by John Olsen
The staff caught Gavin square on the back as he dove forward with his small blade, aiming for the man on the ground. The force of the impact knocked him on top of the prone man blade first, with the hilt against Gavin’s belly. The tip of his short blade caught on the man’s leather breastplate, but it was too thick to pierce easily. His opponent crashed onto him and grabbed Gavin's arms. The hilt punched into Gavin’s gut and forced the blade through the prone man’s chest and into the ground. The impact drove the air from Gavin’s lungs like a powerful sucker punch to the stomach.
He tried to breathe, but failed as the thug rolled Gavin onto his back. The man gawked at his partner pinned through with Gavin’s blade and said, “Oh, splinters.” He jumped up and fled along the trail. After only ten steps, a large bear emerged from the brush and hit the man at a dead run. The thug tumbled like a rag doll and lay sprawled on the ground, shaking his head. The animal was no longer under control and sensed the death of its master. Rage and confusion drove it now.
Gavin gasped a tiny breath and tried to pull his blade free, but it was stuck fast. The crystal around the dead man’s neck caught his eye. He pulled it off and dropped it around his neck. Such powerful crystals were usually only available to nobles. How this pair of thugs had such an expensive thing mystified him.
It could take hours to build a bond to bring such a large wild animal under control through the matching crystal fastened around the bear’s neck. Gavin dragged himself into the brush beside the trail to hide. He hoped the bear would be satisfied with the thug while Gavin recovered.
Gavin wanted to get away as fast as he could, but he knew enough to not run away from a predator. Only food runs away from bears. The beast had his prey, but Gavin didn’t want to gain its attention. He hunkered down in the brush to wait.
Unwilling to watch the one-sided fight, Gavin turned away as the beast took to its grisly task with claws and teeth amid a series of screams that soon gave way to silence pierced only by the occasional crunching noise. Its rage temporarily blunted after mangling the thug, the bear seemed content to feast.
The crystal warmed against his chest. The control link between Gavin and the bear was a thread of spider silk, too tenuous to grasp. He wouldn’t be able to achieve a full trance for hours. He couldn’t even discourage it from attacking before then. Eventually, it would be a mental window, ready for him to throw open and reach in to control the body of the bear. For now, he crouched in the bushes with no weapon, a dry mouth, and lungs only able to pull in one shallow gasp at a time.
When the noises stopped, Gavin peeked out across the scene of the attack. The bear and the thug were both gone. A crimson trail was the only sign of where the bear dragged the remains for a future meal. He decided it was safe enough and crept from his hiding place.
Although it sickened him to do so, Gavin levered the blade back and forth to free it from the dead man’s sternum. He choked back the urge to vomit as the blade came free with a gurgle of dark blood. He forced himself to inspect the body for anything that might tell him why they had attacked him.
The dead man had dirty blond hair, and his light complexion pegged him as from the Graven Kingdom, which matched the accent Gavin had heard. The man had set a small camping pack beside the trail. It contained a bedroll, a water skin, and some dried fruits and meats, nothing to tell Gavin who the man was or why he was there.
The dead man’s armor was leather, but not quite as well used as his companion’s. It was small enough to fit Gavin’s light frame, although it needed a good washing. Leather armor would be useful if there were more attacks. A world of trouble would land on him from both Master Draken and his father for having left so unprepared, but he hadn’t thought the trip would be dangerous. He’d come to visit Tover Tanner and the twins without incident for over ten years, and had traveled alone for the last four.
His hands shook as he unfastened the armor and hauled it downhill to a small stream where he rinsed off most of the blood. The bedroll worked as a towel to dry the armor enough to wear. The wet leather was slimy, cold, and stained red in splotches, but at least it would dry in the right shape as he walked. He adjusted the straps to fit, and then repacked the man’s camp kit. He saw the bigger thug’s pack on the ground and picked it up as well. He used the fighting staff across his shoulders like a peasant’s yoke to hold the gear on both sides. Thankfully, he didn’t have far to go with the additional burden.
