*
The dawn brought an early waking to the camp, and it was with much yawning, and groans of protest that figures started emerging from rumpled bedrolls and blankets. Aran stood and stretched, noting in the pale dawn light that already the mages were deep in huddled conference, their voices inaudible even in dawn’s quiet stillness.
“I see Hela and Theaua got back to their own bedrolls sometime before dawn,” Alissa grinned, as she dragged a wide bone comb through her sleep-snarled locks.
“The mages are deep in conference,” said Aran. “I don’t think the night’s activities went entirely unnoticed by Trevan, Trenny and Genn. Perhaps they are figuring out what caused it?”
“You don’t need to be a mage to know what caused it, love,” replied Alissa. “It’s obviously the energies of the forest at work. I just hope this won’t happen every night whilst we are in the forest.”
She smiled fondly up at her betrothed, “It’s not that I don’t like making love to you Aran, but we are all on a vitally important quest, and have other, more important duties ahead of us.”
He nodded, “The mages know that too. Perhaps they are trying to find a way to prevent it from happening again.”
Alissa grinned, “It’s not that we humans need an excuse for lovemaking, but there is a time and a place for everything, and really the forest Entity ought to just let nature take its course.” She eyed the knot of guardsmen who were giving each other slightly embarrassed grins, and furtively glancing towards Hela, whose curly blond head could only just be seen behind the other taller mages.
“I wonder who from the Guard Hela will choose as her companion?” mused Aran, following Alissa’s gaze over to where the elite soldiers were rolling up their blankets. “If in fact she does choose at all. It’s blatantly obvious that last night she was with them all at one time or another. However, for the sanity of the Guardsmen and the peace of the group she must either choose one or none.”
“I will have a word with her,” Alissa stated. “We cannot have this blanket-hopping happening every night in this accursed forest.”
She turned to Aran, “Will you have a word with Darven so he can say something to the men. I think they must guess that the forest Entity was behind last night’s activities. However they must understand that Hela cannot be coerced into any formal relationship. Last night was an aberration only…if she chooses a Guardsman, then well and good, if not then they will have to accept her decision and live with it.”
Aran rolled his eyes, “The things I have to do as King,” he groaned only half seriously.
She gave him a little shove towards where Darven and Bini were rounding up the horses, “Go on Aran, once we are travelling there will be little opportunity for private conversation.”
*
“Interesting night...”
Aran looked up from where he was tightening Spirit’s girth to encounter Mage Drayden’s unsettling golden-eyed gaze.
“Hmmm,” Aran replied. “Is what happened last night a usual occurrence in the forest?”
High Earthmage Drayden actually blushed, “I think it must be, for I had a similar experience when I was last here.”
Aran stood up and turned to face the other man, “Really! What happened?”
The mage’s face reddened, “You remember I said that I had encountered the Entity once before.”
Aran nodded.
Drayden smiled in supreme embarrassment, “Well that day many years ago I was alone in the forest and making my way to Glade, when I met a young woman. She said that she had become lost from the main paths, and could I guide her to Glade…” He shrugged, “What could I do? I had no idea that the forest Entity could assume human as well as an animal shape. I thought she was as human as you or I…”
He paused to frame his next words, “Well that night, one thing led to another and we mated…” he grinned at the memory, “Several times in fact. Indeed she was quite insistent and demanding in her wants and desires.” He shrugged again, “I saw no wrong in what we did, she was more than compliant, and I was a virile young man new to my mantle, and on my Quest to meet the Sages. It was only at the last time, just before the dawn that she pulled away from my embrace to stand over me and openly transmute herself into the form of a great grey she-wolf. To say I was shocked does not describe the horror and embarrassment that came over me at that moment. I was mortified that my companion of the night had been the Entity itself, and that our mating had been what is termed a ‘primal haunting’.”
Aran grinned, “I can just imagine, but getting back to our little dilemma, did you not think that we would have the same problems once we entered the forest?”
Drayden shook his head, “No, I thought I was vulnerable to its power because I was alone, and an Earthmage on Quest.”
“And do all other Earthmages travelling in the forest have similar encounters?” Aran asked.
The mage shrugged, “An Earthmage does not normally speak to others of what occurs whilst he or she is on Quest. It is a private and intimate journey which has much spiritual significance to each individual Earthmage.”
“Yet you speak of it now,” Aran said bluntly.
“I had no choice,” Drayden replied. “We cannot afford to have a repeat occurrence of what happened last night.”
Aran nodded, “I agree wholeheartedly.”
He paused and stared at the other man, “Have the other mages been able to do something about this?’
Drayden nodded, “Master Healermage Genn seems a young, virile man, but for some reason he was unaffected by last night’s primal hauntings. He has an idea of how to ward the group tonight, and once he has determined and tested the ward, will teach it to the other mages.”
“Good!” Aran turned back to his chore. “We have too great a task ahead of us to be bothered and delayed by these kinds of unique distractions the forest is throwing at us.”
