Nightfall (Book 1)

by L. R. Flint

  “I truly am sorry that you cannot join us,” I said to Ekaitz, as I wrapped an arm around his shoulders. He tried to put on a good show of not being completely disheartened, but I knew him better than to think that he had entirely given up on joining us. “We shall go exploring when I return,” I decided, “and give the Council a terrible fright when they cannot find me in the haven.” I flashed an impish grin, and then we departed, and kept to a quick pace that my companions could maintain with ease.

  That first night we spent in a tree and I had to set magic barriers to prevent my friends from falling to their deaths. It was not until the second night that we came to the elven guard-post, and there the three of us got a good, long sleep with no worries regarding the solid floor giving way and dropping us on the ground, a hundred or more feet below.

  ~ ~ ~

  The third day, I was startled to hear an outcry, from not far behind us. We all recognized the sound and ran to find Ekaitz. I was almost happy to see that it was hobgoblins parading around my friend—I could not think of a more fortunate alternative. I cast a quick spell and the creatures all fell to the ground, unconscious. I was crouched behind a leafy bush, so before I made my presence known, Ekaitz looked around, wary of what had neutralized his attackers. When I stepped out of hiding he was startled, but ready to stand and put up a fight.

  Naturally, after making sure my friend was safe, I had to rebuke him for disobeying the command of the Council to stay behind, and for disregarding the warning of Koldobika that he would die if he were to follow me. After I had reprimanded him, though, I was not about to send him back on his own so, of course, I let him come. I really was glad to have Ekaitz along and I did not doubt that I could keep my friends safe from whatever might befall us. It was good to have the four of us together on another adventure.

  ~ ~ ~

  I hissed at my companions to be silent for at least the millionth time—in the past minute—and the three of them froze. Though they were masters of stealth, for humans, they were still louder than I, and I could hear them better than anyone within miles. In my mind's eye I could see Eskarne rolling her eyes, as she likely was, but I was too intent on the quarry to check. My gaze was directed on the commander’s tent, and a couple other of my senses on the conversation that was going on inside. I again wondered why on earth the commander had decided to place his tent at the edge of his camp, as far from relative safety as any of the men could get, within their boundaries.

  I heard a twig snap behind me and was about to hiss at my friends to be quiet yet again, when I noticed the presence of an unexpected being in our immediate vicinity. I spun around to see a Guard, shocked to find three humans and an elf eavesdropping on his commander’s tent. The man worked his jaw, not knowing how to react to the situation, though he was entirely capable of yelling an alarm and was, I am sure, no stranger to murder.

  Eskarne was the closest to the man, so she quickly had his head lopped off his shoulders, the thud of which was quickly followed by his body hitting the ground. I tensed at the sound, expecting to hear an outburst of noise as our presence was noticed. An alarm was sounded, as five men hurriedly exited the tent, their swords raised in front of them, and headed in our direction. We were easily spotted, so I gave up hiding and yelled at the others to run. I stayed in the back to make sure none of us were picked off from the rear. I gave no heed to the sentries that guarded the outmost flanks of the army, because the sleeping spells I had placed on them as we had passed through were strong enough to keep them unconscious for a while longer. We were ambushed, though, as we passed where the nearest sentry had been.

  Eskarne, who was still in the lead, was ready to defend herself when she ran straight into the cluster of Guards. I hit the group at the same time as the other two boys, and we hacked away at them. “We are out,” Ekaitz yelled, so the four of us raced on again. I did not realize that one of our number was missing, until we were just within the borderline of the trees. I yelled out a halt and pointed out that Ekaitz was not with us. I turned to run back, but as I re-entered the clearing I thudded to the ground under the unexpected weight of Eskarne, quickly followed by Arrats. “Get off me,” I yelled, just short of heaving them angrily from my back.

  “No, stop,” Eskarne hissed at me.

  “What are you talking about? I do not have time for this—they are going to kill Ekaitz,” I yelled back at her. I stood with the two of them still hanging onto my back and saw Ekaitz at the other end of the clearing, held back by a couple of Guards, a third holding a blade to his throat.

  “Leave,” I could just hear the boy’s plea, before he was savagely kicked in the stomach. He bowled over, his head and neck followed his body forward, toward the knife held steadily before him; toward the knife that did not move even as his weight forced it to pierce his throat.

  I roared in outrage, but just before I could race back across the field, Eskarne slapped me across the face. “Do not go back; they will only kill you, as angry as you are right now.”

  “No, I can kill them,” I yelled.

  “See, you cannot even think straight. You cannot do this; you cannot let Zigor get away with killing both you and Ekaitz this easily.” She had to slap me again before I really gave any of what she had said much thought, and I realized she was right. I was not thinking straight, as angry as I was, and in that state I did not stand a chance against all of the Guards who were gathered at the far end of the clearing, soon to head our way. Behind them was the gathered mass of a section of Zigor’s army—far too many men for me to kill near single-handedly.

