“How’d you hurt yourself?” he quietly asked.
“Excuse me?”
“You think I haven’t noticed the limp or how you’ve been sneaking salve onto it?”
How was she supposed to explain what had happened? She rubbed her forehead. “Before I found your farm, goblins chased me and tried to eat me. I almost didn’t get away. I was hiding because I was scared.”
He nodded and rotated the rabbit, making the fire hiss. “Let me see it.”
Bym hesitated.
“I won’t make fun of you. Just show me.”
Shifting her weight to the side, she eased her pants leg up to expose the claw marks.
Eurig let out a soft whistle. He edged closer and probed her injury with cool fingers. “Hot to the touch.” His fingers left her leg, and he walked over to his things. He took his horse blanket outside and shook it out before bringing it over and laying it out near the fire. “Take your boots and pants off and stretch out. I’ll go collect some medicinal herbs. Those scratches need tending.”
Bym stared after his retreating form in horror. Take off her pants? How would she explain her undergarments? How would she explain her hairless legs? Unfortunately, she had to admit to herself that it would be idiotic to continue to ignore the signs of infection. What if it got too bad for her to ride? What if she couldn’t make it to a city? What if the goblins caught up with them and she was too weak to defend herself? Already, her leg was sore, inflamed, and feverish to the touch. She needed help. If he started talking about turning her over to the Order of the Solis, she’d take Donkey and leave, even if it meant facing goblins alone. Tiredly, she pulled off the boots and her pants. Freezing as she was, there was no way she was removing the socks. At least, the shirt was long enough to cover her assets. She laid on her stomach and rested her forehead on her forearm. She didn’t want to see his expression when he figured out the truth.
Eurig climbed the ridge and searched for the flowers Ma always sent him out to harvest from her kitchen garden anytime anyone on the farm got hurt. They were easy to find, even out in the wilds. He gathered ample supplies of the white chamomile, orange calendula, and fluffy yellow goldenrod flowers, deciding to treat the donkey, too. It was clear the boy had been traumatized by something, and now he knew what. Bym came from a poor, isolated farm, and his family had been attacked and killed in a goblin raid. He’d barely escaped with his life. He’d been too scared to come up to his house for help which was a shame. Ma would have made a fuss over him.
He debated facing Pa’s wrath and taking Bym back home to the farm. It wouldn’t be as simple as turning around, not with the goblins. Feeling a sudden chill in the air, he looked at the sky. The sun dropped so quickly that he felt fear. The wildlife felt it, too. Birds flew in confused circles in the sky. Rabbits which normally foraged at dawn and dusk didn’t know whether to feed their hungry bellies or hide in their burrows. Without the stability of the Goddess of Time, nature was descending into chaos.
In his haste, his boots skidded on bits of gravel as he made his return to their shelter. Even the mounts had their ears laying flat against their heads, confused by the abrupt change from noon to night. Dropping chamomile flowers into the cook pot, he added water and brought it to a slow boil. Once it had cooled enough, he brought it over to where Bym slept. He shook his head and became resolved to take the boy home to Ma. He could wrap his hands around the child’s thigh. The scrawny kid couldn’t be any older than eleven or twelve. From the look of his legs, he hadn’t even hit puberty. How he had managed to kill two goblins was proof he was tough. Eurig had to give him that.
Carefully, he cleaned the long, infected scratches with the tea from the flowers. Then, he gently moved Bym’s arm from under his head to clean the teeth marks on his hand. He added some calendula and goldenrod to the pot, used his spoon to grind it into a paste, and held the pot under the cooking rabbit to collect some grease so it would stick. Then, he applied the paste to Bym’s wounds.
Filling the pot a second time, he steeped more chamomile. Then, he walked the donkey down to the river. It wouldn’t do for the child’s donkey to die of infection. Now, he understood why the kid was so affectionate with the beast. It was all he had left, and he’d be damned if anything happened to it. Eurig thought back to his first encounter with the boy in the barn. Bym had thought the donkey was hurt and had been telling it goodbye.
