Forging Day (Crucible of Change Book 1)

by Noelle Alladania Meade

  There was a flash of movement, and a small snarling creature hurtled toward me. I got off one arrow. It went wide, and the creature was on me. It wasn’t big, but its leap knocked me to the ground. It was one of the small wolf-like creatures from the sheep-stealing competition.

  I got an arm between me and the creature just in time. It kept those flashing teeth away from my throat, but its claws were shredding my forearm. Grimly ignoring the pain, I desperately felt around for one of my other arrows. I snagged one and drove the arrow deep into one of its glowing yellow eyes. The thrashing finally slowed and then stopped. The remaining eye went dim. I threw the body off me, clutching my torn arm tight to my chest and trying to staunch the bleeding.

  I lay there, panting, eyes squeezed closed, and finally forced myself to get up. Snagging my bow with my good hand, I staggered back to the camp. “Berto, when you’re done there, I have another customer for you.”

  I dropped onto the bench of the picnic table and willed my head to stop spinning. My ears were ringing, and everything sounded far away. Seth was great. He got another towel and wrapped it tightly around my wounded arm.

  “I got it,” I gritted out. “It’s just past those trees.”

  Seth dug a stick into the embers of their campfire and grimly walked toward where I’d gestured, carrying his makeshift torch. He looked like a whole different kid from the little boy I’d seen at dinner in another life.

  “Seth, please stay close. We don’t know how many more there are.”

  He came back with the body and dropped it near the wood pile. He confirmed my guess. “That was one of the wolves from the sheep-stealing thing. I saw at least ten of them while I was making my dragon.” The tiny creature stretched her blue and gold wings and preened under the attention. He broke into a ghost of a smile. “Her name is Karinda.”

  “Okay, well, that’s one wolf critter down, and maybe nine or so to go.” I gestured at the body and the arrow still sticking out of its eye. “I’m going to guess that one of those is what attacked your dad.”

  His eyes got wide and he looked a little pale. Karinda responded to his fear by flaring her little wings and hissing as he stared at the wolf body.

  “Where are your sisters right now?”

  “They’re in the tent. Mom didn’t want them to see dad’s leg.”

  “I think it might be better if they came out and sat with us. Can you go get them? Oh, and did they make any critters today?”

  “Adele didn’t make anything. She says stealing is bad, even for fun. Bethie made a pink sheep.”

  I was relieved when Seth returned quickly with both girls trailing behind him. The youngest was cuddling a fuzzy pink sheep about the size of a small poodle.

  I spared a look in Berto’s direction, wishing he would hurry. Mike was biting down hard on a leather belt and Berto was stitching the deep gash in his leg. I hoped to never again see someone’s leg from that particular angle, and I really didn’t want to look at my arm when that towel came off.

  “Seth, do you think you could build up the campfire for us? It’s down to coals and I think we could stand to have a better fire going.”

  He seemed happier to have something to do. He was trying so hard to look grown-up. I think he was all of thirteen. Adele and Beth slid closer to me. Adele looked to be eleven or twelve, and Beth looked a few years younger. I told them, “You girls are being so brave tonight. I know your mom and dad are proud of you. Your dad is going to be okay, you know. Berto is taking good care of him.”

  The fire messed up my newfound ability to see things in the dark, but I was having trouble focusing my eyes anyway, and wouldn’t have been able to fight off anything else if it had popped out of the darkness. I was really hoping the fire would keep the smaller critters away for now. Seth even brought me a bottle of water, lid off, when he finished. Good kid.

  * * * *

  I was having a bad dream that I fell into a campfire and my arm was on fire, and then I woke up the rest of the way and it felt much worse. Somehow, I’d ended up on the ground. I was cold and wet, and Berto was doing something excruciating to my arm. “Hold still Olivia. I’m almost done.”

  It was still dark, so I couldn’t have been out that long. “Hey Olivia, you gonna make a habit of fainting now? The Dark Elves, they gonna kick you out of the club.” Korembi’s upside-down face appeared, his hands on my shoulders keeping me pinned while Berto worked.

