Trying to push such thoughts to the far recesses of his mind, Daryus shifted his attention to the other bodyguards. It was clear that the only one who would receive their protection was Raffan, but Daryus wasn’t concerned about that. He had seen the likes of Captain Galifar and his followers. They might be skilled, but they were the type willing to change allegiances immediately if the money was worth it.
The sky was mercifully clear, the weather cool but quiet. The party made good headway as it headed to the river crossing to the north, moving well ahead of the pace Daryus had expected. If the weather remained on their side over the next few days, he estimated it would not take long to reach the point where they’d enter the Worldwound.
The Worldwound. Daryus had tried not to think much about the demon-blighted land, but now, without warning, memories suddenly stirred. A terrified family. Several dour crusaders. Swords coming down. Daryus’s sword coming down.
He shook his head to clear it. At the same time, Toy sat up as if sensing something.
Peering around, Daryus saw nothing out of the ordinary. Once more, his thoughts returned to Toy and Grigor Dolch. Exactly how he might deal with the witch, he still could not say. He wasn’t even sure that—
The wind shifted. The change was so abrupt—at least to Daryus—that he immediately turned to see to protecting Shiera. As he did, he also noticed something amiss.
The weasel had vanished from his perch on the saddle.
Certain that Toy’s vanishing could not be taken as a good sign, Daryus put one hand on the hilt of his sword. What he could do with it against the wind, he did not know. Still, doing so made him feel a little more secure … at least until the wind more than doubled.
Now everyone noticed it. Raffan struggled with his suddenly wary mount. Captain Galifar grunted something to his men, but it was lost in the abrupt howling of the violent gale. Shiera did the wise thing and planted herself against the back of her horse’s neck.
A burst of wind caught Raffan’s long cloak, winding it around him as if it were a constrictor. The young man gasped, then fell from his horse.
Dust erupted from the party’s left. It spilled into the eyes of Galifar’s men, blinding them.
Keeping his head low and his eyes slits, Daryus covered the rest of his face as he urged his hesitant mount toward the Pathfinder. Cutting the gap proved troublesome; his horse did not want to move about in the hellish wind that Daryus felt certain was an effect of the nearby Worldwound. Still, with much coaxing to his mount, he slowly fought his way to Shiera.
She, meanwhile, had not remained idle. Shiera had wrapped her own travel cloak around her as best she could, like Daryus, avoiding being blinded in the process. As Daryus came up behind her, she started to slide off her animal.
“Stay on!” Daryus ordered. He understood that she had planned to walk her horse to somewhere both could hunker down, but Daryus expected he could guide the animals better. Already under his steady control, the mules and extra mount followed obediently.
Shiera’s horse calmed as Daryus reached the Pathfinder. Dismounting, Daryus reached to Shiera. “Hand me the reins! I know the best place—
A gust at least three times stronger than any previous buffeted both of them. Instead of handing over the reins as both intended, Shiera fell from her horse.
Daryus barely caught her, now half-blind from dust despite his best attempts. He quickly set her on her feet.
“Where did this wind come from?” she shouted.
“We’re near the Worldwound! The land itself is drenched in demonic magic, and sometimes it spills over!” Still, despite that obvious explanation, a part of Daryus could not help briefly wondering if the witch were responsible, if only due to Toy’s seeming prescience. Of course, the Worldwound was dangerous enough—it needed no help from any spellcaster.
Shiera nodded agreement. “Where do we go?”
“There’s a rise just ahead! We’ll guide the animals over there!”
“What about Raffan and the others?”
Daryus wanted to say that they could fend for themselves, but, in truth, he could no more leave them than he could her. “We’ll move past Raffan and help him follow! Galifar should be able to handle his men!”
Yet no sooner had he said that than the wind increased again. The abruptness of it nearly threw him off his feet. Shiera just managed to grab her horse’s bit. Even then, her feet briefly left the ground.
