That night, under Dimple’s guidance, they rode their cattle straight through the lumbering herd of Aurochs without causing the herd to bat an eye. Dimples had been simply amazing. He even convinced one to allow Merle and Ahab to ride on its back. He had them all form a ring around Grumpy, escorting him through without causing too much alarm to the herd at large. It was a special moment, one Leon certainly wished Gus could have been there to witness.
# # #
Leon awoke with a funny feeling early that morning. It was still dark but something in the air just wasn’t right. He fumbled for his Blade and his vision sharpened. As he concentrated to pinpoint what woke him, he closed his eyes and extended his senses, testing the air. All at once, his sense of smell improved dramatically. It took him a moment to come to terms with the sensory overload, and then a bit longer to identify the scent wafting in on the west wind.
It was fear. Somehow, he was smelling fear, but not just fear. Fear mixed with sweat and exhaustion. He looked down and saw his hand still clinging to the hilt of his Blade.
Perhaps another newfound gift?
The thought excited him until he realized what the gift was telling him!
Someone…no, several someones were about to run right through their camp. He sprung to his feet, facing into the west wind that brought the scent into his face. Across the camp, he saw Daz standing much like him, looking out into the darkness beyond.
“You smell something off?”
Daz flashed a smile and tilted his head. “You are full of surprises, my friend.” Then louder, “Everyone, wake up! We have company coming soon!”
The first of the shape-changing wolfmen to clear the rise found himself eye to eye with a giant bear. He skidded to a stop. A dozen fiercely sharp Aurochs horns had him surrounded in the blink of an eye. The people riding the beasts were just as intimidating. He fell to his knees and transitioned more fully into his human form. They gave him some time to compose himself, then Ferschall spoke, “Would you like to explain why you’ve been running yourself half to death?” Leon suspected he knew the answer, but they needed the details.
“Giants!” the man panted. “Giants have breached the wall! One moment…it was standing strong…the next, it was blown to pieces and crumbled to the ground!”
“You were attacked?”
The man shook his head emphatically. “Not that anyone could see. A huge army was camped miles away, but they weren’t attacking. The wall was just blown apart! Then they came!” He looked back over his shoulder. “They are still coming. If you value your lives, flee. But have mercy and allow me to escape as well!”
Ferschall shook his head and there was just enough moonlight for the man to see him gesture, “We are heading that way, yes? You are welcome to join us, or you can continue in the direction you choose, but that is up to you.”
The man’s eyes bulged, but he accepted the decision, “Let me go. You all have to be fools to go that way. Brave fools, but there were many at the wall who stayed to defend what remained. They were brave, too, but it didn’t slow the tide of enemies now pouring into our lands.” Without another word, he shouldered his way through their ranks, changed back into his wolf form, and took off once more into the night.
Dimples wheeled their mounts and behind Ferschall's lead they all took off once again. They passed many more deserters before dawn. All of them fleeing the giants’ army. They didn’t bother to stop any of them again.
Morning brought them much closer to their destination than Leon would have expected had they not been riding swift-footed cattle throughout the night. So far, he had seen no sign of the giants who were allegedly pursuing the fleeing guards. But that didn’t mean they weren’t near. Everyone kept an eye peeled each time they topped a hill.
By midmorning, the terrain changed. They were at the foot of the mountain range and the once gentle hills turned steep, gaining altitude. Dimples sent the cattle back to the herd with their thanks, and the companions soon found a natural game trail leading up into the highland forests.
Trees that looked like pines appeared more frequently as they hiked up out of the grassy plains. Leon had a funny feeling he had seen those trees before. Until it dawned on him just where he had seen them. He gave Shay a questioning look. She nodded back and patted the bark of a nearby sapling, “Yes, I recognize them, too. This is no coincidence. We are getting close.”
As the group approached a bend in the switchback trail they followed, Leon heard an awful screeching noise from just up ahead. Some animal was clearly angry and in pain. When they rounded the bend, the hairs on his neck stood on end.
