Windcatcher: Book I of the Stone War Chronicles

by A. J. Norfield

  All of their horses responded in fear. Ca’lek’s horse was closest and had been going at full speed when the animal threw its body to the side to get away from the wolf. Unable to maintain its balance, the horse crashed down, sliding toward the edge of the cliff as Ca’lek was thrown from the saddle. The forward momentum launched the horse over the edge, screaming as it tumbled down into the fast currents below. Ca’lek tried with all his might to slow down before he followed his horse down its unlucky path, but the edge came up dangerously fast. His legs went over the brim as he threw his arms out to grab anything that would prevent him from going over. His hand finally caught a ridge that his fingers held on to; his momentum stopped with a sudden jolt. For the second time, Ca’lek found himself dangling above the depths of a mountain side.

  Swinging up his other arm to grab hold of something before his grip slipped, he was relieved to feel two strong hands grab his wrist and pull him upward. Richard, who had jumped off his horse as soon as it slowed down, managed to pull Ca’lek back onto the plateau.

  Things grew worse by the moment. The wolf cut off their only escape route; but did not move to attack either Richard or Ca’lek, who were a mere ten feet from the creature. Instead, it paced back and forth in front of the bridge, growling at the horses, which all shifted nervously. The wagon slid to a standstill as Gavin steered the horses to the side, preventing the weight of the wagon from forcing them forward with its momentum. One of the wagon’s wheels looked dangerously crooked, but it did not look like any of the axles were broken.

  The rest of the team grabbed hold of their weapons, pulling swords and bows to the ready. Xi’Lao had her knives in hand, as Galen and Harwin each pulled their swords. Galen’s war hammer would be too slow for mounted fighting, so he kept it in reserve on his back. Ca’lek, completely covered in scratches from sliding across rock, pulled his sword, as Richard drew two battle axes, one in each hand. He had found them in the encampment the night of the surprise attack. Both axes had sharp, pointed ends under the handle and were perfectly balanced for either slashing or throwing. Impressed by the craftsmanship, he had made them his own and familiarized himself with them over the last few days.

  Raylan had his sword in hand and turned his horse in the direction they had come from. By now, the second stone wolf and the enemy riders came pouring onto the flat plateau. The wolf halted at the path’s exit, as the riders flowed to each side, surrounding their squad from all sides.

  He saw Richard and Ca’lek being driven back into the center of the circle. The enemy archers aimed arrows at them, while the other soldiers had their spears stretched out and directed toward them. Some soldiers dismounted and pulled their swords. In the end, they were surrounded by at least thirty-five soldiers. Raylan saw his brother stand on the coach box to survey the enemy force and to look for the leader. Raylan instantly spotted the commanding officer, or rather officers, as they rode onto the plateau. Both men wore clearly visible golden diamonds on their chest. The four golden diamonds shaped in a larger diamond form were in strong contrast to their armor, which was dark gray and black. The armor itself looked to be of a very high quality, multiple layers of darkened metal formed a dark chest guard. Shoulders wore fine metal plating as arms were protected by darkened leather. Black gauntlets protected hands, while feet wore strong leather boots. Legs wore the same dark metal plates on their thighs with leather running beneath them. The armor looked very strong but flexible at the same time. Their helmets held a Y-shaped opening for their eyes, nose and mouth. Although the helmets had a similar design, Raylan noticed a difference in the eye openings, which probably meant they were specially made for each individual.

  As one of the men spoke, Raylan saw the black wolf, which had been standing near the path’s exit, move between the two men’s horses and sit down. The other man, who had not issued the command, looked down, an unseen mixture of anger and disgust briefly flashed across his face before he composed himself again and looked Raylan straight in the eye.

