The Grey Riders' Search

by Susan Bianculli

  I guess we will learn who owns the blue wave pennant now, Auraus thought wryly.

  The two wagons, one being a small horse-drawn covered conveyance and the other a wooden roofed wagon with walls of metal bars, sat to one side of the camp. Inside the barred wagon were two sad-looking figures with slumped shoulders. That was all she had time to see as she felt hands on the ropes that secured her net and blanket to the horse. She was slid down from the horse’s bony spine into the arms of two of the Goblins. She turned her head and saw that Dusk, grimly quiet, was slung between the other two guards. The two prisoners inside the barred cage watched her and Dusk be carried towards them with regretful looks on their faces. The cage door was opened by yet another pair of Goblin guards, and they were thrown, still bound, into the cage. As she and Dusk landed on the rough wooden planks near the center of the wagon, their captors locked the barred door behind them.

  “Are you all right?” came a male’s gentle query as hands helped her and Dusk to sit upright, careful to avoid the net holding her.

  The Wind-rider regarded her fellow captives: a brown-haired, brown-eyed Surface-elf male and a dark blonde, hazel-eyed female Gnome. Both wore the stiff leather collar locked around their necks like the Grey Riders had seen before.

  “I think so. I am just shaken and humiliated,” she replied still a little breathlessly, grey eyes filling with bitterness.

  A gruff command came from behind them. “Bring them here!”

  The prisoners, careful to not touch the strands that bound the Wind-rider, nudged Auraus and Dusk towards the bars where the pair were grabbed tightly by guards. Auraus’ net had more of the solution sprinkled on it, which cancelled out the stickiness and allowed the Goblins to pull it, and the blanket, off her. Dusk’s bonds were simply cut. As their arms and legs flopped free, the two Grey Riders sank to the floor of the cage.

  “I understand. It is humiliating to be in this situation, but unfortunately there is nothing we can do about it,” said the Gnome when the Goblins had left, replying to Auraus’ previous comment.

  She and the Surface-elf gave a quick rub of Auraus’ and Dusk’s shoulders and arms to help get feeling back into their limbs.

  “What do you mean ‘there’s nothing we can do’? We can escape!” exclaimed the Wind-rider.

  The two other prisoners looked at each other briefly. But whatever they were going to say died on their lips as a large Ogre with definite goblin-ish features, dressed in black and white wizard’s robes decorated with magical runes, confidentially approached the wagon.

  CHAPTER 6

  Auraus stared at the male. He was a Miscere Ogre for certain, and surprisingly rather handsome and imposing, but something about him made her insides squirm. She tried to hide her revulsion as he addressed her and Dusk in a rich and gravelly voice.

  “So these are my new pretties, eh? A Surface-elf, and a being with wings–a Wind-rider, I believe you are called! Who would have believed it? Well, my lovelies, I am Bascom Bloodknife. I am the mage who is in charge here, and I will be your host for a while.” He looked them up and down with a practiced eye. “You both are very handsome specimens, and I suspect you will fetch a good exchange at the next parley,” he said cryptically, green-grey fingers stroking a sapphire broach in the shape of a blue wave positioned over his heart.

  “Parley? What? What are you talking about?!” Auraus cried, jumping up to grip the bars in front of Bascom.

  “My parley, my pretty birdy, where I will hand you over to, ah, business partners of mine. But really, it is none of your concern—just do as you are told, and all will be well.”

  “This is outrageous! You cannot do that to a free being!” she spat angrily.

  “Oh, but I can,” he grinned nastily, showing many teeth. “Might makes right, and I have the might, which makes it right. Here is the deal for you both: your good behavior in exchange for my goodwill. You will be treated well enough by me because you are now an acquired investment. You, in return, will not give me any grief. You are now mine for my disposal.”

  Auraus’ white and gold feathers hackled. She was about to reply hotly when one of the pockets of her flying clothes was yanked on from behind. She glared back over her shoulder, but smoothed the glare away because of the anxious expressions on her fellow captives’ faces.

