How had he closed on her so fast? That shield must weigh as much as a horse but it had been foolish of her to believe carrying it would make him slow. Just as her feet touched the ground, he seemed to appear before her, still running full tilt. His shield connected with a solid head to toe blow, knocking her flat on her back with the wind rushing from her lungs.
Callindra tried to shake off the shock and pain that dazed her, it was all she could do to roll to one side as she felt more than heard the mallet slam into the turf where her head had just been. Was he truly trying to kill her? The thought made her break out into a cold sweat.
She had to be faster. Rolling to her feet, she was grimly satisfied that all her training had paid off; she still held fast to Brightfang’s hilt. Her opponent was a few feet away, giving her just enough time to act. She ran to her right, circling him as fast as she could, but moving ever closer. Instead of trying to attack, she was waiting for him to make a move.
The instant his right arm was visible, she jumped to the left, completely changing her direction, leaping over his attack and slashing Brightfang in a flashing arc. The head of the mallet was neatly separated from the shaft, Callindra grimaced, she had been aiming for his wrist. She landed lightly and immediately sprinted in the other direction again, dodging the edge of the shield as it slammed into the ground.
She had removed one weapon, but he treated that shield like a much more deadly one. She needed to be more unpredictable. With a madcap grin, she ran toward him, calling up arcane energies from the flat of her blade. Just before she was within range of a shield bash she released a blast of wind that should have knocked him over. Dust exploded in a cloud in the courtyard, making it difficult to see.
Callindra attempted to jump over her opponent, but ended up coming up short and landing on the top edge of his shield. Trying to take advantage of her mistake she brought her sword down, attempting to force him to surrender. To her surprise, a burly hand grabbed her forearm and flung her flat on her back, twisting her wrist as it did so and sending Brightfang tumbling from her grip.
When she had recovered from the brutal full body impact with the ground, she could see the cloud of dust had settled and the man who had so completely defeated her was nowhere to be seen. A group of novices had arrived and were righting racks of weapons and shields, sweeping dirt and dust from a cobbled square and raking the earthen practice grounds smooth.
“What’s your name?” A burly youth in a simple grey smock asked, offering her a hand up.
She back flipped to her feet, landing next to her sword, “Where I come from, it is customary to introduce yourself before asking another’s name.” Picking up Brightfang, she carefully inspected him. The wrapping on his hilt appeared to be a little loose.
“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to be rude. I’m Tam.” He said, “That was quite the show you put on. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone disarm the Sargent before.”
“You all use blunt weapons, it would be difficult for you. Besides, I missed. I was aiming for his arm.” She saw the shock register on his face, “I’m Callindra.”
“Ca lin drah?” He seemed to be rolling her name around in his mouth, “Callindra, why were you trying to cut the Sargent’s arm off?”
“He was trying to kill me Tam. If I hadn’t rolled away… I swear, that mallet came within inches of my head.”
Tam chuckled, “You aren’t the first to mistake his actions for killing intent. He just wanted you to stop holding back. How did you do that anyway?”
He gestured to the general disarray of the courtyard, overturned benches, spilled weapon racks and now she saw trenches on either side of a section of untouched ground. Her blast of wind hadn’t managed to dislodge her opponent and instead had been deflected around his shield, carving twin trenches in the packed earth of the practice ground and destroying the neat order of the equipment along the walls.
“Northwind style.” She said shortly, it had been reckless for her to use magic in a city as large as this one. Tam looked at her a little askance, but before he could comment further she asked, “Is there a bath somewhere around here? I need to clean up, we’re leaving today and Gods know when I’ll be able to bathe again.”
“Yeah, if you help me rake I’ll show you where it is.” He said with a grin.
“Fine. I guess it’s my mess anyway.” She sheathed Brightfang stiffly, her left shoulder was going to be one big bruise from that mallet strike. At least the bone hadn’t broken, though from the way it felt it had been a near miss.
