Windcatcher: Book I of the Stone War Chronicles

by A. J. Norfield

  Koltar reached Corza’s position just before the Silent Shadow’s head rolled across the ground. The wolf let out a victory howl before picking his next victim. As Corza turned to block his attack, Koltar noticed just how much the march through the White North had taken its toll on Corza. The movement to block was sluggish; but as Corza raised his sword, he threw himself backward in the saddle, dodging Koltar’s incoming attack. His sword did not hit any flesh, but that had not been Koltar’s intention to start with. His sword snagged the side of Corza’s armor and cut the leather strap that secured the pouch with both the wolf scrolls in it.

  Over the last view days, Koltar had observed Corza well, noticing how compulsively Corza had kept those scrolls close, at all time. The scrolls had always been important when working with the Ghol’ms; but with those murderous wolves, Corza was near obsessive about keeping the parchments close. They had to be important…he was gambling his life on it.

  As the pouch tore, Koltar saw both scrolls sticking out, but they were still clamped under Corza’s armor. Pushing off from his horse, Koltar threw himself toward Corza before he could recover his balance. They both hit the ground, as he saw both scrolls bounce across the rocky surface of the plateau.

  “You imbecile, they’ll rampage!” screamed Corza, as he jumped to his feet to retrieve the fallen scrolls.

  Koltar kicked his leg out and tackled Corza, who slammed back into the ground with a heavy grunt. Corza’s sword came slashing backward across the air so fast, Koltar barely dodged it. Using the opening, Corza scurried forward to the scrolls.

  Both wolves now noticed their lack of a master to obey and were on full rampage. The smaller wolf let out a howl, joined by the deep howl of the larger one. The master’s commands disappeared from their minds and instinct took over. Seeing that one of Koltar’s soldiers was still on his horse, its hunting behavior triggered. Running straight for the horse’s position, the wolf growled loudly. All color disappeared from the riders face, as he turned his horse, bolting away at high speed.

  Outrunning the wolf proved impossible, as it overtook the fleeing soldier instantly, jumping full force into the side of the horse, its jaws closing around the soldier’s leg and the horse’s neck in one bite. The force of the attack slammed the trio into the rock wall at the side of the plateau. The panicking soldier screamed out in terror, as he lay trapped under the weight of his horse—one leg pinned and shattered by his horse, the other ripped off by the wolf. The wolf, however, did not pay him any attention, as it was completely concentrated on ripping the horse’s intestines out of its belly.

  In that short time, the larger wolf completely devastated the group of soldiers surrounding it. Both Corza’s men and the remaining Darkened were nothing more than a pile of limbs and guts. Pieces of bone and flesh hung from the wolf’s sharp teeth as it regarded Corza and Koltar from a distance. The wolf watched as the two men continued to struggle. Corza slashed backward, to get Koltar off his back, in a desperate attempt to scurry forward and retrieve the scrolls.

  Slowly, the wolf moved toward its previous master’s position. For what remained of its normal wolf life—remnants of feeling free, running with the pack—this single person had taken that away from it. In its base form, the wolf felt it; this being was the cause of all this wrongness, and it had to end.

  Koltar panted heavily as he turned around and saw Corza head for the scrolls. The large wolf paid him no attention as it began stalking toward Corza. Koltar regarded the devastation the wolf left behind.

  Total carnage…

  The wolf lowered its head and shoulders, stalking low along the ground. Its tail stretched downward, its ears flattened against its head, as it slowly advanced on Corza.

  At that moment, Koltar noticed that Corza could only reach one scroll in time. He jumped to his feet, dashing for the other scroll, which had landed near the edge of the ravine.

  As Corza picked up the scroll, he looked up—for the first time—after being floored. The wolf that was ravaging the crushed horse and soldier suddenly raised his head and looked directly at him. Koltar heard him swear, as Corza realized the scroll in his hand belonged to the furthest wolf, instead of the one approaching him from the side. Immediately turning toward Koltar, Corza dashed for the scroll his fellow High General tried to reach.

  “They’re mine!” screamed Corza.

