There had been two hawks earlier that surrendered their will to Nizar as they soared over the thick winter forest. Neither bird had been able to find any sign of Tane and his comrades. He was sure he and Jessy had ridden long and hard enough to get well ahead of Tane’s group, but couldn’t find them. Had they turned back? Or changed their direction? Could Tane Kyleson give up? Jessy didn’t think so. Neither did Nizar.
“See anything?” Jessy asked, watching the owl disappear to the south.
“Not yet,” Nizar said.
“You want me to make a proper camp?” she said. “Or just a fire?”
“Neither,” he said, grinning. “There seems to be an abandoned hut just a few minutes into the trees. I have the owl checking it out now.”
It wasn’t easy, but he had taken control of enough birds to communicate what he wanted them to do. Nevertheless, the owl struggled to hover outside the open door of the hut. Using the owl’s senses, Nizar heard nothing, and saw even less within the hut. Nothing left but to send the bird inside. A moment later, the owl landed and went inside. What Nizar saw through the owl’s eyes looked decrepit and long abandoned, but the inside seemed dry. The wood-shingled roof was still intact.
“We’ll stay the night in the hut,” Nizar said, sending the owl southward in search of Tane. Pointing, he said, “Lead me that way.”
The command was a common enough occurrence that Jessy acted without thought, gently prying the reins from his hand and leading him off the narrow road. While in the mind of a bird, Nizar wasn’t able to control his mount. He could still see through his own eyes, but most of his attention had to be turned toward controlling the bird. A moment’s inattention and the owl would be free and beating a terrified retreat.
“A little more to the right, Jessy,” Nizar said. “See the path? The hut is at the end of it.”
As they approached the timber and wattle hut, the bird soared high, alone in the wintry sky. It wanted to return to the forest, to rest and eat. Nizar ignored its needs and desires. Ignoring the owl’s fatigue was more difficult, seeming to add to Nizar’s own personal fatigue.
So immersed in keeping the owl high enough to see a wide area, and going south, Nizar never felt himself taken off the horse and led inside the hut. The first he knew of his rising comfort was the feel of heat seeping through his damp robes.
“Ah...fire,” he muttered. “Good.”
That was all he could get out. He didn’t have time to see Jessy’s reaction, for the owl took a dive for the forest when his control momentarily weakened. Eventually, the owl’s fatigue would grow strong enough that the bird would be able to cast off Nizar’s arcane control. He wanted to have all the area within a night’s riding distance scouted before that happened.
By the time the sun set behind thick gray clouds, the owl was at its limit. Nizar knew it was over, and was about to release the bird, when a movement below caught his attention. Willing the owl to fly closer, Nizar watched as a cold camp slowly came into view. There were several people asleep under blankets...five horses...a lone sentry...
“Tane!” Nizar cried, startling both Jessy and the owl.
So overjoyed with locating Tane, Nizar lost mental control of the owl and found himself fully back in the hut. Disoriented, he looked around the unfamiliar interior. Jessy was out of her armor and had turned her padded leather gambeson inside out to dry by the fire.
“Get dressed,” Nizar said, standing with a grin. “Tane is within striking distance, and his friends are all asleep. He’s ours for the taking.”
~**~**~
It felt like he’d been on watch for days on end, but Tane knew it had only been an hour or more. The light sleet that was starting up again wasn’t helping any. The darkness, cold and inactivity all combined to sap his will. His body wanted nothing more than to curl up beneath a blanket and sleep for a week. But he had a few more hours on guard to go. Oh, Quinn wouldn’t begrudge him a few extra hours of sleep if Tane woke him, but he couldn’t do that to his friend.
A rustling sound caught his attention. Holding his breath, Tane listened and waited. Long minutes passed, and no other sound came to him.
“Now my ears are playing tricks on me,” he grumbled.
He had quickly learned while on guard duty in the army that nightshadows were insidious. They delighted in scaring him. They would dance around in the scant light until he panicked and told someone. There were never any intruders to be found. Tane was intent not to make that mistake with his friends.
