“Is it there?” Nahrsin asked.
Endric leaned over his shoulder, peering at the flesh. He scanned the markings, looking for the one for the brood that he had fought. As he did, it was clear that there were no signs of that irregular triangular shape. The brood mark was not found among the other markings on this groeliin.
“What does that mean?” Endric asked.
“It means nothing.”
Endric didn't think that was true. The large groeliin he had faced had nearly twenty different brood marks. Already that was more markings than the Antrilii had ever seen. What did it mean that there was a pattern—a brood mark—that was not found on this creature’s skin? Was there another groeliin like this one with similar markings?
The Antrilii had faced the groeliin for generations. They should be experts in how many broods there were. If they didn't know, then who would?
“What are you expecting to find when you get to the breeding grounds?” Endric asked.
“We expect to find groeliin,” Gron said.
“And if there's another one of these groeliin there?” Endric asked.
Nahrsin grinned. “You’ve already shown how to kill one of these things,” he said.
Endric shook his head. “I've shown that you have to be willing to jam a makeshift spear into the back of that massive groeliin, and then you have to be willing to jump on its back.”
Nahrsin nodded. “Those are both excellent strategies. Neither are typical for the Antrilii, which I think is why an outsider was so successful.”
Endric tapped the section of groeliin skin he had cut free. “I think we need to be prepared for the possibility that there is another one of these. I think we have to prepare that there are more broods than you realize.”
“We've hunted the groeliin for hundreds of years,” Gron said.
Endric looked at him, meeting his gaze. “I know.”
“You think that you can tell us how to hunt the groeliin?” Gron watched him, the frown on his face difficult to interpret with the dark paint he wore.
“I don't claim to know more about the groeliin than the Antrilii. What I do know is what I've seen. I faced these creatures,” Endric said, waving the section of flesh at Gron. “Nahrsin saw them. He was there when we burned the body. Bodies. I'm not sure what to make of the fact that there are these other groeliin, or what these markings on their skin mean, but I recognize that that there are probably more to the groeliin than even the Antrilii understand.”
“Uncle, think about what we've seen. Think about—”
“I am thinking about what we've seen. And Dendril’s son is right. There is more taking place than what we can understand.”
“Should we still make this journey?” Nahrsin asked.
“What other choice is there? If these creatures are responsible for controlling the merahl, we have an obligation to help them. They are as much our vow as facing the groeliin are.”
Nahrsin nodded, but Endric could tell that he had a distraught look on his face, one that told Endric that he wasn't certain whether continuing north was going to get them answers or get them killed.
Yet there was something that he agreed with that Nahrsin might not fully understand. With what Endric had seen, he thought that he understood. How could they not try to reach the breeding ground when the merahl might need their help?
25
It was around midday, and they had been traveling up a fairly rapid incline, the constant wind no longer something Endric could ignore. Now even the laca fur could no longer protect him. The Antrilii seemed to move easily, not struggling with either the steepness of the grade or the cool bite to the air.
The merahl cub didn't struggle either. He kept pace behind Endric, leaping from rock to rock, never tiring, never slowing. Endric worried for him, thinking that he wasn't getting enough to eat. He fed him jerky the Antrilii provided, but he didn't know how much a cub needed to eat.
He still hadn't seen other merahl. If they were out there, they were silent. Endric assumed they still trailed and followed him, but if they did, he would've expected to see them before now. That he hadn't made him question whether they were still there.
The sun was a haze through thick clouds. Endric continued to think they would eventually pass through the clouds, reaching a point where they would be above them, but that time never came. The mountains continued to stretch upward, and Gron led them on a meandering route through the mountains.
There had been no further sightings of the groeliin, so thankfully no additional skirmishes.
“Why haven't we seen any of the other tribes?” Endric asked.
“The other tribes were coming from different directions,” Nahrsin said.
“But I saw one of the tribes moving,” he said. “That was the tribe the merahl were reluctant to go to.”
Nahrsin glanced over at him. “I think the merahl are reluctant to come to any of us right now. I don't think it mattered which tribe they brought you to.”
Endric stumbled over a large rock as the ground start to slip. He jumped forward another step, avoiding a rockslide. He glanced back, but Nahrsin was bringing up the rear, so there were no other Antrilii following them. The merahl cub jumped to the side, avoiding the slide.
“If the merahl were avoiding all the Antrilii, why did they bring me to you?”
Endric hadn't been able to understand why that troubled him, but that seemed to be the key here. The merahl had brought him to Nahrsin and his tribe. They might have avoided the other Antrilii, and they might not have been willing to join with Nahrsin, but they hadn’t abandoned Nahrsin—or his tribe—altogether.
Nahrsin shook his head. “I don't know.”
They fell silent. As the day passed, Endric began to feel a sense of rising nausea. It came at the pit of his stomach, building slowly. He thought he was hungry at first, but the longer they traveled and chewed on jerky, the nausea didn't seem to abate. Pausing to drink from a water flask didn't make a difference either. The nausea didn't ease. Whatever it was didn’t seem related to his hunger.
