Treachery in Tarnstead

by Robyn Wideman

  Ahead he spotted an old oak tree that had blown over and crashed into several younger trees knocking them over. The oak had landed on top of a thick birch tree, and where the two trees met was a nice little nook out of the wind and offered plenty of cover and wood for a fire. Gathering a handful of dry branches, Nathan started making his camp for the night. As he built his fire, Nathan carefully kept an eye to the northern mountains, but he could see no signs of whatever it was he’d thought had been following him. He was alone.

  Nathan had a simple meal of jerked beef and paranga, a tasty purple-fleshed squash spiced with cinnamon, ginger, and pepper then soaked in elderberry juice before being fried. The paranga was filling. Nathan burped, stretched, and yawned, then made his bed against the side of the thick, old oak. He had been awake before dawn and was more than ready for sleep. Letting the fire burn out, he closed his eyes and was soon asleep.

  When he woke, Nathan stretched out and scratched his head. He’d slept well. A light sleeper, he’d woken once during the night when an owl decided to attack a mouse that had made its home under the nearby birch tree. Getting up, Nathan gathered his things and prepared to leave. As he started west once more, he was surprised to find a fresh track only a short distance from his camp. Sometime during the night, a large wolf had come up and sat down. It hadn’t come closer than fifty feet, but it had been looking right at his camp. The paw print was one of the largest Nathan had ever seen. It belonged to a timber wolf, or even a ridgeback. A shiver went down his spine. Nathan shook off the unease.

  Nathan suspected the wolf had been what he’d sensed the day before. It was likely the wolf had never seen a man before and had been curious. Putting the beast out of his mind, Nathan continued his journey west.

  It was midday when Nathan reached the edges of the badlands. According to his mother, the badlands were really just a series of small active volcanoes that would spew out lava every couple weeks, constantly changing the landscape with the new rock. The lava fields were dangerous because they would have pockets of emptiness covered by a thin covering of rock. Even worse, were the hidden pockets of active lava with only a small crush over them. The lava flowed over, and around other rock formations and the rapid heating and cooling of the rocks created a massive field of hills and canyons. The outskirts of the fields were mostly just desert, sand, and rock with little vegetation, but the further one went into the fields the stranger and more dangerous they became. Of course, the most valuable vegetation grew in those deep canyons, so his mother had explored them, and had given him detailed notes on what to watch for. Hopefully he hadn’t forgotten all his mother’s lessons on the dangerous terrain.

  After a few hours, Nathan was now fully into the heart of the badlands. He wiped his brow. The ground radiated heat, he hadn’t seen any lava yet but had seen holes in the ground that released small clouds of gas and steam. As much as possible he stayed to ground that looked safe, only crossing molten areas when necessary.

  He was studying the lay of the ground when a blow struck him in the back, sending him flying until he landed against a hill of molten rock. With a groan, he turned to look at what had attacked him. It was a stinking troll. The troll was easily seven feet tall and was coming straight towards him.

  Nathan struggled to get up, trying to pull his sword off his back, but the troll backhanded him before he could draw his weapon. This time the blow smacked him in the chest, once again sending Nathan sprawling to the ground.

  Suddenly an arrow struck the troll in the chest. It roared in agony.

  Nathan looked behind him. A stranger, covered head to toe in sand-colored garb, was on the small molten rock hill behind him, firing arrows at the troll. With the troll distracted by the new threat, Nathan had time to draw his sword. He also had his bow with him, but at this close range the sword was the logical choice.

  The stranger jumped down from the hill into a small, narrow but deep crevice. Nathan watched as the troll followed the stranger into the crevice. What a fool, he thought. On the hill the stranger had been safe, but in the crevice, there was nowhere to go, it ended twenty feet behind where the stranger was standing, and the walls were too high to jump out of. Nathan would have to get between them if he was going to help the stranger. The stranger’s bow wasn’t going to hurt the troll without a perfect shot.

