by John Olsen
Gavin said, “Do we need to keep you and Willem farther apart on the trail, Draken?”
Tover laughed. “So, that’s what happened. Oh, you’ll be able to get them to be friendly to each other, good sir, but it’ll take a while. The cattle didn’t much care for Runner, but that was easy to fix. The tough one was to train them to stand up to a mountain lion together rather than scatter. It took us a few tries to get them to trust each other. The big cats learned the cattle weren’t worth the effort while the cattle learned to trust what Saleena did with them. You’ll get there.” He trotted off to catch up to his messengers who had not stopped walking.
Draken raised an eyebrow at Gavin. “Something tells me you haven’t shared everything you should have. What was Tover talking about?”
Gavin gazed at the ground and tried to start three different explanations, all of which failed to materialize. Finally, he said, “We have crystals for the entire cattle herd, plus a handful of new ones for farm dogs and such. Saleena’s managing the herd along with the crystal training.” He glanced around to make sure they were out of earshot of the wagon train and continued, “It was Saleena who killed the bear with the cattle. She trampled it to death with moves so precise you would stare in awe. I know I did.”
“So, we have both Saleena and Willem running multiple animals with crystals. By all rights, they both should be dead. You’re not always going to be lucky when you act with reckless abandon. Someone’s going to die, and it will be an even harder lesson when it’s your fault, sir.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. At first, I was afraid the baron would punish Tover and Saleena, and then I got too busy and forgot. You deserve to know the truth.”
Draken gazed at the distant trees to the east as if he would say something more, but he only nodded and headed over to the wolf to inspect her feet after the impromptu cat hunt.
When Gavin thought about the animal connected to his crystal, he had an odd sensation of a mental passage, but it was weak, a vague hint lurking in the background of his thoughts. The single crystal still gave him a rough sense of direction, off to the southeast in the woods, but he had only a general idea how far away it might be. He had to find whatever it was to be able to control it. This new information wouldn’t go over well with Draken, but Gavin saw no choice but to bring it up, and then seek out whatever it was.
Gavin cringed as Master Draken raised his voice. “You want to go where? Are you crazy, sir?” Ah, there was the Draken he remembered.
He continued, “We just reviewed this, how the people need you with them. There are benefits to gaining more war animals, but the people need leadership and motivation. Despite your young age, you are the symbol of leadership they look to, for good or ill. We can’t afford to have you out of sight for long, and can’t risk you for an unknown gain.”
They sat around a crackling campfire, its pine logs leaking pitch that doubled as incense to fill the air with its sharp scent. The weather was cool, and the warmth of the fire took the edge off the chill. The wan light illuminated them as they sat on mats and blankets placed on the dry grass.
Gavin raised a hand. “Hear me out. I’m attuned to this crystal, now, and I can tell something is out there and close, but I’ll have to get much closer to control it. It may take too long for someone else to attune to it. We only have this one shot to collect whatever it is, and we need war animals. You can take care of things while I’m gone.”
When Draken didn’t immediately reply, Gavin pulled out his best argument. “Even if someone else could attune to the crystal in time, it’s now my job to choose who is allowed to use them. I should go to reinforce my authority as baron.”
“Now I know you’re daft. You have a point about the possible war animal and your rights, but leaving me here to inspire the people in this motley caravan? Would you describe me as inspirational, sir? Do the people like me? Do they talk about how thoughtful and considerate I am? I use fear to inspire people, as you well know. Besides, you can’t possibly go alone.”
“Then come with me.”
“I can tell you’ve thought about the trade-offs, but it’s a huge risk.”
Gavin said, “If the people know we’re out finding a way to protect them, I think it will go well. It will give them something to hope for.”
It was odd to see Draken at a loss for words. Finally, he spoke. “I can’t believe I’m considering this foolishness. You don’t understand enough of the situation in the camp, or what we might run into chasing this war animal.”
“You’ll have me one-on-one to beat the information through my thick skull all the way there and back. I could order you as your baron, but I want your help and support, not your forced obedience.”
Draken pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m sure to regret this, but the wolf and I will come with you. She has healed faster as she’s been able to get more exercise. If we take two horses, we can meet the caravan when they reach Greenvale. You may get to learn the joys of traveling while in a trance if we find a useful war animal.”
“It can’t be that bad, can it?” Gavin wasn’t sure what part of his argument persuaded Draken, but it was a relief the discussion was now about how to proceed rather than whether he should go hunt down the crystal connection. He expected resistance from Draken on everything, but it made sense looking back on it. Draken objected only when Gavin said or did something foolish, or when he failed to plan as well as he should have. He did best when he worked out as many of the details as he could, and presented them without excess emotion or hype.
Draken said, “We don’t have any cavalry saddles to strap you in sitting up. You get tied with your head down on one side, and feet on the other. It’s not much fun even when the horse stands still. Remember the army I saw behind us? The only reason they’re still behind us is the time they spend hunting. Even then, they must be gaining on us.”
Gavin said, “Gaining? Then we need to move farther each day. We need to speed up, start earlier, or camp later.”
