It was then that Friar Janus had spoken. The friar had said, “Nestov, the lessons you have learned are more valuable than you understand at the moment. It is true that I have not taught you the specifics of that which our abbot speaks. Instead, I have taught you something more.”
“I don’t understand,” Nestov had answered.
“Not yet,” Friar Janus said. “But you will.” It was then his teacher said something which resonated with Nestov to this day. “You will understand in time because I have taught you how to learn.”
Part 4
Chapter 46
Pendr’s heart was close to exploding. Though he knew if he waited a moment longer, his actions would be more effective, he also understood dying would be the least impactful action of all.
With the palm of his right hand facing the enemy soldiers charging him and his men, Pendr released the knot of purple myelur building inside his chest. The invisible force flowed down his arm and out through his hand. Instead of it connecting solidly with the man Pendr had targeted, the power pushed three enemy soldiers backward and into the men behind them. The blow had been strong enough that one of the men pushed backward was impaled on a spear by the soldier behind him.
“Keep charging!” their leader screamed.
A quick count told Pendr that the enemy forces were a few more than the fourteen men in his squad. This was the third time Pendr’s squad had been attacked in as many days, something which he found to be more than a coincidence.
Sunshine shone brightly in the clear sky behind the enemy. It was a smart tactic, Pendr realized, as it gave them a clear view of Pendr and his men, while somewhat blinding their foes.
“Archers!” Pendr commanded.
The four men he had placed on the flanks of the squad fired into the heart of the incoming enemy. Three more fell—the arrow from the fourth archer went high and wide. While the archers reached for more arrows to fire again, Pendr rushed forward, pulling his sword from the scabbard slung on his back. In his left hand was a stout, metal shield—one he had forged himself during the previous moon cycle in-between training sessions.
Nine sword-brandishing soldiers with Pendr drew their weapons and followed him into battle. Each of them had trained with Pendr, and each of them could wield the blue myelur to various degrees. From what he could see, the enemy had not brought any ranged fighters, meaning he would not have to worry about bows, slings, or crossbows. That gave him an advantage because he could wait until the last possible moment to embrace the blue myelur and the protection it provided.
He had told his men to wait before drawing upon the protective skill, though he was sensitive enough to the power that he could tell that three of them had already begun shielding themselves. No! It’s too early! None of the rest of them were strong enough to hold onto the blue myelur for any significant length of time before it drained them completely of any form of strength.
The enemy kept coming, even though four of them were already wounded or killed. That made the numbers more even, and then odds tipped more to Pendr’s favor as his archers mowed down three more just before the melee combat commenced.
Pendr rushed at a man to his left, leaving his right flank exposed. At that moment, he drew upon the blue myelur and encased his body in a protective shell. The feint worked as two soldiers turned to attack what they perceived as Pendr’s opened side. Both of the men to his right thrust their spears into him. Instead of piercing through his polished breastplate, they both connected with the blue myelur shield and the points of their weapons skidded off to the side.
Pendr expected such a result and used it to complete his initial attack. He shifted his target from the man to his left, and instead went to a knee while swinging his sword in a backward arc to his right. The thick iron broadsword found little resistance as it cut through both sets of legs of those who had tried to spear him.
Their screams distracted Pendr’s original target enough that when Pendr completed the spin and continued the deadly sweep with a slight upward motion, the man was stunned into inaction as the sword cut into his side and stopped when it hit his spine.
Standing, Pendr pulled the sword out of the dead man and looked for the next threat. Most of the enemy was already dispatched, with the rest of them falling to either arrows or the weapons of Pendr’s men who used the blue myelur as protection.
This doesn’t make sense. The previous two attacks ended in similar results. Certainly, word would have gotten back to the enemy that attacking Pendr’s squad was futile. Granted, after each battle his men would be drained to the point of exhaustion, but they had had time to recover.
The soldiers who Pendr had amputated were still screeching in pain. The wounded would bleed out soon enough, but their cries of pain touched part of Pendr he could not shield. He convinced himself it was mercy as he lopped off their heads.
After the battle had ended, quick inspection lifted Pendr’s spirits as once again none of his men sported any wounds. One of his soldiers, Dosfogal, came to his side.
“Three days in a row,” he said. “You think they would learn.”
“Aye,” Pendr said. “Are you hurt?”
“No, Sir Pendr,” the blond man said. “Though I’m spent. We need to find a place to hole up for a few days.”
It was still odd for Pendr to hear the title before his name. Captain Mux had made him a knight before assigning him his squad. Pendr was not sure he was ready for such responsibility, yet his leader felt differently.
As for their current situation, Dosfogal making the suggestion to rest was noteworthy. Of all of Pendr’s men, he complained the least.
“Agreed,” Pendr said. “I need to send word to Captain Mux to get further instructions. We’ll double back to—”
Battle cries cut off his response. From over a hill to the east charged twenty or so armored men riding on equally armored horses. In a moment of clarity, Pendr understood the enemy’s plan. The previous attacks were designed to weaken them—and it worked. Even at full strength, Pendr’s squad was no match for a cavalry in an open field. The nearest trees were too far away for a retreat. They would be cut down by the horse-backed soldiers before they could get there.