Was it the altitude?
Endric had known some Denraen recruits to struggle with the height of Vasha as they climbed the mountainside. Could it be that he simply didn't tolerate being this high in the mountains?
He doubted that was the case as he should have been affected before. It wasn't as if he climbed rapidly. He was on foot, and the men that he'd known getting sick had climbed up the road on horseback. There had to be another explanation, and the only one that made sense to him was that there was something else triggering it.
Could it be the groeliin?
Endric checked the cub to see if it was responding to nearby groeliin, but the cub gave no indication any were nearby. That left something else, though Endric didn't know what that something else was.
“Do you feel anything?” he asked Nahrsin.
Nahrsin glanced over at him. “Feel anything? Such as…”
Endric shook his head. What was it that troubled him? Maybe it was nothing. Maybe it was all in his imagination. Maybe it was only a sickness coming over him.
“I'm not sure how to describe it. It's just that… I've begun to feel something off.”
Endric could just imagine what his friends back in Vasha would have said were he to make a report like that. How would they have reacted to him telling them that something was off? He could envision Pendin teasing him. Senda would press him, expecting a better report, Listain’s servant in all things.
Thinking of them brought pain. He had lost track of how long he’d been gone, but it was long enough that they would have returned to Vasha. Pendin—who had been serving as his steward—would have been given another responsibility. He would have lost the privilege that working with Endric had given him. Senda would have been tasked with assuming control of Listain’s network. It was possible that she would even be asked to question Urik, though Endric didn't know whether the others of the Conclave would have demanded their justice. Nov
an had wanted to exact his revenge for Urik’s utilization of the historian guild knowledge. Maybe the Denraen no longer had Urik in their possession.
Endric shook those thoughts out of his head. It did no good thinking like that. He had to survive mountains here, and that was no sure thing. He might be descended from the Antrilii, but he didn't certainly feel like one of the Antrilii, especially as he struggled with what he had to face.
The unsettled sensation didn't leave as they continued their climb.
Endric looked at the cub. “Do you feel anything?” he asked it. The cub twitched its ears, looking back at him.
Endric felt like a fool. Why was he asking a cub what it felt? The merahl cub probably didn't detect anything.
The cub switched its tail and bounded off.
Endric swore under his breath. Had he said something to scare it away?
“Are you going after it?” Nahrsin asked.
Endric shrugged. “I don't know if I’m supposed to go after him. I asked if he sensed anything, and the next thing I know, he's running off.”
“The merahl are intelligent. He probably understood you.”
“It would be nice if I understood him.”
Nahrsin chuckled. “That takes time and a measure of trust. My father had a way of communicating with the merahl who hunted with him.”
“When I first met you, I thought the merahl you hunted with were all domesticated.”
Nahrsin grunted. “After what you’ve seen of them, do you think the merahl can be domesticated?”
Endric thought of the creatures he’d experienced. Even those with Dentoun had a certain sort of pride to them. He didn't think they would allow themselves to be domesticated.
“Why is it that you're willing to make this journey with us?” Nahrsin asked.
“What do you mean?”
“This. This hunt. Why is it that you want to make it with us? You have no obligation to do this.”
“You’ve always known your responsibility, but I came to your lands trying to understand mine.”
“You would be Antrilii?” Nahrsin asked.
Endric shook his head. “I don’t know that I can be both Denraen and Antrilii. My father discovered that when he left and became an oathbreaker to your people.”
“You know as well as I did do that he never broke his vows. That penance was a farce.”
“But Melinda—”
“Melinda was angry.”
Endric shook his head. “Melinda was the one who tried to soften the punishment. It was because of her that I was offered the choice of avoiding the penance and simply leaving the Antrilii lands. I made the choice to stay.”
Nahrsin shook his head. “You made the choice she wanted you to make,” he said. “It may not have felt like you were forced, but I can tell you that you were.”
“You sound like you don't care for her.”
Nahrsin tipped his head. “She might be your grandmother, but she's also the reason your father is subjected to the penance. Don't forget that.”
Endric sighed. There was so much about the Antrilii that he didn't understand, so much that he wished that he had a chance to comprehend. Maybe now was the chance for him. He’d spent time with the Antrilii and hadn’t taken the opportunity to ask questions. Hadn’t he wanted to reach Nahrsin? He was the one he’d come north hoping to find.
“When the Antrilii aren’t hunting, what is it that you do?”
“When we’re not hunting, we are training our horses, or practicing the sword. We are becoming better soldiers. I suppose in that way, it’s much like you when you're not on patrol.”
Endric smiled wistfully. “Patrol is often the most boring part of the Denraen. Most of us prefer the training. At least when we’re training—in Vasha—we’re able to sleep in the barracks. We have a certain comfort there. On patrol…” Endric smiled to himself, thinking about how eager so many Denraen were to go on patrol, but the moment they were first out there, forced to sleep on the hard ground, beneath the sky, everything seemed to change.
