Sorcery, Schemes and Skelt: The Kinowenn Chronicles Vol II
Page 11
“Now that’s a sentiment I can relate to,” laughed Gavin with feeling. He was glad Lucy took his comment good naturedly.
The rest of the group slid off their horses and readied their weapons. The Skelt paused momentarily put off guard. They were used to the occasional small, easily captured group of stupid traders or musicians. They were not used to people laughing at being outnumbered and drawing weapons. The Skelt looked at each other as if reassessing the situation. In unspoken agreement the Skelt crouched to attack. Verbal negotiations, threats, and chances to surrender were over.
The first Skelt sprang forward and dropped from one of Joss’s arrows. Lucy saw Joss loose two more arrows before being attacked herself. She swung her staff with feeling and skill. She dropped the first one quickly, ducked, spun, and struck a second. She hit hard, not holding anything back. It felt good to fight and feel like it was a fair fight. Maybe that’s what her problem was. It didn’t feel fair to throw fireballs from a distance despite the end result being the same. The number of people she could kill at one time, with a staff, was significantly lower. Lucy stopped analyzing and enjoyed the feel of losing herself in a good physical fight. She continued to swing her staff, block attacks, attack, and spin her body until she was panting for breath. She stopped moving and noticed that no Skelt were left standing to face.
Gavin looked pleased and unhurt. Joss walked around collecting his arrows. No one seemed injured. Justin looked at Lucy, lifted two fingers, and motioned to the nearest body. She nodded. She knelt next to a dead Skelt and slowly pushed him into the ground. She was only partially surprised to find that although she was physically tired, her magic felt fresh and ready to be used. She moved from Skelt to Skelt putting them in the earth. By the time she was done, she was both physically and magically exhausted. While she and Justin had been disposing of bodies, the rest of the group made camp. Lucy gratefully accepted some bread from Maya when she was done and a cup of hot tea.
“I thought you didn’t like camping near battle zones,” commented Lucy.
“Generally, I don’t,” replied Maya. “This feels different though. After you and Justin do that, it seems peaceful here. It feels different than seeing a mound of fresh earth and knowing there is a mass grave underneath,” Maya shrugged. “Maybe I’m not explaining it right. There’s no malice in the air. Does that make sense?”
“It does. I notice it too. When I’m returning them to the earth like that, there is a sense of completeness that I don’t feel from a grave. Sometimes it is hard to put feelings into words. Thanks for the tea.”
Maya smiled and took a sip from her own cup. “Feel better after beating some Skelt with your staff?”
“Funnily enough, I do,” said Lucy. “It felt more like a fair fight.”
“Careful with that thought,” warned Maya. “Fights are to be avoided or won. Fairness shouldn’t enter into it. Besides, in a fight, you use your assets. Magic is an asset for you.”
“It feels wrong sometimes though.”
“Gavin’s asset is his skill. Is there ever a fair fight for Gavin?”
“That’s different,” argued Lucy.
“Not as different as you’d like it to be. Do you feel better if he kills 10 while you kill 1 than if you kill 10 while he kills 1? Is it about numbers? You feel uncomfortable killing 100 while he kills 10?”
Lucy shrugged. She was unsure how to put what she felt into words. Maya seemed to have a point but Lucy felt there was something missing. Was it really the amount rather than the killing itself that bothered her? Did that make her more or less of a monster?
“If it’s a numbers thing, get over it,” said Maya without pity or compassion. “We might need you. You’d kill 1 person if he were a threat to us. Would you let us die rather than kill 1,000? Does it make a difference if that 1 person or the 1,ooo were wizards?”
With that, Maya left Lucy to think and went to check on the stew she was brewing for dinner. It seemed different coming from Maya than it would have coming from Gavin or Justin. It made her seem silly rather than weaker than Gavin. She didn’t have to dance over her kills, Gavin didn’t, but he didn’t shirk away from killing either. Lucy took another sip of tea, stared at the bark of a tree, and thought. She finished her tea, but reached no conclusions.
