80AD - The Jewel of Asgard (Book 1)

by Aiki Flinthart

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Jade and Phoenix stopped dead in their tracks, staring down at the boy.

  “Who,” Phoenix sounded like he was holding irritated impatience in check by sheer willpower, “is Dewydd?”

  Brynn gave them a look of wide-eyed innocence. “My brother, of course – the one my Da and I brought here to become a Druid.  Remember?”

  Jade covered her eyes with her hand and groaned. How could they have forgotten that?  Phoenix threw his head back and sighed. Marcus raised surprised brows.

  “I’d completely forgotten about your brother.” Phoenix slapped a hand to his forehead.

  “I never knew about him,” Marcus said. 

  Jade laughed, the thought of an easy solution lifting her spirits.

  Phoenix crouched in the turned earth, staring hard at Brynn.  “Do you think Dewydd would be willing to help us?”

  “Won’t know until I ask, will I?”  The boy grinned lopsidedly.  “He’ll be glad to see me, I know that.”

  “Well, as plans go, it’s not foolproof,” Phoenix scraped his fingers through his hair and stood up, “but I guess it’s worth a shot.  It’d certainly be the easiest way to complete our quest,” he sent a quick look at Marcus and Jade, and gave them a twisted smile, “but it would be a bit anticlimactic.”

  “I think I could gladly skip a few battles and chases for a little success and boredom,” Jade said fervently.

  “Really?” Phoenix returned in mock surprise.  “You’d skip a good bloodthirsty skirmish with the Romans, just to get to the next quest?”

  Jade pretended to consider his question in all seriousness.  “Get home, you mean? Hmmmm.  Let me think.... Yes, yes, I’m pretty sure I would. Give me a nice calm and peaceful trade with Brynn’s brother any day.”

  “Well,” Phoenix clapped Brynn and Jade on the back and gave them a little shove in the right direction, “let’s hope that’s what you get, but I’ll be absolutely stunned if it is.”

  Jade wrinkled her nose at him, annoyed that he had to burst her bubble of hope.

  With lighter hearts, they made good time for the rest of the morning.  By noon, though, Jade was totally wrecked and called a halt.  She had reached the end of her energy reserves.  Marcus found an abandoned wattle-and-daub hut and they all crowded inside.  Phoenix pulled the very unappetising remains of half-smoked birds from his pack.  Brynn made a disgusted face.  None of them relished the idea of eating it.

  Jade, with a smug smile, told Phoenix to throw it away and reached into the Hyllion Bagia.  Brynn groaned in appreciation at the sight of dryad-cooked foods spread out on a cloth on before them.  There were fruits of every description, nuts, berries and cooked tubers; herb flatbreads; pies and egg-dishes to die for; slow-roasted pork and lamb legs; waterskins containing sweet water, light wines and juices.  In humble silence, the four ate until their stomachs bulged.  Reverently, they toasted the Faery folk’s kindness and culinary skills.   Afterward, not surprisingly, they all fell asleep.

  Jade dreamt she was washing her face.  The water was kind of smelly and sticky and the washcloth felt squishy on her cheek.  For some reason, she lay on a very dirty bathroom floor.  What the...? 

  Suddenly awake, she sat bolt upright – and stifled a shriek as she almost butted heads with a too-friendly, half-grown sheep.  It bleated at her before trotting away.  In disgust, Jade scrubbed her face with a sleeve.  Sheep spit.  Eww.

  She gasped staring around at her motionless companions in horror.  If a sheep had got in here unnoticed, what else had?  For a second she thought her friends were dead but a loud snore from Brynn reassured her.  A quick glance outside showed no soldiers or farmers nearby – just more stupid sheep.  She sighed in relief.    They had been incredibly lucky.

  With the toe of her boot, she nudged the others awake.  Marcus woke instantly, knife in hand.  Brynn muttered and batted at her foot before rolling over.  She pushed him harder until the boy finally sat up and rubbed his eyes, yawning. 

  Phoenix heaved himself up, groaning. “Man, what time is it? I feel like a truck hit me.”

  “What’s a truck?” Brynn asked sleepily.

  “It’s almost dusk.” Jade ignored the question.  She frowned at the others.  “We’ve all been asleep for several hours.”

  Phoenix yawned and shrugged.   Marcus pursed his lips.

  Jade wrapped her arms around herself, shivering. “Luckily, no-one found us except a sheep but we can’t let it happen again.”

  Brynn smothered a giggle and said something she couldn’t quite hear about being savaged by fierce sheep. 

  Jade chose to ignore this wisecrack too.  “What do we do?  It’s almost too dark to go on.  Do we stay here?  There’s more food in the bag if you’re hungry.”

  “But we’ve only got about an hour more to walk,” Brynn urged, “and I’m still stuffed.” He rubbed his belly and belched.

