“I don’t know,” Nathan answered blindly.
“You are a horrible liar and I don’t like being lied too,” said Elhan, taking a one-handed war axe from his side.
“It’s the truth, why would I lie?” Nathan defended.
“Elhan, there are tracks over here,” said Dodie examining some freshly torn soil near the forest floor.
The Warden bent down to bring the torch into better use, twisting his keen eyes on the trail of sign and walking quickly into the forest.
“Bring some light over here, this torch isn’t enough,” Elhan called.
Dodie ran to him, took a piece of paper from the bag at his side and abruptly it erupted into a dazzling white radiance that chased the shadows away for yards around. Nathan came behind him and saw Isha laying motionless face down in a pile of pine needles. A malignant darkness coursed over her like waves in an ocean. As the light touched it, the gloom immediately burst into smoke and retreated into the forest beyond.
“It almost had her. If her cloak hadn’t caught on that tree-root, it would be dining by now,” said Dodie with a nervous chuckle.
Slowly, Isha began to stir, putting her arms beneath her and pushing herself up. With sluggish eyes, she attempted to draw steel but quickly had her arms behind her back and bound. Nathan stepped forward in protest but was pushed backwards by the sharp point of Elhan’s axe leveled at his chest.
“What are you doing?” Nathan demanded.
“I ask the questions. Who are you and what is your business in my district?” said Elhan as he put a foot on her back.
“My name is Nathan and we were traveling to the nearest City of Refuge,” said Nathan.
“Why were the beasts chasing you? They rarely chase prey as complicated as you and your friend, especially since she’s a Venger,” questioned Elhan. “He’s the look of a tomewright, eh?”
“I guess, but like none I’ve ever seen,” Dodie argued.
“And this one,” Elhan leaned his heel into the small of Isha’s back releasing a curse from her lips. “She’s the bearing of a Venger and the skills to match judging by the dead jackals.”
“Get off of her,” Nathan insisted as he kicked Elhan’s foot away from her, “She saved my life.”
Dodie and Elhan recoiled for a moment as they took in what Nathan said.
“This demon-user ‘saved’ your life?” said Dodie in wonderment.
“You’re lying,” jeered Elhan as his face twisted with anger in the flickering light.
“I’m done being called a liar, so if you’re such an amazing warrior, why don’t you put me down, or at least shut your pig-licking mouth?” spat Nathan.
Dodie quickly backed away since he knew what came next. Elhan put his axe away and closed the distance with Nathan in a few quick steps. Gripping the youth’s shirt, he slapped the young candlemaker across the face, causing an immediate bruise near his eye.
“The brave Warden beats bound captives. Your parents must be proud of their mule-kissing son. Tell me, do you make the mule turn around before you kiss it?” mocked Nathan.
Elhan saw red rage as he drew back his fist for a blow that could crush the young man’s skull. Nathan didn’t move, but instead, stood with a defiant expression and locked eyes with the battle-scarred warrior.
“Warden!” shouted Dodie. “He’s young and stupid, or he’d have shut up by now.”
“You know nothing of me, boy. And if you ever open your mouth at me like that again, I’ll put my foot in it. I jest you not,” said Elhan in a tone that quivered with rage.
Suddenly, the torchlight gleamed across Nathan’s misshapen ear, drawing the Warden’s immediate attention.
“Dodie, have a look,” said the Warden. Elhan moved his grip to Nathan’s throat, forcefully moving the candlemaker's head from side-to-side, examining each ear and showing the results to a confused Dodie.
“Is he of Eldritch blood?” asked Dodie. “Might explain his foul temper.”
“Possible, but I’ve got a bad temper too and there’s not a speck of the Eldritch races in me,” answered Elhan. “Besides, no Eldritch would ever let me catch him alive.”
“That’s true enough. But look at his build, his eyes and the ear,” asked Dodie. “It’s unmistakable.”
“He must be by the descriptions I’ve read. But I must admit, I’ve never seen one in the flesh before,” said Elhan.
“I’d agree but I’m with you,” Dodie slowly replied. Then, he drew near to them and whispered with caution. “Never has there been an open sighting since I can remember. The ‘Fair Folk’ tend to keep to themselves.”
