They were stopped in a small valley glade. “Ahnon, if something that big comes, I want to learn some spells that can hurt,” Jedek said, noticing Ahnon looking at the treetops.
“Listen, sire. What do you hear?”
Straining his ears, Jedek could almost swear he heard a humming. Kenna spoke up before he could. “Ahnon, it sounds like the lecha or whatever wasp we saw,” she said.
“Lecka wasp, Kenna,” Ahnon corrected.
“It’s a big stinking bug!” she yelled. “Who cares what its name is? Get inside the shield!”
Ahnon spun around. “Kenna, please don’t yell. It excites them, and if I get inside, they will just wait us out. They’re circling us. They act like we attacked them, and they want us dead. If you want to help, look around and help me spot them.”
They looked around, but Ahnon found the first one when it slammed into his back, knocking him off his feet. Kenna let out a scream as he fell on his face. Ahnon rolled onto his back as the wasp bit and stung the surcoat. Feeling the wasp grab a chunk of his skin, he reached back with his sword, scraping the thing off his back. When it hit the ground, Ahnon chopped it in half and spun around, swinging his sword, halving another one as it dove at him.
“Kenna, stop screaming. I can’t hear them!” he shouted, and Jedek tried to cover her mouth, but the mask was in the way. Jedek slid his hand under the mask over her mouth as another wasp hit Ahnon in the right leg with such force his foot shot over his head, and he crashed back to the ground. As the wasp bit and stung his pants, he swung the sword, taking its head off. The wasp fell off just as he stood up and sliced the air twice, killing two more.
Jedek kept his hand over Kenna’s mouth then heard a wham! behind him. Turning around, he saw a wasp sliding down the shield with its head barely attached to the body. As he watched that one, three more slammed into the shield, meeting the same fate. “My shield is tough, bug!” Jedek shouted to the dead wasps as they slid down the shield. Kenna suddenly grabbed him, burying her face in his chest.
Turning to where she had been looking, Jedek saw a lecka wasp hovering right outside the shield. Never in his life had Jedek seen anything that looked so intimidating. The wasp’s head was bigger than his fist, and its mouth pinchers moved back and forth over the shield. “You can’t chew through, bug,” Jedek snapped, moving Kenna behind him and pulling out his sword. Not sure if it would work, he thrust the point at the wasp’s head and was surprised when the tip went through the shield. The point of the sword pierced the head of the wasp, which froze in midair. The weight of the wasp shocked Jedek as gravity pulled his sword out of his hand.
The sword landed on the ground still in the wasp’s head. The handle was inside the shield, but the tip and wasp were on the outside. “Get your sword,” Kenna said.
“The sword is fine where it’s at. I’m not taking the chance of pulling that thing in here with us because if one gets in here, we are going out there,” Jedek said, pulling his dagger. Kenna did the same, and they both turned to Ahnon.
Ahnon had one on his back as he chopped two from the air. Jumping up, Ahnon landed on his back, stunning the wasp trying to get at him. Rolling over, he pulled a knife off his pants and shoved it in the wasp’s head. No sooner did he bury the knife did he roll away just as a wasp sent up a cloud of dust, hitting the dirt where he was a split second ago.
Before the wasp moved, he chopped its head off and flipped up to his feet only to have a wasp hit him in the chest, sending him back to the ground. This wasp was climbing up his chest, going for his neck, and Ahnon let out a scream, pulling the wasp off and ripping the head off with his hands. Dropping the staff, he pulled his katana off his back, and with a sword in each hand, he started spinning, cutting down wasps as they dove at him.
Kenna was trembling watching the bugs fall then looked at the ground and noticed several with only half a body were crawling toward Ahnon, and dozens were at her feet at the shield’s edge, chewing at it. “Bullshit!” she screamed and dropped down to her knees, stabbing at the shield. Her blade went through the shield and into the heads outside. When she pulled back, the shield raked the heads off, and she would stab another one. Jedek joined her.