There in broad daylight, next to the still bodies of two men, stood a fully changed Hootsi woman. She was chained to a tree by her neck. He took a step forward, and she lunged at him, but her chains stopped her short. There was just enough slack for her to entirely block their path up the remainder of the switchback.
The looks on the faces of his companions told Leon they were all as horrified as him at what they were witnessing.
Reed gasped. “A rogue!”
Shay clucked her tongue, “We need to put her down quick, it will be a mercy.” One of her guards pulled out a leather slingshot and loaded a stone.
"She's right." Rezz said, "No good can come of appeasing a Day Walker."
Leon jumped between the rogue and the Fae. “Wait a moment. Let me try something?” All eyes turned to him.
Even Kyra tensed up, though she still gave him an encouraging nod.
He turned to face the Hootsi once more. As he stepped forward, the woman growled and backed down into a crouch. He continued to walk forward until he was just beyond the reach of her chain. A firm hand gripped his shoulder and Dimples stepped gingerly to his side. Neither of them made any sudden moves. Leon spoke calmly to Dimples. “You have any experience with this?”
“Some. The light of the sun addles their twisted minds. The times I've seen it happen before never ended well. But I’ve never had a Blade before either.”
“Any advice?”
“Don’t look her in the eye and don’t turn your back, even if she calms. She is a day changer now. She cannot be trusted ever again.”
The Hootsi continued growling low the whole time they talked. Leon squatted down on his heels and dug out some jerky Sved had given them for the journey. He gently tossed it a foot or two within her reach.
The woman’s nose quivered at the scent of meat. She shifted over, and Leon got his first good look at one of the men lying beside her. It was Cooper!
The shock threw him off balance. He landed on his butt and crab-walked backward when the Hootsi sprang at them again. Dimples held his ground and sang softly to her from where he stood.
Leon turned back to Reed, “It's Shana! They did this to Shana! And that’s Cooper, I think he’s dead. We can’t leave her like this Reed, we have to try to save her!”
The rest of the morning was spent feeding Shana jerky and attempting to coax her back into her human form. Everyone had an idea they tried, but nothing they did seemed to have any true effect. Their attempts lasted through the noon hour and by early afternoon Ferschall split time scouting their back trail and brainstorming ways to calm the rogue with the rest of them.
Shay empathized with Leon over the loss of his friend, but in her eyes, Shana was already gone. She saw what stood before them as an impediment meant to slow them down from reaching whatever lay beyond. Kyra gave Leon her full support, though Leon could tell she carried some uneasy tension in the way she would randomly glance over at Shana’s crouching form.
Everyone was restless. However, Leon’s biggest ally in delaying the inevitable surprised him. He didn’t know whether it was Dimples’ uncompromising sense of Hootsi honor or a certain nostalgic empathy for another outcast of his own kind that drew the man to his cause, but he was thankful for the support.
I know she’s in there somewhere. If only I can find a way to get through to her, there has to be a cure! I can’t give up on h
er!
Late in the afternoon, Ferschall came sprinting back up the trail. “There is a group coming up the same pass we followed! I’m sorry, Leon, we need to get moving.”
“Giants?” Leon asked.
“Too far to see anything clearly, I just saw movement and caught a glimmer in the sunlight.”
While everyone but Leon turned to study the trail behind them, Dimples drew his Blade and stepped forward. Right into the boundary of Shana’s chain. Leon saw what he was about to do and rushed to stop him, but Shana was faster. She pounced on the man knocking him to the ground with her unnatural strength and speed. He held her off by the chain at her neck, keeping her fangs from finding purchase on his face. Her claws sliced right through his leathers, opening bloody seams down his arms and torso.
Still, he held her. With his free arm, he plunged his Blade into her side.
Leon screamed for him to stop, but the deed was done. Shana immediately shriveled in on herself. Her fight weakened. Still, Reed held the Blade in place. He didn’t remove it until she changed back into her human form. Her light gray fur subsided, claws retracted, and her beautiful features reappeared.
