Nicole smiled, both outwardly and in her sendings. It is. That would be wonderful. Thank you. We will leave to return to Whitehall at once.
A small hapaki, smaller than Max ambled up to Nicole and looked up at her. Its coloring was different than the three hapaki she had seen before today, different than the others present. In all honesty, Nicole thought it looked a lot like a skunk, with black fur and a white pattern reminiscent of the odorous mephitids. The only difference was the white banding on the black tail.
Its large amber eyes looked up at her and a voice came into her head. I will be going with you. It was the same voice that asked if she was well earlier.
Nicole looked into her eyes—for some reason, this hapaki’s sendings fairly screamed femininity, though hapaki were neither male nor female—and sent, It is my honor to have you accompany me.
I would like a name—she had less difficulty with labels than the elder had—too. Like Max got a human name.
Yes, of course, Nicole sent.
I enjoyed your story of the Hero of Gythe. I want to be called Sam Sharp.
Nicole froze. She wasn’t sure how to answer that. She didn’t want to insult any of the hapaki, but she could see many problems with the little creature taking her son’s name. Ummm…she sent.
Is there something wrong? the hapaki sent back. Is there a problem with using that name?
I…that is…Nicole tried to sort out her words as she sent them to the hapaki. It’s just that the name is used by my son. It will cause confusion if there are two with the same name, especially with how much interaction you will have with others in the government.
Yes, she said. I could see that there could be a problem. That is one of the reasons our way is best. With these labels, there is confusion. Still, I like the name for myself. Maybe your son can change his name?
Nicole looked at Max, who had remained silent since they arrived. He looked at her significantly, but offered no assistance.
I know, Nicole sent. How about we call you Sammy? It is the name you like, but twice the size. In some eyes, that would make you greater even than my son.
Sammy, the hapaki tried the name out. Yes, I think I like that name. I will keep it. Please call me Sammy from now on. Thank you, Nicole. I think we will be good friends.
Me too.
The party spent another four days near the hapaki community. The soldiers scouted, repaired tarps and weapons, and generally rested up. Nicole spent much of the time speaking with the hapaki, individually or in small groups. There were twenty-seven of the creatures, ranging from a youngster of five years to an amazing one hundred thirty-three years old for the eldest. He was the one she spent the most time with, telling him of humans and her world and listening as he told her of the history of his race, as passed down from elders who preceded him.
Nicole was fascinated. The hapaki had not always been as they were, according to the stories. Tales from the distant past told of their coming to Gythe.
We do not know where we came from, the elder said. It was too long ago and the details have been lost. The stories all agree that at one point in time, a human—a man—befriended us. He was somehow able to speak to us, as the hapaki speak, mind-to-mind. With him as a guide, we lived near and cooperated with other humans. Our intellect and powers of reason helped humans to become superior to what they were before meeting us.
When the humans created great weapons with which to kill each other, my people fled to the forests and to other places to hide. We do not fight. It is barbaric and meaningless. When the weapons created flashes of light and loud noises, destroying the dens of men, we watched sadly from our remote places. Some died because of the poisons the weapons leaked across the world, but some survived. The hapaki decided they would isolate themselves and never be involved with the fighting amongst the humans. So we have been for all this time, many generations. It has been so long that many do not even believe humans exist.
But your story of what happened to the other community you visited shows us that we cannot hide forever. Maybe with our guidance and our example of peacefulness, things will not be so bad this time. We now have not one but two humans who can speak with us. Perhaps there are more. It may be that this time, the hapaki way will win out and Gythe will be at peace for all time.
Nicole nodded, sending feelings of agreement to the aged creature in front of her. I hope that, too. I’ll definitely do everything I can to make sure it happens. So will Sam.
I know, the elder said. That is why Sammy will go with you. I have seen your memories and heard your thoughts. We see that you respect us and will look out for our interests.
Nicole sighed. I’m afraid it is time to start back toward the fortress. Thank you for speaking with me, and for trusting me to help Sammy speak on your behalf to the government leaders. We will return or send word as soon as we can.
The elder put his little paw on Nicole’s leg as she got up. I am glad to have met you, Nicole. I would very much like to meet and speak with Sam and Skitter one day. I hope I will live long enough to do so.
I will make it a priority. Sam will love talking to you.
As she gathered up the others, Nicole looked out over the forest hiding the dens of the hapaki. She was more determined than ever to make sure the new government acted in the interest of the creatures. All she needed to do was to get back to the fortress alive and convince everyone that what she said was actually from the hapaki and that she wasn’t making it up on her own. Suddenly, the thought of pirates attacking in the night didn’t seem such a trial.
Chapter 41
The party had dragged themselves from the teleport point up to their rooms, earning strange looks from all those they passed. Sam knew that they probably looked as if they had been pulled through a keyhole. Backwards.
“Sam,” Dr. Walt said as he spotted them in the halls, sniffing, “why do you smell like smoke? Was there trouble?”