  I growled in frustration and turned to my friends, a plan of escape formulating in my mind. “Just go with your instincts—this should not be too hard,” I informed them, as I wove a spell, and dragonwings began to sprout from their backs. Arrats was the first to get his wings working correctly, and soon after he was soaring into the sky. I waited until Eskarne had her wings under control as well, before telling them to get to Baso Argi as soon as they could, and to not worry about me. I had to promise Eskarne that I was not going back for vengeance, and then the two of them finally left.

  As soon as they were gone, I took off on foot at the greatest pace I could—just in time, for a volley of arrows thundered into the ground and trees, in the vicinity of where I had been standing. At the speed I was going I did not have time to duck branches, so I had to leap over them, then I would push off of the ones large enough to sustain my weight, to give me extra momentum over the many leagues I still had to go to get all the way back to Baso Argi. At times I felt almost as if I were flying, since I spent the majority of the time off the ground, speeding through the air, launched from branches at breakneck pace. A couple of times I did crush trees about my own height, because I had been unable to avoid them in my reckless flight. The constant need to be on the lookout for things I was quickly approaching gave my mind no time to wander and I kept up the pace all through the night, not bothering to stop and eat, or even to sleep.

  Eventually, the avoidance of dangerous objects became a bit of a routine and I was able to ponder the tragedy that had just taken place. Ekaitz must have realized he would not escape, when he yelled for us to leave. He would have done such a thing, I knew, if he saw the situation as unconquerable. He often gave no thought to the dangers he might face, if it meant saving someone else. But after all those years, how could he be dead? It was unthinkable. He had so sincerely wished to see more of the wonders of the world he had only heard about in tales, but now he was gone; he had given up all of his dreams in order to save me and our two good friends. If I ever again found the Guards that had murdered him I would make them pay. Even if I could not find them, there was nothing that could possibly keep me from bringing retribution upon Zigor. In my hate-filled daze I would have been all too glad to rip his beating heart straight from his chest.

  The trees and other barely recognized objects flew past me in a thoughtless blur of shadowy colors and—with the lack of attention I was paying to any
real details—I was already upon the haven before I realized it. A person appeared, immediately in my path, and I had come upon them too quickly for them to react, so I stopped much quicker than was wise, even if I had had a good-sized clearing in which to do it.

  I tripped, but was still being propelled by all the speed I had built up, so I flew head over heels through the air and landed in the thick branches of a tree near the river—halfway through the village. A number of the people in the streets below me witnessed my collision and two of them decided to investigate, so it was not very long after I landed that two figures popped their heads up through the thick foliage to see what on earth an elf was doing falling into a tree.

  My two investigators were a dragonman, somewhat younger than me, and a gryphon whose fur was a dark, chocolate brown. “Are you okay?” the dragonboy asked. All I could do at that moment was groan. The gryphon pointed out that I was Itzal Izotz, so the boy untangled me from the branches I was wrapped in without a second thought.

  As soon as I was back on the ground and had assured him that I was fine, the gryphon left on his own business. The dragonman stayed, though.

  “Are you sure you are alright?” he queried, yet again.

  I nodded. “Actually I need to find Basajaun.”

  “Sorry, the Council is meeting right now.” I asked how he knew that, because the Council usually kept such things to themselves. He replied that he was the son of Erramun, the dragonman on the Council. I then thanked him for his help and took off for the meeting-place, though he tried to change my mind about going there because no one could get away with interrupting them—it was simply unthinkable. I smiled as the young dragonman’s words faltered for a moment, as he realized I was paying no heed, but then I heard his footfalls as he continued following me.

  29 INTERRUPTION

  “You cannot go in there,” Eneko said. I had been ignoring him for the past few minutes, but he persisted in trying to keep me from interrupting the Council and causing more trouble than was needed, just to speak with Basajaun. It was just then that I entered the Circle of the Council, so Eneko stayed back, and out of trouble.

  That particular meeting of the Council was just amongst the members, so it did not seem to me that I made too crucial of an interruption. “Basajaun,” I called, and the members turned in shocked silence to look in my direction, even those who knew and had become close to me stared openly in disapproving awe. After the initial shock, the group began whispering their wondering of how I had returned so quickly and: where might my other companions be?

  The elf Lord stood as I approached him; I bowed my head, acknowledged the fact that I was interrupting the meeting, but also that it was something I had to go through with.

  “I have some grave news for you,” the elf said. “Ekaitz has disappeared and we are completely unable to scry him.”

  “I know. He left to follow me.” I turned so that my words were directed at the entire gathering of the Council. “Ekaitz was captured and killed while we were discovering the plans of our enemy, Zigor; the plans he has for the great number of his Guard, gathered just without the Wall.”

  There were new murmurings of surprise amongst those gathered. “The purpose of the gathered army is to attack and demolish a small haven I had never heard of before, they called it Jeul Derin.” The new sounds which arose from my audience were those of surprise, outrage, and anger. “What is so important about this Jeul Derin that they would be so angry? We can still go to meet them in battle,” I whispered to Basajaun. Surely, they were entitled to be angry that the enemy was going to attack, but that was all a part of war and should not have come as such a surprise. It would have happened sooner or later.

