“They used magic, and fought with great skill,” Fahtin said. “Maybe I should have talked to them.”
“You did the right thing,” Urun said. “There’s no telling who they are or what they’re after. Maybe we’ll meet them in the future, but for now, we’re just glad you’re back safe with us. Now we can get on with the mission.”
“Yeah, about that…” Aeden said.
Chapter 53
“What do you mean you changed your mind about it?” Urun Chinowa said, a scowl forming on his face.
Aeden looked at the priest calmly. “I think we have a valuable opportunity here, one we should take advantage of. These animaru were sent by whoever is in command. They would not be expected to fail. I think we are probably closer to their headquarters than we are to the Academy. We could finish this now, while they are not expecting us. They had to have sent most of their troops with the two animaru who were leading them. How many more could there be?”
“Are you saying we should go to where these things came from?” Urun said. “Attack the heart of them? Are you out of your mind?”
“What do you think will happen, Urun, if we take the time—maybe a month or more—to get to the Academy to seek help? What happens if we get there and they won’t help us, or can’t? In the meantime, whoever sent those forces against us will find out we defeated them. They’ll make plans, prepare, at the very least be on guard. When we finally get around to attacking their headquarters, they’ll be ready for us.”
“Yes, but if we have the help of the Academy, maybe even some of their heroes to aid us—”
“We’d still be fighting a more prepared foe,” Aeden interrupted. “Maybe they will bring more of the creatures over from their world. They may be doing so now. Time is the important factor here.”
Urun didn’t have an answer for that. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and glared at Aeden.
“You want to…attack the main force of the animaru?” Fahtin asked, filling the silence.
“Yes,” Aeden said.
“How will we even find their lair, though?” Aila asked. “We don’t know where they were going. It still may be hundreds of miles away.”
“Tere?” Aeden turned to the tracker. “Could you figure out where they came from, where they were going?”
“I might be able to find an old trail from when they left their base,” Tere said. “But I don’t think I need to. I am pretty sure I know where they were going, based on how they were traveling. Their path is a fairly straight line to some old fortifications to the east. The area is called Broken Reach.It was important in a war many centuries back, when this area was more heavily populated and hotly contested. It would be the perfect place to stage assaults. No one goes there anymore. Not many even know there’s anything there. The land is rugged and difficult.”
“Could you lead us there?” Aeden asked.
“Yes.”
“Will you lead us there?”
Tere Chizzit looked at the others, spending several seconds facing Urun, though his white eyes didn’t change or focus in any way. He nodded. “Yes, I will lead you there.”
Urun threw up his hands. “Really? We’re going to give up the mission we have been working so hard at completing to go haring off in a new direction?”
“Urun, we’re not—” Aeden started.
Fahtin interrupted him, stepping between the two and blocking their vision of each other. “Urun. We’re not changing the mission. All along, it has been to find and destroy the black creatures that have been terrorizing villages and towns. It seemed that going to the Academy was the best way to accomplish that, but now it seems that we can do better.
“I, for one, would still like it if we had some heroes from Sitor-Kanda on our side, but Aeden is right. We need to take this opportunity and attack while our enemies are unaware that we live. Even the ones that captured me seemed to be in a rush for some reason. Can’t you see that this could be a better option than trying to get the help of the Academy, help we might not even be able to obtain?”
The young priest ran his fingers through his hair. “I can understand all that, but you are all avoiding one key point. What if we run into a force of double or triple the ones we have already encountered, or even more? What if the ones we met were only a scouting party or a small raiding force to them, and they have tens of thousands of the creatures sitting around their headquarters, waiting for an excuse to kill humans? What of that?”
“It’s a chance we’ll have to take,” Aeden said.
Urun stepped to the side to look past Fahtin at Aeden. “Do you truly want to die? Does the end of your life mean nothing to you?”
Aeden locked eyes with the priest, blue eyes meeting gray. He didn’t speak for a moment, pausing as if thinking about the question. “No. I do not want to die. But neither do I want to make a decision based on fear of dying.”
“What does that even mean?” the priest snapped.
“I believe our best chance of ending the conflict, of completing our quest to eliminate the invaders from another world, is to find their heart and destroy it. There are too many ifs in going to the Academy, and too much time will be taken. Take the fear of defeat out of the decision, and it becomes clearer.”
“But you can’t take the fear of defeat out of the decision. There is a greater chance of losing if we go in blind and attack now.”
“I don’t believe that is true,” Aeden said. “I think that if they have time to prepare, we are more likely to lose. Surprise gives us the edge.”
Urun opened his mouth to say something else, but then closed it. He looked pensive, his eyes seeming to focus inside himself. His brow furrowed. He raised a finger and opened his mouth again as if to make a point, but then lowered his hand and remained silent. After a moment, he sighed and said, “I just don’t know. What about the rest of you?”
“What he says makes sense,” Tere Chizzit said. “Either way, we’ll probably die, but I think this plan will give just a little bit better chance that some of us may survive and that we can cut the head off this beast.”