“Come on. Get in.” He tugged on its reins, forcing it to enter the cold river. Yanking her head away, she threw a fit and sat with a loud, heavy splash. Chuckling, Eurig said, “You really showed me.” Since his sarcasm was lost on her, he started scrubbing at the donkey’s back until all of the mud was washed away. “Up.”
After floundering and splashing, she finally decided to put her big ears to use and listen. She gave herself a few good shakes and followed Eurig back to camp. Soon, he’d treated her the same as he’d treated Bym. Satisfied that he’d done what he could, he ate half of the rabbit, saving the rest for Bym, added wood to the fire, and went to sleep.
When Bym woke, her leg didn’t hurt quite as much. Eurig was still sleeping. So as not to wake him, she moved slowly and added a few sticks to the fire before dressing and leaving to see to her personal comfort. Donkey blinked sleepily at her. Bym saw evidence that Eurig had taken care of both of their injuries. His kindness made her feel even guiltier about her dishonesty. She walked to the river where she washed out her mouth and splashed water on her face. As she walked back, the sun began a slow rise, illuminating her steps. Curious about where they were, she climbed a few feet up the ridge.
If there was a city or town, she couldn’t see it for the trees. She turned to look back the way they’d come and instead of goblins, saw a group of men on horseback. They were dressed all in black. A pack of dogs led the way before them. Practically sliding down the rocks in her haste, she went to Eurig and shook him awake.
“What’s wrong? Is it the goblins?” he asked while reaching for his sword.
“There’s a group of men on horseback a few miles down the river heading this way.”
Standing, he said, “Eat. I’ll go look. Maybe, they are soldiers who will let us travel with them.” He left, but she could hear him right outside pissing in the bushes. She rolled her eyes. Guys had it so easy.
Looking inside the pot, Bym mourned the poor rabbit, but her empty stomach insisted that the creature’s death have meaning, so she ate it and tossed its bones into the fire. Minutes later, she heard the sounds of sliding gravel and boots hitting the ground.
“Get on your mount. Hurry!”
“Who are they?” she asked while taking her things and climbing onto Donkey’s back.
“It’s a damn group of Umbra trackers. Just like our people, they’re hunting females and searching for our new Goddess. If they catch us, they’ll either kill us or try to convert us.” Shaking out his blanket, he folded it, put it on his horse’s back, and saddled him. He tossed his cookpot into his pack, smothered the fire, and mounted his horse, clicking his tongue to get it moving. The sound was accompanied by a gentle kick of his heels. Without any coaxing, Donkey followed.
“Going somewhere?” a male voice called down to them from above.
Turning at the question, they looked up at a figure shrouded in black. The arrow he had drawn and pointed at them kept them still. The male lifted his head enough for Bym to see the face hidden by his cloak’s hood. Her terror at what she saw had Donkey braying and taking off into the forest as if demons chased them. Bym imagined the arrow piercing her back and bursting through her chest. Eurig didn’t need an invitation. His horse crashed through the bushes behind her before quickly taking the lead.
The scratching bushes and stinging branches whipped at their exposed flesh during their wild flight. Bym was so tormented by them that she hid her face against Donkey’s neck and stayed as low as she could. Once the towering trees had grown so large as to choke out the underlying vegetation, Eurig slowed and rode at Bym’s side, he
rding her away from her clear intention of returning to the river.
He said, “We’ll be safer under the cover of the trees.”
“What was that thing?” Bym asked. “Was it a goblin and human crossbreed?”
Surprised, he asked, “Haven’t you ever seen an Umbra?”
“No, what are they?”
“Men, like us.”
Eurig wasn’t being bounced around as much as Bym, but he had a saddle and stirrups. The horse and donkey ran as though they were being chased by goblin men. It was all Bym could do to stay astride.
“But, his face,” Bym said with a shudder of revulsion.
