by Tora Moon
Laynar raised her voice to be heard as far back the trail as she could. “We’ll have to walk the horses across. If we take it slow, we shouldn’t have any problems.” She sent the first riders, her seconds, across the scree while she waited at the side. The pack multas were interspersed throughout the line rather than at the end. Rizelya now saw the wisdom of it as the first group across the loose rock had a multa with them. They could begin to set up camp at the top of the pass while the rest made their way up.
The shadows were getting longer and Rizelya was glad she was near the front of the line. She’d hate to have to try to cross the loose rock after dark. She wondered if Laynar had misjudged the time it would take to get this many people up and over the pass.
Soon it was Rizelya’s turn to cross. Aistrun would be next and then the rest of her squad-pack. Laynal was behind Dehali. Rizelya got off Kymaya and gathered the reins in her hand. “Come on, girl, I need your sure-footedness.” She urged Kymaya forward, talking gently to her the whole time. Taking care of her horse kept her mind off how easy it would be to slip on the rocks and slide down the slope to her death. She grimaced and held her breath each time rocks slid under her feet. She was almost lightheaded from not breathing by the time she stepped off the scree and stood with her arms draped over Kymaya’s neck breathing deeply for several long moments.
Looking back, she saw Aistrun almost half-way across. She stifled a scream when he slipped and fell to his knees. His big gelding, Jezhan, stood stock-still, then lifted his head, pulling on the reins to keep Aistrun from sliding down the slope. Aistrun crawled hand over hand up the reins until he was standing. He rubbed Jezhan’s nose and then started across again, his mouth in a tight line as he fought the terror of his near accident.
She had to move Kymaya forward to give him room to get off the scree. As soon as he was off and safe, she threw her arms around him. “I thought I was going to lose you!”
“Hey, never fear, Little Red, you can’t get rid of me that easily.” His words were light, but he held her just as tightly as she held him. Tighter.
“I. Can’t. Breathe,” she sputtered. He released her.
Knowing he was safe, she returned to Kymaya and climbed back into the saddle. She went slowly, watching behind her to be sure all of her people crossed the loose rock safely. She was at the bend of the next switchback when Keandran made it across. Kressy, like all the other multas, needed no urging to cross. Her wide platter-like hooves with their rough pads allowed her to easily grip the slippery surface. Relieved all of her pack was safe, Rizelya turned back to the trail.
It was twilight when Rizelya and her squad-pack made it up the trail to the pass. At the pass was a wide meadow ringed with trees. Plenty of boulders and rocks were strewn around to ensure no monsters would bother them during the night. A large community fire was going and several heavy cooking pots were bubbling over it.
One of Laynar’s seconds directed them to a spot where they could set up their tent. As the men worked to get the tent up and secured, Rizelya and Leistral searched for firewood. They didn’t worry about how dry or damp the wood was. They were all strong enough Reds that their fire magic would light most anything, even if it was soaked. Dehali built a ring of stones to contain their fire. Dropping off the firewood for Dehali, Rizelya sniffed appreciatively at the smell of a stew cooking. She was starving. Their fire would be for warmth and taevo. Rizelya sent the men to help others set their tents up. Everyone was exhausted from the long ride.
It was full dark when Rizelya saw Laynar ride slowly into camp. She hurried over and helped Laynar off her horse.
“Did everyone make it across?” Rizelya asked when Laynar was firmly on her own feet.
Laynar shook her head sadly. “We lost one Red and two warriors. Their horses weren’t as well trained as Aistrun’s. When the people slipped, they dragged their horses with them.”
“I’m sorry,” Rizelya apologized.
“No need. It wasn’t your fault there was a landslide. You know as well as I do, we fighters risk our lives every time we go up against a nest of monsters.” Lines of fatigue were etched on her face from the exhaustion and worry of getting all her people across the dangerous scree.
“But if it wasn’t for my need to hurry, we wouldn’t have come this way,” Rizelya protested. Now she knew there had been casualties, her guilt flared up anew.
The older woman shook her head. “We all know how important your task is. We’ve fought the damned control janacks and have seen the size of the nests. You have nothing to feel guilty about.”
