Origin

by Samantha Smith

  Chapter 22 – Anticipation

  Once they were underway, it took Ayron no time at all to become impatient, yet again, at how slowly they were moving toward Amarni. He had ridden Gerrack and made the same journey from this location to Amarni in four or five hours only a few seasons ago. At the rate their little group was traveling, it would be past nightfall by the time they arrived in the city. He just wanted to get Rhys to safety quickly so that he could leave to search for Elwyn, or join her if she’d already arrived in Kren. He knew that she’d also faced delays due to the assassin’s attack, having to bury Thane, and then searching for Keroc. He wasn’t sure if she’d arrived in Kren yet, but was hoping she had and was, safe from attack for the time being, at least.

  Ayron was positive that no shadow squad would be willing to take on an entire village. Their advantage lay in stealth, their excellent camouflage, and in darkness. They were also normally hired to take down a number smaller than their own. A village full of people would throw off that balance. In addition, paid assassins really hated to kill anyone but their target. They were all about money, and collateral damage wasn’t something they felt was cost effective. So if another shadow squad located her while she was in the village, they would probably wait until she left before trying to attack, and by that time he, his soldiers, and Kierra’s drakenhawks would be traveling with her.

  The morning came and went as they moved steadily toward Amarni. At some point, Ayron felt Kierra gently enter his mind again.

  “I wanted to give you another update about Elwyn. There were two attempts made on her life last night. We aren’t sure if it was two different groups, or the survivors of the first attacking a second time because there were only three assassins in that group. The first group attacked her in the middle of the night. One of the assassins ran onto the road and Gemma ran him down. Elwyn managed to either kill or wound two of them with her arrows before the heavy mist closed in and she couldn’t see them anymore. The morden sensed them coming and quickened their pace to make sure they got out of the range of any arrows as quickly as possible. She and the morden thought they killed two or three of them but weren’t sure since they were out of visual range very quickly.

  The second attack occurred just before dawn. It was not as well organized. I think the fact that she traveled throughout the night threw them off. The strange thing is that there were only three of them. Elwyn wondered if they were the survivors from the first attack. This time she and the morden chose to stand and fight. They managed to kill all three so that there would be no survivors to return and report their failure. She is very curious about how the assassins got ahead of her since she spent most of the night traveling as fast as the morden could go, not stopping at all. She is also wondering how these assassins are able to track her down.”

  “Kierra, someone is bound and determined to make sure that Elwyn never reaches Findara alive. I would have thought the fact that she was fleeing might have given Stefan confidence that she is not a threat to his throne. This whole situation just doesn’t smell right to me.”

  “Unfortunately that is something that is going to remain unanswered for the time being. Elwyn did have some thoughts about making it more difficult for the assassins to find her. She thinks that they may be tracking her by her scent and heat signature, so she spread some marsh mud all over the two morden and herself, hoping to change their scent, so that they wouldn’t be as easy to follow. Just to make sure, she traveled east for a bit after she got to the crossroads and then circled back to the road going northwest through the marsh and grassy bogs.”

  “You know Kierra, I am just amazed that she knows instinctively how to think about who is tracking her and formulate plans to evade her enemy. I know that she’s never had any type of military training, and yet she’s using techniques that we normally teach our military personnel.”

  “I don’t think that any of us, including Elwyn truly know what she is capable of. I will tell you that she is extremely exhausted and her priorities are to get to the village, take a bath, and sleep in a soft bed.”

  “I guess that is part of what I don’t understand about her. One minute she acts like a veteran soldier, and the next like a typical young woman.”

  “Never forget that she is made of strong stuff just like you and her father, as well as Rhianna and Rhys. She will come through this challenge and be all the stronger for her experiences. I also wanted to tell you that Keroc is still alive, but unresponsive. I sometimes forget just how strong my young son is. He is also busy fighting for his life right now.”

  She quickly passed along Elwyn’s message to her uncle and to him, but before he could say anything else, he felt Kierra slip gently from his mind. Ayron was a bit unhappy and frustrated that his communication with Kierra was always so short. There were so many things that he wanted to ask her. He had many more questions about Elwyn, he wanted to ask her what chance Keroc had of making a full recovery, and he really wanted to ask more questions about drakenhawks in general. He had come to realize, given recent events, that he and his people were under some serious misconceptions about their capabilities. Ayron disliked the fact that his people might be treating the drakenhawks dishonorably because of that ignorance.

  Ayron was very curious, given his recent interactions with Kierra, why male drakenhawks never made contact with the female members of any species: At least not until Elwyn and Keroc began to interact. He was also curious why none of the female drakenhawks ever chose to life-bond with another species as the males did. He could understand that Kierra might be too busy seeing to the needs of her people to become a companion to someone, but he had no idea why the other females chose not to. Ayron really wanted to know more about the drakenhawk species, but realized that now was probably not a good time. He would just have to curb his curiosity and hope that Kierra would still be willing to contact him once Elwyn and Keroc were out of danger. He didn’t understand why both the drakenhawks and the morden were so willing to risk their lives to save his niece. It seemed that everyone who came in contact with her willingly gave her their loyalty. He also couldn’t understand why his young niece had so many capabilities that should have been impossible, given her breeding? He was very anxious to be present when the Companionkeeper discovered just how much he had to learn about the drakenhawks and the morden. He had a feeling that in this case the Companionkeeper would have to be instructed by a student; his niece.

