Night Calls the Raven (Book 2 of The Master of the Tane)

by Thomas Rath

  “Don’t even think of it,” one of the men suddenly said, catching Thane’s look. “We’ve got guards on the ground covering the window.”

  He glared back at the man. “What is this all about?” Jne caught his eye as if to communicate something but he shook his head slightly. He didn’t want her to do anything rash and get herself killed. The room was just too small to be able to maneuver effectively.

  One of the guards kicked two pairs of irons across the floor to him. “Just put these on and don’t make any trouble. No one need get hurt.”

  He looked at the shackles and shivered slightly. He couldn’t imagine living chained to a room. He’d rather die. The image of Tam tied to a bed suddenly flashed in his mind. He sighed heavily. He wanted to fight, but quickly realized that he couldn’t do anything or Tam was lost. He reached for the chains, looking up at Jne, and noticed the smile on her face. Normally, her smile made him feel warm and slightly dizzy, but this time it sent shards of ice cutting through him. It was not the rare smile she sometimes revealed but one promising death. He felt his heart almost stop. She couldn’t.

  “Hold!” he called out desperately just as Jne began to rise. Thane shot forward just as the man covering her let fly his arrow. His body hit hers only a breath before the arrow that would have certainly killed her. With his momentum and force he was able to cover her while knocking her back onto the bed, taking the arrow through the back of his right leg.

  He tried to tell the man at the door to hold but Jne’s elbow shot into his stomach when they landed, stealing the air from his lungs. He couldn’t even cry out from the pain in his leg as he gasped to regain his breath and his voice. It was too late. He knew that in only another instant he would feel the second arrow rip through his back and possibly through his heart. He’d failed. He felt Jne struggling against him but made no move to roll off. There was no sense in her getting killed as well. It didn’t matter for him now. He’d failed Tam. He waited for the killing shot but the other man still held. What was he waiting for?

  “You idiot!” one of the men cursed. “Just hold where you are.”

  Jne pulled his head back so she could see his eyes, the fear that he’d been killed obvious on her face. Seeing them open, she breathed a quick sigh of relief. “Are you injured?”

  He was unable to answer, still struggling to regain his breath. She tried to push him off so she could get at the men at the door, but he struggled against her shaking his head. “No,” he finally wheezed.

  Just then an angry voice called from the door. “What goes on here? Get out of the way.”

  “But, sir,” one of the men protested. “They’re not secure.”

  “What do you mean, they’re not secure,” the voice yelled angrily. “You’ve shot one in the leg and got him draped over the other. I told you there was to be no injuries!”

  “But she attacked,” the man continued stating his case, the fear rising in his voice.

  “Get out of my way,” the other man barked.

  Something tickled Thane’s memory at the sound of the angry voice. He’d heard it before. A large smile suddenly creased his face as he pushed himself off of Jne and turned slightly to see a large, gray bearded man coming toward him. “Jack!”

  Jack’s face broke into a great smile that suddenly turned into a scowl when he saw the arrow sticking out of his leg. Jack turned back to the two men still crowded around the door with bows drawn. “You two get out of my sight,” he hissed, “before I set these two on you and let them take their revenge out of your hides.”

  “It’s all right,” Thane said, pulling Jack’s attention back to him. “I’ll live.”

  Jne glared at the guards locking her eyes with great intent on the one who’d shot Thane, storing his face in her memory. He would not get off that easily from her. Had it not been for Thane, he would have killed her with his cowardly bow. Regardless of the fact that she would have killed him had she had the chance, he would pay for his carelessness—his carelessness of not actually killing her. Both men slinked away under Jack’s command and Jne’s gaze, certain that their jobs, if not their lives, hung in the balance.

  “Jack,” Thane said, his voice suddenly full of urgency. “We have to get Tam. I know where she is.”

  “I know,” Jack said simply, ripping the sheet on Thane’s bed and wrapping it gently around his leg in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

  Thane’s eyebrows lifted. “You do?” he asked incredulously.

