Eliath kept his muscles tight in case the beast suddenly sprung at him, but he laughed at his fallen brother. "When will Dar' Lahnrael realize that he cannot hinder prophecy. You will never stop the boy from fulfilling his destiny."
The worvak gave a broad toothy smile. "Then why did the Great Father send you to protect him. You know as well as we do that no man’s destiny is set in stone. Have you forgotten about Choice, Eliath?"
Before Eliath could even think about what the beast had said, it lunged at him. He crouched, preparing himself for the attack when something slammed into him from behind, knocking him off to the side.
It was Lucian. His long sword was raised high over his head and was already coming down in a powerful, deadly arc. The worvak was still in midair, and unable to alter its course as Lucian's blade came down on top of its head, splitting fur, muscle, and bone. The force of the blow slammed the worvak straight to the ground in front of Lucian as the blade stopped halfway down the beast's torso. Blood streamed out, soaking Lucian momentarily until the heavy rain started to quickly wash it away. He stood, holding the sword in a white knuckled grip, panting from the exertion. He seemed to be in a trance, staring down at the mutilated beast.
Eliath stood and walked over to him, placing a hand on his heaving shoulder. "You should not place yourself at risk for me brother, I could have handled myself. I don't want you dying to save me."
Lucian took a few deep breaths, calming himself. He slowly turned his head to look up at Eliath. "You were without a weapon. That was the biggest worvak I have ever seen. Would you rather I stand by and watch my friend die in front of me?"
Eliath gave him an appreciative nod and started to walk off but Lucian caught his arm, stopping him. "As I was running down the hill toward you, it appeared that the beast was speaking to you, and I saw you speak to it. I didn’t know that worvak could speak our tongue? How could that be? Or are you to tell me that you speak worvak now as well?"
Eliath looked into Lucian's eyes for a moment before answering. "There are some things that you will come to know soon enough. Until that day, I must not speak of them. Trust me when I tell you this, you will understand in time." He started out again, but was held fast by Lucian.
"Who are you really, Eli?"
Eliath gave Lucian a sincere smile. "The same man who you grew up with. I have told you all along, I am your protector."
Lucian let go of his arm, as well as his suspicions for now. He had always known Eliath was different and decided it best to trust that his friend would reveal his secrets when the time was right. He suddenly realized that the others could still be in battle on top of the slope and they rushed back up the hill behind Eliath.
When they reached the encampment, Tarriel and the others were looking after Solomon and Lorani. A small pile of worvak heads lay off to the side. Their bodies were scattered all around. Lucian counted eleven worvak heads and was relieved to find that none of his company had fallen. Solomon had a bandage over his head and was kneeling over Lorani. She had a deep gash on her side and another on her arm.
Lucian watched as Solomon closed his eyes and whispered while holding his hands over her wound. Soon there was a soft glow coming from his palms. Everyone, except Eliath and the Ortsk men, gasped at the site. It wasn't long before the bleeding from the wound on her side ceased. He started to place his hands over her arm and she stopped him.
"Please, I wish to have at least one good scar to show from this journey."
She gave him a crooked smile and Solomon laughed his deep bellied laugh along with Eliath but the others just stood and stared.
Tarriel stepped closer, suspiciously, as if she thought Solomon strange now. "I have heard of healers, but I thought it was only folk lore. Never in my life did I think I would see one."
"Everyone has the ability to heal others,” said Solomon. “In some it only manifests itself stronger, and even with those, it takes time to develop."
"He is not the only one here with the ability to heal," said Lucian.
Everyone turned to look at him. He brought his hand up to his stomach and rubbed at the spot where a scar should have been. He slowly looked up to Eliath. "Back home, you healed my injury from the assassin's blade."
All eyes shifted to Eliath, who looked like someone that just got caught stealing bread from the baker.
Solomon broke the silence as he brushed the leaves and mud off his tunic. "I would guess that the ability to heal is not all that our friend Eliath is gifted with." He gave Eliath a wink.
