Hand of Fire (The Master of the Tane)

by Rath, Thomas

  Thane knocked softly on Jack’s door not wishing another surprise like the one from the day before. Jack’s muffled voice said to come in and Thane hurried through the door not liking being alone and in plain view. Jack was lying on his bed in the corner so he grabbed a chair and pulled it over near him.

  “So,” Jack said staring up at the ceiling, “what have you decided?”

  Thane wrung his hands in nervous desperation. “I will tell you everything Jack. Like you said before, if we are to be friends we should not have secrets.”

  Jack sat up quickly and threw his legs over the side of the bed. “Good,” he said as if relieved.

  “Yes, well I think if I am to ask for your help you should know what you are getting into. It is only right. So, I will tell you what happened.” Thane paused. “There is more about the Chufa that I did not tell you.”

  Jack leaned forward, anxious to catch every word.

  Thane looked at him apprehensively and then continued. “There is a power held by the ArVen Tane that I did not tell you about before.” He took a deep breath. “The ArVen can send their voices on the wind.”

  Jack looked doubtful.

  “It’s true,” he insisted. “You saw how I called fire from the wood. The ArVen send their voices.”

  Jack’s facial expression changed to one of forced acceptance and he nodded his head.

  Thane continued. “I thought I heard my friend Tam,”

  “She is ArVen?” Jack asked, trying to understand.

  “Yes,” he said perking up. “Her voice came to me on the mountain wind and I thought she said that she was held by trolls. That would explain the smell of them. It came on the wind with her voice.”

  Jack stared at him with thoughtful eyes as if trying to find new slivers of doubt about his story. Thane was starting to feel unsure about it himself when Jack finally asked, “How is it she can throw her voice like that?”

  He breathed a sigh of relief. He knew he was wrong in lying to Jack but he had no choice. He had to help Tam and he needed Jack’s help. He couldn’t risk losing that by telling him the truth. It was for Tam he kept telling himself. “I do not know. It is special to her Tane just like the fire is to mine.”

  Jack stared at him a moment longer. “All right, Thane. Who am I to doubt what you have told me. After all, I’m probably the only one in hundreds of years to even speak with a Chufa. If, when Wess gets back, the story of the trolls is confirmed, I will help you get your friend back.”

  Thane felt a tinge of guilt at Jack’s words but there was no other way. “Thank you, Jack,” he said. “I knew I could count on you.”

  “Let’s just hope that you are wrong about your friend.”

  Thane watched him for a moment. Jack’s eyes seemed to drift away and become misty. “Are you all right?” he finally asked.

  “What? Oh yes, fine. I’ve got a surprise for you.” He reached down under the bed and pulled out two swords. One was about the length of Thane’s arm and the other was twice that size. “I figured that if we were going to pass you off as a Tjal-Dihn for any length of time, then it might be a good idea for you to learn how to use one of these.”

  Jack offered him the smaller sword which he gently took and stared at it in awe. The weight was more than he was used to in a blade. Holding it aloft, he carefully moved his hand down the length and then fingered the edge testing its sharpness. “It is magnificent!” he breathed softly.

  “Yes, it is at that, but it is also deadly. Now, I don’t know much about fighting with two swords, like the Dihn, but I can teach you a thing or two with one which should at least keep you alive in the event you find yourself in trouble and I’m not there to get you out of it.”

  Thane gave Jack a challenging look. “I have handled a blade before my friend. I think I can take pretty good care of myself.”

  Jack smiled. “Not like this you haven’t.” Maneuvering his sword at a speed that would not have been expected from someone his age, he sent Thane’s sword clattering to the ground and then brought his up, before Thane could react, and pressed it against his neck.

  “I am corrected,” Thane said softly staring at Jack with newfound respect.

  The rest of the evening was spent learning the finer points of swordplay and how to just plain stay alive in a fight. At first Thane found the large weapon a bit clumsy compared to the smaller, lighter dagger. Soon enough, though, he began to wield it with more precision and his skills improved rapidly. Jack was amazed at how quickly he learned and in no time, Thane was able to deflect quite a bit of what Jack swung at him. They continued on into the late hours of night, Thane begging for more every time Jack suggested they get some sleep, until he finally had to force the Chufa boy from his room.