  Bascom saw too, and smirked. “That is better, birdy. The nicer you are, the nicer I am—and the more pleasant all around, if you get my meaning.” His eyes flicked to the two in back of her and to Dusk, then looked back at her again. “Ah, and what is this? My new pretties are wearing pretties!”

  Auraus raised her hands protectively to the torc around her neck. The mage stretched out his thick fingers and waggled them, indicating she should hand it over.

  “Give them to me willingly or unwillingly, little birdy. In the end, I WILL get them.”

  She stole a glance at the original prisoners, who now had genuinely worried looks upon their faces. She looked at Dusk, who gave the barest nod of his head. The pair silently took off the adornments they wore: she, the torc adorned with Caelestis’ winged orb that her mentor had given her at her dedication; he, his silver signet ring and pendant with Quiris’ silver spear on them. Though Dusk gave up his into Bascom’s waiting hand, Auraus held hers a moment before throwing it down outside the cage at the mage’s feet.

  The Miscere Ogre smirked at her as he motioned to a guard that the torc was to be picked up. “Good little birdy! And just so you do not think I am completely hard-hearted, I will give you and your companion something to replace them.”

  He waved an arm at the guards. One set of guards menaced Mereik, Thoronis and Dusk with spears and pushed them away from Auraus, while another set opened the cage door. The Wind-rider shrieked as Bascom entered the wagon and grabbed her upper arm with his chunky hand. The Miscere Ogre grabbed the Wind-rider by the throat, and she lashed out with a blow that earned her a hard smack across her face. The smack made her eyes cross briefly and stunned her enough to allow a large something to be closed about her neck. Then she was unceremoniously pushed backwards to land on her rump on the cage floor. As she tried to clear her head, she heard Dusk shouting, a similar smack of flesh meeting flesh, and then she was hit by a falling body.

  “Auraus! I am sorry—did I hurt you?” Dusk’s voice was concerned as he rolled off her.

  She gasped from the blow to her midriff, coming so soon after recovering from the last one. “No, no, it is all right, Dusk. I am fine.”

  The noise of the cage door closing and locking was loud, and Auraus looked up to see Bascom watching them through the bars with a grin. She glanced over at Dusk and saw a leather slave collar about his throat. Her hands immediately went to the front and then the back of the collar similarly enclosing her throat, and she yanked on its padlock. She knew it would do no good, but could not stop herself because she felt choked already. Bascom looked them both appraisingly up and down once more before he then swaggered off, shouting orders to his followers.

  As soon as he was out of earshot, Dusk looked at Auraus and said dryly, echoing her earlier thought, “Well, at least we now know to whom the blue wave insignia belongs.”

  She made a face at Dusk and turned to the Gnome and Surface-elf prisoners to whisper furiously, “Just what under Caelestis’ heavens is happening here!?”

  The blonde Gnome raised her petite hands in a calming gesture. “First, let us make introductions. My name is Mereik, and this is Thoronis.”

  The brown-haired Surface-elf beside her nodded acknowledgement of the introduction.

  “I am Auraus, he is Dusk. We are fine, nice to meet you, how are your families—now can the pleasantries be over?” Auraus said with fear-tinged exasperation. “What is going on!?”

  Dusk placed a hand on her shoulder. “Auraus. Calm yourself; there is no point in getting worked up just yet. Remember your training.”

  Auraus stopped, closed her eyes, and took the deep, centering breath that the Miscere Surface-elf knew had
been taught to her at the beginning of her priestess training.

  Dusk looked at the Gnome. “But please, give us information.”

  Mereik’s tone was something that could only be defined as ‘resigned’. “I understand. You are scared, Auraus. We are too, but we have been here longer than you and I can tell you from experience that your fear will dull from constant exposure to our situation. What is going on: we are prisoners, like you, of Bascom. And we do not really know what our fate is to be. I tugged on your outfit, Auraus, to get your attention because he is nasty when crossed,” she paused, and then continued hesitantly, “and then he spreads it around, or so he has said.”

