Well, there was only one way to find out.
I stepped out of the trees with a confused frown and walked over toward them. As soon as I emerged from the trees, one of the men saw me and straightened. The other looked my way too. They drew their swords in unison and ran toward me.
Surprised by their reaction, I stopped walking and held up my hands to show they were empty. My sword was back with Patches, so all I had was my dagger to defend myself, if it came to that. Kefer and Peltor were competent swordsmen, and I doubted I could make a good showing for myself against both of them with only a dagger.
The two men arrayed themselves in front of me, leaving each other room for a clear strike. Kefer looked closely at me. "Jaylan? What are you doing here?"
Kefer is a few inches taller than I am. He stands a little over six feet and has shoulder-length wavy brown hair and light blue eyes. We were occasional sparring partners and had worked one job together as escort guards. It was not unlike the job he was working now with Peltor. We normally got along fine, which made his current behavior unexpected and strange.
Peltor is another story. He is about my height with long, dark, curly hair and a thin dark mustache. A beak of a nose dominates his narrow face. Peltor's sneering personality and mine come together like oil and water, so that nose has tempted my fist on a number of occasions. He seemed perfectly happy to have me at a disadvantage. With a half-smile, he stared at me intently and shifted his weight back and forth. He was barely able to suppress his desire to engage me.
In spite of having recognized me, neither man had made a move to put away their swords.
I kept my hands up and said, "I was just about to come over and ask you the same thing. Aren't you supposed to be on your way to Plains End?"
The two men looked at each other, and then back to me. Kefer answered, "The driver said he needed to stop here along the way."
I nodded my head in understanding. That made sense. But their swords were still drawn and they were watching my movements carefully, as if I still posed some kind of threat. I realized my own sense of unease was not only because of their obvious anxiety. I was hearing a strange noise as well.
The noise was subtle. It was like a chorus of tones that seemed to be coming from the direction of the village and more strongly from the two Raven Company men. I looked beyond the men toward the people in the village. With a start, I realized that all of the villagers had stopped what they were doing to stare at me. The fading sunlight sparkled off an amulet dangling from a necklace one woman was wearing. Then I noticed that several of the other villagers had similar amulets.
Once again, the hair on the back of my neck began to rise. Strange things were afoot on the Delta Peninsula.
Kefer stepped into my line of sight. "What do you need, Jaylan?"
I looked more closely at Kefer. He wore a thin chain around his neck that disappeared behind his tabard. He could be wearing one of the amulets as well.
I had no idea what was going on with these two, and it wasn't my mystery to solve, so I got back to the business at hand.
"I'm looking for a young boy of about sixteen. He has short brown hair and brown eyes, and his name is Tam. He went missing last night. Have you seen him? Has anyone at the village seen him?"
The men looked at each other again, and both shook their heads. Kefer answered. "No. No one has seen him."
I lifted a hand toward the village. "May I ask some of the villagers?"
Kefer shifted from one foot to the other. "We've been here since yesterday. If a boy had shown up, we'd know about it. Talking to the villagers would be a waste of time."
Well, I certainly didn't need to waste any more time. However, their resistance bothered me, and the rudeness of keeping their blades in their hands was baffling. I squinted against the sun to get a better look at their faces, but their expressions revealed nothing to indicate they might be lying to me.
I frowned at Kefer. I wanted to press him with more questions, but again, it was a mystery for another time. "Fine. I'd better get going then."
They both nodded at me simultaneously. I snorted, thinking that these guys had been spending too much time together.
Kefer sighed and relaxed his stance a little. He angled his head toward the trailhead. "See you around, Jaylan."
I turned and headed back to the trail, looking back over my shoulder once to see that both men were still in the same position watching me go. It seemed like they were protecting the village from me or me from the village, but that didn't make any sense. Maybe they were just unnerved by their unexpected side trip.
Whatever their problem was, it would have to wait. I was quickly running out of light and needed to finish my preliminary search for Tam.
