Familiar's Ancient Throne (Book 2 of the Death Incarnate Saga)

by H. Lee Morgan, Jr

  Parents ran for their children and went to flee while animals were already ahead and ran for their lives from this monstrous predator. The wyvern’s descent was too fast for anyone to get far enough to escape.

  Cage felt a large tingling sensation just as he saw the wyvern’s chest swell. He had a deep rooted suspicion on what is to come next. He gazed at the open mouth as a bright orange light spewed out into a roaring flame.

  He felt the jolt of adrenaline increase reactions and knew if the flames weren’t stopped that everyone would be killed. He could sense the flames weren’t normal and acted like napalm. They would eat whatever they touched without care. The love of battle surged through Cage as he brought a hand up and created a barrier over the entire area where his people cringed, waiting to be bathed in flame. An intense firestorm battered against the barrier, draining Cage quickly, but the flames were blocked. With a grin and twinkle in his eye told what he wanted, but even he felt deep down his strength would result only in death. The barrier blocking the flames told him that it was not yet time to face such a creature and prudence to be in order. He needed to hide and fight another day, no matter how much it went against a good fight. It wouldn’t be a fight, more a slaughter. But he sensed something that said one day he would have the fight he dreamed. Right now it is time to hide.

  Hide? Cage thought. Where to? Everyone won’t make it. We need to disappear… Wait that could work!

  A huge buff and thud from the great wings said the wyvern sensed the magic and stopped, but continued angrily spewing flames and swirling them.

  He looked around, seeing the Utala staring at the ceiling of flames. He yelled “TO ME!!! EVERYONE, COME TO ME!!! HURRY!!!” Brooke barely heard him over the great sounds created by the beast and sped while also yelling to hurry. She came close, fear evident in her eyes. A nearby family rushed and the movement had all the others running, knowing it was their chief who repelled the flames. Black dots began to swarm in increasing numbers within his fading vision and as the tribe pressed themselves in close he shrunk the protective barrier, reducing the strain of size and distance. Heat still blazed through the invisible shield, but not direct flames. The tribe came closer, seeing the flame approaching until all they saw and heard is a seamless orange, roaring inferno. He yelled again over the roar the flame and wyvern created “BE QUIET!!! WHATEVER YOU SEE, BE QUIET!!!”

  Cage then manipulated the barrier to allow light to pass through without reflecting anything for all it shielded within.

  The wyvern obviously felt the magic decrease as the spewing flames ended and it landed on its immense legs to cause a minor earthquake that made a few stumble. Thanks to the closeness of everyone, none fell. The barrier began to clear from the beat of wings and it showed a horror of curved teeth. The great eye of the wyvern looked within twenty feet of them. All around, the once serene and peaceful meadow lay afire. The wyvern folded its wings and walked on a joint with a single claw larger than a sword. It took a step closer and stuck its tongue out, like it tasted the air as a large nose breathed deeply. Cage knew they weren’t seen, but also it could sense the magic. It had the stony brown eyes of a hungry animal, not one of human capable intellect. It didn’t have a hateful, ever consuming look like a wyrm though. The slit eye looked more like a wolf, intelligent enough to be a truly successful hunter, but not like a human who can think beyond instincts.

  Its nine foot long head twitched as a child whimpered, telling it had great hearing. With Cage’s height he could see over everyone as they either looked or shook fearfully. Adults quickly put a hand over every child’s mouth or pressed a suckling babe to a nipple. The gigantic eye swept back and forth, showing it couldn’t see exactly where they were, only it felt magic. Cage felt glad it worked so far. He too found it impossible to locate exactly where magic was being used, just the strength and proximity. He only hoped it wasn’t smart enough to figure out that the stronger the tingle, the closer you are.

