Return To Sky Raven (Book 2)

by T. Michael Ford

  Maya answered, “Food, animal feed, straw and timber primarily. We have no real trade goods, but we have gold and we have wizards. We also have healers who are willing to help you if needed. If your people are too hurt to move, we could work out a system where our healers would go to them, under heavy guard, of course.”

  One of the younger human farm girls, probably around my age, separated herself from the group by the wagons and walked over, drying her tears. She looked at us with calm hope. “I know you are heroes of good, just like in the old stories. If you have healers, please help us! Many of our children are sick and we don’t know what’s wrong with them. The village herbalist was killed by a rogue undead almost a month ago; we have no one who can help them. Please, we will give you anything you want, just save our children and help us save our loved ones!”

  Maya needed only look my way for me to see the concern in her eyes and to know what she wanted from me. She turned back to the farmers. “We have sent word; a group of healers will head out at first light to your village, I will need specific directions . But note, this will be our only act of charity for the time being; resources are low right now, and we have yet to gain a way of permanent resupply. At the same time, we will not hold you to any agreement as price for this aid.”

  The vampire nodded. “I understand and approve of your wisdom, for I, too, must keep my people as a priority. But if it is herbs you need to help our people, then we may be able to help greatly with that. My night stalkers patrol the forests every night; it is a simple matter to have them keep an eye open for what you need. These herbs have no real value to us without the skills to use them.”

  At that point, Nia, who had been buzzing around making sure all the dead vampires stayed that way, flew up and whispered, “The girls say riders on horseback are approaching fast from the direction we came!”

  Belrothe’s hearing was excellent, and she nodded at us. “Do not be alarmed, that would be my grandson and his riders; apparently, the messenger I sent as the attack started made it back to the village.”

  A few moments later, a troupe of ten cavalrymen and women, dressed in leather armor and bright orange surcoats with the Honalde family crest plastered across the front, thundered around a corner and came into sight, sabers in hand, ready for battle. Blocking their way were two very large protective Vakhas, with manes, tails, and feet of blue flame flaring off like a huge unseen bellows was stoking the fire.

  The mundane horses, well-trained as they were, wanted no part of tangling with Kaima and Somnus. They reared up, screaming in fear, and stopped dead in their tracks, trembling uncontrollably, and no amount of coaxing or even spurs would make them move forward.

  Cursing, a young man at the head of the group leaped off his mount and raced toward us, skirting well around the warhorses. He was short in stature, but he covered the ground quickly. He looked to be about twenty, with sandy blond hair and a long matching mustache that drooped well below his chin on each side, flopping up and down as he ran. The only thing that differentiated him from the other cavalry was the rather gaudy scarlet bird plume that stuck out of his floppy cavalryman’s hat. Breathlessly, he reached Belrothe’s side, and after eyeing me suspiciously and observing all the dead vampires on the ground, he turned to her and bowed, removing his hat with a flourish. “Forgive me, Grandmother, for my late arrival; it seems I am too late to join in the defense of my liege!”

  The old vampire ran an affectionate hand across his sweaty brow and fastidiously tidied up his hair. “Segmun, these knights and their companions are from Sky Raven Fortress. Brave knights, may I introduce my human grandson, Segmun Honalde.

  “Sky Raven? But that place has been empty forever! We were up that way not ten days ago and not a sign of life, and now you say it’s garrisoned?” he looked at her incredulously.

  “Yes, it is.” Maya interjected, getting back to business.

  Segmun swiveled and gave a start as if seeing Maya for the first time; he smiled broadly and swept into a formal bow as he drank in her beauty. “Your pardon, my Lady, if I was momentarily speechless. We trade frequently with your people, and I have even been to your Capital on several occasions, but never have I met a lady-at-arms as fair as yourself!”