***
Putting the strangeness of Buckwoods behind me, I jogged back along the trail to the point where it had forked. I stopped at the fork and stood there for a moment with my hands on my hips. I wasn't sure if I had enough light left to check out the other direction.
The other fork was definitely less traveled than the one that had taken me to Buckwoods, so it was possible it simply dwindled to nothing fairly quickly. That would be good to know. I could save myself from having to return here tomorrow to check it out if that were the case. I made my decision and started down the eastern fork of the trail.
I moved as swiftly as I could, which wasn't very fast at all. I had to dodge too many branches and step around small trees that were taking over the trail. I also found more evidence of wildlife along this trail. I ran across several mounds of moose droppings, which look like a pile of tiny brown eggs. The pellets were disturbingly dark and fresh. I slowed down even more after finding a tuft of dark brown, wiry fur stuck to the end of a broken branch. The last thing I needed was to accidentally charge into the back end of a moose. They take that kind of thing poorly.
The trail opened up along a rocky hillside and I was able to see the dark, shadowed waters of the lake below. I took a moment to admire the view of tall pines in the foreground and the slough I had passed earlier in the background.
While I stood there, I pondered the bizarre encounter at Buckwoods. The sound I had heard from the villagers and the Raven Company men tugged at my mind. I wasn't familiar with any kind of jewelry that made noise. Well, except one: the enchanted ring Sulana had recovered for the Archives. Could everyone in that village be wearing an enchanted necklace? That seemed unlikely. The next time I saw Kefer, I'd have to ask him about it.
The trail didn't seem to end right away after all, and the distant peaks were stained purple by the setting sun, so I decided it was time to go back to the clearing and retrieve Patches. The moon wasn't up yet, and I didn't care much for the idea of wandering around on these trails in the dark, regardless of how much Alain had romanticized it.
I was turning to leave when I saw movement out of the corner of my eye.
About thirty paces away, a boy sat on a rock inspecting the bottom of his foot. At least I thought it was a boy at first glance. But the face that turned and looked over at me was all wrong. Hair covered his pointed ears. Hair also covered his face, which had exaggerated cheekbones that extended his nose forward. A set of fangs glistened behind his lips.
The stubby, rounded fingers that held his foot had claws. His toes were also rounded and had claws. A thin layer of fur-like hair covered his entire body. And he wore no clothing.
My brain couldn't come to grips with what I was seeing. I had expected to find a sixteen-year-old boy. What I found matched Tam's description, but only in a general sense. He did have brown hair; quite a lot of it, in fact. He was about my size except thinner, and he had dark eyes that could have been brown. I couldn't tell for sure from a distance. I believed I was looking at the subject of my search, but what had happened to him?
I intended to call out when I first spotted him, but his appearance had stunned me and my breath caught in my throat. Tam, or whatever it was, leaped to his feet and ran down the trail away from me. His
speed was unreal, and he vanished before I could close my gaping mouth and calm my racing heartbeat. He was already gone by the time I found my voice.
"Tam, wait! Your mother sent me to find you," I yelled in the direction he'd gone. But it was too late. He had already disappeared into the forest on the other side of the overlook, leaving a wake of waving branches.
I ran after Tam, excited that I had found him already, but not sure I wanted to catch up to the thing he had become. If I could find him and bring him back safely, regardless of his current condition, this job could turn out to be a very easy five crowns.
If anything, the trail got even worse on the other side of the overlook. I practically swam through a blinding thicket of branches, leaves, and spider webs. I called to Tam a few more times and looked for any indication of where he might have gone, but the trail dissolved into a confusion of narrow game paths.
I stopped to catch my breath and think for a moment. Tam had me at a serious disadvantage. He and friends had been exploring these trails at night, while I had no idea where I was going.
I listened carefully for sounds of movement, but heard nothing. The birds of the forest had quieted except for an owl that hooted nearby, a harbinger of the fast approaching night.
