She smirked now. “Skies be with you.”
He faded back out and found himself in his home again. He was so used to the trip, he didn’t immediately collapse from exhaustion. He turned to his brother and sighed.
“Are you ready to write?”
“Yes. Go.” Alchan looked away, holding a quill with a jar of ink ready.
Luykas rattled off the numbers his sister told him. Alchan scratched them down just as quickly.
“That’s all she knows. She also told me Shadra is hoping to defeat us by the end of next year. We need to push that off. We have to push that off.”
“Thank you, brother. Go to sleep.” Alchan stood, patted Luykas’ shoulder as he walked by, then left.
Luykas found his bed and closed his eyes. He couldn’t go home to Mave. He didn’t want her to see him this vulnerable, and he didn’t want to be questioned by her. He was too tired to keep up pretenses any longer.
I can’t tell her I think we’re going to lose. We’re fighting a rising tide, and there’s no way to stop it.
24
Brynec
Bryn barely slept. For just over a week, he traveled the mountains in the direction of Mat and Zayden’s mission objective, hoping to catch them on a route home. And for eight days, he found no evidence of them, which made him certain they hadn’t gotten close yet. Neither of them were the best at leaving tracks behind, no matter how much they tried.
Bryn stopped on a cliffside on the eighth evening and sighed, looking down at a narrow ravine that ran between two sheer cliffs. It was a freshwater source, so he watched to see if any life was at the bottom. Most ravines could be dangerous, so the Andinna naturally avoided them, but a desperate group of warriors would use it if they were out of supplies.
When he realized there would be no one and the sun was gone, he went to make camp. He kept a fire going each and every night in the hope that someone would see it. Sometimes warriors traveled at night for safety. He had to do everything he could.
I can’t leave them out there. I promised I would bring them home.
He was running out of days. He knew at dawn, he would have to push out further and pray. He risked pissing off both his wife and his king because he was already supposed to be turning around, but he would accept that risk. If he found them on day fourteen, when he was supposed to be back in the village, it would be worth it.
He was nearly done setting up his camp when he heard a twig snap. He straightened, pulling out a dagger, ready to throw it at whatever target appeared before him.
“What did the rogue say to the priest?”
Bryn frowned for a second before a smile formed. He knew this joke, but it had been centuries since he’d heard it. He racked his brain to remember the answer. Before he could, Nevyn entered the light of the camp with a grin.
“Finally, someone else who knows their way around in the dark,” the warrior said with a grin.
Bryn laughed. It was a joke only Nevyn could tell, and it was about Varon and Bryn. Once, a long time ago, Bryn had found healing from his past with the priest and sometimes, the warrior. Varon’s particular brand of prayer made him very good at knowing his way around the dark.
As Bryn laughed, Varon appeared behind his lover and smiled. Bryn watched for his hands, but Nevyn was the one who spoke.
“Our team was settling down when one of them caught your fire on the other side of the ravine through the trees. What are you doing out here?”
“Lookin’ for Mat and Zayden,” he answered, accepting a short hug from him, then one from Varon.
“Skies, they still aren’t back to the village? It’s been over two-and-a-half months,” Nevyn said, disbelieving. “They were supposed to be back ages ago.”
“Aye and…” Bryn sighed. “Seanev was defeated by the Elvasi. When I left, the village was a bit tense.”
“How bad?” Nevyn demanded, frowning.
“He lost just about nine hundred warriors and his right arm,” Bryn explained. Nevyn’s face went a shade paler than it normally was.
“He was one of our best,” Nevyn said softly.
“Ya will need to talk to Alchan and Luykas more about it, but we’re pretty certain magic is involved. Those two should have more intel by now. I’ve been out here for eight days, so I don’t know if anythin’ else has come up.”
“Okay,” Nevyn said, nodding. “So…”
“I was supposed to start heading back already. Alchan didn’t want me out of the village longer than two weeks.”
“For obvious reasons.” Nevyn groaned. “Come back to our camp. We’ll catch up, then tomorrow we’ll help you. We won’t make you go back. If you want to spend more time out here, we’ll fight with Alchan about it with you.” Beside the warrior, Varon nodded.