  Maya paused with an expression somewhere between annoyed and embarrassed, but I could tell she was listening to Winya’s advice. She smiled graciously, “Thank you for the compliment, Sir Segmun. My name is Maya; this other knight,” she said, gesturing to me, “is Alex Martin, Master Enchanter and my betrothed. The pixie is Nia, a wizard of her people and the two…” Maya paused as the two huge white wolves morphed into shy, smiling young girls in green robes, “…girls, Lin and Julia, are druids.”

  There was a murmur of astonishment and excitement from the farmers and Belrothe nodded her approval, as druids are more valuable than gold to agricultural communities, and to have two in a party is practically unheard of. Segmun, on the other hand, just looked disappointed, no doubt about the betrothed statement.

  Maya, seeing their reaction to Lin and Julia, smiled and added, “We should also be able to provide a few earth wizards, once they are done with their current tasks, that is. They will be able to make stone walls around your village or fix any other damages as well.”

  Belrothe took a moment to look around at her people and, without exception, the farmer’s heads eagerly bobbed up and down, pleading for her to take the deal. “Very well, it would seem we have an agreement. Herbs for healing; food for services or gold. Does that sound fair?”

  “It does,” said Maya confidently.

  For the first time, the vampire truly smiled. “Excellent, then may we get underway?”

  “Rosa, you better get a quill and paper, this could take a bit!”

  Chapter 9

  A few things happened as I was talking things over with Rosa. The farmers and vampires got to work fixing the wagons. As usual with the large farm wagons I was familiar with from Foalshead, there were replacement wheels strapped to the undersides of the wagon boxes. This made the work rather easy as the vampires could hold up half a wagon with no real effort. Belrothe was talking things over with Maya, and the girls were healing one of the women who got hurt in the fight, surrounded by star-struck farmers asking questions. Apparently, yes, druids can actually talk to wheat if they so desire, but it’s a dull conversation, at best.

  I walked back to Maya and Belrothe with Nia proudly perched on my shoulder. Maya reached over and pulled my arm to her, smiling slightly. “Everything all set at Sky Raven?”

  I nodded. “Yes, Higs and ten guardsmen will escort Alera and her healers to the village; they should arrive by nightfall. Just to be safe, I asked that they take a few combat-ready wizards as well.”

  Segmun, who had been standing in the background, stepped forward. “Your pardon, Sir Alex, but there is no need to fatigue your healers before they even reach their patients; it’s a long walk from Sky Raven to the village, and time is a factor. Might I suggest my outriders and I bring a couple of wagons for your wizards and a couple strings of horses for your guardsmen, and meet up with your group on the trail? We will also help protect them from any undead that might have wandered onto the path.”

  “That is a very generous offer, Sir Segmun. Thank you, I will notify the healers that you will be arriving,” I said, nodding to him gratefully since most of the healers at Sky Raven were still exhausted from their workload and the journey. With that he turned to his liege and saluted.

  “Grandmother, I will be off then to the village and then on to meet up with the healers of Sky Raven, unless you need me to accompany you.”

  Belrothe shifted and shook her head. “No, Segmun, but when you stop by the village, please have three replacement wagons and drivers sent back this way to relieve ours. With these brave knights’ help, I am going to attempt to free our villagers tonight before it’s too late.”

  He paused and looked pained, took a breath as if to argue, and then let it drop. “As you wish, Lady.”
He bowed stiffly as he retreated back to his men and horses. Belrothe watched him leave.

  “Of course, he is not really my grandson,” she murmured. “More like the fortieth generation of Honalde since I bore a child. Still, he is of my flesh, non-the-less. The Honalde line has both living and non-living branches. Most of the current generation live in a village a day’s travel from here, as they chafe somewhat at being governed by someone as old as I, even if we are all family.” Her eyes were misty for a few seconds, then she snapped out of it and beckoned for me to continue.

  “The fortress is ready for trade and a list of priority items will be sent with the healers, along with our current prices,” I said to Belrothe. “I am sure your people will find our prices very generous.”

  She looked rather uneasy. “I…I am sure they will, but please tell me, how are you doing all this?”