  “We can’t go anywhere in the dark.” Phoenix sided with Jade.  “Torches are too risky and Jade shouldn’t be expected to lead us half-blind idiots around all night.  Besides,” he added with a glance at Jade’s face, “I think we could use some more rest before we attempt to steal the Jewel.”

  “But if we go now, we can meet the druids tonight and have the Jewel before tomorrow night!” Brynn insisted.

  “Why is tonight so important?” Jade frowned at the boy.

  “Because tomorrow night will be the night before Spring Equinox.” The boy seemed surprised that they had no idea what he was talking about.  “Spring Equinox is one of the big occasions for the Druids.  It’s one of the few times each year when you’re absolutely certain to find them at Carega Amgarn.  At other times, they’re really, really hard to find.”  The boy shook his head sadly and cast a half-annoyed, half-apologetic look at Marcus.  “The Romans have been trying to wipe out the Druids all over Britain.  Two years ago they destroyed the Druid temple at Mona.  Most of the time they’re in hiding, like the Faery.”

  The others digested this information in silence for a few moments.

  “So why don’t we just go tomorrow night to speak to Dewydd?” Jade asked the question they were all thinking.

  Brynn stared at them in astonishment, clearly unable to fathom their stupidity.  “Because that will be too late.  At dawn the next day, they hold the Spring Equinox ceremony – y’know, when the Druids give sacrifices and gifts to the Earth Goddess who makes all the plants grow and the animals thrive.”  He waved his skinny arms around to indicate the natural world.  “They choose the gifts tonight.”

  “And let me guess,” Jade drew the obvious conclusion, “the Jewel of Asgard is destined to be one of those sacrificial gifts to the Earth Goddess.”

  Brynn blinked at her and nodded.  “Of course.  That’s how I knew he had it.  Dewydd told me he had charge of it when he visited us oohhhh, just a few weeks before my parents...”  His animated little face fell and Marcus laid a hand on his shoulder.  He shrugged it off.  “I just didn’t know which Stone Circle he’d be at until I met you two. They do the ceremony at a different Circle each year.”

   “You could have told us earlier, dude. We didn’t know he had it.” Phoenix closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers.   “So tell me again how Dewydd is just going to give the Jewel to us?”

  “Oh, well,” Brynn said sheepishly, “I kinda expected that we could trade something equally valuable – maybe the Hyllion Bagia, or all the stuff in it.”

  Marcus, Phoenix and Jade all gazed at Brynn in wonder.

  “You’d be prepared to give away all that Roman money and the bag to help us complete our quest?” Jade voiced her amazement.

  Brynn’s mouth firmed.  “If it got us closer to killing Feng Zhudai, I’d do just about anything.”

  The three older companions exchanged looks and nodded in silent agreement.  Brynn’s determination was infectious.  Sleep suddenly didn’t seem quite as urgent as the need to keep movin
g.  Without further discussion, they gathered their gear and, with a quick glance around, stole from the hut and headed southwest across the fields.

  The sun set in spectacular fashion behind distant hills.  For awhile they moved more slowly through the gathering dusk; picking their way carefully over furrowed ground.  The moon had not yet risen. Before long, it was too dark for the humans to see.  Jade took over, leading them through the gathering gloom until they stubbed their toes once too often and she was forced to call a halt.

  “Hang on,” she rummaged in her herb-bag, “I think I’ve worked out a spell for this.  Everyone hold out a hand.”  They did as instructed and she placed a small, soft object in each outstretched hand. 

  “Feels like.....moss,” Brynn said, sounding surprised.

  “It is.  Just a moment.”  Jade muttered a few Elven words and the little bundles of moss began to glow with a soft, greenish light.  “If you shield them with your other hand,” she instructed, “you should be able to see the ground in front of your feet at least.”

  “Won’t the lights be seen by Romans or farmers?” Marcus queried.

  “We don’t have much choice. Hopefully they’ll just think they’re will-o-the-wisps or something and leave us alone,” Jade shrugged, glancing into the darkness. 

  She asked them to pocket the moss then spent a few minutes with Brynn consulting the heavens; reading the star constellations overhead to determine their direction.  It was tricky, as the sky was again partially overcast.

  “OK,” she finally said on a sigh.  “If we’re right, we should go this way.”  She pointed into the darkness.  “What do you think, Brynn?”

  The boy cocked his head, stared at the sky again for a moment then nodded in sharp agreement.  “Seems about right to me.  We should be into that forest we saw from the fields any time now.  We’ll have to be careful we don’t get lost.  The druids should be somewhere nearby.  This is very close to where they met us when we brought Dewydd.”

  In strained silence, the four travellers trudged their way across the uneven fields, heading south and west through the cool night.

