Summer of Crows

by Hans Cummings

  Tasha gestured down the street beyond the gate. “Not far. Aerik and Therkla can show you.”

  “I’m not going to play nursemaid to them.” Therkla slid off her horse’s back, eliciting a whinny of protest from Socks. “I fulfilled my obligation, and now I want to get paid.”

  Tasha frowned. “Well, I’m sure you know the way to Koloman’s house. Your deal was with him, right?”

  “No, we left that fool to clean up his own mess. Your lady knight offered to pay us for our help at the mine, remember?”

  The conversation of several nights earlier, when the power of the Crow Queen first awakened in her, seemed fuzzy in Tasha’s memory, although she did have a slight recollection of Therkla’s deal with Aveline.

  “I can’t access the funds Aveline was going to use to pay you. I’m sorry.” Tasha adjusted her seat. “You’ll have to wait for Aveline to return or go back to the mine and help her deal with the dead if you’re impatient.”

  Therkla seized Silvermane’s reins to prevent Tasha from leaving. “Talk to her lieutenant then.”

  After fishing in her pouch and tossing a couple of crowns toward the oroq, Tasha dismounted. “I’m neither a member of the guard, nor do I have any influence over them. Stable the horses, then get a meal, a bath, and some drinks, and wait for me at the Bristled Boar.”

  Before the oroq woman could protest again, Tasha pushed her way into the crowd. After a short distance, she became aware she was being followed. Tasha glanced over her shoulder, seeing Ra-Jareez, Jazeera, and Yun jogging to keep up.

  She moved away from the main flow of traffic to wait for the three to approach. “You don’t need to follow me. Why don’t you go with Therkla and Aerik?”

  Raj gazed toward the city gate. “That large woman is not very good company right now. We would feel safer in this unfamiliar city with you.”

  A crowd gathered around Tasha and the travelers from the Far North. People pushed in around her, chattering and gawking at the faelix siblings and the caprikin. “Good people, please, let us through. I assure you, you have nothing to fear from my friends here. They have come far and need rest.”

  The crowd continued to build, eager for a closer look. Tasha searched the throng of curious townsfolk for familiar faces. None leapt out at her. As the crowd pressed in, her breath quickened.

  A man wearing armor over furs moved to stand in front of her. “Give these folks space. Come on now, move away.” Spreading his arms wide, he cleared the area around Tasha and her companions. She recognized him as the southerner who had come to her apothecary with a rash. His hair cascaded down his back, save for two narrow side braids.

  Catching her breath, Tasha offered him a smile in gratitude. “How’s your arm?”

  He bowed his head toward Tasha. “Much better, thank you.” He turned to address the crowd. “Go on now! Before you all hurt someone.”

  Spreading his arms again, he cleared a path for Tasha, gesturing down the street. Most of the crowd thinned before the bridge crossing the Copper Run toward the market. “Perhaps I’ll have the good fortune to see you again soon.”

  “I’m indebted to you…” She smiled weakly as she failed to recall the man’s name.

  “Torben.”

  “Thank you, Torben.

  Before the crowd decided to ignore the Watchman’s instruction, Tasha guided her companions down the street, across the bridge, and through the market to Cybele’s Church. She pointed toward the massive doors as they approached. “It should be quieter in there.”

  As expected, the church remained relatively deserted in the middle of the day. Mother Anya cleaned the altar at the far end of the sanctuary. Wisps of grey hair poked out from the unkempt bun in which she kept it. The matriarch, hearing the visitors enter her church, moved to greet them.

  Tasha noted the slow pace the high priestess walked, as well as the pained expression on her face. “Please, don’t let us disturb you, Mother Anya. We simply seek a respite from the crowds outside. As you might imagine, my companions”—Tasha gestured toward Yun, Jazeera, and Ra-Jareez—“are causing quite a stir.”

  The faelix siblings greeted Mother Anya. As if noticing them for the first time, the matriarch pressed a hand to her chest. “Oh my! It’s been ages since I’ve seen folk from Nakambe and Hoseki.” Bowing, she greeted Yun in his own language. She eyed Tasha’s cloak. “You’re dressing differently these days, Tasha.”

