Avalyne Series 02: The Easterling

by Linda Thackeray

  He could feel them closing in even if he did not see them. Aeron felt his blood chill and he drew his sword even as he supported Melia's frame around his shoulder.

  She saw him unsheathing his weapon and her eyes filled with sorrow at knowing that tonight, it could end here for them both.

  ‘Prince,’ she said softly, ‘leave me.’

  ‘No,’ Aeron retorted, barely hearing her because he was anticipating some nonsense like this in the growing urgency of their situation.

  ‘You must or you will die here with me,’ she implored.

  ‘Melia,’ he paused long enough to look her in the eyes and say firmly. ‘Do not tax my patience on this matter. I will not leave you. Clear that thought out of your mind this instant. It only wastes your energy.’

  ‘Why do you have to be so stubborn?’ She grumbled in exasperation. ‘I do not wish you to die.’

  ‘And you think that my leaving you here to face those goblins will not kill me? Were I actually cowardly enough to do that, I would take my own life in shame.’

  ‘It is not cowardly to save oneself,’ Melia retorted. ‘Why must you be so difficult?’

  ‘Because I love you and like your entire race, your efforts to be noble are usually half thought and made when high on emotion,’ Aeron replied, not really paying attention to her because the tree line was breaking apart for the embankment and the river beyond.

  ‘If it were not my life you were trying to save, I would take offence at that,’ Melia frowned.

  ‘You do not mean it,’ he remarked as his eyes searched the woods around him and found the shadows were too long for his liking. ‘You love me too much.’

  ‘Well,’ Melia glared at him through narrowed eyes. ‘You have me at a disadvantage though I might ask you to remind me why that is again.’

  Aeron did not answer because the shadows began to move as he expected and the brief interlude withered away like ice in the sunlight. The goblins emerged, springing their ambush because the creatures knew that the river was their only means of escape.

  Melia closed her eyes as she saw their numbers, too many to count and knew that there was no way either of them would survive the united assault of the forces rallied against them. The goblins sneered in triumph, their jagged and rotting teeth bared in expressions of exultant victory and menace as they closed in on the two. She released her hold on Aeron, putting her weight on her injured leg for it did not seem to matter any more. Taking his dagger as he held up his sword, Melia held her ground next to her Prince.

  ‘I love you Prince,’ she whispered softly. ‘They will not take us easily.’

  Aeron met her eyes and tried to hide his grief and failed. ‘You were worth every moment Melia. I love you.’

  And that was all that they were allowed as they faced the enemy once more, preparing to fight to the death.

  The goblins moved in for the kill cautiously because an elf was nothing to be underestimated even if they surrounded him in the dozens.

  Aeron raised his weapon, preparing to kill the first goblin that came upon them when suddenly, a bright and powerful light flooded the clearing in which they were about to do battle. Its intensity was so strong that even the Prince and his lady, accustomed to daylight flinched at its radiance. The effect upon the goblins was far more acute and the creatures screeched collectively in pain as the glare flooded their sensitive eyes.

  An orb that looked like a small sun floated above their heads.

  As stunned as he was by what he was seeing, the elf recognised salvation when it was upon him. Sheathing his sword, he wasted no time sweeping Melia into his arms before running towards the river, past the goblins that were trying desperately to shield their eyes from the overpowering light. Some had started to scatter as their skin began to sizzle under the brightness of it.

  Aeron saw none of this retreat because he was running through the forest like a stag running from a hunter. It was with a sense of irony that Aeron understood that the analogy was not so dissimilar considering what would have been their fate if the enemy had caught them. He let out a gasp of breath as they passed through thinning forest and returned to the edge of the Yasnil.

  Aeron's chest was pounding as he finally came to a pause and dropped to his knees, Melia still in his grasp. Only when he took a moment to catch his breath did he notice the wet streaks across her cheeks, the tears that had come because his exertion had brought the pain in her leg to almost searing intensity and yet she had forced herself to remain silent. When he put her down, she lay flat on her back, her was body shaking from the opportunity at last to rest.

  ‘Take this thing out of me!’ She demanded, glaring at the arrow.

