“Hide,” said the voices of the trees. “Come up into our branches.”
I obeyed. I turned to my left and went tearing up into the mountains. As I ran the, trees reached down to scoop me up in their branches. You might think I would have been scratched and bruised, but I was not. The trees touched me as gently as a mother cradling her infant.
I continued to run, even as the trees lifted me higher into the air. Incredibly, I found I could not miss a step. I hurtled forward without giving a thought to where my feet would land, but always there was a foothold. The branches moved and twisted, swung around to build a path for me as I raced along the mountainside. The land flew by beneath me, and to my breathless wonder, I became one with the trees.
To my right, I saw that great wall of heat pushing ever forward. Now that I understood what it was, I focused on looking for other signs of heat around me. I saw a handful of Kanter scouts moving through the trees here and there, but I passed by overhead without a sound. It wasn’t long until I reached Tinker’s little valley. Nothing could have prepared me for the horrors I found there.
The cottage was on fire. Three giant Kantrayan men were ambling about the yard, barking out in some crude language. Past them, up the hill beyond the barn, I saw Tinker’s familiar body shape as a dim red glow. He held Cinder in his arms, and Analyn trader was kneeling in the bushes next to him.
A man’s body lay strewn across the path in front of the barn. It was Daran trader. He still clutched an old sword in his hand. I could tell even from that distance that there wasn’t much life left in him. Obviously, he had confronted the Kanters, probably trying to distract them so Tinker and Analyn could escape. His heroic act very well might have cost him his life.
I spoke to the trees, my thoughts a rising wave of emotion and panic. I told them about the men in the clearing, that they were evil and that I had to save my friends. The trees quickly grasped the meaning of my thoughts, but their response was not altogether clear. Some told me to run, others to hide, but none offered a realistic solution to the problem.
Frustrated, I started making my way up the hillside and around to Tinker’s position. My arrival was announced by little more than the sound of a breeze through the branches (if you’ll pardon the pun). I came up near them, overhead, and whispered down, “Tinker!”
Analyn clutched at her heart and nearly screamed. Even the sound of her gasp was too much. I glanced up to see the Kanters staring in our direction. I commanded the tree I was in to bend its branch low, and I motioned for Analyn and Tinker to follow me into the trees. They did so awkwardly climbing among the branches and creating more than a bit of noise.
The branch returned to its normal position just as the Kanters appeared below us. They stomped around, grunting and thrashing around in the darkness. I quietly motioned for Tinker and Analyn to follow me. We disappeared into the treetops and didn’t stop until we were halfway up the mountain. There, the trees gently settled us to the ground.
“My husband’s down there,” Analyn said. “He’s dying!”
“Stay here!” I said. I went back up into the branches and disappeared, leaving the two of them safe but mystified. After all, they had been planning on rescuing me. My arrival must have been quite a shock to them.
By the time I got back down to the barn, I knew what I had to do. I dropped to the ground and crept up to the containers and barrels of junk behind the barn. I hid myself there in the shadows, and then asked the trees to start making noise. One of them shook, and dropped a few branches.
All three Kanters shouted and went running. Another tree, a bit further down the hillside did exactly what the first had done. The Kanters took off in that direction, hot on the trail of what they thought to be the escaping humans.
I ran around the barn and knelt down at Daran’s side. His pulse was weak, almost nonexistent. I closed my eyes and touched his skin, searching his body for the wound. I was horrified to find that his neck had been broken.
I fought the urge to vomit as I surveyed the damage. I had to divide my attention between keeping his heart beating and repairing the damage to his spine. Spinal fluid had begun to seep out, and I caused the muscles to convulse and force it back towards the bone.
I set the bone to mending and then used my hands to stretch his neck out, lining everything up as straight as I could. Somehow, I managed to keep his spine intact as I did it. Without my Tal’mar abilities, this would have killed him.
Once his neck was set and the spinal column was sufficiently healed, I directed his body to use what resources it could, much the same way that I had with Tinker. There was no infection or sickness in Daran’s blood, just an abundance of adrenaline.
His pulse strengthened quickly. After a few moments, I was sure that he would survive. It would be some time however, before he regained consciousness. Which left me in the unfortunate situation of having saved a man who would immediately be killed when the Kanters returned. I had to get him out of there, but I couldn’t imagine how to do that without injuring him or attracting their attention.
Reluctantly I left him there and went back up the hill. I found Tinker and Analyn just where I had left them. “We have to go back,” I said.
“Is he alive?” Analyn was frantic. Her face was streaked with tears.
“Yes, but we have to get him off the ground. We need to put him in the barn.”
“But the Kanters,” Tinker said. “They’ll come back and kill us!”
I sent a thought out to the trees, describing my situation. Daran could not leave the valley for at least a few days. The only way to save him –to save all of us– was to make sure the Kanters wouldn’t return. The trees acknowledged my request with a solemn confirmation.
“They won’t be back,” I said flatly. “Come on, we need to hurry.”
The sound of the Kanters’ screams echoed up the hillside as we made our way back to the barn. I pretended not to notice as Analyn and Tinker exchanged an uncomfortable look.