The hood had concealed a terrifying visage, one she feared would join the goblins in her nightmares. From his shrouded eyes down had been a blackened maw full of razor-sharp metal teeth. Each of them had been at least an inch long. Shivering, she saw goblin teeth coming straight for her face about to bite it off. Had it not been for the knife she’d held….
Eurig said, “They wear masks which resemble goblin teeth. How do you not know this?”
Thinking as fast as Donkey ran, she said, “Hearing about it is one thing, seeing it jump out at you unexpectedly is another.” Her answer seemed to satisfy him.
Unfortunately, by the time they heard the barking dogs and pounding hooves, it was too late. The Umbra had them surrounded. They were like wolves. Bym looked around for a way out and saw the points of arrows aimed at them. If she and Eurig tried to flee, it wasn’t likely they’d avoid being shot this time. Cloaked in black, the Umbra rode massive black horses which made Eurig’s mount look like a pony. They moved in and out of the trees around them in a dizzying circle. Bym didn’t know where to look or on which threat to focus.
“I have questions.” His voice was the low grumbling of distant thunder, quiet but ominous.
Bym sought out the source and saw him sitting still upon his horse. His black cloak fell about him like the night. Only the lower half of his face was visible with sharp metal teeth gleaming at her from the dark.
“Once I have the answers which I seek, I may allow you to live.”
Bym wasn’t the only one who was afraid. She could see Eurig’s fear. He hadn’t seemed as afraid of the goblins as he was of these Umbra, but they were larger, far more intelligent, and heavily armed. The goblins were none of those things. Donkey had decided they weren’t a threat to her. She took the opportunity to eat the low leaves of a tree. When one of the large hunting dogs got too close, Donkey spat at it. Well, it was either spit or a snotty sneeze. Bym was too distracted by the Umbra to pay much attention. Sneezing, the dog left her alone.
“You, boy, you will answer my questions, and you will not lie. Lies bring pain.” From his fingers, a black mist floated toward Bym, quickly enveloping her.
“Sorcery! Aurora, protect us!” Eurig pleaded.
Bym could only stare at the cloaked male who held her in his thrall.
His voice was like rough leather in her mind as he asked, “Who are you?”
“Bym.”
“Have you seen any females?” Around them, horses stomped at the ground.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“At a farm in a wagon cage.”
“Who would do such a thing?”
“The Order of Solis.”
“Have you seen any other females?”
“No.” It was true. She hadn’t, not even in a mirror.
“Where are you going?”
“A town.”
“Why?”
The sorcerer had asked why she was going, not both of them. Learning what Eurig planned to do might make the Umbra feel murderous. “To get coins for my goblin heads and look for work.”
“Evidence at the camp suggests that one of you was injured. Which of you was scratched by goblin claws?”
Bym felt a moment of panic.
Hee-haw. Hee-haw.
He asked for one and not all. “Donkey did.” Bym pointed at the animal’s injured rump.
The sorcerer’s voice turned dangerously low. “You expect me to believe that you went to the trouble of brewing medicine for a worthless donkey?”
Her fear and enthrallment aside, Bym frowned at him.
Angered, Eurig spoke up. “Leave him alone! The donkey is all the kid has left. I wasn’t going to let the goblins take anything else from him. They’ve taken enough!”
Lowering his hand, the sorcerer released Bym from his truth spell. “We have a common enemy it would seem. The goblins grow bolder and will continue to do so until our Goddess balances out day and night.”
Eurig kept his thoughts to himself.
It didn’t fool the sorcerer. He continued, “The Order of Solis seeks her as do we. They wish to keep all of the light for themselves, leaving the Umbra in darkness for centuries more. What will happen should our roles reverse?”
Eurig’s mouth was in a tight line, and Bym knew too little of the world in which she’d suddenly found herself to hypothesize on possible outcomes.
The sorcerer said, “Hopcyn, pay these boys two gold coins per head, and let’s be on our way.” He watched Eurig as he spoke. “Unless, you wish to keep them for some reason?”