  A shrill whinny took the wyvern’s focus off the sensation. The horse lay on its side, struggling as the flames ate at it. They watched as the Wyvern walked on the wing joints and back legs. It blinked and the consuming flames disappeared. It opened its great maw of dagger-like teeth designed to rip meat apart. It bit the horse, tossed the mare as if it were nothing into the air, opened its jaw wide and swallowed the steed whole. Another horse ran into the field with a flank on fire, in its own terror it ran right towards the reptile. It suddenly slammed a wing on the horse, snapping its spine. With a full stomach the wyvern dismissed the magic, picked the horse up with its teeth, reared on its back legs while raising and extending its wings. It stood over forty feet in height. The mighty back legs squatted as the spiked tail lay straight. The legs surged as the wings came down. Incredible strength propelled the wyvern into the air. It took several pumps to properly fly.

  Cage held the shield as it circled overhead. He felt another surge of magic and went to prepare for another onslaught, but suddenly all the fire disappeared. Smoke and ash rose from the lingering heat. Devastation is all that remained behind.

  Feeling the thud of the wyvern’s wing beats fading, Cage dropped the barrier and collapsed from the strain. Brooke saw him sag and yelled “Cage!” and grabbed for him. Three others heard and also caught him. “Everyone, back away.” She declared and the people gave them space enough to lay him in the grass. Brooke found his pack near and used it to raise his head.

  While she worried over him Elder Shania found herself first to gain her senses. She ordered “Everyone, into the safety of the trees. Hunters go track down any animals that fled. We cannot chance the wyvern returning. I said move!”

  Most were too frightened and reluctant at the moment so she slapped sense back into everyone near, finally getting a reaction.

  Under her guidance she got people moving. She even had a small group pick up the unconscious chief and leave the ruined meadow and devastation behind.

  Cage barely held on to consciousness, but not enough to open his eyes or move a muscle. It took everything to breathe, but his nerves were raw. In that state he thought he heard a roar of the wyvern again far away, but also a shrill roar too. The shrill sound felt recognizable and angry for some reason. Eventually there came another faint shrill roar, but none from the wyvern. It was an odd sound that seemed a hallucination in his delirious state. Then he blacked completely out.

  Ten minutes later he recovered enough to groan and open his eyes. Brooke hovered close with worry. Above was a thick, green canopy. Sunlight inflamed the throbbing headache. He asked “Brooke, is everyone…”

  “Shhh, My Love.” She put a soft finger over his lips. “Relax now, everyone is safe thanks to you again. All of our people survived the attack. Right now we are under a thick canopy. The wyvern is gone. It ate two of our horses and burned most of our supplies. All the dogs returned unscathed and a dozen of our horses were found. Hunters are still out now, trying to find the others and collect the chickens.”

  “That was a real wyvern, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes, and a full grown adult at that. It has been long since we’ve seen a wyvern. I was but a babe when I saw one last. The dragons usually keep them far to the south. As we just found out, they are deadly and have strong magic.”

  He reached up and rubbed his eyes. “Is there any food or my honeyed water left in my bag or did it too get destroyed?”

  “Luckily most of yours and mine gear were spared.” She grabbed his pack and pulled out his wooden container and shook it. “There is still some left. Need help sitting up?”

  “Yeah, I’m beat.” She helped him sit up and he had enough strength to hold and chug all that remained.

  Brooke went to lay him down and commented “That’s odd…”

  “What is?”

  She touched his back and said “It is the second time I’ve seen this. The circles on your back have regressed again.”

  “What do you mean? What did it look like?” With her help he sat up enough to support his
own trunk.

  Brooke kept a hand on his back in the event he weakened further. She found a nearby patch of dirt by his knee and used the tip of her finger to draw the infinity symbol. “It looks like this now, as usual. When you fought the mage and protected us from the wyvern it grew to this.” She traced the infinity from two rings to eight, four to either side. It also curved. Brooke touched his back and said “It appeared like this on your back.” He felt her soft touch making the arc. From the central crossing between his shoulders and over his spine he felt the finger curve to the bottom center of the blades. “The rings looked to grow tiny spikes like it wanted to continue making more of a chain. Right now it is back to the normal loop.”