“You’re traveling with peasants, merchants, and children. You can’t push too hard, or you’ll leave a trail of those who can’t keep up. Anyone who falls behind dies.”
“It sounds like we have even more reason to take this side trip. If we can’t speed up, we need a way to slow the enemy down.”
“The only reason we’re talking about this trip is there is more at stake than a single animal. It could be a lone animal wandering around, but it could also lead to a stable of trained animals. We may be able to make use of them to increase our lead or for protection. Either way, we may need them on our side more than we need you to show your face along the caravan every day.”
Draken took a deep breath as if he had more to say, but let it back out and shook his head. “Difficult times.”
Gavin nodded and gazed at the flickering campfire. The smoke mingled with the smell of grazing animals across the field as the light breeze shifted. “Tover can stand in to deal with anything that comes up. He’s done a great job moving people along and organizing the march. He’s a great Travel Master, aside from a little trouble getting people going each morning. The other master craftsmen and council members help as well in their own areas.”
“Help, yes. But if you think everyone is content, then you don’t know people well enough, sir. You’re dangerously close to putting the rest of your advisers under Tover’s authority, and that will fail. They will harbor resentment that will stew for weeks and hit you with it when you least expect it. I’ve seen men die for less.”
Gavin stirred the fire with a stick as he pondered what to do with the council. “We need a way to keep them busier and to take more responsibility.” The puzzle rolled around in his head for a while until an idea struck him. “Can we keep them busy with each other? How about we assign them as a whole to handle everything not related to the migration, so it looks like just the small migration piece is cut out of the workload instead of making them part of the migration? They can use the council
to deal with issues brought to them by the people when I’m not there.”
“That should help, whether we go or not. They stay out of the way of Tover who does most of the important work, and they keep the people out of his way with the daily annoyances that come up. Even so, I have reservations about leaving the council in charge, even for a couple of days.”
Gavin felt Draken’s opinion sway. He hadn’t refused outright to consider the trip, so Gavin continued the verbal duel with a final push. “I trust them to keep order on the day-to-day things. They’ve done this for years, and working while traveling doesn’t change the tasks all that much.”
Draken scowled. “The longer we talk, the more reasons you come up with to go on this trip. I can see this won’t end well for me. I suppose we should inform the council members about their slight change in assignments. We can leave at first light.”
* * *
Saleena dropped into a trance to check on the cattle herd as they grazed. They were tired from the day’s travels, but otherwise content. Once she pulled back to herself, she staked the herd out where she had directed them, the older cattle in a protective ring around the yearlings, and left them for the night.
She glanced longingly at the small campfire where Gavin sat, deep in conversation with Draken, but it was pointless to pine over him. He was the baron now, and she had to be responsible just like he was. Still, it hurt to have no time to sit and talk with him as she had in the past. She had work to do, all of it more important than her daydreaming.
She set off to visit her trainees, who had taken to calling her Crystal Mistress. It scared her to have others look to her as the expert, but her confidence with using crystals carried through into her training. Just like when they’d first made the crystals, she saw an opportunity to help and jumped in with full dedication. The old trainer was gone, and nobody else had her experience.
She still reported to Gavin, so things weren’t all bad. They were still friends; they were just too busy to spend their time in idle chatter. Most of her evenings were spent with Willem and the other crystal trainees teaching them everything she knew.
The uncut crystals came back from the tinker looking and working even better than the ones Ned had cut for her. An experienced cutter made a difference. The training was easy for the people suited to it, and the tinker planned to deliver a new crystal pair to them every two or three days.
The Crystal Cabal, as they called themselves, gathered each evening to talk and to learn. They were led by Saleena, but they shared everything they learned. Some were eager to try multiple crystals, but she refused to let the new trainees try it.
So far, they had only found one thing in common in learning to use multiple crystals. You always got stuck at first, and when she and Willem had become stuck, the crystals came off the animals first instead of from the person. Was it significant? She didn’t know for sure. The one failure described from Draken had gone the other way, taking off the master crystal first. Was it worth risking another life to verify? Had they considered everything? As they got more and more crystals, the question would keep coming up.
When she was alone with her Da, she asked about the first time she’d used more than one crystal. “How did you remove the crystal from the cattle when I got locked in?”
“Why, I held the crystal tight in my hand and cut the cord. Not much to it, fast and simple. I thought I’d lost you. You wouldn’t wake up.”
He looked around. “Truth be told, your team is right. I think we need people who can run more than one animal in case you or Willem can’t be there for us. We need to learn more about how to train multiple crystals. Your class is just learning the basics, so they’re no good. The guards will likely report you, so they’re out.”
It seemed that everyone had been mulling over how to use the crystals in groups. If she didn’t make a choice to do it, someone else would try on their own and maybe get it wrong. Someone might die. She counted off the people she saw as likely candidates and grimaced.
“I think we need to try it despite the risk, but you’ve said nobody can do it.”
