Sane or not, his decisions were helping instead of hindering their plans. A large celebration would provide just the right distraction they needed.
According to Gage’s calculations, there were close to four thousand combatant soldiers in the city. Until they could marshal all of their forces spread out all across Iserlohn that meant that they were outnumbered, he informed her with a smile, but not outmatched. He proposed a quick and focused strike that would require only a small number of Sabers to enter the city. Hit the opponent from several points simultaneously to give the impression of a much broader attack, he told her. In the ensuing confusion, the Sabers will make an attempt to release the allied soldiers in the warehouses.
While the Sabers fought to take back the city of Nysa, Gage would lead the remainder of the combined armies south to confront Hugo Bassus and the main branch of Etin’s army.
Kiernan agreed with the plan with the provision that she be part of the unit to breach Nysa. In the midst of the chaos, she would slip away with Kirby Nash and go to her father. She knew passageways in the palace that no one else was aware of and was confident that she could gain access to the third floor corridor without being seen. The floor would be heavily guarded, but the wedding celebration and the carefully orchestrated diversions from the Sabers should thin them out enough for her and Kirby to fight their way through those that were left.
For a desperate and brief moment, she thought how much easier it would be if the shifters and their magic could be used. The rebellion could be put down very quickly and with little, if any, loss of life. But, she supported the mandate unequivocally. Magic could not be used to fight swords. Ever. It would cast an irrevocable stain on the image of magic that the shifters would not soon recover from. It could even result in the reinstatement of their exile.
She turned a corner in the corridor and detected a faint movement in the shadows with a hint of pride. It had become a game of hers to be able to pick out the elusive Sabers when she was sure no one else would have known they were there.
Reaching the stairs, she held her belly as she descended to the second floor where the guest chambers were located. As always when she was alone, she thought of her husband. She missed Beck so much. It was torture thinking about what Avalon Ravener could be doing to him at that very moment. The only thing that kept her going was the knowledge that Airron was looking for him. If anybody could find him, it would be her bodyshifter friend. For the third time that day, she beseeched the Highworld to give Airron the strength he needed to bring her husband—her life—back to her.
Right now, however, she had another urgent matter to deal with.
At the second landing, she turned right down the balconied hallway. Finding the room she wanted, she knocked softly on the door.
It opened almost immediately. The chestnut haired beauty who answered looked at her with concern.
“I am very sorry to bother you so late, Helenite…,” she began, but the Sect Leader for Healing opened the door wide in invitation.
“You know it is no problem at all, Kiernan. Come right in.” When she entered, the sorceress took her by the shoulders and held her at arm’s length, inspecting her up and down. “Are you having pains again?”
She nodded. “They are pretty constant now.”
“You are probably in the early stages of labor, Kiernan. You really must be on bed rest right now.”
“You know I cannot do that, Helenite.”
The healer shook her head and put her hands on her hips. “So, you really plan to go into Nysa and carry out a rescue attempt of your father from thousands of armed men? Let’s see…seven, close to eight months pregnant?”
“Yes.”
“I do not know why the men in charge of protecting you allow you to risk yourself so,” she muttered. “That is why women should be running the affairs around here.” Helenite paused and looked her in the eye. “Let me do it, Kiernan. I will go to Nysa and free your father.”
“No, Helenite, this is something that I must do. It is my responsibility. Just give me more herbs to dull the pain, and I will be like new again.”
With a dramatic, almost childish sigh, the healer walked to the bureau in her room where several containers had been laid out on top.
“I have time yet, Helenite,” Kiernan tried to justify. “And, I will not be in any real danger with the Sabers shadowing me.”
The witch snorted. “Here,” she said and handed Kiernan a folded paper with the herbs. “Just be careful.”
Kiernan took the medicine with a grateful smile.
“By the way,” Helenite said. “Just how do you plan to enter a city manned by rival soldiers?”
Kiernan raised one eyebrow. “Right through the front gates, of course.”
“Hit me one more time, and I will break your arm,” Rogan snarled at the Halfie Tribe Leader lying by his side. They had crawled up on a small hummock just east of the town of Janis and were watching the Iserlohn Army sprawled across the open plains before them.
“Sorry, rude Dwarf,” Vinni replied, sounding anything but.
Traveling with fifty Halfie warriors was the most trying undertaking Rogan had ever attempted in his life. It was like traveling with a pack of unruly children. Moving very fast and on very little sleep, he and his army were able to take ferries from Havenport to Iserport the first night he met up with the imps, and two days after that, they caught up with the Iserlohn Army.
Rogan went back to his scrutiny. Legionnaires of House Etin mostly but, surprisingly, a fair amount from House Everard as well. From the distance, a stark division in the ranks of soldiers stood out to him. Compared to the clean and straight lines of the tents of the main body of the army, a large section at the back was an unruly mess.
Now at least, Rogan understood why Iserport was empty.