From the corner of his eye, Ahnon saw the kids killing the wasps and wished they would stop before they pulled one inside. Hearing more buzzing, he spun, chopping another out of the air and looked down, seeing a wasp’s head and thorax crawling up his leg. “Holy mother troll snot!” he screamed in a high pitch, jumping up and knocking the thing off. When he landed, shivers racked his body. “This is so—!” he shouted, at a loss for words, but spun, chopping another one out of the air. Listening hard, he couldn’t hear anymore humming, but he heard a lot of clicks as the bodies on the ground continued snapping their pincers.
Stabbing anything moving near him, he cleared a small area then froze, hearing a deep, vibrating sound that made his chest rumble. He looked up and saw a lecka wasp that was almost four feet long and twice as big around as the others. It stopped ten paces away from him, and he watched as the grass bent down under it as its wings beat the air. “You need to carry your butt-ugly self out of here. I killed your kids, so leave,” Ahnon said as the thing shot toward him.
Diving to his side, he sliced forward with his left arm, feeling his sword hit what felt like rock. The sword passed through the wings of the queen as she shot over Ahnon. Ahnon rolled over the body parts on the ground, some of which were still moving, and jumped up, fighting a shiver. Walking over, the queen was trying to flap her wings, but only stumps were on the left side. Raising his sword, Ahnon chopped her head off then moved around, stabbing every nearby head twice.
When he was done, he walked over to the shield and walked through it, stopping in front of Kenna. “Kenna, you have got to get control of your fear of bugs. I almost peed on myself out there!” he snapped at her.
She looked up with tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry, but they scare me. I mean, look how big the things are,” she whined.
“Kenna, I can give you whole pages of how those things make me feel, but I block it out. Now, I want you to come with me,” Ahnon said, grabbing her arm and pulling her out of the shield. “Kick the bodies,” he told her and went back to the mule, coming back with two jars.
Kenna was kicking the bodies then looked up at him. “What are those for?” she asked, looking at the jars.
“You are going to help me milk some venom,” he said, and she paled as he handed her a jar. “Now, watch how I do it because they can still snip a finger off,” he said, kneeling down. He made her do two heads, and then he took over, making her do the stingers. Ahnon did the queen since the body was still moving around. When they finished, the jars were three-quarters full.
“How many, Kenna?” Ahnon asked as he walked over, picked up his staff, and sheathed the sword.
“Sixty-three,” she said, fighting a shiver.
“Most I’ve ever fought was five,” Ahnon said, rubbing his chest.
“One didn’t sting you, did it?” Kenna asked, running over.
“Kenna, that’s why hunters wear negtro leather; they can’t get stung or bitten through it most of the time. Granted, they can pinch, making you feel like you’re on fire though,” Ahnon admitted. “No one broke a rib when it hit me in the chest. Now, do I need to tell either of you to keep your hunter gear—that means everything—on?”
“I’m sleeping in mine,” Kenna informed everyone.
“I want a second one so I can keep one clean,” Jedek said, looking at the ground.
“Oh, you’ll have more than that. We are going to make them,” Ahnon said. “Minos, come here,” Ahnon barked. Minos walked over, looking at the bodies of the wasps, stopping beside Ahnon. “Minos, find where they came from,” Ahnon said, and Minos jumped back.
“No, big bugs mean,” he said.
“Minos, they’re all dead now. Show me where they lived. It can’t be far.”
Jedek just wanted to leave but looked down at Minos. “You
heard him; find their house,” Jedek snapped. Minos turned around, slumping his shoulders and sniffing the air. It took a little while, but they found the nest in a massive, dead tree. Minos wouldn’t get close and stayed with Jedek. The only reason Kenna went with Ahnon was because he dragged her.
Ahnon stopped in front of the tree and looked at the ground. “Kenna, look at the ground and tell me what you see.”
Almost expecting more demon spawn wasps trying to crawl up her leg, she jumped and looked at the ground and saw nothing but dirt. Then she noticed boot prints. Looking closer, she saw several different kinds. “Boot prints,” she said.
“Yeah, that’s why they attacked. Someone tried to raid the nest,” Ahnon said, prying off a piece of bark, exposing the nest. “Now, some of these larvae may be ready to hatch, so don’t flip on me, okay?” Ahnon said as she held up a jar.
“You’re getting more poison?” she asked as he pulled out a white larva bigger than his forearm.
