by Garry Spoor
“Then they’re in danger.”
“Not yet, but they will be,” she explained. “As soon as we leave here, they’ll know we’ve found Carter. There won’t be any reason for them to just sit around and watch the campsite any longer, and I don’t think they’re going to just walk away from it either.”
“Then I’ll stay here and you guys go back and warn the others,” Carter replied.
“Well, that would be rather counterproductive since you’re the reason we came out here in the first place. Besides, the only reason they haven’t found you yet, was because of the vultures. Their presences, masked yours. Without the vultures, it’s only a matter of time before they find you.”
“Can’t you… call them back?” Daniel asked.
“If only,” Kile replied. “As I said before, they don’t want to help us for obvious reasons, but there may be a way.”
It wasn’t her best plan, she realized, but it was the only one she could think of. It worked before, until she almost lost herself to the darkness. She would just have to be more careful this time.
“So, what do we do?” Daniel asked.
“Simple: we head back to camp as quickly as possible. The horses know the way, so don’t try to steer them. Carter will ride with me on Grim.”
“Whoa, you’re still riding the ill-tempered beast?” Carter asked.
“Carter, I don’t think it’s wise to be badmouthing your only means out of here.” Daniel observed.
“Yeah, but that horse hates me.”
“We have no choice. Grim is stronger than Miliea and can carry two as easy as one.”
“Then I’ll ride with Kile and Carter can take my horse, if he feels strong enough to ride.” Daniel said.
“I like that idea better.” Carter added.
Kile threw her hands up. “Fine, I don’t really care whose horse you ride. Just get on a horse when you see one.”
They gave Carter a few minutes to regain his legs. Whatever was in the potion, Daniel gave him, seemed to help. He felt more like himself with every passing moment. When they couldn’t wait any longer, they made their move.
The horses were waiting for them, just on the other side of the rocks, where Kile knew they would be. Carter quickly mounted Miliea while Kile and Daniel climbed onto Grim’s back. She didn’t have to tell the pony where to go or the urgency in getting there, he already knew. They headed back into the wastelands at a fair gate. Miliea may have overtaken Grim at first, but the pony could keep the pace longer if it came to that. Once they had put distance between them and the safety of the rocks, the Valgar made their appearance. It was almost as if they sprung up out of the sand around their feet. Within moments, three Valgar were closing in on the horses.
Gripping a handful of the pony’s mane, Kile closed her eyes and fell into her Edge. The world around her grew dark. It was as she feared. They were inside the shadows, which is why she couldn’t see the Valgar. Just as they had done when they attacked Lord Bollen on the way to Forthbar, they hid within the darkness of the natural realm. Only when she was truly immersed could she see their malformed shapes on the landscape. Forgetting the ones behind her for now, she reached out to the ones she knew were waiting around the campsite. Confronting them head on was out of the questions. Her only option was striking at their psyche, severing their link with the Maligar. But the trick was to do it quickly and getting out without getting caught, like stealing cheese from a mousetrap.
She tagged the first one she felt and was instantly drawn into the recesses of its mind. Falling into the darkness of the Valgar’s memories, she was back at the forgotten temple in the forest, back standing beside old well. Was this the place they were spawned, or was this the birthplace of the Maligar, or was it one and the same? The writing, along the edge of the well, was unreadable. The runes looked familiar. She had seen them someplace before or something like them, but she couldn’t understand them.
Slowly, she moved closer to the pit and looked over the edge, staring down into the darkness. Two golden eyes staring back at her.
-Who are you?-
She heard herself ask, although she never spoke the words.
The darkness laughed.
Kile yanked herself back, away from the edge of the well. That was too close, she thought. She was getting careless. She never intended to get caught up in the memories. She never wanted to come back to the well. Struggling, she pulled herself free of the Valgar’s mind, and forced her simple command upon the creature’s psyche. She felt the strands, which bound it to the shadows, snap. It was now free, if only for a moment, but all she needed was a moment. A free Valgar could do a lot of damage, if pointed in the right direction. She was able to touch one more, before the darkness realized she was there. It reached out to her, trying to entangle her within its black tendrils, but she was ready and broke her connection to the natural realm before it could ensnare her.
Snapping back into her own body, she probably would have toppled off of Grim’s back, if Daniel hadn’t had his arms around her.
“Kile! Kile!” he kept shouting, loudly, right in her ear. It was giving her a headache.
“Will you shut up already,” she replied as she gripped the mane of the mountain pony and steadied herself. Fortunately, she was able to keep her sanity this time, and was well aware of what was going on.
“Sorry, but you scared me there,” Daniel said, from behind her.
“Is she all right?” Carter asked.
“I’m fine; just keep going. Miliea, get him out of here,” she ordered.
Turning Grim around, she headed back toward the three Valgar which were even now, closing in on them.
“What the hell are you doing?” Daniel shouted.
“We can’t bring these guys back to the campsite.” she replied. “They have enough of them to deal with.”
“Are you insane?”
“Just let go of me and hold onto Grim, he’ll keep you safe.”