“Not a word gets back to Baron Stoutheart until we’re sure, you hear? He’s got enough to worry about. I’ll start with the weakest two crystal pairs, just to try it. I’m sure you’re right about how to get unstuck. Once could be an accident. Twice means you’re on to something. Three examples make a trend, so I think I’m safe. I’ll stop by later. Once we prove you right, we can train more people if we need to.”
“You can’t do it! What if it doesn’t work?”
“Saleena, you can’t have it both ways. You can’t decide to take a risk, and then tell me I can’t be the one when we both know I’m best for the job.” His gentle voice cut like a knife through her selfish desire to protect him.
She didn’t want to risk her father’s life, but she and Willem had compared everything they could think of and she knew they had to try. If it wasn’t worth risking her Da, it wasn’t worth the risk. She gave a reluctant nod. They would remove the crystal from the animal first when he tried it.
A few minutes later, Saleena stood in the center of the circle of students talking about her experiences and comparing theirs. “With one animal, you can control the fine details more easily, like moving ears, looking at things, and fighting one-on-one. You have access to all of their senses, so use them. It’s not like that with a group. It’s different to feel the herd all at once, or to smell differences across an entire field all at once. There’s a lot of information to skim along or sort through.”
Willem nodded. “It’s like that with the cats, but they’re a small, coordinated hunting team instead of a herd. I think with the cattle and the cats, you end up thinking as a group instead of as a single thing. Using three pairs of eyes at the same time still confuses me sometimes, or makes me feel sick or dizzy. It should be a lot easier for each of you with one animal to control.” He tilted his head to the side and listened. “The cats found something. I’ll be right back.”
Willem found a comfortable position and eased into a trance. A minute later, feline yowls rose out in the field, followed by the cats parading back up to the group with their prize. Death Claw led the pack carrying a small gopher.
A minute later, Willem sat back up. “I’ve made a few peace offerings to the wolf. The cats are getting along a lot better with her. Sharing food is important to animals.”
Saleena smiled at his thoughtfulness. “One last thing for the night. Never underestimate any animal’s abilities, particularly when they’re directed by a human mind. Be prepared to face the most cunning, vicious things you can imagine. Even more important, we need to be prepared to attack in ways nobody will expect. Be the cunning mind behind the animal. We won’t have huge beasts with giant claws or bone-crushing teeth. We have to be clever and sneaky. Think of things we can do on a small scale.”
She set up new trainees with their large family dogs, which sped up the training. Some were quick studies, while others weren’t cut out for it and were glad to go back to normal family duties.
Everyone wandered away after the training session, leaving Saleena and Willem sitting off to the side of the road beside Willem’s camp gear.
Willem gazed out across the fields in thought for a while, then said, “You know, we might be able to use a rat or a gopher, or maybe a jackrabbit or badger if we can catch one. I’ll try to bring something back alive when we have a spare crystal or two.”
Willem glanced quickly around, then scratched in the dirt before he continued, “Thank you for coming back to talk to me and help even after you ran off back at the castle. Most people don’t think of rats as food. I’m sorry I upset you.”
Saleena wondered how to answer without offending him. She hadn’t realized how much his feelings mattered to her until now. “I didn’t know you were treated so horribly by the baron.”
He shrugged. “Ain’t nothing horrible about it. I was the one who offered the terms. It wasn’t like the old baron
forced me into it. Ma taught me you do what you can with the gifts God lets you keep. I keep myself fed, and have clothes and a place to stay. I was lucky and wasn’t ever indentured. I can grow up free. Even better, I’ve eaten a lot nicer food the last few days.”
Regular food had done wonders for his color. He was healthier, too. The best part was his near-continuous smile. She glanced away so he wouldn’t notice how she’d been watching him, noticing his change for the better.
How had he kept such a positive attitude, even before the recent changes? She knew he’d lost his whole family, and yet here he was grateful for everything he had. Saleena still had a gaping, raw hole in her heart from her brother’s death. Her only hope was to lose herself by staying too busy to dwell on her loss. She felt shame at her reaction to Willem’s previous diet but didn’t know how to tell him. Rather than try to explain, she stood, squeezed Willem’s shoulder and said, “Thank you. You have a good heart, Willem. You’re humble and kind and grateful. I’ve seen men with much more who never appreciate what they have. Things are going to get harder for all of us, so don’t stop reminding me to be grateful.” She lingered with her hand on his shoulder for one more squeeze before leaving to find her father for his first experiment with two crystal pairs.
Gavin peered through the dense woods as they rode the game paths with the wolf keeping pace nearby. The scent of decaying leaves and damp earth on the chill evening air made him long for a hearth with a nice bird roasting over the fire. The biggest distraction from the forest was the window within his mind. It had become stronger through the day. The connection clarified into something he could use to enter a trance, although the link had an unfamiliar tang to it.
Before Gavin said anything, Draken held up his hand to signal a stop. He put his finger to his lips then dismounted and found a handy tree to sit against. He held up two fingers to show how many minutes he expected to be gone and slipped into a trance. The wolf, who had been standing obediently beside the horses, shook her head, and ran off among the trees, silent as a four-footed ghost.