  Thane felt as if he’d just closed his eyes to sleep when Jack burst through his door. “Come on you slug,” he shouted. “Get up! Wess is back and is waiting for us.”

  Opening a sleep filled eye he wondered where Jack had so suddenly found such a delight in the early morning hours. He tried to move but his muscles protested painfully. “Oh,” he moaned, “my body feels like it has been smashed with boulders.”

  “You’re just sore from last night,” Jack said pulling off his covers. “Come on, get up and get moving. It’ll make you feel better.”

  With constant prompting, Thane reluctantly slipped from his warm covers and rapidly pulled on his clothes and Dihne trying to escape the early morning chill. “What about breakfast? I am starving.”

  “We’ll get something later. Come on. Now is our chance to find out about the trolls.”

  At the mention of trolls, Thane’s complaints ended and his body and mind seemed to rouse out of the fog that came with too little sleep. Finally, he chased after Jack as they exited his room and passed through to empty pub. The sun had yet to make its way over the Shadow Mountains and warm the cool spring morning. The bite of cold air slapped his face, waking him completely, as they crunched over the still frozen ground to the stables at the compound’s far back corner.

  A group of men surrounded the entrance blocking their way and raising a clamor. A voice boomed through the uproar bringing all to a silent stillness as it barked out orders for quiet.

  “Now, all questions will be answered later. After I, and those who went with me, have had something to eat and a chance to rest. For now, I expect you all to return to your duties and wait for further instructions. Dismissed!”

  A rumble of disappointed voices broke the silence as the men pushed past Jack and Thane on their way back into the main yard. A few, including Sakin and Quin, caught sight of them and waved smiling at Thane and doing a mock step from the dance he had done two nights before.

  “Just ignore them,” Jack said as the last of the crowd dispersed and they were finally able to enter the stables.

  Thane gazed in awe at the beautiful animals that filled the building. They were the same he had seen when they first entered the station. Jack had told him about the horse but he never imagined it to be such a majestic looking creature. Men hurried around a small group of the animals that must have just come in judging from the way they were breathing and the strong smell of sweat that emanated from their bodies.

  “Get the saddles off of these horses,” the same voice said that had moments before sent the other men away. “And make sure you walk them a bit to cool them down. We’ve had a hard ride getting here.” Thane followed the sound to a man with short, dark hair and a bushy mustache. He was not a large man, standing somewhere between his own and Jack’s height and appeared to be a little on the thin side. There was something about him, though, that commanded the respect of those that scurried around him. Something about the way he carried himself. There was an unusual air of confidence that emanated from him.

  Turning towards them, the man suddenly paused as he caught sight of Jack. His eyebrows rose. “Jack? By the wind, is that you?”

  “Wess!” Jack roared, moving forward and clasping his hand as if they had been frie
nds all their lives. “How in Seless’ name are you, my friend?”

  “Well, in all honesty, not too good right now.” He looked around at the men who were busily working, trying hard not to appear as if straining to hear every word. “Come on,” he whispered grabbing Jack’s arm, “let’s go somewhere where we can talk privately.”

  Passing Jack, he almost stumbled right into Thane. Wess stopped with a jerk. “Who is this?”

  “This is Thane,” Jack said presenting the Chufa boy. “He’s Tjal-Dihn.”

  Wess gave Jack a funny look. “Well, by the headgear I would have guessed the same although there is something about him that shouts differently to me.” Wess looked Thane over closely. “I see you have relieved him of his weapons, wise choice.” Wess walked around Thane as if he were examining an animal and was squandering over the price with the owner. “Where did you find him?”

  Jack rolled his eyes, “That’s a story better left for a long winter’s night my friend.”

  Wess looked thoughtfully at Thane while chewing on the corner of his mustache. “Hmm, yes, I suppose,” he said absently.

