The Way to Freedom: The Complete Season Two (Books 6-10) (The Way to Freedom Collection Book 2)

by H. M. Clarke

  ‘Do you really think the Arranians will fight the same way?’

  “Do you want to take the chance?” Dearen countered. “We have not seen the Arranians in hundreds of years. Who can say how they will fight? You need to remember that they have Spellcrafters so we have to practice our guerilla tactics. A Spellcrafter taken by surprise has no chance to craft a spell against us have they?”

  ‘No. I guess you’re right.’

  “We have to make sure that we are never caught by surprise ever again. We are not going to lose any more of our people without a fight, and we have to prepare ourselves if we want to fight well.”

  ‘Yes Cearc’

  “Let’s all go have dinner and we’ll talk more about this afterwards. Tactics, strategy and repetition are what will help us win our mountains back.”

  ‘Enough with the grandstanding Dearen, and come and eat!’

  Hauga’s voice cut through into her conversation and she turned to the campfire to see the Dymarki already seated on a tree stump with a trencher of meat already in his hands.

  “It’s only the quick and the dead around you isn’t it Hauga.”

  ‘Only the quick get the best cuts of meat.’

  “What is it with you and food?”

  ‘I’m a growing cub and I need my sustenance, is what my mother always told me.’

  “Mothers always indulge the ones they love – Maybe overindulge is more the word in your case,” Dearen replied as she patted her hand on Hauga’s belly.

  Howls of Dymarki laughter, both mental and vocal, rose at her words.

  Hauga curled his lips back in a smile of his own, letting the warm juices from the meat drip off of his sharp canines.

  Dearen gave him a playful push and sat down on the stump beside him. Hauga handed her a plate of cut meats.

  ‘Don’t say that I never think of you.’

  “I would never say that Hauga. You are the best brother a girl could ever ask for.” Dearen saw Hauga’s whiskers raise as he tried to fight back a smile. “Now. Don’t get all mushy on me. Let’s get eating before all this gets cold.”

  With grunts of agreement from the other Dymarki in camp, the group all sat down to eat.

  Later that night, Dearen was laying in her tent with the furs of her sleeping roll pulled up to under her chin. Night in the mountains was cold. She could hear Hauga’s gentle purring by the entrance. Lately, he had taken to sleeping just inside the tent entrance as an added line of defence for the Cearc. The Dyamarki did not want to be caught unawares again.

  The rest of the camp had settled down for the night apart from those that had guard duty. But Dearen could not sleep. Her body felt bone tired but her mind would not rest. She felt as if there was something pulling at the back of her mind, calling to her.

  Calling to her for help.

  The sensation felt familiar, comforting, a part of her, though she could not remember feeling it before.

  Dearen shook her head and flipped over to her side to see if lying in a different position would dispel the feeling. It did not.

  As she lay, whatever the feeling was, grew more intense and she began to feel the urge to go North.

  She had to head North.

  The feeling was insistent. She had to head North without delay or bad things may happen.

  Dearen pressed her eyes shut, trying to dispel the feeling and get some sleep. Maybe this was a part of her new powers? She made a mental note to talk about it to Hauga in the morning.

  And with that thought, Dearen drifted into an uneasy sleep.

  CHAPTER Three

  The Hunt

  ‘He was here’

  Tayme immediately sat up in the saddle and began to scan the sky around him.

  ‘He was? Can you tell if he is still close by?’

  Trar let a whiff of exasperation come across their link. ‘I know I’m good, but I’m not that good.’

  ‘How can you tell he was here?’

  Trar snorted. ‘The clearing we just flew over has a flattened area where he had rested. He also relieved himself there. I can still smell it from way up here.’

  ‘Okay, Trar. I believe you. Do you have any idea which direction Adhamh headed in when he left?’

  ‘I have no idea. But something does not seem right with that clearing.’

  ‘We’d best meet up with those on the ground and check it out.’