  Slack-jawed, Yun bowed to Mother Anya, returning her greeting.

  “I must say, you surprise me, Mother Anya. I didn’t know you spoke their language.” Tasha did not expect the matron of Curton’s only temple to be familiar with her companions. She hoped by diverting the old woman’s attention to Yun, she could avoid conversation about her cloak or the Crow Queen.

  “Only Xihani, dear. Remarkably similar to Nihansan.” She nodded toward the faelix siblings. “I never had the chance to learn Haylan, or are you also from the Xihan region? You speak our language with an accent that sounds Haylish.” She turned again toward Tasha. “I may be from Curton, child, but I haven’t lived here my whole life.” She sat in a nearby pew, a grimace on her face, and gestured for the others to join her. “You’ll have to forgive me. This damp weather is making my joints ache something terrible.”

  Raj exchanged a glance with his sister. “We are from Shak-Hayla. Our family does much trading with the Xihani in the west. We met Yun at a market in Shan-tu, on the precipice of the Gods’ Wound…”

  Tasha held up her hand before sitting next to Mother Anya. “I used to have an herb for that pain, but I’m afraid my shop was destroyed in the flood.” She glanced at Raj. “I would love to hear all about your travels later, Ra-Jareez, but we mustn’t dawdle.”

  The three foreigners sat in the pew behind the matriarch, and Raj leaned toward Tasha. “Why exactly have you brought us here?”

  “The crowd seemed unruly. I’m hoping they’ll disperse in a bit so I can find Lieutenant Valon and get help for Aveline.” Tasha took Mother Anya’s hand. “Perhaps you’d be so kind as to help me find volunteers for a most unpleasant task?”

  Tasha could not stop the tears from flowing as she apprised Mother Anya of the mound of bodies in the mine and of how they found no survivors from the town. She didn’t see the need to tell the old woman of the chaos rift, at least, not until she’d heard back from the Arcane University.

  “Of course, I’ll help.” Mother Anya squeezed Tasha’s hand. “There are many in town who are lax in their duties to the church. I will see to it they volunteer, if not in body, then in supplies.”

  Raj threw up his hands. “Bah! You left out the most important part.”

  Glaring, she shook her head as Mother Anya’s attention shifted to the faelixes.

  “The hairy one, what is his name, Jaz?” Raj tapped a claw against the back of the pew, ignoring Tasha’s silent protest. “The loud, angry woman’s companion.”

  “Aerik.” Staring at Tasha, Jazeera raised an eyebrow.

  “Aerik thinks Tasha is a queen.”

  “A queen, indeed?” Mother Anya’s eyes crinkled as she suppressed a laugh. “Is this Aerik a new suitor? I don’t believe I’ve met him.”

  Tasha slouched in her seat. “He’s a traveler from the Watches. He’s not a suitor.”

  “Why does he think you’re a queen?”

  “He believes she commands the crows.” Raj grinned.

  Tasha narrowed her eyes, scowling. Mother Anya certainly knew the stories and lore surrounding the Crow Queen. Entering into a theological discussion with the high priestess of Cybele’s Church was not part of her plan for the day.

  “Crow Queen? Really?” Mother Anya recoiled from Raj. She examined Tasha’s cape. “How did you come by this cloak?”

  “She ignored—”

  “Enough!” Tasha slammed her hand on the back of the pew. “You and your brother have helped enough today.” Sighing, the sorceress related the tale of how she sought refuge in the abandoned, overgrown hut during the st
orm, how the crows began following her, and how she experienced visions that led her to the cloak in the mine.

  Mother Anya listened, her brow furrowing first with suspicion then concern. Finally, she covered her mouth with her hands, gazing at Tasha. “You actually found Annika?”

  “You knew her? The previous Crow Queen?”

  “Of course. She disappeared many years ago. She left with her sister. But when Nika returned, she refused to speak of Annika.” Mother Anya lowered her gaze. “From her injuries, we assumed they’d been beset by oroqs, but it seemed impossible Annika would die in such a case and Nika would live. At any rate, Nika fell ill, afflicted by horrible growths all over her body. Well, you know what happened with her son.”

