“Grace take me, what was that?” Tryst said, rushing through the doorway to catch Cronos as he fell like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Once he had been lowered to the floor safely, he checked his vitals, “He’s alive.” He said, his voice reflecting the disbelief on his face.
“Of course I’m alive.” Cronos croaked, “I feel too horrible to be dead.”
“Your companion may live now, however this one’s life is in grave danger.” Tryst turned to look at Tyreen as she spoke, “I fear he has been poisoned; only my presence is keeping death at bay.”
“Who are you and what has happened to Vilhylm?” Tryst demanded, turning to face her.
“My name is Tyreen. I am a Dryad and you are currently within my tree.” She gestured to the wooden walls and floor before continuing, tears streaming down her face. “I grew him from a cutting of Grandfather Tree when I had to leave. When we left to come east and serve as we could here.”
“What has happened to Vilhylm?” Callindra asked, “How can we save him?”
“In the nearby village of Vonlar there is a healer known as Jasmine. She will be able to provide you with the medicine that can help him.” Tyreen said, “Jasmine is known in these parts for her healing abilities.”
“If it can help Vyl, I’ll do it.” Said Callindra, her sentiments echoed moments later by the other two.
-
It was a half-day’s travel to Vonlar, even though they pushed the horses as hard as they dared. When they were emerging from the forest at the edge of town they knew something was amiss. The sounds of fighting reached Callindra’s ears and the screams of terrified people split the air.
She dismounted and ran headlong into the town square, drawing Brightfang as she ran. There were dozens of kobolds in the street, hacking at villagers with rusted blades while the people attempted to defend themselves with sticks and pitchforks.
The battle was short and brutal, Callindra and her companions hit the monsters from behind like a thunderbolt. Trapped between the townsfolk and their makeshift weapons and the experienced fighters the kobolds were slain in moments, only a few escaped with their plunder.
“Please sir, please help us!” The villagers all gathered around Tryst, some of them even touching the hem of his cloak in supplication.
“Our families!”
“The supplies we laid up for the winter!”
“My little boy!”
“They took my daughters!”
The clamor was deafening. Finally Tryst raised his hands and smiled down at them with an aplomb that only he would have been able to summon. Callindra was almost wondering if they were going to have to defend themselves from the mob. Looking at the expectant look on their faces and the way they calmed down, she carefully cleaned Brightfang on one of the Kobold’s corpses and sheathed him.
“Please good people, do not worry yourselves. We shall certainly assist you in your time of need.” He paused and fixed them with that absurdly beautiful smile again. “A friend of mine is ill and we must first see to him, but you have my word we will not let your plight go unnoticed. If you can help us find the herb woman Jasmine so that she can supply us with the herbs we need to bring him back to health we shall return forthwith and ensure your lost family and belongings.”
Callindra didn’t believe for a moment that this crowd would just let them walk away during their time of crisis but she had vastly underestimated Tryst’s powers of persuasion. In less than a quarter hour they were riding from the village with the herbs they needed in their saddlebags.
“We aren’t really going back there are we?” Cronos asked. He glanced over his shoulder with a smirk on his face, “They really fell for it Tryst.”
“Of course we are going back.” He replied immediately fixing his brother with an indignant look, “I gave them my word.”
While this made perfect sense to Callindra she could see the significance was lost on Cronos. “We also owe Jasmine for this medication.” Tryst continued, “She wouldn’t take my coin, saying our attempt to save the village was payment enough.”
Cronos rolled his eyes and opened his mouth for a smart remark but Callindra cut him off, “I agree with Tryst. We hit a dead end with Tyreen anyway. You aren’t scared of a few Kobolds are you?”
“Scared? Me?” Cronos spluttered, and she knew she had him.
“Well yeah. What other reason would you have for ditching out on a village full of people who need you?” She shrugged innocently, “Especially people who we owe a favor to. If you aren’t frightened what’s your excuse?”
“We already saved them once, we drove off those green skins like they were nothing. That should be good enough for anyone.”