Sam nodded numbly and gave Dr. Walt the barest of summaries of their day. “If you don’t mind, Dr. Walt,” Sam said, “I’d really like to take a bath and get into some clean clothes. Maybe we can talk more about it at dinner.”
“Oh, of course, of course,” Dr. Walt responded. “I’m sorry to be so rude. Yes, by all means, clean up. I will talk with you later. I’m glad that you are uninjured. I was heading to the dining hall now, but I will wait another hour so we can eat together. There is more research I can do in the meantime.”
Dinner was, as always, a time for everyone to catch up on what the others were doing. Dr. Walt had not found anything important to report, though he summarized the meeting earlier that day with the delegates of the new government. Sam gave a slightly more detailed account of the day he had. Danaba Kemp complained that he was not building the army nearly fast enough to suit him. It was nice, Sam thought, to have these informal meetings over their meal. The subjects were serious, but the entire thing made him think of a family getting together to eat. He just wished his mother was there with them.
The next morning, everyone was subdued as they gathered together just before sunrise to head out for another day of traveling. Everyone, that is, except Rindu, who seemed perpetually to be the same stoic, reserved monk. Sam had to smile inwardly at that, though he couldn’t quite manage an external smile. He could always count on Rindu to be constant.
The first days after their ambush were uneventful. They continued onward to the southeast, through ever more verdant territory. It was a mindless sort of travel, out on the trail before the sun came up, a few breaks during the day, and then going back to Whitehall at night. Inoria continued to teach Sam about herbs and her hunting and tracking trades. The subjects fascinated Sam.
The day dawned on the twentieth day of their journey to Rasaad’s fortress. The terrain was getting mountainous again, and the trees were thick. There were oak, walnut, even some elm trees. Inoria pointed them out as they traveled, drilling Sam on the ways to identify each.
“You know,” Sam said to Inoria
, “it’s kind of a shame.”
“What’s that?”
“That I don’t really have a reason to use the things you are teaching me about hunting and survival. With my teleportation abilities, there is really no need for me to know it, other than that I love learning about it.”
Inoria considered for a moment. “I see your point. The herblore is still useful, though. As for the other information, maybe it will be more important than you think. We can never know what we will need, so the best thing is to prepare for any eventuality. My father always used to tell us that.”
“I can see the wisdom in that. I’ve always believed in learning everything I can. I can’t thank you enough for teaching me all this. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Sam. It’s nice to have a good student like you.”
She paused for a moment, thoughtful. “It should be less than a week now to the fortress,” she said, “according to what Lahim has told us. It’s killing me that we’ve been traveling this whole time while Tingai could have been continuing his experiments.”
“I know what you mean,” Sam said. “Unfortunately, this is as fast as we can go. At least, it’s as fast as we can go without hurting the rakkeben and Oro. We’re doing all we can.”
“I know, Sam,” she said. “I’m just anxious. It’s a long time to leave my little brother in the hands of that monster.”
The party wound their way into heavier forest, the lighting dim. It was cold out of the direct sunlight and Nalia felt the prickles of goose bumps on her skin. The winters were very cold at Marybador, but it had been so long since she had lived there, she was afraid she had grown weak.
She looked over at Sam, who seemed to be having more trouble with the cold than her. He was breathing on his hands—even though he was wearing gloves he had brought from Telani—and letting his breath bounce back on his face to warm it. He was wearing one of those snug caps on his head, a “beanie,” that he said kept his head and ears warm. Perhaps she should wear the one he had given her. Her ears did feel cold right now.
Cleave suddenly stopped and pricked his ears up. Nalia saw Shonyb and Zumra, Rindu’s rakkeben, do the same. Zumra was humming softly in the way he did when on alert. Nalia patted her rakkeban’s head. “What is it, Cleave?” she asked. “Is there something ahead?”
An ear-splitting shriek rushed through the forest, startling birds from the trees. Nalia saw a family of squirrels make their way to the safety of their den.
“What was that?” Sam asked, looking around for the source of the sound. He had Ahimiro at the ready, held out in front of him in a guard position. Nalia was proud of him for that. A year and a half ago, he may have panicked in such a situation, but now he was ready for danger.
“It came from that way,” Inoria said, pointing off to the southeast, the direction they had been heading. She had her bow out, and was pulling an arrow from her quiver. Emerius already had one nocked.
Rindu merely patted Zumra’s head and turned those intense eyes of his toward the sound. “Let us go investigate. Be wary of your surroundings. Things may not be what they seem.”
They dismounted to walk toward the sound, which had continued in a long, keening scream of something in pain. Skitter remained on his perch, strapped tightly to Shonyb. Sam had that blank look on his face, the one he wore when speaking to the hapaki mind-to-mind.
As they moved, they spread out, watching not only the area from where the sound was coming, but also all around them. They were wary since the ambush two weeks before and were determined not to be trapped again.
The sound became louder as there were less trees between them and the source. Nalia looked at Sam to her right, Rindu to her left, and the twins barely visible further out, one on each side. The rakkeben and Oro were behind them, arrayed in what looked to be defensive positions, ensuring they were not being herded into another trap.