Chapter 25
We got Daran into the barn and settled into a position where I could work on him some more. “He’s going to lose a couple toes,” I told Analyn. She gave me a mystified look.
“What do you mean?”
“I need materials to repair his neck. The broken bones can’t mend correctly otherwise.”
“Do what you have to do,” she said. “Just keep him alive.”
I nodded and closed my eyes. I could have taken his fingers, but since Daran’s work involved using his hands, it seemed more important to his livelihood that I use his toes instead. I hoped he could forgive me. His toes could never be replaced.
Unfortunately, there was nothing else I could do. Even if he were conscious and could eat, his body couldn’t absorb the nutrients from food fast enough. Reluctantly, I proceeded with my work.
I had been leaning over his body for over two hours when I finally stepped back. “It’s done,” I said. I was exhausted.
Analyn’s eyes misted with tears. “He’ll be okay? He’ll be able to walk?”
“He will be fine,” I said. “He’ll need to rest a few days, and he needs lots of food to eat.”
“There’s plenty in the cellar for now,” Tinker said. He glanced through the open barn doors at the burning cottage. “I might have to do some digging to get to it. Are you sure the Kanters won’t return?”
“Those three won’t,” I said. I followed his gaze and felt warm tears streaming down my cheeks. That cottage was the only home I’d ever known. I could remember watching him build my room.
Tinker sighed, and pulled his eyes away. “I don’t know what to think of all this. It’s not what I would have expected from the Kanters.”
“Me either.” If even half of what I’d read about them was true, they simply weren’t capable of planning this invasion. “Do you think they made an alliance with the Tal’mar?” It was a blunt question, and Tinker wasn’t prepared for it. He must have been thinking it, though. How could he not? Humans and Tal�
��mar had been enemies for generations.
He took a deep breath, and shook his head. “None of it makes sense. They sent out scouts in advance… they poisoned wells. Is it possible that we underestimated them so completely? I’m actually starting to wonder if the war between us has been perpetuated by the Kanters all along. I just can’t figure out why they would do it.”
The suggestion was so unexpected that I almost fell over. “You think the Kanters have been causing the war?”
“Think about it, Breeze. Every time we have a treaty something happens. The Tal’mar accuse us of raiding a village, or we accuse them of poisoning a well… that all looks quite a bit different now, doesn’t it? We know the Kanters poisoned the school well. It had to be them. And if the same thing has been happening on the other side, then the Tal’mar certainly aren’t their allies.”
“But why would they do all that? Why not just invade, if that’s what they were planning?”
“I don’t know. I suppose they could have been trying to weaken us. Perhaps they knew we would outnumber them. Or perhaps they feared an alliance between the human and the Tal’mar.”
I thought about it for a few moments. Tinker’s suggestion made sense. It was hard to believe that the Kanters could have been so misunderstood, and yet how else could their invasion been so carefully planned? They had long allowed the rest of the world to assume that they were mindless barbarians, barely even human, yet all along they had been scheming and planning.
I realized then that we knew far too little about the Kanters. “We should have been spying on them,” I said. “We should have been watching them all along.”
“Indeed. It seems we’ve been focused on the wrong war. And now, all of our troops are stationed in the Borderlands. By the time they get word of what’s happened, it will already be too late. Half the kingdom will be gone.”
“Not if I tell them,” I said. He gave me a long look, and I could see the argument forming behind his eyes. I cut him off before he could start. “We have the plane ready to go, Tinker. It will take days for the message to reach them on horseback. I can get to the army in a matter of hours.”
“What good would it do, Breeze? They won’t trust you. They’ll lock you up, just like what happened here.”
“No they won’t,” Analyn said. “They’ll do whatever you say, if you show them this.”
She tossed me an object, and I caught it. It was a ring. It was a thick gold band with a silver crest of a gryphon inlaid on the face. It was far too large to be worn comfortably, even by a large man. “What is it?”
“It’s the king’s seal,” said Tinker. “A seal entrusted only to the most noble of families. One might wonder how a simple school teacher might have acquired such a trinket.”
“One might,” Analyn said with a grim smile. “Fly to the Borderlands, Breeze. Get as close to the front as you can. Show that ring to a commander, or better yet, General Corsan if you can find him. Show him that ring, and he’ll listen.”
I shoved the ring into my pocket. “Then I guess I’d better be going.”
“Wait!” said Tinker. “Before you go, let me paint the plane.”
“Tinker, that’s ridiculous. Why would you want to do that?”
“Because I want you to come back,” he interrupted. “If you get yourself killed you won’t do us much good, will you? Besides, you need to get a few hours of rest. The plane is already packed and ready to go. It won’t take long.”
I shook my head unable to understand Tinker’s reasoning. “I don’t understand.”
“Don’t worry. Just get some rest.”
“Tinker, the house is burned down.” He opened one of the cabinets and tossed me an old wool blanket. “There’s a bench in the windmill. It should be comfortable enough.”
I stumbled outside and made my way to the windmill. Strangely, it was the one place in Tinker’s homestead I’d never explored. Spider webs snapped and dust motes swirled around me as I pulled the door open. There wasn’t much to see.