  I smiled, “My mind is linked to my mentor in a way that allows us to communicate over any distance with just a thought. As you can guess, it is very useful.”

  She looked rather impressed and seemed to be contemplating what she could do with such a thing. “Yes, that does seem like it would be a wonderful tool but, sadly, out of our reach. As I was telling your fiancé, my guards and I need to retreat to a safe place where we can weather out the daylight. Where the forest ends at the other side of this road, there is a suitable place for a day camp; I will have the replacement wagons join you there. As soon as possible at dusk, we will rejoin you.”

  We watched as her men started out, forming a vanguard in front of the wagons. As they approached the two warhorses that were still planted in the middle of the road, one of the vampires walked up and attempted to shoo them out of the way. When that didn’t work, he stalked forward arrogantly and attempted to grab their reins. When he was within five feet, the blue flames from the horses intensified, changing colors like in a kiln until there was more white-hot than cooling blue left. The vampire recoiled with a shout of pain and staggered back holding his arm, which was smoldering like it had been exposed to pure fire.

  “Sorry about that,” said Maya. “We forgot to warn you that these flames are not just for show, and our horses don’t like vampires, even good ones.”

  He glared at us and backed all the way to our position. Belrothe, on the other hand, seemed even more interested in us than she was before. “What are they?” she asked.

  “They’re Vakhas,” I said. “Basically, they are very smart and very powerful warhorses and the only two in existence.” I looked at Somnus and motioned to the side of the road with my head. Silently, the two walked off the road and stood by the trees to allow the wagons to pass by unimpeded.

  The old vampire canted her head as if remembering some old tale of her youth or the words to an old song or lullaby. “Yes, well, I will take my leave of you now and will meet you at the edge of the forest at dusk, good day.” And with that, she and her guards disappeared into the trees; in a blink they were gone. The wagons moved out, leaving us on the road with undead corpses scattered everywhere.

  Jules walked up. “Do you want me to ask Reginaldo to take care of this mess?”

  “No, leave it as a warning. Besides, the sun will be fully up an a few minutes and almost everything but the bones will burn off.”

  We mounted up and headed down the road. Breaking out of the forest into low scrub, we made quick camp in a low, flat spot and finally had a hot breakfast. The group of us lazed about most of the morning; cleaning gear, brushing our horses, and taking the occasional cat nap. I could tell Maya was fretting about the delay in getting to the dark elf capital to warn them, but we really couldn’t back down from the course we had set for ourselves. Midday, the three wagons from the village, which we learned was called Yrvale, arrived and the teamsters made their own camp a short distance away. Maya and I managed to spend most of the afternoon together, with nothing much to do other than lie on our backs and gaze up at the white fluffy clouds.

  “Alex, do you ever wish you had wings so you could fly? I do sometimes,” she admitted shyly.

  “That seems like an odd ambition for a dark elf.”

  “Yeah, I know; usually it’s the darker and the gloomier, the better.” Her beautiful face transformed from a look of awe into a grin. “You know, maybe we dark elves don’t take the time to ever just look at how beautiful the clouds and sky really are. Then again, it might just be your influence on me.” She took my hand and rested her fragrant silver curls up against my cheek; it was the best afternoon I can remember.

  While we were cloud watching, Nia napped and the druid girls amused themselves by talking to the horses that the teamsters had brought. Finally, as it grew later in the afternoon, we packed up camp and readied ourselves for battle.

  As if on cue, Belrothe appeared as if out of nowhere, dressed in older-fashioned regal robes bearing the Honalde crest and carrying some wicked-looking short swords. After speaking with her wagon drivers and going over exactly what she wanted them to do, we mounted up and headed toward the cave. The scrub lands turned into grassy hills, with the occasional pile of glacier debris left in neat piles. While it was not true winter, as soon as the sun went all the way down, the temperatures started to drop. A quarter-moon was rising, but a thick blanket of clouds was also stretching across the sky, so we didn’t worry too much about being spotted.