When they arrived at the Iserlohn port city, he was shocked to find it almost completely deserted. The city was crawling with soldiers and people the last time he had been there, but stepping onto the Iserport docks two days ago was like entering a ghost town, eerily quiet and abandoned. Treacherous eyes peeked out from alleyways and decrepit buildings, but the owners must have decided against confronting their large party as they walked through the city.
The reason for the empty streets now appeared before him armed with pitchforks, shovels and axes. Seana had informed them that a mob of citizens had joined the army, but he had not been prepared for the scope of numbers of those involved. Dissatisfied with their impossible living conditions, the people probably felt as though they had no other choice but to wage war in a demand for change.
This definitely limited Rogan’s options for stopping the army.
He looked over at Vinni. “You know what you have to do?”
“Of course, rude Dwarf. We will sneak into the army camp while they are settling in for sleep and set their supply carts afire. We will also cut as many picket lines as we are able to and set the horses free.”
“Very good.”
“Are you sure we cannot stab them?” he asked, his cherub face lighting up in a hopeful smile.
“No. We just want to disable their ability to continue not hurt them.”
“You promised me a fight,” Vinni growled.
He was right. And, he needed the Halfies to stick with the plan. “You know what they say about poking a sleeping dog, Vinni. You may just get bit.”
Vinni laughed and Rogan realized it was the first time he had ever heard the Halfie do so. Usually, his mean little face was screwed up in malice. “No Halfie will get bit, rude Dwarf, I promise you that.”
Vinni was telling the truth. The Halfies had a way of disappearing into the long grasses of the plains and even he had a hard time locating them when he knew exactly where they were. No, the soldiers of the army would never get a peek at their tormentors.
“Fine,” he relented. “You can poke them a little. But, just the soldiers, mind you!”
Vinni stood in a crouch, anxious now to deliver th
e good news to his warriors.
“Wait! Do you have the cloak I asked you to find?” Once the Halfies started their bedlam, Rogan and Janin would be unable to conceal themselves as easily, so he asked Vinni to steal a cloak of House Etin from one of the legionnaires that they could use as a disguise.
“Of course, the red and blue, like you asked and right from under their noses. I gave it to the other Dwarf.”
“My wife, Vinni. She is my wife.”
“Whatever.”
Demons breath, let this be over soon. “Let’s go then, but make sure you give us time to reach the camp before you start.”
The Halfie nodded, gave him a barefooted kick in the ribs, and ran off.
Rogan cursed and crawled back down the hill. The sun had set an hour ago and the slate sky was the perfect companion to their plans.
He found Janin waiting for him. “Ready?”
Reluctantly, she handed him the cloak she was holding and adjusted the short sword at her hip. “Are you sure about this, Kal Rogan? It sounds a bit…desperate.”
“It is the only way. We cannot disappear like the imps which means that we will be vulnerable to the roused dog without a cover of some sort.”
She sighed. “Fine. Bend down.”
He bent into a crouch and she climbed onto his shoulders.
When he tried to stand, he let out a heavy breath from the exertion.
“What was that?” she immediately demanded. “Was that a grunt?”
“What?”
“A grunt? My weight is the same as when we first met, Kal Rogan, so don’t you dare imply otherwise!” She hesitated. “Well, maybe I have put on a pound or two but that is to be expected after all these years, right?”
“Your weight is fine, Janin.” Standing upright now, he readjusted her weight and another deep gasp burst forth.
“Again?” she asked loudly. “Why are you grunting?”
Ignoring her question, he handed the cloak to her. “Put this on.”
She ripped the cloak from his fingers. Wiggling on his shoulders, she managed to place the cloak securely around the two of them.
He could not help the sound that issued from his throat.
“Kal Rogan, why are you grunting?”
He rolled his eyes in frustration. “I am grunting because I have a Dwarf on my head! That’s why!”
Janin’s body started shaking uncontrollably.
“Why are you shaking? Stop that!”
“It is called a laugh, you bumblehead. Oh, Highworld, Reilly and Jala are going to have a chuckle over this one when we get back.”
“We should be more concerned with surviving the night.”
“I bet they won’t even want to hear the story of you barreling out of your family home during the Demon War and falling off the porch anymore.”
“I did not fall! That was a carefully executed dive and roll.”
“Whatever you say, my husband.”
Rogan shook his head skeptically but gratefully. Although his wife was most certainly not as contrite as she wished him to believe, at least the shaking had subsided.
CHAPTER 12
We Ride!
Airron stretched his long legs before the fire with a slight grimace. Fortunately, the pain in his side was subsiding and the wound in his leg no longer troubled him at all thanks to Melania.
She impressed him when she quite capably extracted the arrows from his body and applied herbal poultices that worked wonders.
To his relief, she told him that his injuries would be completely healed within a day or two. That was good because he would need all of his strength and more when he finally caught up to Avalon
Ravener. Having fought the bodyshifter sorceress before and coming out on the losing end, he did not wish to relive that experience.
His chances would be better if he did not have Melania traveling with him. His worry for her was distracting him in a way he did not truly understand.
