Bakkian Chronicles, Book I - The Prophecy

by Poole, Jeffrey

  Darkness was starting to settle in when they emerged into a large clearing. A small, fast moving brook ran from west to east. Rhenyon glanced behind, half-expecting to find the dragon gone, but no, Kahvel emerged from the clearing and instinctively looked up. In less than a second his wings had unfolded and he propelled himself into the air. The resulting downdraft knocked everyone present onto the soft grass.

  “He could at least have given a warning,” Rhenyon grumbled as he and his men regained their feet.

  “He’s probably claustrophobic,” Sarah suggested, “not that he’d ever admit it.”

  “We will set up camp here,” Rhenyon ordered. “Jalen. Kern. Recon, two leagues.”

  Nodding, both men disappeared back into the forest.

  “Where’d they go?”

  “I told them to investigate everything within two leagues of our camp,” Rhenyon explained to Sarah as he pulled gear out of his pack. “I do not want any surprises in the middle of the night.”

  Rhein had gathered a double armful of firewood and was setting up a large hearth. He pulled his tinder kit from his pack and prepared to get the fire started.

  “Whatcha doin’?”

  The veteran soldier glanced up. The male half of the Nohrin was peering into his hearth.

  “Can I help ye with something, sir?”

  “Actually, I was thinking I could help you.”

  The soldier stared at him for a moment, and then his eyes travelled down to his right hand clutching his worn piece of flint. He chuckled. “Aye, I believe ye can. Can ye start this for me?”

  “Step back,” Steve ordered.

  As soon as Rhein took a few cautious steps backward the fire blazed up, crackling merrily.

  Rhenyon’s other lieutenant walked up. Steve thought a moment, trying to remember his name.

  “It is Pheron, sir Steve,” the soldier said.

  “You’re a mind reader?” Steve wanted to know.

  “No, sir, but it is not difficult to tell that ye were doing yer damnedest to remember my name.”

  Smiling sheepishly, he grinned at the friendly soldier. “Sorry.”

  Waving a hand to dismiss Steve’s apology, Pheron turned to scrutinize the fire. “Ye and yer wife are truly an asset. Yer making our lives easier, that is for certain.”

  At that moment, Sarah walked up, carrying the heavy pack again. She smiled brightly at her husband, and then flashed a smile at Pheron.

  The tall lieutenant stepped forward to relieve the heavy pack from her. Rhenyon approached then, surveying the fire and the pack. “Jalen was right. I can get used to this.”

  As Pheron passed out the provisions, he grunted with surprise. Reaching deep into the bag, he pulled out a sealed envelope with the king’s insignia on it.

  “Captain, I think ye should see this.”

  Rhenyon was on his feet in a flash. “What? What do ye have there?”

  “Looks like a message.” He passed the sealed envelope to the captain.

  Breaking the seal, Rhenyon withdrew the folded piece of parchment and read the single word on its surface:

  Progress?

  Rhenyon smiled. Here was yet another aspect of Lady Sarah’s jhorun he had failed to see the potential of. Communication. They could easily keep in contact by sending messages back and forth within the pack of provisions. Only, he didn’t have…

  “I do not have quill or ink. How am I to respond?” Rhenyon started looking through his own pack to see if anything would suffice.

  “No need sir,” Rhein said, reaching into a side pocket of the pack. He pulled out several quills, a sheaf of blank parchment, and a small bottle of ink. “Looks like they thought of that already.”

  “The Queen,” said both Rhenyon and Pheron, in unison.

  Detailing their progress thus far, as well as identifying the location of their camp, Rhenyon composed his response, tucked the parchment back into the envelope, where it sealed itself. Steve blinked a few times. Did he see that right? The envelope actually sealed itself?

  Seeing the look on Steve’s face, Rhenyon held up the envelope. “Is there something that ye wanted to add? I can append the message.”

  “It sealed itself.”

  “Aye, envelopes do that.”

  “Not in my world they don’t.”