Together, they broke down Bryn’s camp and put out the fire, sending up giant plumes of smoke. It was a short flight to their camp, which made Bryn want to laugh even more.
“I can’t believe we were so close,” he said in disbelief as he looked over the other warriors who had gone on the mission with Nevyn and Varon. “How did yer mission go?”
“We did well, no casualties. Elvasi didn’t know we were there until we were gone.” Nevyn puffed out his chest with pride. “It felt good to be doing the same stuff I did in the first war, even though I’m a general now.”
“That’s better than what we’ve been hearin’. I don’t think we’re getting everyone back from the other missions,” Bryn said, sighing. “And we think our scouts might be compromised. That sorcery problem I was mentionin’.”
“That’s not good,” Nevyn said, pointing to a spot in the dirt. “Sit down, eat with us. We’ll keep the fire going all night. Tomorrow, we’ll join your hunt.”
Bryn sat, and another warrior handed him jerky to chew on and a bowl of wild stew, made from fresh game, wild onions, and berries they must have collected during their travels. He settled into sleep near Varon and Nevyn, glad to have the company after a week alone in the wilds.
He was the first awake when he heard something moving through the bushes.
“Shit, there’s a fire,” someone whispered. Bryn knew the voice immediately, even in the dark. His heart started to race.
“Mat?” he called out. He was used to hearing Mat’s soft night voice. They had spent years sharing a bedroom. He was certain it was Mat.
“Bryn? By the fucking Skies.”
Bryn could hear him stomping now, and it started to rouse the others in the camp.
“Mat!” he called out louder, jumping out of his bedroll. He ran out of the camp, searching for the source of the noise. He didn’t see Mat first—he was grabbed into a bone-crushing hug, then put down.
“We need to keep moving,” Mat said, his eyes wild when Bryn could get a look at him. “We’re being stalked. Have been for weeks, trying to get them off our tail. We’ve been running all over the fucking mountains, trying to make sure we didn’t lead them back to the village, but they won’t leave us be.”
“Who? What?” Bryn tried to stop him, so he could hear more, but Mat made his way for the camp. He ran after him, realizing Zayden and another warrior were also following.
Nevyn was frowning at Mat as the big male started to stomp out the fire.
“Not happy to see us?” Nevyn asked, crossing his arms.
“Very happy, but there’re about a dozen gryphon riders who have been tracking us for weeks. I think they’re trying to figure out where we’re going. They harass us every couple of days to remind us they’re around, so we need to keep moving, or we’ll die. We’re due for them to show up. We haven’t slept in over a day, waiting for them.” Mat was terrified.
“Where is the rest of yer unit?” Bryn asked, looking at Zayden, hoping for an answer, hoping to hear the rest were hiding somewhere.
“We’re the only three who made it out of the mission,” Zayden explained. “We lost two in the Elvasi camp and thought we were getting out when the gryphon riders started following us. They kille
d or chased off everyone else. They’ve been playing games with us, but we never have time to set up a proper trap to do any damage to them.”
“So, you could have made it home, but you have a situation. Perfect. That means we can fix it,” Nevyn said, jumping into his position as a natural-born warrior and leader. “Varon and I have a healthy squad. We were heading back from our own mission and just found Bryn earlier tonight. This is good fortunes. Let’s use them.” Nevyn looked around to see his warriors up, all waiting for their orders.
“How do ya want to play this?” Bryn asked.
“You know what? Do you still know how to make dreki ethir poison?”
Bryn grinned. “Yes, I do. We need some dreki for me to make it, though.”
“Not hard to find,” Mat said, still panting a little more than Bryn was okay with. He’d only ever seen the big male pant after Mave was through with him, not from travel, a mission, or training. “It grows like a weed.”
“It is a weed,” Bryn reminded him. “It’s just a deadly one, and I know just where to get it. It grows on riverbanks. I’ll be back.”