Pendr considered his options, which were few. Right or wrong, he had to decide to do something—now—or they would all die.
“Form up behind me! Drop your blue myelur. Reserve your strength!” Pendr called out. He raced to a spot in the open field which placed the recently slain soldiers between the charging enemy and his men. The cavalry would have to skirt around the dead bodies or ride over them. Either way, it would buy Pendr some time.
Rapidly, his men formed up behind him, the archers instinctively nocking arrows, but waiting for instructions. Arrows would do little to stop the men and beasts covered nearly head-to-toe in plate mail. There was only one obvious weakness Pendr could exploit.
“Aim for the horses’ legs!” he called out.
The archers reacted immediately. Once again, three of the four archers found success, with the fourth arrow deflecting harmlessly off a horse’s armor. The injured animals tumbled, spilling their riders to the ground. The trailing cavalry did not have time to react before they crashed into their fallen comrades—at least the ones who had chosen the direct route toward Pendr and his men.
Five of the riders had skirted around to Pendr’s left. It delayed them, but they also avoided the fate of those now trying to pick themselves up from the tangle of men and beasts.
Along with his men, Pendr had stopped using any form of the myelur while they waited for the onslaught. He could not wait any longer.
Pendr dropped his sword and shield to the ground. That action had no effect on the men who still charged forward, and Pendr knew it would not. Lifting his arms, with his palms forward, Pendr drew upon the blue myelur, but not to create a personal barrier. Creating a protective ward, as Mistress Halima had done around the tent when he first met her, was something that took a lot of concentration and was not
something which Pendr had done during battle, only in practice. If his men were to survive, he saw this as his only option.
Pulling almost as much of the blue myelur as he had available, Pendr projected the ward just a few footsteps from where he and his men had gathered. The archers continued to focus on shooting at the horses’ legs but were less successful than before.
“Pendr?” one of his men called out, fear evident in his voice.
“Hold fast!” Dosfogal responded for his leader.
The ward solidified just as the first horse-back fighter encountered it. The result was akin to the man and beast running into a solid stone wall. The cry of pain from the horse mixed with the angelic resonance coming from the blue myelur ward.
It was then that Pendr realized he had drawn too much of the power to create the ward. His vision dimmed as he watched the other four charging soldiers crash into the large, protective barrier. Though Pendr fought it, he could not keep his grip on consciousness. His last thought before being embraced by the darkness was how Danla would react when she heard the news of his death.
Chapter 47
Alpha stood next to his first-born son, beaming with pride. At least, that is how Wyjec interpreted it, and why not? Silk was the first of the females to give birth, followed not long after by the other pregnant wolves. Alpha’s mate produced seven pups in her litter. The rest of the births were between four and six. Still, within a moon cycle at the beginning of spring, their numbers had grown tremendously.
Today was one of the warmest of the early spring days to date. Wyjec sat on his stone throne, using only one layer of sewn together rabbit pelts as a cloak. His legs and feet were kept warm from the bear skin breeches and moccasins he had made from the black bear which had attacked Alpha several moon cycles ago. The bear’s hide had been difficult to sew, but the durability and warmth it delivered proved worth the effort. As with the rabbit pelts, the hide from the bear remained intact over time, a result of Wyjec using the yellow myelur on the beast.
The small pup next to Alpha captured Wyjec’s attention at this moment—in a surprising and delightful way. During the cold winter, Wyjec had contemplated many times how he would proceed with the pups when they were born. He had the loyalty of the older wolves aided by the power of the red myelur. Though still unsure why tying together the loose ends of the amber glow around their hearts would make them steadfast in their dedication, he feared that if he did the same to the pups too early in their development, it could hurt them. It turned out to be a non-issue.
The wolves were born with their amber glow, something indicating intention, already surrounding their heart. By using the red myelur, Wyjec verified that each of the pups was already bound to him, seemingly through their parents.
There was something more. And that is what Wyjec focused on now. Alpha’s first born son had a strong heart—the strongest Wyjec had seen in a wolf, even when factoring his age. He was not sure what to make of that, aside from it giving him hope that the wolf would grow up to be strong enough to attack when the time came.
Another challenge arose from what to name all the pups. For the older wolves, he had picked names based on their characteristics, but the young ones had yet to distinguish themselves, aside from some variations in the color of their fur—a trait which could change over time and therefore would not be reliable.
While still inspecting the pup’s heart through the use of the red myelur, an idea came to Wyjec. Carefully, he reached through the myelur and added a few extra strands of the amber glow which surrounded the wolf’s heart into a singular line on the surface. The process caused no pain, at least based on the small wolf’s reaction. When Wyjec finished, he examined his work.
The result was akin to a scar where the skin would be slightly different than what surrounded it. Instead of the scar embedded physically, it resided on the surface of the amber glow. Through the red myelur, Wyjec could spot it easily. He’s the first of the new generation. I’ll call him “One.”