Despite the talents of the Gavin, Joss, Maya, Justin, and Lucy, the Skelt must have realized something was amiss. Lucy felt on edge. It was her turn to scan the surrounding areas for Skelt while Justin rested as they traveled. She was trying to sense what was going on around them, but Skelt kept appearing and disappearing. There were more groups than usual and they were too close for comfort.
“Justin?” Lucy asked.
“Hmmm?”
“The groups keep appearing and disappearing.”
“Yes, I thought we confirmed that already. What’s the problem?” Justin asked.
“I’m pretty sure we are surrounded, but at the same time I can’t be sure at all.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” replied Justin. “Let me check.”
He didn’t have to. At that moment, groups of three or four armed Skelt started appearing between the trees. Some hissed, and some smiled predatory smiles. Everywhere Lucy turned, there were more Skelt and more kept appearing. This group of Skelt was large enough to discourage a fight. Justin looked at Lucy. He could tell by her look of concern that she had been thinking about her conversation with Maya but hadn’t reached any conclusions. Gavin drew his sword.
“Purr, humans surrender,” said a calico colored Skelt. “Our queen wishes to talk to you. We will not kill you.”
Justin shook his head at Gavin and dropped his staff. Gavin frowned deeply in return, but dropped his sword. With Lucy in a state of confusion over using her magic as a weapon, there were too many Skelt to assure a positive outcome. One of them could get hurt or killed in the process. They had nowhere to run. Eventually, they would be found again. They had been learning a lot about Skelt, but not enough to fight and run. They still hadn’t learned anything about anderi. Perhaps they would find their answers with the queen. Even though it wasn’t a good idea, it was the safest option for now. They let themselves be taken captive by Skelt.
The most gratifying part of the experience was watching the Skelt’s eyes widen further each time they found more weapons as they searched Gavin. Even Lucy was amazed by the size of the pile of weapons they amassed, but she was more amused by their expressions than anything else. They were going to be taken to the main city. It was where they wanted to be to get the information they needed, but not how they wanted to get there. When Eric found out about this, he was not going to be happy. Lucy was sure escaping from the Skelt was going to be difficult, especially since the Skelt had left their horses in the clearing and were forcing them to walk. Lucy hoped Justin was working on a plan.
Chapter 16
While on their way to the main city, Lucy couldn’t stop staring at the Skelt. She hadn’t had much time to study them during battle and after, when she consigned them to the earth, she preferred to work with her eyes shut. Skelt were an odd mixture of human and cat. They were very graceful and agile. Their cat-like ears on top of their heads twitched. Lucy was fascinated by their tails. Their talking was soft and low. They used throat noises like purrs and growls amidst words. At the same time, there was something very creepy about them. Lucy didn’t like their eyes. There was something cold about them. Despite the fact that their eyes were definitely human, they seemed to look right through you.
The Skelt led them to a break in the trees. They were taken into a group of airy, open caves with many levels. Skelt were lounging on most of the over-hangs, looking more cat-like than when they walked. Occasionally, a Skelt would raise its head, look at them briefly, flick an ear or a tail, and dismiss them. This level of the cave, and the stone in it, felt warm due to the sun streaming in. Lucy was sure that farther in and lower down the caves were cool and damp. A few more twists and turns and they reached their destination. A taw
ny colored Skelt with white tufts at the end of her ears and tail lounged on a rock in the center of the cave. She was shorter than Lucy and covered in fur despite her human shape. She had an air of authority about her that made Lucy nervous. To be the agreed upon authority among cats must make her formidable indeed.
“Ahhh, purr, the group of magic users who invaded, purr,” she said. Her green eyes narrowed and her tail twitched.
