Legends of the Lurker Box Set

by Richard H. Stephens

  Flavian must’ve noticed the look on her face. “Yes, I know,” he said, not realizing the seriousness of the situation. He stood up and grabbed her hand. “Come on. Let’s get you out of here.”

  Stoneheart

  Anvil worked them hard throughout the morning, battling with swords and staves. He gave them a brief respite at high sun, before engaging them in hand-to-hand combat in the early part of the afternoon.

  Reecah dreaded being matched with any of Catenya’s group, but miraculously, Anvil never paired them off. It was like he knew what had occurred last night. She didn’t doubt he did.

  Flavian, however, got paired up several times throughout the day with Catenya’s crew. Eating breakfast with Reecah hadn’t done him any favours. Contrary to previous days in which Catenya had appeared to have taken a shine to the handsome, young man—he was noticeably shunned today.

  Edo, the strongest of the trainees, took great joy in pummeling Flavian with his fists during one of the sessions. If not for Anvil hauling the overzealous youth away from Flavian, Edo might have inflicted lasting damage.

  “Alright, that’s enough for today,” Anvil announced as the sun dropped behind the keep. “Afore ye lick yer wounds, know this. I’ll not be toleratin’ further occurrences like what happened last night, ya hear me? We’re to be trainin’ as a unit to fight the enemy, not one another.”

  Everyone except Catenya answered right away, “Yes, Anvil.”

  Reecah wasn’t surprised the weapon master had gotten wind of yesterday’s shenanigans, but the way he stormed over to Catenya and drove a thick finger into the middle of her chest, did.

  “I didn’t hear ye, Miss Opsigter! Don’t ye be thinkin’ yer too high and mighty fer me class. I couldn’t care less who’s yer sire. He entrusted me to whip yer highbrow arse into shape. I’ll be damned if I ain’t doin’ it me own way, ya get me?”

  Catenya scowled and mumbled something incoherent.

  Anvil lowered his face to hers. “I didn’t hear ye!”

  Obviously irate at being centred out, Catenya said with venom, “Yes, Anvil! I heard ye!”

  The way Catenya mocked Anvil’s way of speaking drew gasps from several of the trainees but Anvil didn’t react.

  “Anyone late to the pitch come morning shall be dredgin’ the moat. Be on with ya.”

  Everyone scampered away, glad to be out from underneath Anvil’s scrutiny. Everyone except Reecah.

  Anvil glared at her. “What do ye want, bilge rat? I thought I told ya to git? Yer nothing but a festering nettle in me britches.”

  “Yes, Anvil. Just one question.”

  “Ya hear me? More trouble than a tick in the straw, ye are. Off with ye.”

  Reecah stood her ground. “As you probably know, I no longer have a place to sleep. I was wondering if I could, um, stay here?” Her gaze fell on the stump and his rusty bucket.

  “I ain’t runnin’ no orphanage. Ye got yerself in a tight spot, ye can damned well get yerself out.” He nodded toward the outer stables and raised his eyebrows. “Now be gone. I shan’t warn ya again.”

  Reecah tried to hold his menacing stare but backed down. Bowing her head, she made her way to the gatehouse.

  Flavian startled her, stepping out from behind the far end of the stable.

  Her hand went to her dagger, momentarily thinking Flavian was one of Cat’s clique. “You scared me.”

  “Scared you? You’ve a lot of gumption standing up to Anvil the way you do. I cringe every time I see that look cross your face.”

  “What look?” Reecah raised her eyebrows.

  “Aye, you know what I’m talking about.”

  “Why should you care what happens to me?”

  Flavian shrugged. “I don’t know. Guess I’m growing fond of you.”

  Reecah’s bravado fell away at the sincerity of Flavian’s admission. She stared into his green eyes. There didn’t appear to be anything but concern written there. Her heart swelled.

  “That’s very sweet of you, but I can take care of myself.”

  Flavian nodded. “So I’ve noticed. But you’re making dangerous enemies. Cat isn’t one to be trifled with. And Anvil…” Flavian shuddered. “I pity anyone who gets on his wrong side. I’d rather upset the dark heir.”