As I stood there considering my situation, a wolf howl split the air around me. The sound sent a shock straight up my spine and then back down through my frazzled nerves to my legs. I turned and ran.
Thinking time was over. The next few minutes were all about motion and emotion. I ran as fast as I could manage back down the trail toward the clearing, expecting something to leap on my back and tear into me at any moment. An image of Patches tied up in the clearing at the mercy of a violent predator put a lump in my throat.
I ignored the branches that whipped into my face and bruised my arms as I ran stumbling down the tight trail. I tripped over an exposed root and landed hard on my knees and elbows, my nose halting only inches from a pile of moose droppings. I sat back on my knees, trying to catch my breath and get my fear under control.
Another howl echoed into the night. Thankfully, it was farther away this time, but it was still too close. I got back to my feet and hurried on. I moved a little more cautiously, limping slightly from a sore knee that had caught the worst of my fall.
I burst into the clearing, panting and stumbling. My sudden appearance startled Patches. He whinnied and ran out of the clearing down the trail we had ridden in on. Hearing wolf howls nearby must have agitated him enough to break free.
I stopped and rested my hands on my knees, breathing hard. I called to Patches, but he was gone. Another howl sounded and Patches whinnied again somewhere down the trail. I whistled for him, and soon heard his hooves thumping slowly back toward me.
I stood calmly and got my breathing back under control while Patches approached. I spoke calmly and soothingly to him, but I didn't move. He walked slowly up to me, with his nostrils flaring and huffing, and pushed me with his nose. I rubbed his face and patted his neck, and then I climbed up into the saddle.
I'd had enough of the Delta Peninsula for one day, and it was clear that I wasn't bringing Tam home tonight. That task would have to wait for tomorrow. With any luck, I'd be able to come up with a plan by then.
***
By the time Patches and I made it back to Delta, night had fallen. Golden light leaked through the cracks in the shuttered windows of the homes we passed. Only a few townspeople walked the streets carrying lanterns to light their way.
On the way back from the peninsula, I had debated how much to tell Greta about her son. I couldn't be sure that the wolf-boy I found really was Tam, but it seemed unlikely that it could be anyone else. I had to assume that Tam's parents knew nothing about his current condition. If Greta did know, I'd be annoyed with her. Details like "has pointed ears and is covered in fur" would have been good information to have at the start of my search.
The circumstances definitely indicated sorcery. I had heard of sorcerers who could shape change into animals, but if Tam were a sorcerer with that kind of skill, he would be training at the Archives, not living in Delta arguing with his father about becoming an Imperial Guard.
There was another explanation, of course. The small bottle of liquid I'd found at the clearing was an obvious clue. The wolf head on the label took on new meaning if the bottle contained a shape-changing potion. Actually, there was a technical name...a lycanthropy potion. But I had never heard of a situation where a person was only partially changed. I was under the impression that it was all or nothing. Either that impression was wrong, or I happened to encounter the boy in mid-transformation.
I knew I should probably report to Greta immediately, but I wasn't sure where she'd be right then, and I was too sore and tired to hunt her down. I still wasn't sure how much I wanted to tell her anyway. I opted to go straight to the Eagle's Rest and face Greta in the morning.
The small boarding house was a welcome sight. A lantern out front lit a small sign that proclaimed room and board could be had for a fair price. Another lantern on the back of the building gave me adequate light to unsaddle Patches and groom him. I fumbled around in the small, dark stable and found hay as well as some oats for the well-deserved treat I'd promised him. I left him in the small corral chewing contentedly and headed into the Eagle's Rest.
The front door opened into a dining area dominated by a long wooden table with seating for eight. The room was warm and cheerful, with sconces along the walls that provided plenty of light. I breathed deeply and smiled as I inhaled the rich aroma of a hot meal and warm bread. My stomach grumbled loudly in anticipation.
Seated at the table were Greta and another woman who I presumed was her friend Penny. Penny smiled back at me when she saw my initial reaction to her home. "Hello. You must be Jaylan," she said.