Struggling back to his own mount, Daryus regained control of the anxious animal, then started to lead it and the other animals alongside Shiera and her horse. Shiera positioned herself to make the best of the protection of both her steed and Daryus.
Shielding his gaze, Daryus searched the path ahead for the best route to the rise. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he could make out movement that might have been Toy. Daring to glance that way, the former crusader saw nothing but vague hints of the wind-wracked terrain.
“It’s gotten worse! I can’t see more than a couple of yards!” Shiera shouted.
“We need to get to the rise quickly!” Daryus roared back. “Do you see your friend anywhere?”
She pointed to their left. “I think—yes! There’s Raffan!”
So much dust and refuse now flew about that Daryus himself could only see the other man’s general shape. However, after a few more steps, he made out Raffan, his cloak still wrapped around him, now clinging to the side of his horse.
Daryus spat out dirt. “Can you take the reins of my horse?”
She did not hesitate. “Yes!”
Handing them to her, Daryus pushed toward Raffan. The other man remained still, enabling Daryus to reach him faster.
Raffan tried to speak, but could only cough. Indeed, all he seemed to do was cough, over and over. Daryus pointed at the rise, then took the reins of the man’s steed. Keeping Raffan close to him, Daryus headed on a path that would lead them to both the rise and Shiera.
Shiera nodded as they joined her. Daryus left Raffan in her hands, then reluctantly paused to look for Captain Galifar and the others.
Instead, a pair of dark eyes stared back at him from the storm—a pair of dark eyes with nothing else around them.
He stiffened as the eyes snared him. A voice cultured but cold, muttered one word.
Toy …
Immediately, every memory that Daryus had of the familiar coursed through his mind, even up to the last time he had seen the weasel in the storm. Try as he might, Daryus could not keep the images from repeating over and over.
There was no doubt at all in him that these were the eyes of the witch, Grigor Dolch.
“Daryus!” Shiera shook him violently. The eyes in the storm vanished. The memories sank back into the recesses of his mind.
As he recovered, Daryus focused on the fact that the Pathfinder was with him. “What’re you doing here? You should be with Raffan and the animals!”
“Captain Galifar joined us! I let him lead Raffan and the beasts to safety! I saw you standing in the windstorm, staring at nothing!”
Nothing? Daryus took one last glance at the spot where the eyes had been. He could see no trace, but clearly the storm indicated that Dolch remained a presence in the area.
Shiera slipped her arm around his waist and pulled him toward the rise. Daryus embraced her as well, pressing tight together to cut resistance to the storm. The faint shape of the rise beckoned. Ahead of them, the silhouettes of horses, mules, and men revealed that Captain Galifar and Raffan had nearly reached their destination.
“This storm is not natural!” Shiera managed. “I saw no wind in the distance!”
Daryus only grunted. He wasn’t certain just how much he should tell her.
With effort, they finally managed to reach the others. To Daryus’s surprise, it was Captain Galifar who came to help them the last few feet.
“Get behind the middle of the rise!” the mercenary growled. “Safest spot!”
They joined the others where Galifar suggested. The w
ind continued to race. It strength was such that branches and other large bits of debris went flying by with deadly potential. Daryus had every suspicion that if Toy had been anywhere visible, one or more of those larger pieces would have struck the familiar hard enough to kill.
Something tangled Daryus’s legs. Only Shiera kept him from falling. As he looked down, Toy innocently met his gaze.
Daryus had some choice words for the weasel, but kept them buried inside. The one-eyed creature scrambled up the back of Shiera’s horse, once more settling down on the rear of the saddle.
Galifar returned to his men and Raffan. Daryus and Shiera planted themselves close to the horses and waited.
The wind died. It simply ceased to exist. Debris already in the air spilled over the hapless party.
The sky cleared. For a moment, the group stood frozen, the former crusader especially wary about the wind’s possible return. However, after a long hesitation, Daryus and the rest finally began moving about.
“What was that?” Raffan muttered. “Where did that come from?”
