by AC Cobble
“Why would these people kidnap my brother?” demanded Cinda.
Rew shifted then admitted, “I am not sure.”
“Well, what do you know?” asked Anne, exasperated. “What could have possibly happened while we were sleeping that’s given you such miraculous, but limited, insight!”
“I saw an owl, and it made sure I saw it before it flew away.” Taking out a thick hunk of bacon and carving off thin slices, he told them, “I believe the otter, the owl, and the simian who took Raif are working for Vyar Grund.”
“You saw an owl—Wait, the ranger commandant?” asked Anne, surprised. “Why?”
Rew shook his head, laying the final slice of bacon onto their pan and setting it on the coals of the fire he’d been stoking while the others slept. “Vyar Grund has learned the secret of communicating with animals. He rarely travels with his menagerie and even less often tells others what he’s capable of, but he can do it. Amongst those with that rare talent, I can’t think of anyone else who could possibly bring the creatures here and be waiting for us. I’m certain it’s him.”
“All of this because you saw an owl?” asked Zaine skeptically.
“That and the tracks of the river otter,” commented Rew.
The thief rolled her eyes dramatically.
“Doesn’t the ranger commandant know how to portal?” wondered Cinda. “Why would he task a simian with this? He could have taken my brother himself, could he not, and then been away where we’d never be able to find him? Why would Vyar Grund even be out here, roaming the wilderness, directing these animals to whatever ends you think he’s directing them to? Surely the ranger commandant is no enemy of my brother or our family.”
“I looked in the owl’s eyes, and I am certain it was Vyar’s,” said Rew. “It wanted to be seen, which means Vyar wants us to follow these tracks deeper into the forest. I don’t know why. I don’t know why he wouldn’t just come to us himself, but it’s him.”
Cinda grunted and looked away. Under her breath, Rew heard her muttering, “I hope you’re right.”
Rew knew he was right, but he didn’t think Vyar Grund’s involvement was a good thing.
The girls moved off behind the trees to take care of the necessaries, and Anne squatted next to Rew. “What does all of this mean?”
Rew did not respond.
That afternoon, they followed the tracks of the simian to a giant pool of water. It was fifty paces wide and was formed from a waterfall roaring down a ledge high above it. The basin below the waterfall was ringed in rhododendron and dark, green-leafed magnolias. The plants filled the area with the heady scent of their white blooms, and in autumn, they were a stark contrast to the bare branches and brilliantly colored leaves they’d been passing beneath.
Rew found a scuff on the ground where he believed the simian had descended from the trees, but he lost the tracks amongst the flat rocks that surrounded the pool.
“I don’t understand,” said Cinda.
Standing still, the ranger let his gaze rove around the open space. He barely hid a smile when near the bottom of the waterfall he saw a small, dark head pop up from the pool. Sleek fur dipped beneath the water, and then, the head remerged. The otter twitched its whiskers and dove again. Rew saw it was headed beneath the waterfall.
“Come on,” he said, and led the party toward the cold mist that sprayed up where the water crashed down into the pool.
When they got closer, they saw the rock behind the waterfall was carved into a deep cave. The otter sat on the bank and scampered into the earth when it saw them coming.
“King’s Sake,” muttered Rew, looking into the dark, damp cave.
Cinda held up her hand, and around her fingers, a subtle glow sprang alight.
Rew blinked at her.
“Anne and I have been working on my control,” said the young spellcaster, and she proceeded into the cave. “I can’t cast it more than a few paces away, but I can hold it, and that’s enough to light our way.”
“Wait,” said Rew, scrambling across the wet rocks after her.
“If you think my brother may be in here, I’m going in,” said Cinda, not looking back at him.
Growling, Rew followed the noblewoman, and Zaine and Anne followed him.
They walked up a shallow rock slope that was slick with moisture and thick, green moss. Water trickled down it, coming from some source that was lost in the darkness ahead. Rew could feel the air moving sluggishly past them, the thick mist curling deeper into the cave. It had to be escaping into the open somewhere ahead. He sniffed and detected the metallic tang of copper on the air.