  “Smith Piotr.” Tasha heard the story from Aveline of how, during the past year, the knight-captain executed the smith for smothering his mother. Although she was sickly and many thought he showed mercy, the magistrate disagreed and condemned him for murder.

  “I saw a vision of the two women in the mine. One was called Nika, and she killed an old woman. Said the old woman let a man called Dimas die after taking his child.” Tasha tried to recall details. “I got the sense the two women were related, but one was ever so much older than the other. Maybe her grandmother?”

  Mother Anya’s eyes glistened with tears. “Dimas was my brother. He never could decide between the two sisters, Nika and Annika. He married Nika, sired Piotr, but also sired a child with Annika. Both he and his daughter from Annika fell ill when a plague ravaged Curton. Annika called upon her power as Crow Queen to save them and the town. It took a terrible toll on her. She aged a lifetime in a day. Still, she failed to save neither the man she loved nor her child.”

  Tasha lifted the edge of her cloak, running her fingers over the feathers. “People talk about the plague, but I had never heard the story. They speak of the Crow Queen like she’s someone out of legends, not someone they might have actually known.”

  “The Crow Queen has always been known to us.” Mother Anya put her hand on Tasha’s shoulder. “If you came by this mantle truly, then we will be happy to know her once more.”

  Chapter 27

  When morning came, Aveline awoke stiff and unrested. Dark images of decaying bodies filled her dreams. She crawled out of the tent in her smallclothes, then shuffled to the rain barrel. Last night’s paltry precipitation did little to supplement the water she collected from the stream. A sodden, blackened pile of ash and bone stood as the last remnants of the previous night’s pyre, a ritual Aveline knew she needed to repeat once she recovered the bodies from deeper in the mine. After breaking her fast, she donned her armor and strode through the entrance.

  With no need for stealth, she reached the corpse room quickly. Assessing the pile, she decided moving even one victim alone would be foolish. She might be able to drag one person to the surface at a time, but the effort would exhaust her. She opted, instead, to mark the path to the room clearly, using the lanterns left behind by the wizard’s minions. She then gathered as much equipment as she could carry, including the remaining pieces of her armor, before returning to the surface and preparing the camp for helpers Tasha would inevitably send.

  Lacking an axe with which to chop wood or a bow with which to hunt, Aveline gathered deadfall for fuel and nuts and berries for sustenance. Using a helmet from the gear she recovered in the mine as a basket, she spent most of the morning foraging.

  Aveline paused near the stream to wash the berries she had gathered. She squatted on a moss-covered rock, listening to birds sing in the distance, a lyrical accompaniment to the babbling of the brook. It was then she became aware of eyes watching her.

  The snap of a branch betrayed the onlooker. Keeping her motions slow and deliberate, Aveline scanned the forest around her. Her eyes fell on a glint of stark-white scales contrasting against the deep green pines in which the drak concealed themself.

  Aveline maintained her gaze on the diminutive dragon kin. “I’m not a threat to you. I’m just foraging for food and firewood. We’re going to be working at the old mine, burying our dead.”

  The scout stood rock steady, having made no sign of hearing or even understanding her.

  “Na par’ka Drak.” I don’t speak Drak. Aveline hoped her assurance, at least, would ease some of the drak’s trepidations.

  She watched as the visitor retreated beneath the pine branches, disappearing from sight. Sighing, Aveline returned to washing her berries, then gathered her supplies and returned to camp.

  As the sun continued its journey across the sky, she passed time sorting through equipment, repairing that which could be repaired while discarding the rest. When she finished, she had scavenged three pickaxes and two shovels.

  Utilizing one of the implements she recovered, she chose a spot within sight of the mine entrance and began digging.

  * * *

  At Mother Anya’s behest, Tasha left the faelix siblings and Yun at the church so she could move about town unmolested. After checking with guards at both city gates, Tasha resorted to leaving a message at the citadel for Lieutenant Valon to find her in Drakton. There, she hoped to settle with Zadok of the Ashenscale clan. Whatever money the draks owed her represented the sum of her possessions following the flood, and she wanted to buy a few more sets of clothes before deciding how and where to rebuild.