Bryn went back into the woods, easily finding a patch of dreki in the ravine. It liked moist areas, riverbanks, and marshy valleys. He couldn’t grab it with his hands, so he found his gloves in his bag, put them on, then yanked the entire plant out of the ground. It had shallow roots, and the soft soil made it easy. He jumped back into the air and flew to the top of the cliff before jogging back to camp.
“Everyone, be careful with this around,” he ordered.
“I’ve never heard of that stuff being used as a poison,” one of the warriors mumbled. “It’s just a weed. You brush up against it, and it gives you a rash.”
“The fluid in the stems is more toxic than the stuff that comes out of the leaves. If ya just bit into the stem, it would make ya sick for a week, and ya might die of dehydration if yer away from a village and a healer.” Bryn started his work, grabbing a cooking pan he had brought. He cut off the leaves to get them out of his way, then carefully cut into the stems, getting the fluids to drip out very slowly. “Concentrated, ya can make a deadly poison. Like, don’t cut yerself deadly. I don’t use it often. It didn’t grow in Olost, and it takes forever to make. I haven’t taught my scouts the recipe because it’s a pain compared to other options.”
“It needs something else, doesn’t it?” Nevyn asked, kneeling next to him.
“Nope. I just need to wrin’ out enough of the liquid. If ya notice, it’s only a drop or two at a time. Ya need it heavily concentrated to take down an adult male Andinna. For an Elvasi…a little less. It’s not the easiest poison to use because of how long it takes to get enough to be worthwhile, and it’s not the strongest poison. It can be a bit slow actin’. There’re dozens of other better options, but I don’t think we’re going to find any good ones right now.”
“How much would you need to kill a gryphon?” Nevyn asked.
Bryn looked at him, blinking several times, then back to the small pan.
“More,” he decided, nodding. “A lot more, but I like the way yer thinkin’. We’ll be doin’ this all night, and I’m going to need someone to yank up another bush. Please wear gloves, or ya will get skin rashes from contact poisonin’. You know the deal.”
He worked all night. After they brought up more, Varon knelt next to him and helped. The sun was beginning to come over the horizon when Bryn felt they might have enough.
Mat, Zayden, and their last remaining warrior, a male name Kick, had passed out at some point, and no one rushed to wake them up. They had dark circles under their eyes, and Bryn was certain every one of them had lost a substantial amount of weight while on the run. He was also impressed by their resolve. They hadn’t wanted to lead the gryphon riders to anything important, not even a guard post that might have been able to help them. The guard posts weren’t equipped to handle an assault unit like the Elvasi’s riders, and it would lose a strategic point for their defensives if they had been overtaken.
He would make sure they were well fed and rested once they got home. And he would make sure they got home.
“How do ya think this’ll work best?” Bryn asked Nevyn.
“Love?” Nevyn looked at Varon, who gave a silent sigh and started pulling arrows from his quiver and rolling them in the poison. “Will that work, Bryn?”
“Aye, that’ll work. Do we shoot for the beasts or their riders?”
“That’s up to who is shooting,” he said, shrugging. “Normally, we kill the riders, and most of the gryphons fly off.”
Bryn treated his emergency throwing dagger, a weapon he was fine with losing. He carried his short bow, so he dipped the handful of arrows. Nevyn had two other archers on the team as well, and they went last. No one did their swords. If the swords needed to be drawn, poison was pointless.
“Where do you think we can find them?” Nevyn asked Mat as the big male stirred.
“You don’t,” he answered groggily. “They’ll find us. Thanks for letting us sleep.”
“No worries, old friend,” Nevyn said with a smile. “We’ll find a place to post up. They can track us to their own demise. You said they catch up to bother you every few days? We can spare the time.”
Nevyn and Bryn jumped off first, Varon following close behind. It was Varon who found their hiding spot, a rough incline with fewer trees and several large rocks, perfect for cover. They moved fast, everyone finding a place to hunker down and wait. Bryn looked around to make sure the unit was playing it smart and not touching anything they had rolled in the thick substance. It would dry as they waited, which would ruin some of the potency, but not by much.
