Windcatcher: Book I of the Stone War Chronicles

by A. J. Norfield

  The bear, seeing she would have to take out Galirras first, was right on top of him. As she raised herself on her back legs, the bear seemed to grow at least six feet. Now showing off her total height, she was the size of two adult men. If she chose to bring all her weight down on Galirras with her forepaws, he would surely be crushed under the sheer force of her.

  Galirras, slightly panicked by this display of power, was taken over by instinct. Driven by the need to protect his own, he took another deep breath. He pushed off, rising up on his back legs for the second time. As he stretched out, he unfolded his wings in one powerful push. As they spanned outward, they spread to their full length with a loud snap. Suddenly, Galirras dramatically increased in size.

  The movement of his wings created turmoil in the air. Sensing, more than seeing, the flow of the air turmoil, Galirras let out a third roar. Where before he had always reached out to move the wind, now this felt more like his entire core pushed outward at once. He felt himself push his roar forward, using the turmoil his wings created to amplify it even more.

  Raylan had to jump backward, along with Sebastian, to get out of the way of the unfolding wings. Both of them were stunned to see the magnificent scene in front of them. As it began to sink in that Galirras now showed his full wingspan for the first time, Raylan immediately felt a warm pride and happiness swell up inside him. The little light that was still there seemed to glint off the dragon. He saw the silhouette of his wings clearly and the framework of the bones spanning the length of the wing membranes. All of a sudden, Galirras was not this small, helpless dragon anymore. This image would never be forgotten by either man.

  The roar sucked him back into reality, as he literally saw a ripple in the air move forward, away from Galirras. The bear, taken aback by the sudden increase in size of her opponent, felt the rush of air hit her body. It was not enough, by far, to actually topple the bear over, but the force of the air gave rise to confusion and knocked away any desire to get into a direct fight with them.

  By now, the two young bears had moved along the other tree root, approaching their mother from the side. They swayed her, with small grunts and peeps, to leave the conflict where it lay.

  As the bear got back on all four legs, she snorted once or twice at Galirras, not sure what to make of it all. But with her cubs now safely behind her, she turned around and guided her young off into the forest.

  Sebastian got his voice back first.

  “That…was a close call.”

  Lowering himself, Galirras folded his wings. He followed the bears with his eyes, until he was not able to see them anymore.

  “I still do not understand why she was so upset. I just wanted to play with them. It is not like I wanted to eat them. I just ate an entire deer,” he said to Raylan, privately, while turning around.

  He noticed Raylan was looking at him in a peculiar way.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Raylan looked at him, smiling while tilting his head.

  “You just spread out your wings for the first time…you know that right?”

  “Oh! You’re right. And it did not even hurt at all,” Galirras said, excitedly.

  He jumped around in circles, once or twice, before he turned his head, looking at his wings. He spread and folded them a couple of times, moving them back and forth and up and down. He bent his neck and pushed his nose against the wing that had troubled him so much. Nothing, no pain, no obstacle. It felt like it never had any problems before.

  As Galirras tried out his wings, Raylan felt the breeze created by the movement. They already moved a lot of air and did not seem to have any weak moments in the strokes.

  Galirras jumped off the ground and tried to keep himself airborne…it was not a great success.

  “It will take some time to build up your muscles, and strengthen your wings,” said Raylan. “You should practice as much as possible to make up for time lost, I reckon. But for now, let’s get back up to the village and bring back the doe for the festivities. They’ll be wondering where we are by now…”

  By the time they got back with the meat, the preparations were already well underway. Before long, they found themselves with pretty much the entire village on one of the large platforms, enjoying a simple but tasty dinner. People sat on the floor of the platform in small groups, chatting, softly laughing, always aware of the danger of sound carrying through the air. Luckily, the wind had picked up a little, which gave them a little bit more freedom, as the leaves and trees created a constant rustle, washing out the noise made by their festivities.

  Raylan understood the danger of being discovered, but could not help feeling restricted by something so constantly present. For a brief moment, he longed strongly for his sailing days, where a strong storm would test their wills; but would also allow them to scream out their anger, frustration, and excitement to their fullest, without anyone ever being bothered by it. The wind obliterated it all.

  “If I keep growing and train my wings, I might be able to take you up into the sky. I cannot imagine any place feeling more free and unrestricted than up there with nothing more than sun, moon, stars and wind,” Galirras spoke softly to him.

  Even after his successful hunt, they made him stay on the storage platform. Raylan objected at first, but Galirras told him he was fine with it. He was so excited about training his wings. He preferred the open space instead of being cramped next to all the villagers.

  Raylan felt a trickle of excitement flow through him. It felt as if Galirras had been suppressing the urge to take to the sky, completely, when he was under the impression his wings would not function. Now that it might be possible, he could not hide his desire to get up there as soon as possible.

  As the entire village was present, the platform was not big enough to hold everyone. There were small groups of people sitting on the walkways leading up to the community platform, as well as in a few of the small buildings along those paths.

  Raylan saw Sebastian sitting next to a man he had not met before. They seemed to be in a heated discussion.