Reed rushed to her side. He used his gift to heal her side and seal the wound. Then he administered aid to Dimples as well.
Dimples bowed to Leon. "I am sorry I hurt the girl. Sometimes the only way to heal though is to endure a little hurt. I swear to care for her until she recovers."
When he was done, they broke her chain’s shackle from the nearby tree. After they bound her wrists and feet, Dimples scooped her up into his arms and carried her up the trail. No one said a word as they followed.
Cooper was long gone. He, too, had been shackled to the tree.
Leon flipped the other man over but didn’t recognize the face. Neither did anyone else nearby. However, when Leon shifted his coat and saw what rested by his side, he froze, the man had been Bladed.
“I think they killed this guy!” Leon frowned.
“It doesn’t look like he went down without a fight though.” Reed pointed out several puncture wounds in Cooper’s chest, all the size of a Blade. Just up the trail were the warm ashes of a campfire.
Ferschall walked over and peered down. “I knew him, or knew of him. He was an elder in Hollinger's Bladed Society. Whatever happened, we have to get going, yes? We can’t stay here.” Ferschall got everyone going once more, but before he started back up the trail, he gave Leon a sad look that seemed to confirm both of their fears. Ben was up to something dangerous.
They continued on that way for another hour until they came to some old ruins. Worn and crumbled stone once supporting beautiful buildings and elegant homes sparked an all too familiar memory for Leon. The dilapidated debris was remarkably similar to the ruins from Ferschall’s home, back in Hootsi territory.
Ferschall scouted out a safe place to hole up until morning and promised to do a more thorough job of scouting the area to find the Royal Tree, as well as those who had left Shana in her current form. Reluctantly, Dimples acknowledged he was best suited to help Ferschall and left Shana’s side for the first time since lifting her that afternoon.
"I'm coming, too," Leon said, "I can bring Westley, Merle, and Ahab to help. The eyes from the air should help things go quickly."
He could tell Kyra didn’t like leaving his side. But a smaller party was less likely to be seen and, with Reed staying behind to continue helping Shana with his gift of mending, Leon was confident his ability to work with his animals would give the scouting party an edge.
Chapter 31
Leon and the others spent the better part of the evening tracking their quarry over inhospitable terrain. Soon though with the help of Leon's animals, they managed to flank a large camp of people from downwind.
Evening had settled in when he and his companions got their first look down into the camp. The hike up the hill that evening was a hard steep climb, and the bare cliff face gave no protection from the chilly north wind. Leon had to will himself against allowing his teeth to chatter in the frosty mountain air.
Rounding the cliff, the forest ruins tapered out, funneling up into a point. At the terminal end of that forest, stood an incredibly large Royal Tree. Beyond it were the cluttered remains of another ancient ruin followed by another steep drop-off. The tree itself was just like Leon remembered from the childhood memories he and Shay had so recently recanted.
The camp had been positioned between the edges of the forest and the Royal. It was illuminated by a large fire. The only person he was able to identify was Ben and only then because he could the big man's self-assured strut from a quarter-mile hike up a mountain. Ben appeared to be busy giving orders and hurrying people along.
Leon and the others crept down closer, and things grew easier to distinguish. Leon could tell there was a trio of prisoners sitting near the fire. Their arms were bound to staves above their shoulders and they were lying down, flat on their stomachs. As the guard watching over them moved up and down their ranks, Leon could see a long strip of golden-white hair reflecting off the flames.
"He's got Vin guards with him down there," Leon whispered to Ferschall.
"Hmm, yes, true. Dimples, you think you can get close enough to catch a snippet of what they are planning?” Ferschall asked.
The Hootsi’s only reply was a sharp nod. His black outfit and stealthy skills allowed him to completely vanish from their side without a sound.