For the rest of the morning, Wyjec created similar marks on each of the new pups. To keep it simple, he assigned them numbers. During the process, he figured out a system he could use. Four lines were distinguishable, but more than that would be a challenge without taking the time to count. Instead, he decided to add a perpendicular line representing the number five. Using this logic, for the fifth pup he first created a circular shaped design, then put a line under it. Adding the two marks together on this one would add up to five. For six, there would be one line running perpendicular to the other.
Upon completing the process, and verifying that he could quickly determine which wolf was which, Wyjec turned to the next task at hand: to find something to kill.
Wyjec whistled to Alpha, letting him know the hunt would soon commence. Alpha responded by escorting his pups back to Silk, their mother, and then gathering up the rest of the adult males.
After killing the bear last autumn, Wyjec had feasted not only on the animal’s meat but also its yellow myelur. The larger beast had an immense amount of the reenergizing power; it was enough to satiate Wyjec for several moon cycles. The yellow myelur acted differently than the red. It aided his physical well-being—allowing him to eat raw meat without getting sick. What it had not done, much to Wyjec’s disappointment, was to act as a direct energy source for the blue and red myelur. It was as if they were barrels full of different types of liquid.
For the last several days, Wyjec realized that the energy used to maintain him physically was waning, as indicated by the nausea which accompanied eating. This meant he needed to find something to drain using the yellow myelur.
Alpha led the hunting party directly to the cave where Wyjec had killed the bear. It was empty. Checking the cave was a good idea, one which Wyjec could understand. If it had once housed a bear, it could house another.
The hunting party continued roughly north, skirting along the mountain side. The other wolves found three rabbits, which were brought to Wyjec alive. He drained the smaller animals using the yellow myelur quickly, but it was not enough. Once he had absorbed the bear’s energy, he craved more than what a rabbit could provide.
For most of the day, they continued northward. Wyjec knew the further he traveled, the longer it would take to get back to the female wolves and the pups. He did not like to leave them alone, but neither could he help them if he was too sick to move.
Finally, just as the sky began to change to an orange hue, Alpha tracked down a bear. It was next to a stream, swiping fish out of the water with a paw. It was not as big as the bear Wyjec had killed before, but it would do.
The wolves moved in, preparing to attack. The bear was far from defenseless, and Wyjec feared one of his family might get hurt. He paused at that. These wolves are my family—more so than I’ve ever had. He could reach through the red myelur and stop the bear’s heart, but that would mean the yellow threads would not last long. Also, the wolves needed the practice of attacking something larger than themselves.
Wyjec whistled a tone. The sound instructed the wolves to stop whatever actions in which they were engaged—a command he had discovered recently. How can I protect them? He thought of the blue myelur, but his attempts to project the shield on anyone but himself had failed. From the distance he was to the bear, only the red myelur would have any power.
And then he understood what he could do. Enforcing his will through the red myelur, he pushed the bear’s amber glow to focus on a boulder next to the stream. The same tactic had worked when he first discovered this ability—back at the Master’s palace when a vermin had gnawed on his foot.
The bear gave up on fishing and instead turned toward the large rock. It butted its head against it, causing it to be dazed. After it had done the same action twice, Wyjec whistled for the wolves to attack.
Wyjec raced after the wolves. Once they were upon the bear, and tearing into its flesh, Wyjec could see the yellow myelur calling out to him. Exuberantly, he placed a hand on the dying bear and pu
lled on the yellow threads. The energy which flowed into his body immediately made him feel better, but it was more than that. It makes me feel powerful.
Chapter 48
The Gymads had asked Rheq to teach them how to move silently—to sneak through wooded areas without being noticed. He had tried over the last several moon cycles to do just that, yet none of those he taught could duplicate his actions. Yes, several of them improved much, but not to the level with which the Gymads were satisfied.
This morning, a day filled with the promise of spring and warmer weather, Rheq had just awoken. The wagon in which he slept was parked on the outer edge of the camp, next to the forest line. Before he could start his daily routine, Rheq was confronted by the leader of the Gymads as well as the seven men Rheq had been tasked with training.
“You’re holding back,” Brishen said by way of greeting. “We’ve done our part. We’ve fed you, given you shelter, and taught you ways to make different types of poisons. Yet none of our men can do what you can do.” The Gymad’s leader folded his wiry arms across his chest and glared down at Rheq.
“I’m not holding back,” Rheq said. He stared defiantly at Brishen in return. “It’s not enough to move without making noise. Your men aren’t recognizing when someone, or something, is close by to avoid it. Often, they step right into the line of sight when it is obvious they shouldn’t.”
Brishen shifted his glare to the seven men who stood beside him. “Is what he says true?”
One of the Gymads, Prakzen by name, answered. “I’ve tried my best.” He motioned to the men around him. “We all have. You selected us because of our agility, as well as our strong eyesight. I can’t explain why Rheq can see things which remain hidden from us.”
Darker the Shadow (The Howler King Trilogy Book 1) Page 19