“There’s an opening ahead,” he murmured, glancing nervously into the darkness around them. “Keep your eyes open. Vyar Grund is close.”
“What?” asked Anne. “How do you know?”
He shook his head, not responding. Copper was known to interfere with high magic. It obscured the sight of farseeing, for one. Many a noble had a room somewhere within their keep made of the material for secretive conferences, but why would Vyar Grund take Raif to such a place…
Zaine, stalking carefully beside him, trying not to slip on the dangerous footing, held her two daggers in her hands.
Ahead, Cinda moved steadily, her arm raised, the flickering, pale glimmer from her spell lighting their way until three hundred paces into the cave they saw the glow of daylight. The tunnel they were following opened into a much larger gallery. It reeked of copper, and Rew scuffed his boot across the rock as they entered, seeing a thick vein of the metal snaking through the stone.
He stepped beside Cinda as they reached the end of the tunnel. Light spilled down from an oval-shaped opening in the ceiling of the cave, illuminating thick spikes of rock that dripped down from the roof of the gallery and sprung up from the floor like a bed of needles or the yawning teeth of some ancient monster. The air was thick with cold moisture. Heavy mist obscured the half of the cavern that lay beyond the opening in the ceiling. Rew waited, letting his eyes adjust to the gloom.
“There,” he said quietly, pointing to a bed of sand that lay just outside the shaft of light that beamed down from above.
Cinda raced to where Rew had spied her brother.
Raif was laying on his side, his legs bound, his arms tied behind him. A dirty cloth was wrapped around his face, gagging him. His eyes were open, and they gleamed with reflected light as Cinda crouched beside him and began sawing through the bindings with her belt knife.
Rew drew his longsword and waited. Anne knelt beside Cinda, checking over Raif, who was cursing and grumbling. Rew listened as the boy described being jerked out of his sleep when some creature took him. Breathlessly, he related the harrowing journey through the treetops as the simian swung into the night. Before dawn, he’d been deposited in the cave and had been assaulted by a man he couldn’t see. He’d been tied up and left there for a day with no food and only the water he could suck from the damp rag tied around his face. He hadn’t heard the man return, and Raif claimed he’d been left in the cavern alone.
Rew had heard enough and barked, “Show yourself, Vyar.”
A deep voice chuckled, the sound of mirth bouncing and echoing around the huge chamber. A cloaked figure stepped from the shadows. A dark, leather mask hid the lower half of his face, and his hood was pulled up over his head. His hands were gloved with soft, doe-skin gauntlets that extended to his elbows. Over his shoulders were two polished wooden hilts of the man’s wide-bladed falchions. The ranger commandant looked to Rew but didn’t have time to speak.
Raif, freed by his sister and helped to stand by her and Anne, charged across the sandy soil at Grund. The ranger commandant watched the boy come and then moved casually to the side, tripping Raif. The big youth sprawled forward onto his face, scrambling away and springing back up.
Cinda, her hand still glowing, flung her light toward Grund, releasing a hissing stream of sparks that mostly fizzled out long before they reached the ranger commandment. Those few that did reach him
were easily batted away. Zaine stepped forward, but Rew caught her arm. He and the thief watched as Raif struggled back to his feet and then swung a devastating hook at Grund. The ranger leaned back, and Raif’s fist swung by his face harmlessly.
Stumbling off-balance, Raif shouted wordlessly. He spun and charged, his arms windmilling, his fists flying at Grund like he was trying to beat the man into the ground.
The ranger commandant leaned out of the way, letting the fists fly by him. Then, suddenly, he changed tactics and blocked the attacks before slapping his palm against Raif’s chest, knocking the big fighter back where he landed on his bottom.
“That’s enough,” called Rew. The masked man turned to face the ranger. Rew asked him, “What are you doing here, Vyar? Why’d you take the lad?”
The ranger commandant laughed again and said, “I took the boy because that scoundrel Alsayer was so interested in him, and now I find you are as well. Why is that, Rew? What about this family has attracted so much attention?”
Rew shrugged and did not respond.
