by Tora Moon
“Maybe someday we can figure out a way to stop the nests from forming.” Rizelya didn’t hold onto the hope. They had been fighting the monsters for over a thousand years without finding a way to stop the attacks. “Do you know why they are called ‘Malvers’ monsters? I’ve always wondered.”
“No, I don’t. The name implies they belong to someone or came from someone, but who? I’ve never heard of any Malvers.”
“Me either. The monsters came after the Great War. But not even the White Priestesses know who we fought in that war. I’ve asked.”
“Maybe they just don’t want to say,” Shaydan mused. “We fought someone and their magic was bad enough to cause Shandir’s Crater. Have you been there?”
“No, thank the Mother. I lucked out and was out fighting when the guard-pack was chosen for our spring rotation.”
“I haven’t either. We have the summer rotation. I guess I lucked out and get to stay home to fight the monsters here this time. Our guard-pack should be leaving in a couple of chedan to relieve your pack.”
Rizelya grinned. “Aren’t we lucky? Do you think the control janacks are down there too?”
“Probably,” Shaydan grimaced. “It’s always worse there than it is here, especially this far north. It must be horrible there. I don’t envy any of our guard-packs.”
Rizelya nodded in agreement. A sudden wind blew down the pass ahead of the storm, making it difficult to talk. The earlier chill breeze was now an icy wind. Slivers of ice stung her nose and face. Her spring cloak wasn’t warm enough to keep her from shivering. Her teeth were rattling together when they stopped a short time later in the lee of a massive block of ruins. Leistral and Eidstrun wrestled one of the packs off their multa, Kressy. Rizelya used her privilege as alpha and stood between Kymaya and Jezhan using their bodies to block the wind. The horses were radiating enough heat she almost stopped shivering.
Tejen snorted at Jezhan. “Oh, stop,” she told him. “He’s a gelding.” Tejen wandered over to her and thrust his head toward her, demanding attention. She rubbed his nose. His bulk blocked even more of the wind. “Aren’t you getting enough love and attention?” she crooned to him as she stroked his neck. He shook his head and looked back at Keandran.
Keandran stood next to Eidstrun, who was crouched over the packs. Keandran’s hands were under his armpits, and he was stamping his feet. There was a complaining whine in his voice. Eidstrun growled and stood up suddenly. Keandran backed away. Eidstrun stepped forward and snarled loud enough for Rizelya to hear him clearly, “We’re all cold. I’ll get it undone faster if you leave me alone.”
“Here, I found them,” Leistral called out, jerking something out of the pack. She stood up and shook out a bundle and something fell out. The bundle turned out to be a thick, fur-lined wool cloak, dyed crimson red. She picked up what had fallen and held up gloves and a scarf. She carried them to Rizelya. “Here,” she said, handing them to her, “these must be for you. The cloak’s short.”
Rizelya took them gratefully with shaky, cold hands. Leistral hurried back to the pack to find her own winter cloak. Rizelya thrust her hands into the gloves, and tossed the cloak on over her light weight one, snuggling into the sudden warmth. She pushed Tejen out of the way and walked toward the others. Leistral was handing out more cloaks and gloves. It was obvious which belonged to whom. They were dyed in the primary colors of each of Rizelya’s team’s Talents. Dehali’s was a beautiful coral orange, Leistral’s was red with swirls of green, Eidstrun’s was a golden brown, Keandran’s was a pale yellow, and Aistrun’s was red with thin gold stripes. They made a colorful group.
“There’s boots, too,” Leistral commented, “but we’ll get those out at the safe house.”
Rizelya looked around as colorful cloaks were handed out to the rest of the platoon. Shaydan strode over to their group in a crimson and green cloak.
“We’ll stay here out of the wind while the squad-pack checks the nest site,” Shaydan told them. “It’s on the other side of these ruins.”
They didn’t have to wait long for the squad-pack to ride back. The leader shook her head at Shaydan, who breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank the Mother! No nest. We can ride on to the safe house.”
Everyone mounted their horses and trotted out from behind the ancient walls. Rizelya gasped at the cold, pulling her hood low over her face. Sleet drenched the world. They kicked their horses into a canter in an effort to escape the storm’s fury.