  ‘Do you think the Lieutenant still thinks that his missing Captain came this way as well?’

  ‘With no trace of his Captain’s tracks or scent heading out anywhere with no idea of direction or motive, he doesn’t have much choice, now does he?’

  Trar snorted and dipped her wing to turn lazily around in the direction of the ground patrol.

  ‘I still think you should have kept Jill or Traer here with us.’

  ‘Really? It’s hard enough feeding and hiding you with us much less have two more Hater’le’margarten around to deal with.’

  Trar snorted again but said nothing more.

  She started gliding down the side of the mountain towards the wooded valley below. Tayme could see the small patrol lead by Lieutenant Dalon Peana and his gangly tracker toiling through the trees. The group was not making much effort to remain hidden and Tayme assumed that it was probably because of their close proximity to the Pydarki stronghold of Daegourouf. But they were also close to the Northern border, the one shared with Arran. Not to mention the Ice Tigers that are supposed to be lurking in these mountains someplace. They could be hidden anywhere on these ranges and the Pydarki do not seem that concerned with keeping them out.

  The Pydarki were not really a warlike people, but that does not explain their unconcern about letting the likes of the Ice Tigers and maybe the Arranians unfettered access to their ancestral lands.

  ‘We are going to land ahead on the path Kral. Just watch that you don’t get hit by a tree branch.’

  ‘I’ll be careful. Just don’t try and whack me on purpose.’

  ‘Why would you think I’ll do that?’

  ‘Because you would,’ Tayme replied weaving an emotional smile into his mind voice.

  Trar flew low over the trees so that those walking below can see them coming and then flew ahead until she reached an opening in the trees big enough for her to land. She opened her tail feathers to help slow her speed and then banked and landed neatly in the middle of the path without hitting a single branch.

  Tayme was impressed. Trar did not have much experience with landing in thick trees and she surprised him by handling them like an expert.

  The tracker, Hanton, was the first out from the cover of the trees and he was not long after followed by Lieutenant Peana and the rest of the band.

  “Did you sight anything Flyer?” The lieutenant asked the pair as Trar squatted to lower the distance between Tayme and the ground.

  Tayme swung his leg over the saddle and slid down Trar’s red, feathered shoulder to the road.

  “Yes, sir. Trar thinks she’s found a resting place of Adhamh further up the mountain.”

  “Any sign of humans?”

  Tayme knew what the Lieutenant was asking but could not give him the information he needed.

  “We did see evidence of human activity but it was made by a large group and the trail came from the direction of the Northern border.”

  The Lieutenant frowned.

  “Arranians.”

  Tayme nodded. “That’s what it looks like Sir. And Trar saw some ‘inconsistencies’ in the clearing where Adhamh might have rested. Maybe he ran into that group and that’s why he’s gone.”

  “Or maybe, he and the Captain planned a rendezvous and that was their meeting point.”

  It was Tayme’s turn to frown. Though his frown was more in disbelief at what he was hearing. Surely Peana could not have reached the rank of Lieutenant while being this stupid?

  “And how would your Captain manage that?” Tayme asked. His voice was hard and sharp. “Adhamh cannot speak to him, and Captain Vo
sloo cannot hear him. A conversation between the Captain and Wing Commander Adhamh would be very one-sided.”

  “One-sided. Unless there was another Hatar pair that could act as an intermediary between them.”

  Tayme drew himself to his full height and Trar stood up on all fours and fluffed out her crimson feathers.

  “Are you suggesting that Trar and I colluded somehow with your Captain?”

  The Lieutenant stared hard at Tayme for a heartbeat more before turning his gaze away.

  “No. No, I’m not.” Dalon Peana ran a calloused hand through his hair. “I feel like we’ve been lead out under false pretensions and then left to our own devices. I don’t like being used, and I don’t like being left in the dark.”

