gone, I thought it only right you should have it again.”
“No, boy.” Tehpa retied the cloth and returned the bundle. “You should keep it. If you insist on staying in the fight, I want you to have Revornosh at your side. I wish these battles were over for our family—for all Keledan. But I sense from your headmaster they are not.”
Master Jairun nodded, leaning on his staff. “You sense rightly. Our long sleep, forsaking our commission, has brought us to a dangerous threshold. From what the cadets have told me, I believe the dragons are preparing for a greater offensive than one portal could enable. And we still don’t know what allowed Vorax to steer it through the barrier in the first place.”
“So, what are we to do?” Connor asked, slinging the wrapped sword across his back. “We have four guardians and five, perhaps six cadets. If an army comes through the barrier, we’ll be overrun.”
Master Jairun looked out over the lantern-lit battlements, and to Connor it seemed his gray eyes looked far past Mer Nimbar to the forests and plains beyond. “Lightraider Academy must grow, my boy, and grow quickly. And we must train the villages and towns for defense. Tomorrow Keledev celebrates the Forge. The day after, we’ll begin the hard work of stirring them from their slumber. The Keledan must prepare for war.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Glory to God! Without His hand of providence, this story would never have made it to such a wonderful publisher as Enclave. I am so grateful to Him for opening this door and to many of His servants for helping me pass through it. I may be the writer, but I’m part of a large team.
Steve Laube and Enclave are amazing. Steve’s strong leadership and personal touch have made me feel like a part of the family. Also amazing is my agent Harvey Klinger, who helped me bring this project to them.
There would not be a Lightraider world without its creator, Dick Wulf. There will never be enough words to express my appreciation to him for passing the torch and trusting me to carry the ministry tools he developed forward to a new generation.
I am not alone in the development of this world. Stewards like Joe Revesz, Rich Sezov kept it alive, kept the vintage game boxes moving out into the world, and are still contributing their talents and creativity to the game. It was Joe who put me in touch with Dick and suggested the novels to me in the first place. And Rich (among many other things) gets credit for suggesting the Rescuer as an alternative to the original OverLord of Many Names. Also, Seth, Gavin, Ashton, James, Rachel, and Katie as my Lightraider team became the original testers for many of the places and concepts of the expanded world.
Pastor James R. Brown has been a blessing, contributing his knowledge of the Word, his storytelling and game creation talents, and his voice of wisdom when it all seems too much to bear. He is an incredible creative sounding board. Likewise, our Lightraider communications director John Carroll has been a creative advisor and a peace-giving shoulder to cry on.
Dr. Gary Huckabay is the original theological advisor on this project, and continues to advise on Lightraider games and adventures, most notably writing the real-world applications for our Scripture memory cards. Many of those applications informed my use of the same verses in this book. It is Dr. Huckabay who envisioned the decay of the dark creatures and the shadowed reaches of Tanelethar, noting that our Enemy cannot create and only corrupts.
Finally, I need to thank my wife Cindy, who encouraged me to write these stories and keeps me going day by day. You are my life and love.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
The weight of expanding a beloved game world into a series of novels is no small thing. I won’t deny that I dreamed of taking the task on for years. I also won’t deny that I didn’t fully understand the responsibility until it finally happened.
One big thing I learned the moment I started is that growing the world from its game roots requires adaptability and change. I’ll acknowledge some of the changes here, but I’ll provide detail about them on our lightraider website listed below.
The bigger changes include: Lightraider Academy in place of DragonRaid, the nature and form of dark creatures, the Rescuer in place of the OverLord of Many Names, and shifting people and place names from English to an imaginary language.
I know there are many other questions, and you can look to the website for answers, but I want to take this short space to address two important and connected concepts: the allegory of the Lightraider world, and Sacred Verses (formerly WordRunes).
In any fiction, the line between allegory and the literal may shift and blur. Do the Keledan represent the Church? Yes, but don’t take the allegory too far. If you seek a perfect allegorical match between every aspect of a fictional world and ours, you’ll wind up writing non-fiction with changed names. Lightraider stories are meant to engage and teach, and strict allegory would destroy their ability to do so. One area where this is particularly noticeable are the sacred verses.
Scripture used in the Lightraider world has fictional (allegorical) effects that represent real-world applications, like bringing light to a character’s path. However, if our game characters and novel heroes are to learn and grow, those real-world Scripture applications must also apply in the fictional world. Do you see the conundrum? So, again, don’t get too bogged down in allegory.
Quoting Scripture directly in an imaginary realm with its own history presents another problem. It breaks down the immersive reader experience. In a game designed to teach Scripture memory and application, this is unavoidable. In a novel, we have the opportunity to work around it. This is why I developed the Elder Tongue. I didn’t feel comfortable altering Scripture to suit the world and presenting inaccurate verses in English. The Rescuer is a representation of Christ, but he is not Christ. The Sacred Scrolls of Keledev are a representation of God’s Word, but they are not the Word. Thus, sacred verses spoken in the Elder Tongue only allude to the real Word through the characters’ summaries and partial translations. With this device, I’m also presenting you with a challenge. Try to recognize the real verses represented in the story, and look them up to see the true translation. Please read the verses around them as well to better understand the context and meaning.
As a final thought on allegory and Scripture in Wolf Soldier, I’d like to draw your attention to the cornerstone and three pillars of Lightraider stories. The cornerstone is the Word. The three pillars are presenting the Gospel, nurturing the fruit of the Spirit, and tempering the armor of God. I hope you noticed all four in this story. And that’s about all the room I have for explanations. If you want to learn more, or if you’re new to the Lightraider world and you want to know about our games and learning tools, I hope you’ll visit us www.lightraiders.com.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
As a former fighter pilot, stealth pilot, and tactical deception officer, James R. Hannibal is no stranger to secrets and adventure. He is the award-winning author of thrillers, mysteries, and fantasies for adults and children, and he is the developer of Lightraider Academy games. As a pastor’s kid in Colorado Springs, he guinea-pigged every youth discipleship program of the 1980s, but the one that engaged him and shaped him most as a Christ-follower and Kingdom warrior was DragonRaid, by Dick Wulf—the genesis of the Lightraider world.
James R. Hannibal, Wolf Soldier