  Nathan sighed. He knew what he was going to do was incredibly stupid, but the stranger had helped him and now he needed to return the favor. He jumped down into the crevice behind the troll. He then ran to the right of the troll, pushing off the side of the crevice, Nathan launched himself over top of the troll. His blade came down slicing the troll across the neck as he flew past the beast.

  The troll again roared in agony, but the blow hadn’t been a critical hit, the blade had sliced its neck but wasn’t deep enough to finish the creature. The enraged creature pushed forward, grabbing Nathan, and flung him over his shoulder. Nathan was slammed into the ground, his arm pinned awkwardly under him. Pain filled his body. He struggled to his feet, determined to help the stranger.

  Suddenly, a second troll jumped into the crevice behind Nathan.

  Swearing at his bad luck, Nathan turned to the second creature. He hoped the stranger had a damn good reason for jumping into the crevice because Nathan had his own problems to deal with now.

  Lifting his sword, Nathan knew he was in trouble. His arm wasn’t working properly. He’d only have one hand to fight with, and it wasn’t his good arm. Behind him, he could hear the troll roar. A roar that seemed filled with frustration, not that he was an expert in troll roars.

  The second troll moved surprisingly fast towards Nathan.

  Nathan swung his sword with his left hand, but the troll smacked the blade aside and struck Nathan. The blow sent Nathan to the ground.

  Having survived many fights, Nathan was well prepared for the rigors of battle, but in all his fights he’d never faced a creature as powerful as a troll. His body was taking a beating, between the two trolls, he was sure he now had a broken arm and several broken ribs, and he’d only landed the one blow against the first troll. Things were not looking good. Another few blows like the ones he’d already received, and he’d be troll dinner.

  A shadow flew over Nathan as something jumped from one of the hills above the crevice onto the second troll. Nathan watched in surprise as a huge wolf attacked the troll. The wolf had hit the troll in its chest, before landing in the crevice. It then leapt at the troll again, its razor-sharp teeth sinking into the neck of the troll and its jaw clapped shut as the wolf tried to squeeze its mouth closed.

  The troll tried to grab the wolf by the scruff of the neck and throw it off, but it couldn’t get the wolf to release its grip on its neck. The troll then slammed the wolf in the head hard enough to get it to release its grip. The troll threw the wolf to the ground and was about to smash it again when Nathan attacked.

  With the wolf taking all the troll’s attention, Nathan was able to get a clean swing at the troll. He could see blood on the troll’s neck where the wolf had bitten it. Nathan swung as hard as he could, and his blade chopped into the troll’s neck.

  The troll dropped to its knees. It tried to take another swing at Nathan, but it was losing blood and strength fast. Even in his own wounded condition, Nathan easily jumped back from the troll’s deadly arm. The troll then fell forward onto the ground.

  Remembering the first troll was still behind him, Nathan turned to see how the stranger was faring. To Nathan’s surprise the first troll was caught in a magical spider web and had been killed with a couple perfectly placed arrows into its eyes.

  Turning back to look at the wolf, Nathan almost missed seeing it jump out of the crevice to disappear above him. Nathan took a step to his right, so he was leaning against the crevice wall.

  The stranger came up to him. “How bad are you hurt?”

  Nathan was surprised to hear a girl’s voice. He examined the strange girl closer. He couldn’t see any skin or much of her face thr
ough her outfit. The only thing he could see were her eyes. They were large, an exotic almond shape, and the brightest green he’d ever seen.

  The girl removed the cloth covering her face. “I said how bad are you hurt?”

  Nathan looked down, avoiding staring into her eyes. “Broken arm, and a couple broken ribs.”

  The girl nodded. “You also have a cut on your face and your other arm has several cuts.”

  “I have salve in my bag,” said Nathan.

  “Good,” said the strange girl. “You’re lucky your wolf showed up when he did.”

  Nathan shook his head. “Not my wolf.”

  “Are you sure?” asked the girl.