  ‘Aye,’ he nodded and cast a final gaze at the wood and knew that they had a short time to do this. He did not know for how long the goblins would be frightened away but he intended to take advantage of the time they had while they possessed it. Dropping down next to her, Aeron tore away the fabric of her breeches surrounding the shaft of the arrow. His stomach hollowed at the sight of the discoloured skin and the blood soaked material.

  ‘What happened back there?’ Melia asked as she looked away from what he was doing, trying to occupy her mind with something other than the impending pain she would soon be forced to endure.

  ‘I do not know,’ Aeron answered honestly. ‘If I did not know better, I would say that we were given a reprieve by a wizard.’

  ‘Then you would be right,’ a male voice suddenly spoke, emerging from the bushes and Aeron fairly jumped to his feet to meet the new arrival with his sword.

  However, he found himself facing a friendly face.

  ‘Tamsyn!’ Aeron gasped, his jaw dropped at the sight of the Mage. Only a wizard could have approached him so unexpectedly. ‘What are you doing here?’

  For a moment Aeron thought his eyes were deceiving him and the presence of his friend was a delusion conjured up by the mind in the last moments of life that he and Melia were sharing together. However, as the Mage approached, his black cloak draped over his dark red shirt, leather jerkins and breeches, Aeron knew it to be no else. In his hand was his staff of polished dark wood that ended with a crescent shaped carving on the tip. Tamsyn was covered in the dust of being in the wilderness for quite some time and when he greeted Aeron with a warm embrace, Aeron knew that this was no illusion.

  ‘This is the last place I expected to find a familiar face,’ Tamsyn declared, his pleasure at seeing them obvious but his surprise even more so. ‘What are you doing here Aeron and...’ he paused and glanced at the watch guard, ‘Melia, wasn't it?’ He asked her.

  ‘More or less,’ she nodded and offered him a small wave of greeting.

  ‘Your help could not be better timed Tamsyn,’ Aeron declared. ‘I thought we were doomed.’

  ‘Yes I did happen to hear that rather touching moment,’ Tamsyn remarked with a little smile, having seen something of the attraction between the two when they had departed the Frozen Mountains together and was not at all surprised to see it had deepened since. ‘But let us talk about how we have arrived in this place later,’ the Mage stated as his eyes fixed on the arrow in Melia's leg. ‘The young lady is hurt and we need to tend to her.’

  Aeron turned back to Melia, admonished that he had forgotten in his relief to see Tamsyn. ‘I was about to remove the arrow. I fear that it might be poisoned tipped.’

  ‘Poison tipped?’ Melia stared at him wide eyes. ‘What do you mean poisoned tipped?’ She shot a look Tamsyn before she looked down at her leg again, slightly panicked. She was accustomed to dealing with Berserkers. Goblins did not travel far enough west for her to encounter them at the Baffin.

  ‘I did not want to worry you,’ Aeron admitted as he dropped to his knees next to her again with Tamsyn also doing the same.

  ‘It would worry more if I was dead Prince,’ she grumbled, hissing when Tamsyn made a quick examination of the wound.

  ‘We had enough to worry about with the goblins,’ Aeron returned as she
clutched his hand when Tamsyn touched the arrow shaft and the slight movement sent fresh sliver of pain running up her leg to the rest of her. ‘I wanted to spare you.’

  ‘Stop trying to shield me from everything,’ Melia countered, ‘I think you know by now that I can handle most things.’

  ‘I am sorry to have missed the wedding,’ Tamsyn commented with a bemused smile as he listened to the two argue over him.

  ‘As always your wit is singular,’ Aeron retorted giving Tamsyn a look. However, he did feel compelled to clarify the nature of their relationship. ‘But we are together.’

  ‘I stand corrected,’ the Mage said dryly as he concluded the examination of Melia's wound and reached for a pouch on his belt. ‘Your arguing has the strong stench of matrimonial bliss about it.’

  ‘No,’ Melia protested with another hiss of pain escaping her when Tamsyn pressed some herbs from the pouch against the raw wound. There was a momentary stinging that burned intensely for a few seconds and then subsided to a strange numbing sensation. ‘This is how we always speak to each other.’