  Behind him, Koltar heard Corza shouting to the wolf under his command.

  “Attack him! Kill Koltar!”

  Koltar dove toward the scroll, grasping it as he slid across the ground. The smaller wolf was coming for him at high speed.

  Now how do I control it?

  “Stop that wolf!” he yelled.

  The large wolf instantly came out of its stalk and moved to intercept the smaller wolf. At the same time, Corza jumped Koltar and grabbed for the scroll in his hand.

  The wolves collided heavily into each other, less than sixteen feet from where Koltar and Corza were fighting. Koltar felt flying splinters cut his cheek as black stone shattered from the wolves’ skin. The crash made the incorrectly positioned larger wolf tumble sideways, slamming into the men with full force. Koltar made a grasp for Corza’s armor as they rolled across the plateau. He felt his grip slip on the scroll as Corza yanked it from his hands. Trying to recover the scroll, he stretched his arms toward his double-crossing fellow High General. He felt strangely light, trying to reach out…

  He saw Corza, hanging from the ledge, but again something was off. It seemed surreal. He could not remember seeing Corza slide over the edge. As the distance grew wider, and more daylight was engulfed by dark rock walls, it dawned on him.

  It’s not Corza that has gone over.

  Daylight quickly slunk to less than a hair-thin slit as the sounds of the battle was drowned out of his world by an increasing thundering roar.

  As Koltar reached the end of his fall, the sound of impact was completely washed away by the deafening roar of the water. A small salamander, clinging to the wall, was the only one that heard his thundering voice rise above the noise of it all, screaming the name of his betrayer…just before he was swallowed whole by the wet darkness…but on that busy cliff, all traces of High General Wayler were long gone.

  Raylan held Xi’Lao, checking if she was okay, while keeping an eye on the soldiers. He wondered why she lost her cool like that. She must have known it would provoke them into action while they were clearly outnumbered. While supporting her and dragging her away from danger, all hell broke loose.

  He had no idea what was going on, but he recognized an opportunity when he saw it. As the enemy soldiers turned on each other, he dragged Xi’Lao to her feet.

  “Move! Get on your horse!” He coerced her with a strong whispering voice.

  As he pushed her into the saddle, she slumped forward, still not able to fully straighten up. He grabbed the reins and pulled her horse, while running toward the wagon.

  An enemy soldier moved in from his right. It happened so fast that he was unable to position himself between the attacker and the incapacitated Xi’Lao. As the soldier raised his sword to strike, a crossbow bolt pierced his neck. Checking to see where it came from, Raylan saw Stephen through a hole in the canvas. He had been following everything from inside the wagon, peering through the many holes and cracks in the canvas. As soon as he saw Raylan find his eyes, he smiled and stuck up his thumb through one of the other gaps, before quickly reloading the crossbow again.

  Kevhin and Rohan both fired their arrows, taking out two of the enemy archers aiming for their group, while the remaining enemy archers were too busy fighting with the enemy’s own forces.

  Coming up to the wagon, Raylan yelled toward his brother.

  “Gavin! She can’t ride!”

  “Switch with me! I’m a better rider than you!” urged his brother.

  As Gavin took his place behind Xi’Lao and took the reins, Raylan jumped on the coach box. Richard and Ca’lek were fighting some enemy soldiers near the edge, but the big
gest obstacle was still that huge stone wolf. Raylan did not like the look of that thing, at all.

  It looks worse than the human rock statue from before.

  Kevhin and Rohan shot off another two volleys of arrows, this time at the large wolf who had been guarding the stone arch bridge. With ease, the wolf dodged them all—except for the last one—catching it between its jaws, snapping it like a twig.

  Galen and Peadar were using the spare horses as a barrier, encouraging the nervous animals to kick backward at any soldier attempting to approach them.

  “Take the wagon across the bridge,” he heard his brother shout. “We need to break through.”

  “How? There is no way we are getting past that wolf,” Raylan replied, immediately.

  “We’ll have to ram it. The wagon is the only thing that might be heavy enough to break through. We need to make use of this chaos. Now go!” ordered Gavin.

