Kreg heard the warning and leaped back in time to evade the worst of the blow. Despite his leap, the tail struck hard enough to hurl him fifteen feet through the air. As he struck into the sand he heard, more than felt, the crack of bone in his rib cage. Pain speared into his side. He lay gasping for breath while agony burned in his lungs. The creature turned to face him. It waved its head from side to side, eyeing Kreg with first one eye, then the other.
"Enough of this!" Kaila shouted and leaped full on the beast. The fall left her lying on the ground stunned. Her fall distracted the creature long enough for Kreg to rise to his feet. His right knee wobbled under his weight but held--barely.
Kreg lifted his sword overhead. With a yell, he dove at the beast driving the sword point first into its head. The combination of his weight and momentum drove the sword through the beast's snout, pinning it to the sand.
With a bellow, the sand devil shook its head, ripping the sword free of the sand and hurling Kreg away. Kaila's sword rose and fell on the creature's neck as Kreg's world faded to black.
#
Sparks popped in the campfire behind Kaila as she leaned over Kreg to bathe a cut on his cheek. A faint breeze kissed the skin of her arms, heralding the coming night chill.
Kreg’s eyes flickered open.
"Shillond," Kaila said. "He wakes." She stood and stepped back to allow Shillond to take her place at Kreg's side.
"Easy, Kreg," Shillond said. "You took some rude blows. I have used wholesome herbs that will heal you. Until they do so you must rest."
"What happened?" Kaila felt an edge of fear at the weakness in Kreg's voice. Had he taken more hurt than Shillond had apprised her? Already, he had become a friend dear to her. She pushed the fear away. Shillond had said that Kreg's injuries were light and no doubt no more than pain and fatigue took the strength from Kreg's voice. "It burns like fire just to breathe." Kreg squirmed to the side as if trying to avoid a flaming brand, then stopped as a shudder racked his frame.
"Well now." Shillond smiled. "You should expect that with broken ribs. You were fortunate to avoid worse."
"I take it the good guys won?" Kreg started to laugh but the sound became a fit of coughing instead. "Ooh, that hurts."
Kreg sat up, shaking off Shillond's restraining hand to do so. "My thanks, Kaila. It seems I owe my life to you."
"Marry!" The compliment surprised her. "I was overlong in coming to your aid and for that I crave pardon. 'Twas your own leap at the end that gave me the opening to slay the beast. Once again, you have proven yourself a man of much courage."
"Courage?" This time Kreg did manage a weak, albeit painful, chuckle. "I was scared witless."
"The more proof of your courage," Shillond said. "Doing what you must despite fear is courage. Facing a hungry sand devil at the bottom of its pit without fear would not be courage. It would be foolishness."
Kaila nodded vigorously. "Shillond speaks sooth. Many times I have seen men whose fear did cause them to quail in their boots, yet still did they proceed and thus accomplish much. Oft' also have I seen men who knew no fear plunge foolishly to their deaths and accomplish naught." So Shillond had told her and so she believed. And yet, what of that part of her heart that strove to drive fear away from her, that condemned her at any thought of fear for herself. Fear for another, that was a worthy thing and could lead to great acts of valor, but fear for herself? Those were deep thoughts that she could not well hold in her head.
Shillond laid his hand on Kreg's shoulder. "Now lie still. Rest. Let the herbs do their work. Tomorrow you will be fit enough to travel and the day after it will be as if you were never injured."
"I can see where magic has its advantages," Kreg said. He lay back down, groaning.
"Sleep now." Shillond waved a hand over Kreg's face. "Sorthenkal!"
Kreg's face relaxed, smoothing away lines of care and pain. A pleasant face he had, Kaila thought. Some might not agree as it lacked the boyishness of many of the swains at court, but Kaila thought it a face well-suited to an adult.
#
The sun in his eyes woke Kreg and he sat up. He groaned and said, "Toenails, toes, feet, ankles, knees, thighs--" His clothing cracked with the motion as dry blood flaked away.
"What do you?" Kaila asked.
"I'm checking everything that hurts," Kreg said. "Hips, back, stomach, chest, shoulders...."
