Katla smirked and moved to her horse. “Come on, let’s get moving. You may be right about Lord Blackpool having more men looking for us.”
“What about the bodies?” asked Hester.
“Leave them. Murderers don’t deserve a proper send off, and I won’t endanger our lives by sending up a huge signal fire for anyone looking for us.”
Hester climbed into his saddle. “I hadn’t thought about that. It would’ve been foolish. I almost did it while you slept. Thank goodness I didn’t.”
“It is an unfortunate thing that we can’t always do what is right, but we do what we must,” said Katla.
Hester gave her a strange look, but said nothing. He just started riding.
13
Witch den
While she’d not enjoyed the wet rainy weather of the rainforest surrounding the Towers of Gorro, it was a paradise compared to the swamps of Eastfell. Thick, prickly bushes that cut like a knife, soft ground that turned to quicksand at a moment’s notice, and a stench that assailed the senses.
The ground was so dangerous that they left the horses outside of the swamps. Besides the dangers of the swamp, they were now close enough to the system of caves that they ran the danger of running into a witch, or one of their followers.
“This place always makes me nervous,” said Hester.
“You come here often?” asked Katla, mimicking a line a sailor had once tried to use on her.
Hester, not recognizing her attempt at humor, answered solemnly. “More often than I would like. Master Crabtree and I used to come here once every couple of months. The swamps have many plants and species that can’t be found anywhere else. Now that Master Crabtree doesn’t travel he found another teacher to gather his ingredients. Thankfully, that teacher has his own pupils who he drags out here.”
“Did you ever run into any of the witches?” asked Katla.
“Occasionally. Most times they ignored our presence. Rarely, one or two would seek out Master Crabtree for trade, but never in the swamps. They would always find us outside of the swamps. I think they didn’t want us knowing where their caves are. But mages from the college have been coming to these swamps for hundreds of years. Master Crabtree has maps that mark the areas in the swamps that have been searched, several mages have tried to explore the caves. A few even survived.”
“That is a comforting thought,” said Katla.
“It is something to be considered. I think there is a real risk to trying to enter the caves. I doubt we would survive,” said Hester.
Katla’s eyebrows furrowed, if they couldn’t enter the cave to find out about the witches inside, why had they even bother coming into this festering stink-hole of a swamp? “If we aren’t going inside, you better have a plan. Evetal sent us to find out about the witches.”
“Evetal isn’t here. Besides, it isn’t Evetal that needs information, it is your friend Hanna. We don’t need to search the caves to find out if there are demons here. Once we establish that this lair has demons inside we need to find her.”
Katla swatted a flying insect away from her face. “I’m not sure I’d call her a friend. The whole murdering her grandfather thing makes that a complicated situation.”
“Yes, I suppose killing someone’s family members would make friendship a challenge. Regardless, she is the key to this. We aren’t going to defeat the witches without her. We need her, and we will need spirit stones. Let’s hope she recovers them before the witches can get their hands on them.”
“Why would we need more spirit stones? Hanna has one already and she has a connection to two spirits.”
“She has a spirit stone, but you don’t. It may be necessary for you to have one as well,” said Hester.
Katla tensed up as she thought about what he was suggesting. “Hanna’s spirits willingly put their blood on the stone, and they died. Finding a spirit isn’t that easy,” said Katla.
“Don’t worry, I’m not suggesting you go killing anyone to get access to their spirits. That is not something I would recommend, the consequences of having an unwilling spirit in your body could be terrifying. Only a madman or someone completely evil would attempt such a thing.”