‘I agree with Aeden,” Fahtin said, giving Urun a sympathetic look.
“I will go with Aeden, whatever he decides to do,” Raki said, looking at the ground as if embarrassed.
“Aila?” Urun looked toward the black-clad woman.
“I’m not all that excited about either option. Both seem to me to have a pretty good probability that I’ll die.”
“You don’t need to go with us, Aila,” Aeden said. “You can leave anytime.”
“Now just hold on there,” she said. “I wasn’t saying I wasn’t going to go. I’m just wondering, you know, what’s in it for me? I mean, something like this, putting my life on the line, that should be worth something, right?”
Aeden found himself staring at her with his mouth open. Did she just ask about a reward, some kind of payment for helping to save the world? “There is no reward, Aila. No gold, no treasure, nothing like that. We’re trying to save Dizhelim from invaders, for Codaghan’s sake. What is wrong with you?”
The diminutive woman stepped back and flinched as if struck.
“Now, Aeden,” Fahtin said. “Don’t be so harsh. Aila’s had it rough all her life. You can’t blame her for thinking about getting something for her efforts.” She turned to Aila. “Aila, let me put it to you plainly. There is probably nothing that any of us will get for this other than the knowledge that we saved the world we live in from invaders from another world. That’s it.”
“Oh, okay,” Aila said, taking up a handful of hair and fiddling with it. “I was just checking. I’ll do whatever Aeden thinks is right, then.” She winked at him, and he wondered how much of everything she did at any time was an act and how much was real.
“Fine,” Urun said. “I seem to find myself doing things against my better judgment since I met all of you, but I do have a charge from my goddess, so I’ll go with you. My only regret is that as we die, I probably won’t h
ave time to tell you I told you so.”
Chapter 54
The party rested for the remainder of the day. Tere Chizzit was able to bring down a deer near midday, and they dressed it and cooked it for both their lunch and dinner, leaving some to cook more thoroughly and take with them for their trip.
Their mood was not light, but neither was it morose. To Aeden, it had the sense of a group of people with a job to do. From the others, he felt resignation, resolution, and maybe mild anticipation of what the next few days would hold. Conversation was stilted, probably from the arguments earlier in the day, but as evening approached, full stomachs and rested bodies began to loosen the mood. By the time they were ready to leave in the morning, hard feelings seemed to have been forgotten and only one thing mattered: the completion of their mission.
It took less than half a day to get to where Fahtin had escaped amongst the trees. Aeden smelled it long before they could see it. The place was a mess of trampled foliage and animaru bodies strewn about and beginning to decompose.
“There is the leader, over there,” Fahtin said, pointing with one hand while holding a silk scarf over her mouth and nose. Aeden almost swallowed a fly and decided she had the right idea. He took a rough cloth kerchief from his pocket and held it to his own face.
The lump she pointed to was larger than most of the others, and hairier. It did look like the leader they had seen. Urun went to the body and took a long look at it. “Yes, that’s him,” he said. “His magic didn’t save him this time.” He made some sort of sign with his hand. Was that a salute, some form of respect for a foe?
The Croagh noticed that Urun neither had a cloth to his face nor did the smell—or even the buzzing flies—seem to inconvenience the priest. In fact, a closer look showed that the flies avoided him, as if he had an invisible shield around him keeping them away. Aeden swore he saw more than one of the insects bounce off something as it flew toward Urun.
Urun turned toward Aeden as if he sensed the gaze. He raised an eyebrow, but then seemed to realize why Aeden was staring at him. He smiled. “Flies are part of the natural world. I can repel some things, if I desire. It’s one of the benefits of being a priest to my goddess.” He took a deep breath just to show he could, and his smile turned into more of a smirk.
“Show off,” Aeden said.
“Here,” Tere Chizzit said from the edge of the battlefield.
The others all went to where the tracker was. It was slightly upwind from the main bulk of the bodies, so the air was not quite as foul there.
“I found the trail of the ones who killed all these creatures,” he said. “They did use magic, as Fahtin said, though I guess that’s obvious because they were able to destroy the black things. They went that way.” He pointed toward the south. “We need to go that way.” He pointed toward the southeast. “My guess is that we won’t see them. Besides, they seemed to be moving fast. We’d never catch them.”
Aeden wondered about that. Who were Fahtin’s mysterious rescuers? Would they be allies or enemies? Just because they were fighting the same foe didn’t mean they would be friendly. Still, it was comforting to know that there were others in the world fighting the animaru who had the ability to actually damage them. Maybe they would meet some day, or maybe not. It would do no good to worry about it now.
“Thinking about the ones who did this?” Aila said. She had slipped up next to him and looked up into his eyes. She seemed very close, too close, but he refused to step back. She would just tease him about that. As he looked at her, he was struck once again by how attractive she was. Not necessarily beautiful, though she was, but she just seemed to draw him, and his eyes.
“Yes,” he said.
“Do you wonder what the woman looked like? Fahtin said she didn’t get a close look at her. Was she beautiful, do you think? Do you like red hair?” She pulled her fingers through her own as she said it, and he noticed how shiny and perfect it was. How did she do that? Fahtin’s hair was tangled and messy.