  “I wonder why that is.” He thought aloud. “Megdline’s mark seemed permanent in size… why is mine different? I bet it might have been the feeling I had that told me I wasn’t ready to fight it… it sounds like it was growing due to the strain of maintaining hard magic… Oh well, better to have an unanswered question and know it than to be oblivious and someone can use it against me.” He shook his head and met Brooke’s worried eyes. He smiled and cupped his hand on her cheek. She closed her eyes and leaned into the large, warm hand and sighed out some relief. “Are we going to wait here or try to move on in case it comes back?”

  She kissed his palm before taking it in her own hands to say “We are to rest for now. Those strong enough are after the animals and anything else that will fix our situation. Look to your right.” He did. “Many weapons were destroyed, but our metal survived. While we rest the children and tired adults are cutting and shaping wood. Only eleven bows survived the attack. It will take weeks to properly work the yew into a proper bow. Arrows will be easier. The children know how we make them and Rena and two others found birds and killed them with thrown stones. She has just begun to pluck the feathers to fletch the arrows. She is a great thrower.”

  “To kill a bird half her own size… I’d believe it.” He said seeing the little girl plucking feathers from a headless bird she killed.

  Brooke pushed him down easy. He didn’t have any strength to resist. “My Love, you must rest and regain your strength. I will find you something to eat. I believe we will be leaving in a few hours.”

  “Is anyone watching the skies?” He asked before she left.

  “Elder Metak and three warriors have climbed the tallest trees and are doing just that. The wyvern will be easy to spot now that we are prepared. Its markings are too dark to hide in the daylight. Now rest, Cage Love.”

  He closed his eyes and only opened them to eat some collected edible plants the tribe knew he favored. He heard a small crackling fire to find someone cooking the birds Rena and the other finished plucking.

  About two hours before nightfall all but two horses were lost besides the ones eaten. All the dogs were accounted for and half the chickens were collected. After everyone ate and drank from the devastated meadow’s water, revealing the greatest fear Cage has seen from these people, they headed south, to a heavily forested mountain. They moved carefully through the night, using only five torches to see by. If the wyvern did show up and find them from high above from the torches Cage figured they’d feel the thuds first, kill the lights and to blind it he would give a moment to flash a bright light to destroy its night vision. So far they heard nothing except insects and crickets.

  When they finally crested a saddle in the mountain is when Rena got up the nerve to look to the side and ask “Dad, what did you do to the wyvern?”

  Her question was casual, but to the silent tribe it felt like she yelled. “How do you mean, Kiddo?”

  “You did something besides that shield you talked about last night. I mean, I watched its eyes. It was like it couldn’t see us or something, but it knew where we were or close enough. If it saw us we would have been attacked right? If not for the horse I thought it would get closer.”

  “Oh that, well I’m glad you noticed. Basically, I hid us.”

  “Hid everyone?” She tilted her little head. “How?”

  “You must understand how we see. Right now you see me because the torches make light and the light reflects off my body. When I made the barrier I designed it to allow the light to pass through everyone. So long as the light passed through us the wyvern didn’t see us because the light didn’t reflect off of our bodies. Keep an eye on me…” he made a much smaller barrier around himself and disappeared before them all for a second, watching the alarmed reactions. He reappeared before weakening himself further. “I did that to everyone. The problem I faced was everyone stood too far away from me to do what I showed and protect from the flames. I needed to shrink the barrier to hold the shield and protect everyone. If I hadn’t reduced the overall size, the barrier would have been destroyed within thirty more seconds. I’m just glad it worked or it would have seen and ate us.” He then continued ahead. “Brooke, what you said earlier got me thinking. You said dragons keep the wyverns to the south. I find it hard that anything can make something that big do anything.”

  His love replied. “Since you have not seen a dragon yet I can understand your skepticism, but elder dragons can get two or even three times as large as the wyvern. They are stronger and use magic freely as you do. Wyverns only have control of fire. If it will put some perspective, think of dragons as humans and wyverns as young children.”

