by David Wind
Seeing the ghazi troops fall back, the Nevaens surged forward, led by Timon and Ilsraeth. Off to one side, hidden behind a winding strand of pines, a hidden army of the Dark Masters charged from the Nevaens’ flank, catching them by surprise. At the same moment, the retreating army stopped on signal, turned and charged the Nevaens.
Twenty minutes later, every Nevaen warrior was dead.
Ilsraeth, Areenna cried silently, as they watched the ghazi surround the queen. She fought like a woman possessed, her weapon of reddish light striking everywhere around her; ghazi bodies piling up like a wall around her while more and more ghazi, their deformed bodies and malignant faces continued to run atop the dead in their effort to get to her. Her aoutem, the large black rantor, lay at her feet, its lifeblood seeping from a dozen sword strokes.
Then the ghazi stopped. There was dead silence. Ilsraeth’s back was against a tree, the palm of one hand held toward the now motionless ghazi; her other hand drew the dagger sheathed at her waist. A moment later, the crush of ghazi parted and a woman in a gray robe walked toward Ilsraeth.
She stopped ten feet from the queen and lowered her hood. “Know you who I am?”
“I know you for the evil you are.”
“Join me, and my Masters. Rule Northcrom, again, in the name of Afzal.”
“Neither you nor your Masters will ever rule in Nevaeh,” Ilsraeth’s voice was barely a whisper as she spat her defiance at Lessig.
“Then you die at my hands.”
“And I will be avenged by the hands of the chosen of The Eight!”
Lessig released a stream of black energy at Ilsraeth. In the instant before it reached her, Ilsraeth lifted the dagger in her left hand and sliced across her carotid artery.
“No!” Lessig screamed, and raced to Ilsraeth. She covered the queen’s neck with her hand. The blood sprayed through her fingers with each fading heartbeat. Seconds later, Ilsraeth lay dead at Lessig’s feet.
Lessig stared at the body, then looked up at the sky and let go with a piercing, raging scream.
As suddenly as the dream began, it ended.
Areenna shook her head when the dream vision ended. Her mouth was dry, and she swallowed several times trying to raise some saliva. She looked at Mikaal. “I need to think about this. I… I am not sure what it was, exactly. A foretelling it was not; a warning I believe.”
Before anyone could say anything, a strange cry echoed out. The three turned at the same time, to see Duv, lying on his back, mewing as Charka and Gaalrie stood on each side. Gaalrie’s long sharp beak nuzzled the rantor’s stomach while Charka’s huge head pressed lightly against the cub’s head.
Neleh’s mind wavered, her body stiffened suddenly and a few seconds later, relaxed.
“What?” Mikaal asked.
Neleh did not answer; rather, she stared at the three aoutems. A moment later, Gaalrie stepped back from Duv. Charka lifted his head. “What?” Mikaal asked again.
Areenna tore her gaze from the aoutems to look Neleh and then Mikaal. “They were bonding… I have never seen such a thing. I…” her voice faded off.
“Duv is happy,” Neleh announced as the cub ran to her and jumped in her lap, almost knocking her backwards.
Areenna did not see the rantor jump onto Neleh’s lap; her eyes locked on Gaalrie as she joined with her aoutem. Within the blink of an eye, she understood what had happened.
Settling more comfortably within the treygone’s mind, she directed a thought to her aoutem. Look up.
Gaalrie lifted her head skyward, and so did Charka and Duv, who still sat on Neleh’s lap. Areenna’s breath whooshed from between barely parted lips. Our aoutems… they are as we are, joined. This is… a gift to us. What one sees, what one does, so do the others.
CHAPTER 18
ROTH STOOD IN the center of the high platform, overlooking the enlarged training fields. In the days since returning to Tolemac, time moved quickly. Turning, he looked at Ecorah and Darb, who had brought most of their soldiers to Tolemac, leaving just enough to protect Brumwall from any rogue free-blades.
On the first day of Roth and Enaid’s return to Tolemac, Enaid had sent a message to her mother, asking that she, her father, and her brother come to Tolemac immediately. Queen Enna had sent Darb that very day, and he’d ridden straight through.