“Not good enough for me.” Tryst replied, his mouth set in a firm line. “Now we are wasting daylight. Let’s ride!”
-
The sun was down by the time they made it back to Tyreen’s tree. Now that she welcomed them, entrance was as easy as opening the door and walking inside. Callindra stayed outside to tend to the horses. The poor beasts had been asked for a lot today and she wanted to look them over.
While she was walking them to cool their bodies down before giving them water she saw a face appear in a bole of the tree. “Young sprout! You may water your animals in the stream without fearing for their health. It shall refresh them. Perhaps you should water yourself also as you look a bit disabused as well.”
Callindra did her best not to bristle at being called a sprout. The implication that she looked dirty, tired and worse for the wear didn’t really bother her though. It was the plain truth. She had sustained a number of small cuts and bruises during the fight to save Vonlar that weren’t deep enough for her to bother Tryst with and nearly ten hours in the saddle was a lot more than she was used to.
Leading the horses toward the sound of trickling water, she found a perfect crystal stream that erupted directly from the side of the cliff that Tyreen’s tree grew against. Usually the water from a spring like this was bone chillingly cold, but when she tested it Callindra was delighted to find it was the perfect temperature for drinking. The animals needed no encouragement, they dipped their muzzles into the small pool and guzzled greedily.
While the horses slaked their thirst Callindra did her best to wash some of the day off her face and arms, taking care to do so downstream from the drinking pool. The water restored her vigor and even seemed to be a balm to her minor injuries, leaving her refreshed and alert. Thinking her companions would likely be thirsty she filled a water skin and brought it inside, leaving the horses tethered to their saddles and cropping the thick grass.
To her surprise, both Tryst and Cronos were asleep. Before she could comment overmuch on this, she too was feeling drowsy. The place was cozy enough she supposed, the thick mat of moss that grew on the floor was softer than any carpet.
Tyreen hummed a beautiful song that seemed to have a three part harmony in spite of coming from only one throat as she ground herbs with a mortar and pestle. Even though they were inside a fresh spring breeze seemed to be blowing. Callindra found herself removing her armor and lying down on a bed of moss, curling around Brightfang as though he was a favorite toy… or a lover.
Chapter 18
Callindra awoke with a jerk, having slept so deeply she forgot where she was for a moment. Her eyes adjusted to the morning light that streamed into the room from an open window and she remembered. Tryst and Cronos were still asleep; they hadn’t had the benefit of drinking the spring water. To her pleasure, she found that the dirt, sweat and blood of the prior day had somehow been cleaned from her skin during the night. She knew she should find it strange, but it was such a relief to be clean that she didn’t think about it too much.
She unwrapped and re-wrapped her breast band before pulling on her loose cotton breeches and making her way outside with Brightfang’s baldric slung over one shoulder. While she practiced, clouds of butterflies swirled and dipped around her, even landing on her hair and arms. Their probing fee
t tickled unmercifully and after losing her concentration several times, Callindra gave up. She ran and laughed amid the thousands of brightly colored creatures, feeling like a little girl.
There were trees with apples and pears growing on them, vines thick with grapes and edible mushrooms growing on fallen logs. She picked enough for her friends to break their fast and nearly skipped back inside, singing a bawdy tune about what kinds of mischief the wives of sailors got up to while their men were out at sea.
Her companions were all sitting around a low table. Even Vilhylm was there, looking no worse for the wear other than some dark circles under his eyes. Callindra set the fruits she had harvested down with a smile.
“I already ate as much as I could hold. Dig in boys, we have a long day ahead of us!”
“You’re unaccountably cheerful this morning.” Tryst remarked, although he couldn’t keep the smile from his face. Even Cronos looked almost happy, or as close to happy as Callindra could remember seeing him.
“How are you feeling?” Callindra asked, looking at Vilhylm and pouring herself a glass of spring water. “Looks like our trip to Vonlar wasn’t wasted.”