Before Rizelya could say anything else, Laynar turned away, going into her tent. Rizelya shuffled to her own tent. Ignoring the others, she crawled into her bedroll. She knew Laynar was right, but it didn’t make her feel any less guilty. She went to sleep murmuring a prayer for the dead.
***
Rizelya was surprised she hadn’t had bad dreams from falling asleep praying for the dead. They were lucky only three had died. When she left the tent to relieve herself and find breakfast, the camp was subdued.
They couldn’t retrieve the bodies to burn them properly and release their souls to cross the veil into the Summerland. Nor was there a Gray Priestess with them to do the full death rites. It was bothersome, but as fighters they had left their dead for the creatures of the earth and sky often enough that they no longer dreaded the ghosts of the dead haunting them. She prayed if any of these dead did turn into ghosts, they would seek a Gray who could help them cross the veil to the Summerland.
She wondered if she could convince a Gray priestess to leave the safety of the keeps and travel with the fighting-packs. She knew they made rounds to the small keeps in the districts. She sighed, pushing back the wish. There were so few Grays, she doubted even one could be spared for the fighters. Nor would they put themselves in the danger traveling with a fighting-pack would bring.
“Hey, what are you scheming?” Aistrun asked her as he sat down on a rock next to her. He held out a bowl of porridge for her. “I know that look. You were planning something.”
“Not planning, just thinking.” She took the bowl from him and scooped a spoonful of the hot cereal into her mouth. She hoped he would let it go.
“About …”
She swallowed the cereal. “I was thinking about the dead people and hoping their ghosts would be able to find a Gray to help them cross the veil.” At his upraised eyebrow, she continued, “And how it would be helpful to have a Gray travel with the fighting-packs. You know how often we have to leave a pack-mate who has been killed in the field.”
“I know. But, Rizelya, by the time you’re finished rearranging the makeup of the fighting-packs, we’ll have all the Talents with us!” He looked scandalized.
“Not all of them,” she clarified. “I wouldn’t bring a White with us and maybe not even Blues.”
“But a Gray? They are almost as rare as the Blacks.”
“Now that is what we need! A Black! They hold all of the Talents.”
Aistrun laughed. “Good luck. There hasn’t been one in ages.”
“Well, I can wish, can’t I?” Rizelya pouted.
When they returned their bowls to the washing tub, Laynar was there.
“You look better this morning,” Rizelya commented.
“Amazing what a good night’s sleep will do. Our healer made me a sleeping draught.”
Kaieli had been one of the first healers to belong to a fighting-pack. Now there were others. It was one Talent, besides Red, all the alphas agreed was now necessary. Rizelya had been thankful numerous times on this mad journey across Strunlair Province for the addition of the healers. She still didn’t know why she passed out when a control janack was killed. Not for the first time she wished her heart sister, Kaieli, was part of the squad-pack.
Finished cleaning their dishes, the three strolled to the picket line.
“The path down on this side is much easier than the one we climbed yesterday,” Laynar assured them. “We hav
e three minor keeps to visit today.” Laynar must have seen Rizelya clench her jaws. “Going over the mountain saved us three days of travel. These will be short visits and they’re necessary.”
“I know,” Rizelya replied frowning. “I’m just worried about getting to Strunlair Keep in time.”
“We’ll get you there, don’t worry.”
“Hey, if we don’t get there by the first day of summer, they’ll wait.” Aistrun sounded positive. “They need the information we have. Besides, we’ll most likely be traveling with the Strunven Keep Alphas, so they have to wait for them.”
“You’re right,” Rizelya reluctantly admitted.
“Of course I am!” His reply earned him a slap on the arm. “Hey!”
“Oh, stop grousing.”
They reached the picket line and one of the younger men, barely into manhood, raced to get their horses. Aistrun and Rizelya went one direction down the line to get their saddles while Laynar went the other. Leistral and the others of their squad-pack were already saddling their horses. While she and Aistrun waited for their horses to be brought to them, Rizelya watched Keandran critically. He seemed to move a bit stiffly and had a strained look on his face. Tejen, his horse, whickered softly.