The floor was thick with dust and rat’s nests, and there was a hole in the ceiling where the mill used to be. The only furnishing in the room was the old bench that Tinker had told me about. I curled up and went to sleep, too tired to worry about the dust or the spiders that were no doubt scurrying around me. I was instantly asleep.
I woke to the sound of squeaking hinges, and looked up to see Tinker standing in the doorway. “It’s ready,” he said. I followed him outside, and saw the plane parked in the yard. The choice of colors was strikingly odd at first, until I thought about it. Only then did I understand what Tinker had meant. The top half of the plane was a chaotic mixture of yellow, green, and brown. The bottom half was dark blue with irregular streaks of misty white and gray.
“It’s disguised,” I said.
“Exactly. From the ground it will blend with the sky, but when landed, it can easily be hidden amongst the trees, or even in an open field. It will be perfectly camouflaged.”
“You’re too clever, Tinker.” I was distracted by the sound of the barn door, and I turned to see Analyn walking out. She was wrapped in a shawl. Her eyes looked fatigued, her careworn face exhausted, but she managed a smile.
“How is Daran?” I said.
“He’s doing well, thanks to you,” she said. “Still sleeping soundly.”
“He might not awaken for another day,” I warned her. “His body will take time…”
“I understand. I just want to thank you, Breeze. Words can’t even say. If there’s any way I can repay you, please tell me.”
I smiled. “I only want your friendship.” She threw her arms around me.
“That, I can easily promise.”
Chapter 26
The predawn sky was red with the light of a thousand fires as we pulled the plane to the mouth of the valley. The air was thick with smoke, and the horizon was so black it might have been painted. The very stars were choked out of existence.
Even in that dim twilight I could see the destruction that the Kanters had left in their wake. Hundreds of homes and farms across the countryside lay in ruins. To the northwest, Riverfork was burning.
I was anxious to get flying, to get ahead of the Kanters and warn of their advance, but Tinker had to show me how to fly the plane with its new controls. I settled into the pilot’s seat and Cinder curled up on the floor between my legs. I had Tinker’s old sword in there with my supplies. I never really had learned how to use it, but I figured it might be better to have one than not.
“This lever is your throttle,” Tinker said, pointing to the right. “The one in the middle controls your steering, and the one on the left is your brakes. Pull it down like so,” he reached in and moved the lever. “Remember to land at high speed, because the brakes are tied in to the gear box. If you don’t keep those springs wound, you won’t get far.”
“I can’t believe you did all this when I was in school. Why?”
“I knew you would be leaving,” he said. His voice was distant, sad. “I didn’t think it would be like this, but I knew you wouldn’t stay here forever.”
“Tinker, I wouldn’t leave!” I felt defensive, as if I had somehow hurt him without realizing it.
“Oh yes you would, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m old, and I’m content to stay here in my little corner of the world, but that doesn’t mean you should. Your future is more than that. You’ve got a whole world to see, and a life of your own to live. There’s nothing wrong with going out there and finding your own destiny. I just wanted to make sure you would be safe… and that you’d come back here once in a while.”
I threw my arms around him and fought back tears as he squeezed me. “Oh, Tinker. You know I couldn’t stay away. You… you’re like a father to me.” Tinker held me even tighter when I said that.
“I never expected to have a family,” he said. “But now I can’t imagine life without you. Be careful, Breeze. Come back to me.”
“I promise.”
Tinker jogged out ahead of me, making sure the path was clear of dangerous holes or obstacles, and then waved me off. I sighed and pulled back on the throttle. As the ground slipped away and the darkness closed in around me, I knew that things would never be the same. The world had changed, and I had changed along with it. This was something new, a different stage of life. Tinker had hoped I would seek out my destiny. Now it seemed my destiny had found me. Strangely, I wasn’t afraid. It seemed that Tinker knew more about me than I knew about myself.
A few minutes later I passed over Riverfork. There wasn’t much left of our little town. The buildings that had once evoked such awe in me were now little more than smoking timbers. The townspeople were gone, either in hiding or driven to the north by the invading force. A few miles ahead, the Kanter army pressed on, driving a wave of refugees before them. Even the animals fled before that cruel force.
I passed over them and saw hundreds of people crowded into wagons and on horseback, racing ahead of the invaders. I felt like weeping for those poor families, jammed into wagons, their homes, livestock, and belongings left to the fires of the Kanter horde. I thought of Terra Cooper and her family’s farm, and I thought of the last time I’d seen Robie, jamming powder charges into muskets. I hoped they too, had survived. I could only take heart from the fact that so many had escaped with their lives, and wish for the best.
A few minutes later I saw deputy Wil riding a horse at a full gallop, with another unburdened steed in tow. Shem must have sent him ahead to warn the citizens of Anora, which was one hundred and fifty miles north of Riverfork. It was comforting to know that they would have time to prepare. Anora was a large enough city that it might even hold the Kanters back, at least for a time. Even so, I was sure they would still need the reinforcement of the king’s army.
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