by Tora Moon
“But we checked the nest yesterday.” Laynad’s brow furrowed in confusion. “There weren’t even larvae in it.”
“Perhaps they came from a different nest,” Rizelya offered. She didn’t know this area or where the nests were located. “Or a new one?” New nests were very infrequent. They only happened where a malicious or evil act had been committed.
“No, no, nothing like that has occurred here,” Laynad said, appalled. “We have good people here.”
The fire shield and ring were now down. Laynad and Laynar rushed to their sister, checking for wounds. Laynar, shaking her head, pulled her helstrablade from the sheath at her side and fed fire into it. Rizelya smiled at Laynal’s shrieks as the blade cauterized the places where ichor had splashed on her skin. She would be more careful next time. Rizelya fingered a particularly nasty scar under her jaw. She’d learned her own lesson in much the same way.
Leistral and Dehali were burning the monster carcasses. Rizelya stared at the path the monsters had carved. If the nest was empty yesterday, even of larvae, then where did these monsters come from?
“Do you have any good trackers?” Rizelya asked Laynad. “We need to find out where these came from.” She indicated Eidstrun. “He is very good.”
“Yes, I have a tracker.” Laynad called over a young man, not much older than Laynal. He was small for most warriors, with light green eyes and reddish-brown hair. “This is Ledelstrun. He’ll go with your tracker.”
Eidstrun heard them and shifted to his wolf form and Ledelstrun followed a moment later. They dropped their noses to the ground and took off in the direction of the damaged plants.
“It may be a while before they find anything,” Rizelya said. “Should we stay here?”
“Yes. If they find something, we’ll be able to take care of it with the fighters I brought. The others will wait for us at the river crossing.”
“Good. I’m tired. I’d like to get out of this saddle.”
The hearing of the men was extremely sharp, especially in their wolf or warrior forms. Aistrun standing across the road lifted his head and canted it in a listening posture, then loped toward them, still in his warrior form. Putrid green droplets of ichor studded his fur and dripped from his claws. He’d been in the line of fire when Laynal’s hacking of her brecha had tossed ichor in every direction. “Need help?” he asked.
“Not until you’re clean! You have ichor all over you.”
“Huh?” He looked down at himself, grinned, and reached his arms out for her.
“No! I’m not getting burned.” She backed Kymaya away from him. “I think I can get down on my own.”
“No, wait.” Aistrun loped down the slope to the river and waded in. He splashed water over himself, sluicing off the ichor and other monster gore. Soaking wet, he jogged back up the hill and straight toward Rizelya.
He had a gleam in his eye she didn’t like. “Oh, no you don’t!” she yelled and tried to move Kymaya away from him. He rushed at her and then shook. Cold water sprayed all over her. Wiping water from her eyes, she sputtered and cursed.
“No fun,” he said, then turned away from her, head bent. He trudged behind a tree to shift back to human.
When he returned, his clothes were soaking wet from his dip in the river. Not looking contrite at all, he paced back to Rizelya. A quick grin was all the warning she received. He reached up and grabbed her, pulling her off Kymaya, then hugged her close, getting her as wet as possible. “There! You’re good now. Damn, that’s cold.”
He released her, and once satisfied she was standing on her own, walked to Jezhan and rummaged through his packs. Pulling out dry clothes, he returned to the shelter of the tree to put them on.
Rizelya wasn’t all that wet. With a rueful sigh, she limped to her own bags to pull out a jacket. Had she felt better and their situation wasn’t quite so dire, she would have indulged in a water fight with Aistrun, and pulled in the rest of her squad-pack in the process. She agreed with Aistrun; being an alpha wasn’t much fun.
Kressy, their multa, had traveled with their group rather than with the other pack multas. Rizelya hobbled over to Kressy, using her helbraught as a walking stick to support her. From the packs, Rizelya pulled out a couple of ground cloths to throw on the grass and blankets to fold into pillows.