Saleena watched over the pasture through the cattle’s eyes, basking in their contentment, as she controlled them through the crystals around her neck. The cut crystals her brother, Ned, had made for her were illegal. She felt a small thrill of excitement at doing something the law would punish, but she also knew how useful the crystals were to train and protect the herd. The baron’s herd.
The Accords were simple, as agreed to by the six Crystal Kings. First, kings and barons were the only ones who could authorize the use of crystals. During times of war, kings allowed the army to access crystals, but normally they were limited to noble families. Second, crystals were to be used only one at a time. Third, they were to never be used to control another human. The reasons behind the Accords were debated endlessly, but the rules themselves had remained constant through generations, with deviations stamped out ruthlessly by all six kingdoms.
In their far-off corner of the world, who would notice?
Her father had built his children’s curiosity with tales of warfare and conquest achieved with the animals he controlled in the battles of the last war. His tales of the pooka marks on crystals were always her favorite, how in the ancient days it was said the pookas had given the patterns to the Crystal Kings. Some said it was a gift meant to curry favor. Others said it was the result of a treaty to prevent war, while yet others said the patterns were captured in a daring raid into a dark underground lair.
Most didn’t believe any of the stories and chalked the crystals up to the cleverness of men in ages past. It was clear from the range of stories; nobody knew for sure where they had come from, or when the first crystals had fallen into the hands of men. Like the folklore of gods, demons, and sea monsters, very few adults believed the fantastical stories of cave-dwelling creatures.
Saleena had never expected it to work when Ned began experimenting with cutting, polishing, and engraving the rough crystals dug from above the pasture, but she was happy to continue their forbidden experiment after the first success.
She directed the cattle to areas where the grass was longer and less trampled to keep the pasture healthy, and scanned the field with thirty sets of eyes. All those eyes had driven her to distraction when she’d first connected to several cows at once. Her training had challenged her in several ways, but she’d worked her way through it, and could now watch the entire pasture as if it were a single image in her mind.
Unexpected motion near the valley’s entrance caught the attention of the herd, and Saleena’s multi-eyed gaze swung around for a closer look as the cattle’s curiosity pushed lightly against her control.
Was a predator on the loose again?
No, it was just Gavin, two days early. She shut off her connection to the cattle and sat up with a dizzy rush, disoriented and shaky from exiting the trance.
Early? This was bad. They’d hidden their use of the crystals for years. Not even her best friend, Gavin, knew they controlled the animals with crystals in the pasture each summer.
She stood as he tromped across the field to meet her. He was sweaty, carried three packs, and wore a damp leather breastplate with nasty reddish-brown stains. Concern for his safety replaced her concerns over getting caught.
“Gavin, what happened? Are you hurt?” Maybe he hadn’t noticed the cattle and the crystals around their necks. Twenty master-crystals hung around her neck, but wrapped inside a scarf over her frilly red blouse. She wore leather breeches up in the pasture for practical reasons, but she wore the blouse because it was her favorite.
He breathed hard from his hike and moved w
ith a slight limp. “I’m alright. Two men attacked me.” He paused and swallowed hard. “There was a bear, too.”
Gavin looked across the field, then at Saleena. “Please tell me you don’t have all these animals crystal-trained.”
So, he had noticed after all.
“You know the laws, and how the baron feels. You could be sent to the mines or be banished.”
She stuck her chin out in a defiant pout and glared at him. She held a hand up to feel the knuckle-sized crystals on their cord around her neck. “You’re early. If you’d been on time, you wouldn’t have seen anything at all, just like for the last three years.”
“You’ve hidden this from me for three years? I don’t like having to lie to my father, even for you.” Gavin pushed his sweat-matted hair out of his eyes, a clear sign he was upset. She’d seen him do it often enough. “This will have to wait. I need to talk to your father and Ned. Some armed men were waiting for me an hour down the canyon. It’s not safe here.”
