Silent Snow: Tales from Ancient Ieda 01

by Sarah Thomie

  “Just get healed up, so you can be ready.” I smiled at them, before lowering the blanket so they could get some rest. I walked up to Ursus. “Keep your axe ready, just in case you need to fight. Also, keep your alliance document handy, in case other allies question a slave cage going through their territories.”

  “Will do. Stay safe, Snow, Wolf.” He waved to us then snapped the reins to get the horse moving.

  I looked to Howling Wolf. “I hope we get there before they get sold…”

  “Same,” he answered as we went through the forest to find the village of this slaver Clan. We found it, but there was no one there. We wandered through the village, ready for an ambush. “What is going on?”

  “I do not know…” I thought about it. “Howling Wolf, how many males do you think were at the burned village? Like enough to be all warriors?”

  He thought about it, understanding crossing his face. “They did not…”

  We searched through the entire village, not finding anyone.

  “Is there anyone here?” I called out.

  I heard a child’s cry, which brought out the Snow Cat. “Wait!”

  Howling Wolf tried to stop me, but the Snow Cat snarled at him.

  “Let me come with you, so do not take off at full speed without me.” He let me go, and I ran to where the child was crying. The little boy must have been only six hundred years old, but more than half my height.

  I kept my ear pricked for any more noises, while Howling Wolf checked on the boy. When the bigger Wood Elf got close, the boy screamed in terror, so I ripped him away from the child. The child ran and cling to me. I let the Snow Cat comfort him with her purrs, using my voice. Every time the child saw Howling Wolf, he screamed, so the older Wood Elf went to check other buildings.

  “What happened, Kitten?” I carried him outside into the open air, sitting him in my lap, while I rocked him.

  “The warriors…” He sniffled. “Sold our Clan!” He yelled as he started to cry again.

  I rubbed his hair. “It is all right, Kitten. Did three of the warriors have arrow wound scars in their shoulders?”

  “Yes, they were our top warriors, and one was my father. They killed the Elder and took Grandmother.” He sniffled again, a sob almost escaping. “They took our Clan and sold them with the other Clan they stole. They kept talking about riches while the humans took our Clan away.”

  I kept rocking him. “It is all right, Kitten. We will get your Clan back safely. Were the warriors the only ones who wanted to take part in selling Elves to the humans?”

  He nodded into my shoulder. “Elder did not like them selling Elves at all. They did it behind Elder’s back.”

  I saw Howling Wolf watching, but he shook his head. I pulled the boy away a little. “This is my friend, Wolf. He is going to help us stand back up, and he will make sure that your Clan is safe, all right, Kitten?”

  He turned to see Howling Wolf standing there. The boy shook.

  “Be brave, Kitten. He is our friend, so he will make sure we do not get hurt.”

  Howling Wolf took slow steps to us, before going behind me to pick me and the boy up to stand.

  “See? He is a gentle Forest God.”

  The boy looked at Howling Wolf in wonder. “Forest God?”

  I smiled at him. “Exactly, you see, Wolf here had the power of protection around him. Just as the Forest protects Her creatures, he will protect you and me.” Howling Wolf looked embarrassed because he always blushed when I called him a Forest God. “My name is Snow. Do Kittens have names?”

  The boy shook his head. “Not until I am older.”

  “What is your mother’s name?”

  “Resting Doe. She is a very pretty lady, and she tells me I look like her first partner before he died,” he said.

  Howling Wolf straightened up more, rage covering his face. I put the boy’s face to my shoulder. “Leash your anger, Enforcer.” I used my other hand to tell him. “Then you shall be my Kitten until we find your Clan.”

  “Why Kitten?” he asked, letting his mind get away from the horrors he dealt with in his short life.

  “I have a Snow Cat spirit inside of me, and she had Kittens that she could not protect before she passed away. She wants you to be safe, so as her Kitten, she will protect you with her life. And I believe that everyone should be able to be called something.”

  “Can we leave here, Snow?” he asked.

  “Of course. Do you mind if Wolf holds you for a little bit? I just need to make sure of something.”

  He nodded into my shoulder.