  Nathan shrugged. It was possible the wolf was attracted to him. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d made a magical connection to a wolf or another animal. Thorn, his horse had been the only animal he’d really connected with, but there had been a wolf once upon a time who’d seemed like he might connect with. “I’m just glad it showed up when it did.”

  The girl helped Nathan take his backpack off. He pointed to the pocket with the salve. She opened the skunk cabbage leaf and smelled the salve. “Magical salve?” she asked.

  Nathan nodded.

  “Interesting. Are you going to tell me what you are doing this far into the badlands?”

  “Traveling west. I wanted to visit the villages on the other side of the badlands.”

  The girl shook her head. “You are either crazy or a fool. Crossing the badlands is a challenge at the best of times. But trying to cross this far north is insane. There are travel routes, but they are much farther south.”

  “I didn’t want to go that far south. I wanted to scout the area. I could ask you the same you know. What are you doing so far into the badlands?”

  “Hunting,” said the girl.

  Nathan frowned. “What were you hunting?”

  The girl pointed to the dead troll. “Trolls. It would’ve been much easier if you hadn’t crossed the trolls path. It caught your scent and avoided the trap I had set for it. I don’t know where the second one came from, but I bet the same thing happened. It caught your scent and was looking for a little snack.”

  The girl was hunting trolls? Alone? “Where did you learn magic?” asked Nathan.

  The girl chuckled. “It’s only you easterners that hate magic. My people never gave up the old ways. We just moved far enough away that no one would bother us. Where did you learn magic? Or have the people of Solotine finally taken the sticks out of their butts and realized magic isn’t evil?”

  “I learned magic in Northern Solotine and in Balta,” said Nathan. “No, they haven’t changed much but I am working on changing that.”

  “Oh really?” said the girl, sounding amused as she took some of the salve and applied it to the cut on his face. “Balta, you say? I’ve heard about the refugees that have moved to the east of here. Are you one of them?”

  “Yes, but not originally. I was born in Elderwood.”

  “Elderwood? Oh, I see. You’re him. The boy king.”

  “Not a king. My name is Nathan Stoneblood.”

  “Not a king my eye. If we were in Elderwood right now what would they call you?”

  Nathan sighed. “Prince Stoneblood. But my friends just call me Nathan. I don’t like that title. I didn’t earn it.”

  The girl laughed. “No one earns the title of prince. They are born with it. So where are your bodyguards?”

  “I don’t have any.”

  “A prince traveling in the badlands without bodyguards? You aren’t very good at being royalty, are you?”

  “No, I certainly am not. So, do you have a name? You have me at a disadvantage.”

  “You’re a boy. You will always be at a disadvantage.”

  Nathan smiled but said nothing. He just looked at her and waited.

  “Fine. I will tell you my name. It’s Camille. You’re going to have to take your armor off if you want help applying salve to your ribs.”

  Nathan looked at his arm. “Can you give me a hand. Getting this off with one arm isn’t easy.”

  “Lean forward,” said Camille as she grabbed Nathan’s tunic and pulled it over his head. She then grabbed his armor and pulled it over his head. She then examined the armor. “Very nice. What is it?”

  “Vraber skin,” said Nathan.

  “Impressive. The troll’s claws didn’t even rip it.”

  No, the troll claws didn’t rip the armor, but it had pushed the armor into his body hard enough to break his ribs. “It is excellent armor. It’s saved me more times than I care to admit,” said Nathan.

  “Maybe you should reconsider your policy on bodyguards.”

  Nathan tried to chuckle, but the movement sent daggers of pain into his sides. “Perhaps you’re right.” He then looked around, but there was nothing interesting in the crevice. “Why were you hunting trolls here? I thought trolls stayed deep in the mountains?”

  “For the most part they do, but they like the pools.”

  Nathan finished applying the salve as the girl eyed his numerous scars. He suspected she was counting them. She certainly wasn’t bashful. Was that a look of admiration he saw on her face? Or was it a look of awe that he was such a poor fighter that he often got wounded? “Trolls like pools?”

  “Get dressed and I’ll show you.” Camille handed him back his tunic and vraber undershirt.