“Da’s back at the house. Ned’s hunting for mushrooms and cattails farther down the canyon. Ned’s down there!” She turned and ran to the cabin yelling for her father. Gavin dropped his extra packs and followed, arriving just after Da came through the doorway.
Her father was a tall, strong man, and loved to share his soldier stories with them around the hearth at night. He’d told them how he traded soldiering for family life, took a wife, and became the baron’s cattleman. He stuck with the cattle even after his wife vanished when Saleena and Ned were five years old. He didn’t like to talk about that part but never blamed their mother for anything.
“What’s all the ruckus, girl? You know the cattle don’t like the noise.”
“Da, Gavin was attacked by some men down the canyon. Ned’s down there by himself. We need to go get him.”
Her father gave her a stern glare. “You speak with respect and call the baron’s son ‘sir,’ missy. I don’t care how long you’ve known him. Now, let’s see where Ned is.” Da put his fingers to his lips and let out a piercing whistle. No answer came back.
Gavin said, “I don’t know if there are more men out there in the woods. The two men I saw are both dead now. I hope they were alone, but I don’t know for sure.”
Da reached inside the doorway and pulled his longbow down from a hook. He nodded back toward the side of the house. “Runner’s napping out back. Take him to search for Ned down the canyon.” He gave Saleena a look loaded with meaning. Da intended to use Runner, the family’s herding hound, to go along with her and Gavin.
Da looked back to Gavin and hooked the bow behind his leg to string it. “I’ll keep an eye on things here to keep the herd safe, good sir.” He’d grabbed his bow, but not his quiver of arrows. Sometimes he was forgetful like that. The bow was just for show, for Gavin to see.
Gavin rolled his eyes, and addressed Da like a displeased schoolmaster. “Tover, you have a crystal on the dog, too, don’t you? You’re going to be the death of me.” He threw his hands in the air. “You stay in the cabin while you control Runner to come along with us, then. We’ll work out this mess with the crystals later.”
Da grinned. “Will do, good sir.” He stepped back inside and shut the door. A thick bar clunked into place to lock the door. Da knew enough to stay safe while he controlled the dog. Saleena had heard all about staying safe in his stories. Without protection, you were the weak link in the chain.
Runner trotted around the corner and stopped in front of them, wagged his tail, then headed down the trail, sniffing the ground. Da knew how to use Runner’s acute senses to good advantage, and could track just about anything. She’d given up trying to hide anything from Da as soon as Runner wore a crystal.
“Hold up a second. Saleena, there’s a spare blade down there with those two packs if you want it. You held your own with the practice sticks when we were little. You might even be better with it than me.” Gavin rubbed the middle finger of his right hand. “Remember when you broke my finger with a practice sword?”
Despite the stress of their impromptu search party, she smiled at the memory, and how she’d managed a lucky hit against him. He didn’t give himself the credit he deserved. She poked the hole in his stained armor. “But who is it that killed two bandits on his own without a scratch? You’ll never convince me you don’t know which end of a sword is dangerous. Let’s get moving. Ned’s out there.”
Runner bayed and held his position until she retrieved the blade, and they hurried back to him. The dog pointed down the trail like a hunting dog would, even though he was bred for cattle herding. Da was good at giving signals through the dog.
Movement caught her eye at the tree line. For an instant, Saleena thought it might be Ned returning, but instead, a creature lumbered from among the trees, and she screamed, “Bear!”
It tromped into the clearing near the main trail, a good distance from them, and scanned the area, possibly drawn out by the sound of Runner’s barking.
Gavin said, “I have its crystal, but I can’t control it yet. Run to the cabin. Go!”
