Crying Havoc fk-4

by Toby Neighbors

  “Arrogant bastard,” Belphan said loudly. “They threatened us!”

  “Tell me,” Offendorl said, waving to a servant to bring the kings goblets of wine.

  “They said we should turn back and leave Yelsia or they would attack us. They await our response.”

  “Let them wait,” said Offendorl. “Tell your men to make their camp ready for rain. It will be on us soon. Send no word back to Felix. If his messengers are man enough to wait in the rain, I’ll send them on their way myself when we are ready to march again.”

  The kings skulked away like scolded dogs. Offendorl ordered men to march into the surrounding countryside to get food. Soon the rain began, first in fat drops that fell and splashed on the dusty ground, and then in unrelenting sheets. The ground around the camp was quickly transformed into a muddy bog. The army was allowed to rest, with only the scouts and cooks being kept busy in the rain.

  Offendorl watched the knights. They stayed in the field, their banners soaked and drooping, their horses pawing at the muddy ground while the knights shivered in their heavy armor. He smiled. Things were progressing nicely, he thought to himself. Then he took a long drink of wine and stretched out on his thickly padded bed.

  Chapter 20

  Zollin rode through the mountains and finally came to the river in the Great Valley. Unlike the southern range, the northern mountains came down close to the river. He was well south of Brighton’s Gate and had to make a decision about which way to go. He could find a vessel to take him west on the river where he could sail south. The only problem with that plan of action was that it did not allow him to track the movement of the dragon. Zollin knew it was moving south, although it had flown out the range of his magic, so he couldn’t be sure where the beast was. He had to force himself not to think about what it might have done to Brianna. Fire couldn’t hurt her anymore, and while she couldn’t fly, falling from a great hight didn’t seem to be a major threat either. Still, that didn’t mean the dragon couldn’t eat her whole. He could still remember the beast’s hot breath when it had snatched him up in its jaws from the roof of the temple in the Ruins of Ornak. He could see the teeth with their serrated edges that would have cut him to ribbons had it not been for the magical shield he had thrown up around himself. It took all his strength not to give in to the despair that was eroding his heart.

  He levitated himself over the river and then brought Lilly across the same way. It took several minutes after that to calm the horse down, but Zollin managed it. Then he remounted the aging mare, turned her west and rode for Brighton’s Gate.

  It was late at night when he came to the city that had sheltered him through the winter. It had been almost a month since he had seen it last, and the villagers had accomplished much. Zollin was surprised that the soldiers who had been guarding the Great Valley were gone, but there was no one awake to give him any news. He was tired, and although he would have preferred to push on through the night, he needed to find out what the villagers knew about the dragon. He found a lean-to shed with fresh hay and saw that Lilly was unsaddled and rubbed down before he wrapped his cloak around him and made a bed for himself in the hay.

  He woke up the next morning at dawn, his whole body hurting and wanting nothing as much as more sleep, but he forced himself to rise. He saddled Lilly and led her through the main street. There were people living once more in the homes that had been destroyed by the dragon’s attack in the spring. Most of the buildings had been rebuilt, and to his surprise Zollin discovered that work was now being done to rebuild the Valley Inn. The Gateway’s owner must have given up and moved on, since most what was left of that establishment was now being scavenged to help rebuild the other town structures.

  “Well, well,” came a familiar voice. “Look what the cat’s dragged in.”

  It was Buck, the innkeeper of the Valley Inn. He had come from behind the inn carrying a bucket of fresh milk. He smiled and waved to Zollin.

  “Come inside and have some breakfast,” said the rotund innkeeper. “Where’s your lady friend? You’re both welcome in the Valley Inn. Although we may not be up to your standards quite yet.”

  “You’re too generous,” Zollin said. “But I really can’t stay. I just need some information.”

  “Well, an inn’s the best place in town to find out what there is to know. If it won’t hurt, you can take a load off and enjoy a bite while you learn what you need to know. The army left us a few animals. We’ve got fresh milk and Ollie’s making a nice porridge. You look like you could use something warm in that stomach of yours.”