"Yes, the Great father has blessed me in many ways," replied Eliath, but offered nothing else.
Solomon chuckled and gave him a slap on the shoulder. "Well said good man. Well said."
Lorani spoke up, breaking the silence. "Well I certainly am glad to have a healer, maybe two, along with us." She walked over to Solomon and gave him a short bow and even taking her eyes off him, which was very meaningful coming from a Culdoran warrior. "Thank you Solomon, you may well have saved my life this day. I am indebted to you."
Solomon nodded back and gave her a pleasant smile, "Anything for such a beautiful woman."
Lorani turned then, and quickly walked away. Lucian thought he saw a shy smile cross her face.
Judging from the scowl on Tarriel's, she must have seen the same thing. She quickly brought back a serious tone to the moment. "Why do you think these worvak attacked us, it is obvious that this raid was no mere coincidence."
Lucian stepped forward, everyone seemed to be looking at him for an answer, he couldn't imagine why. "It seems to me, that there is something sinister at work here. The worvak attacks around the southern lands have increased lately, and now this tyrant from the north threatens us all. The worvak do possess intelligence capable of communication." He flashed a look to Eliath. "I would not be surprised if they are being used by this Thaluzont. For some reason he thinks us a threat."
Tarriel folded her arms and looked at Lucian with raised brows. "I think it is you they wish to destroy." She looked around at the others before continuing. “My elders were right in sending us with you." She gestured to the other Culdoran warriors. "These warriors and I have already pledged to keep you safe." She gave him a small grin. "Lucky for you, I think."
Lucian saw the others nodding in agreement and just shook his head. "I think you have all gone daft. Let's move out of here. The beasts smell bad when they live and even worse in death. We should stay off the main road. If this Thaluzont wants us, he will have to try harder to find us."
The others agreed and started gathering up their things. Tarriel picked up a small sack that was stained with blood.
"What is that you have?" asked Lucian.
"The talons off those monsters,” she answered. “Just a few souvenirs to bring home to Culdora, the young warriors will love them."
"There is another beast at the bottom of that slope," said Eliath. "Lucian nearly cleaved it in two with one stroke. He saved my life."
Lucian waved his hand in the air in a dismissive manner. "Stop exaggerating Eliath, you were probably just about to destroy the beast when I got there. Besides, any of you would do the same thing for me, and have."
"Let us look upon this kill," said Tarriel as she marched down the slope.
When she reached the bottom she nearly missed a step. The massive black beast that lay on the ground in front of her, although dead, was still horrifying. It was split in two from head to stomach with no other injuries. She couldn't believe that Lucian had done this. The single stroke had to have been extremely powerful to cut so far through the bone and muscle. She knelt next to the carcass, watching it as she slowly reached out for its clawed hand, feeling that it still might be a danger. Its talons were the length of her hand and razor sharp. She pulled out her knife and cut off four of them. She stood and turned to leave but then stopped, turning back to the dead beast. Lying on the forest floor near the cleaved head was one of the beast’s fangs. It must have been knocked out from the strike. It was al
most another fingers-length longer than the talon, and two fingers thick. It was bright white except for a yellowish stain near the base. It was the largest fang she had ever seen. She put it in a small leather pouch along with the four talons and tied it to her belt. After one last look of awe at the massive creature she turned and headed back up the hill to join the others. When she reached the top, Eliath was looking at her with a small grin.
"A great beast is it not?" asked Eliath, raising an eyebrow at Tarriel.
"It is the largest I have ever seen. I can't believe he smote it with a single blow." She looked over at Lucian and gave him a short bow. "But I could tell from the wound, that such a mighty blow did indeed slay the beast. Your name would soon become legend in Culdora from such acts."
Lucian waved off the praise. “I’m just glad that it did not harm anyone else before I was able to kill it."
"Spoken like a true hero," said Solomon as Eliath finished healing his forehead.