The sky darkened and the wind dashed snow and sleet into their faces. Rizelya could only see the rump of Jezhan in front of her. If the snow became any thicker, they’d have to tie themselves to each other in order not to lose someone in the blizzard.
Rizelya’s fingers were numb with cold, even in the gloves. She mentally swore at Keshanal for sending them into the mountain pass this time of the year. If they’d stuck to their original plan, they wouldn’t be here and would be warm. She was still muttering under her breath when Kymaya stopped and someone reached up and dragged her down. It was Aistrun.
“Hey, we’re here,” he said.
“Thank the Mother and Crone! I hate spring blizzards.”
“Come on,” Aistrun said and took her arm. “Let’s get the horses unsaddled and go get warm.”
Rizelya let him lead her into the stables. She had never been so glad for the connecting walkway between the safe house and stables. By the time she entered the house, someone had the fire roaring. Several people, including Leistral, were at the stove and tables prepping food. She wearily slid onto a bench. Someone put a mug of hot taevo in her hands. She looked up to see Dehali.
“You look as tired as I feel,” Dehali said to her as she sat down on the bench beside Rizelya.
“I am. Thanks.” She lifted the mug and took a sip. “Mmm, this is good.” It was dark and spicy.
“It’s one of Leistral’s special mixes. She said it was to warm the body and raise the spirits.”
“Does it have spirits?”
Dehali shook her head. “Don’t think so.”
They sat in companionable silence as they sipped their taevo. By the time her cup was emptied, Rizelya was finally warm enough to shrug off her thick cloak.
“I’ll be sad when Kami has to go tomorrow,” Dehali sighed. “I never thought love could be so good, nor so cruel.”
“I can’t let you go with her. I need you too much.”
“I know. And Shaydan needs Kami. But when things settle down, I’d like to transfer to Strunell Keep.”
“When we get back, I’ll let Naila know. I’m sure she’ll let you go, after you teach more people in our fighting-packs to do the cold-air shield.”
“Did you see how good Kami is getting?”
Rizelya nodded.
“She can’t use a helbraught like we do with fire, but she surrounded her helstrablade with the cold-air shield and used it in the battle. She killed a brecha with it. Once the helstrablade was in the brecha, she said she superheated the air of the shield. It was almost like a Red had used fire on it.” Dehali’s voice was full of pride.
“She did? That was powerful magic. Hmm … I wonder if the other Talents could do something similar with the helstrablades or even helbraughts. Although I don’t know what the Blues could do with their water magic.”
“Maybe the same thing Kami is doing with her air magic—turn it to ice and then heat it to boiling? The Browns with metal magic forge the helstrablades. You’d think they would be able to do something in battle with them.”
“Remind me to say something to the Clan Alphas when we get to Strunlair Keep. This might be what we need to fight this resurgence of monster activity.” Rizelya yawned. “Right now, I’m going to take a nap. Wake me for dinner, will you?”
Dehali nodded and Rizelya found a cot in a warm and out of the way corner.
She dreamed of pale, emaciated people, their black eyes filled with hatred for her people. Her dream honed in and focused on one in particular. The woman seemed familiar, but Ri
zelya couldn’t figure out where she’d seen her before. The woman’s eyes were closed and Rizelya knew she was deep in concentration. A strange device was on her head. Thin wires connected it to a contraption of various tubes on a table next to her. Rizelya could see something beginning to flow in the tubes. Thick pus-colored smoke snaked out of a tube and wound around a large glass funnel. The woman’s eyes flew open in jubilation. As the smoke swirled around the bowl, droplets began to coalesce. Thick, viscous beads dripped out of the funnel and into a matte black bowl. The smoke continued to flow and pearls dribbled into the bowl for a long time.
The woman took off the device and stalked to the bowl, a hungry look in her eyes. Rizelya watched as the woman put a needle-like claw into the bowl, scooped several of the pearls out, and popped them in her mouth. She sighed in ecstasy. The words were mangled and strange, but Rizelya thought she heard the woman say, “We did it! Our pets have succeeded. Soon we will have our revenge on our ancient enemy. Come, my friends, and eat.” More hands dipped into the bowl.