Bym knew Eurig had wanted to show the goblin heads off in town and didn’t have to wait long to learn how he’d handle the trap in which he now found himself. If he declined, it would make Bym look like a liar and put her life at risk. He said, “The reward you offer is generous.” Fumbling with the twine, he handed over their heads.
The Umbra warrior named Hopcyn filled Eurig’s hand with gold coins. Eurig gave four of them to Bym. “Your little friend killed two goblins on his own? How did he manage? He has no weapon, unless of course it failed him during battle.”
Unlike the soldiers of the Order of Solis, the Umbra didn’t make any jokes or laugh. They sat silent and still but had lowered their arrows.
Bym felt her cheeks burning. “I’ve got a knife and used it.”
Hopcyn asked, “Oh, where is it?”
Bym pulled it from her feed bag. Pointing with it at the goblins she’d killed, she said, “I got that one in the eye and that one in the mouth when it tried to eat my face.”
The terrifying masks they wore made it impossible to read their expressions. Hopcyn dug around in one of his black leather saddlebags. “Here, child. It isn’t a sword, but it should protect you better than a whittling knife.” He rode closer to Bym and presented her with a blade sheathed in a black, belted scabbard.
It was as long as her arm. While it looked like a sword to her, she noticed the ones that the Umbra had belted at their sides were as long as a man’s leg. Drawing it, she observed the blade, a gleaming black steel. The grip was black leather, and black jewels glittered along the pommel. Her eyes widened. “I can’t accept such an expensive gift.”
From behind his mask, Hopcyn said, “Nonsense. Brave boys should have means by which to defend themselves. We thank you for ridding the world of two of the foul vermin.”
The Umbra warrior who had taken the heads tossed one of them high into the air. Bym grimaced at the severed goblin head as flew end over end. Then, she flinched when the sorcerer sent a black flame from his hand which burned the head to ash, leaving only a scorched skull behind. It thudded hollowly to the ground. They repeated the process with each of the heads like it was some sort of sport. Afterwards, they affixed the skulls with black leather cords to their horses’ breast collars. Then, without a word, the Umbra melted into the shadows like wraiths. Had it not been for the sounds of their horses’ hooves against the forest floor, they might have been nightmares brought about by a feverish dream.
Eurig stared back at her with wariness. “Let’s get out of here.”
Agreeing, Bym took a moment to fasten her new weapon around her waist. While she did, she thought of the Umbra sorcerer and the ease with which he had burned flesh from bone. She feared what sort of pain he might have inflicted upon her had he caught her in a lie.
They rode
all day and into the evening. Then, they discovered a wagon trail and followed it. Eurig said very little other than to express his relief of escaping the Umbra unscathed. He was pleased with earning double the gold he’d hoped to be paid but disappointed at having no proof of his bravery. However, after cautioning Bym to keep her coins hidden, he turned silent and pensive. Eventually, Bym began to long for the day’s end so they could rest. As the light faded, they saw smoke on the horizon floating above the tree line.
“Oh, no,” Bym said forlornly. She feared soldiers had burned yet another farm and taken unwilling women from those whom they loved.
Eurig urged his tired horse forward. When Bym caught up to him, she saw a fortification. Tall trees had been felled, their ends sharpened to points, and used to wall in a small town. Torches burned along its battlements. Wooden doors of perhaps twelve feet in height and width were being pushed closed by two guards.
“Wait!” Eurig called out as he urged his horse into a run.
Donkey, her head low, was too tired to do more than walk. Bym glanced around at the woods surrounding the fort. In the distance, she heard goblin cries. Donkey flattened her ears to her head. Eurig made it to the gates and convinced the guards to allow their entry. Bym felt as though an oppressive weight was lifted from her the moment Donkey passed through the gates.
Pointing, one of the guards said, “The stables are that way.”
“Thank you, sir,” Bym said. She let out a relieved sigh when the men lowered a heavy beam and secured the doors. “We’re safe. We made it.”
Eurig dismounted and led them to the stables.
Chapter Seven
Temporal Locum Page 7