  Reecah almost choked. She had put Prince J’kwaad out of her mind over the last few days. Being reminded of the wizard prince unsettled her more than anything happening in South Fort. She could handle people like Catenya and Anvil, but the prince was a different story.

  “Don’t worry. He’s preparing for another dragon assault,” Flavian said, misinterpreting the fear on her face. “If the rumours are true, he’ll be on the road before the week is out.”

  Bile formed in the back of her throat. A renewed sense of urgency to speak with the king gripped her. She grabbed Flavian’s wrists. “You need to help me.”

  “Sure, GG. Whatever you need.”

  “I have to find a way to speak with the king.”

  Flavian frowned. “High King J’kaar? Why would you want to do that? Have you ever met him before?”

  Reecah shook her head.

  “Me neither. But I know of some who have. People who haven’t been seen again.”

  “It’s important.”

  “Hah! I’m sure it was to those that went missing. What’s so important that it’s worth your life?”

  Reecah let his wrists go. How could she tell him about her dragon friends? Flavian was the closest thing she had to a human friend, but if she told him about her role at the Dragon Temple and everything that had happened since, he would think she was crazy. Nor could she take the chance that he wouldn’t turn her in to the authorities. She didn’t know him that well.

  “Come on. I need to get to the mess hall before they close the gates.” She strolled with purpose over the inner moat bridge and beneath the raised portcullis.

  Flavian had to jog to keep up. “Wait. You don’t mean to spend another night in the woods, do you?”

  Smoke billowed from a hole in the roof of the mess hall in the distance. Already, a crowd filtered through the building’s solitary door.

  Reecah scanned the throng for Catenya but saw no sign of her. “What choice do I have?”

  Flavian grabbed her arm to stop her. “Wait here. I want to give you something.”

  He started away, but Reecah knew the gates wouldn’t remain open much longer. “I’ll meet you inside.”

  Reecah had already wolfed down her portion of stew and stale bread and was scurrying back up the roadway when Flavian found her.

  He directed her between two barracks and pushed a bundle into her arms. “Here. I wish I could do more.”

  “What’s this?”

  “A blanket and a flintstone.”

  “Where’d you get them.”

  “They’re mine.”

  “Aw, that’s sweet, but I can’t take them from you, silly. You’ll need them. Especially the blanket.”

  He shook his head. “It’s warm enough inside the bunkhouse and I can’t recall the last time I ever used a flint.”

  She didn’t want to accept his charity, but already the cold night air had slipped over the stone walls and gripped the street. “Thank you, Flavian. You’re a real friend.”

  “Ya, well see to it that you heed Anvil’s words and watch your back. On my way to the bunkhouse, I passed Catenya and her gang. They looked like they were up to no good.”

  Reecah searched the thin crowd coming and going from the mess hall. “That’s odd. They haven’t been this way yet.”

  “I should come with you.”

  “To the King’s Wood. Are you mad? You don’t owe me anything. We barely know each other.”

  “Still. I don’t like it. They’re up to something.”

  “Don’t worry. I can look after myself.”

  “Not against all of them at once.”

  Reecah winked. “I have friends in high places.”

  Flavian frowned.

  She po
inted with her eyes at Raver sitting atop a battlement near the inner barbican.

  “Fat lot of good a bird’s going to be against Catenya’s crew.”

  “You’d be surprised.” She placed a finger over his protesting lips. “Shh. I gotta go before they lower the gates.” Before she considered what she was doing, she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.

  Flavian stared at her, dumbstruck.

  Jogging away, she said over her shoulder, “See you at breakfast.”

  Stopping at the outer gates, she asked one of the friendlier guards preparing to lower the main gate, “Have you seen my friends? The viscount’s daughter, and a few others?”

  “Aye. As a matter of fact, we were just discussing them. Seems a strange night to be camping in the King’s Wood.”

  Reecah gave him an innocent smile. “I know. That Cat. She’s full of surprises.”

  The guard frowned.

  “Cat. The viscount’s daughter, Catenya.”

