by J D Franx
“Very well. We are grateful for your help, Jarl Engier,” she said. “These Orotaq are a ruthless race.”
“Orotaq?” Brenna asked doubtfully.
“Yes,” Giera insisted. “They are called the Orotaq. Their language is not that different from many of the writings we have from Sokn’s far past. We were able to use our magic in order to help us understand the language better, two dialects of it so far. I understood enough to make basic conversation with them.” The older woman sighed and stumbled from weakness, but Kayo was right there to offer her his arm.
The spry old woman Engier met up in the mountains of Freyja’s Grace was gone. In her place stood a ragged and exhausted woman. Her robe was torn from fighting at the ambush. Mild burns and bruises covered her arms and one side of her face. The dark marks under eyes were proof she hadn’t slept in the days since the attack and the metal collar around her neck fit loose enough for him to see the weeping wounds caused by four metal spikes that were forged to the inside. All bit deep into her neck, and from what Sabjorn told them, it restricted the Skeyth woman’s magic. From what Engier could see, it came at one hell of a personal cost. The woman’s words brought him back to the matter at hand.
“Did you happen to find the key to this disgusting apparition they clamped around my neck?” she asked. “Circular handle with two pointed prongs on it?”
“I did. Here,” he replied, handing over the key Brenna gave him.
Kayo offered Giera his dagger and she placed the handle between her teeth as he inserted the key into the back of the collar and it popped open. Engier winced as the old man slowly opened the collar. Giera’s muffled shriek slowly faded as the spikes pulled sideways and tore her flesh when he withdrew the collar from her neck.
“Thank you for your help,” she said, sighing as the collar came free.
“I am glad we could,” Engier replied. “But we only did so in exchange for releasing our children. I have not forgotten that you took them.”
“We did it for survival, Jarl Engier,” the Skeyth Matron answered. “Kayo should not have made such a deal with you, we cannot afford to release your children, especially now.”
The short hairs on his neck leapt to life and he reached for his axe, but magic flared in Giera’s hands and hit him full force in the chest, knocking him and Brenna towards the slave cages. He slammed into the cage door and fell inside as the clang of metal hit his hears only seconds before Eira’s shriek.
“Mistress no!” The words chased him down the dark hole of unconsciousness.
“What have you done?” Eira hissed under breath a second time, and Kayo grabbed her, clamping his hand over her mouth.
“We need to leave, mistress,” he said, turning to Giera, “and quickly.”
“Of course,” she said, glaring at Eira with frown. “You tried to warn them,” she said.
“They made a fair deal,” she argued quietly. “It was honorable. This is not right.”
“Honor does not matter anymore, young one,” Giera said. “Only survival, just like Kayo should have left the few of us here as our elders decided, you should not have bargained that deal with the faith of keeping it. Those children are new blood for our clan, new magic and a hope for our future here in a land created for our kind.”
“I understand that,” Eira persisted, pulling free from Kayo. “But we will still need allies here, we have no idea what or whom we may come across. For reasons just like this, if nothing else.”
“The Skeyth need no allies,” the older woman hissed. “Once our magic is in tune with this land’s power, allies will become a hindrance, child. I am sorry you do not see that.” With a twist of her wrist, more magic flared in Giera’s hands and it tossed Eira into the cell on top of Brenna.
“If you cannot follow our ways, child, then stay here with these honorable Northmen and suffer their fate, but if not come with us and never speak such words to me again. The clan must always come first now.” Turning to Kayo, she ordered, “Leave the Jarls for the Orotaq to find. It will give us the distraction we need for you to lead us out of here. And you girl,” she demanded, staring at Vada. “You will return with us. Am I understood?” With no other choice the young girl nodded and dropped her head in defeat.
Kayo headed back toward the large tent to lead them out of the Orotaq camp. Giera pushed Vada along and the others followed.
