by Tora Moon
Although Neydar, the second month of the year and spring, was half over and spring was warming to summer in the valleys of Strunland Territory, it would take longer for the deep snows of the mountains to melt. Rizelya had heard stories of places in the Deep Mountains where the snow never melted. She shivered. She didn’t mind the snow for the two lunadar of winter, Eyedar and Hondar. But by the end of Hondar, she was ready for the warmer weather Ahdar brought. She couldn’t imagine living in a place where winter never left.
“Hey, looks like we’ll find our way,” Aistrun said, echoing Rizelya’s thoughts. “Good to know. Come on, let’s go eat.” Aistrun took off ahead of her down the stairs.
The next day was bright and clear and they made good progress up the pass until afternoon. The snow became deeper and crusted over with ice. Their pace slowed to a crawl as the horses struggled through the snow. After Kymaya and Julay, Dehali’s mare, fell through a deep pile of snow, which necessitated over an octar of pulling to get them out, they decided to send Keandran ahead on the heavier Tejen to break a path for the rest of the horses. Eidstrun followed on, Luchen, who was nearly as big, helping to clear more of the path.
Keandran grumbled but took the lead. Rizelya suspected his grumbling was more out of habit. The past few days he hadn’t been as grumpy. She had even caught him feeding Tejen a carrot that morning, and Tejen certainly seemed happier with his rider.
It took them four days to climb the pass and begin the downward trek. On the afternoon of the fourth day, they stopped in a copse of trees to take a break. Rizelya wearily slid off her heavy winter cloak and stood in the center of the clearing where the sun seeped through the trees. The strange dreams had returned with a particularly nasty one the night before. She tilted her head back and basked in the weak warmth.
Eidstrun came up to stand beside her. “You know this warmer weather means we’ll have to watch for monsters.”
She nodded, not saying anything.
“So, do you want me to watch the cur and keep him from going into any swamps? Or can I just let him go?”
“Stop him if you can.”
Tejen screamed in warning, turning to face the trees. Rizelya whipped around, anxiously looking around the clearing, and swore. Her helbraught was on Kymaya’s saddle across the clearing where she couldn’t reach it.
Eidstrun sniffed, then yelled as he began to shift, “Monsters!”
Rizelya could now smell the stench. The trees trembled. Birds flew in panic. One wasn’t fast enough and a long tentacle snatched it out of the air. A herd of multas broke through the trees, their eyes wild in terror. They saw the horses and dashed toward them.
Rizelya couldn’t hear any humming. At least a control janack wasn’t heading their way.
Leistral raced toward her, Rizelya’s helbraught in her hands. “Here!” Leistral yelled as she tossed it.
Rizelya caught it and swung it in front of her. She glanced behind her to see the three men were in their warrior forms. Dehali was standing guard over the horses. As the herd of multas joined them, Rizelya sensed a shield of cold air go up around the animals protecting them from the janack’s heat sensors. Kressy’s eyes were wide in fright and she stuck close to Kymaya. Rizelya nodded to Leistral, and they sent flickers of flame low along the ground, stopping short of the trees.
Rizelya turned her attention back to the trees. “Here they come!” she yelled.
Two brechas burst through the trees, a janack close behind them. Rizelya and Leistral waited, when no more monsters careened into the clearing, they closed the ring. Flames shot high into the sky imprisoning the monsters. The janack clacked in anger and turned its attention on the two women. Two huge, furry bodies flung themselves at the brechas. Aistrun’s red-gold warrior form sprang into the air, covering the several yards’ distance, to land on the janack.
Time devolved into a tight focus of cut, slash, flare for Rizelya as she battled the janack with Aistrun and Leistral. There wasn’t a protrusion on this janack. No strange noises. No strange faces. Soon it trembled and crumpled into a heap, dead. Rizelya glanced up and saw both Eidstrun and Keandran breathing heavily over the dead brechas.
Rizelya snuffed the fire-ring. Dehali banished her cold-air shield. The three women started to burn the monster bodies and pieces. Rizelya was busy burning the janack when she heard Aistrun snarl. She looked up to see several strange warriors standing at the edge of the clearing.
