I nodded before taking off at a run. Those I passed called after me, wondering what I was running for. I just waved my hand at them, not stopping. Years of training meant I got to the Plavean Estate quickly. I rushed toward the back gate, figuring that would be where Teilnon would arrive.
Jay was helping to tend the garden herb plot when he saw me rushing by. “Kel?!” He called after me. Like the others, I waved at him. Unbeknownst to me, Jay followed. He joined me at the rear gate. “Are you alright?” Jay asked.
“Why?” I asked.
“You look troubled.”
I nodded. I didn’t doubt him. I was breathing heavily, but not panting, while I peered out the gate to the silently mysterious depths of the Old Wood.
Nimla slipped from my shadow to the long shadows of the Wood. “I will find him.” She called before disappearing.
“What is it? What are you looking for?”
“Not ‘what’,” I muttered.
I sensed more than saw Nimla appear in the eaves of the Wood. She was pointing frantically into the trees. “He’s coming. But he is being hunted!”
“Crap,” I muttered frantically opening the gate. “Stay here,” I told Jay before going out. Jay didn’t listen to me. Instead, he followed me.
“You do realize that we are going to get into trouble going into the Wood without a full mage?”
“Funny, I remember telling you to stay,” I replied. The family had seen us go out and had apparently decided to see what we were up too. Seeing our direction of choice, they started to call after us.
“Oh yeah, we are in so much trouble now,” Jay muttered with a pointed look at me. I was about to repeat my earlier words when we heard a rumbling howl come from the Wood. Jay and I froze staring. Faintly, I saw a light flickering out of the undergrowth. Moments later Teilnon came crashing out into the open. His sword was out and glowing like a beacon. The Wood had not been kind to him. He was roughed up, but he looked… scared? He wouldn’t like that. Very concerned. He’d prefer that. On his heels was none other than a Scarlet Wood Drayvern.
The creature was six feet long from nose tip to tail tip. It stood about three feet high at the shoulder. As its name would imply, it was scarlet in color along its back and sides. Its chest was white. Reading had told me that its underbelly and tail tip were also white. Its legs were black. As were its wing supports, though it had its wings tucked close against its body at the moment. Probably kept them from getting snagged on trees. It had a wedge-shaped head with horns that angled backward. Its powerful, bone-crushing jaw, was gaping open; showing off its many sharp teeth.
“You have a way with words,” I said just as the creature’s pack mates followed it out of the wood. ‘trouble’ couldn’t even fully describe it.
“Run!” Teilnon shouted.
Jay and I turned to do just that. “Oh, so you listen to him,” I muttered. Jay didn’t bother to answer. Instead, he was screaming at those standing at the open gate. After a beat of shock, the family mobilized.
But we were on open ground now. Now the drayvern could use their wings and speed to better advantage. Jay and I would likely make it in the gate… but not so much Teilnon. I turned back, frantically trying to figure out what to do. I turned just in time to see that one of the beasts was only a couple of its lengths behind me. It had left Teilnon to the first who shot fire at the metal mage.
Teilnon shouted something and the flame boiled into his sword that he brandished before rolling out of the way. He was in the midst of the pack now. There were quite a few of the creatures between us and Teilnon and the gate. I didn’t really count, but there were more than five. More than eight. Scarlet Woods were known to travel in packs of ten to fifteen.
At this point, running was pointless. He could only stand and fight. Or try to. Thankfully we were close to the estate and a town that was brimming with mages. Help was on the way.
I, meanwhile, dodged to the side out of my own problem’s reach. At least for a moment. Enough to get some space between us. My hand fell to the only weapon I currently had on me: my little cuttings knife.
The Scarlet Wood Drayvern maneuvered quickly to face me again. Its amber gaze lit upon the knife in my hand and seemed to grin. It was a very small knife. Great against plants. Not drayverns. I gulped and prayed help would come out of the gate soon.