~**~**~
Jessy held her breath as she watched Tane. He looked poised to wake everyone. Nizar had promised her that she had no chance of surviving a fight with Tane’s companions. They were mercenaries and utterly without remorse or mercy.
Looking back, she could barely make out the faint form of Ashtar’s priest. He was dark, brooding and all too frequently angry. Nizar didn’t seem the type man to serve Ashtar, but who was she to judge him? Ashtar Herself had chosen Nizar, as She chose Jessy, to stop Tane.
Stop Tane. The thought still chilled her to the marrow. Nothing mattered but stopping Tane. None of their lives meant a thing, as long as Tane wasn’t allowed to finish his task. A fact Nizar had reminded her of before sending her out to lure her cousin away from the camp.
If he balks, or tries to wake the others, Nizar had said. Then kill him.
Oh, Nizar had promised that if it proved necessary to kill Tane, his soul at least would be safe from Dakar’s unholy appetite. And the priest promised the Arisen would not punish Tane for his unwitting assistance to Dakar. Nizar assured her that the Arisen understood how Tane came to be in Dakar’s service.
Seeing Tane start moving about again, she allowed herself to breathe normally again. After several slow, deep breathes she felt up to approaching Tane. So, as careful as she had ever been, Jessy eased forward toward the dark camp.
Chapter 77
Tane had just finished a complete circuit around the camp when he heard a rustling to the south. Easing closer, hand on hilt, he listened intently. He heard nothing. After a few moments he started to give it up again when a movement caught his eye.
Hard as he tried, Tane couldn’t locate the movement again. Everything appeared perfectly normal. With his heart hammering in his ears, he couldn’t hear a herd of cattle if they rampaged through the camp, and the fact frustrated him to no end. Why couldn’t he have better control over his own body, his own fears and emotions? If he and his friends died here tonight, it would be due to his weakness.
“Shhhh, Tane,” a familiar voice said in whisper. “It’s Jessy.”
A dark figure stepped hesitantly from behind a tree just ten paces away. The helmet and hood were pulled off, and long white-blonde hair shown in the scant light.
“Come with me, Tane,” she said. “I...”
“Jessy! Is it really you?” Tane said.
“Shhhhh. Quiet, Tane, we don’t...”
“What? Tane?” Quinn’s groggy voice called.
Tane turned to see Quinn struggling to his feet. The half-elf froze in place at the sight of Jessy, then kicked out at both Raven and the Vikon couple.
“Up! Intruder!” Quinn bellowed, pulling his sword.
“No!” Tane cried.
Too late.
Quinn charged with sword high. Raven and Armin were barely a step behind him. Tane heard Joelle’s voice rise up in a chant. With no time to think, Tane stepped in their way and held up his hands as he heard Jessy’s sword rasp out of its scabbard.
~**~**~
What do I do!
Tane stood just paces away, his back to her. Another dozen paces behind him three warriors charged forward to kill her. She would leave Tane in their unholy hands if she ran away. The alternative was to kill Tane where he stood, obviously trying to save her life.
She knew what Ashtar wanted her to do. What Nizar wanted her to do.
Forgive me.
Jessy pulled her sword and stepped toward Tane’s vulnerable back as tears ro
lled down her face. Her only consolation was that his comrades would kill her within seconds of killing her beloved cousin. She and Tane would go before the Gods together, and she prayed he was able to forgive her.
“Watch your back!” the first of Tane companions shouted.
Jessy hesitated. She could not attack Tane face-to-face, much less kill him. The thought of looking into his face, his eyes, at the very moment he realized she had betrayed his love and trust stopped her dead in her tracts. And that was long enough.
An instant later, three warriors passed Tane and bore down upon her. Instinct took over.
Jessy lashed out at the first man, her blade striking his and sliding off. A quick twist of her wrist and her sword point drove toward his belly. The point hit hard, driven by both his charge and her fear. She felt resistance, then the blade slipped before piercing the armor.