The mountain pony headed directly for the first Valgar, and the ground between them quickly diminished. The creature lunged, but Grim barreled through it, trampling it beneath his platter sized hoofs. Kile jumped off the pony in mid stride and hit the ground running. She wasn’t sure how she did it or even why, but the fact she pulled the stunt off without face planting herself into the wastelands indicated she was gaining more control over the feral side of her Edge.
Drawing her Lann, she slid past the Valgar, raking the blade along its side. It howled and skidded to a stop as it turned to face her, but she was already back on her feet. The feral side may control her body, but she was in control of her mind this time. She was quicker and more agile than she should have been, and she had every intention of using it to her advantage. When it came for her, she rolled past it, driving the blade into the thick muscle of its back leg. The creature stumbled and the blade was ripped from her hand. Even hobbled, the Valgar had no intention of stopping. It charged at her again, but with the blade protruding from its back leg, the attack was slow. Kile drew her second Lann, and running at the creature, she jumped over its gaping maw and drove the blade through the back of its neck. It dropped to the ground.
-Incoming.-
She turned to see Grim racing toward her, Daniel was holding onto the pony for dear life and a Valgar was closing in fast.
Kile wrenched the blades free and stood directly in Grim’s path. The pony veered away at the last minute and she thrust both blades into the head of the charging saladog. The creature never saw it coming. It was a quick kill, but a rather foolish move as the sheer weight, combined with the momentum, bowled her over.
Sometimes overconfidence can be painful, Kile thought as she looked up at the sky.
Grim’s head came into view, blocking out the sun.
-Well, that was stupid.-
“It worked,” she replied.
Daniel awkwardly dismounted. He looked pale and a bit shaky as he tried to steady himself, but eventually fell to his knees.
He
’s going to hurl, she thought.
“You okay?” she asked, getting to her feet.
“I am not cut out for this,” he replied.
“Just take deep breaths,” she told him.
Reaching up, she removed Vesper from the pony’s head. “How about you? You all right?”
-Again?-
The yarrow asked.
-Not bloody likely,-
Grim replied.
“At least not anytime soon,” Kile added.
“Is this normal for you?” Daniel asked. He was now back on his feet, but for how long?
“Come on, we have to get back to the others.”
She pulled her blades from the Valgar’s head and wiped the blood off on the back of her leg. Daniel was watching her.
“This comes a little too easy for you,” he told her.
“I’ve given up questioning it,” she said and motioned for him to get back on the pony. He reluctantly obeyed.
By the time they got back to the others, the battle was over. Lore and Nova eagerly greeted Kile when she rode in.
“How did we do?” she asked, dismounting.
-The vir handled themselves surprisingly well.-
The old dog replied in disbelief.
-Lore, behave yourself.-
Nova said as she came up beside him.
-All I’m saying is, I was surprised at how well they handled themselves… for vir.-
Kile laughed. “The vir can take care of themselves,” she told him. It would have been more believable if Daniel hadn’t chosen that moment to fall off Grim’s back. She quickly helped him to his feet.
“How are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m fine, just a little… wobbly,” he replied.
She led him over to the campfire and helped him sit down.
“What happen to him? Is he injured?” Tullner asked.
“I’m fine, I just need to catch my breath,” Daniel replied.
Marcus laughed “More like calm your nerves, boy.” He said, handing him a canteen. “Take a swig of this, it will settle you down.”
Daniel took a large gulp and his face turned red. He spat the drink into the fire, which resulted in a small explosion.
“What the hell is that?” he asked, thrusting the canteen into Marcus’s hand.
“I don’t know,” the Hunter replied, taking a swig. “I couldn’t read the bottle.”
“Is everyone alright?” Kile asked, turning to Tullner.
“Yeah, nothing major, thank the gods. Was that a bit of your doing?” he asked, pointing to the ridge where most of the dead Valgar were found.
“What exactly happened?” she asked.
“We were sitting around the fire, making up a stew. Alex was telling one of his stories when all hell broke loose. We heard all this noise coming from the ridge. By the time we armed ourselves, three of those reptilian wolves attacked. They seemed a little worse for wear, but it never slowed them down. The dogs took out the first one and we were able to handle the other two. When we went up to the ridge, we found six more of those things. They looked as if they had torn each other apart.”
Kile looked over to where the dogs were now resting. They were calmer now, and she could only hope it meant there were no more of those things out there watching them. “We should be fine, for a little while,” she said. “Where are the others?”
“I sent Sandson and Anurr up to the ridge, to take a look around. Browne and Larks are running perimeter, and Alex is with your friend in the tent. As for Marcus, he’s not really a team player, is he?”
“No, I’m afraid not.” Kile replied, looking over to where Marcus was sitting. The white- haired Hunter was drinking deeply from the canteen. She wondered why he even agreed to come along. It was one thing when she needed him to round out the group on a sanctioned mission, but it was quite another now. Although he managed to get them out of Forthbar, his contributions to the mission were sorely lacking.
“I see you made it back,” Carter said, emerging from the tent. He looked a little better than he had before, or at least he looked a little cleaner with his hair pulled back. Alex was right behind him. “I was going to ride back to help you, but for some strange reason, all the horses refused to go?”
“Sorry about that,” Kile apologized. “But it was important for you to get back safely.”