“What happens when we reach the breeding grounds, and no others have come?” Endric asked.
“We will do what we need to. The plan is to find this place, and when we do, we will attack the groeliin breeders.”
“Breeders?”
“We think that there are only a few of the groeliin capable of birthing their young. We call them the breeders. The Yahinv call them queens. There are others able to care for the young, but if we’re able to eliminate the breeders…”
“That's why you've never been able to completely remove a brood?”
“We have come across a few breeders over the years. They are the most difficult to find. The groeliin fight to keep them protected, attacking with a frenzy when we get too close. If we can reach breeders, we might be able to finally slow the tide of groeliin.”
“How did you learn about the breeding location this time?”
“We had word from patrols of groeliin movement. It’s too much for anything other than a Chisln. The groeliin only move in numbers like this when it's breeding season. There is a particular behavior to them that we've seen over the years.”
“But you've never come across an actual breeding ground.”
Nahrsin shook his head. “We've never been able to get through. We've always been pushed back by the broods. There are limits to how much we can do, as there are only so many Antrilii. If we risk too many, others will be in danger.”
The cub returned, barking once at Endric. He waved for the cub, motioning him over, but the cub ignored him.
“We need to keep the cub quiet,” Nahrsin said. “We can’t make too much noise so that we draw the attention of the groeliin. We are in their hunting range now, and it’s possible there will be more than we could manage.”
Endric went to scoop the cub up, but he started wriggling and scampered off.
Endric swore under his breath and chased after the cub. He didn't want anything to happen to him, not after all he had been through to keep him safe.
He was forced to climb along the slope of the mountain face. He slipped as he went, losing traction over the rock, and got caught in a patch of snow. Unlike the last time, he slid, unable to control his footing, and went slipping down the slope, around the side of the mountain, away from where they had been patrolling.
Endric scrambled for purchase, grabbing at the rock, trying to find some way to slow himself down.
He continued sliding and began picking up speed.
Endric grabbed at the snow, but there was nothing for him to hold onto. He continued sliding down the side of the mountain. He jabbed into the snow, punching at it, but each time he did, he wasn't able to grab onto it.
With another punch, his hand remained. He stuck in the ice.
Endric breathed out, hazarding a look up the slope.
He had fallen a long way. Long enough that he couldn't even see where he'd started the fall. Would Nahrsin even come looking for him? Would any of the other Antrilii?
Would it matter? He had slipped far enough that he wasn't sure how he would even get back to them.
Holding onto the face of the mountain, Endric jammed his boots to maintain purchase and turned around so that he could see where he had fallen. Far below was a wide valley. Along the sides of the nearby mountains, Endric noted dark openings—caves—scattered along the mountain face.
As he remained lodged where he was, trying not to slide any further, he noticed movement.
Not movement. Dark swirls of fog.
The fog appeared out of place, and it took a moment to realize why that was. He thought that he understood the nausea in his stomach as well. It was nausea that didn't leave, that stayed with him, that threatened him so that he almost wanted to retch.
All across the base of the valley were dozens and dozens of groeliin. There were probably several hundred of the creatures swarming through the valley.
Endric held his breath, afraid to so much as breathe.
How was he supposed to get out of here without getting noticed by them?
26
The rock held Endric in place, and he looked around, searching for some way to hide. The moment the groeliin noticed him, he would be in trouble. For now, it appeared they hadn’t spotted him in spite of the noise he must have made sliding down the rock.
He contemplated how he could move. There was nothing he could do to get free, not without gaining the attention of the groeliin. The only thing that seemed to protect him so far was the camouflage of the laca fur.
Endric took a moment to examine the groeliin. There were dozens here, and they were all the twisted forms, with the strange gray hide, leaving him with a sense of bald flesh that he knew was not completely accurate. Those nearest to him had marks on their arms—brood marks. Given as many groeliin as he saw, had he come upon a single brood, or was this more than one, much like what he'd encountered when he’d found the merahl cub?
While watching, he saw a thicker band of dark fog appear near the mouth of one of the caves.
Endric's breath caught. He’d seen this before from the larger groeliin. The creature appeared, massive even from a distance, and the shapes on the creature's body were identifiable. They seemed like deep red welts.
That would make a second one of these creatures that he had now seen.
How many were there? If these were completely different markings than the last, that would mean nearly two dozen more broods. Nahrsin hadn’t thought there were many more broods than that, but was it possible the Antrilii had completely underestimated the number of groeliin they faced?
And if that were the case, they were in more danger than they realized. If there were twenty broods marked on the flesh of the one large groeliin, and if this one had another twenty brood marks, how many more would there be?
If each brood had even fifty in it, the numbers were staggering. They were enough to pose a threat to not just the Antrilii, but to those outside of the Antrilii range. That was the reason the Antrilii patrolled, the reason they worked to defend and prevent the groeliin from reaching the south, but even while doing that, they hadn't known how many groeliin broods there were.
Soldier Sworn (The Teralin Sword Book 3) Page 19
