by Tora Moon
* * *
The next morning after a quick breakfast, Histrun, Zehala, and a selected group of their fighters went to the stables and saddled their horses. A few milcrons later, they joined the Dehanrolos fighting-pack in the courtyard. Histrun did a double-take when both keep alphas arrived dressed in fighting leathers and mounted their horses, apparently ready to go with the fighting-pack. Rarely did both alphas depart the keep at the same time and risk leaving it without leadership—especially not to fight a monster battle. He raised an eyebrow at Rodehan.
Rodehan gave him a grim smile. “Yes, I know it’s unprecedented, but I believe it’s necessary. If we are to continue training in your method, we must know how it works in the field. I’m trusting your people to make sure both Freynara and I return.”
“We will do our best,” Histrun replied. “How far to the nest?”
“Ten measures. We need to leave to arrive in time.” Rodehan lifted his arm, and the noise in the courtyard immediately subsided. He dropped it as he kicked his horse into motion. Histrun and Zehala fell into line with their fighters as they trotted out the keep gates and through the surrounding fields. They headed away from the river, directly east. Once they passed the cultivated areas, Rodehan picked up the pace.
The grass wasn’t as thick as in Haaslair Province, and within a few measures the landscape gradually changed from the tall plains grass into sagebrush and wild-rose bushes interspersed with birch and cedar trees. They rode to an area where the ground became marshy and sucked at their horse’s hooves. The monster nest would be nearby; swamps always formed around a nest site. Unlike in Haaslair Province, here they wouldn’t have to worry about setting the surrounding area on fire.
The breeze shifted and brought with it the stench of monsters. Histrun wrinkled his nose at the disgusting smell. Even after a lifetime of fighting the Malvers monsters, he hadn’t ever become used to their stink. Sometimes the size of a nest could be determined by the smell. He guessed this one to be small, only a couple of janacks and less than a dozen brechas—a good size for the Dehanrolos fighters to practice the new method.
Half a measure away from the nest, Rodehan stopped near a corral. They left their horses in the care of the teenage Reds, including Maheli and Andriel, and two young men, while the rest continued to the nest on foot.
Fifty feet from the nest, Histrun held up an arm, signaling for everyone to stop. “Let’s go over assignments before we engage. Zehala, you’ll work with Freynara to oversee the battle and direct the Reds on separating the monsters. Naila, team up with Norvela and her Reds to hold the fire-ring. Rodehan, I’m pairing up with you to cull the monsters. Lestrun, work with platoon alpha Tedehan to make sure the warriors fight together.”
He looked over at the nest. The monsters were starting to stir as the day warmed up. Spiky shapes intertwined with slick tentacles as the janacks caressed the spines on the brechas’ backs. Rumbled growls from the brechas were answered by clacks from the janacks. It appeared to be about the size he had estimated.
“Okay, people. Let’s rid our world of another nest. Stay alive.” Histrun stepped away to change into his warrior form. The other men joined him.
Zehala and the women paced around the nest, forming a circle, their helbraughts glowing with their fire magic. As the last woman reached their place, the air filled with the men’s howls, signaling their readiness. At the sound, a janack’s head lifted above the others, its heat-sensor stalks waving.
“Ready …” Zehala called out. The women’s helbraughts dipped to the ground. “Now!”
A low circle of fire surrounded the nest site, demarcating the battlefield. Two brechas boiled from the nest, and the fire blazed high into a semi-dome. Five warriors charged forward and engaged the two brechas just as three trundled out. Flames separated them into two groups as warriors ran to meet them.
A brecha loosed its spines toward Chestrun’s back as he ran, but before they could hit him, the fire surrounding the monster flared, instantly consuming the spines. At Histrun’s side, Rodehan gasped. Without their method, Chestrun would have been dead.
As the first janack left the nest, Histrun hung back, watching the fight critically, noting that most of the men were using the new forms he’d taught them. He growled at the few older men who weren’t. A tentacle snaked out and caught an older man around the waist.