  As one of the soldiers broke from the circle to report to the two mounted men, Raylan clearly saw that those two were in charge. However, he noticed two more soldiers behind the leaders that drew his attention. The two mounted men had an air of command around them and were not to be taken lightly, but these two behind them were something else. Their faces looked hideously malformed, as if he looked at a skull only half covered in flesh. Their dark eyes were as cold as Raylan expected the White North to be on a cloudless night. They gave no emotion, no thoughts for Raylan to read, just emptiness. It reminded him of the eyes of the great flesh-eating fish sometimes caught during one of his long sea voyages. He made a mental note to keep an eye on them for as long as he could.

  “Sit!” commanded Corza to the stone wolf closest to him.

  As it moved between him and Koltar, he was satisfied to see Koltar look down and show his disgust, for a brief moment. The wolves had worked out perfectly, protecting Corza day and night as long as he held the scrolls. Koltar was unable to take any action against him, while Corza made special effort to make his newfound security known to Koltar at every opportune moment possible. Even now, it were his wolves that made it possible to capture the enemy group that had infiltrated their domain…something that was normally Koltar’s responsibility. He grinned to himself, he would remind High General Wayler of this fact later on…his grin grew even larger.

  If there will be a later for my fellow High General.

  Koltar made his horse step forward, and shouted in his best Terran language. “You’re completely surrounded! Drop all your weapons!”

  The Stone King had made it a custom that all commanding soldiers to learn the language of the larger enemy territories, for spying, interrogation and—less likely—negotiations. He estimated his Terran was quite good, but the language of the Tiankong Empire was a completely different story. That language was structured so differently from their own spoken language, only a handful of commanding officers had been able to master it sufficiently.

  Normally, Koltar would have attacked the enemy as soon as he found a way to secure victory…and they currently had a strong advantage, but Corza insisted that they capture and interrogate them to see how much they knew about the invasion. He hated to waste an opportunity to take the enemy out, but acknowledged the fact that information was more important now.

  Maybe it was for the better, as the Stone King had told him nothing about this so-called weapon they were retrieving. Corza had not given him any information either. He had reached a decision to hold back his urge to fight and to use the opportunity to gain more knowledge. What was this relic and why it was so important to the Stone King and that snake Corza? So here he was, talking instead of fighting…and disliking every moment of it.

  For a brief instant, he wondered if his Kovian accent was too thick, since the enemy riders all stared at him blankly. Raising his hand, he signaled all his soldiers to level their spears and take a step forward, toward the center. He was about to give the order to charge, when the nearest enemy soldier turned his head toward the wagon. The soldier had thick brown hair and dark brown eyes. He saw a small nod from the other soldier on the coach seat.

  The leader.

  One by one, the enemy soldiers lowered their weapons, although none threw them on the ground.

  Looks like they have some fight left in them.

  Koltar spoke in a more calm tone but still loud enough so all heard him.

  “There is no way out. You only have two ways of getting off this rock terrace, you can fly or—if you prefer—you can swim. Both paths are guarded by one of the most ferocious creatures you’ll ever see in your lives. Trust me, you don’t wish to find out what kind of damage they can do. So, I say again, lay down your weapons.”

  “My father used to say, any man that needs to tell you to trust him, is likely not to be trustworthy.”

  It was the young soldier with the brown hair that spoke. He looked at him. Two brown eyes stared back at him.


  I don’t think he’s afraid; and if he is, he’s hiding it well.

  “Sounds like your father’s a wise man, but that does not change the fact you have no way to survive this without surrendering. We are here to claim back that which you have taken, and you will be brought before the Stone King to receive his judgment on the matter. Drop your weapons, step away from the wagon and prepare to be secured for transport.”

  A horse in the back was briskly ordered to move to the front. Koltar admittedly was surprised to find a woman as part of the enemy group. Women were strictly forbidden in a Doskovian army and for good reason; not a lot of women survived an encounter with the Doskovian soldiers that set out to have fun. And those that do often wish they had not.

  “You can’t claim back what you have stolen in the first place! You had no right to take it!”

  The woman looked furiously at him.

  Does this group have no regard for the situation they’re in? Maybe they’re a suicide squad on a desperate mission?