Taking a loose toothed rake from the wall, she helped Tam level the grounds. In about a half hour they had smoothed out the worst of it and left two other apprentices to sprinkle water and pack it with large stone rollers.
“Bath is through here.” Tam said, walking in to a large changing area. There was no door on the entrance and Callindra could see a few men and women with damp hair getting dressed. Huh, a mixed bath.
She wasn’t wearing much, just her chest wrap, over shirt and under breeches and it only took her a few moments to disrobe. There were cubbies for personal effects, and she folded her clothes and laid her sheathed sword on top, wrapped in his baldric.
“I wish I had brought a change of clothes.” She muttered, then turned toward the bath. Tam was staring at her wide eyed.
“What?” She asked, looking at the mixed company in the changing room. “Never seen a naked girl before?”
“I – uh” he blushed, “I thought you were a boy. Sorry.”
Callindra shrugged, “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
She sat on a wooden stool and scrubbed the dirt and sweat away, trying to ignore Tam’s scrutiny, before rinsing and padding to the wide pool of steaming water for a good hot soak. Now that she was covered in water up to her neck Tam seemed a little less awkward.
“So you’re a sword fighter eh? That’s pretty cool.”
“Mmm.” The water must have soothing herbs or minerals or something in it, Callindra could feel the pain of her shoulder and her other scrapes and bruises easing.
“You must have seen quite a bit of action. Because of all your scars I mean.”
“Most of those are from training, the ones that aren’t from whippings when I was a kid anyway. But the biggest ones are from the road. Kobolds.” She raised her leg out of the water to point to the newly healed shallow cut that ran across her thigh.
“Whoa, that looks nasty.” He said, then his brow furrowed, “Your master gave you scars? What the hell kind of training is that?”
Callindra smirked and sunk back into the water. “My training wounds were all self-inflicted. Learning to wield a sword is a lot different that learning to use a hammer, and learning this fighting style is even more dangerous than normal swordplay. It suits my reckless nature, or at least that’s what I’ve always thought.” Well that’s what Glarian had always jokingly said. Thinking of him gave her a pang of loneliness.
She sat and soaked, mumbling answers to Tam’s curious questions and breathing in the thick steam that rose from the water. At the edge of hearing she could discern a voice, layered with disdain.
“-believe he is sending these children on a mission of this import!” This voice was high to the point of being shrill.
“Who else is there? We need the experienced hands we have here to train the initiates and the rest of our able bodied fighters who could be trusted with this task are currently committed to the field.” This voice was low, almost too quiet for her to hear.
“It’s better not to send anyone than to send these untried kids. The risk that they will ruin any further communication with the ancients is more than we can afford.”
“I disagree. They have definite potential. I tested one of them today as a matter of fact; she’s reckless, disrespectful and dangerous.” The voice paused, “But she has more strength in her than she knows.”
“Master Sergeant, I cannot condone-“
“Nobody is asking for your permission Deacon. It has been
decided. The Biscop has spoken.”
The voices drifted off and Callindra felt a warmth that had nothing to do with the water. He thought she had potential did he? She grinned, “Well I had better get back to my companions. I’m sure if I don’t return soon they won’t let me eat before we leave for the ruins of Lin Lamorak.”
“Lin Lamorak?” Tam goggled at her, “Wait, you’re with … you are traveling with The Te’Chern?”
“Yeah, Tryst recruited us in Thornehold. I gather we just had to come here to get the instructions from the biscuit or whatever himself.” She stretched languidly. “Damn they put something in this water don’t they? It’s so relaxing.”
“You’re traveling with The Te’Chern?” His voice rose an octave, “I don’t believe it! I – uh no disrespect for making you help out there. I didn’t know who you were and…”
“What? That? It was nothing, this bath was totally worth the effort.”
“Do you have spare clothing? I will get your spare clothing, and make sure your soiled clothes are washed before you leave.” He scrambled out of the bath, “Just stay here and I’ll be right back. I’ll be right back.”