“Are you all right?” she asked him quietly, coming up behind him.
Keandran nodded, a short jerk of his head.
“You look like something is wrong,” Rizelya insisted, adding a touch of alpha magic to get him to talk to her.
He stopped adjusting his stirrup and turned to face her. “It feels like three people are in my head: me, the White Priestess, and someone else.” He grimaced and added, “They aren’t playing nice.”
She could see the pain behind his eyes. “It must be the block against the taint the White Priestess put in place.” She gently cupped his face, letting her hand drop when he flinched away. “Try to fight the taint. Come to Aistrun or me if you need help. We worry about you.”
“Yeah, sure,” he said with a sneer. “I’ll be sure to do just that.” He turned back to his horse.
She threw her hands up in the air, exasperated. Shaking her head and swearing under her breath at Histrun for burdening her and Aistrun with an ungrateful, mangy cur like Keandran, she stalked to Kymaya.
“Whoa, don’t take it out on Kymaya.” Aistrun stopped her before she could throw the saddle onto her horses’ back. She had already slapped on the saddle blanket. “She didn’t do anything to you. What’s wrong?”
“Keandran,” she spit out. “I don’t think the White Priestess helped him much. He’s still a nasty piece of work.” She took several deep breaths to calm herself down. If what he said was true—and she did believe him—then he was struggling. She reminded herself to have compassion. Until Histrun released him, Keandran was still part of her squad-pack.
Aistrun looked at her carefully and then let her arm go. She was calm enough now to saddle Kymaya and not hurt her. Without a word, he turned back to saddling Jezhan.
“Thanks, Wolf,” she murmured as she adjusted the saddle on Kymaya’s back.
“No problem, Little Red.”
A short time later, everyone’s horse was saddled and the multas’ packs were secured. Laynar gave the signal to mount and led them down the mountain path. The first few measures were steep switchbacks, but afterward the trail was a much gentler downward slope. The farther down they rode, the warmer it became, until by late morning it was a beautiful spring day. The trail took them into a canyon and when they came out of it, a small keep guarded the entrance. This was their first stop of the day.
The alpha of this keep, however, had seen a control janack a few days before. The keep’s fighters had managed to kill it, but not before five of their fighters were killed, including two Reds.
One of the young women of the village keep was a strong Yellow. When the alpha heard about a way to distract the control janack in order to kill it, she begged Dehali to teach the young Yellow. The keep was small enough they couldn’t afford many more such losses.
The young girl turned out to be in her early teens. Dehali was reluctant to teach one so young, but as she was the only strong Yellow in the keep, Dehali finally gave in. The girl proved to be a good pupil and learned quickly. Laynar and Rizelya worked with the alpha to teach her how to create the fire shield. Laynar promised the alpha she would tell Layhalya of their losses and send replacement fighters.
Three octars later, Rizelya and her escort remounted and rode off. The small keep provided them with fresh bread filled with mutton and tangy cheese which they ate as they rode. Rizelya tried not to begrudge the time spent teaching them. She knew part of her mission was to do what she could to keep the Posairs safe. It wouldn’t do any good for her to rush off and leave these people unable to fight the new monsters.
She rubbed her face. The world wasn’t as it had been even at the beginning of this lunadar. Neydar, the second lunadar of spring, was usually a time of planting and the birthing of livestock. The monster nests tended to revive during this lunadar, but never as quickly or as profusely as this year. The change was in more than just their size and frequency; it was also in the strange new control janack. Something had caused the change after centuries of predictability.
Rizelya’s thoughts kept her occupied until they stopped at the next minor keep late in the afternoon. This one had also recently had trouble with the strange janack. Luckily, this garrison had only lost one warrior. The Yellow that Dehali trained this time was much older than the last. She was in her forties, a mother with several young children. She didn’t want to fight the monsters. But when she found out how horrible this new janack was, she agreed. She would do anything to keep her children safe.