  “It belongs to the Tiankong Empire!” continued the woman, “It is our heritage! You had no right to just go in and take it! You even had the nerve to burn down our most sacred monastery!”

  “Raylan, stop her!”

  The shout came from the commanding officer on the wagon. Koltar saw the brown haired soldier turn toward her.

  “Xi’Lao, calm down! What’s gotten into you?” He tried to put a hand on her shoulder to hold her and her horse next to him.

  “No, you don’t understand! They’ve got to pay for this!” She shrugged away his hand.

  A laughter in the background drew their attention. Corza was laughing in his saddle.

  “No right? Ha! Those idiots had no idea what they were doing. It would have been a disgrace not to take it! They had it for hundreds of years and still had no clue what its real value was. One of those strange, old monks even had the nerve to tell us to go away…that is until my dagger sank into his stomach. They told me he had been the high monk of the monastery, but all I saw was a frail, weak old man. If that was your Empire’s most holy person, I can’t say I was impressed.”

  The one called Xi’Lao let out an angry cry and kicked her heels into the flanks of her horse. The soldier next to her shouted, in surprise, as the horse jumped straight toward Corza’s position. As she grabbed one of the smaller knives on her belt, Koltar maneuvered into her way. It was more instinct than the will to defend his fellow High General. Koltar could not care less about Corza being attacked, or even killed for the matter, but he would be damned if he would let a woman get past him. He saw the dagger fly before it left her hand, going straight for Corza’s throat. Using his gauntlet, he blocked its path in midair and it bounced off into the air harmlessly.

  Instantly, the woman recognized that Koltar would not let her reach her intended target, and she shifted her next attack toward him. A dagger in her right hand came at him in a horizontal arc from the left. He grabbed her wrist midair and twisted strongly until she could not hold on to the dagger anymore. The knife fell toward the ground, as a second already moved into her left hand again; but this too was stopped by his iron grip. Both their horses were locked, side by side, pressing his leg strongly into hers. Their horses turned around each other as Koltar firmly held her wrists in a painful twist.

  One of his soldiers stepped in and used the back of his spear to hit the woman soldier sharply across the ribs under her raised arm. Knocking her out of her saddle, she made an awkward side twist, before slamming into the ground after her leg came unpinned from between the horses. Scrambling onto one hand and both knees, she coughed deeply, holding her painful ribs, trying to regain her breath.

  Stepping down from his horse, Koltar walked around his mount with the speed of an afternoon stroll. The young soldier with brown hair tried to push closer with his horse, but his soldiers were shielding them with their spears.

  “Xi’Lao! Are you alright?” he called.

  “Raylan, is she alright?” A shout from the wagon was heard.

  It was the second time Koltar heard the names called out.

  So they’re called Xi’Lao and Raylan, Koltar mentally noted.

  Ignoring the woman, Koltar walked past her and stepped directly in front of the soldier that knocked the woman from her horse. He pulled back his arm, closed his fist, and punched the soldier—full force—on the nose, sending him flying backward in the dirt, spear flying from his hands.

  “Don’t ever attack without my direct order!” he roared.

  He picked up the kneeling woman and dragged her, by her hair, to her feet.

  “I see you like knives. Mind if I borrow one?”

  He picked a knife from her belt and held it across her cheek.

  “Shall I carve up your pretty face for a bit? Or shall I start a bit lower?”

  He moved the knife down and hooked it under her leather armor strap and cut it off. The breast guard snapped off.

  The female soldier struggled, as he saw the others of the squad shift around and the commander jump down from the wagon.

  “It seems you have some fans. Why not give them a show?”

  He put the knife under the fabric of her shirt and tore downward, ripping it open and half exposing her breasts and stomach. She grasped the fabric and put her hands across her chest, a natural reaction, to protect her dignity.

  “Don’t you touch her!” shouted the commanding soldier, near the wagon.

  Good. Now that I have their attention, it’s time to create some goodwill and get some answers.

