Focus Nori! She berated herself silently, stopping to inspect a place where the street had been roughed-up and the corner of a building looked damaged. She’d almost missed it while she was busy contemplating her hair. The men were right, she thought with chagrin, sometimes I am such a girl.
Following the logical path from the damaged corner to the northern gate, she kept her eyes peeled for further signs of their passing. The trail led directly into the forest. Norika stepped under the canopy of branches and breathed in the scent of pine and damp earth. She smiled. This was her domain. Even if she was weeks behind, if he was still in the forest, she would find him. And then justice would be served.
* * * * *
Nine days. That’s how long he and Lauryn had been waiting for Ky’ara and the others to return. Sukylar stared out into the forest, idly watching a squirrel scurry from branch to branch. They’d been here for more than a week, scavenging for food in the nearby forest, tending to the horses while they waited for Ky’ara to find the druids’ city and come back.
Before returning here to tend the horses they should have discussed how long they should wait. They hadn’t even made a plan for what to do if Ky’ara and the others never came back. Who knew what magical protections those three might have encountered around Eléirathös? The druids were notoriously protective of their secrets—he knew that better than anyone, his family had guarded some of those secrets for five hundred years. What if the others were trapped somewhere, in need of help? He and Lauryn couldn’t sit here forever, wondering what to do. On the other hand, if they tried to go after the others and got lost, Ky’ara could come back to find them missing and they could all wander around these woods looking for each other till the end of time.
The squirrel suddenly froze in place, ears quivering, and then dashed off through the trees. Sukylar drew his sword, instantly on the alert, and motioned to get Lauryn’s attention. She stopped what she was doing and cocked her head to the side, listening. Through the rustling and creaking of branches in the wind, the sound of pine needles crunching underfoot could be heard getting closer and closer. Sukylar took a step to the side, craning his head to look deeper into the forest. The tension in his stance was clearly visible.
“Oh for heaven’s sake,” Lauryn said, her voice startling him, “Joran? Is that you?”
“I told you we were close enough to say something!” Joran’s muffled voice could be heard, followed by a grunt that was probably Taren.
Lauryn looked over at Sukylar with a grin. He sheathed his sword, relief replacing the fear that had started to build within him. Ordinarily the threat of danger didn’t faze him, but since their recent encounters with the Necromancer and the injuries that had almost killed him, he’d had a difficult time staying calm. Apparently, Lauryn had noticed his jumpiness over the course of their week together.
“Yes, it’s us,” Joran announced as they came into view further back into the trees.
“Sorry if we scared you...we’ve been trying to avoid any more encounters with trolls.”
Lauryn dashed across the clearing and gave Joran a swift hug. The boy blushed and awkwardly hugged her back.
“Any more?” she questioned, “did you run into trouble?”
“Yeah, we killed a few trolls yesterday...and we’ve been dodging them ever since, otherwise we’d have been back sooner. Thanks for waiting.”
The girl shrugged, “Other than being bored it wasn’t so bad, was it Sukylar?”
He narrowed his eyes slightly, not entirely sure if she was teasing him. In the end he decided to just ignore the question.
“So, do you want to make camp here for the night or keep going?” Sukylar asked Taren after nodding a polite hello to him and Ky’ara.
“We’ll stay here till tomorrow. No sense in breaking camp here only to set up again in a few hours...and Ky’ara needs the rest,” Taren replied.
Sukylar nodded, surprised when Ky’ara didn’t protest his assessment. She must really be exhausted.
They spent the afternoon preparing for their departure the next day. Taren opposed the lighting of a fire either for cooking or warmth that night, to avoid drawing attention to themselves, so they filled in their cooking pit and arranged the bedrolls in a circle close together to help hold in the heat. The horses were saddled and picketed as close as possible, though none looked pleased by the arrangement. Taren figured it was better to be cautious than regret it later.
By the time darkness fell, Ky’ara was already fast asleep in her bedroll. Joran and Lauryn sat quietly talking while Sukylar finished packing up the remains of their dinner (cold rabbit, wild greens, and a few tart apples from a small tree Lauryn had discovered a few days into their wait). He surveyed the measly rations with concern. The next few days would be slim if Taren still insisted on avoiding a cooking fire. Hopefully it would be easier to find their way out of the forest than it had been finding their way in.
The darkness left them little to do besides sleep, so before long they all retired to their bedrolls. Sukylar offered to trade off watch with Taren halfway through the night, but the Keeper refused. “I can see in the darkness almost as well as a troll, while you would be blind without firelight. I will wake you at first light, and I can get a couple hours’ rest before we head out,” he insisted.
Sukylar shrugged, if Taren wanted to stay up all night, so be it. A full night’s sleep would be welcome after nine days of trading watch with Lauryn every four hours or so. The Keeper took up his post just outside the circle of bedrolls, and for the first time in a week, Sukylar dropped off to sleep without worry plaguing his dreams.