“Where do you come from boy?” demanded Elhan.
“Wales,” snapped Nathan, “On the western shore of Briton and why would you think I’m a ‘Fair Folk’? I’ve heard the stories since I was a boy.”
With a look of alarm, Dodie slapped a quick hand across Nathan’s mouth and whispered in his ear.
“Talk like that again and I’ll rap your skull with this mace to shut you up. Only an idiot openly speaks of the Eldritch by that name so close to the Avone Forest. They say the ‘King of the Crimson Crown’ has unseen spies everywhere and disrespect is something they repay with blood,” said Dodie with intensity.
Elhan rolled his eyes, shoved Nathan too the ground and turned his attention to Isha.
“Enough with your superstitions, the elder in Bero will have an answer,” ordered Elhan.
“What about this wildcat over there?” asked Dodie.
Elhan moved toward a still groggy Isha who had wrapped herself tightly in her cloak.
“Help me get this cloak loose so we can check for weapons,” said Elhan, but as he approached, Isha gave him a murderous look and made hissing noises that deserved caution. “On second thought, get the net.”
“The fact that she’s a Venger is plain, but it doesn’t explain her appearance or why she would want to keep anyone alive,” said Dodie.
“Don’t you have any magic that can tell us something?” Elhan said sarcastically.
“I’ve told you this isn’t magic, but yes, a claris-tract should tell us the truth,” said Dodie as he takes out a small, flimsy booklet from the satchel at his waist.
Holding it carefully in his hands, he whispers a prayer and the paper begins to glow with a white-hot pulsing light. The area grew so brilliant that only Dodie appeared able to see at all and as quickly as it started, the light faded.
“Well,” said Elhan.
“I don’t understand,” Dodie said in disbelief, “nothing, it showed nothing at all.”
“I don’t like the look of this,” said Elhan, and turning his attention to Nathan and Isha. “You and your companion are coming with me. You can ride in the saddle, or across it, makes no difference to me. She, on the other hand, is riding across it for everyone’s safety and just so she knows, the ropes I’ve used are worthy of a giant. Test them if you like.”
Isha found quickly that he spoke the truth, struggle as she might, the ropes wouldn’t budge. Elhan called his horse, untied Nathan’s and set him in the saddle.
“Run if you feel like it, but know this. There are many things worse than me in this territory, and my horse will return to me the first chance he gets,” said Elhan.
Nathan bit his lip to keep his tongue in check and nodded a brief agreement.
Putting a furious Isha behind the saddle, Elhan and Dodie led them out into the growing morning light.
Seven
“The Press…”
The amber beams of dawn caressed the treetops when they arrived at Elhan’s camp on the Northwest side of the Avone. A white-cloaked figure was sitting next to the fire, poking the burning embers with a stick and throwing kindling into the fire. Elhan’s flat expression took an air of annoyance as they approached the fire, eyeing the visitor with distrust. Isha hurled curses as he took her kicking and spitting from the back of the horse, unceremoniously dumped on the ground. Nathan dropped from his horse and sat on the ground next to the cursing girl.
“What do the Malakim want now, Rashiel?” asked Elhan with irritation.
“You know better than to use my name openly, especially in front of strangers,” said Rashiel. “I have a message for you.”
“Take your message back to hell,” Elhan spat.
“I will forgo your petty insults because there is more at stake than your pitiful ego. Before I deliver my message, I have a task to perform,” Rashiel stated.
Without warning, the angel jumped to his feet, drew a glimmering sword from under his cloak and whirls the blade in a downward arch toward Isha’s neck. At the same moment, Elhan’s axe blocked the fatal stroke within a hair’s distance, sending gleaming sparks through the air and leaving them both at a standoff. Nathan jumped to his feet and threw himself between Isha and the angel, pushing the Malakim’s sword out of the way.
“What’s the matter with you? No one attacks a prisoner in my care, not even you,” Elhan shouted as he pushed the angel back.
“You have no idea what you’re doing,” Rashiel roared with a shocked expression. During his incalculable past, no human ever physically moved him, if he did not want to be moved – ever. He quickly advanced his ground, swatted Nathan aside like an irritating bug, but was intercepted by Elhan. “I will not allow this Formorian demon-user to take another breath.”
