Heir's Legacy

by Vlad ben Avorham

  Echal and Pavel returned in the early afternoon and went over the layout and a quick sketch of the plan. Then it was time to grab what sleep could be had. The early morning assault on the garrison wouldn't leave much room for sleep after. Echal was glad as his eyes closed that at least Sha wouldn't need sleep. If nothing else she was a reliable early warning system.

  ***

  The Great Escape

  Echal and Pavel could both watch from opposite roof tops as Catrin moved on the guard at the gate. He held his breath and waited for the plan to come apart.

  Catrin stumbled drunkenly toward the gate guard. "M'lord... M'lord can you..." she belched. "Can you help me find my inn?" she slurred at him.

  The old unshaven guard sneered at her, "Lookin fer a place to sleep it off eh?" He looked a little closer and noticed she was an attractive young woman. He looked around to see if either of the other guards had noted her arrival. "Well, I suppose you could sleep if off just as well in here." he said almost to himself but with a new leer in his eye. She allowed him to guide her into the little guard shack and push her to her knees. "Jest a little sausage to settle the stomach..." he chuckled to himself. As he dropped his breeches, Catrin came up with her little palm knife, neatly severing his femoral artery. She quickly stood as the shock of what happened hit him and clutched his head to her breast. His gasps and cries muffled by the thick folds of her cloak. He bled out in seconds.

  Pulling the light stone Sha had enchanted this afternoon from her pouch sent a clear signal to both Pavel and Echal. Almost as one two of the three guards on the palisade dropped to the ground clutching an arrow in the throat. The third guard turned to see what had made the noise, just in time to catch Echal's second arrow in the bridge of his nose. He let out a gurgle and then crumpled to the ground. Pavel and Sha were at the gate just as Catrin was removing the bolt. Quietly they crossed the small courtyard. The heavy oak barracks door had been left open to the cool night air, but at a signal from Sha, Pavel slammed it closed and leaned hard on it. Sha took her double handful of wet clay and smashed it into the corner of the door, and then she said a few words as the clay instantly turned to granite locking the door firmly in place. She staggered to her feet the exhaustion evident and reached her muddy fingers into the waiting pouch. She spoke word and tossed it into the narrow arrow slit that faced out on to the courtyard.

  She waited for the expected chaos to erupt. Nothing happened. Her heart dropped; the spell had failed. Echal came through the gate driving the wagon right up into the courtyard. From the far arrow slot flew an arrow, taking him high on the left shoulder. Echal dove from the wagon seat, taking cover behind it. Sha took a deep breath and pointed through the nearest arrow slot and released the spell. This time, the effect was immediate. A great roar was heard in the room beyond and soon the sound of screaming dying men. She sat resting on the ground for a moment, more of her energy reserves spent than she had hoped to spend. Pavel never hesitated he scooped her up in his arms and headed for the wagon.

  Echal was also on the move, he was now sprinting toward the weapons locker. He arrived just in time for Catrin to have made short work of the locking mechanism. The door opened and Echal saw a wild-eyed and badly bruised Jayen Smith standing between the crumpled form of his wife and the door. Echal's voice cracked when he saw them. "Da! It's ok. We're here to take you away."

  Jayen's eyes flashed between Echal and Catrin all covered in blood. "All the spirts be praised that they sent you." he choked. "I need help with your Mamma, she can't walk on her own and I can't carry her."

  Echal nodded to Catrin who immediately moved to support the limping Jayen and help him to the waiting wagon. Echal came out carrying the woman who was the only mother he ever knew. The building anger in Echal was warring with his wisdom. Experience said stick to the plan, but right now he wanted to burn the whole town to the ground. After they comfortably settled his mother in the wagon, he settled for releasing all the stables horses and setting the waiting hay alight. Pavel had already taken the wagon and headed them toward the northern edge of town.

  Echal waited just a moment before training and experience took hold of him. Saying the activation words Sha had given him this afternoon he tossed the stones into the courtyard and rode off to the south. He could move faster than the wagon let any pursuit follow him, there would be plenty of time to double back to his family as morning wore on.

  He could hear the roaring even from the edge of town. Behind him a great black wyvern rose into the air, the now roaring fire illuminating the two figures mounted on its back. It circled the town once gaining altitude, and then the illusion flew off on its pre-programmed path straight south and west, heading directly for the Alorn border.

  Wilderness Way

  Midmorning Rest

  Echal carefully picked his way through the farmer's woodlot. He was leading his horse and taking the extra time to be certain he wasn't seen nor leave incriminating tracks. This was the second wood lot he had explored this morning. Not being able to scout the perfect rendezvous spot ahead of time was making this part more difficult than it needed to be but such was the situation. His left shoulder was still seeping blood and had gone from numb around day break to more of a burning situation as the day wore on.

  He slipped through the trees until he spotted the little wagon and the small half camp sheltering quietly by it. It surprised him to see both Jayen and Pavel sleeping, at least until Sha, without turning around or even raising her voice said to him, "Glad you made it Chal. Get your horse settled and let me have a look at that arm."