  It was hard to tell how long they had been walking when they first heard the noises.  One by one they all became aware of the sound of stealthy movement off to one side.  Jade caught Phoenix’s wary glance around and knew he’d heard it, too.  A change in Marcus’ breathing and the slight scrape of metal told her when the Roman tensed and half-drew his sword.

  With a gesture, she beckoned them to gather close.   “I don’t think it’s Romans,” she whispered as they huddled around. “I’m not even sure it’s human.”

  “Agreed.” Marcus nodded. 

  Brynn looked up at him with huge, dark eyes.

  Phoenix grimaced and drew his weapon. “If it’s not human, I’m not sure I want to know what it is.”

  “I’ll find out.” Jade jerked upright and flung back the hood of her cloak with a sudden, defiant movement.  She flipped her long hair back to reveal her ears and held up her moss-light close to them.  In a carrying voice, she announced to the darkness, “We are friends, come to visit the druid brother of one of our companions.” 

  There was silence.  She nodded at Brynn who swallowed hard and held up his own moss-light.

  “Dewydd?”  His voice quavered, “it’s me, Brynn.  If you’re there, it’s ok, they’re friends.”

  An animal made a sort of whining barking noise close by, followed by the sound of four feet padding.  It stopped and, without warning, a tall, dark-clad man stepped within the circle of faint light.  His face lay in the shadow of a deep-cowled hood; broad hands were clasped across his stomach.  Jade regarded him apprehensively, backing away as he approached.

  The man reached up and pushed back his hood to reveal a wide, joyously-grinning face that bore a striking resemblance to Brynn’s.  Brynn squeaked with delight and flung himself into his brother’s arms.  Dewydd picked up his sibling in a huge bearhug and laughed.  Finally, he set the boy down and laid a hand on his head.

  “You’ve grown, lad,” he said with a fond smile.

  “Aye.”  Brynn was obviously too glad for his usual banter.

  “You’re well?” Dewydd looked at the boy’s thin face.  “Who has had the care of you since our parents died?”  He frowned at Jade and the others. “These?”

  “Nay!” Brynn replied in outraged tones.  “I’m big enough to look after myself, brother.”  He laid a hand on Jade’s arm and spoke with pride.  “These are my quest-companions and brothers-in-arms.  We seek to-”

  Jade put a hand on over his.  He stopped and looked up at her in surprise.

  “Careful, Brynn.  You may put your brother in danger with too much knowledge.”

  Brynn glanced at his brother then nodded.

  “Just be assured,” Phoenix added, “that we are enemies of Rome.”

  “And yet you walk with your enemy?” The druid sent a meaningful look at Marcus.

  The Roman drew himself up tall, laying a hand on his sword and looking down at the brown-robed druid with cool hauteur.  Tension pulled the air between them.

  Jade stepped forward, laying a calming hand on Marcus’ arm. “He is Bound to us and no threat to you, either. We trust him.”

  Dewydd raised his brows. “I hope your trust is not misplaced.”

  Turning his back on the Roman, the tall druid gave Phoenix a faint smile.  “You are wise not to entrust others with your plans.”  He held out a hand and clasped forearms with Phoenix in friendship.  “Your little band is welcome with us for the night.  Come.”  He looped an arm around Brynn’s shoulders and turned away. 

  Jade followed, eyeing Marcus’ black scowl worriedly.

  Dewydd led them into a grove of trees not far away.  As they crossed beneath the boughs, the darkness thickened.  Jade frowned and shook her head.  She her rubbed her eyes and blinked several times.

  “What is it? Romans? Druids?” Phoenix whispered, fingers curling again around the hilt of his sword.

  “No, it’s magic of some sort,” she murmured back. “This grove is protected somehow – look!” 

  At her startled gasp, Phoenix glanced up and he, too, gasped. 

  What they had taken for a small stand of trees, now seemed to be an enormous expanse of forest.  Blinding darkness had been replaced with a gentle luminescence; similar to the moss-light Jade created.  Endless, ancient trunks of trees marched into the distance.  Each one glowed with faint green light, giving the entire forest the appearance of being underwater.

  “It’s beautiful.” Jade gazed about, awed.

  “Aye,” nodded Dewydd, “and it’s our sanctuary in these troubled times.”  He pursed his lips and gave a strange, warbling whistle.  “My brother druids will be coming to greet you then you will go before the Elders.”

  “The Elders?” Jade was uneasy.  Something suddenly felt wrong.  Finding Dewydd had been too simple.

  Dewydd nodded. “You’ll need to speak to the Elders before I can grant your request, of course.”

  “Errr...” Phoenix spoke for them all, “our request?”

  Dewydd bowed, looking amused.  “I cannot give you the Jewel of Asgard without the Elders’ permission.”

  Jade gasped; Marcus took a wary step backward and Phoenix half-drew his sword.  Even Brynn inched away from his brother, his eyes wide with awe.

  ****