  “How do you think I found you? ‘Give me the Chufa prisoner’, Thane?” He chuckled. “Don’t you think that was a little too direct?”

  Thane shrugged.

  “That is what I told him,” Jne harrumphed.

  “And just who is this pretty lady?” Jack asked, finishing Thane’s bandage and tying it off.

  Jne’s face instantly heated, her eyes dropping into narrow slits locked on Jack as she pushed herself away from the tangle of Thane’s body.

  Thane coughed, quickly reaching out a hand to grab her arm. “This is Jne of the Rena’ja Tjal.”

  Jack immediately stopped what he was doing and stood up before bowing to her. “V’ert’ne, Jne jon jene Tjal Rena’ja. Reshi t’imik’yoek’kenaz vok’vak nok bak draka t’udakar’ye.”

  Jne’s face softened. Bowing her head slightly she answered. “J’unik’ve.”

  Jack smiled and then bowed again. “We need to go,” he said, his voice suddenly pressing as if nothing had just occurred between them. “Time is running out.”

  Jack reached to help his friend up but Thane held back. “No, Jack. First we need to get Tam.”

  “That’s what I’m talking about,” he said, grabbing Thane’s arm and gently pulling him to his feet. Jack’s bandage had stemmed the flow of blood somewhat but the bandage was slowly starting to turn red. The arrow hadn’t hit an artery, so the wound was not life threatening as long as they didn’t let it go for too long. Jne quickly wrapped Thane’s free arm around her neck to help Jack support his weight and then moved toward the door.

  “You know where Tam is?” Thane asked, surprised that Jack had left her in such a state without doing something to help her.

  “Of course,” he spat, trying to maneuver him through the small doorway so the arrow’s shaft wouldn’t catch. “I’m the one that brought her in.”

  Thane dug in his good leg to stop them as they entered the hall. “And you gave her over to them to hold captive?”

  Jack’s voice was heated and incredulous. “What are you talking about? Tam is not held captive.”

  “I saw her,” he half yelled.

  “Saw her? How? When? That’s impossible. Listen, if you want to see Tam before she….” He didn’t finish his sentence. Jack’s voice suddenly became desperate. “We can’t waste anymore time here. We have to get you to Tam right now. Please, just trust me. We can talk about all of this later.”

  He eyed Jack for a brief moment but finally nodded. “All right, Jack. Let’s go.”

  Moving as quickly as they dared, they got him down the hall and then down the stairs. The innkeeper gasped when she saw Thane’s leg and a woman nearest to the stairway looked like she might faint, but no one got in their way or tried to halt their progress as they carried Thane out the front door. The street was bulging with people pushing about, trying to get their last bit of business done before the sun set. Jack called to the six soldiers just outside the door and ordered them to quickly clear a way for them to pass. The one who’d shot Thane looked pale, becoming even more so when he saw the look Jne was giving him. Had he known who she really was, he might have fainted on the spot.

  The guards were affective. Without them they probably would not have been able to get Thane safely through the crowd without someone jostling his leg and causing more damage, but the going was still slower than either he or Jack would have liked. Luckily, the inn was almost kitty-corner with the building in the square so they didn’t have to go very far. Thane’s breath caught in his throat when he realize
d that they were, in fact, headed toward the prison where Tam was being held. What insanity was this?

  Reaching the doorway where they had been turned away only hours before, neither guard moved to stop them as one of Jack’s men opened the entry allowing them to hurry through.

  “I only hope we are not too late,” Jack half whispered. Thane looked at his old friend briefly but didn’t say anything as his eyes darted about the small foyer searching for anyone that might pose them a threat. Jack pulled him and Jne to a door just to the right and opened it, dragging the wounded Chufa and Tjal woman in with him. Thane immediately saw the young Chufa girl stretched out on a cot, her arms and legs tied to the bed. He moaned. She looked dead. He heard the scuffling of a chair leg moving against the wood floor and suddenly became aware that someone else was in the room with them. The person stood but was blocked from view because of Jack’s hulking form.