  A short time later, we were prone on the ground peering over a small rise not far from the cave entrance. From the outside, it was nothing impressive, just a large fissure that had widened to the span of a good-sized wagon bed at the base of a large hill. The hill itself was grass-covered on top, but the eroded sides revealed its composition to be mostly rock. There were five vampire guards scattered around the front; most were attempting to hide themselves and failing miserably. One was even holding a branch in front of himself, apparently thinking that a bush with two human-appearing legs wouldn’t be suspicious.

  “Um, I think that one has brain damage,” Nia said, and to be honest, I think she was right.

  Belrothe shook her blonde head and snorted, “City-born idiots. You can tell they have no concept of how to conceal themselves in the country. They, no doubt, are also so full of themselves because of their new found strength that they are cocky and believe they can’t be caught by surprise and killed. It is a serious shortcoming in new vampires.”

  “What a marvelous idea,” said Maya. “Girls, take Reggie and find out if there’s another exit and secure it, quietly; and if things go badly and it comes to a fight, let Reggie handle it. Remember what I told you, just because you can turn into a giant arctic wolf, doesn’t mean you have the thousands of years of fighting instincts they have. A mangy three-legged fox with some attitude would probably still kick both your butts in a fight.”

  “Yes, Mom,” the girls giggled, as their green robes morphed into owl wings; and shrinking down to the proper size, their speckled brown and white wings silently beat at the night air, gaining speed and altitude. In a few seconds, they were out of sight.

  Satisfied, Maya patted me gently on the head with her gauntleted hand and whispered, “I’ll just be a few minutes.” She activated her armor’s stealth mode and Winya transformed into the serrated dagger form, the least-used of Winya’s charms. Virtually disappearing from sight, she was gone in a heartbeat.

  Belrothe’s jaw dropped. “She disappeared! Just…gone? What are you people? You even scare me!”

  I chuckled quietly, “Just an enchanter with some skill with metals.”

  “Can you do that?” she asked pointedly.

  “Nope, her armor was drawn up by a master designer and a powerful wizard in her own right; Maya’s armor has all the cool enhancements. I’m pretty sure there’s nothing else like it anywhere in the world.” I could feel Nia fidgeting on my shoulder, probably embarrassed but pleased by my description.

  “So what can yours do, then?”

  “The armor? Not too much besides being really good at protecting me. But my hammer is a different sto
ry, and I think tonight might be a good night to try out some of its more interesting enchantments.” I dropped my face shield down and sealed the suit so my helmet couldn’t be ripped off. “Now, look alive, its time.”

  She groaned and affixed me with a stern glare. “Young man, I may not look it, but I am at least a thousand years’ your senior, and that joke was old when I still breathed! Can you even see out of that thing with the visor down?”

  “Don’t need to; now watch, it’s about time.”

  We looked down the hill to observe, but I was the only one who could see Maya on a dark night like this. She quickly and silently snuck around the hillside and then used another skill that must have come from Winya and climbed the sheer rock wall to the top. Once there, it was a simple matter for her to glide up behind the guard. I watched the Winya dagger transform into the sword a split second before she removed the guard’s head from his body. Belrothe still couldn’t see Maya, but she did see the sword appear out of thin air and the head and body fall silently to the ground, with the sword disappearing again immediately. The old vampire hissed softly as she watched a second guard fall the same way, and then a third and fourth, leaving only the stupid one holding the shrub.

  “How did she do that? I have been working with dark elves for centuries and I only know one woman who could even remotely pull that off!”

  Nia chuckled, “Let me guess, she uses a spear with a blood red head?”

  Her eyes widened. “In fact, she does! How did you know that?”

  Wow, small world. “I believe you are talking about her mother,” I grinned.

  Belrothe looked startled. “I was told Renalla had only one child, a girl, and she disappeared years ago; everyone assumes she’s dead. Of course, the same source also said the child was insane...” Her voice trailed off warily as she turned her attention back to Maya as we watched for the last vampire to go down.