Eira eased herself off of Brenna before checking to see if her and Engier were still alive. “Thank the Creators,” she whispered, and hung back for several seconds. When the other Skeyth were far enough ahead and not looking, she dropped her travel pack at Engier’s side.
“It’s all I can do,” she whispered, shaking Engier. He stirred but remained unconscious. “Can you hear me, Engier? It’s one of the scout travel packs.” She shook him a second time but got only a groan in return. “Dammit,” she cursed and tried one last time. “Engier, wake up.” Growling with frustration, she placed her travel pack under his arm and his eyes fluttered open. “Use the rope in the scout pack to help you get up these cliffs instead of fleeing deeper into the swamp. I’ll try to create a distraction for you.”
Without waiting for an answer, she spun on her heel and quickly raced after Kayo and the others as they crossed over to the wood pile. She glanced back and noticed the patrol, so she stopped directly in their line of sight. The guards saw her and Kayo as he rushed from the wood pile with a frown and grabbed her arm. One of the giants snatched a horn from his belt and blew. The alarm wailed across the village and a steady beat of drums quickly followed, waking everyone asleep and bringing dozens of more guards.
“Run! Now!” Kayo roared before dragging her with by the arm.
Eira tore her arm free and followed, unable to suppress the smile on her face.
Chapter Nine
OROTAQ VILLAGE
Engier regained full consciousness on the heel of a fading drum. A strange set of dreams or images, involving Eira followed him into the waking world. Glancing around, he noted she was nowhere to be seen. He could see none of the Orotaq either, leading him to believe they were chasing Kayo and Eira’s group. It gave them some time to work out their own escape.
“Brenna,” he whispered, giving her a shove. “Wake up. We need to get out of here.”
“Uh, what happened?” she moaned. “Never mind, I remember, that Tyr-cursed Eira.”
“It was the old hag who attacked,” he corrected. “Eira tried to warn me.”
Brenna sat up and looked around before grabbing the travel pack lying between them.
“She left her bag?” she pointed out. “Did she go willingly? Why would she leave it? Vada?”
“I don’t know, she’s gone as well. I’m sure Giera took them,” he said, but instantly remembered the dreams. “See if Eira’s pack has a rope. It should be a scout pack.”
“Which means a...” Brenna muttered as she opened the pack and pulled out a heavy length of braided rope. “Perfect. How did you know?” she asked.
What he thought was a dream must have been a memory, one he struggled to remember clearly because of the pounding in his head. “I think she left it for us, to help.”
“The cliff face,” Brenna said, her eyes lighting with excitement. “We should be able to scale them using the rope.”
He nodded. “She must have left it behind knowing it would be our best way out. Quickly now, let’s move. We might be able to get ahead of them once we’re over the cliff.”
Brenna grabbed the bag and crept away from the slave cages, hurrying to the high cliffs surrounding the village’s northwest edge and he followed after her, always keeping an eye to their rear.
“Your axe, Engier,” Brenna said as they arrived below the only part of the cliffs that could be scaled. It had taken several minutes to find a climbable slope, one that would be an impossible sixty foot climb without the rope. Most Northmen grew up climbing rock formations and mountains while hunting and tracking game with their parents. With the sturdy rope, it would
still be a tough fifty-foot climb, so he passed his sheathed axe over without her having to ask a second time. Brenna tied the rope around the throat below the runed sheath.
Spinning it several times, she tossed the axe up the cliff and used it to pull the rope over the edge with it. Tugging hard on the rope, Brenna grunted and jumped back when the axe dropped back over the edge and fell, landing by her feet along with several tree branches and dirt and stones.
“Nothing to catch up there,” she complained.
“Keep trying,” he said, and pulled a sword from her hip before turning to guard her back as two more attempts failed.
Whirling the axe a fourth time, she tossed it up the cliff once more and was awarded with a dull thud.
“Hold?” he asked while she heaved on the rope with a grunt.