* * * * *
Ky’ara stood at the edge of the meadow, feeling a deep sense of loss. She hadn’t intended to come here, but somehow the Dreamworld had sucked her back in again. Apparently even with Arys gone and Myrnai dead, this place was not yet done with her. Well, she wasn’t going to risk mucking things up the way she had before. Everything she’d done here before finally reaching Eléirathös and speaking with Taren’s druid had only seemed to cause trouble. She sat on the grass, gazing across the place where she had learned so much and grown close to the one person who should have hated her. So much had happened so quickly following the encounter with the Necromancer, she hadn’t really had time to process everything—Myrnai giving up her connection with life so that Ky’ara could find her way back after defeating Ekzhad; the loss of Jenie’s family, and likely Amischel as well...the necromancer hadn’t mentioned her when he taunted Ky’ara with the death of Jenie’s family. Perhaps she hadn’t been in the house when it shattered.
The meadow shimmered and started to fade. Ky’ara closed her eyes and quieted her thoughts. That was exactly the type of thing that kept causing problems in the first place. No more uncontrolled thinking. The Dreamworld was not the best place to process emotions and wonder about things, since it took shape from her feelings and ideas. Resolutely, Ky’ara felt for her connection to Life and pulled herself from the realm of dreams. She didn’t even bother opening her eyes once she could feel the cold, hard ground beneath her. The darkness of ordinary sleep beckoned her in, and she dropped off once again.
* * * * *
Calistra stared at the map, willing the distance between them and the capital to shorten. The measly number of blue circles seemed to stare back at her innocently, while the numerous black dots—the cities still left to conquer—taunted her.
Only a month ago they’d set out from Doraicolé. They’d only been engaging the enemy for a couple of weeks and already they’d managed to secure three of the five outlying settlements. It didn’t feel like enough. With so much of the Kingdom left to cover, three of five just wasn’t acceptable. The other two were still under negotiations, and she was confident they’d see her way...eventually.
It wasn’t a matter of convincing them to turn against the Kingdom. No one in the remote villages felt any loyalty to the government that had taxed their crops, drafted their men, and then ignored their concerns.
No, the difficulty lay in convincing them to not just sit back and ignore the conflict. She needed them on her side. Not just so that she could tax their crops and draft their men, as one of the village elders had accused (though they did need the supplies and fresh recruits) but so they would present a united front to the King.
This war shouldn’t be the organization against the Kingdom. The real conflict here, the war she wanted to fight, was about the people. These people—their homes, their lives, their families. This land had suffered under the rule of the Destroyer and the Kings who pandered to him. It was time the people united and took it back. Her organization was the logical way to do that. Now if only she could make them understand that.
Her musing was interrupted by the rustle of fabric as the tent flap opened and Geri stepped inside, followed closely by Hallahna.
“Sorry to bother you. Nothing too important going on in here, is there?” the charming young captain asked, flashing her a smile.
Calistra sighed, shaking her head. “No, just contemplating the challenges of dealing with a short-sighted and self-serving population.”
Geri looked at the map, with its measly amount of blue markers, and pursed his lips. “Wallowing in frustration and despair can wait, I hope. We have news that might forestall your downward spiral into bleak depression.”
The look she gave him would have sent anyone else running, but Geri just grinned. Even without the good news he claimed to bring, the exaggerated assessment of her emotional state drew her instantly out of the mood she’d started to fall into. How did he always do that?
“What is it?” she asked curtly, turning away from the map to look attentively at the messengers.
“Irakyll may have found Ky’ara and your brother,” Hallahna said, stepping forward as Geri opened his mouth to reply with what was certainly a cheeky response. He gave the Shaari woman a look of profound disappointment, which she pointedly ignored. Calistra held back a smile at his antics, and then Hallahna’s statement sunk in.
“What? Where are they? What do you mean ‘may have’? Did they find the city?” the rebel leader asked excitedly.
“I cannot give much detail, but Irakyll indicated that she encountered Ky’ara recently. She and the others are in the forests northeast of Grey Lake. I believe their quest was successful,” Hallahna reported.
Calistra pursed her lips, feeling her excitement dim somewhat. So far away...she needed to know what they had discovered, and she couldn’t wait for months while they navigated their way back down through unfriendly territory.
“Could Irakyll be more specific? If she can project their current location to me, I may be able to contact Joran. We need to find out what happened.”
Hallahna hesitated slightly, then shook her head. “That would not be possible.”
“I’m not trying to pry into Shaari secrets Hallahna, I just need a precise location if I’m going to risk using a communication spell. Could Irakyll at least point it out on a map? Give you an image so you can point it out on a map? Something?” Calistra’s frustration grew as Hallahna gave a slight head shake to each option.
“They’re lizards that can fly Calistra, they’re above such petty things as carrying messages,” Geri commented sarcastically.
She opened her mouth to reprimand him for speaking so disrespectfully. They needed to keep the Shaari on their side for Light’s sake! Hallahna might be more forgiving than most, but she wouldn’t ignore such obvious contempt for her culture.
The Shaari woman surprised her by holding up a hand to forestall her scolding. She looked thoughtful.
“You need a precise location?” the foreigner asked.
Calistra nodded, “As close as possible. Otherwise it can take a few tries to actually make contact, and I can’t risk exposing myself that way.”