A howl of pain and rage tore the night air, striking fear into the depths of Jessy’s soul. Like a trapped animal she lashed out at the other two warriors. The woman cursed, then growled a threat while the man cried out a battle cry.
Jessy threw her helmet into the man’s face, and then slashed at the woman’s legs. Her tactics broke up their attack. The woman jumped aside as the man stumbled past her. But he wasn’t entirely disoriented, for he managed to cut at her back. Her chain mail turned aside his attack, but brought home the deadly danger of her position.
“Stop!” Tane shouted, with far more authority than Jessy would’ve guessed he possessed.
At that moment a tortured screech sounded above them and the night sky lit up. Jessy was surprised to see a rainbow of bright light arching over the battle site from the upraised hands of the armed and armored woman, dressed in the robes of a priestess of Dakar.
Everyone paused for a split second in the arcane light. She was startled to see that everyone wore the black and gray of Dakar, including Tane. Then Jessy found herself staring into the angry green eyes of a tall woman, sword in hand. The two male warriors were both on their feet again, so Jessy bolted into a dark patch of brambles.
~**~**~
“Stop it! Stop it now!” Tane commanded. “She’s my cousin, you fools.”
When Raven and Armin broke off their pursuit at his words, Tane took a deep breath and shouted, “Jessy! Come back! No one will hurt you!”
“No!” Raven said.
“What? She’s my cousin,” Tane insisted.
“Why was she wearing the black and gray of Dakar’s mercenaries?” Quinn said.
Tane paused. He didn’t recall what she wore. It could’ve been black and gray. But, no, not Jessy. He knew her. He knew how she thought, and what she believed in. Jessy would never serve Dakar. She would rather die.
“You’re mistaken,” Tane said.
“No I’m not,” Quinn said as he slowly sat down.
“You’re wounded!” Tane said, stepping to his friend’s side. Then, “It’s not Jessy’s fault. You were attacking her. She was only defending herself.”
“How bad is it?” Raven asked as she joined them.
“Joelle!” Armin called. “Quinn’s hurt. Hurry.”
The light vanished, plunging them all into blackest night. A moment later Joelle knelt beside Quinn.
“Tane, help me get his armor off,” Joelle said. “Armin, you and Raven take guard.”
“No, I’ll help you,” Raven said, eyes bright as she looked at Quinn’s bleeding wound. “You might need some of my life energies.”
Looking at Raven, Tane knew she’d never leave Quinn’s side. He stayed Joelle’s objection, and left Quinn to the women’s care. His eyes immediately went to the last place Jessy was seen.
“No,” Armin said, intercepting him halfway to the brambles. “It’s a trick.”
“It’s my cousin Jessy.”
“Really?” Armin asked. “Tell me, Tane, what are the chances that your cousin would just so happen to find you in the middle of nowhere? In the middle of the night? And wearing Dakar’s colors?”
“Stranger things have happened,” he said.
Still, Armin had a point. Why was she there? How did she know to look for him? Or, did she just stumble upon him?
“Don’t you think it strange that she’s wearing the uniform of the people trying to stop us?” Armin continued. “And why would your cousin be so deep inside Dakar’s conquered territory? Think, Tane. Magic. That could’ve been one of Dakar’s mercenaries bespelled to look like your cousin, or even a priestess.”
That horrifying thought registered. By the Gods, why hadn’t he thought of that! Since joining the army, all he’s seen was battling Gods, wizards, and priests. Magic was their favorite weapon. He had already been bespelled once, and Dakar’s priest even turned him into a zombie once. Surely that most evil God could’ve riffled through his mind and learned all of his memories and secrets. Dakar could very easily know all about his family, enough to trick him.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if that wasn’t Nizar,” Amin said, scowling at the dark forest around them.
“Maybe you’re right,” he admitted. The admission sucked the life out of him. Until Jessy showed up, he didn’t realize how much he needed to know his family was alive and well. “But why would Dakar dress her in His uniform?”