Rizelya awoke with a start, the echoes of maniacal laughter ringing in her ears. She couldn’t shake the sensation it wasn’t a normal dream and it left her feeling agitated the rest of the evening. Later, she fought off sleep as long as possible, frightened she’d experience a repeat of the dream.
***
The spring storm didn’t let up for two days. The howling wind shook the shutters and snaked under the doors and windows. The groups used the downtime to rest and to repair equipment. But the laughter and good cheer between them held an edge of sadness as they remembered these were the last days they would see each other for several chedan, if not lunadar. Rizelya watched the interplay and realized all of her squad-pack had made deep friendships with Shaydan’s platoon. That is, except Keandran. Even in the close confines of the safe house, he kept to himself, rarely interacting with anyone else.
“Keshanal was generous,” Rizelya commented the second day of the storm as she and Aistrun inventoried the items Keshanal had given them in the multa packs. It was the first chance they’d had to really look through the packs since leaving Strunell Keep. They were in the stables where they could spread out the supplies. “We have enough supplies to last us if we get caught in another storm on the way.”
“Hey, look at this,” Aistrun said and held up a bundle. “A tent. We’ll be fine if we can’t get to a safe house.”
“May the Mother and Crone bless us so we don’t have to use it!” Rizelya prayed fervently. She looked around and lowered her voice. “I don’t want to be caught out in the open with Keandran. Have you noticed how he doesn’t talk to anyone?”
“Yeah, I have,” Aistrun whispered back. “There’s something just not right with that boy. Are you sure I can’t kill him?”
“As much as I’d like to, we can’t unless he endangers us,” Rizelya admonished. “We can’t kill him because we don’t like him or he’s acting strange.”
“If he sneaks off into a swamp again, can we just let him go?”
Rizelya heard the longing in Aistrun’s voice. When she answered, she wasn’t able to keep her own longing to get rid of their troublesome pack member out of her voice. “No, if we can we’ll send Eidstrun after him. If he leaves when it’s the six of us fighting a nest, then there’s nothing we can do. Killing the monsters is more important than saving him from his own folly.”
*So have you had any more strange dreams?* Aistrun asked.
Rizelya shook her head. He had been just as unnerved by her dream when she had told him about it.
They worked throughout the afternoon inventorying and repacking the supplies then placed the packs near Kressy’s stall to be ready to depart when the storm stopped. When they arrived back in the safe house, tables and benches had been moved to the side of the room, and a game of jelehan was in progress. Several players were already out of the game and calling encouragement to the remaining players.
Nine of the game sticks were being tossed around the circle. As Rizelya watched, a tenth—a short one—was added to the mix. Kami caught it and tossed it across the circle to Leistral, who handily caught it and sent it spinning toward Dehali. Kami and Dehali had sticks in their hands and tossed them both to Leistral, Drustrun’s stick was fast behind them. Leistral caught the first one, then the next, quickly tossing them to another player and, to everyone’s surprise, was able to catch the third. But she missed seeing a short stick coming at her from the side. Laughing, Leistral bent down to pick up the dropped stick. She tossed it back into play and bowing, stepped out of the ring.
Soon the circle was down to three players: Shaydan, Eidstrun, and Drustrun. There were fifteen sticks flying between them in a blur. Rizelya could hear bets against Eidstrun winning. She grinned as Aistrun made the opposing bet. He knew Eidstrun was not only big and strong but also fast. In a blinding fast move, first Shaydan then Drustrun failed to catch a stick while Eidstrun easily juggled the rest. With a grin he caught the sticks and bowed as the group whistled and cheered.
Rizelya chuckled as Aistrun collected his winnings. There was a general scurry of activity as tables and benches were put back in order and the cooks returned to the stove to finish preparing dinner. Feeling restless, Rizelya wandered to the door and opened it. The wind and snow had stopped sometime during the game. She stepped outside, breathing in the cold air, and looked up to a clear sky.