  Cracking the reins, Raylan forced the frantic horses into motion. He used all his strength and skill to keep the horses from getting out of control. It seemed futile, as the horses did not dare move any closer to the wolf. Unwilling to let the wagon pass, the wolf began to circle the wagon, scaring the horses away from the stone arc. Raylan drew his sword, following the black nightmare with his eyes. But with one hand off the reins, the horses immediately stopped obeying their master and started pulling away from the unnatural danger. Raylan now had to turn around to keep the wolf in his eyesight.

  He’ll come as soon as he’s in my blind spot…

  As Raylan tightened his muscles, readying himself in case the wolf would decide to attack, Gavin guided himself and Xi’Lao behind the wagon, staying out of the wolf’s direct vision. Using his horse to block the wagon’s horses, Gavin tried to keep them from turning their backs to the wolf, as well to keep them pointed toward their only escape route. If the horses decided to circle on the plateau, they would never be able to get out.

  The wolf almost disappeared behind the back of the wagon as Raylan tried to keep it in view, when suddenly, it shifted its body toward the wagon. It noticed Stephen...or is it going after the egg?

  Crouching down, the wolf got ready to launch itself at the wagon. Raylan knew it was impossible, but he could not help himself. He shouted anyway.

  “Stephen, get out of there. It will be on you in seconds!”

  But instead of jumping into the wagon, the wolf raised its head sharply, twisting it around to look across the battlefield. It darted off in an instant, throwing itself into the tumult of men, fighting near the path entrance.

  “Now!” he heard Gavin shout. “Everyone move. This is our chance.”

  Raylan dropped back onto the wagon seat and snapped the reins hard to get the horses into gear. Richard and Ca’lek were already making a break for the stone arch on foot, while Kevhin and Rohan turned their horses around and set off in the same way.

  Galen sent Peadar ahead, while kicking a soldier in the chest, who attempted to pull him from his horse. The spear, which the soldier thrusted at him, locked under his massive arm, as the kick dislodged the soldier’s hold on it. Galen swung the spear around in one hand and threw it with a short, powerful motion into the chest of another soldier coming toward him.

  Gavin, who had moved ahead of Raylan and the wagon, reached the stone arch. Tightly holding on to Xi’Lao, he raced across it. Richard and Ca’lek had just reached the other end and were looking back to see if everyone was following.

  Kevhin and Rohan galloped across the thin stone arch at full speed, the thundering hooves of their horses echoing across the ravine. Peadar followed, shortly, with two of the spare horses. With each small group passing, the cracks in the stone arch lengthened by a few inches…the cracking sounds passed unnoticed because of the stomping of hooves.

  Just before he turned the wagon onto the stone bridge, Raylan saw Harwin slip in front of him to get to the other side. He had no idea where Harwin came from…he lost sight of him as soon as they were surrounded; but judging by the blood on his face and armor, he must not have had a clear path to retreat across the bridge.

  A rock bounced the wagon a small ways into the air, making it thump down its heavy weight onto the rocky surface of the arch. It was indeed almost too narrow for the wagon to get across, the wheels a mere finger’s length from a very steep drop straight down. Leaning over the side, Raylan peered down into the abyss. He saw pieces of rock breaking off the stone arch and tumbling into its depth.

  “It’s cracking!” he heard Richard shout ahead of him.

  Harwin just passed the waiting duo at the other end, which meant only he and Galen were left to reach the other side. He had no time to wonder about Galen though, as he saw a crack originate under the wagon and shoot out across the length of the stone arch all the way to the point where Richard and Ca’lek waited. Snapping the reins feverishly, the horses jolted, increasing their speed even more. He saw foam running from their noses and mouths, their eyes stretched wide open, as the panicking animals both tried to push away from their side of the abyss, with the poor result that they only ended up working against one another.

  Finally, hurtling past Richard and Ca’lek, Raylan let out his breath. He had made it in one piece and with the egg nonetheless. Keeping up his speed, Raylan passed Gavin and Xi’Lao, who seemed to be sitting a bit straighter.

  “Keep going!” was the order.