  There seemed to be a lot more people gathered around, talking in low voices. “Seth had the sense to come get us when you passed out,” Kat murmured, her whiskers tickling my ear. “We were already discussing things with Korembi when he showed up, so we moved everyone down here.” She kissed my forehead and she felt all soft and furry. “Stop scaring me like that! You’ve only been a Dark Elf for a couple of hours and you’ve nearly been killed twice now.”

  Dark Elves were supposed to be tough, at least according to all of the stories I’d read and games I’d played. Clearly I was doing it wrong.

  Mike was wrapped in a blanket near the campfire and drinking from a mug while Wendy hovered over him. Of the people that made it to Wendy’s campsite, Mike and I seemed to have suffered the worst injuries so far. A fairly steady stream of vehicles was crunching down the gravel roads, though.

  Korembi helped me into a chair, and Berto used some kind of sling and strap to bind my injured left arm tightly to my chest. As soon as I was settled, Kat produced a mug of faintly steaming beef broth with a slight medicinal flavor. She held the mug for me while I drank.

  “The cities may be dangerous, but we can’t stay here,” said Korembi. “I don’t think we can just drive off into the dark and hope for the best, either. Razaini and I, we feel the wild speak to us. We say wait here for now, and let us do some scouting.”

  Mikah spoke from somewhere behind me. “No one should be going off alone right now.”

  “We not be going alone, mon. I feel—we feel— our spirit animals under the skin, scratching to get out. We stay here, with the rest of you guarding us, and send our spirit animals to have a look around.”

  It sounded crazy, but given everything we’d seen tonight, it actually seemed like a halfway decent plan. It wasn’t like I had any better ideas.

  They sketched out a circle in the dirt, off to the side from the camp fire. Sitting cross-legged inside the circle, facing each other, Razaini and Korembi lit two incense sticks, standing them up in the ground. Their eyes closed and they swayed together, chanting in a language I couldn’t understand. A ghost raptor burst free from Korembi and took off running impossibly fast to the south. A pterodactyl flew from Razaini, winging skyward to the north.

  The other Trolls stared at them. They looked as surprised as we were. “Wonder how long this is going to take?” asked one of them.

  “Who knows? As long we’re hanging out together, how about some introductions?” said one of the women. “I’m Sonya, but I go by Soni. This lug here is my boyfriend, Wonu, or Frank as he’s known in the mundane world of academia.” She pointed. “That’s Zonu—John—and Saeazi—Stacy.” They all waved. “Last, but not least, there’s Huka—Henry—and Talju—May. None of us know how she puts up with him—those crazy kids.”

  Sonya started in on a story about last year’s dig and someone getting stranded in a porta-john, and I faded out. I must have slept again a little, because next thing I knew, Kat was urging me to wake up. “They’re back.”

  They both looked exhilarated, but pale under their greenish skin. “Amazing, mon. Amazing. The spirits, they be everywhere.”

  Razaini spoke first. “Sorry kids, but north is no good. The snow gates were closed, and I saw a sign that said Humans Only. I saw ranchers with shotguns, and more wolves than you could possibly imagine. The crazy thing was that with a lot of the wolves, I could see right through them—but that didn’t stop them from attacking things. Spirit or not, they were drawing blood.”

  Korembi hugged her a moment, and cleared his throat. “I think we ca
n still get south. We can reach the main road and avoid town for quite a ways.”

  “Please come with us,” Mikah said. “There’s plenty of room at our house in Denver. I called a friend already and the place is still secure. If we can get there, we’ll be safe for now.”

  The rest of the Trolls looked expectantly to Korembi and Razaini. Korembi nodded and answered. “We be happy to accept, mon.”

  Wendy said, “My sister has a ranch out east. We’re going to try and reach her place. Berto, thank you. I don’t know what we would have done without you.” She went over and gave him a hug. Mike smiled weakly.

  “I’m glad I was able to help.” Berto hugged her back. “Mike, you should be okay for now, but you’ll still want to see a regular doctor as soon as you can. I suggest you take the creature’s body with you, just in case they need to test it for anything.”