Callindra watched him rush out of the room, barely stopping to grab a towel on the way. Priests were weird she decided, even warrior priests. She soaked for a while, letting the water work its magic on her sore muscles and then reluctantly exited the pool, drying herself with a rough towel and padding back to the locker area.
Tam had taken her clothes but left a clean robe underneath Brightfang. She shrugged into it with an indifferent sigh and wondered how the hells she was going to get back to her room. She sighed again, deciding there was nothing to do but wait for Tam to return.
In a few minutes he came back into the room at a run, carrying a bundle of things in his hands. “Sorry it took so long, when I went to your room your … brother? gave me the supplies you asked for and your armor too.”
He set down a tall pair of boots, a set of thick leather greaves for her thighs along with her breastplate and a pile of clothes.
“Thanks Tam. He’s not my brother, unless brother in arms counts though.” She took off the robe and began dressing. The boots were a surprisingly good fit, they had a half dozen buckles that kept them tight to her calves all the way up to the knee the greaves felt strange on her thighs but didn’t seem to impede her movement as she had feared they might.
“Can you get this buckle?” Callindra asked, motioning to one of the sides of her breastplate, “It’s a pain in the ass to get completely tight.”
Tam hesitated but cinched her armor tight, his eyes going slightly wide. “Do you need anything else?”
“Just directions to my room. I sorta jumped out the window instead of using the stairs this morning.” She said, fastening her baldric over her shoulder and smiling at the shocked look on his face.
“But. Your room is on the third floor.”
“Really? It didn’t seem that high up to me.” She said with a grin, “Can you show me the way?”
“Uh yeah.” He turned and hurried into the building with her following close behind.
Chapter 17
After a week of travel, Callindra was once again growing tired of traveling by horseback. Her new equipment was getting a good breaking in due to excessive sweating and they hadn’t seen any signs of civilization since leaving Arkasia. She heard the sound of running water in the distance and called out to Tryst.
“Can we break for lunch? My ass is killing me and I’m out of water. I think there’s a river ahead, I wouldn’t mind a swim and a good scrub. I might start attracting flies at this rate.”
“I suppose, it is around midday.” Tryst said, squinting at the sun. “We don’t have time for getting side tracked though, we are close to the ruins of Lin Lamorak.”
They left the roadway, which was really more of a trail at this point, and found a beautiful little brook. Bright green moss grew thick on rocks that surrounded a tranquil pool overhung with weeping willows. Butterflies flitted from flower to flower in a small partially shaded meadow and birds sang sweetly from the trees.
Tryst had dismounted from his horse and was looking around the clearing with a strange look on his face, “This place has some kind of power to it. I’m not exactly sure what it is, but the growth seems to be slightly unnatural.”
“It looks like paradise to me.” Callindra said, she dismounted and tied her horse’s reins to a tree branch.
“Yes it does.” Said Vilhylm, “That’s what has him on edge.”
“We haven’t seen anything that looks this lush for days. You have to admit it’s suspicious.” Said Cronos, loosening his bastard sword in the scabbard.
“Look, there is a trail leading off in this direction. Let’s check it out.” Tryst pointed with his hammer.
Callindra stared longingly at the cool water before following the others. The trail wound around behind the small hill all the way to the top. An ancient tree, gnarled and bent by age, disease and a partially healed lightning strike seemed to circle protectively around a small cottage.
Although the hill wasn’t very high the absolute stillness of the winds made the hair on the back of her neck stand up, “OK you are right. Something’s wrong here.” She said, drawing her sword.
Vilhylm knocked on the door with the butt of his spear and it shifted partially open. After glancing inside, he looked over his shoulder at them, “Seems to be abandoned. It’s a one room house.”
Callindra looked inside, there was a small bed against one wall, a tiny wood stove and some cupboards and shelving along one of the walls. “Something’s not right here; the inside of this house is far smaller than the outside.” She said.