“Formorian? What gibberish is this?” laughed Elhan. “These two are in my custody and under my protection. They go to Bero to see Eldar Agabus.”
Elhan gripped his axe with both hands but it took all his strength to repel the angel’s blade even though the heavenly messenger used one arm.
“After that, what you arrange with eldar is your own business,” said Elhan, every vein in his face pounded with the strained of keeping the angel at bay as beads of sweat trickled down his forehead.
“I could easily kill you where you stand,” Rashiel said, as his expressions grew cold as death.
“You don’t have permission to, or I would have never been able to stay your stroke. I know Malakim are immortal, but I also know you have limits. Or, do I need to test that theory?” threatened Elhan.
A flash, and then a thunderous explosion erupted, as Dodie came between the combatants holding a flash-tract in each hand. The blast stunned Elhan for a moment giving time for reason to seep in.
“Perhaps, I should talk with Rashiel, alone,” Dodie suggested.
“So be it,” Elhan snapped, putting his axe away. “I have horses to attend to.”
Dodie pulled the disgruntled angel to one-side and explained, “We came upon these two last night being attacked by jackals at the edge the Avone. The girl is obviously a Venger, but I’ve never seen one this young, or marked like she is.”
“That is a grave mistake,” insisted the angel.
Dodie pulled Rashiel aside and spoke with him heatedly for several minutes before returning to the group.
“You should have let me handle this,” said Rashiel calmly.
“Time for you to leave,” Elhan demanded.
“Very well,” said the angel. “But hear this, a stability of the province is undone. Change is coming for better or worse and nothing can stop it.”
“So what is that to me?” said Elhan.
“Nothing, or maybe everything. That’s all I can say,” said Rashiel pointing. “A storm approaches.”
Gloomy clouds advanced from the distance, blowing humid winds before them as they came, frothing and churning like twisting harbingers of punishment that hammered rain in the path. Cords of radiance flashed across the sky pouring streams of light over the area triggering thunderclaps that made the air shiver around them. Elhan turned to address the angel again, but Rashiel had gone.
“You shouldn’t mock the Malakim. You know how powerful they are and you still provoke them. Rashiel was only trying to protect us,” said Dodie.
“Malakim are unpredictable at worse, and mysterious at best, so I don’t pretend to rely on them. Where were they when Mano deceived the people into making him Regent of Pelan and allowing him to murder my fellow guardsmen? When I look at Malakim, whether angel or demon, I see the faces of dead companions that would still be alive if heaven had intervened,” said Elhan.
The wind began to blow torrents of water across the plain, breaking weakened branches from the trees, whipping grass in all directions and causing the horses to pound their restless hooves.
“She can’t,” Nathan yelled over the wind.
“Get her on her feet or she’ll be dead, along with us,” Elhan retorted.
“I can make it,” said Isha as she sat on the ground holding her side. Tearing several strips from her cloak, she wrapped them around her torso and pulling them tight. Grimacing, she stifled a cry by biting into her lip. “Let’s go.”
“Quickly, follow me,” Elhan shouted over the raging storm. Taking his nervous horse by the reins and putting Isha behind him, he made for Avone Forest. Dodie mounted his steed and pulled Nathan up behind him.
“Is he crazy?” Nathan called to Dodie.
“Crazy or not, you had better follow him my boy,” Dodie called as he followed Elhan into the forest depths. Suddenly, lightening shatters a tree nearby sending smoke, steam and large splinters flying through the air in all directions, putting the already anxious horses into a running panic. Elhan yelled assurances to the frightened steed as it reared back almost sending the riders to the ground. In spite of his attempts at calming the creature, the combination of events sent the horse fleeing into the storm with Elhan and Isha desperately trying to stay in the saddle.
With little success, Nathan attempted to restrain his horse from the ground, pulling on the reins while Dodie attempted to soothe the animal’s frayed nerves. Then without warning, the steed bolted, tangling Nathan’s hands in the reins and dragging him along. Dodie grasped at the saddle but was spun to the ground by the force of the horse’s lunge. As the mount entered a tall stand of wild grass, it pulled Nathan at its side with Dodie barely keeping pace.