  “Such strong and brave, Little Kitten.” I told him, as Howling Wolf lifted him from my arms. I shook my arms out. “How about you ask him why his name is Wolf?”

  I left them to check through the buildings until I found the book I was looking for. All Sellers had a ledger, where they track who was bought and sold. For City Elves, it would list our brands, but for the unbranded Wood Elves, it might have names. I took it with me, going back to Howling Wolf and the Kitten.

  “I knew your mother a long time ago,” Howling Wolf was telling the boy.

  “You did?” His eyes seemed to light up.

  “She came from my Clan, where she was a healer. She met a warrior in the woods, and they fell in love. She decided that her love for him was worth more to her than her Clan, so she joined his,” he explained, before he saw me. There was war of emotions on his face, until he blanked his eyes to me.

  I signed to him with my hands that this was not the time or place.

  He struggled to regain his composure. He turned the boy to face me. “Snow says we are ready.”

  “Howling Wolf is going to take you somewhere safe, Kitten. I have to go get a book from another Clan nearby.” Howling Wolf scowled as he realized that I was planning on going alone. He started to argue, but I stopped him. “I am just going to forest walk to get the book, nothing else, Howling Wolf.” I smiled at him innocently, and I knew that he knew I was lying.

  I walked over and kissed the boy on the head. “Keep being brave, Kitten. Howling Wolf is going to take you to our Clan, so that his sister, Sparrow, can make sure everything is alright. There is a lady in our Clan named Xerinae who makes the best food in the whole world, so make sure you eat something. I will be there soon. I promise.”

  “Stay safe, Snow.” The boy smiled.

  Howling Wolf looked like he wanted to say something but chose not to. “Be careful, Snow. Happy hunting.”

  I nodded, not trusting my voice. I then ran out of the village, using the Snow Cat’s speed and vision to guide my steps. I tried not to think about the rage I saw on Howling Wolf’s face, or the warring emotions in his eyes. I kept trying to stop hearing the love in his voice when he talked about Doe. I knew that he would have chosen someone like her over me, so why did I believe him when he said he wanted me?

  “Because Doe was no longer in his life. But she will be as soon as we rescue her and her Clan,” I told myself, hating the dead sound of my voice.

  I reached the second slaver Clan sometime later, unhindered by the Wood Elves who were normally with me. I drew my daggers and stepped into the village.

  “Come out and play, you slaver cowards!” I yelled to them.

  This village reminded me of the human one we found the Matriarch in, all males with few females, though they were chained. I wanted to let my daggers taste the blood of this Clan.

  “It is a City Elf!”

  “She is wearing clothes of the Enforcer of the Moon Clan.”

  “Look at her hair! It must be 13-87-22! She will make us rich!”

  “Does she really think she can beat all of us with two little knives?”

  The slavers murmurs broke the silence of the forest.

  The women slaves retreated inside, leaving only the slavers and me.

  Their Elder came out with their Grandmother, a hard woman who looked like she was ready to kill me as well.

  “Get her!” the Elder shouted, and they surro
unded me.

  I let the Snow Cat take my pain and rage and turn it into a rain of blood and death. I gracefully moved through them, killing them as I went. I hated them because they were the ones who bought and sold my people. I ignored the pain from their attacks, just as Howling Wolf taught me. Soon, it was down to the Elder, Grandmother, and me. I wanted to carve the Elder to pieces, but I needed to get the ledger.

  “Give me your ledger, and I will kill you quickly instead of the slow bleed out like you deserve.”

  The Elder took off the boar pelt he wore and grabbed a large, metal whip from his hip. “You will pay for this, slave.”

  “Then come and punish me.”

  He cracked the metal whip, the sound of chains combining with the smell of metal blood brought forth memories from my slavery. I did not see the Elder standing there; instead, I saw a myriad of masters, holding a whip covered in my and other slave’s blood.

  I growled, much deeper than my voice should have been able to go.

  He took a step forward, lashing my arm with the tip of the metal whip.

  I caught the metal whip, using my dagger to hold it close to my arm.