“Good idea,” Laynar said, as she joined Rizelya. “Here, I’ll grab these for you.” Laynar took the ground cloths from Rizelya and spread them on the grass under the sweeping canopy of a large tree.
Rizelya limped to the ground cover carrying a blanket. She folded the blanket into a tight, high square then sat down and propped her leg on it. During the fight, her injury had started to ache again. She carefully lifted her skirt, relieved to see there weren’t any gray lines of poison running up her thigh. Gingerly she took off her boot to examine her calf, foot, and ankle.
“Your leg looks better,” Laynar said.
“It is. There are even fewer gray lines than there were this morning.”
“Hey, I saw you limping,” Aistrun said with a grin. “That’s better than the hopping you did this morning. Must be getting better.” He laid down on the blanket next to her and threw an arm over his eyes. “Good idea. I need a rest if we’re going to have to fight anymore monsters.”
Leistral and Dehali, with the help of Laynal, had all the monster bits burned. They trudged over to where Rizelya, Laynar, and Aistrun waited.
“I’m going to wash this mess off me,” Leistral said, throwing a glare at Laynal. Apparently no one in the circle of the battle had escaped the flying ichor. The leathers the fighting women wore protected them from the acidic ichor in most cases. The green splotches of ichor stood out in contrast to Leistral’s bright red leather shirt and pants.
“Any of those serious?” Rizelya could see a few dots where ichor had landed on Leistral’s cheek. Dehali had been farther away in the circle and had her back turned, so her face hadn’t been splattered.
“Naw, Dehali cauterized them for me. None are deep enough to need a healer.”
Laynad strode up to Laynal and turned her face from side to side to get a better look at the wounds. Most Reds had small scars on their faces from spattered ichor. It was part of the hazards of fighting the monsters. A few had large scars that marred their beauty. “You’ll learn not to do that again, won’t you?”
Laynal nodded and grimaced in pain. A large blotch of ichor had landed on her collarbone. It was big enough to leave a nasty scar. Laynad pulled the top of Laynal’s shirt down to reveal a deep cut on the top of Laynal’s shoulder. It was still oozing blood and the flesh around it was beginning to turn gray.
“That needs a healer. It’s poisoned.” Laynad turned around and yelled for someone. An older fighter jogged over to them. He was solidly built, fit and muscular, as most fighters were.
“Take Laynal to the healer, quickly.” He nodded and looked at Laynal. She hesitated and opened her mouth to argue, but stopped when she saw Laynad’s narrowed eyes. “Move,” Laynad commanded. Laynal jerked slightly as the force of the command hit her. She bowed her head in submission and allowed the fighter to escort her to her horse.
“She’s a good kid and will be a good fighter,” Laynad said, watching Laynal and her escort gallop down the road and out of sight.
Leistral and Dehali, in clean leathers, dropped down next to Aistrun. Using him as a pillow, they stretched out to nap. Rizelya looked around. Someone was missing.
“Where’s Keandran?” Just then he loped into sight from upriver. His hair was still damp from his dunking to clean up. “Ah, there you are.” She patted the blanket next to her. “Come join us while we wait.”
He shook his head and found another tree to rest under. Alone again.
Rizelya awoke from her doze when Eidstrun and Ledelstrun returned. Ledelstrun shifted back to human while Eidstrun hurried to the river and drank deeply before wading in. He still had monster ichor on his fur.
“We followed the monster’s trail back to th
e nest site,” Ledelstrun said. “Then we searched all around to make sure the monsters came from that nest. They did. I don’t know how, because I was in the group who checked the nest yesterday. There weren’t any larvae in it then.”
“There are larvae in it now,” Eidstrun said as he joined the group, wiping water from his face. “Beginning stage. The monsters left the nest yesterday morning.”
“What?” Laynad exclaimed. “Our people didn’t see any signs of monsters in it.”
“They left before your people came and went north. There was a herd of billocks in that direction. I suspect it is now destroyed. They looped around and came back to the nest for the night, then came out when the sun warmed them.”