  CHAPTER 7

  “You mean, if I made him mad not only would he take it out on me, but you as well?” Auraus asked unbelievingly.

  Mereik nodded. “It is what he has said he would do, and he does not look like he is one to make a jest. So we have been cooperative and given him no trouble.”

  Dusk’s eyes slowly filled with rage. “He has no right to do this to any of us! I am now thoroughly convinced he is behind the disappearances we have been investigating! If I could get my hands on ….”

  “Ssshhh!” shushed Thoronis, overriding his rant by pointing to a patrol of two Goblins coming near the cage. Obviously changing the subject, Thoronis asked, “I beg your pardon for staring, Dusk, but I have never seen a Surface-elf with your color eyes before.”

  Dusk sourly accepted the conversational change. “Not too surprising. There are not that many who are my kind of Miscere Surface-elf, and most of them do not venture from our home village for one reason or another.”

  He eyed Thoronis warily as he did so.

  “Miscere Surface-elf?” asked Mereik, curiosity piqued.

  “His mother was a Surface-Under-elf, and his father is a Surface-elf, like Thoronis is,” interjected Auraus.

  Thoronis was flabbergasted. “Under-elf? How–how could your father ….”

  “NOT Under-elf. Surface-Under-elf. There is a difference,” interrupted Dusk, an edge to his voice. “My father wooed and won my mother, like many another male and maid before him. But to save you worry, let me inform you that there are two strains of Under-elves: those that live underground and those that live in harmony with Surface-elves and the Divine under the lights of the sky, who call themselves Surface-Under-elves to distinguish themselves from the others. My mother happened to be of the latter kind.”

  Thoronis had the grace to blush.

  “All,” Dusk said, stressing the word ‘all’, “Surface-Under-elf/Surface-elf or Surface-Under-elf/Winged-elf crosses usually end up with either eyes like mine, with white hair, or with both.”

  Auraus nodded agreement in support of his words as Thoronis sat stunned—first at the implications and then at her confirmation of Dusk’s words.

  As the wagon guards and the patrolling guards stopped to have a conversation, Dusk lowered his voice. “We have got to escape.”

  “How?” asked Mereik, equally quietly. “There are twenty Goblins when they all are in camp, we are guarded in a strong barred cage, we are without equipment of any sort, nobody knows where we are, and Bascom is a full mage. Everything is against us. There is no way.”

  Dusked blinked at Mereik’s words. A full mage? If so, then what in my Mother’s name is he doing out here in the wilderness? He should be living a life of leisure at the heart of some large settlement, being respected and looked up to as he used his magic for the good of all. Surely he cannot be what she claims—perhaps he just has several magical items that lets him imitate being one.

  “Oh, but I am a Priestess of Caelestis,” Auraus meanwhile said softly. “Did you not see that on my torc that he took from me? When nightfall comes I will pray for a spell to warp the wood of the wagon so we can slip out and escape.”

  “And I am not without skills of my own. Even though the information you have given us is sketchy, still it is something to go on. We can make it,” Dusk added.

  “I said that Bascom is a full mage!” the Gnome insisted. “He is not some Mageling who has command over some one aspect of magic but is one who has command over them all! You know how rare that is! We have seen him cast different kinds of magic in camp. He has spells all over the place—maybe even spells that watch us! He has assured us that he would hunt us down with his magery if we escaped and then punish us most severely,” Mereik ended fearfully as she shivered.

  Dusk looked searchingly at her and Thoronis, who nodded in support of Mereik.

  “Has Bascom done this?” Auraus asked.

  “We have not tested it,” the Gnome admitted.

  “But,” Thoronis interjected, “he knew about the magical ring that I had had on when he captured me, which means he can detect magic. He took it from me the way he took your adornments from you. He will probably detect your magic as you cast it. Do you really want to find out what other spells he can cast? I already know he is sadistic because he tried to choke me unconscious when he first captured me. What if he kills one of you? Is that worth it to the survivor?”

  Auraus shook her head. “I am sorry, but we have to try. We will escape with or without you. I hope you choose to come with us.”