A lot of good it would do him if she ran. Was he going to pull some noble sacrifice and let the bear kill him so she could run away? She had a better idea. She dropped to the ground and entered a trance to control the cattle. Immediately, Saleena saw the whole pasture again in her mind. Runner howled. He’d seen her lie down, and would never leave her unprotected. She might not need their protection if this worked out as she had practiced.
Gavin said, “What’s she doing? Oh, great. Now, neither of you can talk to me.”
The bear looked at Gavin and Runner as they guarded Saleena. Then it glanced at the cattle. Saleena examined everyone’s position. This might work.
The bear turned from the cattle and trotted in Gavin’s direction. It raised its head to sniff the air and slowed as it approached, wary of Runner’s growl.
She launched the first wave.
The ground rumbled as more and more of her cattle broke into a carefully timed run. Gavin watched the bear and held his useless short blade out.
The cattle converged from behind the bear first, each coming from what looked like a random direction. They ran past in rapid succession. First, she stomped the bear with a hoof, then gored with a horn. Some of the cattle were better at kicking or biting, so she used what they were each best at, encouraging them to attack however they preferred. The herd was an extension of her, a body made of many parts. It was a dance, and she was their choreographer. They each attacked the target at full speed, never bumping into each other, never hesitating as she interwove their movements.
The bear swiped at one of them, but missed as she hit it from behind to keep it off-balance. The cattle looped around and continued their attack in a constant stream. She wondered why her father’s stories never included anything like this, but all he’d said was that it was forbidden to control more than one animal in the Accords.
The bear let out a grunt and turned to face her cattle as they ran past, but it was only able to catch one with a claw. She felt a shock of pain on the flank of the bear’s victim but nothing felt broken. She continued her careful stampede, with all its energy focused on the bear.
A minute later the bear collapsed with both of its rear legs broken and an untold number of puncture wounds and smaller injuries. Saleena continued the rain of hoofs and horns until the bear ceased moving, then trotted the cattle back to their pasture where she gathered them together into a defensive ring. They breathed hard and needed a rest.
Saleena pulled back from controlling the cattle and wavered to her feet, unstable from the transition. The disorientation and weakness were the same every time. She gave Gavin the look she used when she had won an argument. “That’s why we haven’t lost a calf to a predator in the past three years. I say it’s worth it, even if the king’s law says it’s wrong.” She turned to Runner, who was still controlled by her father. “I’ll clean and bandage the cow’s flank injury when we get back. It doesn’t look too bad.
She’s still moving around well, even though it hurts. Let’s go.”
Runner nodded and barked, then loped over to the trail where the bear had appeared.
Saleena pulled the crystal from the bear’s neck and looked it over. Da said large crystals cut by a master craftsman were worth years of common labor, yet the much simpler ones crafted by Ned worked well for the cows and Runner.
Ned got the polish right, but they had only a few of the markings that were on the bear’s crystal.
She handed it over to Gavin who pulled the one from his neck. He stored them both in a pouch.
Gavin said, “You’re going to have to tell me how you made those crystals.”
Saleena said, “After we find Ned. He can tell you. It took him a long time to figure out all the shortcuts on the pooka marks.”
Ned’s trail led down the path and off to the side of the spring near some cattail patches. Runner tracked his scent for the better part of an hour.
Gavin said, “This is close to where I saw the men. They were down there next to the trail.”
Runner growled and pointed with his nose. Gavin approached to look at the ground with him and said something under his breath.
Runner whined and glanced back at Saleena as she joined them. “Did you find something?”
Gavin continued his conversation with Runner. “There’s a chance he got away. He might have made it into a tree or a cave. Any number of things might have happened.” It had taken her a little time to get used to talking to Da through the dog, but Gavin had training and took to it quickly. It only took five minutes for them to come across the blood and drag marks, and a single shoe lying on the game trail. Saleena gasped, and ran along the trail where Ned had been dragged across the ground.
The bear had stored two bodies back against a small cliff, hidden away from easy view. The larger body belonged to Gavin’s thug, but the smaller body was Ned’s.