By this time, Elhan’s horse stopped running and they were hopelessly separated from Dodie and Nathan. The wild-eyed look in his horse’s eyes and the thick darkness of the pine canopy overhead told him the trouble had arrived. In the distance, he could hear the furious sounds of the storm. But within the forest another menace penetrated every tree, root and rock. Rain fell from the limbs overhead, dripping in a symphony of patters onto the needled covered ground. The forest air felt humid, pressing and almost stifling, as Elhan drew bearings on where they were. The horse ceased to rock and jump but the terror still burned bright.
“Take a stand here, I want to die fighting,” Isha insisted.
“Hopefully, that won’t be necessary,” Elhan shrugged. She pulled her cloak about her and glared at him. Their mount began rearing, trying to throw them free of its saddle, forcing them to dismount for a moment.
“You probably have only one backup knife left. You can kill me with it and escape, but without me, you won’t get you out of this forest alive,” Elhan said. Isha snatched the blade from its hiding place and held it tight in her fist.
“What next?” she asked.
“There is fortune and fate. It is fortunate that The Avone is a small forest, so the way out is not far away, but fate will tell us if we make it there in one piece,” said Elhan. Directly, the forest all around them began to move with a faint yet familiar sound growing with intensity with each passing moment. The horse’s eyes rolled from side-to-side in abject terror. And with a jerk of its head, it pulled the reins from Elhan’s fingers and bolted into the forest in a crazed fury. It didn’t go far when the sound of its desperate neighing echoed followed by thrashing and a horrible crunching sound then silence.
Elhan didn’t need an explanation as he pulled his axes and ran full speed through the underbrush. Isha kept hot on his heels, dipping and dodging the undergrowth, pressing herself to keep up with the Warden. A small shaft of light pushed through the thick pine canopy overhead leaving the forest floor only a d
im surreal illumination of their travel, and yet Elhan gained speed as he ran. She fought the temptation to glance behind them even though her keen hearing told her that something closely followed. At brief moments, vague outlines revealed themselves from the left and right like glimpses of the phantoms that lived in the Avone. Shortly, trickling cascades of running water came from up ahead and the trees began to thin as they emerged onto the bank of a large stream. The water was pure, crystalline and shimmered with blue clearness that made Isha longed for a cool drink.
Elhan ran to the middle of the steam taking a defensive stance in the midst of the surging water. Isha met him back-to-back pulling her knife as they stood to face what may come. Quickly, the pursuing sounds enclosed as creatures lined the banks and trees of the stream on either side. Dripping and drooling with gleaming teeth and snapping jaws, the creatures stood with eyes fixed on the two. The creatures were somewhat familiar but horribly misshapen in their appearance with misplaced eyes, missing ears and limps that were either too numerous, or too few.
“Why don’t they attack?” said Isha, shaking from the pain of her wounds.
“They fear the water of Crossing Stream, but nothing else,” said Elhan. “All the animals in Akeldema born deformed or distorted, whether great or small, are drawn to the Avone Forest. They come and live whatever life they have left in the security of its darkness. In time, the forest warps their hearts and minds to match their bodies, and then, these creatures will eat anything, even each other if need be. If we had not come upon this stream, they’d be gnawing on us already. Follow me and do exactly as I do. Whatever happens, stay in the middle of the water.”
They bounded quickly up-steam picking each footstep carefully while the horde followed, their greedy eyes fixed on his every move and waiting for any opportunity of weakness to present itself. Moving for what seemed like hours, the two finally reached the egress of the forest. As they exited, the escort of creatures melted into the forest and disappeared. Isha looked at the open twilight sky and took a deep breath while she surveyed the area. Thinking to herself, she knew she could make a dash for freedom, but after observing Elhan’s speed in the forest, knew she would be hard pressed to outrun him for very long. The thought of fighting someone who held an angel at bay didn’t appeal to her with only a small knife against his axes. She was skilled, fierce, dangerous - but not stupid. Elhan seem to notice what she was thinking and began to smile.
The Last Refuge Page 7