“Looks like it,” she answered. Grabbing the rope, she scaled the cliff, using nothing but the length of weaved fibers to pull herself past the steepest part of the cliff face. Engier watched the village closely during her ascent and when all remained quiet, he quickly scaled the rope himself. In several spots, he had to climb freehand just like Brenna had because his initial assessment of the cliff was right. Without the rope, the scaling the cliff was impossible.
Reaching the top, Engier dropped to a knee, exhausted, while Brenna pulled the rope up and freed his axe from a low-hanging branch.
“Back to camp?” she inquired. Handing him the sheathed weapon, she tucked the rope back into Eira’s travel pack.
“What do you think we should do?” he asked in turn. “Is it worth the risk trying to head them off?”
“I don’t know about you,” she answered. “But I am in no shape to face the Skeyth or their magic.”
“Agreed,” he said. “Let’s return to camp. We’ll head out with extra warriors after some rest. The Skeyth won’t be hard to follow now.”
“They have to exit the swamp on the eastern side,” Brenna pointed out with a quick nod. “Their trail will be clear for a couple of days, especially if my scouts take the lead.”
Engier nodded. Most of Brenna’s clan lived in the dense forests of Sokn’s mountainous northwest while the rest called the plains and coast to the south home. Growing up in the varied terrains meant her scouts could track a ghost through a wind-blown desert or a white cloud through the northern the ice fields, and he had come to rely greatly on their incredible skills during the last month. With no reason to say anything else, he trudged off towards their camp. The three hours it took to walk back were uneventful, though the sizzle and pop of magic echoed off in the distance to the east. It lasted a handful of minutes and then a dark silence settled over the evening, and that quiet followed them home.
NORTHMAN CAMP
BRIAR FOREST
Engier and Brenna arrived back at the briar camp to find several clan leaders waiting for them. With both himself and Brenna gone for the night, the camp was left under Thane Rollick’s more than capable command. Scouting and hunting parties would report directly to him, and the camp’s security was his responsibility. If any threats were detected Engier’s housekarl, Hamay, would lead the first group of men to respond.
“Jarl Engier,” Thane Rollick said, walking over the moment they entered the main camp. It was clear he was waiting for them. “Welcome back. Productive evening, I hope?”
“Very,” Brenna grumbled.
“I am glad it went well,” he continued. “But you should know that we are missing a hunting party.”
“Which one?”
“One of Jarl Brenna’s,” he replied. “The group led by Faith Overlander.”
“I would not worry yet,” Brenna offered, but quickly frowned as she looked over her shoulder towards the rising sun. “When were they due back?”
“From what I was told, before yourself and Jarl Engier left to scout last night.”
Brenna frowned and an intense worry filled her eyes, making Engier nervous.
“Jarl Brenna?” he asked.
“Faith is one of my best hunters, she doubles as a scout,” she said. “If she’s almost a half day late...” She stopped talking and chewed her lip for several seconds. Beckoning him to lean closer, she added, “It’s not like her, Engier. They must have come across problems. I have to go find them.”
“Of course,” he said. “Want me to join you?”
“No,” she replied. “You get some rest, I’ll take Sahar if he is in camp, he’ll know our clan’s hunting routes. If we’re not back in three hours, come find us.”
Engier nodded and went to grab some sleep, but he never made it that far. As the most senior noble among the Northmen clans, a lot of responsibilities and problems that would normally be handled by the High King were now his to deal with. A number of clan leaders found him before he reached his tent and he spent the next few hours sitting by the communal fire discussing ideas for a new homeland, but more importantly, how long the Northmen youths would have to wait before they began their Bloodborne travels. A dozen young men and women from several clans currently waited to begin their rite of passage to adulthood but couldn’t. They would normally spend several years traveling across Sokn while earning a living by their sword or axe. Engier and Brenna had postponed the trials after arriving at the Skeyth mountain camp on Freyja’s Grace. The youth needed a homeland to return to before they could begin their trials, so sending the teens away without a return destination was pointless.