  Henry scooped it into a trash bag with a stick. He kind of grimaced when he pulled the arrow loose so the bag wouldn’t tear. I wasn’t sure I really wanted it back. “I’ll put it in the trunk for you,” he said.

  The light of false dawn filtered through the trees. It was already bright enough to pierce my new eyes. Kat saw me wince and got my sunglasses from the car. She had to help me put them on. It’s trickier than you’d think to try and do it one handed.

  Wendy’s car was already packed and ready to go. I guess folks got busy while Berto was sewing my arm back together. Razaini handed Wendy a thermos. “This coffee be enough to grow hair on your chest, but at least it be keeping you awake while you drive.” Kat threw her a dirty look—maybe she was feeling a little fur sensitive—but I don’t think Razaini noticed.

  Berto and Mikah helped Mike into the back of their car so he could stretch out his leg. The two girls were sound asleep next to him, but Seth was wide awake beside his mom, riding shotgun. “Be safe,” Wendy called back to us as the car pulled away.

  “Yeah, you too.”

  We were getting our own little caravan ready to move out when Korembi headed off. “I be checking on the druids, mon. I be right back.” I was pretty sure he’d be safe, since Stella was following him around like a giant killer puppy.

  The rest of Wendy’s court headed out while we waited for Korembi. Lori, Sam, and Kathy all lived near each other in Longmont. Surprisingly, none of them, or their families, appears to have Changed. “We’ll be fine,” Sam said. “I think we’ll all be safe enough driving home.” I could tell by the way he was looking at us that he didn’t think we’d be quite as lucky.

  Berto sat next to me, dark circles under his eyes and looking exhausted. I pretended to ignore the blood stains on his tunic. “That thing that attacked me was vicious. How did Mike fight it off, or do you think something else attacked him?”

  “I’m willing to bet it was the same creature. Wendy whacked it with the stick from the fire pit. The embers on the end were enough to send it running. She may not be a fighter, but she has a heck of a golf swing.”

  “Not that I mind getting my arm fixed and not bleeding to death, but why didn’t you use the glowy-light thing like you did on Mikah? My arm is killing me and I’m completely useless like this.”

  He looked troubled. “I tried. I don’t know why it wouldn’t work. I couldn’t get it to work with Mike either. And why didn’t you shoot those little balls of light like you did before?”

  “I forgot. I panicked and I forgot.” We both sat there, looking glum. “Oh my god, Berto. We’re noobs. We’re not even first level adventurers. We’re those idiots trying to figure out the tutorial—and I always skip the tutorial.”

  “We’d better not skip this one. Our lives might just depend on it.”

  “Somehow, when I dreamed about becoming a fantasy adventurer, I was always a max-level character with epic gear. Look at me. I’m wearing vendor trash.”

  We were still pondering our noobness when Korembi got back. “Oaken and them are breaking camp. They’ll be caravanning back with us. They good people. I know Cliff—Oaken—going way back.”

  The druids were nothing if not efficient, which was completely unexpected given my usual experience with the pagan community. They were packed and ready to go within thirty minutes. “The Lord and Lady call, and we answer,” was all Oaken had to say about their unprecedented speed.

  A number of other vehicles disappeared down the road while we put out the campfire and stowed folding chairs in cars.

  It got quiet when three folks looking half bear and half human walked up to the camp. They all bore bloody claw marks, but had a quiet strength. A few of the little wolf creatures were following at their heels, peaceful but alert.

  One of them spoke, and even though it was deeper, I recognized Augra’s voice. “We claim this territory in the name of the Beast Lords. You killed Sir Mehmet, but he was weak, and the weak perish. Leave now and we let you live.”

  Kat grabbed me by my good shoulder like she expected me to say something stupid. Okay, I resembled that remark, but this time I bit my tongue. I was in no condition to wrestle with one bear, let alone three. And it was the bloody raptor that killed him, not us.

  Mikah nodded. “We’re leaving now. We won’t be returning. I hope you’ll allow anyone else to leave.”

  “You’re the last. Everyone else had the sense to go already.” She growled low in her throat.