  Thane felt himself becoming agitated at how they were talking about him as if he were not present. And the scrutiny with which Wess looked at him made him a bit nervous.

  “Well,” Wess finally said, “there is something definitely out of place with this boy but I can’t see it now. No matter, it will come to me. And since he’s under your eye, I have no doubt he will behave.”

  “Oh, yes,” Jack said eyeing Thane as if to say, ‘did you hear that?’ “He will be no trouble. I assure you.”

  “Well then, old friend,” Wess said cheerfully, turning away from Thane, “let’s catch up some and discuss the problems at hand.”

  He led them out of the stables and across the compound to the building next to the pub. Upon entry, it was obvious that this housed all of the stations weapons. Wess hung up his sword and replaced it with another before turning to Jack and finally speaking. “Actually, it may be considered fate that you are here.”

  “Oh?” Jack said a look of disbelief playing across his face. “And how is that?”

  Wess lowered his voice, although, there was no one else in the building. “Trolls, my friend. I have just returned from a demolished village situated to the north and west of here. Nothing was left of the inhabitants save a couple of discarded bones. The whole town was massacred and the area was overflowing with troll tracks. We estimate there numbers to reach well over a thousand, maybe even two.”

  Thane’s eyes grew big with the confirmation of what he had witnessed only a few of nights before. He had actually seen Tam captured by trolls and now Jack would not be able to deny him. Still, he couldn’t help feeling shocked over the sheer number that was reported. That information was completely unexpected.

  “By Seless’ throne Jack, they’ve gathered. They left an easy trail headed straight for Haykon. I sent a runner to warn them and another to Calandra, but I’m afraid that by the time word gets to either, and action is taken to send reinforcements, the battle will have already been lost.”

  Jack rubbed his fingers through his beard and then pulled on the very tip. “No disrespect to you or your men, but are you absolutely sure of all this, Wess? I mean a thousand trolls in one area at the same time? More than a hundred would have a problem staying focused on the same goal without eventually turning on one another.”

  Thane looked shocked. A hundred? What is he talking about? Five can’t work together for very long. If a hundred ever gathered against our village we’d be wiped out.

  “I know it sounds incredible, Jack, but I saw it with my own eyes.”

  “Do you know what this is all about?”

  Wess considered for a moment. “Yes and no. I know what damage that number can do if they remain focused, but what I can’t figure is what is driving them. And why push for Haykon?”

  “Maybe they are trying to remain unseen so as not to gather attention.”

  “Maybe, but I can’t see any troll smart enough to plan something so far ahead as this.”

  Jack nodded his head in agreement. “So what do you plan on doing?”

  Wess sighed throwing up his hands. “Well, until we get an order from Calandra to move, we can’t do anything but wait. You’re the troll expert, what do you think?”

  Jack glanced at Thane. “I don’t know, but I intend to find out about this. Can you lend us a couple of horses?”

  “Sure, where are you going?”

  “To Haykon, of course. Two can travel a lot quicker than an army, or a thousand dumb trolls for that matter. If we leave tonight, we should get there in plenty of time for a few sword swipes.” Thane looked at his friend, a smile playing across his face. Jack knew this would make him happy but tried not to let on that he’d noticed.

  Wess looked down shaking his head. “Always the same thing, isn’t it Jack? You would think we would get just a moment to ourselves to sit down for one night and drink to old times instead of planning out new ones.”

  Jack smiled but the humor didn’t reach his eyes. “Well, my friend, we have until tonight.”

  “Maybe,” Wess said with another look of concern. “But, there’s more I have yet to tell you about the goings on at Hell’s End Station.”

  Jack gave him a questioning look.

  “Come, and I will show you.” Wess started to move but then stopped glancing back at Thane. “Uh, maybe your friend here should return to the pub.”

  Jack looked at Thane who shook his head slightly and then opened his mouth as if to say something. Jack cut him off. “I think it might be best if he stayed with me.”

  Wess shrugged his shoulders. “All right.”

  Wess lead them out of the armory and towards the building between it and the stables. Thane noticed the strange looking bars that covered the windows and could only guess that this was a place of holding for those they did not want running around loose.