  ‘Then it must be an interesting relationship,’ Tamsyn raised his eyes to hers and smiled.

  ‘You have no idea,’ Aeron replied as he scanned the area around the river to ensure that the goblins did not return while Tamsyn was performing his healing magic. ‘We thought you were travelling to gather acolytes for the Order. You have not been seen in Carleon for many months.’

  ‘I was,’ Tamsyn answered, his concentration still on his patient as he spoke, ‘I encountered some goblins and during our battle I learned that there was a wizard reputed to live in the Gahara. I came to seek him out.’ Tamsyn answered before adding, ‘This arrow must come out now. The poison is spreading and will kill her if I do not remove it.’

  Aeron nodded in understanding, having reached the same conclusion before Tamsyn had happened upon them earlier. He had only to look at Melia to know that time was running out for her. There was a fine sheen of moisture on her skin and her pallor had lost its richness, fading into a growing shade of grey that caused alarm as soon as he noticed it. She was ill and growing worse so by the minute. Melia was bravely trying to hide how much affected she was but she was faltering and they both knew it.

  Aeron wrapped her shoulder with his free arm to brace her for what was coming. ‘Melia,’ he said tenderly, staring into her face, ‘this will hurt.’

  ‘I know,’ she replied and maintained her grip of his hand, trying to draw the strength he was offering her so readily. ‘Do what you must. Remove this accursed thing,’ she insisted.

  Aeron shifted his eyes back to Tamsyn and gave him permission to continue. The wizard said little, resting his hands on the shaft of the arrow, securing his hold. The world seemed to drain into that one moment, when Aeron waited for the arrow to be freed from Melia's body. He held his breath, trying to brace himself the same way she was preparing to endure the agonising pain that came with it. He had been on the battlefield and seen the most hardened warrior's succumb to the agony of such extractions.

  Then without further delay, the wizard yanked the arrow out of Melia's leg.

  The scream that ripped through the air came easily from one who was so accustomed to hiding every weakness. Aeron flinched at hearing that cry of pain. Her fingers dug into his hand with such force, it nearly drew blood. Tears ran down her cheeks as she bit down hard, dizzy from the intensity of it. When it was over, Melia slumped weakly against Aeron when the ordeal sent her into a merciful faint.

  ‘Melia!’ Aeron cried as he caught her.

  ‘She will be fine,’ Tamsyn assured him sympathetically. ‘It is best that she sleeps for awhile.’

  Tamsyn briefly regarded the bloody arrow in his hand, before tossing it away in disgust. While Melia remained unconscious, he proceeded to treat the injury by applying a fine powder to the raw wound to counter the poison in her body. Once that immediate action was completed, he turned to Aeron once more.

  ‘Come my friend,’ Tamsyn said getting to his feet. ‘Let us get to safer ground before the goblins return in greater numbers. I have only frightened them, they will return soon enough.’

  Aeron could well believe it and the scent of Melia’s blood would draw them to her like flies to a bloated carcass.

  Once they were ready to leave, Tamsyn led Aeron further along upriver with the trees flanking them as they moved to higher ground. The embankment was obstructed by large boulders the higher up they went but Aeron was just grateful that they were no longer pursued by the goblins. Despite Tamsyn’s claims of reinforcements, the elf knew that the goblins were reluctant to confront a mage of Enphilim.

  They walked for a good hour until his limbs grew weary from carrying her weight though he did not mind at all. At some point, her faint became sleep and Aeron saw no reason to wake her since she would be spared the pain of her injury when she was unconscious. She slept peacefully, with her head nestled against his shoulder and he marvelled at how childlike these mortals were when they were quiet like this. Sleeping, he could see the person she was without any of the reservations that made her so guarded. He wanted to spend every morning for the rest of her life, waking up her face.

  ‘I never thought I would see you look at a mortal that way,’ Tamsyn teased gently when he caught the Prince studying the sleeping woman in his arms.