"You should not be up yet,” Shillond said. “The spell should have kept you asleep a while yet." Shillond handed him a cup. "Drink. It will ease the aches."
Kreg sipped at the drink. As the liquid hit his throat he choked, then coughed, spraying Kaila and Shillond. He had been expecting another of the herb drinks and instead the cup contained brandy, strong brandy. He drank again, more cautiously. The drink burned its way down his throat to light a fire in his stomach. The warmth spread. "That's potent stuff."
"Come," Kaila said. "The day is young and we have far to go. We have lost time already and I hunger to be home." She practically leaped onto her saddled horse.
"Really, Kaila." Shillond helped Kreg to his feet. "Have we been gone so long? If I did not know better I'd think you pining for Keven."
"My motives are my own, mage." Kaila tossed her head. "Has't become sinful to desire a return to one's home?"
"Did I say that?" Shillond hung an innocent look on his face. "Did I ever say that? Come, we have far to go."
During this exchange Kreg stood staring down at his saddle. Someone, Kaila probably, had removed it from the corpse of his horse and dragged it out of the pit.
"Kreg?" Shillond's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Allow me to give you a hand?"
Kreg turned to face him. Shillond knelt next to their pack animals. The packs had been consolidated from four to three, leaving one of the horses free. "All of the pack horses are saddle-trained and while you are fit enough to travel I don't think you are well enough to consider walking the distance we must go."
Kreg sighed. He had to admit that Shillond was right. He glanced over to where Kaila circled them, her eyes scanning the desert. Her gaze kept drifting to the east where vultures circled. To Shillond, he said, "All right. Let's get to work."
In a short time they had the remaining horse saddled. Kreg placed his left foot in the stirrup and lifted himself into the saddle...almost. As he raised his right leg to swing it over the horse's back, his left folded beneath him, depositing him on the sand.
"Kreg?" Shillond brought his horse close.
Kreg stood up and dusted himself off, wincing at the new aches. "It looks like I walk after all."
"Must still be weak from your injuries," Kaila said. She urged her horse next to him as Shillond backed his away. Leaning down, she placed her arm around Kreg just under his shoulders. She tensed, then heaved. He felt himself lifted into the air and set on his horse.
"Thanks," Kreg said wryly.
"Let Shillond's magics work their way," Kaila told him. "They will strengthen you. Give them time."
Kaila's eyes again drifted eastward. "I wonder what draws yon carrion eaters."
Shillond shaded his eyes with one hand and followed her gaze. "Probably some animal, dead or dying."
"Or perhaps travelers, like us, travelers in difficulty."
"It is not likely."
"But it could be," Kaila said, looking back at Shillond.
"Aye, it could be." His voice held resignation, a tone that puzzled Kreg.
"It is no more than an hour's ride from our path," Kaila said, "Come." She urged her horse in the direction of the circling vultures.
Shillond shrugged and, motioning Kreg to accompany them, followed her.
#
The arrival of Kaila's horse, leading Kreg's and Shillond's by two horse lengths, startled one of the big birds, sending it squawking back into the air. An animal lay on the ground, a wolf or coyote Kreg guessed. A large wound gaped where the vulture's beak had torn flesh from its side and its head had swollen to enormous proportions.
Kaila
rode toward the dead animal and peered down at it. She stiffened. "Shillond, come!"
Shillond dismounted and walked over to where the dead animal lay. Kaila, too, dismounted and knelt by the beast. Not knowing what else to do, Kreg joined them, urging his horse closer.
From this vantage, Kreg could see that the animal was most likely a coyote as it was too small to be an adult wolf, and it was an adult. The coyote was a female, with twin rows of engorged teats along her body.
"Where are the pups?" Kaila asked.
"Dead, most likely," Shillond said, "like their dam."
Kaila knelt beside the dead coyote and peered at its head. "I think not," she said and pointed at a spot alongside its muzzle. Two puncture wounds leaked a thick black fluid. "She did not die from illness or starvation, but from snakebite, and recently. That would not have killed the pups and they may be nearby."
Shillond sighed. "I suppose you want us to look."