The both frowned in the dark, considering that strange occurrence.
“Good question. But in the future, if you see or meet anyone you know and trust, let the rest of us deal with them first,” Armin said. “I promise we’ll be careful in the future. I for one would hate to kill someone you cared for.”
“Thank you, Armin. I’ll try, but...”
“But it’s hard. I know. If I was in your situation and Joelle suddenly came to me in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere, I’d have done the same thing. No thought of the danger, either.”
“Thanks again,” Tane said. “You’re a better friend than I deserve. All of you are.”
“No such thing, Tane,” Armin said with a chuckle as he threw a friendly arm around his shoulders. “We all end up with the friends we deserve.”
“Like Raven?” Tane said, grinning evilly.
“Oh, I’ll have to think about that,” he said, grinning. “She can be so annoying at times.”
Chapter 78
“Looks deserted,” Raven said, standing up in her stirrups. Caeren lay before them, a dark maze surrounded by snow-covered fields on three sides and dark forest on the other. But from the center of the city a great maelstrom of crimson-hued clouds roared up and out, swirling above them and making Tane dizzy whenever he glanced up. “Maybe this’ll be easier than we thought.”
Tane slanted a sharp look her way, but Raven wasn’t paying him any heed. Surely she wasn’t serious. That was the most dreadful sight he had ever seen, even worse than Dakar’s legions of mindless slaves. It was a sight straight from the Abyss.
“No, the city is teeming with life,” Joelle said, eyes closed and arms extended.
“Couldn’t tell by the look of it,” Quinn said. “I’ve seen livelier ghost towns.”
That fact alone gave Tane hope. If men and women could live within the city, then they had a chance.
“Maybe Dakar commands all lights be out by a certain hour,” Tane said. “The citizens could’ve rebelled and a curfew was set.”
“Could be anything,” Raven said, settling back into her saddle with a satisfied look. “Only way to find out is by going down and asking someone. I’m ready.”
Quinn and Armin gave her surprised looks. Joelle turned to regard Tane. A heartbeat later, Raven turned to Tane as well – waiting.
“Not yet,” Tane said, wondering if all Tyrians were as reckless as Raven, and if they were, how they ever conquered so much territory. “Arriving at this late hour will make us stand out. We’ll go in tomorrow morning.”
“I’m sure they have patrols coming and going at all hours,” Raven said. “The best disguise is confidence. Act like you belong, and ninety-nine out of a hundred men will accept you
at face value.”
“And that lone doubter is the one who gets you killed,” Armin said, voicing Tane’s own thoughts. “The way our luck has been running, I’m for sneaking into the place unobserved.”
“Now that’s an idea,” Raven said. “Think about it. What are the chances we can sneak in close and climb the walls of a well-patrolled city without being discovered? It’ll be glorious!”
“If Raven thinks it a great idea, then I have to object,” Quinn said. “There has to be something wrong with it.”
Tane jumped in before Raven could respond. Their usual banter proved unusually irritating now that he was so close to the end, and that damnable, ceaseless thunder. Was Kamain pushing him to hurry up and end it? Or was it just plain nerves?
“We’ll wait for daylight,” Tane said. Raven opened her mouth to object, so he continued, “I think you’re correct, Raven, in that they will be used to having patrols coming and going at all hours. But we’ll wait until morning because I don’t want to do anything to raise suspicions when we enter. An unexpected patrol in the middle of the night is something even zombies would take note of, or remember later if questioned.”
“Sound enough reasoning for me,” Quinn said, looking satisfied.
“We’ll never go down in legend by skulking around like a bunch of common thieves,” Raven grumbled. “You people don’t have any style.”
“Maybe not, but we’ll all outlive you,” Armin said.
“No,” Joelle said. “Raven’s sort is the type to live long lives. It’s everyone around them that dies young.”
“Then thank the Sweet Mother I’m already an old man,” Quinn said, chuckling.
Raven turned a smug face on the half-elf. “That’s not what you said last night.”
Belly of the Beast Page 34