  Tayme had to bite his lip. That was how every Kalar are treated all the time. At least the Kalarthri that were not Hatar Kalar could look forward to retirement and freedom after thirty years of Service. It would be nice to look forward to being pensioned off into a nice house and to be able to put your feet up whenever you want.

  “Yes, Sir.” Lieutenant Peana seemed like he was an okay kind of person in that he did not treat all Kalarthri like scum. But you can never be too careful. The face he is showing them now may be different to what he shows later. He may be one of those people who mould their values and words depending on what company they are in.

  You get to experience all types of people when you are considered beneath anyone’s notice. Tayme was still trying to make his mind up about which type of person Dalon Peana was.

  “We had best go and have a look at this clearing then. But we will need to keep an eye out for any movement of Arranians. Whoever made the trail that the Hatar saw from the air is not worried about being seen or stopped in this area.”

  “So you think the Pydarki are colluding with the Arranians?”

  “I don’t know what to think. It’s what the Captain was worried about before he disappeared. Either way, we need to check it out.”

  Tayme found himself waiting on the plateau with Trar as the scout group finally climbed their way into the clearing from the trees.

  Tayme and Trar did spend their time productively as they waited for the rest of the company. They had found a lot of boot prints in the grass and dirt of the clearing. Near the tree line, they found the unmistakable impression marks of where a large Hatar had been lying sleeping. What was troubling about this was the number of booted footprints that surrounded it.

  Once the tracker, Hanton, got here, he will need to take a good look and tell them what he thinks had happened.

  There were a few long, black feathers littering the ground in this area which was all Tayme needed to tell him that they had found a resting place of Adhamh, confirmed by Trar when she snuffed at one of the long black feathers.

  “Sorry we took so long,” Hanton huffed as he stopped beside Tayme. “We have found plentiful signs of Arranian passage through the trees coming up to this clearing and going away again. They were leading something large when they were going away.”

  “Something large?”

  ‘He’s going to say something Hatar sized Kral.’

  Tayme ignored Trar and stayed silent, waiting for the tracker to reply.

  “I’ll leave it for the Lieutenant to tell you. I’ll take a look around here before the group starts to tramp out any evidence of what happened here.”

  Tayme nodded and Hanton went off to start his careful examination of the clearing.

  ‘Do you think Adhamh went with the Arranians?’

  ‘Not willingly he didn’t. But what would make Adhamh go with them? Why didn’t he fight to get away? How were they able to do it?’

  ‘All very good questions which at the moment we can’t answer.’

  As the tracker searched, the rest of his company came into the clearing and Lieutenant Peana made his way over to where Tayme and Trar stood by the edge of the plateau.

  “What have you found?” he asked as he approached them.

  “We think Adhamh retreated just under those trees, but it looks like something happened with a large group of men. We are waiting to see what your tracker can make of it. Trar scented a strange scent. They were not from the Empire.”

  “That makes sense. On our way up here, we found traces of a large group of men moving through the trees. Those tracks were left by an Arranian band.”

  The lieutenant glanced back towards the trees where Hanton was hunched over.

  “I am curious to see what he comes back with as well.”

  He turned back to look at Tayme.

  “I think now would be a good time to break for lunch while we wait on Hanton.”

  “The best idea I’ve heard all morning,” Tayme replied as Peana turned to shout orders to his men.

  Once everyone was settled and eating, Hanton abruptly stood up near where the trees meet the cliff face and strode purposely towards them.

  Trar was sprawled right on the edge of the cliff trying to warm herself in the noonday sun. Her raised head warned Tayme of the tracker’s approach.

  “Lieutenant,” Tayme called as Peana had his back to the trees.

  Dalon Peana rose to his feet and turned to watch as Hanton walked to them with something clutched in his hand.

  “What have you found?”

  Hanton stopped and gave the lieutenant a brief salute before answering.