Kaila stood and dusted off her hands. "You know me well, Father."
"I'll help," Kreg said and clambered off his horse.
Shillond sighed and looked back at Kreg. "You, too?"
Kreg shrugged and grinned.
"All right," Shillond said, and he stooped next to the dead coyote, "she had not given birth too long ago, so the pups would still be in the den." He stood again. "If the den is not nearby we will never find it. And what of her mate? I see no evidence that he is dead, or even injured."
"Can the male provide milk for the pups, even if he lives?" Kaila asked then shook her head. "We will search until the sun has fallen halfway to the horizon."
"There is no guarantee that the burrow is within a league of this place," Shillond said. He thought for a moment, then added, "You are young yet, Kaila. Not all deaths are in combat, nor do only evildoers die. Sometimes it is the small and helpless that die, and not all our efforts can save them. You don't have to like it--I don't--but you do have to accept it."
"For a short span only, Shillond? Please?"
Shillond sighed and looked at Kreg, his hands open in an interrogative gesture.
Kreg thought for a moment. His side still ached slightly, but he felt quite well, remarkably well considering the bashing he had taken the previous day. "I'm up for it," he said.
"Very well," Shillond said. "For a short span."
"Thank you, Father," Kaila said.
They began to search. Kreg did not know what Kaila hoped to find. It would be sheer chance if the coyote's den were anywhere near this spot.
Kreg stepped around a waist high rock. He bent to examine the ground where the rock's shadow fell but found no burrows, no coyote den.
"Shillond! Come here!" Kaila called.
Kreg looked up. Kaila was crouched in a small hollow, peering at the ground at her feet. Shillond knelt beside her. When Kreg trotted up to them, he saw that they were peering at a spot of sandy ground, marked by two paw prints.
"Can you trace them?" Kaila peered into Shillond's face.
"I think so," Shillond said, "but there's no guarantee that these were left by the same coyote, or her mate."
"I know, Shillond," Kaila said, "but we must try."
"Very well." He spread his hands over the two tracks, and said something in a voice too low for Kreg to hear.
"There!" Kaila stood and pointed. Beyond the sandy hollow a string of paw prints led across the hard-packed ground. She sprinted after it, leaving Kreg and Shillond, with horses in tow, to follow in her wake.
They caught up to Kaila to find her lying face down, her ear scant inches from a hole in the ground.
"Kaila, what?" Kreg started to ask.
She waved a hand. "Shh." Then a moment later, she said, "This is the one; I can hear the pups within."
Kaila sprang to her feet and dug into the packs lashed onto one of the horses. A moment later she drew out a tin plate. Dropping to her knees, she drove the edge of the plate into the ground next to the burrow and began to dig.
Kreg looked into the same pack Kaila had opened and found another plate. He knelt next to her and bent to assist her.
"No, Kreg," Kaila said.
"What?"
"You are not yet fully recovered from your injuries and I would not have you injured further. Rest. This responsibility is mine and mine alone."
"I'm fine," Kreg said.
"No," Shillond broke in. "You are not." He sighed then beckoned them both away from the hole. "If you will allow me."
Kreg stood and backed away from the hole. He wondered what Shillond had in mind. Shillond opened another pack and withdrew a small pouch. From the pouch he took a handful of fine leaves and set them next to the burrow. He struck a spark on flint and steel, igniting the pile.
Smoke rose then coalesced into a vaguely manlike shape, only about a foot high. The smoke solidified into a tiny, distorted caricature of a man with protruding face, receding brows, and a stooped over posture. Its skin was deep purple.
Kreg's jaw dropped. He had thought he had accepted the idea of magic but this was far more than he had expected. Shillond glanced up noting Kreg's expression and grinned.
Shillond turned back to the little man. "You," he said, "you know you are here to serve me?"
The little man's head bobbed.
"Okay, there are coyote pups in that burrow. I want you to go in and bring them out, all of them, and unharmed."
The little man scowled, then his head bobbed again.
"Go," Shillond said.
"Shillond," Kaila said as the small man scampered into the hole, "that was your homunculus spell."
"Of course," Shillond said. "It was the easiest way to get the job done."