  He was stronger than me, so he was able to easily rip it away from me, slashing my arm as it pulled away from me.

  I let the Snow Cat take over completely. Her moves forced my body forward. She danced around the Elder’s whip, not getting hit with it again. He changed the momentum of the whip at the last second, wrapping around my arm. I kicked my foot up, catching the whip under my instep, pulling it to the ground. I threw the whip off my arm, then launched myself forward. The Snow Cat let me take back over as I stabbed him in the stomach, spun around, and ripped him apart like I did Viper. Blood and ticker things clung to my skin and clothes.

  He dropped to the ground, as I walked over to the Grandmother. “Ledger or you will follow him to the Underworld.”

  Terror filled in her eyes as she stared at me. She pulled it from the inside of her top. She tossed it to me, before she threw the knife that was hiding in her top at me.

  I was too focused on the ledger to dodge the knife. I caught it in the shoulder, a hot searing pain spreading through me. I ripped it out of my shoulder and used my dominant hand to slam her dagger into her throat.

  She gargled blood as she fell.

  The searing heat became worse, and I knew that she had poisoned it with something. I fell to my knees.

  A beautiful Wood Elf slave came from where she had been hiding. She shouted to another slave, “Get the antitoxin!” She caught me as I fell face first into the ground. “Hold on, City Elf.” Her voice was warm and friendly.

  “You must be Doe…” Her silky black hair fell in waves around her, accenting her dark brown eyes and skin.

  She looked surprised. “I am.”

  I closed my eyes, trying to fight off the pain to tell her, “Howling Wolf has your Kitten. He is safe…” That was as far as I could get before, I passed out from the pain and poison.

  Chapter 22

  There were sheets and a soft bed under me. “Where?”

  “Sh. You are still very weak from that poison the Grandmother had in her dagger,” the same warm voice from before told me. “How do you know Howling Wolf? And you found my son?”

  “Starting with a less painful answer, yes, we found your son. Howling Wolf took him back to the Moon Clan. As for Howling Wolf himself, I am his Second.”

  “I can see why you would be, after seeing you decimate the slaver Clan here.” She looked at me, eyes wide. “How did you become a part of the Moon Clan? They are usually very wary of strangers.”

  “Escaped slavery, attacked Howling Wolf for his wolf pelt, killed a bear, earned a name, saved First Son’s life, then became Enforcer after killing a group of slavers and passing the test. Working with the Matriarch to save City Elves…” My eyes widened, as I struggled to get up, “Have to go!”

  “Oh no, you do not. You need to rest some more.” She held me down.

  “Cannot. Matriarch cannot do it on her own.” I teared up from the pain and weakness and worry. “Clans are going to City Elf settlement, so I need to be there before the warriors leave towards the Capital City.”

  “You have to at least wait until the other women get the wagon ready. They can survive without you for a couple of days. You do not want Howling Wolf mad at you for not healing correctly, right?”

  “I do not care what he gets mad about.”

  She jumped back, confused.

  I used that time to sit up.

  “You are his Second.”

  “Does not mean anything beyond working with him. He still loves you, so there is no point in lying in saying that there is something between him and I.”

  She covered her mouth with her hand. “Even after all of this time? He still loves me?” The tears shimmered in her eyes, which just made me want to get away from her even faster. She turned back into the Healer when I tried to get out of the bed. “Goddess Above, just stop before you tear the stitches.”

  “That is fine. It will just add more scars.”

  “Will you stop?” she pleaded.

  “No,” I told her as I grabbed my top, sniffing it. The blood and gore had been washed away. I put it on and winced. “Where are my daggers and sheaths?”

  “Goddess Above, you have to be an Enforcer if you care more about those things than your own body.” She picked them up, then noticed the embroidery on them. “What are these for?”

  “Because I am his Second, his sister thought it would be hilarious to embroider them that way,” I lied, pushing down the betrayal I felt from the sheaths. I then grabbed the side of the bed and took off the sheets and blanket. I swung my legs over the side and took a deep breath. Testing the strength of one leg, then the other, I tried to stand. “If you want to see your son, I suggest we head out sooner rather than later.” I grabbed my pants and carefully dressed. She handed me my daggers. I realized my arms were covered in bandages, but I did not care.