  Echal was spooked, ok it was still Rea as she had always been but now she seemed to have eyes in the back of her head, and some of the things she pulled off in the raid... Well he was just glad she was on his side.

  After settling his horse and dumping off his armor and tunic he sat down by the tiny fire she had going in a shallow depression she had made in the ground. "No look outs?"

  She frowned as she started looking at the dirty arrow wound. "No need, I've got it handled. Still, I do owe you and apology for this," she winces as she wipes away the dried blood with some high proof brandy. "Tried an animal I had only seen the remains of instead of one I was familiar with the living form, so the first spell failed. It's why I had to cast a different one." Echal could hear the frustration in her voice. "Gave them the time they needed to get off this shot."

  Echal smiled inwardly; it was just like Rea to shoulder the blame. "Meh, no plan survives first contact with the enemy. Fix it up, and we'll call this one a big win." He grinned to show her he wasn't blaming her.

  "Oh, I will but you're not going to enjoy this. One of the chainmaille links was carried into the wound by the arrow. I either have to fish it out, which will not feel good. Or, I can slice it open. Pick the piece out with minimal fishing around, make sure it's clean and stitch it back up. It will leave you a pretty bad scar."

  Echal shrugged, wincing as he moved that shoulder. "Just get me back up and ready to fight if we need to. No real time to hold back until we've made good our escape."

  "Shh don't you worry about that. We'll be fine. I've had scouts out all morning and no one knows we're here. I'll brew you a tea for the pain and you can sleep through the worst of it." She rummaged in her pouch for the herbs.

  "No, nothing that forces me to sleep. Might need to be awake if a fight does show up." His look told her he was going to be stubborn on this one.

  Instead of arguing with him, she just decided on another option. In her years working with the village healer, they had taught her a trick that often worked if the patient actually trusted the healer. "Chal, you need something or you'll cry out as I cut and we risk being found." He started to argue, but she put her hand on his chest. "This won't make you sleepy after, but you need to relax and just trust me to fix it. Can you do that?"

  Echal chuckled. "Rea you're the best healer I know. Just do what you've got to do and I'll stay quiet."

  She ran her tiny hand through
his sweat matted hair, "Shh, shh, just listen to the sound of my voice..." She led him through a short relaxation meditation and then just that quick he was hypnotized. Working without him in pain and squirming made this so much quicker and safer for all of them. She brought Echal out of the doze. "Chal, wake up."

  He opened his eyes. "Sorry Sis, long night. You can go ahead and start." He steeled up his courage to go under the knife.

  "It's done. Look." she nodded toward the shoulder as she cleaned her instruments to be put away.

  To his amazement the scar was red and angry and obviously new, and the stitches were still in place, but the wound looked to be at least three weeks healed and he could use the shoulder without pain. "Tzadi, indeed."

  ***

  Deep In The Wilds

  Finally, two full days into the wilds beyond Novian borders, they finally stopped for a real camp. The forest provided for some decent temporary shelters, at least when a little sweat is applied to it, and having your very own Tzadi to assist makes it even more impressive. They were even able to divert a small portion of the little stream to run right through the middle of camp delivering fresh water to all and ending in a natural low spot to form a shallow pool.

  After the horses were fed and brushed down and staked out for the evening, everyone took turns getting a little bit of the road grime washed away and Jan could start a real dinner. Oh, simple fare for certain but after cold camps and travel rations for a week, even a few mushrooms in a broth made from dried soup sounded like a feast. Especially after Sha revealed she had a trick to let them have some fresh bread to go with it. No one was sure how it worked when she explained it but after she gave up the technical side and just said she could speed up time in an area, they shrugged and went along with it. Didn't make the bread taste any less heavenly. Pavel worried about how tired she became doing it, but a few bites of bread made it seem worth it to everyone, including the over protective Pavel.

  Echal was surprised when Catrin settled in next to him in the evening to eat. She hadn't said over two words to him all week. She had spent the whole trip riding in the wagon with Jan. It had seemed strange to him but he figured the few times he had seen them his mom had looked happy, so who was he to butt in. Catrin smiles as she settles in, leans over and dips her bread in his bowl, stealing a bit of the hot soup. "Hey! You've got a whole bowl in your hand, and there's more on the fire!"

  Catrin's eyes just glittered at him in the waning light, and she shrugs, "Yours tastes better."

  Echal snorted as everyone else seemed to find it hilarious. He looked around at his little family all whole once again. "You know that they probably won't just let us go?"

  Jayen stretched and pulled a crumb of bread from his beard and ate it. "Oh, he might. We hit him pretty hard but then we just left. He might hope we just stay gone."