“I owe Tyreen my life.” He said in glowing tones, “It sounds like I owe this Jasmine as well.”
“We can pay Jasmine back by routing those Kobolds from whatever hole they are hiding in.” Tryst said stoutly.
-
The horses trotted like colts, their good humor restored after a full night’s rest and good meals of grass. The water from Tyreen’s spring probably helped too, Callindra reflected, remembering how it had made her feel. They made good time back to Vonlar and arrived just before the midday meal.
Tryst almost had to fight off a crowd of anxious people before they would allow him to go and search for their belongings and loved ones. Callindra was grinding her teeth audibly before the crowd took the big man’s assurances that he would do what he could at face value and let them get on their way. He handled it with an aplomb that would have done a king proud, promising any aid that could be given and explaining that the first priority was to find the monsters and deal with them.
“I know all of you are anxious about your families. I can promise you that we will do everything in our power to restore to you what has been taken. For now please remain in your homes and care for your wounded and grief-stricken.”
It was child’s play to follow the trail of the Kobolds back to their lair. During the day, the creatures would likely stay inside their caves and hadn’t even bothered to post guard. After all there had been so little resistance in this area that it didn’t make sense to waste the effort.
They snuck inside, even Tryst managing to be quiet in spite of his heavy armor. Initially the tunnel slanted downward, but eventually it widened and branched into two. On the left, a wide ramp sloped slightly up and on the right the tunnel grew even wider. Down the right hand side, they could see rude mud huts built against the side of the cave dimly lit by torches.
Small kobolds, likely children, played between pens of filthy human slaves and others carried out menial tasks of daily life. It was almost surreal to see that the monsters had young. Beyond the village, more tunnels gaped like empty eye sockets, absent gods only knew how deep they ran.
“I will not be party to the slaying of children.” Tryst whispered, his jaw set. “They have done no wrong and I will not see innocent blood spilled.”
“I agree, but how will we frighten them off?” Vilhylm asked. Callindra exchanged glances with Cronos and she could tell he had been thinking the same thing she had. They might be children but innocent was in the eye of the beholder. Those slaves didn’t look too tenderly cared for.
“I have an idea.” Callindra said after a moment. She knew a whisper carried further than a simple low tone of voice and kept the sibilant sounds that carried to a minimum. “If we all go up that ramp back there I think I can make a distraction that will get most of them out of the way. Then we can rescue the captured humans and see them safely away.”
“Are you sure it’ll work?” Cronos asked, eyeing her dubiously.
“Well… no, but if it doesn’t we can always run away. The cave entrance is right over there and there’s nothing between it and us right?” At the other’s nods, she followed Tryst up the ramp. When they reached the top she worked Brightfang in an intricate pattern and pulled the runes of power from his flat, one spell swiftly followed by another.
A low moan echoed through the Kobold village and a fog began creeping from the dark tunnel openings on the far side. Flickering shapes showed amid the fog as it rolled toward the huts, indistinct but suggesting something horrible with powerful arms and hook-like hands. She wasn’t sure what it was, but the idea had been pulled from the imaginations of the creatures she was trying to frighten and the effect was nearly instantaneous. Mothers grabbed children and fled shrieking past them, out toward the mouth of the cave.
It only took moments to free the prisoners, but to Callindra’s dismay they refused to listen when Tryst told them they had to run.
“Please, my wife.” One man choked, “They took her… I need to rescue her.” He pointed a trembling finger toward a tunnel that sloped down on the far side of the cavern. A girl who must be his daughter clung to his leg and stared at Callindra with wide, fearful eyes.
“I aint leavin till I get some back.” One man said, folding his arms over his chest. “Them critters got somethin comin and I’m gonna give ‘em. Jest gimme a knife and-“
His tirade was cut off by a deafening shout. A line of Kobold warriors wearing good chainmaile and carrying well-made short swords stood at the mouths of the caves. At the sight of so many well-armed foes, the villagers finally took to their heels and ran.