  Although Ayron did recognize that it was very difficult for Kierra to keep a link open between them at so great a distance, he really wanted to ask her advice about how to tell Azavon about everything that had transpired. It was very difficult for him to know how to communicate with Azavon about the events of the past few days. He knew that it was unfair of him to expect Torjon to keep secrets like this from Azavon for any length of time, and wanted to ask Kierra what she recommended he do. He knew that Azavon should be made aware that he had a daughter and that she was alive, but he was also concerned about informing him at a distance. While he knew that Azavon needed to hear the truth about the past, Ayron preferred to be close by when he heard it. Unfortunately, all these delays and problems were making it more and more difficult not to tell him. But on the other hand, if anything happened to him and his soldiers, he might never know of her existence, and that would be wrong. Ayron forced his thoughts back to his current situation. He knew that he wasn’t going to solve his dilemma right now, so he decided to focus on other things and hope that he had the chance to exchange thoughts with Kierra again in the near future.

  After putting aside his troubling thoughts, Ayron decided to ride over to the wagon to give Rhys and Clayre an update. On the way, he crossed paths with Kormir and Alea. They were speaking softly to each other as they rode together guarding the wagon. He hated to interrupt them because he knew how much Alea was grieving, but he had a task to give Kormir. He interrupted them quietly and asked Kormir to ride ahead as quickly as he could to Amarni and let Hodari, the chieftain, know tha
t they were bringing him two people that needed to be kept safe from an unknown enemy. Ayron also asked him to let Hodari know that they were moving slowly because one of people he was escorting to Amarni was seriously wounded. Kormir acknowledged Ayron’s request with a quick salute and immediately urged Kifaru, his morden, into a gallop, heading in the direction of Amarni. He watched him ride away for several minutes, still riding side by side with Alea.

  “Sir, may I ask you a question?” Alea said, with a solemn expression on her face.

  At Ayron’s nod she continued.

  “Sir, I was wondering why you didn’t choose me for the mission. I have been to Amarni before and know the way far better than Kormir, who has never even crossed the border into Urafiki. If you think that I am too upset to do my duty to Silvendil, I assure you I am not,” she added with a shake of her head as if to provide emphasis.

  “No Alea,” Ayron said in a gentle tone. “My decision had nothing to do with your capabilities; in fact, you would have been my first choice for this mission under other circumstances. The problem is that Amarni is still a great distance away and I had to send someone riding a morden to make the journey. As strong as your stallion Katesh is, I doubt that he could have made the trip at full speed without seriously damaging or killing himself. That is a sacrifice I am unprepared to ask either of you to make, especially in the wake of the loss you have already suffered. The trip to Amarni needed to be made by a morden, and a strong one at that. Remember that Kormir’s morden is named Kifaru which means “strong as iron” and he is what we needed for this mission.”

  They rode together in silence for a few moments before he asked, “Have you ever been to a morden choosing, Alea?”

  “Yes I have, but only once when I was a young girl. I stood in the background with my parents and watched my childhood friend Thane life-bond with Raffe. It was an experience that I will never forget. I was so happy for him. We have been close friends as long as I can remember and I happily shared his joy at being chosen by Raffe. I have wanted to attend a choosing as a potential partner, but I was away on duty for the last two and my parents still feel that I am too young to life-bond. After this trip though, I now believe otherwise.

  “Alea, I would like to give you something to consider while you are riding to Amarni. Both you and Raffe loved Thane; that much is obvious to me. Unfortunately, given the current circumstances, you both have to continue to perform a duty to Silvendil and will not have the time to properly grieve until this mission is completed. When I pick up Elwyn and take her to Findara, I plan to bring Raffe along with us. Maybe, when you return from Amarni, you should consider letting me call a special choosing of one to see if Raffe is willing to life-bond with you. I know that Raffe is a stallion and would normally choose a male, but you both had a strong bond with Thane that I think is more important than the traditions of either species. The companionkeeper may not approve, but I have a feeling Raffe will. Besides, if Raffe is unwilling to establish a life-bond with you, he will be unwilling to establish one at all. I know that will make him unhappy though because he would much rather be in the thick of things that put out to pasture for the rest of his days. I believe that you and Raffe will life-bond easily.”

  “Oh Ayron, would you do that for me,” Alea said, giving him the first real smile he had seen in days.

  “Of course I will. I can’t think of anything that would make Thane happier. He was all about beginnings, not endings. You just let me know when you feel ready. And if you decide that you want to spend some time alone with Raffe before taking such a big step, please let me know and I will make it happen.”