The other Culdoran warriors and the Sanjeeran messenger still watched in awe as he worked what they saw as nothing other than magic.
The rain was coming down in torrents now. Everyone was soaked completely through. Luckily the shower also washed away the mud and blood that covered most of them. They decided to trek on through the downpour since they were already wet and they wanted to get far away from where the ambush had been in hopes of losing any other would be attackers in the storm. How their location was known and that they were being targeted disturbed everyone in the group, all except for Tarriel. Ever since the worvak attack, she seemed refreshed and energetic.
When first light came and the rain didn't cease but started coming down harder yet, they decided to break for camp and gain some relief. They were only a short distance from where the woods stopped and opened up into rolling hills that led the rest of the way to Kaheendra. None of them wanted to camp out there in the open where they could be seen easier. The fact that they were all cold, wet, and tired from the long night’s travels made the decision that much easier.
"Hopefully this rain lets up in a few hours, or it could take us another day to get to Kaheendra," said Eliath as he unstrapped his things from the back of his horse’s saddle.
The horses were also grateful for the rest. The group rode hard after the worvak attack and hadn't given the horses rest for several hours. Lucian considered it luck that none of them were injured during the attack or their flight through the dark, flooded forest. He, Eliath, and Tarriel cared for the horses while Solomon helped the others set up the camp. Everyone decided it would be better to rig their canvases together and make one big shelter for everyone to sleep under so that they would be close in case of another attack.
Lorani and the other Culdorans were quite familiar with rigging this type of cover since it was part of their training to spend months out in the forest on the outskirts of their land. They would go in small groups and live together, hunting and living off the land. Part of the experience and training was learning how to erect shelters such as the one they worked on now. Solomon and his men's expertise were in the crafting of armor and weapons. They were experts in mountain warfare and defensive structures, but spent little time out in the forests so they simply took direction from the women, which the Culdorans were also accustomed to doing.
Lucian stood mystified as he watched Eliath teach Tarriel how to take the tackle off the horses, brush them down, and clean out their hooves. What surprised Lucian the most was how excited she seemed doing it. It wasn't often that the battle hardened warrior woman showed such emotions. She almost always had a fierce scowl on her face, and carried herself in a way that commanded respect. Yet here she was laughing as the horse whipped her with its tail and twitched its skin at her touch. Lucian was positive that if anyone other than Eliath had tried to teach Tarriel how to care for the horses, she probably would have gone about it at a cold, calculated, and efficient way. Eliath seemed to be enjoying the company of the beautiful Tarriel just as well, even though Lucian doubted that his friend would ever admit it.
As Lucian watched them, Voneel walked up to him and nudged him with her elbow. "I wish those two would just mate and get it over with," she said as she folded her arms across her taught stomach.
Voneel was almost as tall as Tarriel and was similar in physique with her lean muscular body. She had raven black hair that hung straight and long, down to her lower back.
Her hazel eyes looked to Lucian for a response. Wanting to know what he thought of the two.
Lucian however was shocked at the notion of what she just said. His belief was that a couple should be wed before doing such things, but he quickly remembered the lesson he had learned earlier from Eliath.
"Do the women of Culdora mate with whomever they choose? Do the men have a choice?” asked Lucian curiously.
Voneel gave him a confused look. "Of course they do?"
Lucian didn’t know which part of his question she was referring to. He assumed her answer was true for both. Thankfully she must have read his look, and elaborated.
“Culdoran women select their mate based on his physical and mental attributes. They wish to produce strong warrior children. Our men can deny a woman if they wish but why would they want to? It is a great honor to be chosen.”
Lucian was careful how he worded his response. “In my culture we believe that a man and women come together, as mates, because they are in love, and wish to spend the rest of their lives together.”
Voneel was nodding as she listened. “The same is true for Culdorans. We keep the same mate for life.”
Lucian was pleasantly surprised to hear this. It seemed as though the two cultures did not differ as much as he originally thought. “Well then I would think that the Great Father would bless such a union.”