“We are not invaders, simply travelers,” tried Justin. There was no harm in at least trying to talk their way out of this. Lucy didn’t think they would have much luck. She had tried reasoning with a friend’s cat once. Prior to the incident she had been a dog person open to the option of cats. After it, she was a loyal dog person through and through.
“Growl, nonsense! No one travels here. Purr, spies?” Her twitching tail seemed both curious and threatening at the same time.
“Purr, musicians, your catness,” said Maya, thinking fast. “I can sing and enjoy travel. I, purr, am always looking for new places to perform and new inspirations for songs. Few songs have been sung about Skelt. It seemed like a good place to look for new material that few others in the land have heard.”
“Purr, you do sing. I can hear it in your voice, purr. Did you ever think, purr, that perhaps few songs are sung of us because we did not wish it to be so? There are lies, purr, and desperation in your voice as well. Purr, these things I can tell. These others though, growl, they do not sing. They do magic,” her eyes narrowed again and her tail twitched ominously.
“My protection, your catness. Purr, the world is a dangerous place for one who sings. What better protection in some areas than magic? They mean you no ill intent,” said Maya. She was trying to be as truthful and as careful as she could. Obviously, this Skelt could sense the validity of their statements through voice. As much as that thought was disturbing, it interested her as well. She used her voice for many things, but she had never thought to try sensing things out of the voice of others. What else could a person sense through voice? What else could this Skelt sense?
“We do not trust outsiders,” her narrowed eyes became slits. “Purr, we like spies even less.”
“Let me sing for you one night and then we will leave you in peace,” said Maya.
“Purr, you will sing, purr, but we do not let outsiders leave. You will stay here. We will decide if you are stupid travelers, purr, who should never have come here, or stupider spies, purr, who we will play with, purr, and then kill at our pleasure.” She twitched her ears at their guards and they were led deeper into the cave system. Lower and darker, damper and colder, they traveled until they were thrown into a cell. The door slammed shut behind them with a reverberating clang and a large, metal key gratingly turned in a rusty lock.
“This is going good,” said Gavin sarcastically.
“Now what?” asked Joss.
“Let me think,” said Justin. “There has to be a solution that does not involve killing every Skelt here.”
“Oh good,” said Joss, “because they took our weapons and I’ve never cared to use my bare hands to kill.”
Justin was in a bad mood. They were a smart and very magically powerful group. Traveling into Skelt territory and gathering information seemed like an easy quest. Capture was always a worry, but he had counted on their abilities to avoid detection. Facing a wizard at the wrong end of a Skelt controlled anderi had been his worst fear. Finding out that the Skelt had natural passive magical ability was not good news. It was going to make escape far more difficult, and most likely more violent, than it would have needed to be otherwise. Finding that they had a formidable and competent leader, rather than smaller warring factions, was sobering as well. Unless this was a small faction, which Justin decided he’d rather not worry about at the moment.
The Skelt were more organized, centralized, and thus more dangerous than previously thought. Justin wondered why they continued to stay hidden in isolation. That wasn’t like the stories of Skelt which painted them as aggressive and warlike. Were they devising a larger plan? Many questions needed to be answered here and they were locked in a cell. Even if they managed to escape, they still hadn’t found out if the Skelt had anderi.
Lucy shuddered. They sat on the cold hard stone of the cave floor in the semi darkness, thinking. Lucy was sure that whatever they did at this point would involve magic. How much? How many would they kill in the process? Obviously, turning invisible and sneaking out wouldn’t work. The Skelt could see through invisibility spells. Perhaps they could make themselves look like Skelt. Why hadn’t they thought of that earlier? It could have gotten them much closer without getting captured. Being able to do almost anything with magic was only useful if you thought up the right thing to do at the right time. She wondered if things would always be this way. Thinking up the right answer after the wrong answer had gotten them into a potentially dangerous mess. Well, they had time to think now. They had time to work out a good way to use magic to escape. It would be useful to know how much, and what kind of magic, the Skelt could sense. Even if they disguised themselves as Skelt, would the Skelt sense it was a disguise?