Katla relaxed, that had been her biggest fear, that she’d be asked to kill someone to gain power. It was true she’d agreed to murder Thorodd Stoneblood to save her sister, but that had been a terrible decision to make and if she’d thought there was another way to save her sister she wouldn’t have done it. The fact that Thorodd Stoneblood had been a great warrior had made the decision easier. For warriors from Northern Solotine, like Thorodd Stoneblood, dying in battle was an honor and not something to be feared. They believed their place in the spirit world among their warrior brethren was assured if they died in battle. If the witches had demanded the life of someone other than a warrior Katla wasn’t sure she would’ve been able to make that choice, and even now she still had occasional nightmares where she saw herself killing Thorodd. His death was something that would stay with her for the rest of her life. She’d accepted that as the cost of saving her sister’s life, but she didn’t take killing lightly.
“No, to defeat demon warriors and a demon witch like Quivna you will need to become a demon warrior,” said Hester.
Katla shook her head, her trepidation about his plan returned. This might be the worse idea she’d ever heard. “You want me to become a demon warrior? Have you lost your mind?”
“No, my mind is fully intact,” said Hester. “Think about it. The witches are making demon warriors, to defeat those warriors we’ll need someone who can match their speed and power. Do you think you could defeat a demon warrior right now?”
“Sure,” said Katla. “If I could sneak up on one.”
“And what about two? What if two demon warriors attacked you? Could you defeat them?”
Katla thought back to her first encounter with the demon warriors. She’d gone into the caves with Hanna and had seen first-hand how being a demon warrior turned ordinary men into something much more dangerous. No, if she had to fight one or more head on with no element of surprise there was a good chance that she wouldn’t survive. “Well, Hanna isn’t here and we have no idea if she had more spirit stones or not. Let’s just worry about what we came here to do. We can talk about this again after we find out if there are demons here or not.”
“That is fair. And you are right, without Hanna and a spirit stone it is not possible so there is no point worrying about that right now,” said Hester.
Not wanting to dwell on the thought of becoming a demon warrior, Katla asked about the cave. “What is your plan? I went into the caves with Hanna before, but this is different. I don’t know these caves and trying to fight our way out could be suicide.”
“I agree. That is why we aren’t going in.” Hester stopped for a moment and looked around to gain his bearings. He recognized a landmark. “Yes, here we go.” He then led her over a small hill, on the opposite side of the hill was a narrow gully, inside the gully was the dark opening of a cave. Hester took off his small backpack and started rummaging through it until he found what he was looking for. A leather sheath holding several pieces of parchment.
Hester took out a piece of the parchment and started folding repeatedly.
“Dare I ask what you are doing?” asked Katla.
“Do you know how coal miners check mines for danger?”
“Sure, they take small birds in. If the bird dies or is knocked out they know it is dangerous,” said Katla.
“These are our canaries.” Hester stopped folding and then said a small incantation. The folded-up parchment turned into a dozen small paper birds. They flew above Hester’s hand until he blew on them. Half of the paper birds flew into the cave while the rest flew above the ground. Hester turned to Katla. “The spirit world is more complicated that most people understand. What we call the seven hells are separate realms, and the heavens too are intertwined and connected in many ways that we still don’t understand. Many witches and mag
es have studied the different realms of the seven hells. Some are home to the spirits of men and women who the gods have refused, others contain spirits and demons that are creatures of their own realms. When a mage like Master Crabtree opens a portal to a different realm there is a risk of running into a creature of that realm. Some are more powerful than others. To ascertain the risk of entering the realm, Master Crabtree came up with a spell. The paper canaries will fly into the cave will go through the caves, staying in the darkest corners to avoid being seen. When they’ve covered their search range they will return. The spell has a range of about a mile, hopefully we find an answer now. Otherwise, we will have to find another cave opening, and that will increase our risk of being found out.”
“What about the ones flying around outside of the cave?” asked Katla.
“They do the same thing, but can cover more ground as they don’t have to stay in the shadows. The ones in the cave let the ones above it know where to fly. It is a brilliant piece of magic. Master Crabtree has been perfecting it for years. He’s grown attached to his little birds. I don’t think he ever imagined how important they would be.”