Leon felt wetness strike his cheek. He looked up when another tiny little icy sliver hit his arm. It was rain. A steady dribble of misting rain was just beginning to fall.
Better cold rain than snow or sleet.
"Ben wasn't simply here to re-enter our world, was he?" Ferschall asked.
"The only thing he ever told me was he planned to take back the land he thought was his birthright. I've been thinking about that though. I think it's more than that, I think that for people like him it's becoming really hard to hide their identities in our world. With the technical advancements and large populations, it's a miracle people don't know about skin-changers already. If they ever do find out, it could be bad, real bad. I think Ben is looking to carve out a place where he can flee in case things go bad on earth. I don't think he plans to stay here, not now at least. I just can't puzzle together why he's so secretive about it. There has to be something more, you know?"
Ferschall grunted. "Not surprising, people like Ben bluster about justice and causes, but in the end, they are usually only motivated by fear. You see, I've been busy these last few weeks, yes? I've made inquiries and have learned that Ben has used his newfound connections within the Vin to begin stockpiling odd materials, almost like he is planning something big. He has stash houses all around Hollinger.
"The Bladed Society may be fewer in number these days, and we are less tolerated year by year, but there's still quite an extensive network of us out there."
"Wait! You're part of that Bladed Society? Why are you just telling me this now?"
"Because I think Ben is planning something and bigger than both of us, yes? I have no doubt he has weapons that make him very dangerous, but there are other dangers beyond our borders worse than giants. Now that our borders are exposed, and our kingdoms are falling into disarray, I fear he will be making a move to grab power.
"Only, he doesn't know just how dangerous our land is going to become. None of the Unbladed these days really understand such dangers, yes?"
"What kind of dangers?"
"Old foes and savage monsters will find their way here when they learn of our vulnerability. We can't allow him to destabilize the independent kingdoms of Fayden for his own purposes or the empire itself may fall, no?
"Leon, I'm sorry to tell you this, but we may need to sever their connection to your world before you ever have a chance to send word home. Is that something you feel you are able to do if needed?” Ferschall turned and looked him in the eye.
Without flinching or hesitation, Leon responded, “I’ll do what n
eeds doing.”
Ferschall gave him a warm smile in return, “As will I, my friend," then he thumped him on the back. "Good man."
Before long, Dimples returned, silent as a thought. But before he could relay what he had witnessed, another commotion took place below.
Leon’s stomach dropped when he saw most of the rest of his party being marched out into the firelight. The ones who could still walk were helping those who couldn’t. He released a breath he didn’t know he held when he saw Kyra still standing upright. Her arms were bound, and she had a slight limp, but she seemed to be walking on her own.
Chocum was now the only brother with her. He carried Shana over his shoulders. Shay was carried by one of her men. Reed and the rest of the Fae, including Grumpy, were nowhere to be seen. The remnant of their group was surrounded by several Fae soldiers, all armed with swords and slings.
Dimples broke the silence. "Those in the camp are waiting on more people. A lot more people."
# # #
Leon and Merle followed Ferschall and Dimples halfway down the steep cliff, closer to the camp. Ahab and Westley continued to circle high above, well out of sight. Once they were close enough to make out individual faces in the fire, Leon saw more movement from the south side of the camp.
To his surprise, Slade Jung came strutting out of the forest, looking as big and mean as ever in his human form. Following him were two similar-sized men, a Vin with an eye patch and a Fae warrior, as well as two others who Leon didn't know. These normal-sized men were followed by a dozen massive bodies that stood at least half again as tall as Slade.
Ben’s celebratory greeting could be heard from all the way to where Leon sat. The leader jumped to his feet and walked forward to clasp forearms and embrace his subordinate.
"You did it, Slade! Took the wall down and forged a treaty all in one move! Genius, brother, pure genius!"
Yet not all of the giants following Slade stopped behind the big man. One walked over and stomped on the head of one of the three original prisoners lying prone on the ground.
A Choice of Blades: The Blade Remnant, Book One Page 39