After learning the full circumstances, Darb wrote his own message to his father, imploring King Ecorah to bring their troops immediately, the troops they had been gathering since Mikaal and Areenna’s visit on the way to the Frozen Mountains. Two days ago, Ecorah, Enna, and the small army had arrived.
Today, with Ecorah standing to one side, and Darb the other, they watched the experienced soldiers training the volunteers who arrived daily. In the distance, a thousand men learned how to handle bows. To Roth’s left, working near the high walls of the keep, Halan, the weapon master of Tolemac, oversaw a crew of fifty men and women who created weapons as quickly as possible.
Two dozen men and women worked on bows, cutting, gluing, and forming them into sturdy and functional weapons. In the storerooms of Tolemac, now resided three shipments of acont arrows from Welkold—ten thousand perfectly turned shafts. Another twenty Nevaens worked over roaring fires, their bodies glistening with sweat, hammering metal into the shapes of swords, spears and daggers, while others worked at grinding wheels, sharpening the various blades, spear tips, axe heads and arrowheads.
In the distance, spirals of smoke rose from a hundred cooking fires; and, where once there had been open spaces and distantly separated homes, there was now, as far as the eye could see, a forest of canvass and silks creating a city of thousands of tents, with more rising each day.
Roth broke the consuming silence. “The way I consider it, if Areenna’s foreseeing is correct, we face at least a hundred thousand ghazi. Our forces will be outnumbered five to one. Yet, our advantage lies in that they continue to think in the ways of the past.” Roth looked at Darb. “They split their forces and by doing so, give us a chance.”
“How does that help us?” Darb asked.
King Ecorah listened intently, knowing that when it came to war strategy, Roth was the most knowledgeable person in Nevaeh.
“Several ways! The most important is in how they think. These Dark Masters are entrenched in the past. Their thinking has not evolved because they’ve had no need. Everyone they faced with their full might have fallen. They are secure in their perception that their way is the only way to succeed.” He paused to look directly into Darb’s eyes.
“We know a third of their ships will land somewhere off Fainhall. We know as well, Lessig has corrupted Nomis and Eetak and they follow the Dark Ones. Prince Samot is here.” Roth pointed north, where Samot sat his kraal, overseeing the training of his men. “The prince was able to bring four thousand of Fainhall’s soldiers and citizens when he left. In Kashold, Prince Nevets has taken two-thirds of Kashold’s soldiers to Welkold, as we directed, and joined with Welkold and Lokinhold’s forces in case the ghazi march north.”
He stopped to look at the map spread across the small table. “They have set an encampment here,” he said, indicating an area inside the border of Welkold, which bordered both Kashold and Lokinhold. “They will remain there, hidden fifty miles from whatever routes the ghazi take on their way to Freemorn. If by some chance the Dark Masters move north to take Welkold, then they will defend the dominion to the last man. However, I believe the ghazi army will go after Freemorn and from there, Tolemac. If this proves true, that small army will follow them—which is something they would never expect.”
Darb shook his head. “But this means there will be no resistance in Fainhall.”
“It matters not, Darb, Fainhall was lost the moment its rulers succumbed to Lessig, as was Llawnroc. The reality is that the soldiers of Fainhall, who stand with Nevaeh, will not die when twenty thousand ghazi arrive at Fainhall. They will be here, preparing for the real battle.”
“And what of the second armada… it lands in… L
lawnroc, does it not?” Ecorah asked.
Roth turned to him. “Either Llawnroc or Aldimore, but the vision showed the landing to be in wastelands between.”
“Surely Yermon has not submitted,” the king of Brumwall half whispered.
Roth closed his eyes for a split second. “It is not Yermon, but Queen, Azil. Enaid believes Lessig turned her. And she has...influenced her husband with Dark Magic to the degree that she, and not Yermon, controls Llawnroc.”
“This is grave news.” Darb’s voice was low and husky, reflecting his emotions.