  That must be Aanon…

  Further down, a building was used as the community kitchen, with women walking in and out carrying dishes of stew, rice, and a fruit Raylan had never seen before. The fruit was small, oval and dark in color. The taste was sweet. It had a large pit in the center.

  One of the women, who had been serving the food, explained that they grew near the larger trees that contained the vines used for all the ropes. They were not easy to reach as they grew all the way in the top of the trees, bathing in the sun, so only the most experienced climbers could get to them. The fruit had been a welcomed addition to the local diet, as not much fruit grew in this region. Mostly small nuts and forest roots had sustained them up to the point of the fruit’s discovery.

  Raylan was listening to the woman answering one of his brother’s questions, when a commotion at the other end of the platform made him look away. A woman’s wailing was heard from within a small group of people. She was screaming words, crying and hitting some poor man on his back with her fists. Several bystanders tried to calm her down and hold her back.

  They decided to see what was going on. As Raylan and his brother approached the scene, they recognized the man being assaulted as Richard. He made no attempt to fight back and looked as surprised and as baffled as the bystanders were. The stream of words the woman yelled, slowly changed into a soft muttering, as she dropped down on her knees and was hugged and consoled by one of the other women.

  “What’s going on here?” Svetka’s voice cut through the air.

  The council had been sitting in a far corner with a select little group…it had been invitation only.

  Richard looked around, all eyes were on him.

  “Don’t look at me,” he said, “I’ve got no clue what just happened. I was just taking a piece of meat from her platter, when all of a sudden, she started screaming at me and pounding my chest. I didn’t understand a word of it. She was not speaking
Terran.”

  Svetka sneered at the sobbing woman and then called out to her. Startled, the woman looked up and spit out a flow of words, rapidly. It took Svetka several questions to get a clear picture of what had happened, as the woman was beside herself and sobbed uncontrollably every couple of words.

  At the end of it, Svetka looked at Richard as if judging his worth. She had taken time to talk to all members of their group, to get a good understanding of the situation and their intentions; and it seemed she had accepted them, more or less. Now, however, her look was full of suspicion.

  “Did you, by any chance, use a knife when selecting your piece of meat?” she asked, calmly.

  “Of course, its good table manners, isn’t it?”

  “May I see it, please?”

  Richard turned and looked around for a moment, before picking up something off the ground. Turning back, he flipped a long metal object in the air. He deftly caught the blade tip and stuck out the handle to Svetka.

  The blade was an uncommon design. It was long and straight. The blade was twice as long as the handle, which was covered in strange markings. The handle was a faint blue color, and it seemed to have been made from a bone of some sort. The blade looked more practical for stabbing than for cutting, as it had four sides to cut with, constructed together in a long crossed point. The blade’s metal was dark gray, with lines of lighter metal gray flowing in it, from the creation process most likely. It was a very unusual blade.

  It’s the same blade that Corza had on his belt, thought Raylan.

  He was still a bit surprised about all the details he seemed to pick up, even when he was focused on something completely different, like fleeing.

  Carefully, Svetka reached out her hand. Raylan noticed it was trembling slightly. She picked up the knife and looked at it. The color disappeared from her face. Raylan noticed several other people, who laid eyes on the knife, breathe in sharply, in surprise.

  “Where did you get this?” the elderly council member asked, softly, as she turned the knife in her hands.

  “What does it matter?” Richard answered.

  Svetka’s eyes filled with fire as she lost control of her emotions. Her head jerked up and she looked Richard straight in the eyes.

  “It matters because this knife represents a lot of suffering and sorrow for a lot of our people. Now tell me where you’ve got it from, or I’ll have to remove all of you from this settlement, immediately.”

  “I took it from one of the dead Doskovian soldiers, weeks ago. The blade struck me as uncommon, so I thought it would be a good souvenir. I thought, if I were lucky, it would bring me a pretty penny, once I sold it back home.”

  “What’s wrong with it?” asked Raylan.

  “It was used to slaughter innocent children—infants, not a day old. That’s what’s wrong with it!” said Svetka with such force that all chatter on the platform fell silent, at once.

  Richard did not know what to do or even where to look.

  She turned to Gavin.

  “Gather your men and have them wait on the platform where your beast is sleeping. The council needs to talk to you and your representatives, right away, in our chambers.”

  As Richard was sent to round up the remaining members of their group, Raylan found himself following his brother toward the council chambers, for the second time in their short stay.

  “Everyone is gathering here. What is going on?” Galirras asked from afar.

  “I don’t know, yet. Something must have offended Svetka. She looks like she’s about to burst into flames,” Raylan replied.

  Svetka waited, deadly silent, back turned toward them, until Jarod and Ann arrived. They talked amongst themselves, in hushed voices, speaking the local language. Raylan heard that it was a heated discussion. Sebastian was fetched, as well, and brought into the discussion—or rather, told what would happen. Sebastian’s face showed shock and anger, as he forcefully disagreed with what was said to him. But Jarod called him to order, and he was forced to simmer down.