A woman pushed her horse through the warriors and entered the clearing. She had short copper hair, brown eyes, and appeared to be in her mid-thirties. She surveyed the smoking piles of ash and smiled. “So did you get them all?”
“If there were only a janack and two brechas, we did,” Rizelya replied. She dug the staff end of her helbraught into the ground and leaned on it for support as exhaustion rolled over her. The fight, along with the sleepless nights, was catching up to her.
“Good. That was all that escaped us,” the woman said tersely.
“There was a strange janack with an unusual protrusion in the nest, wasn’t there? And you didn’t notice the missing ones until after you killed it, did you?”
“How did you know?” The woman glared at Rizelya in accusation.
Rizelya sighed. “I know because we’ve been fighting these things now for almost three chedan. We’ve seen them in Strunland and Strunell Territories and now here in Strunheim.” Rizelya noticed out of the corner of her eye the rest of her squad-pack closing ranks around her. The men were still in warrior form.
The woman relaxed and extended her right arm in greeting. “Sorry about that, we’ve not had escapees from a nest for a long time. I guess we’re a bit touchy. I’m Laynar.”
“I’m Rizelya de Strunland.” Rizelya gripped Laynar’s arm, then indicated the others behind her. “This is my squad-pack, Leistral and Dehali, Aistrun and Eidstrun, and Keandran ke Strunlair.”
After the introductions, Aistrun jerked his head to Eidstrun and Keandran and led them toward the far end of the glade to shift back. Dehali and Leistral walked to the center of the glade to gather the horses. One of Laynar’s men broke off and herded the multas together.
“Good thing you were here,” Laynar said as she and Rizelya crisscrossed the glade, making sure all the monster parts were burned. “We were having trouble catching up to those monsters. They were trickier and faster than usual.”
“You’ve been having trouble killing the control janack, the one with the protrusion, too, haven’t you?”
“Yeah, they’re awfully hard to kill. It takes an inordinate amount of time for the warrior’s venom to have any effect.”
“We can teach you how to kill them. We’ve found a method which works.”
“That’s good news,” Laynar said, relieved. “Can you show us?” She indicated with her head the men waiting at the edge of the copse.
Rizelya shook her head. “We need to speak to your Keep Alphas first. How far is it to Strunheim Keep?” They had covered the glade and fired a few missing pieces and were now at the horses.
“A couple of days.”
Rizelya groaned. She had thought they were closer to the keep.
“The safe house where we’ll stay the night isn’t far.” Laynar looked at the sky. “We need to hurry to get there before nightfall.”
In a matter of moments, the group left the clearing and was cantering along the trail. The fast pace left them with little time for talking. The last glimmer of light was fading when they reached the safe house. Rizelya nodded in thanks to Aistrun who had ridden next to her the last bit. Without him steadying her, she would have fallen off several times, she was so tired. She sat there for a long moment trying to find the energy to get out of the saddle.
“Here, let me help you.” Aistrun reached up and lifted her out of the saddle.
“I shouldn’t be this tired. We didn’t fight a control janack.” Rizelya was too tired to protest Aistrun carrying her.
“Hey, I know the dreams are troubling you so you ha
ven’t slept much. Just rest. Let me take care of things tonight.” He settled her on a cot, tucking the blanket around her shoulders.
“’Kay,” she mumbled. The warmth of the safe house enveloped her and she sighed and closed her eyes.
The next morning, Laynar waved Rizelya over to her table to eat breakfast with her.
“What’s so special about your new technique?” Laynar asked.
“We’ve added Yellows to our fighting-pack,” Rizelya said, pointing to Dehali at the next table, “and for good reason. They are integral to the new method.”
Laynar looked shocked and slightly scandalized. “You’re joking. She’s a Red.”
“She’s also a strong Yellow. You’ll see when we give a demonstration for your alphas.”
“Why not now?” Laynar demanded.
“We’re exhausted from going over the pass and I’d rather do it just once. If we come across a nest on the way to Strunheim Keep, let us take the control janack and then you’ll see it.”