“My concern,” Roth said, his words clipped sharply for emphasis, “Is two-fold. I do not want to lose Freemorn, but such will happen. More importantly, I do not want to show our hand of the defense we plan here in Tolemac. We need to build a small army to aid Freemorn and put up a strong fight against the ghazi, so they will not know our strength here. Many, if not all, will die.”
Darb stood straighter. “I will lead them.”
“No,” Ecorah objected, his eyes locking on his son.
“No,” Roth echoed. “I need you here, and we all know Nosaj will allow no other to do this. And, Darb, you have an important part to play.”
When Darb looked at him in question, Roth reached out and squeezed his shoulder. “When I have fully worked out what I need, I will explain, but not yet. It has to do with our defenses against the attack from the east. It is from there the strongest danger comes when their two forces combine.” He looked west. “When Enaid returns, I will have more information.”
Something in the distance caught Roth’s eyes, and he looked outward. A few moments later, he spotted a long stream of kraals working through the training grounds. He estimated there were at least a half thousand, and among them, flew several different banners.
He half-laughed at the sight. “The Free-Blades join us. I hoped this would happen. Come, let us greet them.”
<><><>
The grove within the Blue Forest was quiet, except for the sounds of insects calling to each other. Areenna, Mikaal, and Neleh slept, exhausted from the day’s work, and the hours spent through the afternoon and evening in discovering what new abilities they could find within themselves.
Shortly after the evening meal, they’d gone to their silks. A few minutes later, all three were asleep. On a branch above the lean-to, Gaalrie sat watch, sleeping in short snatches, as was a treygone’s natural sleeping habit. Duv, tired from the day and the new experiences, slept curled into Neleh’s abdomen while Charka slept standing near the lean-to.
A few small animals scavenged just outside the grove, but presented no danger to either the aoutems or the three asleep in the tent. Then, as midnight approached, Gaalrie awoke fully alert and looking everywhere for what had woken her.
She sensed something coming closer, and then heard it swinging on branches. A few moments later, a small skerl-like animal appeared on a branch across the grove from her.
While this visitor was the size of a skerl, with similar fur and head shape, the similarity ended there. The animal had short back legs, with prehensile feet that grasped the branch tightly. Its arms were longer than its legs, and had small hands with opposable thumbs. Its tail was long and thick and wrapped around the branch for extra security.
Then the animal disappeared. Ten seconds later, Gaalrie saw it on the ground, racing across the open grove, and then up the tall pine next to the tree where Gaalrie perched. The instant the animal wrapped its tail around the branch it stopped on, Gaalrie’s senses went to full alert.
There was something wrong about the animal, something dangerous, and Gaalrie sent a calling to Areenna.
<><><>
Lessig leaned against the balustrade of the royal keep of Llawnroc, her eyes locked on a point far distant from where she stood. She had been in the same spot for most of the day and night, trying to penetrate the block Areenna had erected. She had never before encountered a block that stopped her, but this one was impenetrable to any magic she tried.
Despite her failures, she knew there had to be a way to get through the block. It took the entire afternoon to work it out, and only when a small skerl had climbed a giant tree next to the keep, jumped onto the parapet and then snuck through the partially open door to the keep itself, did she realize how she could pass through the block.
Unlike her predecessor, the one called the Black Witch, she had no need of using formulas created with herbs and animal organs; rather, she used the abilities the Dark Master had given her and had created an army of creatures, born through her manipulative use of dark power.
Lessig reached out to the badlands bordering Fainhall and the Blue Desert, and selected one of the creatures she had created from what once had been a skerl. Its mind was almost a complete blank, with only the ability to feed and function within a group. Nevertheless, its mind was open and awaiting the orders of its mistress: its sole purpose, to do whatever Lessig demanded.
This night, its purpose was to bypass the block Areenna had erected, and take Lessig inside the grove of trees where she could learn what it was her cousin and the boy freak were doing.