“Just a bit of freak weather,” Galifar offered as he joined them. “Seen it before.” He chuckled. “A touch of the Worldwound, that’s all.”
“‘Freak weather.’” Raffan hmmphed. “‘Freak weather,’ he says.”
Daryus eyed Toy, who rested on the saddle as if nothing had happened. To the others, Daryus suggested, “There’s not much light left. We should set up camp here.”
“Ridiculous!” Raffan blurted. “Anything that gets us closer to our goal in the least time possible is welcome! We can’t afford to lose time due to this.”
“With all due respect, Master Raffan,” Galifar interrupted. “We should stay here. Safer ground than what we’ll have anywhere we can reach by nightfall.”
The well-dressed young man looked peeved, but finally nodded. Galifar’s men immediately went to work setting things up. Daryus did the same. Raffan seemed inclined to let others do the tasks, but to Daryus’s surprise, Shiera joined in with the efforts.
“This isn’t your work,” he commented.
“I always set up my own site.”
“The last Pathfinder I worked for had a different manner. Very different.”
Shiera chuckled. “I’d probably know the name if I heard it.”
Daryus shook his head. “He paid me. I owe him that much loyalty.”
“You have a really strong sense of loyalty, then. That’s not that common, even among the crusaders, I’d say.”
Without thinking, Daryus brought a finger to one of the scars on his face. A particular scar. He pulled the finger away almost as soon as he touched the ruined skin.
Shiera’s good humor faded. Daryus knew she had seen his reaction, but had chosen not to comment on it. Instead, she concentrated harder on her own work.
Daryus bit back a curse. In the city, he had been able to drink just that right amount to keep the memories at bay. When hired, he was usually too busy staying alert to think of them, either. Now, though, despite the threat of Toy’s former master, the memories had returned for a second time. Daryus had hoped that the brief surge he had experienced just prior to the windstorm had been a one-time event. Now, he worried they might keep coming back.
At that moment, Toy inserted himself into their work. The weasel did not go to Daryus, but rather Shiera. She smiled as she paused to pet the animal, clearly unaware of its true identity.
“He’s a clever fellow, isn’t he?” she commented as she scratched Toy’s head. “Glad he returned to you after he tried to follow me home.”
Daryus managed to keep from visually stiffening upon hearing this. “When was that?”
“When I hired you, naturally. He followed me for some distance. I should’ve kept him with me until the next day and brought him back, but for some reason I was certain he would have no trouble surviving the run back to your home.”
“No … no trouble at all. He’s quite the survivor, Toy is.” Daryus threw himself into his work. The less opportunity he had to speak, the less opportunity he had of saying too much.
Shiera suddenly frowned. “I’ve just thought of something I need to discuss with Raffan. I won’t be long.”
“Do as you need. This is your expedition.”
She rose and headed off. Toy started after her, but Daryus, waiting for this moment, grabbed the weasel by the tail. With a squeak, the familiar looked back.
“You have explaining to do,” the fighter whispered. “If you want to keep on ‘surviving.’”
“Master Daryus is swift, so very swift—”
“Spare me the compliments! You knew what was about to happen! You gave no warning!”
“No, Master Daryus, no! Toy made a mistake! Opened the eye for just a moment, just to see something! Sensed the witch seeking me out and shut it again!”
“So Dolch found us because you—”
“No!” The familiar insisted. “It’s you! He searched through you!”
“How could he do that? And did he create this storm?”
“Nay! The witch, he is powerful, but not so! He sensed my mistake, but it’s you he found! The assassins, they surely found a way to mark you, and now Master Grigor, he knows you! He knows you and hunts you as I warned—”
The familiar’s voice grew too loud for Daryus’s tastes. He shook the tail hard. “Quiet!”
He heard Shiera speak. Instinct made him glance her way. As Daryus did that, his grip loosened just the slightest … but it was enough for Toy. The weasel wriggled free, scampered a short distance away, then turned to look at him again.