Vyar Grund began walking around the sandy floor of the cavern, his eyes darting between Rew and the others. “Baron Fedgley is a skilled necromancer, of course. I know what he’s attempting with the wraiths. The boy has no talent, but let me guess, the girl does?”
Rew eyed his superior and did not respond.
“Where are you going, and why are you escorting them, Rew?” asked Vyar Grund. “You belong in the wilderness near Eastwatch.”
“I do,” agreed the ranger. “I met them as they passed through Eastwatch. I promised to see them home safely, but it turned out that their home was no longer safe. I’m just trying to keep them out of harm’s way. That is all.”
The lower half of the ranger commandant’s face was hidden behind his mask, but his eyes glittered with suspicion.
Rew frowned at the man. “Why this cavern, Vyar? I saw the copper. Who are you worried would be spying on you? Alsayer, someone else?”
“What is Alsayer planning?” questioned the ranger commandant, ignoring Rew’s question.
“I don’t know,” answered Rew.
“He abducted Baron Fedgley,” said Grund, standing motionlessly. With the mask over the lower half of his face and the heavy mist around him, it seemed as if his voice was coming from nowhere, as if he was a ghost. “You’re going to rescue him, aren’t you? I couldn’t care less about the backstabbing and treachery of the nobles and that spellcaster, and neither could you. Why are you involved in this? Why are you helping this inconsequential baron and his family?”
“I told you,” snapped Rew. “I just want to see the children to safety.”
“Why didn’t you return to Eastwatch after depositing them in Falvar?” growled Grund. “The younglings were safe enough there, if they’d stayed. Don’t tell me you grew so attached to them you decided to follow them to Spinesend and rescue the baron out of the goodness of your heart?”
“How do you know Baron Fedgley is in Spinesend?” asked Rew quietly. “How do you know we’re going to rescue him?”
He felt a shiver down his back, and it had nothing to do with the cool air rolling up from the waterfall out of the tunnel. The mist curled and boiled above them, rising on the cold draft from the waterfall, pushing toward the opening in the ceiling of the cavern. It cast undulating shadows across the floor and Vyar Grund. Still the ranger commandant did not move. Did not look as if he could.
Grund did not respond, so Rew asked again, “How do you know where Baron Fedgley is being held?”
The ranger commandant stayed silent.
Rew glanced at Raif, but the boy shook his head, as if to say he wasn’t the one who’d told. Rew snarled, “You searched his mind, did you? The same way you control your animals. You told me you could not do that, Vyar. Does the king know? He’s outlawed such things.”
“I’m the ranger commandant, Rew,” responded Grund. “I am the one who reports to the king, and I’m the one asking the questions here. You turned your back on what you could have been, and now you are nothing more than my ranger. Answer me. Why are you involved with Baron Fedgley?”
Rew snorted and shook his head.
“You’re off your territory, Ranger, and it seems you’re getting yourself into the thick of political matters,” said Grund. “You know we are to avoid the Investiture. You, in particular, are meant to be free of it.”
“I am free of it,” muttered Rew.
Grund raised an eyebrow.
“How did you know Baron Fedgley was captured by Alsayer?” asked Rew. “What are you doing in the Eastern Territory?”
“I ask the questions, remember?” chided Grund.
Frowning at his superior, Rew shook his head. It made no sense. Why was the man there, and how had he learned what had happened? King’s Sake, why had he kidnapped Raif? Grund claimed he was working to foil Alsayer, but why did he care what Alsayer was up to? Why…
“You don’t know, do you? He doesn’t know.”
Grund blinked at him. “Who do you mean, Rew?”
“You’re not here on behalf of the king. You came because one of the princes—ah, Valchon, of course—you came because Valchon sent you. He wouldn’t come himself, but he knew you would do his dirty work.”
Grund paused and then replied, “What are you talking about?”
“You were always close to Valchon,” murmured Rew. “Too close, the king thought. What did he ask you to do? What did Valchon task you with?”