Nalia made it through the last of the trees separating them from the sound and she finally saw what was making the noise. In between two large oak trees, something was thrashing and screaming. It seemed that it had one of its limbs caught in a vicious-looking trap made of metal with teeth that had snapped shut. The creature was bleeding and trying to pry open the jaws of the trap. It was not having any success.
At first, Nalia thought that it was a person, but looking more closely, she saw that though it was humanoid, there were things that were different about it. It had no hair, but instead had some type of scales covering its body, as if it was a snake in the form of a man. Its face, still recognizable, had a large, bulbous nose and big ears, making it look incongruous. Even from twenty feet, Nalia could see the blue of its eyes shining in fear and pain.
“Fren?” Inoria said. “Fren Tussel? Is that you?”
The creature stopped screaming for a moment and looked to Inoria. A look of sadness flickered across its face and then disappeared. It started screaming and thrashing again, trying to get to her. Nalia had no doubt it would tear its own leg off to get to Inoria to rip her limb from limb.
The twang of a bow sounded much too loudly in the forest air. Nalia projected her senses, expecting a missile to be coming at her. But it was not directed toward the party. The screaming abruptly ended and Nalia saw that the point of an arrow had sprouted from the back of creature’s head, having come all the way through from the front. Emerius stood on the other side of what was once human, bow hanging from his limp hand, a look of sorrow and disgust on his face.
“Oh, Em,” Inoria said. “I know it was necessary, but I’m sorry it had to be you.”
They all moved slowly toward the creature’s corpse, the body of what was once a villager of Blackwood. Wary still, they scanned the surroundings, looking for traps and trip wires. There were none.
When they reached the body, they all looked at each other and then at the mutated thing that had finally found peace.
“He was one of the people from your village?” Sam asked.
“Yes,” was all Inoria said. She was kneeling alongside the fallen monster, using some kind of tool she carried to pry open the trap, releasing its leg.
“I’m sorry,” Sam said.
There was silence.
After a moment, Emerius spoke, “Death is better than to live like that, half man, half lizard. He would have thanked me for it. Fren was always doing things for others. He was one of the kindest men I have ever known. To turn him into this…this…monster! I have special plans for Tingai. He will not die so quickly as my friend here. There will be no friends to end his suffering too soon.” He turned to Oro, checking his paws, obviously just so he would have something to keep him busy.
Nalia lowered her gaze to the ground. Images of her sisters, all so vital and beautiful, passed in front of her vision. She saw them as they were killed, one by one or several at a time, whittled down in front of her when they attacked the Gray Man and his forces. The memories made her suck in a sharp breath and clench her fists. Watching them die was bad enough; it would have been worse if she had been required to do it herself. She wanted to say something to make the twins feel better, but could not think of what she could say. Instead, she remained silent.
“Be on your guard,” Rindu said. “There is something coming.” Nalia noticed the rakkeben bristling just as Rindu spoke.
Then Nalia sensed it, too. There were a number of “somethings” coming at them, very fast. Mere seconds later, the sound of the plants around them being trampled by many feet filled the air. She drew her shrapezi and readied herself. She saw Sam ready Ahimiro as well. The twins gave each other a look and then turned outward, drawing arrows from their quivers.
They didn’t have to wait long.
At least two dozen creatures of all shapes and sizes were descending upon them. Some ran on two legs, some on four, but they all had one thing in common: in their eyes was a bloodlust Nalia had seen before. It was the same hungry look the riati mutants had given her when she was injured and trying to make her way home from the Gray Fortress a
ll those years ago. Nothing short of death would stop these creatures.
Nalia sought her center and calmed herself, taking in a deep breath. The song of battle was strong and she found her body responding to it, increasing her blood flow, dilating her eyes, putting a keener edge on her fighting skills. When the first of the mutant creatures reached her, she was ready.
Bowstrings twanged and creatures screamed as arrows pierced them. There were four in the forefront that came for her: three human-sized and one hapaki-sized. The larger of the creatures looked like mixtures of men and animals. Two of them had fur all over their bodies and ran on all fours while the other ran upright and seemed to have small feathers on different parts of its form. The smaller creature, still looking like a hapaki but slightly larger, had exaggerated claws and teeth that appeared to be very sharp.
The furry creatures leapt before the others could make it to her. She ducked, allowing one of them to pass harmlessly over her, but the other she deflected with her shrapezi, redirecting its force away from her while slicing at the creature’s front paws. It yowled as it landed and then its right leg collapsed from the injury she had inflicted. Its face plowed into the forest floor and it tumbled into a heap, tripping up two more creatures that were going toward Sam.
The bird-human and hapaki reached her as she spun toward them. The smaller slashed at her with its claws and the larger struck out with blinding speed with its talons, much like a striking snake. Nalia evaded the hapaki’s claws and parried the other’s hands with her blades, thinking the razor edges of the shrapezi would do some damage in addition to keeping them from her. She was wrong.
Harmonic Magic Series Boxed Set Page 83