“Yeah, but I’m not one for leaving friends behind,” he replied, “although, from what Alex has been telling me, you seem to be able to handle yourself these day.”
“I owe it all to our sparring matches,” she laughed.
“I doubt that, but I’ll take any credit I can get. So, what happened to your eyes?”
“It’s… complicated.”
“I kind of figured that.”
“So, what happened?” Tullner asked. “You weren’t at the rendezvous point.”
“Oh, I was there,” Carter said, taking a seat by the fire. “And so were those… what did you call them? Valgar?”
“It depends,” Alex chimed in. “The soldiers of Fennel call them reptilian wolves while the soldiers of Callor call them saladogs.”
“Callor? Are you guys from Callor?” Carter asked nervously.
“No, we’re from the King’s Command, the Fennel Arms division to be exact.” Tullner replied.
“Oh, well, that’s a relief.”
“Why?”
“Because it was the Callor soldiers who betrayed me. They were waiting for me at the first point, along with a couple of those creatures hidden, who know where. Everything seemed fine, until I gave my report, then they tried to kill me. I barely managed to escape. As you can guess, I wasn’t so keen on a second meeting.”
“They must have intercepted the original envoy, which is why everyone believed you missed it,” Tullner explained.
Carter poked at the fire with a long stick. “So, my own province has turned against us.”
“That’s old new, son.” Marcus replied. He staggered over to them, and Kile was beginning to wonder how many canteens he filled from that unreadable bottle. “Lord Rime’s betrayal was short-lived. I hope you have better information than that.”
“What do you mean, short lived?” Carter asked.
“Lord Bollen was able to rally a resistance against Lord Rimes long enough for the King’s Command to stop him.” Daniel explained.
“So does that mean Callor is…?”
“Under the control of Lord Bollen, for the time being, although, I dare say, the King will probably make it permanent, if he hasn’t already.” Daniel replied.
“What about the Uhyre forces. They were supposed to reinforce the Callor rebellion?”
“They never got through. They were stopped at the border at the outpost of Moran.” Tullner added.
“They were stopped?”
“Trust me, I was there.”
“What about the attack from the northern pass?” Carter asked.
“What attack?”
“The Uhyre forces were supposed to link up with the Callor army and draw the King’s Command into a battle, leaving the northern pass unwatched. That’s where the real attack was to come from,” Carter explained.
“But there was no attack from the north.” Tullner replied.
“Well, there you go,” Marcus said. “It’s a bust. Ravenshadow failed. With the Uhyre unable to link up with the forces in Callor, the attack, from the north, must have been canceled. The only thing left for us to do now is to go home.”
“Canceled or postponed?” Kile asked.
“What do you mean, Commander?”
“I’ll be the first to admit I can’t really wrap my head around Ravenshadow’s motives, but I can’t see him committing to something like this without some kind of backup plan.”
“I have to agree with Kile,” Carter said, getting to his feet. “Ravenshadow still has something going on, but I don’t know what. About a week before I was to meet up with my handler, I saw a few of the valrik transporting something to the old r
uins in the north. Whatever it was, it had to be valuable, Ravenshadow was taking no chances. He even had Eric, supervising.”
“Eric?”
“Yeah, that’s why I couldn’t risk getting any closer to find out what it was.”
“Any guesses?” Daniel asked.
“Not a clue. All I know is, it must have come from the base of the spire. He’s had valrik and brunrik all over the foothills around that area.”
“Do you think he might have uncovered some secret of the Alva?” Alex asked. “The story was that near the end, the Alva were conducting experiments with wild magic. Some say they were using a few of the indigenous races, like the Ogres and the Orceen to help them.”
Kile quickly turned to where Alex was sitting. “What about the Orceen?” she asked.
“It goes back to what I was saying earlier. Supposedly, the Alva were trying to create a weapon to destroy the Aruvians. A few of the other, lesser, races, like the Orceen, were helping.”
“So you’re saying this Ravenshadow has an ancient Alva weapon now?” Marcus asked. “Next you’ll be telling me he’s recruited the drake of the flatlands to help him.”
“I wouldn’t go that far.” Daniel replied. “But who’s to say what's been left in those mountains?”
Marcus took another drink from his canteen. “Personally,” he said, “I don’t care what he’s got. This script is completed. We should get ourselves out of here the first chance we get and bring this information to Command. Then we can collect our reward and wash our hands of the whole affair.”
“There may not be time.” Kile replied. “If Ravenshadow has uncovered some ancient weapon, we have to find out what it is, and try to stop him.”
“Why us?” he asked.
“Because we’re here now, if we go all the way back to Command with this, who’s to say how long it will take for them to get another group out here.”
“But Command needs to know.” Tullner replied. “If there is an army waiting in the north to attack Azintar, Command needs time to prepare.”
“Then we send Larks, with his Edge, he’ll be able to get the information to Command in no time.”
“Wait a second.” Marcus shouted, holding up hands. “Are you actually saying you want to go after this… whatever it is? As in, go deeper behind enemy lines. Look, I’m all for fame and glory, but that only works when you come back alive. This isn’t exactly the best group to be taking on a risk like this.”