Voneel looked at him strangely. “I have heard you talk about this, Great Father, before. Is that your god?”
Lucian nodded. “I believe he is the creator of life.”
“Vareehu!” exclaimed Voneel.
Lucian just shook his head, not understanding.
“Vareehu is what we call her, the God of Creation.”
Lucian laughed at the thought of God being a woman, but why not? Who was he to think that the god of the Culdorans and his god were not one in the same? The two tribes obviously held similar morals, and beliefs. He just shook his head at the implications and at how narrow minded he had been before.
“I have enjoyed this conversation Voneel. Your culture intrigues me.”
“I too have enjoyed talking to you, Lucian of Drahvanael." She gave him a short bow. "I must help in collecting firewood." She gave a quick glance to Tarriel and Eliath then walked off to set about her task.
Moments later Lucian worked at starting a fire in the middle of the makeshift tent that the Culdoran warriors and Solomon had erected. They had left a small hole at the apex of the tent for the smoke to escape. The structure was perfect for stopping the rain, but not very large. They would all have to huddle together to sleep. It was coming down so hard now that every gust of wind swept rain in under the canvas ceiling. Normally it would have been difficult to start a good fire in such conditions but Lucian always kept strips of scorched cloth wrapped up in oiled leather and some fine, forest floor litter that would catch from the smallest spark. A good woodsman always had such things.
They had set some kindling under the canvas when they first stopped and let it dry as much as possible before trying to start it. Lucian set a strip of cloth under the forest litter, which was under the kindling. He took out a flint stone that he kept with him and pulled free his short sword. Striking the stone against his sword sent a shower of sparks down onto the cloth, igniting it instantly. He shielded the small flame from the wind, and rain, and nurtured it with a soft breath until it was strong enough to carry on by itself. He piled some more kindling on top and then a couple pieces of the drier logs on top of that. Soon the fire would dry the logs out enough to start consuming them. Satisfied with his wor
k, Lucian looked around for a place to sit.
Tarriel and the other warriors were all sitting down, oiling leather or sharpening their blades. Each had a task and kept busy at it. Eliath was talking with Solomon and his two large guards. The Sanjeeran messenger was already curled up on his bedroll, sound asleep. They had made camp just inside the woods from where it opened up into hilly plains. The land ahead was full of and large, rock outcroppings that grew in size the further away from the forest you traveled. The group had placed part of the tent over a small jumble of boulders that made good seats for the ones who worked at their weapons and leather.
Lucian stared out into the forest, listening to the rain as it hammered down on the canopy of trees overhead. The sound of rain always relaxed him in a way that nothing else could. He felt his eyes drooping as he watched the water run off large leaves and form channels in the forest floor. The lichen on the many boulders absorbed the rain, drinking thirstily. Once the lichen was fully saturated, the water ran off the boulders in torrents. A gust of wind blew a heavy mist into Lucian’s face. He closed his eyes and let it tickle his senses. Forest frogs, who loved the sweet showers, chirped happily now and then, the only ambient sound in the woods other than the drumming deluge. Lucian could barely hear the occasional ring of steel from the act of sliding a sharpening stone down a blade by one of the warriors.
Not long after they broke camp, a fog had moved into the forest from the plains. It gave a haunting look to all the surroundings. A bad omen, some would say.
Lucian was startled out of his daze when Eliath called his name. He was signaling for Lucian to join him.
Eliath placed his hands on the two large Ortsk warriors when Lucian came near. "I would like you to meet Thaddeus and Orton."
Lucian was ashamed that he hadn’t taken the time to speak with the men before leaving Sanjeera. With everything happening so quickly he had barely realized that they were there. He happily greeted the two big soldiers, their grips threatening to crumble his forearm. "I am pleased to have met you fine men. Never in all my life did I think I would meet a warrior from Ortsk."
Revelations of Doom Page 26