  “Ah, yes. Lady Catenya. I’m thinking I should send word to Draakhall to inform her father.”

  “No!” Reecah blurted out much louder than she wished to. “Please. Lady Catenya wants to prove herself worthy of the viscount. She would be most upset if he happened upon her unaware.”

  The guard mulled it over, looking to another guard standing close by. The second man shrugged.

  The friendly guard said slowly, “Well, I don’t know…If something were to happen to her and the viscount found out who was manning the gate, it wouldn’t go well for us.”

  “Don’t worry.” Reecah thumped the end of her quarterstaff on the ground and patted her sword hilt. “I’ll look after her.”

  Not waiting for a response, Reecah’s boots clomped across the drawbridge and turned right, toward the King’s Wood—her eyes continually scanning the ground for signs of Catenya’s group.

  Raver squawked once, high overhead. He would see them long before she did.

  Reecah left the roadway and skirted the edge of the woods toward King’s Bay with her bow in hand. If anyone had been watching for her, they would have seen her jogging across the open field. She thought about travelling toward Sea Keep and camping somewhere along the northern road, but decided that taking herself closer to the dark heir wasn’t a great idea either.

  Reaching the edge of the grassy field separating the woods from the bay shore, she dropped to her hands and knees as Raver squawked twice in the distance. Someone was coming.

  It took her a moment to find him, circling above the treetops where the roadway entered the forest. Had she taken her regular route to her campsite, she would have run into whoever Raver had spotted.

  Not sure whether to enter the woods or find a different place to set up for the night, she was surprised when several people darted out from the edge of the King’s Wood, running hard up the roadway toward South Fort.

  It was tough to tell in the twilight, but judging by the flowing blonde hair of the stocky lead runner, she was certain Catenya led the group. Edo brought up the rear, sword drawn—occasionally looking over his shoulder as if someone was chasing them.

  Reecah had half a mind to sprint after them, wanting nothing to do with whatever had spooked the group. She waited until Catenya and her followers disappeared around the corner of the outer wall before she stood up to take a better look at the forest entrance.

  A muffled roar came from the woods, followed by a high-pitched scream. From where she stood, she couldn’t tell if they were made by people or not. The scream sounded like it had come from an enraged female.

  A second roar, different from the first, disturbed the wind-blown field abutting the woods.

  Raver flew along the treeline, coming her way—squawking twice.

  Holding up a forearm, she caught him; Raver’s plummeting weight took her to her knees as she fought to keep him from crashing into the ground “What is it? Who’s coming?”

  “Lurker! Lurker!”

  “Lurker? He’s here?”

  Raver bobbed his head.

  “Take me to him!” She launched Raver into the air and chased after him, unable to match his speed.

  Raver circled over the spot where the road disappeared into the tunnel of thick trees. The closer she got, the louder the commotion became.

  The high-pitched scream responded to three distinctly different shrieks—the sound dragons made.

  Raver settled on a branch at the forest entrance. “Danger! Danger!”

  Stepping onto the roadway, Reecah threw her staff to the ground and pulled an arrow from her quiver.

  In the last rays of sunshine, three dragons surrounded the fiercest looking female Reecah had ever seen. Holding two, single-edged axes with spiked points, a rough-faced, dirty-blonde haired woman draped in ragged leather and furs, stepped sideways, turning first one way and then another, feigning to attack Lurker, Swoop and Silence.

  Between them lay the bleeding body of one of Catenya’s clique. Given the evident loss of blood, Reecah guessed the man was dead.

  If not for where the woman’s leather vest swelled over her breasts, Reecah would have sworn the bulging, muscular arms belonged to a male warrior, but the woman’s long, wavy hair, shaved on the left side of her head, from her temple to behind her pointed, left ear, attested she was anything but.

  The woman’s light, blue eyes met Reecah’s, giving her the impression of a sleek feline hunter. A long scar marred her left cheek from the corner of her plush lips to just before her left earlobe; the ear adorned with a golden loop earring.