  That said, he turned slightly and maneuvered Gerrack over to the wagon hoping to catch Rhys and Clayre both awake. They were indeed awake and engaging in a heated debate. Clayre wanted Rhys to take a draught to help him sleep, and Rhys felt that he had slept enough for a dozen men and wanted to be awake for awhile. Ayron stepped in and acted as mediator by getting them to agree that Rhys would be allowed to be awake for a few hours, and would then take the draught that would help him fall asleep. Since they were both quiet and in a good frame of mind, he told them of his conversation with Kierra. Both Rhys and Clayre seemed troubled by the attacks on Elwyn’s life, but at the same time relieved that she’d been able to evade them and suffered no harm. Rhys puffed up like a proud papa when he told him the steps she took to avoid detection.

  “See Clayre,” Rhys said, gently poking her in the arm and smiling. “Our girl has great instincts. I always knew that. You just worry too much,” he added rolling his eyes and smiling at Ayron.”

  “I understand more and more why he calls you “Old Man” Rhys,” she replied laughing. “When you don’t know anything you are like a little old man fretting because he can’t find his pet goat, and when you do hear something you go into denial about ever fretting at all.”

  Ayron could hear Rhys mumbling something under his breath, but couldn’t quite make it out. Within minutes, the two of them were bickering again about who was responsible for the training that had given Elwyn such great survival instincts. Their bickering was difficult for Ayron to listen to and it soon got on his nerves, so he bade them farewell and rode off to check on his men. As he rode away he realized that he had never seen two people enjoy bickering with each other so much. Elves tended to speak quietly and avoided arguing as much as possible. And as commander of an army, he was not used to having his troops argue with him. If they argued among themselves, it was quietly and out of his hearing. Ayron found that he was very uncomfortable with the type of banter that Rhys and Clayre enjoyed, and knew that he had no desire to engage in it, or worse, get stuck in the middle of it.

  Ayron spent most of the afternoon riding with his soldiers and making sure that they remembered to eat, to take turns resting for short periods, and to let their mounts feed from time to time. The day passed uneventfully, allowing Ayron to mentally plot the fastest way to get to Kren from Amarni without crossing into Wheryn, the dangerous land that ran along most of the northern border of Unity. Many seasoned hunters never returned from trips to Wheryn and he had no desire to become another victim to its dangers. The main problem with the land was that no one actually knew the nature of the dangers that lurked there. He’d never heard of anyone who entered it and lived to tell the tale of who or what lived inside. That was exactly why he’d warned Thane and Elwyn to wait for him in the village. He didn’t want either of them risking death by attempting to cross it. His plan upon leaving Kren with Elwyn was to travel west to circumnavigate Wheryn and then head north to Silvendil. Traveling east would be a bit shorter, but he didn’t want to travel too close to Avrelan. He made a mental note to ask Kierra to warn Elwyn not to leave the village without him. He was beginning to get the impression that, while his niece might appear to be an elf and have many of the attributes of an elf, she also had a large dose of her mother’s temper and a bit of her uncle’s impatience and stubbornness.

  Late in the afternoon, Ayron stopped by the wagon again to find out how Rhys was holding up. Rhys was sleeping, but Clayre was awake and told him that he seemed to be tolerating the movement of the wagon well. Everything in him wanted to speed up their progress, but he was not willing to risk Rhys’ health by asking Tomak to pick up the pace. As he rode, he was able to spot some of the landmarks he recognized from previous trips. This confirmed his fears that they would not reach Amarni until long after nightfall. He passed the time by speaking to each of his soldiers and encouraging them to stay alert.

  As the group slowly approached the border between Unity and Urafiki, they all noticed the trail beginning to narrow with clusters of large trees and brush starting to replace the broad grassy meadows. Ayron had no desire to frighten Clayre or Rhys, but the back of his neck was prickling, which was a sure sign of trouble. Even though he and his soldiers should be more than a match for a shadow squad attack, He still felt uncertain. His original mission was just to check the border and the troops he brought will him were uns
easoned and inexperienced. Galdor, Stuart, Kormir and Alea were the only soldiers with him that had any experience in the field or in an actual combat situation. Ayron was already heart sick over losing Thane and was determined not to lose any more of his soldiers. Realizing that dusk was upon them, he quickly shouted a warning to his soldiers to keep a sharp eye for any movement coming from the shadows. The group traveled unimpeded for another half-hour, with the scouts reporting no sign of danger. Just as they were emerging from a particularly wooded area, Ayron heard Alea shout a warning.

  Chapter 23 – The Village

  As Elwyn rode Gemma toward the distant village, she was puzzled to see no people or animals around the huts, or in the surrounding fields. The fields had been planted but were overripe and past harvesting. This puzzled her because she knew from experience, that most villages depended on the crops they grew during the growing season to sustain them during the colder weather. As she drew closer, it looked more and more as if the village was deserted. Many of the huts were in poor condition, with some actually falling down. She had a bad feeling as she approached the center of the village. It was clear to her that there was no one here; not even the older residents, or the women and children. Something must have happened to cause an entire village full of people to leave. However, this is where she was told to wait, and since she had no idea where the villagers had gone, she had no option but to wait here for Ayron. She dismounted in a small grassy area near the center of the village. She asked the morden to wait for her there while she took a better look around.