Their thoughts were interrupted by a digging noise in the corner of the room. What digs through solid rock? They looked at each other, then back to the corner, and waited. Before too long, the dirtiest man they had ever seen appeared. He was also the smallest man they had ever seen. He was no more than twelve inches tall, with a dirty red hat perched on his long matted brown hair. His beard was tucked into the belt that held up his dust covered blue pants. Lucy wasn’t sure what color his shirt was supposed to be, it was too dirty to tell. Despite his stature and obviously filthy appearance, he regarded them gravely for a minute. In his mind, he was in control of the situation.
“Beware the Garden Gnome Apocalypse,” he declared ominously.
They stared at him and he stared at them. Neither knew what to make of the other. Then, Gavin burst out laughing. He couldn’t help himself. The whole situation was so ridiculous.
“Seriously?” asked Gavin. “The Garden Gnome Apocalypse?” he started laughing so hard, he couldn’t talk anymore. Lucy wondered if he was able to breathe. She had never seen anyone laugh so hard.
The Gnome looked baffled and slightly offended by Gavin’s reaction.
“We don’t mean to be rude,” said Justin, kindly, trying not to laugh, “but we are being held captive by sadistic Skelt. A Garden Gnome Apocalypse is not high on our list of worries. In fact, it might be a welcome distraction. We’re willing to join if it will get us out of here.”
“Did you say Skelt?” the Gnome looked warily around him growing more nervous and agitated by the second.
“Yes,” said Justin. He gestured at the walls of the cave around them and then pointed at the cell door. “This is a Skelt prison.”
“Oh dear,” the Gnome squeaked. “I think I took a wrong turn somewhere. We have no dealings with Skelt. Good luck. Goodbye.”
With that, he jumped head first back into the hole he had climbed out of. He back-dug his hole as he went and soon there was no sign he had ever been there. They looked at each other with a mixture of amusement and confusion on their faces. Gavin was still chuckling.
“Well, we know he had to come from somewhere. Perhaps we could dig our way out,” Joss suggested.
“Even if we ran into a whole bunch of them,” said Gavin in-between fits of laughter, “being held captive by garden Gnomes with apocalyptic intent has got to be better than being held captive by Skelt. Imagine reporting to the ever serious Eric that we were held captive by garden Gnomes.”
“My father wouldn’t believe me and my brothers would never let me live it down,” added Joss, choosing to participate in Gavin’s amusement.
“You’ll never find a wife with that blemish on your past,” teased Maya.
“Good point. My future alone is assured. Let’s catch that little bugger and join his cause. I have no life to live for outside the ranks of the Garden Gnome Apocalypse.”
“Purr, that is the she I want. She, purr, should work well and be malleable.”
“What makes you so sure I’ll do anything you want me to do?” asked Lucy suspiciously as the guards came in and held her arms.
“I have your he, purr. I see much that humans think is hidden. You might hold up under torture, but could you hold out while I torture him? Purr, I think you are not made of that kind of strength. Purr, you will do what I want,” she said confidently.
The guards led Lucy away. Justin moved to grab her, but was kicked in the stomach. He sat on the floor catching his breath. Lucy gave a terrified look over her shoulder as the door clanged shut on her friends. The leader had a point. Lucy was not afraid of them threatening her, but if they tortured Justin in front of her, she would probably do almost anything to get them to stop.
“What are they going to do with her?” whispered Joss.
“If they have anderi, we are all in big trouble,” said Maya.
“If they can get a bracelet on Lucy and use her power, they could do almost anything they could think up and then some. This is very bad,” said Justin running his fingers through his hair.
“Worse than the Garden Gnome Apocalypse?” asked Gavin laughing, tying to lighten the mood. “Sorry,” he mumbled when everyone glared at him.
“World domination is not out of the question,” said Justin in complete seriousness.