  Only then were they allowed to approach the council to hear what had been decided.

  “Commander,” Svetka began, directly speaking to Gavin, “the council has made its decision. On the subject of your requested support, this village declines. We ask you to head out, first thing in the morning.”

  Raylan could not believe his ears. After they followed all of their little rules, helped them get extra food, and nearly ended up caught—or worse—in the process, they were throwing them out?

  “What? Why?” His brother beat him to it. It seemed he was just as surprised and just as annoyed as Raylan.

  “Please, would you not reconsider?” pleaded Xi’Lao, at the same time. “We could really use your help, and the wounded could use more rest.”

  Sebastian stood silently, to the side, his head held down, in shame. With his original reaction hijacked by his brother, Raylan tried the more polite approach.

  “Honored council members, if it’s possible, can we please hear your explanation? We did everything you requested. Surely, you must have a reason for not coming to our aid?”

  Svetka looked at him as if he had offended her with his polite tone.

  “I already had my doubts about bringing you all in, and I believe those doubts have now been confirmed. We fear you all have brought instability to our settlement. Your presence is dividing our people, while the most recent event has completely shattered the little trust you all had built up within this community. People fear your true intentions and the danger you all might bring upon this settlement. That is why we would like you all to leave, sooner rather than later.”

  “Does this have to do with that strange dagger Richard had?” said Raylan, already forgetting his polite efforts.

  This time Jarod reacted.

  “That dagger is a Roc’turr…a sacrificial dagger. It is used in a certain ceremony to bring life to the ghol’ms.”

  “Ghol’ms?” said Xi’Lao, looking confused.

  “That’s what they call the living statues we fought,” Gavin explained.

  “Aye, living statues, but they do not start like that. They need the sacrifice of a human being to be brought to life,” Jarod continued. “Life in the mines was never easy, but High General Setra had a knack for making it almost unbearable. Hundreds of slaves were killed in experiments with the ghol’ms. Some bled out slowly over days, until death followed; others were killed instantly, stabbed in the heart. They tried everything they could think up to see what would work best…they would use scrolls to transfer the light of life from the person they murdered to the ghol’m they created.”

  Svetka and Ann fell silent. Tears welled up in their eyes as they recollected those days. Sebastian had no courage to raise his head and look them in the eyes. He knew what Jarod would tell next.

  As the tall, bearded man continued, his own voice became less stable, emotion flowed through it.

  “After all these tests, mutilations and killings…they eventually found what they were looking for. The younger the sacrifice, the longer a ghol’m would function. They began…to take children from the mines, some who’d never even seen a tree outside, and to drag them into these chambers. Screams were heard, day and night. Blood ran out from under those doors…”

  Xi’Lao held her hands in front of her mouth, unable to utter anything that made sense. Raylan saw her hands trembling and tears building up in her eyes. Raylan noticed Gavin slightly inch closer to her.

  “Some tried to stop it, but they were only killed in the process. We had no strength. We were outnumbered. Then one day, the sound of a new born baby was heard through the tunnels. One of us had survived long enough to complete her full term; and even in the most miserable of circumstances, the newborn baby girl brought a smile to the face of her mother…”

  Tears freely flowed down the women’s faces now, as they stood silently staring into nothingness. Xi’Lao softly shook her head, trying to reject what was yet to be said. Raylan felt a knot in
his stomach as it tightened, fearful of where this was going.

  “Corza was present in the mines that day…” continued Jacob, as his tone suddenly became very flat. It was as if he was distancing his being from the words he was about to speak aloud.

  “He strolled over. As if it was the most normal thing in the world, he came up to the new mother, looked at her in disgust, and spoke the words ‘Take it away and begin the sacrifice ritual immediately’ to one of his soldiers.

  “Two men, who jumped at them with rage, were cut down immediately, and the infant was ripped from her mother’s arms. Everyone heard the child, crying for her mother, all the way up the stone stairs to the sacrificial chambers.

  “The mother was screaming, pulling out her hair, scratching out her eyes, in despair, right up to the point where the crying of her daughter suddenly stopped. The mother let herself drop on the ground, unwilling to move or get up. After kicking and whipping her without success, the soldiers dragged her away. It was said she died the same night.”

  The silence was deafening.

  “I was her midwife in all this,” Svetka eventually said. “That was the day I swore I would get as many people out of there as possible. It went from bad to worse. Corza must have been pleased with the result of his infanticide, since from that moment on, all first born babies were taken away from their mothers and murdered, used for ghol’m scrolls……Not only from slave mothers, but from any mother living under the Stone King’s rule.

  “It almost took another four years before we were successful in escaping. I have seen too many children taken from their mothers, too many hearts broken. Your presence here has brought all of that back.

  “That woman on the platform, she was one of the last that had her baby taken from her. Every day I regret that we weren’t able to save her little boy. Instead, her little boy saved us. The scroll which had sealed the boy’s light of life was retrieved during our revolt, and we used it to let a ghol’m come to our cause. If Corza had been there that day, I would have happily sent the ghol’m after him, but the situation didn’t allow for it.”