“I hate to trouble you my lord, but there is another problem,” added Drayden unhappily.
With a frown creasing his face, Aran turned back to the mage.
“What kind of problem?”
Drayden shook his head, “It seems that last night Mage Hela was uh…‘intimate’ with all the Guard except for Wolf Leader Darven and Plainsman Bini. Despite her knowing that she was ‘driven’ by the energies of the forest, she is still deeply ashamed of her actions, and does not know what to do or say to the Guard if they should approach her.”
Aran laughed at that, his face reddening, “Tell her not to worry. I have spoken to Darven, and he has told the Guardsmen not to coerce her into a…a…repeat performance.”
He grinned again, “Do you know her mind in this Earthmage? Will she choose a soldier from the Andurian Guard as her companion?” His grinned broadened, “Just as Mage Theaua has made her choice in you…”
The mage blushed again, “I thought we were very quiet.”
Aran placed a hand on the Earthmage’s shoulder, “My friend, you two were groaning enough to keep the entire camp awake.”
The Earthmage’s face reddened even more.
Aran laughed at the other’s discomfiture, “Don’t mind me Drayden, I am teasing you only. In truth it was my lady Alissa who alerted me to what was going on…despite my Warriormage awareness, I really can be terribly dense at times.”
“Lady Alissa must have the hearing of a hound,” Drayden said blandly. “Although I must say that I am relieved to know that we were not noisy in our activities.”
“And of Hela?” asked Aran. “Do you know her mind in this?”
Drayden shook his head, “I will tell her what you told me, after that it is up to Hela to figure her own way out of this mess. Personally I hope she chooses none of them. She is too new to her mantle and apprenticeship to become entangled in a relationship with an Andurian Keep Guardsman.”
“And what does her master, High Weathermage Trenny think of all this?” asked Aran pointedly.
Drayden pulled a face, “He says little, but I
get the clear impression that he is distinctly unimpressed. In fact he seems to blame me entirely for not being able to prevent the primal hauntings from happening.”
Aran shook his head, “I would pay him no heed Drayden. I guess that he is only jealous that he is too old to be affected by these ‘primal hauntings’, and regrets his lost youth and virility!”
So, with some resolution gained, the company stood to eat a hurried meal of fruit and rye bread. Anxious now to quit the now quiescent clearing, eager hands gathered and stored the cooked, smoked and cooled strips of meat, then quickly repacked gear to begin day two of the journey. With these chores complete, the company gathered their horses and all were soon mounted. Aran, riding directly behind the High Earthmage, looked back and saw that to a man, all the party seemed more than glad to quit that night-haunted clearing, and follow the reassuring figure of Mage Drayden back into the verdant depths of the deep forest.
*
After the upsets of the night before, travel that day was marked only by the close and narrow trail which opened itself up at Drayden’s command, and the endless repetition and variety of trees that grew in Nay Forest. Constrained only to a walk, the horses were fretful and disobedient, eager only to break out into a headlong gallop. It took the considerable skills of their riders to settle their mounts down again.
“They long to run, my lord Aran,” said Bini, as he settled yet again his corn-coloured mare.
“I am not surprised,” replied Aran, craning his neck back so he could talk to the plainsman. “Horses are grassland animals. They dislike this closeness and heaviness of vegetation.”
Bini grinned, “I don’t blame them. I know that I for one will be glad to get out of this forest, and into a place where I can see the horizon again.”
“That I trust will not be long,” replied Darven from further back in the column after overhearing the conversation. “Then instead of all this green closeness, we will instead have to contend with having to avoid Thakurian patrols. I fear that it will be a hard, swift, and dangerous day’s ride across the plains, before we have gained any kind of shelter in the foothills of the Trident Range.”
“Drayden has promised me that these mysterious Sages will be able to help us across,” Aran replied frowning. “I only hope he is right, for it will mean that we shall be crossing the plains too close to Riggeltz for my liking.”
“They will help,” replied Drayden from the very front. “They are under oath and vow to do so.”
*
By mid-afternoon Drayden was able to locate within the depths of the forest a smaller clearing that would accommodate all the horses, and be a temporary camp for the night. Unerringly he led the column to it, and despite the hauntings of the previous night, the group was well pleased to be out from under the trees and into open air, and seeing unbroken blue sky above. As soon as the horses were unloaded, Drayden called Bini and Bennek to him, and the High Earthmage took the two hunters back into the depths of the forest to see if they could enlarge the group’s meat supplies.
“I hope it will be a quieter night tonight,” said Alissa as she dumped onto the ground her sleeping roll and blankets.
Aran leant over, letting the chainmail hauberk noisily slide off and onto the grass. He hunkered down and began to inspect the links for any signs of rust. Finally he looked up.
“I believe the mages have worked out some kind of ward,” he replied, “However it is not perfect so it must be maintained during the night, and that will involve a series of one hour watches by the mages.”