  He followed the path as it bent to the right. Looking across the ravine, he noticed the two enemy men who had addressed him, locked in a fight near the edge of the cliff. As the wolves clashed, he saw the tumble, as one of the men rolled off the ledge from the momentum. He was unsure which of the two men it was, but he saw the remaining person scramble to his feet, looking around and noticing the wagon across the ravine. Unable to fully hear the rampage, it was clear the person was very unhappy with the fact the wagon was on the opposite side of the ravine. Pointing toward the stone arch, Raylan saw him shout something, as both wolves sprang into action and stormed straight to the narrow crossing.

  In the meantime, Galen reached their side safely; but the stone arch developed even more cracks along its length, as another large piece of rock broke free and dropped into the raging water below. Reaching the other side, Gavin called out to him.

  “Dismount! Let Ca’lek take the horses!”

  In one fluent motion, Galen jumped from his horse, making room for Ca’lek, who was up on the saddle before the horse had fully come to a stop, urging it on again.

  “Ca’lek, get out of range of any archers. We need those horses,” ordered Gavin, as he let his voice carry across the distance.

  As the path turned right, it slowly ascended. The weight of the wagon, in combination with the nearly exhausted horses, made the wagon slow down to a walking pace. If he did not want the horses to die from exhaustion—or stress, he had to give them some breathing space now. They were far enough from the battle to be safe; but Gavin would not approve of him stopping completely, so he let the horses slow down to a walk instead. Standing on his coach box, he peered backward. Gavin dismounted and set Xi’Lao onto the path, commanding her to get to safety.

  Raylan saw Gavin run toward Richard and Galen. While on the other side, the two wolves stormed across the plateau toward the bridge. Some soldiers that survived the skirmish moved in from the other side of the plateau, apparently with the same destination as the wolves.

  As he saw Gavin gesturing, shouting, and running toward Galen and Richard, the latter moved and thrust the back end of one of his new axes into the crack that had formed across the stone arch. Galen took his war hammer from his back and started hammering at it right away, as Gavin encouraged him. The clear sound of metal hitting metal rang out against the mountain cliffs. After the third hit, a loud cracking sound escaped the stone arch, and Raylan saw a large part of the arch shift in its place. Another two hits and the arch started crumbling, a large boulder letting go on the side and crashing into the ravine.

  With its stability gone, the s
tone arch gave off a series of loud cracks as it broke off, piece by piece, creating a gap of twenty feet.

  The soldiers stopped dead in their tracks, but could hardly turn around as the remaining commander and his two wolves were now right behind them. The commander, who had reclaimed his horse, was furious. Riding back and forth, shouting at his troops, he seemed to order the men to across the gap. At first, none of the soldiers seemed crazy enough to attempt the jump; but when both wolves were steered toward them, one of the terrified spearmen did a run-up and launched himself across the gap. As he plummeted down into the ravine, his scream discouraged the remainder of the soldiers, no matter how big the wolves were.

  All the while, Richard and Galen were on the other side, observing. Gavin turned around and signaled Kevhin and Rohan back. They fired off two arrows, which struck one soldier in the neck, making him keel over backward and disappear into the depths of the ravine. Another was hit in the arm, as the group of soldiers tried to escape out of the arrow’s range. As they turned to flee back to the plateau, their commander ordered both wolves to make the jump.

  Crashing straight into the fleeing group, another two soldiers lost their balance, as they were thrown aside by the first wolf making the jump…their screams quickly disappeared into the depths.

  Just when Raylan reached the top of the hill with the wagon, the wolf soared across the gap. Another piece of rock broke off the stone arch where the wolf pushed off for the jump. Landing heavily, the wolf came to a screeching halt a few feet from Richard, Galen, and his brother, who were still on the remaining stump of the collapsed arch. It pounced directly onto Gavin as if given a direct command. It seemed the enemy commander wanted to take out their commander, to weaken them. Seeing the wolf land heavily on his brother, Raylan resisted the urge to turn around and help him; he knew he could not leave the dragon egg and the wagon alone. Gavin would never allow it.