  Dusk watched her settle down on the cage’s worn wooden floor and close her eyes, signaling she did not wish to talk anymore. Mereik and Thoronis turned away and stared out the bars at the surrounding camp, leaving Dusk to look between them all and wonder if he should heed the words of Mereik and Thoronis or the conviction of Auraus.

  At sunset, the Goblins came around with flat bread, slabs of dried meat, and water in wooden cups. Auraus ate her share, then sat on her heels looking around, unconsciously touching the leather collar. Finding herself unobserved, she casually wrapped her wings about herself and surreptitiously pulled out her Handbook. She paged through it, looking at the spells that she had the ability to cast and deciding which would be the most helpful in their escape attempt. Soon all the Goblins were called by Bascom to gather at the fire pit.

  Dusk nudged her. “I do not think it can get better than this, if you still choose to try.”

  She looked at him with an expression that said she still wanted to escape and put away the Handbook.

  He nodded. “Every single one of them is over there and away from us. This may be our best chance to go.” Dusk looked at the other cage occupants. “Are you sure you will not come with us?”

  “Please, change your mind!” begged Mereik softly. “He will hurt you and maybe turn you both over to the Goblins for fun. It would be horrible, I am sure!”

  “I am sorry, but I cannot stay here. We Wind-riders need to be free! I must try. Can you understand?” Auraus said.

  Thoronis said heavily, “Good luck to you, then.”

  Auraus paused at his tone and words, but firmed her resolve. She prayed to Caelestis, then with the divine power granted cast spells that gave the hardness of stone to Dusk’s skin, the fleetness of wind to his feet, and the ability to know what direction he faced whichever way he looked.

  “Be quick, Dusk—these will not last very long. Make good use of your time with them,” she cautioned him.

  Dusk indicated he was ready, so she cast her final spell to warp the wood surrounding the bars of the cage. Surprisingly, Thoronis and Mereik assisted Dusk in shifting the bars out of the warpage as quietly as they could manage. Though to their ears the scraping of the bars across the wood sounded as loud as a hammer on an anvil, no guards came to investigate. Auraus and Dusk slipped out and motioned to Mereik and Thoronis to join them, but the Surface-elf and Gnome remained inside. Shrugging, the pair slunk away a few feet, and all of a sudden a previously invisible rune glowed to life and sounded an alarm.

  “Auraus! Go!” shouted Dusk. “I will draw them off; you go find the Grey Riders!”

  The Wind-rider ran forward to get enough room to take off, then bore away upwards at an angle from the firelight into the darkness. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the Goblins react with quick pr
ecision as they drew their weapons and ran towards Dusk, who charged them like a madman. She heard Bascom angrily shout something unintelligible, and then the alarms silenced. The realization that what the other prisoners had said about Bascom being a full mage sank in now, and she could not stop herself from looking back down over her shoulder in fear.

  Auraus saw Dusk go down under a pile of Goblins and hesitated, but then saw Bascom run from the fire towards the cage cart. She knew he would note her missing right away even before he reached the cart, but she counted on him still looking to see if Mereik and Thoronis had escaped. She hoped they had changed their minds and had made a break for it. She turned her head back around and discovered she was about to run into the side canyon wall of the campsite. She thrust her wings out and curved back on herself, sacrificing lift for not splattering against the rock. She then twisted around and headed towards the entrance pass. She heard Dusk yelling in agony and bit her lip, but she obeyed his original instruction. Hard on the heels of Dusk’s cries she heard Bascom’s gravel-rich voice shout from the ground below, and then she felt an almost-itchy tingle surround her. Her wings collapsed mid-beat.

  The Wind-rider wobbled in the air and lost altitude quickly. She used her hands to force her trembling, weakened wings outwards a little to do a controlled fall. Despite her efforts, she hit the ground heavily and two Goblins rushed up to grab her before she could get to her feet. Holding her tightly between them, they hauled Auraus back to the campsite in front of Bascom standing by the fire pit.