“Irakyll can take Ky’ara a message. If she gives them a note with a place and time that will ensure it is precise, rather than wherever they may be now. Can you make that work?” Hallahna said, ignoring Geri’s shocked expression.
“Yes, I can make that work,” Calistra replied, turning to look at the map. She studied it for a minute, looking for a suitable location.
There was a large pond just south of the forest where Ky’ara was presumably to be found. It was little more than a tiny blue dot on the map, but it was close enough that they should be able to reach it within a few days, regardless of where in the woods they were now. And it was far enough from any villages that they shouldn’t be in danger of being captured.
“There,” she said, pointing to the spot and looking at Hallahna, “How small does this message need to be?”
The Shaari woman used her hands to indicate the appropriate size, and Calistra swiftly set to work drawing a miniature of that portion of the map and writing a coded message on the back. Hallahna stood back stoically while she accomplished this task, while Geri meandered around the command tent restlessly.
“Don’t,” Calistra said severely, rapping his knuckles with her pen when he reached for some of the papers on her desk.
“I was just going to straighten them,” he replied innocently, giving her an injured look.
“MmmHmm. Leave my stuff alone. I have it how I want it,” she told him pointedly, rolling up the scrap of parchment, tying it securely with a string, and then sealing it with wax for good measure.
She handed the message to Hallahna, who took it with a small nod. The Shaari woman turned to go.
“Thank you,” Calistra said, “I know it isn’t what Irakyll is meant for. I appreciate you letting us use her for such a mundane task.”
Hallahna hesitated, turning back. “I hope you understand...I do not mean to be difficult. There are secrets my people have kept for generations...a trust we hold sacred. I am already viewed badly by many for revealing the existence of our dragons at all.”
“I understand,” Calistra said diplomatically, “Although...I am somewhat curious...Irakyll doesn’t normally venture so far away, does she?”
Hallahna shook her head.
“Then how did she encounter Ky’ara in the Northern Forest?”
“I sent her to look…” she hesitated, then continued, “Amischel had a dream about them... she seemed worried, so I sent Irakyll to check it out.”
Calistra’s eyes widened in surprise. She recovered quickly and looked at Geri. He nodded slightly, and she knew he was thinking the same thing she was. Amischel had demonstrated almost clairvoyant abilities on a number of occasions now. Geri had described her role in Jenie’s escape from the necromantic raisings and the abilities she’d displayed during their rescue of Hal and the others. At first Calistra had shrugged it off as just strong intuition, or perhaps a minor aptitude for magic that had never been developed further. Now she wasn’t so sure...there seemed to be more to it than that.
Her first instinct was to be suspicious...but Amischel had proven her loyalty on any number of occasions, and it seemed unlikely, given the circumstances in which Joran had met her, that she was somehow a spy for the Destroyer. The question was, did she know more about her abilities than she let on? Or would she need training to develop them further into something useful?
Hallahna raised an eyebrow, and Calistra realized she’d gotten carried away in her own thoughts. She gave the woman an apologetic smile.
“I’m sorry...just musing about how these things seem to happen so conveniently. Please, send the message as soon as you can, and thank Irakyll for me.”
Hallahna nodded and left the tent, leaving Geri and Calistra alone.
“I’m assuming you want me to keep an eye on Amischel?” Geri drawled, coming up next to her. Calistra glanced toward him, suddenly aware of the difference in their heights. She frowned, refocusing on the problem at hand.
“No...you’ll be out scouting too much for that. I don’t think we need to worry about her causing any harm...but if you could ask Jenie to come talk to me sometime this evening, I’d appreciate it. I can ask her to talk to Amischel and maybe le
t me know if she has any more...premonitions.”
Geri nodded, saluting smartly and giving her a roguish grin before he left the tent as well. Calistra watched him make his way past the other tents, smiling and chatting with the people he passed without slowing his pace. If only she could feel so carefree...She turned back to her contemplation of the map, this time making note of the next few towns along their path to the capital and sitting at her desk to draft a suggested campaign timeline for the captains to look over. One step at a time. The path to victory was not going to be easy, but she wasn’t going to get anywhere by bewailing the enormity of the task she’d taken on. Focus on the present. Tackle one obstacle at a time. In the end, it was all going to be out of her hands anyway.
Chapter 2: Paths to Nowhere
Norika examined the remains of the campfire. They’d definitely passed this way. It was unlikely that the ashes belonged to someone else. Where were they going? Their path through the woods had not been the aimless wandering or frantic running that she had expected. They were moving steadily, setting up camp every night but not staying for more than just the one evening. Clearly they were headed towards something, but what? There was nothing in this region except forest and more forest. The passes that could lead them through to the Elysian villages were to the east—if they were trying to escape the Kingdom they were going the wrong way.
She stood and dusted her hands off on her highs. It didn’t matter. It was none of her concern why they were there, as long as she got her hands on the murderer. How she was going to accomplish that when he was accompanied by at least four others, she did not know. Killing him from a distance felt dishonorable, and besides there was little chance his companions would allow her to retrieve his body to present in Brume. Unless she shot them all...once she found them, she could wait for nightfall and pick them all off from a safe perch up in a tree.
The Druids' Legacy Page 2