  “Now,” Wess said after they passed two men guarding the entrance, “you must swear to me that you won’t say a word to anyone about what you are about to see. Only my most trusted men know about what is down here.”

  Jack nodded his head. “You know you can trust me, Wess.”

  Wess nodded back and then glanced quickly at Thane.

  “Don’t worry about him,” Jack said quickly. “He can barely speak a word of common anyway. You can trust him.”

  Wess looked back at Jack for a moment and then gave a slight nod.

  A small stairway led them down and around a corner, just under the floor above. Smaller windows, like the ones Thane had seen above, were found at either end of a short hallway that extended to both sides. Thane suddenly felt very claustrophobic and had to resist the urge to run back up the stairs and return to the light of day.

  Wess took them to the right and then to the very end before stopping at a small wooden door. A large bolt was affixed to the right side that disappeared into a sold rock frame. Grabbing a latch on the top of the door, Wess opened a small shutter revealing a tiny opening crossed with bars. Stepping back, he motioned for Jack to look inside. Jack glanced at his friend in wonder and then stepped up to see what was kept as such a dark mystery. Thane heard a small gasp escape his lips before he stepped back and grabbed Thane’s arm. Thane looked at him in wonder at what he could have seen that would cause him to react in such a manner. Thane moved to look but Jack held him back shaking his head.

  “Eelo Nu Olonir,” Thane whispered, hoping Jack understood. Jack hesitated for a moment and then reluctantly released his grip.

  He moved cautiously up to the window, wondering what it was that had caused these two men such grave concern. Peeking through the bars, he caught sight of a huddled figure curled up in a ball in the back corner of the cell. Something familiar about him made his heart race but he couldn’t quite place what it was. Then the body unexpectedly moved and the prisoner lifted his head and turned to stare directly at him. Thane gasped. A soft “No” esca
ping his lips as he felt his legs suddenly give way, his iron grasp on the bars the only thing keeping him from collapsing to the floor.

  It was Dor.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Teek tied his canoe to the base of the old man’s tree while humming an old Waseeni folk song. It was an unusually hot day for this time of year and judging from the easily read signs of bird migration and insect hatchings, spring seemed to be forcing its way in early bringing with it the promise of a deathly hot summer.

  Teek was cheerful though, having caught five crabs and a whole lobster that morning. Lobster was rarely, if ever, found in the swamplands keeping more to the ocean regions in the south and east. When one did find its way into the Teague, and survived long enough to be caught in a Waseeni trap, it was considered a great blessing from the ancestors, as well as a fine meal.

  Since he’d brought home such a large catch, his mother gave him permission to take the lobster to Twee. Twee loved lobster. Time after time he had told Teek about the many different types of food he enjoyed that were found only in the oceans.

  “In the days of my youth,” he would often say, “I would gorge myself to exploding at the fish markets in Gildor. The shops there line the docks for as far as the eye can see sending their delicious smells sailing along with the coastal breezes tempting any who got too near. There’s nothing like the taste of lobster pulled fresh from the ocean, boiled in Baxel nut oil and then dipped in Pernese sauce.” Teek’s mouth salivated just from his descriptions, sometimes making him believe he could actually smell the food passing through the stale, swamp air.

  Carefully hefting the large cage that held his delicious treasure, Teek scrambled awkwardly up the long rope ladder reaching for the wood landing above. Placing the cage at his feet, he clapped his hands to announce his presence and then waited for his old friend to call him in. Moments passed but no answer came.

  “Probably taking a nap or something,” Teek murmured clapping his hands again. “Twee,” he called, “it’s me, Teek. I’ve got a surprise for you.” The young Waseeni boy waited but again was disappointed when no answer came. Gently pulling aside the reed mat that hung in the doorway, he peeked inside. “Twee? Are you in here?” His eyes quickly scanned the old man’s cabin falling almost immediately on Twee’s body sprawled out motionless in the far corner. Rushing in he almost tripped on the lobster cage as he hurried to the old man’s side.