  While there was no derision in Tamsyn’s gaze, Aeron felt embarrassed at being caught indulging in such personal moment when they were still in dangerous territory. He was a Prince of Eden Halas, taught all his life to hide his emotions and always project an image of control and command. Even if he would never be King, Halion had demanded that his sons carry themselves with the dignity of royal personage. With the Circle, Aeron had learnt to be himself but he was always at the heart of him, someone who kept his feelings and his counsel to himself.

  ‘She is the woman I love,’ he muttered in response. ‘It matters not that she is human.’

  ‘Then you will live a good life together for however long it lasts,’ Tamsyn replied and then winced inwardly because it sounded like a taunt instead of a blessing.

  ‘I am aware of that,’ Aeron snapped, wondering if everyone had an opinion on how impossible their relationship would be. ‘I have been told that a number of times already.’

  ‘And you chose not to heed their advice?’ Tamsyn replied with some surprise knowing how Halion would have reacted to such news.

  ‘How can I?’ Aeron retorted with some measure of irritation. ‘I love her. You know how it is with elves.’

  Tamsyn knew perfectly well how it was and thought immediately of the murky history between him and Arianne’s mother. Of course, he had taken the coward’s way out while Aeron was risking everything for the woman he loved. Tamsyn admired him for that.

  ‘I do not mean to insult you Aeron,’ Tamsyn said kindly, seeing now the distress in Aeron’s face, the pain he felt because he knew that someday he would lose Melia. ‘I was merely surprised. Your father cannot have been happy with this.’

  ‘He was not,’ Aeron admitted. ‘He tried to tell me that I bring unnecessary pain upon myself.’

  ‘I suppose he would know,’ Tamsyn shrugged.

  ‘What?’ Aeron started at the Mage in question. ‘How would he know?’

  Tamsyn cursed inwardly, not intending to blurt out Halion’s secret though he was rather surprise the Prince did not know. It was not a secret but then supposed there were very few elves left who still remembered the Primordial Wars. ‘Forgive me Aeron, it is not my tale to tell.’

  ‘I think it is a little too late for that,’ Aeron insisted, intrigued that he and his father might have some common ground. ‘Tell me, please.’

  Tamsyn frowned and hoped this revelation did not do more harm than good. ‘Your mother is not your father’s first wife. Before he came to Halas from the north, Halion was married to an elf maid of Sanhael.’

  Aeron stared at Tamsyn in shock.

  Suddenly, everything he had observed
about his parents made perfect sense in light of this one piece of information. Like the pieces of a jigsaw, Aeron saw the whole picture at last and it explained much about his parents. Knowing his father had a mate before Syanne explained the distance he had seen between them all his life. That Halion was not bonded to his mother, Aeron already knew but now he understood why that. Although why his mother would chose to be bonded with someone who else was puzzling.

  ‘Why would my mother marry him then?’ Aeron had to ask. To Halion it would make no difference but if his mother was not bonded, she could have been with someone else. She could have been happy. However, he also remembered what Halion had said to him when they argued about Melia, that there was some arrangement that Syanne was meant to understand.

  ‘You must understand what it was like after the end of the Primordial Wars,’ Tamsyn explained. ‘The elves were scattered, so many had died and the land was scarred. Your mother was alone. Like Halion, all her family was killed in the war. The match might have suited her and it was a chance to leave that world behind to start something new with Halion. Perhaps she thought her love would be enough.’

  It was not, Aeron thought bitterly. He had seen it all his life. ‘I know what I face by loving Melia Tamsyn, I am willing to pay the price for a lifetime with her.’

  ‘Then I wish you both the best,’ Tamsyn said sincerely though he did not envy the elf’s fate once time had its way with the couple.

  Chapter Fifteen:

  Revelation

  Melia woke with a sudden start.

  As a watch guard, she was accustomed to sleeping lightly and being aware of her surroundings at all times. To open her eyes and find herself in a place she did not recognise immediately sent fear though her heart. Her first impulse was to seek out her weapon but when she clutched the space beside her, she found that it was gone and then realised she did not remember where she had put it because she had passed out. Attempting to stand, the pain that coursed through her at the slightest movement put paid to that notion. A groan of pain slipped past her lips and a sobering effect on her state of mind.