Grund crossed his arms over his chest, and he stood a long moment studying Rew. Finally, he said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. The king instructed me to eliminate the House of Fedgley. He told me to start with the baron and to work my way down. I didn’t know where the baron was, so I took the boy. I learned from him that Fedgley is in Spinesend, and that you were assisting him in recovering his father. I sent back my friends to check for you, Rew, and learned you were on our trail.”
“The king doesn’t even know you’re in the east, does he?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Rew,” snapped Grund. “If the king had not instructed me to do this, why would I tell you such was the case? If I was lying, all it would take was you opening your mouth to the king and I’d be finished. Now, as we’re both the King’s Rangers, and we’ve sworn to follow his commands—like them or not—let us finish this. The boy knows no more of his father’s whereabouts than you do, so he’s of no use to us. I’m guessing it’s the same for the girl. Let’s end them. Then, we can portal together to Spinesend and find the father.”
“Vyar, no…” said Rew.
“We work for the king, Rew,” declared Grund. “It is not up to us to question his orders. Come on, now. You’ve done worse in service to your king.”
“No,” said Rew, suddenly certain. “You’re not working for the king in this, Vyar. I know you are not. If the king knew what was happening here, he would have come himself.”
“You should have stayed in the wilderness, Ranger.”
Rew lifted his longsword and did not respond.
“I’d prefer not to do it this way,” said the ranger commandant with a sigh, “but orders are orders, and I cannot allow insubordination.”
Grund reached behind his shoulders and drew his two broad-bladed falchions. The steel gleamed in the low light in the cavern. Grund began spinning them, the metal whistling softly as the blades sliced through the air.
“Anne,” said Rew. “Get the children out of here. Take them—take them anywhere but Eastwatch or Falvar. Don’t go anywhere he can find you.”
“What…“ she spluttered, staring at the ranger commandant, wide-eyed. “I don’t understand. Why would—”
“He’s not working for the king, Anne. He’s doing this for Prince Valchon. Don’t let him have the children or they’ll die,” snarled Rew. “Blessed Mother, we all will. He can’t leave any of us alive after this.”
Grund laughed, nodding as if to admit that what Rew said was true, and then he spr
ang forward, his falchions singing as they cut through the mist toward Rew.
The ranger danced away, the reflection of Grund’s swords seeming to hang in the air, drifting away on the mist.
“Something’s wrong with his swords!” cried Zaine.
“They’re enchanted,” growled Rew. “Everyone, get out!”
Wordlessly, the ranger commandant attacked, his weapons carving out swathes of air. Rew fell back, trying not to engage with his superior, trying to buy time for the younglings to flee, but they didn’t. Instead, Raif charged, his arms spread wide as if he meant to bear hug the ranger commandant. Grund spun, sweeping both his falchions at the nobleman.
Cursing, Rew leapt forward, swinging his longsword to knock aside one of Grund’s falchions and chopping at the man’s other wrist with his hand. Grund took the blow on his arm and then snaked his leg behind Rew’s. He smashed against the ranger with his shoulder.
Rew felt his legs fly out from underneath of him. He arched back, one hand reaching over his head to the wet, sandy soil. He allowed the momentum to take him, and he cartwheeled away. Grund pursued him, and Rew barely found his footing and raised his longsword in time to block a deadly strike from his commandant.
Backpedaling, Rew furiously defended, weaving his longsword in front of him while Grund struck over and over with both of his enchanted falchions. Behind the ranger commandant, Raif stood still with his arms held wide, his eyes wider. His mouth was open as he watched the two rangers fight. The cavern filled with the ring of steel against steel, and Grund pursued Rew across the sandy soil but then slowed.
“You’ve an enchanted blade?” he asked, pausing to catch his breath from his furious attack. “You never told me. I’m not the only one with secrets, it seems. What are its properties? Why aren’t you using it?”
Rew grunted. “Because I don’t need it, Vyar.”
Grund shook his head. “That’s a lie, Ranger. What else have you been keeping from me? What other secrets are lurking in that head?”
Rew didn’t respond. Instead, he attacked, aiming a blow at the commandant’s legs and at the last second swinging his longsword up.