However, the longer it was put off, the more concerned clan elders were becoming. Once more, he managed to convince them that now was not the right time, but he also promised them that if they didn’t find a place to settle soon, the twelve youths would begin their travel years with the warriors and scouts from clans other than their own. The Bloodborne years of a youth’s life were paramount to becoming an adult in Northmen society and was about experiencing different ways of life, new ways to fight, but mostly to meet different people while experiencing the cultures of new societies and clans, all while using the skills they learned as temja. Beginning their Bloodborne years among the other clans traveling with them would have to suffice for now. It was the best he could do.
The clan elders left the communal fire placated and Engier sighed, there was still no word from or about Brenna, so he rubbed his pounding head and walked to the southern guard perimeter. Arriving at the small barricade and watch tower, he noticed Sahar on watch. Engier motioned for him to come down and the scout touched ground in only seconds while another scout quickly scaled the tree and settled onto the platform watchtower in his place.
“Jarl Engier,” he said with a bow. “Is there something you need?”
“Did Brenna find you before she left?”
“She did, my lord. I had been out most of the night so she took Calus and the necromancer instead.”
“She took Sabjorn?” he asked.
“Yes, my lord. Jarl Brenna said she needed a wizard and Drengr was busy helping the healers.”
“Then I need to speak to Drengr,” Engier said.
“Here, my lord,” Drengr said, easing his way past the interior briar fence.
“Pack a light bag and...” Engier began turning to the wizard but stopped short when he saw the man was already to go.
Drengr bowed. “I’m ready. I figured it was about time someone went to look for Jarl Brenna and the others.”
“Any runestones left?” he asked.
“Just the few bloodstone runes I’ve been holding onto since before the quakes,” Drengr replied shaking his head. “Jarl Brenna asked for the others so Sabjorn could use them if needed.”
“Very well. Sahar, you’re with us too,” Engier ordered. A very long day was turning out to be even longer. He hadn’t slept in almost two days and it had been sixteen hours since he ate. Grabbing a travel pack set aside for the scouts, he took out a piece of dried meat and stuck it in his mouth. Finally, he slung the pack over his shoulder and got ready to head out.
“Two female Northman-sized unknown persons approaching
. No cave escort,” the scout in the watchtower warned. The warriors on guard readied for battle, immediately forming a half circle inside the briar fences as the lookout shouted more information. “They look wounded.”
Engier raised an eyebrow and glanced towards Sahar.
The scout shrugged. “Easiest way to tell friend from foe, or if these blue bastard jotunn are heading our way.”
“Apparently they are called the Orotaq,” he corrected.
The scout scoffed. “Orotaq, jotunn, it matters not,” he said. “'Big, ugly bastards' works for us.”
Engier chuckled, but it quickly turned to a frown as he stared out past the guards to the familiar young women approaching the camp. The travel-weary robe of the older one was torn and coated in thick blue swamp mud, but still she supported the younger woman. “Stand down!” he shouted and rushed out of the brambles and briars to the women stumbling his way. They both collapsed into his arms the moment he arrived.
“Eira, Vada,” he said, shocked that the Skeyth woman and the young temja had made their way back. “What happened? Why would you come back here?” He gently turned her face toward his own and noticed her hands pressed to her abdomen.
“I am sorry,” she gasped. “The Orotaq had almost caught up to us by the time we were clear of the swamp, we couldn’t keep ahead of them. Giera tried to stab me, to leave behind to slow them, but Vada jumped in front... I was the one who made sure the Orotaq warning drums were sounded. My people have no use for me any longer, I am a taela in their eyes. I tried to heal myself and Vada, but my magic has been getting more and more erratic since we arrived here.”
“How did you make it back to our camp then?” Drengr asked.
“I don’t know,” she gasped. “I feigned death as they passed... The Orotaq didn’t even stop for me. They just kept after Giera, Kayo, and the others. We had to sneak through the break in the southern hills...””
“They probably planned to pick you up on the way back,” Engier suggested. “Figured you wouldn’t get far even if you were alive.”