  “They do here. No doubt if I witnessed ye actually having to seal an envelope in yer world, I would have the same expression on my face.”

  “Yeah, well…” Steve thought a moment. “Okay, good point.”

  Returning the empty pack to their quarters in R’Tal, Sarah and Steve stretched out in their tent, falling asleep instantly.

  “He sure does snore, that one,” Pheron noted, nodding in the direction of the Nohrin’s tent. Rhenyon twisted where he was sitting on the ground to look in their direction.

  “Aye, that he does. It is a wonder Lady Sarah gets any sleep at all. Still, I am very glad that the both of them are here.”

  “And I, too.” Pheron patted his full stomach. “I cannot think of the last time when I was on a mission where I did not have to worry about running out of provisions, or what those provisions would be when we could find some.”

  Rhenyon nodded in agreement. Kern and Jalen arrived then, having been relieved by Rhein and the quiet soldier, Darius. Raising an eyebrow, the captain looked at the new arrivals. “Well?”

  “Nothing but trees for leagues around. We scouted farther north, on the route we plan on taking tomorrow. Nothing that we cannot handle.”

  “And Lady Sarah?” Rhenyon asked. “Remember we travel with a lady.”

  “She will be fine,” Kern assured them.

  “Nevertheless,” Rhenyon said, “ask Rhein to find a familiar and check the area.”

  “Already did, sir. He found a small bird that scouted around. It remained calm the entire time. Nothing troubling.”

  “Excellent. Get something to eat.”

  “Did Lady Sarah teleport anything from the castle?”

  “Aye, she did. It’s over there, next to my pack.”

  The two soldiers eagerly took their provisions and retired for the night.

  ****

  Dawn came quickly. One would think that every living creature within ten leagues of their camp slept very well. Birds were singing, insects were constantly chirping, and several small squirrel-type creatures appeared to be playing a very noisy game of tag.

  The soldiers were all up and had their gear stowed before Sarah could even poke her head out of their tent. Damn, these guys were good!

  Yawning, and stretching her back at the same time, she left the tent as quietly as possible. She knew her husband hadn’t slept well. He had tossed and turned , moving about restlessly for most the night. He was finally asleep, so she let him be. No sooner had she stepped around her tent to see what everyone else was up to when she was accosted by one of the soldiers.

  “So what have ye got for us today, Lady Sarah?” the soldier eagerly asked.

  “Well, I don’t know. Let’s find out. You know, I’m sorry, I don’t remember your name. Was it Kern?”

  The soldier nodded.

  “Kern, will you help me? That pack is heavy. When it appears in my hands, grab it, will you?”

  Eager to help one of the famous Nohrin, the soldier tensed, waiting to snatch the pack the instant it appeared. Holding out her arms, Sarah closed her eyes, picturing the bed in their quarters back at the castle. There, on the bed, was the pack. I want that pack to move from there to here, Sarah ordered. The pack appeared in her arms. Even before the weight could register or her back could file a complaint, Kern had leaned forward to snatch the heavy bag from Sarah’s outstretched arms. She blinked. Wow, he’s good!

  Like a pack of bloodhounds converging on their prey, the soldiers materialized next to their companion, eager for their share. Kern became her assistant from that day forward, always eager to help with whatever she required.

  As Kern was passing out the individual packages of food, he pull
ed out the final bundle and handed it to Rhenyon. The captain took his portion and started to walk away when he suddenly turned back.

  “Is there anything else in there? Perhaps a message?”

  Kern opened the mouth of the pack as far as it would go, leaning forward to get a better look. Sure enough, the message was there, sitting on the bottom. He handed it to Rhenyon, who opened it, reading the handwritten message in the neat scrawl of the king.

  Desperately curious, but not wanting to appear too nosy, Pheron fidgeted from one leg to the other, a fact not lost on his attentive captain. How often have they been able to keep in frequent contact like this? Even the fastest methods of communication, by trained familiar, or by jhorun, could easily take several hours, maybe even a half day. He fidgeted again.