  “I brought you a friend,” Jack said, not speaking to Thane but the other person.

  “Not now,” the person pleaded, still hidden behind Jack’s large body. “She’s almost gone. Please just let me alone with her,” the voice pleaded.

  Thane felt the hot tears suddenly filling his eyes. “Dor?”

  “Thane?” the voice answered and then moved around Jack to see if it was really true. They stared at each other for a brief moment, neither one willing to believe that the other was real. Dor’s hair was still rather short but that didn’t keep Thane from recognizing him. Tears ran freely down both their cheeks as they caught each other in a hearty embrace. “Oh, Thane,” Dor whispered. “It is so good to see you again, but you’re too late.”

  Thane pulled back and looked him. “What do you mean?”

  Dor glanced down at Tam’s still body. “She’s almost gone.”

  Thane’s face was a mask of horror. “Gone? How? What happened to her and why is she tied up like that?”

  “Dranlok,” Dor said softly.

  Jack answered Thane’s obvious question before he asked it. “It’s a poison the trolls use to control their captives.”

  Jne moved around to stand next to Thane, lending him support both with her shoulder and with her presence. “I have heard of this dranlok,” she said. “It is extremely lethal when taken in large doses.”

  “No,” Thane whispered, and would have collapsed if not for Jne. “This can’t be,” he said, his tears of joy becoming tears of extreme sorrow. “She can’t die. Is there nothing to be done?”

  Dor shook his head. “The healers have already done all they can. Kat used her blood, but she said she was not strong enough to completely defeat the poison.”

  “Who’s Kat?”

  “A healer.” Dor said, a tremble of excitement in his voice. “You don’t know about them. They’re Chufa, Thane. Chufa who have survived on this side of the mountain.”

  “What?” Thane and Jack said in unison.

  “Yes,” Dor continued, “but they are mixed blood with the HuMans. Kat has the VerSagn Tane but because her blood is not pure she said she didn’t have the strength to completely neutralize the dranlok.”

  Thane tried to absorb all that Dor was telling him. Chufa on this side of the mountain? Kat’s blood was too weak? Normally, once VerSagn blood was used to attempt a healing there was nothing more that could be done. If it wasn’t effective the first time, another treatment would do nothing. But he said that Kat’s blood was mixed. She was not of pure VerSagn blood. “Give me your knife,” he said suddenly.

  Dor’s eyes widened slightly. “It might work,” he breathed pulling his dagger and handing it to Thane.

  “What might work?” Jne and Jack asked.

  “Help me kneel down by her bed,” Thane directed to Jne. Helping him to the side of Tam’s bed he winced as he bent his leg so that he could get close enough to Tam to reach her. The cloth Jack had wrapped around his wound was now soaked through and dripping onto the floor. Thane’s face looked pale in the quickly fading light coming through the window at the far side of the room.

  “What are you doing?” Jack asked again.

  “He’s going to try and heal her,” Dor answered, watching as Thane put the dagger to Tam’s arm preparing to make the cut.

  Jack, suddenly realizing what he intended to do, stepped forward as if to stop him but Dor’s hand shot out and held him back.

  Tam’s arm was so cold, it felt as if her life force had already drifted to the beyond and that her body was just not aware it no longer held her spirit. Thane’s hand felt desperately along her arm searching for a pulse. Although there was the small possibility that he could heal her, he could not bring her back from the dead. Pressing his fingers a little harder he finally felt the fluttering movement of blood passing slowly through her veins. There was still a chance. Trying hard to focus through the tears cascading down his face, he pressed the knife against Tam’s arm and made the cut. A trickle of blood seeped out of the wound but not much more. Pressing the blade against his own flesh Thane did the same along the inside of his arm and then quickly pressed the incisions together.