Ledelstrun stared at Eidstrun with his mouth open in shock. “How did you pick up all of that? I didn’t sense any of it.”
Eidstrun shrugged.
“I told you he was a very good tracker.” Rizelya looked smugly at Laynad.
“I have never heard of a nest producing a single janack and two brechas or for them to hunt and return to their nest. Are you sure?” Laynad asked.
“I’m sure.” Eidstrun didn’t sound upset his abilities were being questioned. “I haven’t either, but that’s what my nose told me happened. I could see the dry slime path the janack took. I’m not sure how your people missed it.”
Laynad turned to look sharply at Ledelstrun. “How did you?” she demanded.
“We just checked the nest,” he said nervously.
“How close to the nest did you get?”
“They weren’t very close,” Eidstrun said with a sneer before Ledelstrun could answer. “They stopped at the top of the hill overlooking it. Under normal circumstances, it would’ve been sufficient. Not this time. Had they gone closer to the nest they would have seen the slime trail.”
“In their defense, Alpha,” Laynar said, “the monsters aren’t adhering to any normal patterns anymore.”
“True,” Laynad agreed, still glaring in anger at Ledelstrun. He was so upset he was nearly curled up in a ball at her feet. “Runner!” she yelled.
A young man hurried over from the group of fighters Laynad had brought with her. She quickly wrote a message and handed it to him.
“Take this to my second,” she commanded. To the others she said, “The keep needs to be warned about this. They will have to take care of this nest; we don’t have time. Enough lallygagging, let’s get moving. We have a long day ahead of us.”
***
After the incident with the rogue monsters, Laynad took no pity on Rizelya and her injuries. There was an intense urgency in Laynad as she pushed the horses, and their riders, to the edge of their limits. Rizelya didn’t blame her one bit. She gritted her teeth at the pain and rode on. Eventually, her leg was so numb she couldn’t feel if there was any pain or not.
Two octars after crossing the river, Laynad led them off the main road onto a smaller one, rutted from passing wagons and thick with spring grass. It was easier to ride alongside the road rather than on it. A stone fence marched along a few feet away from the road, protecting it from monsters. The road cut through the orchards Rizelya had seen earlier. Overhead, blossoms covered the trees, scenting the air with their sweet fragrance. They passed apple, pear, peach, plum, and other fruit trees. The pounding of the horses’ hooves caused a white and pink rain of blossoms. The fruit trees gave way to nut trees and eventually the orchards gave way to a forest of oak, elm, and birch trees.
Laynad allowed the group to pause in a sheltered glade with a small brook running through it. It had become easier for Rizelya to mount and dismount throughout the day. She still limped, and wasn’t about to run any races soon, but she was healing from the narhili poison.
After getting a drink from the cold stream, Rizelya led Kymaya downstream to drink. The ride had been fast and brutal. She guessed they had one more ride before stopping for the night. It would be dark soon, and she didn’t relish the thought of running into another band of narhili beasts. She looked longingly at the cold water, wishing she could take off her boots and soak her feet. She had just enough time to eat a travel bar before Laynad called the order to remount.
It was twilight when they arrived at the safe house. She stayed mounted, waiting her turn to get into the small stable. The safe house was smaller than usual. They would be a bit crowded, but Rizelya didn’t mind. She’d much rather be crowded and safe than camp out and risk a narhili attack. When they crossed the mountains into Strunheim Territory, they could safely sleep in tents. It would be too high for the nocturnal narhili beasts who preferred warmer, lower climates. Their wrinkled skin didn’t provide much protection against the cold.
Rizelya shuddered at the thought of another attack and suddenly she couldn’t breathe. She fought the Malvers monsters all the time and never had a problem, but one attack from the narhili, and she was panicking at even the thought of them. She sat on Kymaya’s back, gasping for air. Aistrun furrowed his brows at her and opened his mouth to speak, but Rizelya gulped back the panic and rode ahead of him into the stable.