With midnight rapidly approaching, and her presence securely hidden within the skerl creature, she pushed the small animal toward the forest. At the block, she withdrew her essence into a dark corner deep in the skerl-creature’s mind, hidden by the skerl-thing’s thoughts of food. Five seconds later, Lessig was looking at the grove within the forest, where the creature scrambled past the block and up the tree.
On the branch, Lessig looked through the creature’s eyes and saw the lean-to across the grove. Moving quickly, it dropped to the ground, cut across the open area, then climbed another tree, and found the perfect branch from which to observe.
Lessig settled the creature on the branch and carefully pushed her senses to the lean-to. Several heartbeats later, Lessig froze, her senses hovering above the three sleeping figures—three, not two.
Who is this third? She wondered. Her Master told her not of this. She hesitated, not certain if she should go further. Acutely aware that her Master wanted her cousin and the male sorcerer dead, or captured and submissive, she was determined to please him.
She pressed closer, trying to learn about this third person. The first thing she sensed was her youth; the third was but a child. Then she realized how fortunate an opportunity this was, for a young girl would not have the ability to protect herself, as would the other two. She pushed herself toward the child, carefully testing as she went. At the same time, she sent the skerl-thing down the tree, toward the lean-to, to get a closer look at the child.
<><><>
Areenna’s eyes snapped open at the combination of Gaalrie’s urgent call and the pressure in the center of her forehead, as a sense of danger rushed through her. At the same time, Duv jumped up and let go with a loud warning growl.
Areenna joined instantaneously with Gaalrie and through her aoutem’s eyes, watched the strange skerl-like creature drop to the ground and turn toward the lean-to. She pushed her senses at it and when she did, she hit a block and knew the creature was under the control of another.
Lessig! Reacting instantly, she sent a powerful flashing thought to Mikaal, who woke immediately and joined with her, his mind alert and aware. Neleh joined them then, and as the heat flared within Areenna, she called up her weapon of light. Mikaal joined her, his body fairly exploding with the heat of his powers as flames formed around his hands. Neleh reached out to Areenna and Mikaal the instant before they released their powers and took their weapons into herself. Standing, she dove out from the lean-to and, as she somersaulted to her feet, raised both arms and pointed her fingers at the creature. The night burst with light when she released a stream of white and blue light surrounded by orange-red flames. Faster than the eye could follow, the skerl-creature erupted in flames and then, screaming as the fire ate at it, disappeared with a loud crack. Not an ash remained.
Turning at the same time, Areenna and Mikaal stared at each other. Did y
ou do that? Areenna asked Mikaal.
Mikaal shook his head and turned to Neleh. How? He projected, staring deeply into her pale eyes.
Neleh’s shoulders rose and fell. I know not how, only that it felt right, that it was what I was supposed to do.
Mikaal stared at his ward. “We will talk of this later. For now there is more to worry about. Lessig has found us, and discovered a way to penetrate our block. We cannot stay here.”
Areenna shook her head. “There is no other place. And no, she did not penetrate our block, the animal did, she but hid within it.”
Still we cannot take a chance. There will be another of her creatures. She will not give up.
Mikaal closed the distance between them and gently pulled Areenna to him. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close against him when she silently said, When we are awake, she cannot get near us. When we sleep, we are more vulnerable: but we have our aoutems, and they will protect us as they always do. You must trust in yourself and in me. We will accomplish what we came here to do.
Still in his arms, and with the heat from his body pressing against her, Areenna could barely think, the warmth of his body was overwhelming. They’d spent the last days staying physically away from each other because of this. She took in a deep breath, leaned forward, and grazed her lips across his. Then she stepped back and out of his hold.
We have learned much tonight.
Neleh?
Yes. Tomorrow we explore more fully. Areenna turned to look for Neleh, who was sitting on the ground outside the lean-to, hugging the rantor, her face buried in Duv’s fur.
“Neleh,” Areenna called aloud.
Neleh lifted her head. “Come back. We need some sleep this night.”
Neleh stood and walked slowly back. “How did she get through?”
“By hiding within the animal,” Mikaal responded. “Which is why we will ask our aoutems to watch through the night.”