Thunder trembled through the ground. Out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of more bad news. A drayvern was galloping right toward me. There were others around me, blocking any exit…
A whine whistled through the air close by my head. Close enough I felt the wind of something passing by quickly. In the next instant, the drayvern galloping upon me howled in abject agony before tumbling over itself. I barely managed to get out of the way as suddenly more of the Drayvern around me were howling and hissing in pain and anger. Feathered shafts were sticking out of their thick hide. Others, like my first menace, had an entirely different problem. The earth had grown up around him, trapping him. The beast snarled and snapped at the ground, but earth doesn’t fear pain or death. It didn’t let him go.
Confused, I looked toward the gate. Salvation had come in the form of Espirimora once again. Some were slinging their bows onto their backs while others kept firing into the pack. Those that put down their bows drew shimmering swords. Caimeir was one of them. While he had a sword in one hand, his other was busy casting his main weapon: magic. His lips moved constantly, his eyes skipping about the battlefield.
A rocking in the earth knocked me onto the ground. Just in time as a drayvern took flight and made a passing grab at me. It might have been thinking of fleeing, but it couldn’t resist the chance of getting something out of the hunt. Several arrows punished it for that thought. Instead of wheeling back for me, the creature decided it was well past time to leave. Others decided likewise and made to return to the sheltering depths of the forest. Only those that had been killed or trapped in the earth remained.
Now that the immediate crisis was over, I lay back and stared up at the sky. Then I turned my head to see that the second drayvern that had been galloping at me was right there. It lay in an awkward sprawl. A broken arrow shaft in one ruined eye. Its dark red blood stood out against the scarlet red of its scales. Its other open amber eye was empty and dull.
Steps in the grass drew my attention away from the dead drayvern. Caimeir stood over me, his sword back in its sheath. “Want a hand up?” he asked, offering me his hand.
I took it, and he pulled me to my feet. The drayvern that had first attacked me snarled and growled. Looking about I counted. Three more were trapped in stone. They had been part of the group that had been encircling Teilnon. There were five dead creatures, including the one I had been next to. “Nine,” I said aloud.
“And four more fled into the wood. Thirteen total.” Caimeir added.
“You sure know how to pick them.” another espirimora said to Teilnon, effortlessly helping the large metal mage to his feet.
Teilnon grunted. “Thanks for the rescue. I thought I was a goner.”
The espirimora stared at him for a long moment. I winced, remembering the warning. One didn’t say ‘thank you’ to Elmora, no matter the tribe.
Teilnon felt the stares and looked about uneasily. “What?”
All the espirimora turned to Caimeir. He shook his head and gestured to the one who had first spoken to Teilnon. That one turned to Teilnon. “You will owe me, metal mage. When I call upon you, you will pay it.”
Teilnon looked uneasy but nodded. My father joined the group at this point. “What are you going to do with those beasts?” he asked gesturing at the trapped drayvern.
“Release them, of course,” Caimeir replied. “Once everyone is safely inside the wall. These will not want any more trouble with you.” He added when he saw my father’s unease. Caimeir gestured that everyone go back in the gate. The Espirimora that Teilnon now owed helped him along. One of the beasts had gotten lucky and clawed him. The wounds were not deep, but they
ran all the way down his back. While not dire, they should still get looked at. Cleaned and bandaged as quickly as possible. Which was exactly what folks on the other side of the gate had been thinking. They went to work quickly and efficiently.
Teilnon really did choose the right gate to enter.
“High Zien Plavea, I must speak to you,” Teilnon said as several of my aunts worked on his wounds. “Ferna is still out there.”
“What?!” Uncle Hawthorn, Ferna’s father, bellowed. “You left her out there with those monsters?!”
My father, ever the calm eye of the storm, raised his hand for quiet. There were times I thought that fate had been cruel to him. Being a plant mage did not fit with my father’s personality. If I hadn’t known who his family was or what magic he had been given I would have guessed him to be a wind mage. He seemed to belong in storms, not in fields and forests. I’d never heard him railing against fate. So perhaps I was wrong. Perhaps his calm wasn’t the eye of the storm, but of the tree in the gale… “Tell us what happened. Everything you can remember.” My father said calmly.