“No, the blood of a lecka larva is used in many components,” he said, chopping off the head and draining the body, filling the jar. “Two more jars like that can get you a gold crown.”
She stopped shivering, “Really?” she asked, thinking a hunter’s life didn’t sound that bad considering the money.
“Oh yes. As you can imagine, those that get it charge a pretty penny for it,” Ahnon said as she held up another jar for him to fill.
“How many jars do you carry?” she asked when they filled the ninth one.
“Kenna, one thing you’re going to learn: Always carry jars, vials, bags, and boxes to gather magical components and stuff to study.” When he cut open the next comb, a mature wasp head was looking at them. “Don’t want you,” Ahnon said, shoving a knife in its head. Kenna jumped but didn’t spill a drop. When they finished, they had twenty-two filled jars of white lecka larvae blood.
Kenna helped put them in the pack and looked at Ahnon. “I helped get it; I want to use some of it,” she said.
“Sire, we weren’t getting it to sell. We will use it,” he assured her. “Minos, here,” Ahnon called. Ahnon reached down and rubbed his head. “Minos, you’ve done well,” Ahnon said, giving him a piece of jerky. Minos snapped it up and followed Ahnon back to the nest. Ahnon stopped, pointing down at the footprints. “Minos, I can’t smell them. Can you?” he asked.
Minos lowered his head, sniffing, then looked up at him. “Not far. Bugs bite them,” he said.
“Show me.” Minos trotted off. “Bring the mule and come on,” Ahnon called out.
“Ahnon, are we stopping to eat?” Jedek asked.
“You could’ve eaten when I was chopping wasps up.”
Jedek grumbled, following Ahnon. They found three bodies less than a mile away. One was definitely a hunter, but his hat was on the ground beside him. There were several large holes in his head and a large, purple area on his temple.
“The hat is negtro leather too?” Jedek asked, pulling his down tighter.
“They stung him in the only area he had exposed,” Kenna mumbled.
“Every suit of armor has chinks,” Ahnon said, kneeling down and going through the belongings.
Startled at the sight, “Ahnon, you can’t do that,” Kenna said.
Letting out a huff, he replied, “Why not? They don’t need it.” He started tossing things to the side as Kenna looked up and saw the horses and a donkey on the ground, dead.
“Oh, the poor horses and donkey,” she said.
“Why don’t you go over and pull out the stuff from the poor horses and donkey and see if we can use any of it?” Ahnon said. He stopped and looked up at both of them. “No, scratch that. Pull out everything, put it on the ground, and I will pull out what we can use,” he said then went back to work.
Ten minutes later, he was walking over to them with his arms full. “You took his clothes?” Jedek asked, looking at the hunter’s outfit in his arms.
“Of course. This stuff is expensive,” Ahnon said, dropping the stuff. “This hunter was new; he didn’t have a mask, only a face wrap, and his glasses were cheap. This looked to be like his third job.”
“You can tell all that from looking at a body?” Kenna asked, amazed.
“No,” Ahnon said, holding out two sheets of paper. “One is a contract to kill an arachne that was killing some livestock, mostly sheep, three hundred miles to the south. Another one is for a cankle that killed two families. He collected on those,” Ahnon said, pointing at the pages, and they saw two seal stamps. Then he held out the last one that had the same seal, but it was only stamped once. “See, this one is from a wizard offering a reward for lecka larvae blood.”
Jedek stared at the first two papers. “What in the world is an arachne that someone would pay one and a half gold crowns to kill?” he asked.
Ahnon shivered. “A spider that weighs about three hundred pounds, moves really fast, and is very dangerous.”
“Jedek, you ask any more about it, and I’ll hit you,” Kenna warned. “I’ve had enough bugs for one day.” She stood after emptying the last saddle. “What’s a cankle? And if it’s a bug, don’t tell me.”
“No, it’s not a bug,” Ahnon said, waving at her. “It’s a cross between a cat and dog. The snout of a dog and claws of a cat about the size of a pony with a long tail with a bony blade at the end,” he said, shrugging.
“Let me guess; the tail is poison?” Jedek asked.