After the first few attempts, it became obvious it would take longer for her to learn. The keep was too small to feed and house the large force Laynar had with her, so she sent the majority of them ahead to the next safe house. Dehali, Rizelya, and Laynar were the only women to stay behind. Aistrun insisted on staying with them, as did Laynar’s partner. One other warrior stayed to protect Dehali. Eidstrun had wanted to stay, but Rizelya convinced him to go on to keep a watch on Keandran and to accompany Leistral.
The alpha was in her seventies. After a couple of tries, she sent a young Red to Rizelya to be taught how to create the fire shield. There wasn’t a practice arena so they couldn’t use the illusions to train the two women. They had to use their imaginations. It was nearly twilight before the two women had learned the necessary skills. They would know when they fought next whether they had mastered it well enough or not. Rizelya and Laynar didn’t have time to stay and go to a nest with them.
Rizelya and the others left the small keep a short time later. If they pushed their horses hard, they would be able to reach the safe house before full dark. Rizelya was looking forward to a hot meal and bed. Between the riding and teaching, it had been a long day. As their group topped a hillock, she could see the lights of the safe house. She was thinking so much about the hot food at first she didn’t notice Kymaya’s skittishness. It wasn’t until Kymaya jerked on the reins and hopped to the far side of the road Rizelya realized something was wrong. She had fallen far behind her companions. Now as nervous as her horse, Rizelya reached down and unhooked her helbraught.
A cough was the only warning she received. A dark mass leaped out of the shadows and tore a deep gash along her right shoulder. She ducked the spiked end of its long, skinny tail. Another one was in front of Kymaya, while another one nipped at her heels. Kymaya bared her teeth at the menace. Rizelya tightened her legs to grip the saddle more securely as she felt Kymaya’s hindquarters bunch. She felt the impact of a hind hoof catching the beast and a soft thud. A yowl split the night.
“Aistrun!” Rizelya yelled as she fed fire into her helbraught, readying for the next attack. She could now hear the snarls and coughs of the narhili. Red glowing eyes surrounded her and Kymaya. Rizelya swung her helbraught, the blade slicing a beast as it snapped at her. It dropped away,
only to be replaced by another. She dimly heard the thunder of hoofs as Aistrun and the others raced toward her.
Another swing and another beast yelped in pain. She thrust backward with the heavy staff-end of her helbraught catching a narhili in the chest as it flew over Kymaya’s hindquarters, knocking him to the ground. She dropped her reins concentrating on fighting—and staying on—while Kymaya twisted and turned and kicked savagely at their attackers.
Then she heard a deeper snarl. A howl pierced the sounds of fighting and she saw another huge beast enter the fray—Aistrun.
Help had arrived.
The eight-foot tall warrior shredded one of the narhili, his reach and claws no match for theirs. Rizelya heard a yip as the other two men, in their wolf form, arrived and tore into the beasts. The red-orange glow of helbraught blades heralded the arrival of Laynar and Dehali. The fight was vicious, but with Aistrun in his warrior form, it didn’t last much longer. An eerie yowl filled the night and as it died the surviving narhili fled.
Rizelya grabbed Jezhan’s reins, the riders set heels to flanks, and the horses surged into a gallop. Aistrun ran in the rear, guarding it from any further attacks. The other two men, remaining in their wolf form, loped on either side of the galloping horses. Any wounds would be cared for when they were at the safe house. As they raced into the courtyard and the gates banged shut behind them, Rizelya appreciated the safe house as she never had before. Her right shoulder and arm burned from a gash. She reached up to wipe the sweat from her forehead and realized it was blood.
Leistral and Eidstrun were at her side as soon as Kymaya skidded to a halt. Eidstrun reached up, pulled her off the saddle, and raced into the safe house. Rizelya could only surmise Leistral was taking care of Kymaya. She hoped Kymaya hadn’t been scratched or bitten. Narhili bites on a horse could become septic quickly if left untreated. In a person, they could be deadly.
Eidstrun carefully set her down on a cot where Kaelyn, the healer, waited. A few moments later, Laynar and Dehali were carried in as well. Rizelya knew it was a precaution to prevent further spreading of the poison in case they had been bitten. Blankets were hung up to provide privacy. As soon as the men left, all three women were stripped.