“Are you going to join them?” she asked.
He nodded, “They’re going to need anyone with an Ability, even a latent one, so that means that Darven, Bini and even you will need to stand an hour watch on the group.”
Alissa nodded, “I don’t mind. Do you know what’s involved?”
Aran glanced about at the others who were gathering wood for the cook fires, “I understand that Master Healermage Genn is setting up the initial ward, and then the rest of us will be reinforcing it during the night.”
“I have never applied my Ability in a conscious way before,” said Alissa frowning. “Do you think that the latent mages can do it?”
Aran nodded, “It will be very simple. Just a matter of keeping awake for the duration of the hour, there will be no words, thoughts or motions to memorise, just a conscious mage through which the power of the ward can be channelled.”
“Sounds easy,” replied Alissa in some relief. “I only hope I don’t fall asleep!”
“Walk for the duration of the watch,” advised Aran. “It’s very difficult falling asleep if you are standing up, besides I want you and the other latent mages to take the first watches. It will still be relatively early, and Drayden seems to think that the forest’s power increases with the darkening night.”
*
An hour or so later, the hunters returned with the freshly killed carcasses of a young hind, and an adult boar. The hunting had been impossibly easy since both animals had been slowed by previous injury, and in the case of the hind, had also been blind from birth. Immediately everyone took a hand in the skinning and preparation of the meat strips, and it was not long before a cook fire was banked and the meat placed on the wire framework over the coals.
“This will be enough to last us a week or two only,” said Bini. “I hope there is game in the mountains.”
“Animals will be scarce,” answered Drayden. “But enough will be found to sustain us. Besides we have the food parcels prepared by the mages, and I know that Glade will not let us leave empty handed. Also, once we are in Thakur we can send out raiding parties into their cities and settlements to bring back food!”
“I wonder how the Thakur sustain themselves during winter?” asked Aran walking up and overhearing the conversation. “I mean it’s not like Thakur is overly fertile.”
“They have great goat and sheep herds on the lower slopes of the Trident Range,” Drayden replied. “When I few over Thakur I saw for myself the massed herds of these animals. However when winter comes they slaughter most of their flocks and salt the meat for storage, leaving only a few small breeding herds to provide next season’s young.”
“And what about their fruit, grain and vegetables?” asked Aran. “No people can sustain themselves alone on meat.”
“There are small fertile valleys in the range which are wholly dedicated to massed farming,” Drayden replied, “Otherwise I believe they trade the minerals and riches of their mountains for grain and foodstuffs from Nafeking Province.”
“Then it is no wonder they lust after our lands,” Aran stated. “For Nafeking too is mostly grassland, and has not the fertility of our soils. Although I believe they do have great grain fields that stretch as far as the eye can behold.”
“We too have great trading agreements with Nafeking,” added Drayden. “What they cannot grow they trade, besides they have a much smaller population than ours.”
Aran pursed his lips, “True enough, I wonder if sometime in the future they would be amenable to the idea of merging of our two provinces.”
Drayden shrugged, “I don’t think they would like the notion my lord. They govern themselves very strangely, and have no sole authority.” The mage smiled, “That is why they have called themselves ‘Nafeking’. They do not believe in a sole ruler, instead they prefer to have some kind of elected governing group, one that is changed every five years.”
Aran shook his head, “The Andurian Council has acted in such a role during the absence of the Andurian line from the throne. We have seen all too well that such a method of government is weak and divided, and has no power, especially with the threat of invasion or raid.”
“Yet the people of Nafeking seem happy with their lot,” replied Drayden. “It may be because they know little else, but we must not be too quick to say that our way is the only way.”
Aran nodded, “Yet it suits us, and seems to keep Andur stable and economically strong. I think that once
this war is over I shall increase our diplomatic missions to Nafeking. We may have great trading agreements, but I cannot remember last time we sent envoys south beyond our borders.”
“It has been generations, lord,” agreed Drayden. “It would be well in our interest to reinstate our affiliations with Nafeking.”
“Then I will do it!” Aran replied firmly. “I wish this war would end so we can all get back to our interrupted lives. Already I have thought of a dozen or more projects that will require my immediate attention once we have returned to the Keep.”
“The lot of the Riothamus is never an easy one to bear,” murmured Bini. “The plainspeople too would gain much benefit from closer links with the rest of the province. It has not done our two peoples well to be so distant from each other.”
Aran nodded, “We are still waiting for your leaders to make up their minds as to if they are going to assist us in fighting this war.” He frowned, “I hope they will not tarry too long in their decision making, for we will need their aid soon!”
*
Much later Aran felt a gentle tap on his shoulder and he woke to see the dim outline of a figure bending over him.
“My lord king, it is your turn to watch.”
Aran shook his head clear of sleep and his eyes finally registered the outline of Mage Trevan.
Warriormage: Book Three of the 'Riothamus' trilogy Page 3