"But now you have lost that spell."
Shillond nodded. "Until I can find the name of another imp to power the spell."
"But...I do not understand."
"I'm puzzled myself, Shillond," Kreg said. "I seem to recall you arguing against this little search. And what did Kaila mean 'you have lost that spell'?"
"Magic draws its power from demons. The demons rebel against providing such power, particularly when it is used to good ends. Thus, a magician can only use many spells once, or only once with a particular demon providing the energy. In other spells, the demons retaliate more directly, striking at the spellcaster. These spells are quite dangerous, a danger that grows ever greater with each casting."
"Then why would anyone ever cast spells."
"Well, not all spells are like that. Many spells are quite safe, such as the spells I used to speed your healing. Unfortunately these spells only affect humans, not animals or things, and such spells require a willing, or at least an unresisting, recipient."
Kreg could only shake his head and try to absorb what Shillond had said as the homunculus emerged from the hole with a baby coyote under each arm. It dropped the pups then turned and dashed back into the hole. A moment later it reemerged with two more pups, dropped them, and stood waiting.
"Is that all?" Shillond asked.
The homunculus's head bobbed once.
"Very well. You are free. Go."
The homunculus vanished.
Kaila knelt beside the coyote pups. Three of them lay almost unmoving on the cracked earth. The fourth sat up on his tail, his fat belly protruding before him and waved his forepaws at Kaila. His lips drew back from his tiny, needlelike teeth as he hissed at her.
Kaila extended a hand to the pup and it snapped its teeth onto the end of one finger. In response, Kaila jerked her hand free, then grasped the pup firmly, but gently around the neck and pressed its shoulder to the ground.
Shillond turned to Kreg. "We should set camp here. Kaila's task will require some time."
"I don't understand," Kreg said. "What's she doing?"
"She is establishing dominance." He sighed. "She has done this before with wolf cubs, but this will be a more difficult task as coyotes are not normally pack animals. Still, I have faith in her; she is good with animals."
#
The
next morning Kreg felt no more than the mildest of aches in his side. Across the camp, Kaila sat with two of the coyote pups in her lap. In one hand she held a glove, filled with liquid, and the pups sucked at the tip of two of the glove's fingers.
Kreg did not see the other pups, but he did see two small mounds of Earth.
Shillond had already packed their gear, except for their bedrolls and the pot of porridge that hung over a small fire. He handed Kreg a bowl of the porridge and a flask, then proceeded to clean out the pot.
"How are your new charges doing?" Kreg asked Kaila. He started to shovel porridge into his mouth, surprised at the extent of his hunger.
"They are weak," she said. "As I think it unwise to feed them wine, nor can they eat solid food. Since water alone will not sustain them, I have naught to give them but the sap squeezed from a cactus. The other two would not take even that." She looked up, moisture sparkling in her eyes. "They did not survive the night."
"Kreg," Shillond said. "Could you help me with this?" He stood alongside their packed bags, holding the reins of the packhorse.
Kreg bolted the last of his porridge and squirted the remaining contents of the flask of water down his throat before standing to help Shillond load the horse.
#
"Tonight we sleep in a bed, I warrant," Kaila said as the sun sank toward the western horizon. Two more days had passed. The packs had gotten lighter and Kreg had gotten stronger. A third of the coyote cubs had died, leaving one on which Kaila lavished every possible care. The night before, under Kaila's coaxing, it had first taken a few small bites of dried meat that had been soaked in water to soften. With it now eating even a little solid food, Kaila had expressed confidence that this one, at least, would live.
"Elam, the first outpost of Aerioch, is just a few miles ahead." She had strapped a stiff-sided leather bag to the saddle in front of her and used it as a den for the sole surviving cub.
"Aye," Shillond said. "We will also hear the news of the kingdom."
As they topped the crest of a hill, the town of Elam came into view. In outward appearance, it much resembled Trevanta with the exception of the army encamped about it, a very large army.
"The Threefold Twins!" Kaila burst out explosively. "Elam besieged?" She drew her sword.
The Hordes of Chanakra (Knights of Aerioch) Page 5