  Nathan held up the tunic with his good arm to inspect the new holes the troll’s claws had ripped into it. He sighed as he put it in his bag. He was running out of tunics. Gingerly he put his armor back on and gathered his weapons and his bag.

  Camille admired his bow. “I can feel the magic radiating from your weapons. Where did you get them?”

  “I made them,” Nathan said with pride.

  “Really? You obviously have a strong earth affinity. Imbuing gemstones is no small feat. You have an interesting combination of magical powers if you can also connect with animals. Your bloodlines must be strong, are there many like you in Eastern Solotine?”

  Nathan shrugged. “I don’t know. I have strong magic, and my distant cousin Hanna does as well. And we brought many magic users with us from Balta, but I would assume there are others we don’t know.”

  “Yes, that makes sense. Our people fled west, others left Solotine altogether. I imagine some just hid their true identity, and if they didn’t teach their children to use magic it would slowly die out. Or if they married non-magical people the bloodlines would also eventually die out. There are occasionally throwbacks who have strong magic. Even among my people we have varying levels of magic.”

  Realization struck Nathan like a bolt of lightning. “You’re Ingla.”

  Camille nodded. “I’m surprised you even know that name. Most easterners have forgotten that name. Help me with these troll hides and then I’ll show you the pools.”

  As Camille started expertly skinning the trolls, Nathan thought about what he knew of the Ingla. They were an ancient race. There had once been many of them in Northern Solotine. His own heritage had Ingla blood on both sides. But as Currians grew more powerful the Ingla were killed or forced to flee Solotine. Now most Southern and Northern Solotinians were descendants of Currians, although the name itself had died. That there might be a large group of Ingla in the far western parts of Solotine was somewhat surprising, but the more he thought about it the more it made sense. The Ingla had originally come from the far west, from the Western Isles or beyond.

  “Grab that leg,” said Camille, pulling Nathan out of his thought process. He admired how quickly she worked. This wasn’t the first troll she’d skinned. Troll skin was a valuable commodity, lightweight and sturdy, it made exceptional armor.

  “How long have you been hunting trolls by yourself?” asked Nathan as Camille moved to the second troll body.

  “My father taught me. We used to take trips together into the mountains to hunt. He was the village’s best hunter. We would avoid vraber, too hard to kill, but eve
rything else we would hunt. Troll hides are the most valuable. If we’d known how good of armor vraber skin would make we’d probably have hunted them too. Although I don’t think I would’ve enjoyed that. Trolls usually are alone, much easier to kill than a pack animal like vraber.”

  Nathan grimaced as he remembered his first encounter with a pack of vraber. He’d been on his first trip into Northern Solotine with his uncle, Verin. They’d survived more due to luck than skill as they discovered the weak spot in a vrabers defense was its mouth. Verin had barely survived the encounter, and had needed to stay put to heal, giving Nathan time to ponder the vraber and come up with a plan to skin the creatures. Which was almost as difficult as defeating them.

  The path Camille led Nathan along went over hills, followed crevices in the rocks, until they finally came to a small group of three pools of water. The water was a bluey-green that almost seemed to glow and had mist coming off it. Camille dropped her pack of troll skins and started taking her clothes off. She glanced over at Nathan. “What are you waiting for?”

  Nathan removed his pack and weapons, he tried to avoid looking at Camille, pulling off his vraber skin shirt and pants he left his underwear on, and with downcast eyes he followed her into the pool. The water was hot but not so hot he couldn’t stand it. Camille was already laying down in the water, sitting on a ledge of rock that was a perfect depth for her. Only her head and shoulders were above the water. Nathan found a spot across from her and sat. He tried not to wonder if she was naked. Her shoulders were bare. It was a bit disconcerting. He focused on the pain in his arm. It was a good distraction from his wayward thoughts. He winced as he probed the length of his injured arm. There was swelling, mostly muscle damage, and a small bump on the bone above his elbow. It felt like a crack in the bone.