  Having long completed reading the message, Rhenyon chose to read it again. Slowly. He kept no secrets from his men, and he wasn’t about to start now. However, having seen examples of his lieutenant’s impatience, he decided to read as slowly as possible. Nodding sagely, as though he was now privy to the darkest secrets known to men, Rhenyon finally straightened, tossing the message into the hearth. There, that’s what he had been waiting for. His lieutenant had actually given a small jerk, as though he was going to go after it.

  “Wizards be damned, lieutenant. Ye want to read it? Fine.” He leaned over into the hearth to snatch the crumpled paper out before it caught fire. Smoothing it out, he turned it around so everyone could read it.

  Excellent. Keep us posted as to your progress.

  “Profound, no?”

  Pheron snorted with disgust.

  Kahvel arrived with a bone-jarring thud as he landed in the glade. The impact of his landing was so great that the entire camp shook, with several tents coming close to being uprooted from the ground.

  With a mischievous smile, Rhenyon turned to their enormous companion.

  “Ye call that a quiet approach, dragon?”

  The supple neck twisted, two reptilian eyes fixing on those of the captain.

  “I chose to land in this manner,” the dragon explained. “Not everyone in this camp appears to be awake. Perhaps they are now.” Kahvel extended his wings, stretching them out to their fullest potential, before folding them flat against his back.

  “Yeah, roger that,” Steve grumbled, coming out of his tent. “You scared the crap out of me.” He eyed the dragon with mild distaste. Any creature that was an early riser, be it human or otherwise, had some serious medical condition that should be treated. Immediately.

  Kahvel leaned down low, meeting Steve as close to his eye level as he could. “Ye appear to be a bright ray of sunshine this morning.”

  Several soldiers snickered. Steve grunted. Sleepily, he looked around, judging the activity level of the camp, which was being dismantled efficiently right before his eyes. Crap. No time to relax for a bit. Sarah came up to him and gave him a quick kiss.

  “Good morning, sweetie. I was trying to let you sleep. Sorry.”

  “That’s okay, it’s time to be moving on. What’s for breakfast?”

  While Steve was digging through his parcel of food, Sarah gently nudged his elbow, gesturing at the hearth. He glanced over.

  The fire had been banked for the night, but still had managed to reduce itself to just mere coals. Its primary use completed, no one had bothered to rekindle it. Darius was unsuccessfully trying to coax the fire back to life. He was desperate for a hot cup of tea. The art of fire-making had always eluded him, he thought with disgust. He hastily reassembled his tinder kit and shoved it angrily back into his pack. He gripped the small iron kettle, ready to upend the contents into the fire when he felt the heat generating from it. What was this? Curious, he flipped open the lid to look inside. The liquid was just now coming to a boil. His tea was steeping beautifully, assailing his nostrils with the aromatic scents of herbs and spices. It was then that his eyes found Steve’s. The Nohrin grinned at him and gave a small nod of his head before he walked off to help his wife disassemble their tent.

  As everyone gathered once more in the clearing, about to resume their trek through the forest, the dragon’s deep voice sounded.

  “Proceed northwest. Yer destination lies roughly twenty leagues from here, as the dragon flies,” Kahvel instructed. “There ye will find a clearing a little smaller than this one. I will meet ye there just before sunset.”

  “How do you know it’s there?” Steve asked. “Do you really know this forest that well?”

  “In actuality, no,” the dragon confessed. “But that is where I settled last night. I departed just before sunrise.”

  The downdraft from the dragon’s wings blasted them all to the ground yet again.

  “Confounded dragon,” Rhenyon muttered darkly, rising to his feet. “He did that on purpose. I swear it.”

  True to his word, the dragon was waiting for them as they stumbled wearily into the small clearing. Travelling twenty leagues in a day was tiring enough, but complicating matters was the amount of debris strewn about the forest floor as well as the lack of a path to follow. And, of course, they were journeying uphill.