They all moved in cautiously together but as soon as Cronos, who was bringing up the rear, had entered the door slammed, plunging the room into darkness. Mere seconds later the floor dropped away beneath her and she fell with a frightened shriek. Without any way of knowing how far away the ground was, Callindra slammed into the ground much harder than she would have normally only able to avoid a painful sprain by tucking and rolling to fetch up awkwardly against a wall.
“What a rough landing. How are the rest of you?” She wondered how Tryst had fared in his heavy armor. Callindra squinted, trying to see through the curtain of blackness before her but she couldn’t see anything and her companions did not respond.
“Tryst? Cronos? Vilhylm?” She raised her voice slightly, but still didn’t get a response. “Absent Gods, they must have fallen somewhere else.” The wall next to her was rough stone, she followed along it with her right hand, Brightfang gripped in her left. After what seemed like hours she saw a dim light ahead.
The light came from a hole in the ceiling above her head, at least fifteen feet up. She could see the walls of the cavern were indeed naturally carved out by some long since departed river, now roughened with age. Voices came from above, too faint for her to make out. Sheathing her sword, Callindra began scaling the wall. As she neared the hole she could make out the voices above.
“-will be dead before you can move.” A guttural voice said, dripping with malice.
“NO, you can’t!” This was a woman, she sounded near panic, “You’ve done enough haven’t you? Without proper help he’s likely to die anyway, just leave us be.”
“I enjoy seeing you like this Tyreen. Tears streaming down your face, near hysterical with fear and grief. I can taste the despair as it radiates from you. These pitiful children will not help you any more than you helped your people when you abandoned them to live with this hermit.”
Callindra braced herself against a large stalactite, barely able to reach the edge of the hole with her fingertips. Uncertain of whether she would reach it or fall she gathered her body and made a wild leap from the wall, scrabbling for grip on the rough stone and losing some skin and a fingernail in the process. What she saw over the edge drove the pain to the back of her mind.
Through a doorway surrounded by glowing runes, a figure
draped in tattered shadows and black silk was standing with its back to her, facing a beautiful woman with pale brown skin and waves of thick green hair. She was half draped over the fallen figure of Vilhylm and Cronos lay in the center of the room with a hole the size of Callindra’s fist in his chest.
Without thinking, Callindra moved toward the doorway, but before she could reach it a hand landed on her shoulder. She spun in place, drawing her sword and swinging all in one motion. Only her extensive training allowed her to halt the blade before it bit into Tryst’s neck.
“Don’t try and pass through the door.” He said in a low voice, “It’s protected against entry with strong magic.”
“I’m not going to just sit here while that bastard kills my companions!” She hissed, turning back towards the door. His grip on her shoulder tightened to immovable iron.
“You think I want to wait and watch? That’s my brother in there lying dead on the floor, but I don’t want either of us to join him.”
Even as he spoke, Cronos stirred on the floor. His body jerked erratically as though it was a puppet being manipulated by invisible strings. The motions smoothed out as he struggled to gain a standing position. The hole in his chest was now only a hole in his armor, his hands were steady and his voice calm as he incanted a spell.
“WHAT?” The black clad figure spun to stare at Cronos, “You were dead before, I’ll make you so again little worm!”
“You shall not have him yet.” The voice that issued from Cronos’s lips was deeper and more guttural than it had been before. “For now this one is lost to you.” The spell he had been casting was released from his hands as he spoke and a scintillating bolt of energy burst from his hand. The figure in black fled before it as darkness does before the dawn.
“You have already attracted some powerful enemies younglings.” The voice continued as Cronos turned to look at Callindra and Tryst, “Beware of Dergeras, he is dangerous and I won’t always be here to protect you.” His eyes narrowed, “Especially you daughter of Sol. He seeks to hurt you most of all.” The shimmering runes surrounding the door flickered slightly and ceased to glow.
The Callindra Chronicles Book One - First Quest Page 14