  They stood there, watching, while we finished loading up, and our small caravan finally rolled out of camp. Mikah and Berto took point in their van. Kat drove my little car with Tessa riding shotgun and me trying to get comfortable in the back seat. Oaken and company were in the middle, three of them in an old VW Bug and the other three in an old blue Hyundai. Korembi and Razaini brought up the rear in their dusty brown SUV. The other six Trolls ranged around us on motorcycles. If all went well, we’d be home before dinner.

  * * * *

  We were only about a mile up the road when we saw a brown Jeep on its roof, three wheels spinning in the air and the fourth missing. I saw blood on the ground and what looked like part of a brown-clad leg. That certainly explained why the rangers never showed up last night.

  John and Stacy hopped off their motorcycles to investigate. They had a quick look around for any survivors, but no such luck. Stacy grimly gave a shake of her head, and they quickly make their way back to the road.

  I heard the sound of a racking shotgun. Tessa was aiming through the open window toward the overturned Jeep.

  “Tessa?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Where did you get a shotgun?”

  “Derek’s truck. He wasn’t using it.”

  “Okay then.”

  Kat and Tessa both had tails now, the ends of them sticking out between the seats. Kat’s was fluffy, like a cat, and Tessa’s had a little barb at the end. The two tail tips went back and forth and back and forth and it made me giggle. I idly wished for a laser pointer, and wondered what would happen, besides them killing me, if I shone it on the roof where they could see it. Tessa and Kat both stared back at me. “Nothing. Really. Tell me the truth now, did Berto drug me?”

  Kat sighed. “Yes, he did. Be glad. That arm would feel a lot worse.”

  “Oh, it’s not a problem.” I basked in that warm med-induced glow. “Good Nyborg, man.”

  Tessa ignored me, not letting me distract her for an instant. She kept an eye in the direction of the overturned Jeep until it was completely out of sight, and even then, she was constantly scanning the trees for whatever fresh hell might appear.

  Report 3

  News and Memos

  (AP) Meteorologists worldwide report unusual cloud formations. A masked spokesperson for Free Our Planet (FOP) claims the cloud formations were created as part of a government conspiracy to distract people from the dangers of climate change.

  A dark green anarchy A has been appearing as graffiti on FOP target sites around the world.

  To: Dr. Axxxxx

  From: Dr. Fxxxxx

  I told you not to make me waste my time on the soft so-
called sciences. Who cares why a monkey throws its excrement? I’ll give you social sciences. You’ll have enough data to collect for the next several decades. Keep your toy scientists out of my lab and leave serious minds the freedom to do their work.

  (PHN) During a late night press conference for the PraiseHisName network, the Most Holy Reverend Allucius St. Magnus addressed his flock. “The Lord has marked the unholy among us. Cast out these bearers of sin and wickedness. Give no succor to the Servants of the Beast. Take up arms and join the Righteous Army of the Lord. We must purify the evil by fire and sword. Only then will we be fit to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”

  Chapter Eight

  Roll for Random Encounters

  The first town we reached was Estes Park. We were still mostly in the mountains, but it was the first real sign of civilization, sort of. The place made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. As we drove through town, we saw a few cars abandoned on the side of the road. There were even some in the middle of the road, and they had some ugly stains inside the windshields. No one was visible, but I felt like we were being watched.

  My cell phone rang. It was Berto. “We’re going to keep moving right on through,” he said. “Mikah spotted at least three snipers on rooftops. The nearest one gestured with his rifle for us to keep going. Be alert, but let’s assume they’re going to let us through. Mikah is thinking we should avoid Loveland entirely and just stay on 36 for now. He says he has a bad feeling about going that way.”

  I wanted to hunker down and pull a blanket over my head, all the way through town. I felt eyes on me and they didn’t feel friendly. It was a huge relief when we cleared the city limits without anything else bad happening to us. I couldn’t forget what Razaini said about the Wyoming border and the Humans Only warning. Going through open country felt safer than town about now. Mikah and Berto and Oaken’s group were still Human—as far as we could tell—but the rest of weren’t going to pass… Not even close.