  On closer inspection, the woman’s left arm, bare from the shoulder down to a crude, fingerless glove, bore dark lines drawn onto her well-defined shoulder muscle—her bicep wrapped with a thin leather thong.

  Her right arm was curiously clothed. Looking at the calm expression on her unamused face, one would never know she faced-off with three dragons that towered over her. The dragons had grown considerably since Reecah had parted with them.

  Reecah nocked her arrow and approached the sputtering flames of a campfire. “What’s going on?”

  Lurker’s voice sounded in her head, but he never took his eyes off of the axe-wielding woman. If he was surprised by Reecah’s arrival, his voice bore no evidence. “I’m glad to see you’re still alive. We came across your campsite and discovered this woman surrounded by a group of people.”

  Movement from behind a thick tree drew Reecah’s gaze. Her mouth dropping open, she trained her arrow on Junior who looked every bit the noble in his gleaming chainmail. Reecah knew better. “What’s that scum doing here?”

  Junior lowered his sword—his vibrant green eyes beseeching Reecah not to shoot.

  “He’s here to help you.”

  “Help me? He helped them slay Grimclaw.” Reecah’s vision blurred as tears threatened to fall—her draw arm shook with the strain of not releasing the arrow.

  “No Reecah, you must listen. Let us deal with this intruder, and then we’ll explain it to you.”

  The woman’s intense stare drew Reecah’s gaze from Junior, but she insisted. “Whatever he told you, he’s lying! He led the prince to the Dragon Temple. He…he came at me after Grimclaw’s death.” Her voice trembled. “Don’t listen to him!”

  Silence stepped between Junior and Reecah, but it was Lurker’s voice that responded, “Not everything is as it seems.”

  Reecah lowered her bow. Blinking away tears, she stepped closer. “Then who’s this?”

  “We know not. We have searched the bay area for several days now, looking for you. We thought you were going to Draakhall, but we couldn’t find you. Junior located the Serpent’s Slip at Sea Hold. Other than confirming you had made it that far, no one in the city has seen you. Swoop discovered your campsite today, quite by accident, and brought us here to find this woman attacking a group of fighters. We feared you were amongst them. When we landed, the others ran off, but this one is determined to continue the fight with us.”

  “I say we kill her,” Junior piped in,
drawing the woman’s attention. “But Lurker doesn’t think it’s a good idea. He thought she had information pertaining to you. But, since you’re here.” He raised his sword.

  Reecah considered the woman. Her exotic facial features were striking. She glanced at the dead man—a glaring axe wound visible where his neck met his shoulders. “I don’t know who she is, but I say we let her go. She hasn’t done you harm has she?”

  Junior raised his eyebrows. “Other than try to kill us?”

  “Three dragons and a swordsman? Sounds like a tall order.”

  “Nevertheless. She won’t back down.”

  “Does she understand us?”

  Junior shrugged.

  Reecah ensured she remained out of axe swinging distance—something Anvil had taught her the other day—though she was certain the woman would have no trouble throwing her heavy weapons. “What’s your name, ma’am? Do you understand me?”

  The woman’s gaze flicked between Junior’s sword and Reecah—stepping back and forth on worn, mid-calf length, black leather boots.

  Just when Reecah thought the woman wasn’t going to answer, she licked her lips and said in a calm, angelic voice belying her deadly appearance, “My people call me Tamra Stoneheart. Those around here know me as the Maiden of the Wood.”

  Maiden of the Wood? Reecah had heard that name recently. “Why do you want to hurt my friends?”

  “They interrupted my business.”

  “What business is that?”

  Tamra spat on the dead man. “I was set on by this man and his friends as I prepared my evening meal.”

  Two skinned rabbit carcasses lay charred in the flames, the crudely fashioned wooden spit they had hung upon smashed and scattered on the ground.

  “They were looking for someone named GG. When I said I’d never heard of her, they ordered me to move on, saying they wanted my firepit. I killed this one when he came at me. I was about to slay the lot of them when the dragons flew in with him.” She pointed an axe at Junior—the sudden movement making everyone tense.

  “They ran off, screaming. The dragons have denied me my rightful due.”