  “I find it hard to think such gigantic predators don’t wipe out all animals for food. What do they eat that is large enough to satisfy such gigantic bodies? We know a wyvern can eat a horse whole, but if dragons are so immense, how much do they eat?”

  “That I do not know. Many of us have considered as much, but whenever we asked a dragon they usually say it isn’t a necessary thing to know. If you ever get to meet a dragon you’ll understand.”

  The rest of the night they moved, waiting for a thud that never came.

  Chapter 3

  In the morning the tribe had an unexpected surprise. One of the four pregnant women in her early twenties went into sudden labor. Jada had been the same woman who went into contractions before the cave collapse. It came on abruptly and the woman’s sister-mates crowded around to help. Cage had everyone rest off the night’s travel over away from the painful birth. After three hours of screaming passed, Cage had had enough and went over. Brooke told him to return as it is not his place, but he explained he had delivered two babies before in medical training and Jada’s pains were weakening in strength. Before she could tell him to leave he stepped around and told the midwives to step aside. One went to cut him enough to get him to go away till he grabbed the knife and buried it close to the hilt in a nearby tree with a little help from magic. When he insisted, they reluctantly relented. It was the first time a man other than the father came to help with a birth. The women watched carefully while Brooke held her tongue. They watched as he knelt at Jada’s side and spoke soothingly. He sent magic into her and sensed the real problem and told everyone the umbilical cord had wrapped around the baby’s neck. The women all knew what it meant and it wasn’t good. He placed a hand on the swollen belly and sent a simple spell which unwound the cord and also reduced the pain she felt by telling the nerves to not overwhelm her.

  Within five more minutes they had a new baby girl born to the world. While the new mother and her loving mates awed over the beautiful baby they saw the mother’s lower half glow blue for a few minutes as Cage healed her. They looked questioningly at him and he explained that they still needed to move and he wouldn’t have the mother and suckling babe too weak to get away if a problem arose. For helping and glad he saved the newborn’s life Jada allowed him to be the second to hold the little girl. He was honored and gladly cradled her. He then returned the child back to her mother and family. They all thanked him, especially the proud father who would have lost a child of his and a woman he cherished.

  Brooke walked with Cage back to the tribe to tell the good news and the Utala cheered. A group of hunters took down a brown bear and cooked it up to fea
st. The new family came soon and celebrated the gift of new life and the honor of the chief saving said life. Cage took up watch in the trees saying everyone needed to rest for the day and he would make sure they were safe.

  By late afternoon or early evening the Utala relaxed as they made it successfully down and out of the Darshay Mountains as they found a desolate dirt road running east to west. So far they only had the one encounter with the wyvern and relaxed as the forest along the road was thick and offered much cover. Off to the east they located a spring and Cage called for everyone to set up camp there.

  Roasting some nuts over the fire, Cage showed how Meeka and the others continued traveling slowly. People were still angry, but not shouting in outrage like before since they had time to process circumstances. Hammit and Quitte were also traveling east through the mountain. People kept pestering him to know what he planned when he canceled the spell.

  Elder Metak finally stated “The plan will be revealed first thing in the morning. For now we must all get a full night’s sleep.” He met Cage’s stare and received a grateful nod.

  Cage ate till full and stuffed his pack with food and relaxed. Brooke pressed herself close to his side and did the same. Before Rena went to lay down with her mother and dad Cage said “Give your mother and I a hug now and sleep with the other girls tonight. I’d like to discuss a few things in private, Kiddo.”

  Rena didn’t question and gave him a hug and kiss on the cheek and Brooke looked to him questioningly before bidding her child goodnight.

  Brooke asked “What must we speak upon, Cage Love?”

  He looked around, glad she chose to spread out the fur off away from the main bulk of the tribe surrounding the spring. In a low voice he said “Not now.” And grabbed her hip and lay back. “We need to get some sleep.”