They waited the entire day. As nightfall came, Nevyn gave a little bird chirp whistle, telling everyone he saw the enemy. Bryn moved to look around his boulder and smiled. He gave Varon a thumbs up, the gryphons were in range for him. Varon nodded slowly but held up a flat hand, palm out, indicating they would wait.
Mat and Zayden were near Bryn. Without bows of their own, they stayed hunkered down, watching. He had purposefully picked the same massive boulder, keeping them close. He wasn’t going to screw up now. He had ‘em, and he was getting ‘em home.
Nevyn whooped, signaling for the attack.
Bryn popped up and moved out from behind his rock, arrow already nocked and ready to fire. He took quick aim at the confused Elvasi and let it loose. It slammed into the thigh of a rider, who cursed but didn’t pull it out. Bryn readied a second as the Elvasi turned to see them and let off another, hitting a gryphon in the side, making it screech. He was able to send two more, both hitting their targets, but nothing fatal. He saw two bodies drop, both from fatal shots, and knew who made the hits, both to the eye.
Varon was still the best marksman in the mountains—always had been, always would be.
Mat screamed a war cry at the same time as Nevyn as the warriors jumped up and attacked the gryphons over them. Bryn continued to fire, hitting the soft underbellies. Varon hit a gryphon in the eye. The other two archers were more like Bryn, hitting and waiting for the poison to take effect, which would slow the enemy down for those fighting above. The only archer willing to go into the sky was Varon, who didn’t need stillness to hit his shots. Bryn was jealous. All the years he practiced, and he could never get that good.
Only one Andinna fell back to the earth as the Elvasi realized they were losing and started to retreat. Bryn fired off his last three arrows, two of them proving fatal. The remaining four Elvasi didn’t make it farther, their gryphons dropping from the sky and taking them along for the crash.
The injured Andinna, one of Nevyn’s warriors, was already on his feet by the time anyone reached him.
“Just need a bandage,” the male swore. “The hit was more of a shock than anything that should have knocked me out of the sky.” He seemed a bit embarrassed. “That was a good attack.”
“It was,” Nevyn agreed with a laugh. “Now, let’s clean up our kills, then get the fuck home.”
Bryn grinned as he grabbed Zayden next to him and pulled him in for a hard hug. Mat was next. They flew after the Elvasi, who had just tried to escape once the minor celebration was over. It was quick work, hunting down the few surviving and poisoned riders. They didn’t give much of a fight. Bryn knew they would have been dead in hours, but it was better to clean up than leave it to chance. He’d seen people survive worse.
“Ya don’t want to know how worried we’ve been for ya,” Bryn told Zayden and Mat as they came to his side.
“It happens. We did what we had to do. I’m just glad we found you. I don’t think we had another week in us.”
“Well, now ya don’t need another week.” Bryn thumped each of them on the shoulder.
They moved camp, and when they rested, Bryn put himself right in the middle of them. He’d missed the pile they often made at home and was taking that back immediately. It gave him some comfort because he was battling other thoughts. Thoughts he didn’t want to give a voice to yet.
He’d spent eight days alone in the wilderness, and those eight days brought him to a wild theory he was certain no one wanted to entertain.
I think there’s a spy in our village, but I don’t have any evidence. I’ll work on it when we get home. I don’t need to make everyone paranoid until I have some sort of proof. It’s just a baseless theory. That’s all. I’m being paranoid.
25
Mave
Mave was training with Alchan and didn’t see them when they arrived. She hadn’t been paying attention, too focused on beating Alchan into the ground because now, Bryn was late getting home. He was supposed to come back three days before, and he was still gone.
Then a third sword entered the spar, and she turned with a growl to see Nevyn, who gave her a lopsided smile before pointing his thumb over his shoulder.
Mave looked, and her anger faded away in a single heartbeat.
“You found them,” she gasped, letting her sword drop. She didn’t ask her feet to move, they did so on their own, leading her straight to those three husbands. Mat and Zayden looked terrible, but they were alive. They were there. They were home. “You found them,” she whispered, reaching out to touch each of them.
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