“We must beware…” the creature said, just barely audible. “Master Grigor will try again. Very soon.”
With that, Toy trotted off toward Shiera.
Scowling, Daryus returned to the task of finishing shelter. A part of him cursed himself for answering the call for help and then listening to the familiar’s warning that the witch would be after Daryus as well. Yet, another part of him realized that, in truth, he had been looking for an excuse for more than just an escape from the city. Daryus knew that he had been searching for more purpose than merely being a hired sword, a purpose closer to his former calling, one that might give him some measure of redemption.
Yet now … As Daryus glanced at Toy near Shiera, he wondered if, for the second time, he had made a decision that would have dire repercussions not only for himself, but for everyone around him. Worse, if he understood the weasel, at some point in the struggle with the assassins, one of them had marked him, and now, with effort, the witch could track them wherever they went because of Daryus.
Trying not to think what that might mean, Daryus threw himself into his work. He had just completed things when Shiera—watched from a distance by Toy—returned. Her troubled expression immediately set him on edge. “What is it?”
“Raffan’s lost some valuable equipment, and some of our own supplies are missing from the mules. They must have slipped off in the storm.”
Standing, the former crusader peered back in the direction they had come. There was no sign of any of the articles nearby. Daryus considered hunting for them, but knew the odds of finding much. He berated himself for not having noticed the losses during the storm.
“Let me retrace out trail. I won’t be long.”
She exhaled in relief. “Do you want me to come with?”
“No, I know where we went. I’ll be right back.”
Daryus mounted his horse and rode back. His expert eyes scoured the trail, seeking any of the missing supplies.
Curiously, though, other than one small pack half-buried in dust and dirt, the only other evidence of their lost supplies was a water sack whose contents had spilled into the soil. Daryus dismounted, then inspected the area around the water sack.
A few prints and a brief furrow in the ground was all he needed to verify his suspicions. This near the Worldwound, there were all sorts of scavengers eager for whatever meals they could find. Many had very sharp senses of sm
ell. It hardly mattered that they had also dragged off the other articles in the process.
Exasperated, he rode back. Shiera met him at the edge of camp.
“You didn’t find anything?”
“Scavengers already had just about everything. Probably a pack. Had that happen once, but these must’ve been nearby. They were very thorough.”
She swore, using epithets that made him flush. “Can we follow them?”
“I tried. I suspect they’ve dragged things to a burrow. The ground’s too hard to leave tracks in some places and the wind covered most of the rest.”
“Do we go back to Nerosyan?” Daryus asked.
“No … no. This only makes my decision easier, I suppose. While we were riding earlier, I remembered the libraries in Kenabres. There were some scrolls I looked over the last time I was there that I now realize had some potential links to the artifact Raffan showed me. This should actually help shorten our quest … I hope.”
A sense of unease filled Daryus at mention of the other city. He had surveyed a map after agreeing to the contract with Shiera and knew that choices were limited from here. He also knew which choice he preferred, no matter how it might sound to Shiera. “We can cut straight into a secondary route that’ll take us to—”
She cut him off with a shake of her head. “No, the more I think about this, the more it might be a blessing in disguise. I’ll get the map and show you—”
“No need. I know where we’re heading.”
“Yes. You would, I guess.” She paused, as if waiting for him to say something. When he did not, the Pathfinder continued, “Captain Galifar is starting food, such as it is. It doesn’t look like much, but it should fill our bellies.”
After a moment’s hesitation, he answered, “I’ll be along soon.”
With a nod, she left.
Absently rubbing the one scar, Daryus grimaced. He caught a glimpse of Toy now observing him. Daryus immediately lowered his hand, but the memories had already begun to stir. The swords coming down. The frightened, not quite human faces. The grim aspects of several helmed crusaders.
Daryus considered stealing a horse in the middle of night, but knew he would not abandon Shiera. She had paid him to protect her while she searched, and he would do that.
Pathfinder Tales--Reaper's Eye Page 6