Careful not to let it show on his face, he smiled inside when he thought of her embarrassment the day before. She had said little to him since, and he knew that she regretted pouring her heart out to him when she thought he was unconscious. Could she actually be in love with him? He was not sure how he felt. There was an attraction there, certainly, and a desire to protect, but what did it mean? He barely knew the woman even if she was his wife.
“Are you all right?” she asked him, looking up from her work boiling bandages for his next poultice.
He smiled. “Yes, thanks to you.”
She did not return the smile. Was she going to hold her confession against him forever? He tried a different tactic and asked her to tell him more about her life in Haventhal. In hushed tones and with her features cast in the soft glow of the flames, he learned that she had two sisters, made a living as an medicinal herbalist, and loved to play the harp.
“Your turn. Tell me more about Airron Falewir.”
“You are the one who claims to know me so well. Tell me what you see,” he challenged.
She paused for a moment in her stirring. More to herself than to him, she said, “I see a man who is unquestionably brave. I used to sit and watch him practice with the Gladewatchers for hours when I was younger.” She shook her head. “My friends called me foolish when I would run off to the sparring field every day after my studies just to see if he could keep his undefeated streak going.” She swished the ladle in the cook pot. “I see a man who is handsome and unbelievably kind. I have seen him reach into his purse to give coin to the poor on occasions too numerous to count. I also see a man with a sense of humor, but who sometimes uses laughter to hide what he is truly feeling.”
Airron sat up straighter.
“I see a man who is in pain because of a tremendous loss in his life. A man who feels lost and adrift even among his own people. A man who lives in Haventhal, but it does not feel like home to him. And, a man who roves from woman to woman because he is afraid of commitment. Afraid to love again, because he does not wish to ever experience that same level of loss again.”
He turned from her, unable to look at the truth in her eyes. “It seems you know me better than I know myself. How is it that a woman can know me this well, and I do not know her at all?”
“If you were looking, you would have seen me. I have been by your side for years, Airron Falewir.”
He did not know what to say. He did not think that even Beck, Kiernan or Rogan knew him as well as this stranger sitting across from him seemed to.
“And, just so you know, contrary to popular belief, not all Elves can communicate with animals. Most can, but not all. You are not deficient in any way so do not believe that to be true.”
Airron was relieved to hear that piece of news. For years, it gnawed at him that he was unable to command what he thought was an innate Elven ability.
“Where do we go from here?” he finally asked.
“I would like to be your wife, Airron, in every way. But, I will not do so until you can tell me that you also wish to be my husband. I want you to choose me as I have already chosen you.”
An uncomfortable silence followed while she extracted the bandages from the boiling pot and finished her work. Still, he did not respond.
Finally, she rolled into her bedroll, turned her back on him and went to sleep.
Sleep did not come as easy for him, and he laid awake most of the night. In the morning, they said their prayers separately and struck camp without saying a word to each other.
The morning’s trek continued as all the days before with their two unyielding companions—the heat and the hypnotically repetitive landscape. Leagues would pass by with no discernable change in their environment, and it was the loneliest feeling Airron had ever experienced. In his mind-numbed state, he could almost believe that there were no other people left in the world. It was just him and Melania and the stone. When the Koda River and a small village finally came into view, he breathed a sigh of relief just to have something new to look at.
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He risked a glance over at Melania and noticed her sun chafed lips and skin. Hopefully, they would be able to take shelter from the heat and eat a decent meal before crossing the river. To his frustration, Beck’s scent had gone cold, so his first order of business would be to seek confirmation that he was at least on the right trail. Surely, either Beck or Avalon would stand out in such a small place, and he hoped to obtain confirmation that they had indeed passed through. If not, they would find a suitable place to board the horses and take ferries over the tributaries of the Koda to the destination on the map.
Melania asked for water, and he handed her one of the bags. “Why don’t you finish it? I will have it filled in town.”
She took the bag with a grateful smile. “Sinsai.”
The sound of horses approaching caused Airron to look up. He expected the inhabitants of the settlement to be made up of all Dwarves, but the riders bearing down on them were men.
“Hold there,” one shouted as soon as he was in speaking range.
Airron held out his hand to stop Melania, and then put the Haventi slightly ahead in front of her Pinto.
“Asha, good folk,” greeted Airron. “We have come seeking a stable and passage across the Koda.”
One of the men with dark hair and a short beard spoke up. “You have picked a bad time to visit, Elf. One of the young girls at our camp has gone missing. As you can imagine, strangers are not a welcome sight at the moment. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about it, would you?”
Airron quickly shook his head. “No, of course not. When did she go missing?” He knew that Avalon, if he was still on her trail, was a day ahead of him.
“Yesterday. She is the daughter of one of the miners here with our expedition, and the family was sleeping in tents on the periphery of the settlement. The father heard a scream in the middle of night and went to investigate. He found a large tear in the tent holding his daughter and she was gone.”
“And, you have seen no sign of any strangers in the vicinity?” asked Airron.
The man shook his head. “No one.” He hesitated. “But, one of the ferries is missing. We just assumed it came loose, but now I am not so sure.”
Island Shifters: Book 02 - An Oath of the Mage Page 12