Laynar agreed. As they left the safe house, two of the men took the herd of multas in a different direction than the one the rest of the group took. Rizelya was a bit surprised how hard Laynar pushed the group. They stopped once to rest the horses and passed one safe house in the late afternoon to push on to the next, arriving just past dark.
“Why the fast pace?” Rizelya asked Laynar as they ate.
“Those rogue monsters didn’t escape the day you caught them,” Laynar admitted. “They escaped the day before. In the rampage, the herder of the loose multas was killed, along with several of the multas. The herder was a family friend. I want to keep it from happening again.”
Rizelya nodded in understanding.
Laynar stood up. “We’ll leave at first light and should be at Strunheim Keep by midmorning.” She strode off to talk to her people.
Rizelya let her squad-pack know they’d be leaving early and found her own bed. As she lay there, she realized the very disturbing dream she had the night before killing the rogue monsters coincided with the death of the multa herder. Why am I having these dreams? It took her a long time afterward to fall asleep.
***
True to her word, Laynar led the group into Strunheim Keep by midmorning. Without waiting for Rizelya or any others of the group, Laynar jumped off her horse and rushed into the clan house. Rizelya and Aistrun were dismounting when an old woman leaning heavily on a cane came out. Age had faded her hair to a dull pink, but her emerald-green eyes still sparkled with intelligence. Rizelya guessed the old woman’s age to be close to Histrun’s; both had passed the century mark some years ago. A man a few decades younger stepped to the side of the old woman and Laynar flanked her other side.
In deference to the old woman Rizelya and Aistrun hurried to the stairs leading to the clan house.
Without waiting for introductions, the old woman said, “My granddaughter says you have a way to kill the strange janack.”
“Yes, Alpha.” Rizelya inclined her head. “To kill them we must change the way we fight and include more than just Reds in the fighting-pack.” She motioned for Dehali to join them. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed groups of platoon and squad-alphas gathering near the stairs.
The old woman looked startled and the man sneered in disbelief.
“This is Dehali. She also has Yellow Talent, which must now be included in the strike force. We could show you in the practice arena.”
“Then let us be off.” The old woman gestured across the courtyard to the large practice arena.
Rizelya held back a sigh of irritation. She’d hoped they could rest awhile before giving the demonstration.
Laynar sputtered, “But Grandmother, courtesies.”
“Yes, yes.” The old woman waved away Laynar’s protests. “We shall have introductions while we wait for my multa to be brought to me.”
Laynar sighed in relief as she introduced Rizelya’s squad-pack to the Strunheim Keep Alphas, Layhalya and Selestrun. “They killed the monsters that escaped from us,” Laynar told the alphas.
“Just the six of you?” Selestrun asked, eyebrows raised.
“There were just two brechas and a janack,” Aistrun replied.
“No control janack made it easier,” Rizelya admitted. At the looks of confusion, she added, “That’s what we’re calling the janack with the strange protrusion. It seems to control the others.”
While they talked to the alphas, Kymaya and the other horses were taken to the stable. Alpha Layhalya’s multa arrived, and she was helped onto it by Laynar and Selestrun.
“Well, let’s see what you have to show us,” Layhalya said.
Laynar gripped the headstall of the multa and urged it forward. Selestrun took up a position on the other side. Rizelya and her squad-pack followed with the Strunheim alphas behind them. When they entered the practice arena the spectator stands held numerous people, not all of them from the fighting-packs. Rizelya noted several Yellows, Greens, and Browns. The few Blues surprised her. Blues notoriously avoided violence and fighting. As she looked closer she realized the Blues also had both Yellow and Blue Talents.
“So, girl, show us how to kill these damn control janacks,” Layhalya snapped when everyone was in the practice arena.
Rizelya sent Dehali, Leistral, Eidstrun, and Keandran into the arena. She was a bit worried sending in Keandran, but he had been behaving the last few days. He seemed to be in awe of the aged alpha so she doubted he’d do anything stupid.