  She sighed, deciding that trying to stop me was useless. She came around to where I was and helped me walk to where the other women were almost ready to leave in the covered cage. She tried to get me into the back, but I refused, never wanting to be in the back of one of these wagons ever again.

  “Suit yourself, Enforcer,” she growled, as she grabbed some things before everyone was ready. They climbed into the wagon and one of the women snapped the reins.

  I led her toward the City Elf settlement, praying that I would not be too late to leave. It took a week to get there, but when we arrived, First Son was there to greet us.

  “Snow!” He reached for me at the seat of the wagon. “What happened? Where is Howling Wolf?”

  “He should have beaten me back. We found Doe’s son in one of the Slaver Clans.”

  Sparrow noticed my injuries “Get Snow to the Matriarch to debrief.” She then asked me, “Did you say Doe’s son?”

  “Yes?” Doe came out of the back of the wagon, and First Son dropped me on accident.

  “Really?” I growled at him from the ground.

  “Goddess Above, First Son! Do not drop her!” Sparrow came over and grabbed me. She glared at Doe, then turned to me. “What do you mean he should have been here first?”

  “We found Doe’s kitten, and we parted ways, while I took care of the other Slaver Clan to get their ledger.” I handed both books to First Son. “It has every slave purchased and sold. The Matriarch can use them to track how many City and Wood Elves are enslaved.”

  “Do you think--?” Sparrow started, but I stopped that thought.

  “No, he would have fought and never would have been captured.”

  “Except he had Doe’s son…” First Son looked between Doe and me. “If they threatened the child…”

  I felt my world collapse under me. “I am going after him.”

  “No, you are not,” the Elder spoke as he stepped out of the Matriarch’s building. “We have a plan, and you need to stick to it.”
r />   “Honorable Elder.” Doe bowed to him gracefully.

  “It has been too long, Resting Doe,” the Elder told her. “I want a full report of what happened.”

  “Yes, Elder.” She turned to me. “She was stabbed in the shoulder with a knife.”

  “I am fine,” I tried to tell them, until Sparrow touched the spot, and I winced in pain. “I will be fine,” I amended.

  “You better be, Silent Snow,” the Matriarch growled. “Because if you are not, I will beat you black and blue.” She looked to the Elder. “We will give Howling Wolf a couple more days, before we start the next part of the plan. If he is not here by then, I will get into contact with my human ally family to see what they know. Until then, sit on her if you must, but she needs to be healed by then.”

  “Raven! Help Sparrow with Silent Snow,” the Elder called over to where our other warriors were. “Resting Doe, come with First Son, the Matriarch, and I.”

  Raven and Sparrow helped me get into the bathhouse. She stripped me to check the stab wound. “Goddess Above, Snow!” She undid all the bandages and saw the extent of the damage. “What caused these?”

  “Metal whip,” I told her. “Sparrow?” I felt my emotions wrecking through me.

  “Yes, Snow?”

  “I found Doe… Her partner is dead, and I killed the male she was currently with.”

  “You must have had a good reason.”

  “Her new partner was one of the Slavers who attacked us during the Gauntlet. Her son says that she says he looks like her first partner.” I felt tears spill out. “He still loves her. I saw it in his face and eyes when he was talking to the Kitten.”

  Sparrow hugged me. “I am sorry, Snow. You do not deserve this.”

  “I promised him that I would step aside if he wanted a delicate flower, so I will. But why does it hurt so badly?”

  “It is called a heart break, Snow,” Raven explained. “I know City Elves do not usually know love, but I believe you may have stumbled on it by being with us for the past fifteen years.”

  “I want it to go away,” I told them.

  “It does not work like that, Snow,” Sparrow said. “But we can fix up these wounds to get you ready to fight.” She and Raven worked together to check on the new scabs that covered me from my fight with the slaver Clans. She then checked on the stab wound, and I heard her suck in a sharp breath. “Goddess Above.” She began to work on it. “How did you get stabbed like this?”