*Lestrun, help him!* Histrun called out in mind-speech. His warrior’s jaws made speaking difficult. The younger man leaped on the tentacle, slashing it with his long claws. Two Dehanrolos fighters joined him in the attack, and they soon cut through the thick tentacle. As it flopped to the ground, it released the older warrior, who curled up, his arms wrapped protectively around his ribs, which were most likely broken.
Histrun stepped forward to go check on the man, but stopped short as the second janack, with three brechas flanking it, rolled from the nest directly toward him and Rodehan. Before the brechas could reach the men, fire rose from the ground, trapping the monsters. Warriors sprung up behind them, attacking them. Histrun and Rodehan were left with the janack. They raced in, slashing and ripping its tentacles and pumping venom into it.
A tentacle shot toward Histrun, but he spun away. It slammed into his side as it passed him, knocking him to his knees. He swore. He’d have a bruise across his ribs later. He looked up to see the janack’s wide-open maw bearing down on him, spittle dripping. He jerked his hand back just as a drop sizzled on the grass where his hand had been.
A helbraught whistled above him as it swung toward the janack’s head and sliced into it. The janack reared back, and Zehala pulled back her helbraught, thrust the glowing blade into the janack’s belly, and ripped it open. Histrun lifted an arm to protect his head from the acidic ichor and monster bits, but a wall of flame surrounded him, burning the ichor before it could land on him.
“You need to move faster, Histrun.” Zehala frowned at him before holding out her hand.
He gently took it in his large paw, careful not to get any venom or ichor on her skin. *I need to be twenty years younger. I’m too old for this!*
“Ha! You’re not that old. I should make you run alongside of us when we ride, to get your stamina back up.”
*My stamina is just fine. I can still make love to you.* He grinned as she laughed.
*Yes, you do,* she said, her mind-voice only for him. She surveyed the battleground. “The fight is over. Only a few are injured, and those aren’t serious. No one died as far as I can tell.”
“No, no one died,” Freynara said, joining them. “Thanks to you. It really works to separate them with fire. I can’t believe we didn’t think about it sooner.”
Zehala shrugged. “Neither can I. But it wouldn’t be possible without the fire-ring spell, and that took a lot of experimentation to find the right one. Now if I can just figure out a way to invert it so it can be used in the plains and not start a wildfire …”
“We always start the fire from the ground up,” Freynara said, with a nod of her head. “I can see how it would be difficult.” She watched the Reds walk the field, burning the monster carcasses and any debris. Her eyes narrowed in thought. Then she made a small fire-ring, only a foot in diameter. She studied it for several milcrons, before letting it go. “What if we start weaving the fire magic but don’t ignite it until it’s complete? If we set the spark to go off at the top, rather than the bottom, the fire-ring would be inverted. Like this.” She formed another fire-ring, just as she’d described.
This time, the top of the dome glowed blue, indicating the hottest part of the flame, and the part near the ground glowed a pale yellow.
Zehala stared at it, then whooped. “Sweet Mother! You did it! We’ll have to test it on dry ground, but I think this will work. It will take practice to form the fire-ring this way, but once we do, it shouldn’t take any longer to form it than it does now. You can’t believe how many times and ways I’ve tried to do this.”
Freynara smiled. “Sometimes it just takes fresh eyes
.”
All the way back to the keep, the Reds talked excitedly about the new way to form the fire-ring. Histrun couldn’t help feeling proud of the ingenuity Zehala sparked in others. Her enthusiasm for the safety of her people and love of finding new ways to do things had started the whole experimentation on fighting a different way.
“What are you grinning about?” Zehala asked as they rode through the gates.
“I thought this trip to Dehanlair was going to be a waste of time. But this new discovery makes it worth it.” He quirked an eyebrow at her. “Maybe we can change the name of the method to the Zenara method. I haven’t done much to deserve my name attached to it.”
“But you have! Without your belief in me and your support, I never would have continued after that first disastrous attempt.”
“You mean the time you nearly burned my eyebrows off?” He rubbed his right eyebrow. He still thought it wasn’t as bushy as his other one.