“A control janack can’t send its minions at us if it can’t sense us,” Rizelya explained, pitching her voice so it reached the entire arena. “To stop them, we need a Yellow,” she said, pointing to Dehali who bowed slightly, “and a Red,” Leistral bowed, “as well as the normal warriors.” Both Eidstrun and Keandran shifted into their warrior form. “One warrior can be used, but if you have two available it’s better.”
“Dehali is now going to cast an illusion spell.” Rizelya nodded to Dehali, and in the center of the arena stood a control janack, bobbing its head and clacking at them. She heard quite a few gasps and saw several people jump back, including Alpha Selestrun. The illusion janack looked and acted like a real one would, although it lacked the horrible smell.
Leistral began forming the usual fire-ring around the janack, low to the ground. “We need a strong Yellow to form a cold-air shield,” Rizelya said as Dehali formed the shield and surrounded the janack with it. The audience could see the janack searching for its prey, which it had been able to sense a moment before. “The second thing that is different, is what the Red is doing. Leistral isn’t just creating a fire-ring, but is building a fire shield within the fire-ring.”
“That’s mighty fine magic work there,” Layhalya said as she saw the filaments of Red magic woven into a bubble. “You’ll teach us, won’t you?”
“Of course.” Rizelya nodded. “We’ll teach the Yellows who volunteer to be part of the fighting-packs how to do the cold-air shield as well.”
Aistrun took up the explanation. “Hey, now the warrior’s job is to distract the control janack.” As he talked, Eidstrun and Keandran began to attack the illusion. “So the Red can get to the head”—he paused and looked at the audience significantly—“and blow it up.”
There were loud protests. Everyone had been taught exploding a monster was a last resort.
“Hey, it’s the best way to kill them,” Aistrun said over the protests. “Our venom doesn’t affect them like it does the other monsters.”
“The fire shield is to keep the monster bits contained.” Rizelya looked at the progress of the training fight. Leistral was at the head and getting ready to explode it. “Now, the most important thing, and I can’t stress it enough, is to destroy the protrusion. If you don’t, it will keep controlling the other monsters until you destroy it.”
Dehali released the illusion and cold-air shield while Leistral released her fire shield. Rizelya and Aistrun waited for the alphas reaction.
“You’ve all
done some powerful work,” Layhalya said after several long moments. “It might be a good thing to learn.” She turned to Laynar. “You learn. Decide who else will learn.” She surveyed the Yellows in the audience and nodded to herself. “Anyone who wants to fight the monsters, and has sufficient Talent to learn this new method, you may do so. Come see Laynar.”
Rizelya saw several Yellows and a few Browns and Greens let go of their held breath. These pushed their way through the crowd to reach Laynar before any of the Reds did. Tami and Kami from the Strunell Keep weren’t alone in their wish to fight the monsters. Feeling a slight tug on her sleeve, she returned her attention to Layhalya.
“Can those two of yours begin teaching while you tell me what’s going on and why you’re here?” Layhalya demanded.
“Yes, they can. Eidstrun and Keandran, you stay and help them and the warriors. You’ve had enough experience in the last two chedan.” The two men nodded in understanding. Rizelya and Aistrun turned away and left the arena with Layhalya and Selestrun.
It took the rest of the morning to tell the Keep Alphas of their journey. The midday meal was brought into the alphas’ office while they continued discussing what had been discovered.
“Keshanal of Strunell Keep has sent a group to Strunville and Strundale Keeps,” Rizelya told the alphas. “We’ve been sent here and then on to Strunven. As you can see in the packet I gave you, Keshanal has called a clan alpha meeting for Ahme de Sandar.”
“You will stay until we have learned these new shields of yours.” Selestrun grunted, his arms crossed tight against his chest.
“We can only stay a few days, if we are to reach Strunven, teach them, and make it to the Clan-Keep in time for the meeting,” Rizelya responded.
“It worked well to have a fighting-pack escort us across Strunell Territory,” Aistrun interjected. “We ran into many active nests, all of which had control janacks, so they had lots of practice by the time we separated.” He looked at Selestrun and said, “It could be a good plan here too.”