  Jack and Jne watched in horrified amazement at what he’d just done, while Dor held his breath, praying that they were in time. He suddenly felt as if a part of him was dying with Tam. He didn’t want to live if she didn’t. It was somewhat of a shocking realization but he could no longer deny feeling it—he loved her.

  Thane held the incisions together tightly; a tiny line of blood dripped down his arm, but nothing else seemed to be happening. Tam still lay as motionless as death.

  “Is it working?” Jack asked, breaking the tomblike silence.

  Thane shook his head, trying to maintain his composure enough to keep the blood flowing together at their arms. “She’s not responding,” he sobbed, rubbing his arm harder against hers as if trying to force his blood into her veins. They were going to lose her. The realization was like the shock of icy water splashing over him. He was too late. “Oh Tam, please, no,” he whispered as waves of sobs pulsed through him. “Live.”

  Suddenly, he felt Dor’s hand on his head. “It’s done,” he said through his own sobs. “You did what you could, Thane. She’s lost to us.”

  Thane looked over his shoulder at Dor and then dropped his head. He was right. There was nothing for it. He could not heal the dead. The dranlok was too strong and he was too late. Had he only gotten there sooner, he was sure he could have healed her. It wasn’t fair. Tam should not be dead. She shouldn’t even be here tied to the bed like some kind of animal. It wasn’t right.

  Jack rested a hand on Thane’s shoulder, tears forming in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Thane.”

  Thane nodded slightly. They should be celebrating their reunion together right now instead of saying goodbye to Tam. He looked at her pale face, feeling suddenly dizzy from his own loss of blood. She looked so peaceful. At least in death she would have joy and rest.

  Her eyelids flickered just so slightly. Thane blinked quickly, trying to clear his vision from the tears and leaned a bit closer. Had he really seen what he thought he had? They flickered again, and then suddenly Tam’s eyes popped open and she gasped, drawing in a large breath as if pushing through the surface of a deep pool and finally reaching the life giving air above. Everyone else in the room held their breath and all was still for a brief moment until, without warning, her whole body seized, shooting her hips high into the air and straining the ropes that held her arms and legs. It took all the remaining strength Thane had to keep his hold on her arm so his blood could continue to mix with hers.

  Dor reached over and clamped his hands around their arms trying to help Thane, who was quickly weakening, hold them together as Tam continued to thrash about the bed. Her whole body shuttered in a wave from her head to her feet and then strained against the ropes one last time. She seized again, this time letting out a small scream before suddenly dropping to the bed and going completely limp.

  Dor held their arms together for a moment longer before slowly pulling his hands away and then lea
ning close to check on Tam. Her face was flush now and her chest rose and fell at a strong and steady rate.

  “She’s alive,” he whispered, and then turned excitedly to Thane. “You did it!” the sheer joy he felt filling his voice. “Thane?”

  Quickly reaching out, Dor caught Thane’s shoulders just as his friend slumped to the floor.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  He opened his eyes, blinking away the last film of sleep, as he tried to focus on his surroundings. He’d had the strangest dream, the memory of it melting away like the sleep under his lids. What was it? It was about someone he knew. It was about someone he was close to but he couldn’t quite put a face or a name to the person. He felt a certain amount of desperation connected with the individual but didn’t know why. There was something important he needed to do but the memory of it was evaporating like dew in the late morning sun.

  The room finally began to pull into focus so he dismissed the dream as nothing more than that, and concentrated instead on figuring out where he was. His body felt somewhat stiff, especially his right thigh, and his arm felt a little sore, but otherwise he seemed whole.

  The window directly above the cot, where he lay, let in the slightest shafts of light as if from the first beams of an early morning sunrise lending him just enough light to make out his surroundings. He was in a very plain and small room, the foot and head of his cot pressed against either wall as if keeping them from squeezing in any further. Looking to his left he could make out no other furniture save for another cot against the far wall that appeared to also be occupied.