  Zollin had to admit he was hungry. He still had a meager supply of goat’s meat, but it felt like chewing leather and tasted even worse. He tied Lilly’s reins to a post outside the inn and followed Buck inside.

  “Heavens!” said Ollie when she saw Zollin. “You’re even thinner than the last time I saw you. Where’s Brianna? I suspect she could use a bath and bite to eat, too.”

  “She’s not here,” Zollin said.

  “Oh, no,” Ollie said. “She didn’t get hurt in the mountains did she?”

  “No, not exactly. It’s a long story, really, but the gist of it is that the dragon has her now.”

  “The dragon has her?” Buck said in surprise, as he set a glass of fresh milk down in front of Zollin.

  He took a drink and nodded.

  “Have you heard or seen the dragon?”

  “No, we haven’t seen it, thank heaven,” said Ollie.

  “But we did hear that some others did,” Buck added, “further down the valley. They say it just few over, headed south.

  “That’s what I thought. I’m going after it; that’s why I’m in a hurry. Thank you both for your kindness,” he said, standing up.

  “No,” Ollie said. “You’ll sit down and eat. It won’t take but just a few minutes, and it’ll do you a world of good. It’s ready, just hang on there.”

  “You heard her,” Buck said. “No use arguing. I’ve learned that one thing at least in the last twenty years. What can I do to help you?”

  “I could use some supplies, food mainly. And I need a better saddle for Lilly.”

  “We haven’t got much, but I can get you some fresh bread, if that’ll help.”

  “That would be great,” Zollin said.

  Ollie quickly brought him a bowl of porridge, with a few bits of meat stirred into it, along with a hunk of warm bread.

  “I’m sorry, I’m low on butter at the moment,” Ollie said.

  “This is more than fine,” Zollin said, his mouth full of food. “It’s delicious, thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. Things took a turn for the better after you healed folks last time you were here. People began believing that some good was coming their way again. The army pulled out a week or so ago and we’ve been able to trade for the supplies we needed. There’s men driving up some sheep and pigs that will get us through the winter. We’ll be okay as long as the Skellmarians don’t come back.”

  “I doubt they will,” Zollin said. “We ran into them on our way north. It turned out for the best. I think we convinced them not to raid anymore, at least for a while.”

  “I don’t see how anyone can reason with those savages, but if you’re right we owe you another debt of gratitude.”

  “You don’t owe me anything,” Zollin said.

  “Well, that may be so,” Buck said, coming back in from outside as Zollin finished the last of his breakfast, “but I tied a small keg of ale to your horse anyway. Now, before you thank me, just keep in mind it’s the first batch I’ve brewed since we started rebuilding. It might be a bit sharp, but there’s no time to age it, and it’ll be better than water.”

  “Thank you,” Zollin said as he stood up.

  “You go find that girl of yours,” Ollie said.

  “And tell your father to come see us, when you see him, that is,” Buck added.

  “I will. Thank you both.”

  Zollin hurried outside and found that Buck had sadd
led Lilly and tied a small keg of ale behind the saddle and a bag of small loaves of bread to the saddle horn. He swung up onto Lilly’s back and set off through the village.

  People were peeking out at him from behind closed shutters, but none tried to stop him. Zollin was flooded with memories as he rode out of the village. It seemed like ages ago when he and Brianna had taken this same path, only then it had been through the snow. They had fought that day and Zollin regretted it. That had been before he had been willing to admit how Brianna made him feel, before they had fallen in love. He wished he had followed his heart sooner so that they could have had more time together, but he couldn’t change the past.

  He saw that there were still some tents around Kelvich’s old cottage. Many of the trees that had once surrounded the small home had been cut down and milled using the big saw that Quinn had set up behind the cottage. Zollin had learned to control his magic in that cottage, and he felt his heart swell as he thought of Kelvich. He missed his old mentor and wished the old sorcerer was there to tell him everything was going to be okay. This was really the first time Zollin had been on his own in his whole life, and while he knew he could manage, he discovered that he didn’t care for solitude. He missed Brianna most of all, but also Kelvich and Quinn, even Mansel. He wondered how Quinn and Mansel were doing returning Prince Wilam to Yelsia. He wished for a minute that he had gone with them. He would like to see the southern kingdoms, but that would have to wait. Summer was almost over and soon it would be too cold to travel.