Zehala laughed. “Yes, that one.”
Later that night—after Histrun demonstrated his stamina was just fine—he cradled Zehala in his arms. He felt extremely grateful to have this wonderful woman as his bond-mate. He didn’t want to ever know what life would be like without her in it.
Chapter 5
The next morning when Histrun and his people arrived at the stables, more than just one platoon were also saddling their horses. He had expected just a couple of guides to accompany them, not this many people. While he waited for Maheli to saddle his horse—rank sometimes had its privileges—he saw Freynara talking with Norvela and strode over to them.
“What’s going on? Are you going to a nest?”
Norvela shook her head, making the beads on the ends of her tiny orange-red braids click together. “No, we’re going with you. We’ll run into nests along the way, and we’ll be able to practice your new method while you’re still with us.”
“I’m sending two other platoons along,” Freynara said. “We want more people to learn it. On their way back, they’ll stop at the other keeps in our territory to train them.”
Histrun nodded in approval. “That’s a good plan. We’ve done the same with the other provinces we’ve trained. Dehanlair is the last one to accept it.”
Freynara rolled her eyes and snorted. “It took the territory alphas banding together and demanding Mendehan to allow you to come. Wendehan even planned on challenging Mendehan for Clan Alpha if he didn’t listen to reason. The Dehanreen Territory Alphas have seen its effectiveness and also argued hard. They don’t get monsters crossing the border from Ronanlair Province anymore, because the Ronanlair fighters take care of them in the nest. I heard the Ronanlair Clan Alphas also put pressure on Mendehan. They’re tired of our monsters making their life more difficult because we’re not stopping them in the nests.” She leaned in and lowered her voice. “Although I have heard rumors Dehanreende Keep has secretly learned the technique. It’s the closest keep to Ronanlair.”
Histrun whispered, “I’ve heard the same. But I won’t tell Mendehan.”
He also knew the Supreme had ordered the Clan Alpha to see to the safety of his people, and if he didn’t, she would relieve him of his position. She rarely invoked such authority, usually letting the alphas sort the everyday governance of their provinces as they saw fit. Histrun doubted Mendehan would be able to retain his position. The old coot had held the position for thirteen years—not as long as Histrun had been Strunlair Clan Alpha, but long enough to believe himself entrenched—and entitled—to the position. He’d have a rude awakening come the Alpha Competitions next summer.
“Thank you for coming and teaching us,” Freynara said, holding out her hand. “Goddess bless your journey.”
He gripped her wrist. “May She keep your people safe. Until we meet again.”
He looked over his shoulder and saw Maheli standing next to Zehala, his horse’s reins in her hand. A quick survey showed everyone was ready to go; they were just waiting on him and Norvela. Once he reached his horse, Norvela gave the order to mount, then she and Tedehan led the three platoons out the gates, and down the road of crushed sheadash stone. The sound of over two hundred horses trotting over the roadway made conversation difficult.
They soon left the keeps’ fields and pastures, and rode through flowering bushes and trees. Birds chirped overhead and squirrels scolded their passing. The warmth of the summer sun eased Histrun’s sore muscles and felt good on his back. But by midday, when they entered a forest, he welcomed the cooling shade. They stopped in a clearing where a small stream fed into a pond. Yellow, purple, and white flowers dotted the surrounding field, and tall cattails bordered one side of the pond.
Histrun eased out of his saddle, groaning at the ache in his knees. He strolled around the clearing, enjoying being off his horse for a while, and the beauty around him. Zehala joined him, slipping a hand into the crook of his elbow. He patted her hand and smiled down at her. The sun sparkled off the ruby in the bond-mate torque at her throat.
“This place is lovely,” she said, then sighed heavily. “Can you imagine what our world would be like if we didn’t have to constantly fight the Malvers monsters? I imagine it all the time. I hope by killing the monsters in the nest we can somehow destroy them for good. I want more for Rizelya and our people.”