Katla watched the little paper birds flying around, just like a real flock of birds they swooped from area to area. If the bird’s flight pattern indicated anything it was that the caves covered much of the ground around them. All the small hills jutting out of the swampy land likely had caves below.
As the paper birds turned and started to return to them, Katla held her breath. What would the magical birds tell them? Would they find any demons? Or would they have to enter the caves to really know? It was an unwelcome proposition. Hester opened his hand and the birds all flew onto it. Some of the ones returning from the caves were randomly showing up after the rest, but most had returned.
“Well, what do your magical birds say?” asked Katla.
Hester picked a couple of the paper birds off of his palm and handed them to Katla.
Looking down at the tiny little pieces of paper, Katla frowned. There was two that were a dark grey, two black ones and one that was the most intense deep black that Katla had ever seen. It seemed unnatural.
Hester pointed to the dark grey pieces of paper. “Those are from demons, there are more pieces of paper like that in my hand still.” He then took one of the black pieces. Any time Master Crabtree and I were looking for a higher-level demon this is the type of color the birds would show.” He then grabbed the blackest piece of paper. “I’ve seen some very dark colors, we’ve called upon some very powerful demons, and this is the darkest one I’ve ever seen. This must be from Quivna.”
Quivna, thought Katla. The dead witch who wanted her kind to rule like kings had been channeled and was in the cave system. It was the results they were hoping to find and yet desperately wished weren’t real. Now they had proof. This was indeed the main lair of the Fangris coven, and inside were several demons, likely connected to warriors by the spirit stones she’d delivered to Loma Fangris, including Quivna. “What now? Do you need to return to the Towers of Gorro to inform them of what we’ve found?”
Hester shook his head. “No, we go to Yanga as planned.” Hester took the pieces of paper from his hand and Katla’s and put them in an envelope. “I will have this sent to Master Crabtree. He will understand the significance better than anyone. Now we need this Hanna Halfblood if we are to have any chance of defeating them.”
Katla nodded. It seemed her destiny was tied to the northern warrior, and that all Mykoznia’s future rested in their hands. It wasn’t a position Katla relished being in, but one she understood. Her years of serving the king, knowing that any moment she might have to give up her life to defend his, had prepared her well for this type of responsibility. She would do what was needed to stop the witches.
14
Pirates
The wind in her face, Hanna grinned. She was doing duty in the crow’s nest. Now that she was the company representative she no longer had to do normal crew duties, but Hanna enjoyed watch duty. While others might find it boring. Hanna loved the solitude of watch duty. It gave her time to think, while part of her brain and eyes maintained a focus on being alert to her surroundings. They were traveling through pirate infested waters, and one never knew what would happen. The Lady of the Evening was a known ship, and often pirates would avoid them, but other times they were targets anyway. After all, despite the recent assortment of strange and unplanned trips, they were a merchant ship, and rarely were without cargo of value.
Today, her thoughts weren’t on boys or feelings, but on the task ahead. The Fangris witches. She’d already fought with one coven of the witches, but this coven was bigger, and had the power to pull on a stronger spirit like Quivna, and who knows what other demons. There were still several spirit stones unaccounted for from when Katla had taken them from Thorodd. At least the witches were limited in how many demon warriors they could make.
Before leaving Irontide, Hanna had gone for a long walk by herself, she went to a spot only she knew and hid all the remaining spirit stones from the Ayrith valley. She kept five with her, and the only way to find the rest was through Hanna. It would provide the Nordvik’s and the people of Irontide a degree of protection. Capturing and hurting any of them would be a waste of time. Only through Hanna could someone find the rest of the gem stones.