Teilnon glanced at the silent Espirimora who stood quietly in the background. “I had been intrigued by the relic your guests mentioned last night. I had asked Ferna if she would be willing to be my guide while we searched for it.” His expression fell. “I’m not entirely sure what went wrong. We were exploring some ruins when something abruptly rushed us.” Teilnon’s expression became somewhat bewildered. “I can’t really explain what happened. We were attacked, that much I remember. But I can’t tell you by what. I just know it had inhuman speed. It seemed to be everywhere at once. I remember seeing glints of gold and silver in the light of my blade. There were feathers, black as pitch and soft to the touch.
“I heard Ferna shout, but I was knocked to the side by… what I think was the creature’s tail. When I found my feet again, I saw a way to flee that didn’t have the dark shadow. I took it. I called for Ferna to follow. She had been right there. It was only a few moments later that I realized I didn’t hear her behind me anymore. There hadn’t been a scream … or anything!
“I was turning back to find her when that pack of drayvern attacked me. I honestly don’t know how I found my way back.” He said looking like he was in a daze, trying to figure it out.
“You got my daughter killed for a stupid elmoran relic!?” Uncle Hawthorn thundered. I had never seen him so angry. It was terrifying to see his normally cheerful face turn red with unadulterated, righteous rage. He stormed toward Teilnon as if he meant to attack the metal mage.
My father stepped in front of him. “Hawthorn!” He said in his commanding tone. “Ferna has been a mature mage for several years now. She knows the Wood is dangerous. We all do. Ferna could have told him ‘no.’ Do not blame Teilnon. He barely returned to us with his life. Now he can help us find her.”
Tears streamed down Hawthorn’s cheeks. “But what if she is already dead? That thing that attacked them has probably already eaten her!” He wailed.
“Tre’shriha would not eat her,” Caimeir said, drawing all attention. “She always takes one as part of the Test. She wouldn’t hurt that chosen one. Now, her chosen might do something to hurt themselves trying to escape. It is for others to rescue them – a kind of reward for passing the Test.” Caimeir smiled at Teilnon. “Well done. You found where the Relic is sealed away.”
“I have heard of Tre’shriha. We will need assistance from the other Houses.” My father decided aloud.
“On it.” Uncle Daniel, Jay’s father, said rushing away from the group, whistling a series of calls. Three avenaka dropped out of the great Oak. Uncle Daniel scrawled quick notes for each creature. I had always thought Jay’s father could hold full conversations with the creatures since he whistled and chittered to them and they replied. As far as I know, they always went to where he told them to go. No mistakes. I know now that a lot of extensive training went into each avenaka before it became a full messenger.
Perhaps all that training is why he turned gray young… huh. Food for thought. I mused irrelevantly. It happens.
Jay has also been training with his father should he be the next House Messenger. He had told me about it when we got on the topic of avenaka or any of the other creatures living in the Old Wood.
Soon three avenaka were winging it to the other Houses.
“In the meantime, I want search teams formed up and supplied.” My father decreed. The family rushed to do his will. By the time the other House mages arrived our search teams were chomping at the bit. Time was ticking, and they could all feel it.
The Elmora broke up to go with them. But something told me they were only doing so as added protection. They couldn’t get the relic themselves and thus couldn’t take the Test. Couldn’t save Ferna.
Jay and I did everything we could to ensure everyone was properly supplied… but that was it. We couldn’t go into the wood. We would be a liability. The searchers must be focused on finding Ferna and looking out for danger. Not also protecting those with no power of their own.
We were not the only ones aggrieved by our inability. Princess Zara was in a similar position (if not the same exact one). While gathering supplies, I had accidentally overheard her argument with her father “how can I be the protector of our people if you won’t let me?!” She had fumed.
“How can you protect when you would be forcing others to protect you? Without magic of your own, you would endanger everyone with you.” Her father had pointed out. Princess Zara had opened her mouth to refute that, but couldn’t. So she had closed her mouth and fumed silently. I went about my business as quickly as I could before she realized that I had overheard. I don’t think she would have believed ‘it was an accident.’