She got up and came around the table. She was a short, stocky woman with a round, friendly face and an easy, welcoming smile. Strawberry blond curls framed her face and made her look much younger than the smile lines around her eyes and mouth suggested.
"I'm Penny," she said as she patted the back of a chair. "Come have a seat. You look famished. I'll go get you something to eat right now."
"Thank you. That would be appreciated," I said as she bustled off.
Before sitting, I turned to Greta. "I wasn't sure where to find you at this time of the evening, so I figured I'd just speak with you in the morning."
Greta nodded and searched my face for a hint of what I'd discovered. "Did you find anything?"
I hesitated before answering. I was too tired to come up with a delicate way to explain what I had found, so I decided to tell her the truth, just not all of it. "Yes and no," I hedged. She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes, waiting for me to continue. "I believe I found Tam, but he ran when he saw me and I lost him in the forest."
Greta's face lit up, and she clenched her hands together. "That's wonderful! I'm so glad he isn't lost. Was he hurt?"
"I don't think so. A few scratches maybe, but otherwise he seemed to be holding up just fine." I shook my head. "But I only got a brief glimpse of him before he disappeared. I tried to follow, but it was getting dark, and he knows those woods too well for me to keep up."
She motioned for me to sit down and leaned forward. "I'm just glad you found him already. How will you get him home?"
I sat down as Penny walked back into the room carrying a large bowl of steaming stew and a bread board with a wrapped loaf of fresh bread. She overheard Greta's question as she came in. "You found Tam? Oh Greta, I'm so happy for you!"
Penny set the food down in front of me and my mouth watered instantly. I leaned forward and sniffed deeply with my eyes closed. "This is fantastic," I sighed. "Thank you very much."
Penny grinned and gave me a small curtsey. "My pleasure. I hope you enjoy it." She leaned forward and looked closely at my face. "Oh, you're hurt. Let me get something for those scratches." She hurried back out of the room.
I picked up my spo
on, but before I started in on the food, I turned back to Greta. "I do have a plan I'd like to run by you."
Greta sat back and looked relieved. She waved her hand in a shooing motion at me. "Go ahead and start your dinner."
I didn't need a second invitation. The stew was thick and rich with big chunks of potato and meat that was spiced to perfection. Penny definitely knew how to cook. I unwrapped the short loaf of bread and ripped a hunk from it. The crispy crust crackled as it tore and steam rose from the exposed crumb. I dipped the bread into the stew and chewed blissfully.
I stopped eating briefly when Penny returned to dab at my face with a wet cloth and spread a little ointment of some kind on my scratches. Her ministrations stung at first, but after she applied the ointment, the pain from the scratches settled into a deep throb. I thanked her and went back to my food.
The two women watched me with amusement as I gave myself over to the sumptuous meal. I had to admit that the stew was better than the version Dela's mother made, although Luma herself would never hear me say that.
After I had consumed several spoonfuls of stew and the first chunk of bread, I started feeling more relaxed, so I stopped for a moment to continue my conversation with Greta. I decided that before telling her about finding Tam, I'd see if she already knew something about his strange condition. Knowing whether or not she had intentionally misled me earlier would affect how I proceeded.
"Have you noticed anything unusual about Tam's appearance or behavior lately?" I asked, watching Greta's face for a reaction.
The question seemed to take her completely by surprise. "Like what?" she asked.
Well, like an excess of body hair, or maybe a strong desire for his meat cooked rare, I thought to myself. But Greta clearly would have no idea what I was getting at. And since she was paying me a lot of money, she was entitled to know what I'd found.
"When I found Tam, his appearance was a little odd," I said. I was going to have to do better than that understatement, but I had trouble thinking of a way to describe what I had seen so it would make sense to her. I finally pulled the potion bottle out of my pocket.
The Vaetra Chronicles: Book 01 - Vaetra Unveiled Page 11