The biggest problem wasn’t going to be demon warriors, but Quivna herself. Whoever the witches chose to host the dead witch’s spirit would gain some of her magical powers. It was said that Quivna used magic to influence people, warriors and witches wanted to serve her. With Quivna’s spirit the witches could build an army of followers who would otherwise not give a damn about the witches dream of power. That army with a handful of demon warriors would be a frightening force and a danger to all that stood in its way. First, it would be Mykoznia, but who knew how far the danger would reach. Creyta, the land of her father’s people wasn’t far from Mykoznia and it had its share of witches as well. Would the Fangris witches with Quivna try and take that as well? The key was to stopping them as soon as possible before they could build up an army, or even worse, found another source of spirit stones.
Thorodd and Anso’s spirits thought that she needed to add a demon spirit, but she had no idea how to do that. If they were right, Katla would be waiting for her with an answer to that problem. But even with a demon spirit she was still only one person. One of her gifts was the ability to create spirit stones. It was her magical connection that allowed her to create a spirit stone. The witches could create multiple demon warriors by using powerful spells. What if she created a spirit stone for Katla, or even a member of the crew? She was hesitant to give any of the crew a spirit stone, but Katla was different. The ex-King’s Guard had as much to lose as anyone, and had been part of the problem. If she was willing to, Hanna would give her a spirit stone. But first Hanna needed to find out more about this mage that Thorodd and Anso expected her to find with Katla.
Suddenly, movement interrupted her thoughts. A ship was off the starboard side of the ship. “Sail Ho,” shouted Hanna, letting the crew below know they were not alone. The waters they were sailing were known pirate territory, a plethora of small isles that were challenging to traverse and offered cover for pirate ships to hide behind. This ship wasn’t hiding behind any of the nearby isles but that meant nothing. They would keep a close eye on the ship.
Koyo joined Hanna in the crow’s nest. He had a monocular with him.
Hanna pointed to the ship in the distance.
Koyo used the monocular and studied the ship. He then handed the instrument to Hanna.
Hanna accepted it and looked through. The magnification allowed her a close look at the ship. It was a brigantine. Smaller than their own merchant ship, Brigantines were a favorite of pirates, the smaller, more agile, and speedy ships were perfect for attacking merchant ships.
Hanna looked up and spotted the ships flag. The red flag with a black sword was well known to her, it belonged to the Black
Sword Gang. Hanna handed the monocular back to Koyo and shook her head. “You would think they would’ve learned their lesson the last time they tried to attack us.”
Koyo shrugged. “We are a prize worth taking. That is enough for most pirates. I’ll take over watch. You should head down.”
Hanna climbed down the mainsail, and headed towards Captain Rozad, who was standing at the ship’s wheel with Azad at his side.
“What did you see?” asked Captain Rozad.
“It’s a Black Sword Gang ship,” said Hanna.
Captain Rozad squinted his eyes so he could see the ship better through the bright midday sun. “They are still a way off, we could try and outrun them.”
“Would we get away?” asked Hanna.
“No,” admitted Captain Rozad.
“Then let’s not waste any energy. Let them come to us.”
Captain Rozad turned to Azad. “Inform the crew. Prepare for a fight.”
Azad smiled. “Thank the gods. All that fighting on land was messing with my sea legs. It’s about time we had a proper sea battle. I wonder if they have any cargo we can sell in Yanga.”
Hanna shook her head. The crew of the Lady were a bunch of pirates at heart and looked at pirate ships as prey and not predators. She could only imagine what the crew would’ve been like if her father hadn’t fallen in love with the daughter of a trader who needed reliable merchant ship men.
Heading below deck, Hanna grabbed her shield and axe. It was still an adjustment, not using a glaive during the attacks, but now she was far more dangerous than she’d ever been before. It would be her and not Azad who would capture or kill the enemy ship’s captain.
As Hanna came back topside Koyo’s voice rang out. “Sail ho.” Hanna frowned. A second ship? She looked around. The second ship was on their portside and slightly ahead of them. It was just coming around one of the small isles that filled this region of the seas. One look at the ship’s sail confirmed Hanna’s suspicion. It was a second Black Sword Gang ship.
Hanna Halfblood: Spirit Warrior Page 11