“No.”
“I think you do,” she said, giving him the smirk she wore so well. She walked off. No, she slunk off, the motion of her body mesmerizing.
“Hmph,” Fahtin said from behind him. “That one is trouble, I think, for any man who falls prey to her charms. Like one of those fly trap plants.” She formed her hands into claws and brought them together like one of the plants she mentioned. She smiled as she did it and they both laughed.
“I believe you are correct there, my beautiful friend,” he said. “I do believe that.”
They traveled three more days until they reached the badlands which held Broken Reach, where the old fortress could be found. As they did, the land transformed from having a moderate number of trees to lifeless, rocky terrain. The only green was twisted scrub brush growing in patches.
Aeden figured the large bushes were the closest things to trees the area offered. Game became scarce, as did identifiable roots to eat. Urun was invaluable here, searching out edible tubers and roots. He also pointed out some red berries that, although they were bitter, were safe to ingest.
They were coming to the end of their quest to find the headquarters of the animaru. As yet, they hadn’t seen any of the creatures, but Tere Chizzit said there were few trails where they passed. Maybe they had roads or other paths they used. Aeden was satisfied with not seeing any of their foes.
As the party moved inevitably toward their goal, Aeden drew within himself. He was not alone. Conversation dwindled to a trickle of words, the least amount necessary to interact and continue on their way. A short sentence that they would stop to rest or eat, a meaningful glance or grunt when they could get away with it. Everyone seemed to be saving up their energy for the final confrontation.
It would come. Soon.
In an eerie way, the land reflected their moods, or maybe it was the other way around. What were they doing there, in that increasingly desolate corner of the world? What would they find when they got to the old fortress? What would they do? It was unlike Aeden to have such doubts, and that fact made him even more uncomfortable.
They had been together, for the most part, for nearly four months, always working toward the goal of going to Sitor-Kanda to find help in their quest. Now they didn’t even have that. Had he made a mistake in insisting they go on to where the animaru gathered? Would he be responsible for the deaths of his friends? That had always been a real possibility, but the thought had taken on a keener edge in the last day or so.
“Don’t let it eat at you,” Tere Chizzit said to him. The tracker walked with the rest of them, not needing to scout ahead in a land with few obstructions for miles in any direction.
Aeden was surprised the man had talked to him. It broke the thoughts he had been dwelling upon and scattered the pieces. “What?”
“The thoughts, don’t let them eat you up.”
“What thoughts are those?” Aeden said, trying to hide his surprise and confusion. He did look around to see that the others were ranged out at distances that would not allow them to easily hear what the two men were discussing.
“Don’t play stupid. You are much smarter than that. I have been in your position, leading others into danger, wondering if you made the right decision, all of it. You will doubt yourself, think of turning back, fear what may happen to your friends because of your decision. Don’t.”
Aeden stopped walking and turned to face the tracker. He looked into the man’s white eyes, though he knew Tere didn’t see him through those orbs. “Tere, who are you?”
The blind man laughed. “I am Tere Chizzit, humble woodsman and tracker, at your service.” He made a little bow as they started walking again.
“No,” Aeden said. “Really. The things you know, what you say, how you act, there is more to you than being a simple tracker. Who were you, if you insist on being coy?”
“Aeden, my past is not something I like to talk about. Suffice it to say that I have been in your shoes and know what you are feeling. It’s norm
al. Don’t let it affect your focus. You made a decision, right or wrong, and you can carry through with it or you can change your mind. You are in control here, not circumstances. Always remember that.”
Aeden looked at Tere as they continued on. “I’ll try to remember that.”
“See that you do.” The older man lengthened his stride to move up ahead of Aeden, but as he did, he looked back over his shoulder. “For what it’s worth, I would have made the same decision. You are smart, a good leader, and have an instinct for making the right decisions. Don’t second-guess yourself. We all have faith in you. You should, too.”
That last part burned itself into Aeden’s brain as he continued his trek. He would try.
They entered an area unlike any Aeden had ever seen. It began with rolling hills, rocks jutting up at intervals, breaking up the line of the horizon and jarring the sight. The bushes and scrub that had dotted the landscape dwindled, and other plants began to spring up, just a few at first, but then more.
He had never seen plants like them. They were prickly and had edges, without the curving lines of most of the vegetation he had seen. They were all straight lines and thorns. Even the succulent varieties wore armor of needle-like projections that looked wickedly sharp.
As they continued, the hills began to look as if rocks had been ejected from the crust of the land up through the soil. The tops of the hills no longer looked rounded, but jagged, waiting, anticipating another boil of stone to pop and mar their surfaces even further. Aeden looked at them with interest and noticed all the others did, too. All except Tere Chizzit. He seemed to take it all in stride. He had probably seen it before.
It soon grew too dark to see the land as it became more rugged. They could easily have traveled at night—there were no great obstructions for them to pass—but they opted to stop and rest.
Magic After Dark: A Collection of Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance Novels Page 143