  Erramun stood. “Jeul Derin is our most secret haven, if they know of its whereabouts then it is likely that they have found the locations of every other haven we have across this continent, not to mention the others. Also, we have not heard from you that you have noticed this haven, though you have walked below it many times now. Since even you have not noticed it, the only possible way they could have heard of it is if we have a betrayer in our midst.”

  The crowd grew silent with the new prospect of a traitor amongst our people. “What do we do?” one of the councilmen asked.

  “We cannot let them kill everyone in Jeul Derin.”

  “There is nothing too important there.” The grumble sounded to me as if it had come from the high-up direction of the giantess.

  “If my thinking is correct, then this—being an act of war—rests with our General for decision, rather than the Council. If any of you can direct me to where I might find him, then please do so.” The Council members grew silent as I made it obvious that the decisions regarding the war were no longer completely within their power. After a short moment, Argider, the centaur, stepped forward.

  “I am the man you seek; I am the General of these and every other free peoples joined against our enemy.” The centaur’s voice was deep and strong, that of a great commander. I bowed my head in recognition of his high station, and he returned the favor, likewise.

  “Argider, I believe that we must gather enough of our armies to defeat the Guards Zigor has gathered, whom he likely has already sent marching. I doubt that there is enough time to retrieve all of the people in Jeul Derin so we must defend them.” The nymph, Esti, gasped in surprise and shouted, ‘No.’ I glared disapprovingly at the interrupter and she fell silent before I returned my attention to the General, who it seemed had done the same to the nymph.

  “I believe you are right, Izotz. Thank you for your hasty return with this knowledge. I will get a messenger to you if I again require your assistance.” We again exchanged bows and then Basajaun addressed me.

  “Izotz, I believe you should leave now, for your weapons are not welcome within the Circle of the Council.” I quickly looked down to the sword and knife I wore at my belt, also feeling the weight of my bow and quiver on my back.

  “Forgive me,” I said and turned to leave. Eneko looked anxious when I found him, still waiting without the Circle, but he smiled shakily when he saw me still in one piece, walking toward him of my own power. “You did not have to wait for me.” I said.

  “I was not sure if they were going to kill you—after all, you were interrupting them and you took your weapons with you.” I shook my head, not wanting to be reminded again of that last detail, which I honestly had not thought of. I began walking toward the heart of Baso Argi and Eneko increased his pace to walk with me.

  “Have my companions from Caernadvall, by the names of Arrats and Eskarne, arrived within the last day or so?” I queried of the boy. He shook his head, signaling that they had not.

  “The last I heard of them was when my father told me they had gone with you on a scouting trip. Were you separated?”

  “I sent them flying before me, on dragonwings.”

  “Have they ever flown before?” I shook my head. “They ought to arrive around noon tomorrow, then.” After a look from me he added, “My father showed me the general area of where you would be scouting and the day you were expected to be leaving.”

  “Ah,” I murmured, accepting his explanation.

  “So, what are you doing now? Do you have another assignment? Are you going to the dueling Fields?” I shook my head, wishing that the prophecies would not make me such a curiosity for everyone else.

  “Actually, my next self-assigned task is to find something to eat; I have not eaten since yesterday morning.”

  “When did you leave?”

  “I am pretty sure it was yesterday, and it would have been just before noon.”

  “Oh, so you and your friends got there a day early?”

  “Yes. Then we had to wait around for worthwhile information.”

  “In that case, your friends should be arriving sometime before dusk, this evening.” I nodded, barely paying attention to what he had just said, and lacking the desire to say anything else. I wanted only to find something to eat, and then I thought I
could probably sleep off the next few years.

  It took a while to find something to eat, since Izar had not returned and I had not left any food in our home. I was forced to go in search of a market and ended up employing the help of Eneko, who was still trailing me. Once I had begun eating, the boy decided that I was not interesting enough to watch while stuffing my face, so he finally left after making me promise that I would duel him a couple of hours later.

  ~ ~ ~

  Eneko, I found, was not too bad with a sword, but he was the son of a Council member and so, received an extreme amount of babying from everyone else. Because of that, he was nowhere near as good as he could have been. I had dueled other dragonfolk before, so I was used to their sudden taking to the air for short moments, and then attacking unexpectedly from above, usually giving them the needed distraction for a first time opponent. Per usual, I easily beat him.

  “You are good,” he said, knowing it did not hurt his pride to be bested by me. “And you actually give a good fight, instead of trying not to hurt me. I appreciate that.” After Eneko said that, I could not help but like him just a bit more. I originally had the idea that he was just the spoiled son of an important dragonman, but I slowly began to realize that—even though it was true to some extent—it had not destroyed his character.

  As I began to duel another elf on the practice field, I heard a loud voice calling my name; it boomed out across the fields, loud enough to be heard above the deafening noises of inhumanly strong beings crashing their weapons together in what would have been death blows, had they not been mock fighting. I recognized the voice as that of Argider and turned to see his tall form galloping toward me, easily avoiding the small groups of fighters. “What is it?” I asked, as soon as the centaur was within speaking distance.