“We have seen a decrease in Strunland Territory where our method has been used the longest. So perhaps it is working and will just take time. I don’t know if it will be in our lifetime, but maybe in Rizelya’s.”
Lorstriel whistled, and held up a package and canteen, reminding them they needed to eat. They wandered back to the others to eat a meal of a cold meat and cheese sandwiches, washed down with lukewarm taevo, and finished off with fresh fruit. They refilled their water canteens in the stream before remounting their horses.
They had ridden less than a measure when Norvela slowed. When Histrun reached her side, he saw why. A wide swath of fresh monster slime cut through the trees and brush. Now that the noise of chatter, the clinking of horse bits, and the creak of leather had ceased, he noticed how quiet the landscape had become. No birds chirped or fluttered from branch to branch, no squirrels scolded, and no rabbits rustled the underbrush. A crash of a tree broke the silence. The raucous cry of a crow was cut short.
Tedehan signaled to several people, who peeled off from the group and headed into the forest toward the sounds. Histrun sent a team with them. They would circle around and try to cut the marauding monsters off. Half of Tedehan’s and Histrun’s platoons followed the slime trail on foot, while the remaining fighters stayed where they were. In the forest’s tight confines, too many fighters would just get tangled up. Eidelstrun, Histrun’s best tracker, shifted into his wolf form and led the way. The sun rippled off his dark-blond fur.
The angry squeal of a boar reached them. It sounded close and was followed by several more squeals. The fighters broke into a jog toward the noise. They came upon a clearing where a battle already raged between a group of thirty boars, and six brechas and a janack. The janack reached over the adult swine’s backs to pluck a young one from where they huddled in a circle behind their mothers. An old sow squealed and rammed into the janack, her tusks ripping into a tentacle. The janack flicked her away as it dropped the piglet into its mouth. A brecha loosed its spines into the press of animals, and two sows dropped to the ground, and were immediately pounced upon by the brechas and were quickly devoured. It would only be a matter of moments before the entire singular of boars was killed and eaten.
Histrun glimpsed the glow of a helbraught from across the glade. The other team had arrived. Zehala whispered directions to Norvela, who relayed them to her people. The men shifted into their warrior forms, waiting for the order to attack.
“Now!” Norvela shouted.
The men raced into the clearing as a circle of fire zipped behind them, enclosing the battle in fire. A brecha dashed toward the forest, but slammed into the fire-ring. It screamed as it burst into flames. Another ring of fire fenced
in the boars, keeping them out of danger. They squealed in fright and milled inside of it.
Histrun stood outside the ring, observing and letting the younger men and women fight. Lestrun and several other warriors paced anxiously next to him. Watching was the most difficult part of training others. But if any monsters happened to escape, they were ready to chase them down.
The Dehanrolos fighters soon destroyed the Malvers monsters, and Histrun’s team hadn’t had to chase any escaping monsters down. Before the Reds could burn the monster remains to ash, the boars had to be carefully released. They were still battle-maddened and would attack the Posairs if they saw them.
“Clear the northern quadrant,” Norvela called, waving both arms to show the way. “We’ll drive them out that direction.”
People scurried to move out of the way. A wall of fire blossomed on either side of the indicated path, creating a passageway into the forest. Then the fire-ring surrounding the boars slowly opened in that direction. The pigs ran down the corridor, and disappeared into the forest. The fire-ring collapsed behind them, until it only bordered the clearing. The Posairs waited until they were sure the boars were gone before relaxing their vigilance. When the women finally released the fire-ring, they sagged with exhaustion. A few men remained in their warrior form, patrolling the area the boars had gone into, while the rest shifted back into their normal form.
Naila, Maheli, and Lorstriel took over the job of burning the monster remains since they hadn’t fought in the battle or been part of holding the fire-ring for so long.
Norvela, Tedehan, and Zehala joined Histrun on the sidelines. Norvela’s face was pinched with fatigue, but her eyes danced with joy.
“That was exhausting and exhilarating!” she said happily. “We never would have saved those boars without your fire-ring method.”