  “A large company of Arranians were here and it looks like they ambushed a Hatar and secured him with ropes and chains.” The tracker held out his hand which had a broken piece of rope with a metal hook attached and a broken piece of chain. “The creature put up a fight, but something stopped him cold. And he seems to have left with them.”

  “What would make a Hatar stop fighting and suddenly do what you want?” the Lieutenant asked, more to himself. But Tayme replied.

  “They would stop fighting if the enemy held their rider.”

  “Are you suggesting that these are the people who might have taken your young Wing Commander?”

  “It would be the only thing I can think of that would make Adhamh go anywhere with them without a fight.”

  Trar nodded her bright red head in agreement.

  “Captain Vosloo was looking for her which might mean that he is not far behind. We need to follow them.”

  “I couldn’t agree more,” Tayme replied.

  “I need you to get up into the air to see what direction they went, and then we will go hunting.”

  CHAPTER Four

  The Decisions

  Foxtern was full of movement and noise.

  Wing Commander Harada stood just behind Colonel Jan Oded as they watched a large company of soldiers march out from the Muster Yards. There had been a report of an Ice Tiger encampment half a day’s march North of Foxtern, and it had been decided to send a detachment of men to investigate.

  And by investigate. Harada knew what was really meant was to exterminate.

  Oded stood just under the overhang of his tent, Harada stood just within the entrance. He was with Oded this morning when the Colonel argued against this saying that more investigation was needed. Who could say that this was not a trap to get prisoners or to find out their strength in the area?

  His concerns were brushed aside by the Justicar and his cronies. Captain Jerant sat and said nothing. He just had a stone cold look and expression on his face and his eyes did not leave those of Harada.

  The last time they had met, it had not been on good terms. In fact, he and Kalena were the reason Jerant was now at Fort Foxtern. And at the time Jerant made it clearly known that he did not like Kalarthri, especially the Hatar Kalar. Clearly, that dislike must have spread to the Justicars. It was their machinations that drew Jerant out an into the scheme of kidnapping a Pydarki.

  Colonel Oded put forth his reasoning again for just sending flyers out to scout the camp and to see if any other Ice Tiger or Arranian activity could be detected.

  Captain Jerant listened silently to Oded’s argument and then listen
ed to the Justicar’s argument to send out a combined Justicar lead flyer/freeman force out to investigate.

  But he did not go with either side.

  He had already decided what they were to do, and as the current ranking Commander at Fort Foxtern, as his own Commander had been called back to Hered, it was his decision to decide what to do. The forces assembled here were still waiting on final orders as to who exactly was in complete command of the Northern Army.

  Harada was hoping it to be his brother, by rights it should have been Garrick, but for some reason, the Emperor has delayed issuing the writ conferring this as was traditional. But in the meantime, Captain Jerant was the ranking officer in command of the men permanently stationed at Fort Foxtern, and it was ultimately his decision on what should be done.

  Jerant hated the flyers.

  Jerant hated the Justicars.

  And Jerant hated anyone who was allied with Provost Marshall Brock.

  Jerant was a person who was ruled by his emotions and currently that emotion was hate. Harada was curious as to what course of action the Captain would choose. Either choice would have him siding with someone he hates. His only problem will be weighing up who he has more.

  Jerant sat straight in his chair, unmoving and emotionless. The lack of emotion worried Harada a little as it was so unlike the Captain. So when Jerant finally spoke he had everyone’s attention.

  “I do not think we have a need for flyers to go out. And I also see no need to have a Justicar to accompany the men. Fort Foxtern is going to send out an expeditionary company to the supposed Ice Tiger camp.” Jerant turned his gaze to Oded and Harada. “We will see if what the Flyer saw is correct.”

  As people filed out from the meeting, Oded stayed behind. Jerant remained standing by his chair and Harada kept himself in the background, knowing his presence might antagonize Jerant.

  “Captain Jerant. Are you sure it is wise to send those men out without aerial support? The flyers will be able to see the heat signs of those on the ground or hidden among the trees.”