  It amazed her how resilient the draks were in the face of calamity. Already, mere days after the flood, most of the damage had been repaired, and one had to look closely to find any evidence of catastrophe. Despite their efforts, limited availability of materials meant Drakton still resembled a shantytown within the walls of Curton. I wonder what they could do if they were given adequate resources to actually rebuild this part of town.

  She walked to the base of the tower where the Ashenscale clan had constructed their community house. She found Zadok there teaching draklings carpentry. She silently observed him explaining how to use a planer until he noticed her.

  “I hope I’m not disturbing you, Zadok. Lady Aveline said she helped you get some supplies from my shop after the flood, and I wanted to settle up. I’m going to need to rebuild.”

  Zadok shooed away the draklings. “I understand. As you can see, we’ve had rebuilding to do ourselves.”

  “What you’ve accomplished in such a short time is impressive.” Tasha observed a pair of draks constructing a door from a pile of scrap wood and attaching it to a building.

  “We make do.” Zadok clasped his hands. “Unfortunately, lack of support from the rest of the city means we’ve had to expend most of the money we set aside to pay you on building materials.”

  Tasha’s heart sank, yet she maintained her expression. “I understand. To be honest, I don’t think I’m going to rebuild my old shop anyway. Everything is rotting and moldy now. It needs to be razed.”

  “Where then will you go?”

  The question burdened Tasha. As they proceeded, she drew her feathered cloak around her. Her mind drifted to the hut in the forest. It’s a ruin. I can’t possibly right it.

  “For now, I guess I’ll stay with Lady Aveline. Still…”

  “Yes?”

  Tasha realized she let her thoughts wander aloud. She felt a strong urge to return to the hut in the forest, despite knowing nature would surely reclaim it in a few years.

  “My thoughts keep taking me to a hut I found in the woods. It was on its side and overgrown, but there was something about it.” Tasha rubbed the cloak where its feathers covered her arm.

  Zadok cocked his head. “There is something different about you. I admit, I don’t know you well, and I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you out of your shop…”

  They passed a family of draks sorting a pile of debris. Tasha helped them move a couple of large timbers off the pile before resuming her walk with Zadok.

  Unsure how much she should share with this drak, Tasha chose to keep her statement simple. “I discovered something important while I was helping Aveline search for th
e missing townsfolk. I may have to go away for a while.”

  “May I offer you some parting advice, for one who has been such a good friend to us all these years?” Zadok took Tasha’s arm as they continued, reaching up to do so.

  Tasha laughed. “I will always welcome your advice, though it isn’t as though I’m going away to never return.”

  “I have a sense your life will change dramatically now. You’ll be known far and wide. But you must be wary of fame. It’s an empty purse. Count it? Go broke. Eat it? Go hungry. Seek it and go mad.”

  The sorceress patted the old drak’s hand. “I’ve never sought undue attention. I don’t see that happening now. Besides, Aveline, if no one else, will keep me grounded.”

  Parting ways with the drak, Tasha returned to the church to check on Raj, Jazeera, and Yun. When she arrived, she observed a crowd milling about in front of the church, no doubt hoping for a glimpse of the castaways from across the sea. Acolytes outside the doors of the church discouraged curious onlookers from coming too close.

  Recognizing her, the disciples allowed Tasha to pass, despite cries of protest from the townsfolk. Ignoring them, she entered the church. Mother Anya had put the three visitors to work cleaning the main chapel with her. Over the years, pews moved out of place, and heavy decorations shifted. Too few of the townsfolk or farmers volunteered to help her on a regular basis.

  “Is everything going well?” Tasha approached Ra-Jareez and Jazeera as they lifted a bust of Cybele for Mother Anya to clean under. Meanwhile, Yun worked at removing bent nails from a pew that showed signs of having been repaired too often.

  “Oh yes.” Smiling, Mother Anya nodded. “I decided to offer our visitors coin in exchange for some help around here. They’re going to need clothes, food, and lodging.”

  “We know Cybele by another name in Nakambe”—Raj grunted as he and his sister struggled with the weight of the sculpture—“but her priests are generous everywhere they serve.”