  As he rode into the mountains on Telford Pass the sky was covered with clouds. He knew it would rain before too long, not by any supernatural sense, but because that was the way his luck had been running lately. He repacked his extra clothes so that they wouldn’t get wet and then kept riding.

  It was late evening when the rain started. The rain was cold, and even though Zollin was exhausted, he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep. He dismounted and led Lilly through the pass in almost total darkness. The rain fell hard and soaked his clothes in a matter of minutes. Zollin shivered as he walked, occasionally kindling a flame with his magic. The fire would sputter and hiss in the rain, and then Zollin would let it go out. His body ached with cold and fatigue. Lilly walked with her nose almost touching the ground. The sun was just beginning to rise when the rain stopped falling, but it still ran down the sides of the mountain and turned sections of the trail into streams of water. They continued walking, hoping that the sun would appear to dry them and give a little warmth to their frigid bodies, but the sky was full of clouds that threatened to dump even more rain on them. By noon, Zollin couldn’t go any further. He ate a little bread, but it, too, was wet and tasted gummy in his mouth. He tapped the small keg that Buck had given him and sampled the ale. It was a little sour, but it warmed him up a bit, and soon he was asleep on the wet ground.

  Lilly’s frantic neighing woke Zollin up. There wasn’t much light left, but he could see the big mountain lion that was slinking toward them. Zollin had tied Lilly’s reins to his own ankle so that she wouldn’t wander off while he slept. If she had, the lion might have killed and eaten Zollin before he woke up and realized the danger.

  He got to his feet quickly and let his magic flow out. He could sense the mountain lion he had seen in the twilight gloom, but that beast was only a distraction from the real danger: there was another cat much closer, its body tense as it prepared to leap down on them from a short cliff. Zollin brought up his defenses just as the lion jumped. The weight of the lion was tremendous, but Zollin’s magic was churned into a frenzy by his fear. He flung the lion away as the other cat sprang toward them.

  “Blast!” Zollin shouted, sending a wave of crackling, blue energy directly toward the lion. It hit the cat in the face and the animal’s body locked up, its muscles spasming from the shock. Then it collapsed dead on the trail.

  Zollin turned his attention back to the other lion that was now charging back toward him. He sent out another wave of energy, but directed this one into the ground just in front of the lion, and it spun around and bounded away in fear. Then Zollin sagged against Lilly. The horse was still frightened, her large eyes looking around so wildly that the whites showed.

  “There, there, girl. It’s okay,” he told her. “We’re all right. Those lions won’t bother us anymore.”

  Zollin walked over to the dead mountain lion and looked at it. There were dark burns across its face, the huge fangs blackened and sooty. He pulled out his dagger and cut a large hunk out of the lion’s thick haunch.

  “I wonder what roasted lion tastes like,” Zollin said to Lilly.

  He led the skittish horse a couple miles down the trail and then stripped off his wet clothes. He laid them on the rocks and pulled on his dry clothes. They felt good on his cold, clammy skin. Then he picked up the raw lion meat and sent his magic into it, cooking the meat from the inside out. It took only moments, and then he was able to eat the lion meat. It was stringy and tough, a little like the elk meat he and Brianna had eaten in the northern range of mountains, only gamier. Still, it was hot and filling. Zollin felt bad because he had nothing to feed Lilly. There was almost no vegetation in the mountains, and the villagers at Brighton’s Gate couldn’t spare any oats for Lilly. He drank some more ale and dried a spot on the ground, then went back to sleep, keeping Lilly tied to his boot.