“No, it’s very sharp, and it just cuts off arms and legs,” Ahnon answered. “It does have six eyes, three on each side of its head. It can see like we can, but it can also see body heat. They are real hard to sneak up on,” he said, folding the papers.
“Why are you taking the papers?” Kenna asked.
“Later, I will alter them so you two can have some kills. Plus, if I find the wizard, I want to hit him. If you can’t get your own supplies, don’t send others,” Ahnon said.
“Ahnon, I’ve seen you buy components in Velham,” Jedek said.
“I was kind of busy to be traipsing out in the wild, Jedek,” Ahnon said, kneeling down and going through the stuff they had laid out. “Bundle that stuff I pulled off them and put it on the mule,” he instructed, pointing to the pile he took off the bodies. “Kenna, keep that shortsword on top, and wear it,” he said when she picked it up.
Fifteen minutes later, Ahnon stood. “We’re leaving,” he said picking up an armload and started walking away.
“You are leaving some stuff you haven’t gone through,” Kenna said as they followed him.
Shaking his head, Ahnon said, “Company’s coming.”
The two started spinning their heads around, breathing deeply. “I smell several smells,” Jedek said, putting his hand on his sword.
“The smell with the high odor is a long tail bear. The smell like Minos is a pack of wolves coming, and the last one that smells flat is trouble. A pack of ilar tigers.” Ahnon picked up the pace. “This many bodies rings a dinner bell.”
“I wish we could’ve buried them,” Jedek said as they continued at a fast pace. “We can’t keep this pace up. The mule is really loaded down and telling me about it.”
“Don’t listen to him; he wants you to take some stuff off so he can run away,” Ahnon said over his shoulder. “I told him if he did, we would eat him.”
Keeping a hard pace for an hour, Ahnon slowed, and the kids came up beside him. “I smell something,” Kenna said barely loud enough to get past her mask.
“Look at Minos,” Ahnon said, scanning around him. Minos was walking in a crouch with the hair on his back standing up, and his teeth were bared.
“What is it?” Jedek asked.
“Goblin,” Ahnon mumbled.
Putting a hand on her sword, Kenna said, “That’s not good.”
“They’re following us. If you notice when the wind blows from behind us, the smell is stronger,” Ahnon said.
“They!” Jedek huffed.
“Yeah, humans with the goblin.”
“What d
oes that mean?” Kenna asked.
“Only one thing,” Ahnon said, looking at her. “Bandits.” Looking back up, he said, “I think they were watching the bodies I looted, making sure the lecka wasps weren’t coming back,” he said.
“I knew we should’ve left the bodies alone,” Jedek said.
“Jedek, if you don’t get everything you can use, you will die. Understand? It was going to waste, and the purpose of life is not to waste anything. They are on horse, so they would’ve found us sooner or later. Goblins are excellent trackers. Fortunately, it’s daytime. They are much better trackers at night.”
Jedek looked down. “I’m sorry, Ahnon. This is just new to me.”
“I know, Jedek. I was the same way starting off, but almost dying a few times because I didn’t take what was available made me wake up fast.”
“What are we going to do?” Kenna asked.
Ahnon glanced over his shoulder and couldn’t see anything moving behind them. “I hope all those animals will run them off, but I doubt it,” Ahnon said. “Let’s move up till we can find a small clearing in the forest and set up. Jedek, you will put a shield over the camp area covering you, Kenna, the mule, and Minos like last time. Just don’t make it so big this time.”
“Sorry about that,” Jedek said.
“Hey, don’t be. You got a shield up; that’s all that matters. The bigger the shield, the more it takes out of you, which I’m sure you realize now,” Ahnon said.
They walked for another hour before Ahnon stopped. “We can’t go any further. They are catching up fast.”
“I’m getting tired of this mask because I smell something else,” Jedek said.
“Plecha rat. Don’t worry about it. They are about the size of a pig but eat worms. Get set up here in this clearing,” he said, stopping. “When they come, act calm. It’s not dark, so the goblin won’t see the shield.” He took off his bow and quiver and set them down.
“Want me to start a fire?” Kenna asked.
Dawn of Man (Thanos Book 1) Page 27