The stars twinkled brightly. Kelar, the largest of the three moons, was full and peeking over the northeastern ridge. With the lunadar half over both Zelar, the middle moon, and Chelar, the smallest, were waning into dark and wouldn’t be seen for the next couple of nights. Chelar would be seen first, with a new sliver showing on Ahme, the first day of the chedan, in another two nights. She stood watching Kelar rising as she contemplated the strange things happening to her and her world. She sent a prayer to the Mother and Crone to watch and protect them from this latest evil. The chill finally sent her back inside to the warmth of the fire and good friends.
Rizelya stood in front of the fire, letting its warmth thaw her out from her sojourn outside. “The storm has stopped. The night is clear,” Rizelya told Shaydan as she came to stand next to Rizelya.
“This is one time when I wish we had a Blue who was a weather worker,” Shaydan sighed. “Then we’d know if another storm is brewing.”
“You know, it would be a good idea to include a weather Blue in the fighting-packs. We need more than just the Reds, and now Yellows, if we are to defeat the monsters. And for more than just shielding, Kami is becoming quite the fighter.”
Shaydan looked at her questioning, “I seem to have missed something.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize Kami hadn’t told you yet. She killed a brecha in the last fight using her Yellow ability on a helstrablade.”
Shaydan’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “That is news, good news. Why hasn’t she mentioned it to me?”
Rizelya shrugged. “Dehali told me. She was so proud of Kami. I think this is something we need to pursue. We need all of us to stop these attacks.”
“I’ll mention it to Keshanal when I see her.” Shaydan looked around the room until her eyes found their target, Kami. “And I’ll be finding out what Kami has been doing. She should have told me. If it is clear in the morning, then we’ll be heading on our way.”
“And we, ours. Make sure to ask if anyone else is hearing the humming from the control janack. I really hope I’m not the only one.” Rizelya couldn’t keep the wistfulness from her voice.
The next morning dawned bright and clear. The sun held the promise of a warm day. Packs were settled on multas and horses were saddled. While the rest of the fighters readied for departure, Shaydan and Drustrun showed the routes into Strunheim Territory on the map to Rizelya and Aistrun one last time. One of the scouts had been there as a courier several times and pointed out some caves they could stay in if another storm came up and they couldn’t make it to a safe house.
Finally, all was ready, and th
e two groups separated for the first time in ten days. Rizelya took Kymaya’s reins from Leistral. “It has been a pleasure to work with you,” she told Shaydan and Drustrun.
“Same here.”
Rizelya clasped hands with Drustrun. When she tried to shake hands with Shaydan, she was pulled into a hug.
“If you ever need a new pack to join, you’re always welcome in ours,” Shaydan whispered.
Rizelya nodded then stepped away. She signaled to her squad-pack, who mounted up. Rizelya was the last to climb into her horse’s saddle. She looked at Shaydan, and when she spoke her voice was rough. “If all goes well, we’ll see you at Strunlair Keep on the first day of Sandar. May the Mother and Crone watch over you.”
“And over you.” Shaydan lifted her hand in farewell.
Rizelya kicked her heels into Kymaya’s side and, without a backward glance, led her group out of the courtyard of the safe house and turned onto the path heading deeper into the mountains.
Chapter 7
The day may have been bright and clear but the sun wasn’t having much luck melting the foot of fresh snow and warming up the day. Rizelya snuggled into her cloak’s warmth as they climbed higher into the mountains. At midday they reached an ancient tower where at its base was the first marker indicating the pass through the mountains to Strunheim Territory. While Leistral and Eidstrun warmed up soup and made flat bread for the midday meal, Rizelya and Aistrun climbed the tower stairs that wound around the interior to its heights.
Even though the stone steps were worn and the dark stone walls spoke of an age long forgotten, the tower was in surprisingly good shape. Climbing the stairs Rizelya fingered the cracks in the stone from some long-ago battle. At the top, they crawled through a small opening and onto the tower balcony. A low wall surrounded it.
From one side of the wall, she could see the countryside measures around her. From the other she could see the pass threading up the mountainside through the trees. Large cairns marked the path, tattered flags flapping in the breeze. Near the top of the mountain, only the tips of the cairns could be seen through the snow. She had been worried they wouldn’t be able to find the path.