Callindra and her companions were too busy preparing for the charge of their enemies to give them more thought. With defiant screams the small green monsters ran towards them, waving a motley assortment of weapons. With a smile, she ran to meet their charge and was lost in the ring of steel on steel.
She slid under a precise slash and disemboweled the creature on her way past. These were much better fighters than the group she had faced either in Vonlar or on the road to Gomreed, not to mention better equipped. It didn’t matter though, Brightfang parted the chainmaile the monster wore as though it was made of paper. Spinning on her knee, Callindra brought her blade in a smooth arc that took another of the creature’s legs from its body.
Pain erupted down her back as a sword’s edge was deflected by her armor, but she knew the bruising would take days to subside. Snarling, she reversed her blade and stabbed blindly backward, feeling the tip dig in and smiling in satisfaction at the squeal of pain. Wrenching Brightfang free, she used the momentum to slash the throat of another kobold and then there were no more opponents left to face.
“It is disturbing how well armed and armored these are.” Tryst said with a frown creasing his face into a pretty study of consternation.
“They weren’t much better trained.” Cronos remarked, wiping his sword on one of the corpses.
“Judging by how clean their equipment is, I’d wager they haven’t had it for long. Kobolds are notoriously filthy.” Said Vilhylm, gesturing at the general state of decay of the huts and the muck of excrement on the street.
“Something feels wrong about this.” Callindra said, “Who would be funding them, for what reason and why would the little monsters agree? Regardless, from the size of this settlement I’d say there will be a lot more of them.”
Even as those words left her mouth, the sounds of armor-shod feet and the guttural barks of the Kobold tongue began echoing from the other side of the cavern. Tryst and Cronos each grabbed a torch and, they all moved down one of the passages that led deeper into the ground. Perhaps they could avoid being ambushed and perhaps not, but staying here was asking to be overwhelmed.
As the tunnel twisted deeper Callindra could feel the air beginning to get warmer and an acrid stink of something burning made her eyes water
. She glanced at her companions and saw their expressions grim. Something about the smell of the smoke was bothering them, but she didn’t know what it was. Just as she was opening her mouth to ask what the issue was Vilhylm, who was in the lead, raised a hand for them to stop. Ahead she saw flickering firelight and could barely make out some sort of rhythmic chanting.
She slipped up next to Vil, pausing for a moment before peering around the corner. The scene below made her heart skip a beat and her stomach roll. A group of humans were huddled naked and filthy in a ring of wooden slats surrounded by a group of well-armed Kobolds. Beyond them, a stone altar with a black stain running down the side stood and on the other side an open hole in the cavern floor bubbled with molten rock. A large bonfire blazed around which a motley assortment of Kobolds seemed to be working themselves into a frenzy.
A short, twisted creature with a head of stringy hair stood next to the altar, pulling the beating heart from a body that still twitched and convulsed on the altar and held it aloft. The assembled Kobolds raised a shout of triumph and hunger and the priest barked a few words, shaking the heart and showering the assembled monsters in a shower of hot blood. Two soldiers dragged the corpse from the altar and threw it to the shouting mob. They fell on it in a frenzy of snapping jaws and razor sharp claws.
The heart was deposited in a golden box hanging from the end of a steel pole on an iron chain and carried to the crack in the floor. Here the priest began a guttural chant and lowered it slowly into the lava where it burst into a greasy flame. The acrid sweetish smell burned in her nose and she was filled with an uncontrollable rage. This ended now.
Before anyone could stop her, Callindra stood and leaped off the high ledge in one smooth motion. She landed in a rush of air that blew the surrounding Kobolds off their feet. With a scream of anger, the creatures closed in on her but she was a whirlwind of magic and steel. Every time one of them tried to strike her, she managed to dodge out of the way and deal a devastating blow in return. By the time her companions arrived the crowd of Kobolds were all laying on the ground, bleeding and moaning.
The Callindra Chronicles Book One - First Quest Page 15