  He walked the woman through the group of spearmen and shoved her toward the one brown haired soldier.

  Dismounting from his horse, the young man knelt next to her, supporting her.

  “Raylan was it? You better keep her in check. I’d prefer to transport you all back to the palace unharmed, but I won’t tolerate any further foolishness. Now, how about you tell me what kind of weapon you’re actually moving in that wagon.”

  The soldier next to the woman looked at him in disbelief.

  “You mean you don’t even know?”

  “I know you’ve got a dangerous weapon hidden in that wagon. I’m asking for details. I believe I haven’t been unreasonable up until now, so how about you keep your smart remarks to yourself and answer me directly…before I order my men to pierce a few new holes in you.”

  He saw the young soldier look back to the wagon for a second.

  “It’s not a weapon, it’s a—”

  “Enough! I grow tired of this,” shouted Corza, in the background. He was not prepared to let Koltar know they were retrieving a dragon.

  “Clearly they aren’t prepared to go quietly, men prepare to attack!”

  Corza signaled his men, who immediately readied their weapons and repositioned themselves.

  “Now, hold on! I’m still talking to them.” Koltar raised his voice in anger, turning toward Corza.

  “You have wasted enough time, High General Wayler. I need to get that relic back to the palace as soon as possible, and I will not tolerate your idle chitchat with the enemy,” Corza sneered, impatiently.

  Looking back to the group, Koltar saw part of their group had repositioned themselves already, swords and axes raised and at the ready, arrows aimed and eyes alert. But that was not all…something was not right. He saw Corza’s men had repositioned themselves strangely. Their positions did not make sense from a tactical point of view. This way, their direct line of attack would be blocked by their own men……no not their men, his men. It only took Koltar a heartbeat to recognize the danger; but by that time, Corza had already given the order.

  Launching the attack, Corza’s men impaled the first few men that were loyal to him before Koltar’s voice was released from his throat.

  “Defense rear!”

  Immediately Koltar’s well-trained soldiers responded to the surprise attack, but it was clear who had the upper hand. His men had always outnumbered Corza’s troops; but, a third now lay bleeding on the gr
ound, while the rest were pinned between two enemy fronts.

  Koltar turned around to face the son of a bitch that had turned on him, only to see the stone wolf coming at him in full speed. While his vision focused on this direct threat, he saw Corza’s vague image grinning in the background. His muscles tightened, in reaction, when he saw the wolf leap toward him, jaws spread open like some razor-sharp monster from a nightmare. The image of his own soldier being shredded by those jaws flashed through his mind.

  No choice, have to evade. There’s no blocking this.

  Rolling backward, he pushed his sword horizontally into the wolf’s jaws, while putting his feet on the beast’s belly. Even with the weight of a stone statue, momentum made it easy to throw the wolf off him, in line with its movement. The wolf tumbled across the plateau, as Koltar scrambled to his feet and ducked below his horse to the other side.

  In the meantime, Corza focused his attention on the two Darkened who had been behind him, observing everything. Four of Corza’s men engaged them, but two were struck down instantly. The Darkened were almost unparalleled in fighting skill, and Corza’s men were no match for them. Corza smashed his horse into the tumult and slashed off one of the Darkened’s hands, while it was in mid swing.

  Koltar jumped back on his horse as he saw the wolf scramble to its feet. It bit a nearby, unlucky soldier in the leg, from agitation. The soldier’s flesh was torn from its bone as the wolf shook its head violently. He quickly scanned the battle and saw the other wolf, circling the wagon where the weapon was being transported.

  Those beasts need to be taken care of. I need those scrolls.

  He redirected himself toward Corza and launched his horse, full speed.

  As Corza turned around, he saw Koltar moving toward him. Recognizing the danger of having both Koltar and the two Darkened still alive, he called the second wolf over to assist with the Darkened. It tore through the group, as the Black Death—knocking Corza’s own men aside—pushed one Darkened to the ground, ripping his head off while being pressed to the ground by the massive forepaws.