  “You people seriously need to invent cars,” Steve panted, struggling to catch his breath while doing his best to ignore the painful stitch in his side.

  The closest soldier glanced over. He had hardly broken a sweat.

  “Kahrs, sir Steve?” Rhein asked, casting his jhorun about for a familiar. “What is that?”

  “Let’s just call them horseless carts.”

  “What is so special about a cart without a horse?”

  “The cart can still move around,” Steve clarified. “Without the horse.”

  Rhein’s jaw dropped open. “No horses?” The soldier thought about that for a moment. “Then what pulls the cart around?”

  Steve grinned. “Modern technology. As soon as you discover how to do it, you’ll love it. Trust me.”

  Wearily, Sarah sank to the grass-covered ground and stretched her back. As she took in the lush forest meadow she was sitting in, she asked herself yet again why she insisted on carrying a portion of their supplies in a smaller pack. She looked over at her husband, who had shrugged off the large pack he had been carrying. Hadn’t he insisted on carrying everything himself? Hadn’t he put up a fight about letting her borrow the smaller pack from one of the soldiers? But she had been adamant about pulling her own weight on this expedition, and damn it, she was going to do just that. Sore back be damned. Glancing up to see what everyone else was doing, she saw that most had already erected their tents and were preparing to start a fire. No, she corrected, as she watched Pheron dump armfuls of firewood into the large stone ring he had assembled. They were getting the fire ready for their human firestarter.

  After providing everyone with their evening meal, and Rhenyon had written up his nightly progress report, Sarah finally sat down next to her husband by the entrance to their tent.

  “Long day, huh?” he commented, eyeing his wife. “How’re you holding up?”

  “I’m sore,” Sarah admitted.

  “Me, too. I don’t think I’ve ever walked this much in my entire life.”

  “It must be a truly alien culture indeed,” the familiar voice of the dragon rumbled, “to live in a society where one does not use their own faculties as the main method of locomotion.”

  Without saying a word, husband and wife looked at each other. As one, they stood up and walked around to the rear of their tent. The dragon had approached from behind and was now resting on the ground, front forelegs actually crossed, as it studied the two approaching humans.

  “Okay,” Sarah started, wondering how to best phrase her response. “I need you to visualize something, Kahvel. Imagine you live in a society where there are so many people living so close together that there isn’t enough room for them unless they build upwards.”

  “The domiciles that humans typically live in? Not enough room for every human to have their own?”

  “Right. You take one human�
��s house, and then on top of that, you build another, and then another, and so on. Now imagine a very big, very tall structure whose sole purpose was to provide shelter for hundreds of humans.”

  The dragon was silent as it contemplated this.

  “Now, once you can imagine a structure such as that, it shouldn’t be too difficult to imagine hundreds of such structures, all providing a specialized service, whether its shelter, food, entertainment, and so forth. Are you with me so far?”

  The dragon silently nodded.

  “My world has many such communities. These communities are so well structured and organized that hundreds of thousands of people can all live fairly close to one another.”

  Content to listen to his wife discuss aspects of their society with the dragon, Steve sat down companionably next to Kahvel, who paid him no notice.

  “If every one of these humans,” Sarah continued, “each chose to have their own horse for transportation purposes, then there wouldn’t be room for all of them, would there? So there are community services in place that facilitate the transportation of large numbers of humans from one point to the other.”

  “And ye reside in an area such as ye describe?” the dragon asked.

  “Well, no,” Sarah confessed, “our city isn’t that large. But the same concept goes. We have our own vehicle to get us to where we have to go. And when we go on really long journeys, such as this, it is necessary for us to use these vehicles lest the journey take many times longer than necessary.”

  “You believe this journey is taking too long?”

  “Not necessarily,” Sarah said quickly. “The point I’m trying to make is that the people in my world are unused to walking long distances because there are alternatives in place so you don’t have to walk that far.”