  Pavel raised a dubious eyebrow. It was Sha who actually made it more plausible. "I don't know but he might. It was pretty obvious from what we did that a Tzadi was involved. I used fairly simple magics, but I put a lot more power into them than anyone of my level of training should have been able to do. The sisters will assume one of them is aiding us, and will therefore not be in a hurry to aid the king. We rarely take opposing sides if we can help it. One of the worst punishments I ever got in the Spire was because I had interfered in the affairs of a Tzadi." She grinned mischievously, "I sunk her feet in the mud and then turned it to stone so she was stuck there until someone who knew the spell could undo it. I couldn't sit down properly for a week after the head of novices got through with me, but seeing her standing there screeching but helpless was almost worth it. I say almost because I never did it again. Tzadi do not war with Tzadi." she sounded as if it was said by rote enough times to be a truism. "Not that it can't happen, but it never happens lightly."

  Pavel cleared his throat. "What about that time you lit the bully's shift on fire in the dining hall?"

  Sha grinned wickedly. "She was just another novice. I think they thought they had sufficiently civilized me after that one, but going after a full sister in such a public way, and using magic to do it... Well lets just say that was an offence of a different magnitude. It was the first time they referred to me as a Tzadi though."

  Jan smiled, she had no problem with discipline being meted out as the sisters saw fit, but she also could read the pride in her daughter's voice in her own accomplishments.

  Echal grunted, "So the plan is to build a home up here somewhere?"

  "Why not?" Catrin rested her head on his shoulder. "We can still make it in to the markets for the things we need, and besides this way we can at least catch our breath and decide what we should do long term."

  Echal shrugged. "It's as good as any idea I can come up with tonight. I'm going to turn in." He was surprised when without a word Catrin got up and followed him to the little shelter he had built earlier. Still fully dressed, she climbed in behind him laying her cloak over them both.

  Wild is Wild

  Echal was sleeping the first good sleep he had had in a week. Catrin was warm and soft and even just curled up against his back brought a comfort. So it was the third time that Sha hit his foot before he fully roused enough to be able to respond to her.

  "What?" he croaked his voice barely above a whisper. Catrin was already up and moving.

  "Something is spooking the horses. Pavel has already gone to check. He may need your help."

  Echal grunted and grabbed for his sword. Not stopping for boots he headed for the horses. Catrin too was making her way to the area with her bow, she just took a bit of a longer way around so she would have a clear shot at whatever it was without Pavel and Echal in the way. Sha was over to the wagon rousting her parents as well.

  Pavel was stumbling through the dark wishing, not for the first time, that he had grabbed boots. His long bearded axe felt cool and comfortable in his hands. It reassured him that boots or not, something was going to have a bad day if it was harassing the horses. He reached the area where the horses were staked out and began to calm them as he surveyed the small clearings edges. His eyes passed a deep shadow and then were drawn back as it moved. Out into the clearing came the lumbering figure of a great cave bear. This isn't your normal variety of grizzly bear; this is a two ton shaggy killing machine. Still Pavel knew that animals usually chose to flee from people, so he moved to where the bear could see him, and raised both of his arms making himself as large as possible, then yelled at the bear. The cave bear not to be deterred by the smaller man raised up on its hind legs and let out a roar that echoed off the surrounding mountains and reverberated through Pavel's soul.

  A lesser man may have run away, likely a fatal mistake. Pavel instead charged the great beast. Echal had just made the clearing as Pavel reached the midpoint in his charge. His heart sank; he couldn't reach his brother before the fateful clash. If the bear had two threats to consider, he might have retreated. Catrin too could see what was coming and loosed an arrow, but it was a hasty shot and in the dark missed the bear. From the low guard, Pavel swung upward with all of his might. He caught the big bear in the neck, cutting a deep gouge across the mountain of flesh. It wasn't enough. The bear swung a mighty paw the size of a sapling stump into the young man lifting him from his feet and throwing him to the ground several feet away. He landed with a dull thud. The bear tried to roar again but only managed a gurgle. Echal called a war cry and rushed in between the bear and his fallen brother, only to have the bear rear up to attack again, then lose its footing and collapse. It tried to rise again, but Echal was swifter, taking advantage of the bear's prone position to sink his sword deep into its heaving chest. He sprang back out of reach, leaving the blade in place. The great bear, slowed by blood loss, was unable to connect. It tried to rise again but couldn't, there was another gurgle and it didn't move again.

  Echal could hear Catrin calling for Sha and Jan as he sank to his brother's side. Pavel was still breathing. Echal felt the weight lift off his chest. Pavel wasn't moving. His
shoulder was visibly dislocated and two of the claws had gouged deep enough into the side of his bald head that bone was glistening in the moonlight. Echal felt completely helpless and useless as Catrin pulled him away to make room for the frantic Sha.

  The next few heart beats seemed an eternity. Finally, the silence was broken by a relieved sob from Sha. "He'll be ok Mamma. He'll be ok."

  Echal and Jayen fashioned a quick improvised stretcher and carried the large man back to camp where Sha and Jan could care for him more effectively. Catrin started to cry, as the adrenaline crashed from her system. Jayen was just doing his best to stay out of Jan's way as she fretted over her boy. Only Sha seemed to be confident she could fix this. Oh, she had tears a plenty but through those tears she kept busy cleaning and stitching wounds and as her energy reserves would allow healing the worst of his hurts.