Eidstrun walked over to help her dismount, but she shook him off, still trying to calm her pounding heart. She hid her face as she unsaddled and groomed Kymaya. It had been several days since she’d taken care of her horse. The repetitive motions of brushing Kymaya soothed her and she found herself relaxing.
Finished, she stepped out of Kymaya’s stall to see all of her pack, except Keandran, hanging out in the center aisle, just outside of Kymaya’s stall. Tears trickled down her face.
“Shh … shh,” Leistral crooned, enveloping her in a hug, “it’s okay.”
“We know,” Dehali added, stroking Rizelya’s hair and back. “We’re all tired.”
Aistrun and Eidstrun didn’t say anything, they just pulled the pack into a group hug.
After a few milcrons, Rizelya wiped her eyes and nose. “I’m okay now, thank you.” She looked each person in the eye, and felt the bond snap in place and from the looks of the others, they did too. No matter what happened, they would now always be connected. It would be difficult for them to be separated into a different pack.
“Well now, isn’t this special,” Keandran sneered. He tried to hide the look of hurt on his face, but Rizelya could see it.
“It is,” she said and held out her hand to him. “You could join us.”
He looked at her hand for a long moment; she could feel his ache to belong. But then he shuddered and shook his head. “Not for me,” he said as he stalked out of the stable.
Rizelya sighed as she watched him leave. She wondered when he would push everyone away and leave the pack. She couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to live alone, separate from the safety and comfort of pack. There were a few men who lived quiet lives as lone wolves. But then there were those who turned rogue and caused problems. Rogues were usually maladjusted, mean-tempered, and angry men, just like Keandran. They preyed on humans, killing them indiscriminately and brutally. They were quickly hunted and put down. She didn’t want anything like that to happen to Keandran, but she couldn’t figure out how to reach him and let him know there was a place for him within their pack. Whatever the White Priestess had done had only helped him for a few days. Now he was as sullen and morose as ever.
The next morning, they hadn’t ridden far when Laynad led them off the small road and into the trees where a path, wide enough for one horse, crawled through the forest. They trailed along single-file behind Laynad. The path wasn’t much more than a game trail and was treacherous. They had to watch carefully so their horses wouldn’t step in a hole and become lame.
Someone started singing and soon most everyone was singing. Rizelya joined them, letting the song release the tension from riding in an enclosed area like this. If a nest of monsters had broken free and happened on them, they wouldn’t have a chance to fight. But birds twittered above them and squirrels scolded them as they passed assuring her there weren’t monsters lurking somewhere in the depths of the trees.
“That’s Strunven Keep,” Laynad said when Rizelya rode up next to her.
“I didn’t think it was this close to the border,” Rizelya commented.
“It isn’t. We’ve been in Strunven Territory since the safe house. You can see the trail down.” She pulled out a map and pointed the way down to the valley and the road leading to the keep. Laynad handed the map to Rizelya. “We’ll leave you here. I’m sure someone from Strunven will notice you sooner rather than later and can guide you further. I’m not quite sure it was a pleasure to meet you.” She shook Rizelya’s hand, then turned her horse back around without another word, her people following behind her.
Rizelya was surprised when Laynar remained behind. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you going back?”
“No, I’m going with you. Grandmother says the Strunven Keep Alpha is a bit peculiar and I needed to introduce you. Otherwise, you might get sent packing without delivering your message.”
“But we have letters of introduction from Histrun,” Dehali said. “Surely that will let us in.”
“Ah, but that is the problem,” Laynar said, raising her eyebrows. “It seems this woman doesn’t like Histrun. Doesn’t trust him.” She looked at Rizelya. “Or his get.”
“Oh, that’s just wonderful,” Rizelya muttered. “Of course Histrun wouldn’t have warned us. He might even think it was funny.”
“Hey, he would at that,” Aistrun said and then grinned. “At least we now have Laynar to save the day. Shall we go?”
Rizelya looked up at the sun. It was almost midday and she was tired from the ride. “No, let’s rest here for a while and eat.”