  He woke up just before dawn and continued his journey. It took them two more days of hard travel to get through Telford Pass. Zollin was temped to stop and see Jute and the other dwarves of the Yel clan, but he had no reason to. He needed to find out where the dragon had gone after leaving the southern range of mountains. They stayed on the road that led them through Peddingar Forrest. Once again, Zollin saw lights and strange noises as night fell, but then the rain started again, and it was all Zollin could do to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Around midnight he crawled under the thick limbs of a massive fir tree. It wasn’t completely dry under the tree, but it wasn’t soaking wet either. And the soft fir needles were a nice change from the rocky ground in Telford Pass.

  Once again Zollin woke up shortly after sunrise. He was nearly out of rations. He finished the keg of ale and left the small barrel behind as he set out for the day. He was almost out of the forest when he saw a familiar sight. He almost didn’t believe his eyes. He had been alone for several days now, and he thought at first he was just seeing what he wanted to see, but soon he heard a voice hailing him and arms waving for him. Lilly seemed excited, too, and she sped her trot into a fast canter.

  “I don’t believe it,” Zollin said, as tears stung his eyes.

  “We found you!” Kelvich said.

  “It’s good to see you,” Zollin replied.

  “Where’s Brianna?” Mansel asked.

  “That’s a long story,” Zollin answered. “Where’s my dad?”

  Kelvich looked down, waiting for an answer of some type, but nothing came.

  “I’ll tell you about it on the way. We need to go to Lodenhime,” Mansel said.

  “I can’t, at least not yet. The dragon has Brianna.”

  Kelvich’s mouth fell open, but Mansel didn’t seem to hear.

  “Well see about that when we get back. I really need you to come with me. Your dad’s in trouble.”

  “What?” Kelvich and Zollin said at the same time.

  “He’s a prisoner in Lodenhime. You’ve got to come and see if the lady of the Castle on the Sea will release him to you.”

  Zollin looked at Kelvich.

  “Did you know about this?” he asked his old mentor.

  “No, he wouldn’t tell me anything.”

  “You have to come,” Mansel said. “We need to get going. I’ve been gone too long as it is.”

  “I can’t,” Zollin said. “I have to track down the dragon.”

  The three men sat on their horses staring at each other, no one speaking. Finally, Zollin broke the silence.

  “I love my father,” he said. “But I love Brianna, to
o. I’ve asked her to marry me. I have to find her first.”

  Mansel looked frustrated, but Kelvich kept silent.

  “I could use your help,” Zollin said to both men.

  “After you find Brianna, will you come south with me?” Mansel asked.

  “Of course,” Zollin said.

  “All right, let’s get going.”

  They turned their horses and set off, heading south. Kelvich was full of questions, but he kept silent. There was something wrong with Mansel, but he wasn’t sure what it was. The young warrior had been short with him on the trip to find Zollin, but Kelvich had chalked it up to remorse over what must have happened to Quinn. Now, finding out that Zollin’s father was being held in Lodenhime, by someone Mansel called the lady of the Castle on the Sea, he felt that there was more to the story than Mansel was telling them. But Kelvich also remembered the way Mansel had reacted when the sorcerer had pushed him for more information. He knew that Mansel was dangerous-not just a skilled warrior, but a dangerous man for reasons he couldn’t quiet explain yet. He decided to wait and speak to Zollin when he could tell the young wizard how he really felt.

  Chapter 21

  Mansel knew that he was taking a risk, but it was a calculated risk. There was virtually no way for Zollin to discover what Mansel had done to Quinn before reaching the Castle on the Sea. Once there, Gwendolyn would have her prize, and nothing else mattered. The only thing Mansel had to worry about was the ship captain. If the ship captain spoke up too soon, everything would be ruined. He would have to ensure that the roguish sailor couldn’t spoil his plans.

  “Tell me what happened to Quinn,” Zollin said as they rode along.

  They were nearly out of the forest and could cut cross-country in hopes of finding a village or homestead that was still occupied. He needed to discover where the dragon had gone and find Brianna. It was hard not to feel as if he were being drawn and quartered. Brianna’s need took precedence, but he could not deny that he was worried about his father as well.