Chapter 20
Time passed. Dinner, that night among those too old and too young, was quiet and glum. I found myself glancing toward the windows that looked out upon the back garden. The food on my plate was hardly touched. Uncle Hawthorn was sobbing alone. Several family members and Zara had gone up to him to comfort him. But he wouldn’t take any of it. His only child was lost to the Wood, and he was alone…
“Kel, Tre’shriha is making it impossible for the searchers to find the ruins Ferna is trapped at. A few groups have run afoul of a few of her traps. None severely wounded. Other denizens have also come to play.” Nimla told me from the shadows under the table.
I pushed my plate toward the middle of the table and put my head on my arms. Softly I whispered, “Can’t the Espiriamora help find the ruins?”
“Yes… and no. They can find Tre’shriha’s lair, but she simply folds them and those with them elsewhere.”
“What is she?” I asked dumbfounded.
“An ancient elemental. One of seven. She is the oldest being in the Old Wood. Many know her as the ‘Spirit of the Old Wood.’ Sha’meir know her as the mother of our race.”
“She’s a sha’meir?”
Nimla shook her head. “No… and yes.” She paused for a thoughtful moment. “I don’t really know. I’ve heard that she is of Nature, considering the lushness of the forest and the fact that she can shapeshift. But she is our mother and knows much of Spirit Magic. She doesn’t say. Personally, I think she likes the veil of mystery that surrounds her.”
“Nature? No wonder dad wanted the other families to help.” I muttered to himself.
“Kel! The fire princess is coming your way.” Nimla warned me.
Why would she be coming to me? Oh, she probably isn’t. She’s probably just walking past me. Yeah. That’s it. I was about to tell Nimla that when I felt Zara’s presence stop by my side.
“This isn’t the time to be crying, Heir of Plavea. You should be comforting that poor man. He is your family after all.” She told me scathingly.
I sat up and looked at her. She really was quite beautiful with her bright golden hair with its locks of orange and red. The golden veins in her fire blue eyes sparked angrily as she glared at me. She was kinda cute when she was mad… th
ough I am wiser than Carl-Jack and decided to never tell her that.
Princess Zara took in my dry eyes and her glower intensified if that was possible. “Were you actually sleeping at a time like this?!” She growled at me.
“Before you go about trying to rip off my head like a drayvern, maybe you should take a moment to think,” I said. Her eyes widened at that. Perhaps the dear princess wasn’t used to being spoken to like that. Poor thing. I continued before she could speak. “You will note that family has already done what they can to comfort Uncle Hawthorn. You tried to comfort him. But did he want that comfort?”
“You’re the Heir of your family. It is your duty and privilege to comfort those who need it.” She pointed out sharply.
I sorted. “And offer more empty words to a man tired of hearing them? He’d be more appreciative if everyone went out into the Wood to find his daughter than trying to tell him everything is okay even though they are doing nothing but wasting breath.”
She glared for a couple more seconds before seeming to deflate. Princess Zara looked away with a sigh. “But we can’t all go search. Even if we want to.” She said.
“Exactly.” I agreed.
“Kel! A search team is returning!” Jay said running up to me. He stumbled to a stop when he saw Princess Zara. He made a hasty and awkward bow in her direction. “Sorry to interrupt.”
“You weren’t interrupting anything,” I said getting up. “Did they find her?” I asked even though I knew the answer was ‘no.’
Jay shrugged. “I just overheard that they were spotted coming back.”
I nodded, and we hurried toward the back. Word had spread to the rest, and they were following us. Right on our heels was Princess Zara.
“Do you realize that you are very rude?” She inquired haughtily.
My brows rose as I turned my head toward her. “Excuse me? How so?”
She gaped at me in shock. Jay looked really uncomfortable. “Um, Kel, you didn’t excuse yourself from the conversation.” He leaned his head closer to me. “With the princess, I might add.”
Lore Rune (Rune Trilogy Book 1) Page 14
