That was why Helnia backed away, because she also remembered hearing stories of wild snow monkeys killing unwary humans. She put a hand on her neck, but still kept an eye on Icicle, which had not moved from where it hid behind the desk.
“All right, I see you don’t trust me,” said Helnia, “but that doesn’t mean you need to be afraid of me, you know. I’m not going to harm you.”
Unfortunately, the snow monkey did not seem to hear her, because with a hiss it leaped out from behind the desk at her.
Helnia let out a small “Eek!” and stumbled to the side, allowing the monkey to go flying past her. It crashed into the floor, but quickly scrambled back onto its feet and turned to face Helnia, but Helnia was quicker. She tapped her necklace and jerked her hand toward Icicle, sending out a long vine that immediately wrapped around Icicle, tying its arms and legs together against its body.
Icicle fell onto the floor and struggled to break the vine, but it was too thick for its small body to break. Nor could it reach the vine with its teeth, because one of the vines was around its neck and held its head up.
As for Helnia, she was sweating again and her heart was beating. She leaned against the writing desk and put a hand on her forehead as she tried to calm herself down. She had been lucky that she had managed to stop the snow monkey before it got her, but now she worried that someone might have heard the sounds of fighting and was going to come and investigate them.
But no one came through the door and Helnia did not hear anyone walking down the hallway outside, so she relaxed and then looked down at Icicle, who was still struggling to free himself.
Starting to lose her patience, Helnia walked over to Icicle and bent over him. She kept her distance, even though Icicle was unable to attack her, because she didn’t want to have her throat torn out.
“Okay, Icicle, I’m done playing nice,” said Helnia. “I still don’t want to hurt you, but I also don’t want to waste time playing around like this. Do you understand?”
Icicle stopped struggling and glared up at her. It snarled, baring its pointy little teeth again, but with its limbs tied together, the monkey wasn’t much of a threat.
“Okay, I see you don’t understand,” said Helnia. “Well, I’m just going to hold you like this until you calm down. If that makes you uncomfortable, then so be it.”
Icicle, again, just snarled. It would have looked cute, maybe, if its teeth hadn’t been so sharp.
But then it suddenly wriggled, rolling back and forth so suddenly that Helnia fell backwards onto her behind.
But somehow, Icicle loosened the vines constricting it, because it managed to bite through them and then tear them apart with its now free arms. Helnia held up her hand to cast another spell to protect herself, but Icicle jumped to its feet and sprinted toward the window, which Helnia realized was open. Icicle leaped through the window, causing Helnia to jump to her feet and run over to the window to see where it was going.
But when Helnia reached the window and poked her head out of it, she did not see Icicle anywhere, not even when she jerked out her hand to illuminate the streets. It was like Icicle had simply vanished into thin air.
***
Chapter Sixteen
“You look tired, Helnia,” said Sarzen the next morning, as their caravan trundled across the road, the town of Sinmo disappearing into the distance behind them. “Didn’t get enough sleep last night?”
Helnia started. She had been dozing off, even with the occasional bump in the road, and looked around for a moment before she looked at Sarzen. “Huh?”
“I said, you looked tired,” said Sarzen. “Long night?”
Helnia blinked before she finally understood what Sarzen was asking, and nodded. “Yes. I did not get as much sleep last night as I normally do.”
“Was it because of Misma’s murder?” said Sarzen. “Did you worry someone might get you?”
“I think it was just the stress,” said Helnia. She pushed a few strands of hair back behind her ear. “Seeing Misma’s body like that was … awful, to put it mildly.”
“I understand,” said Sarzen. But then he suddenly smiled and looked out to the east, where the sun was slowly rising over the horizon. “But I slept great anyway, even though I had a hard time getting to sleep at first. Probably because I was so excited about the miracle that had happened during the battle last night. I even dreamed about it.”
“You did?” said Helnia.
“Yeah,” said Sarzen. “It was really amazing. More than ever, I am convinced that our quest is destined to succeed. The Dragon Gods must want us to find them. I just know it.”
Helnia yawned, though it was more out of exhaustion than boredom. “Well, I hope so. It sure would make our quest easier.”
“Yeah,” said Sarzen. “I’m not even afraid of the Cursed Lands anymore. In fact, I can’t wait until we reach them; I’m willing to take on whatever challenges await us there, because I know that with the Dragon Gods on our side, we can’t lose.”
Helnia felt a little annoyed at Sarzen’s upbeat attitude, mostly because she didn’t feel exactly upbeat herself. Still, she said, “I just hope we don’t lose anyone else along this quest. Misma’s death was bad enough; I worry that someone else will die along the way, too.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it,” said Sarzen, waving off her concern. “I believe we have the divine protection of the Dragon Gods now. And as long as we are careful, we should be fine.” Then he suddenly looked at Helnia, as if he’d just remembered something. “By the way, did you hear anything last night?”
Helnia instinctively tensed, but only for a moment before she realized what she was doing. Then she relaxed and said, “What do you mean? Like a mouse or something?”
“No,” said Sarzen, shaking his head. “Really late last night—heck, it might have been really early in the morning, I don’t remember, because I was half-asleep when I heard it—I heard movement in Misma’s room. I even thought I heard an animal snarling.”
“Oh,” said Helnia. “Do you think you actually heard anything or was it just a trick of your sleepy mind?”
“I went to Misma’s room to check this morning, but I didn’t see anything out of place or different from how it looked the night before,” said Sarzen. He scratched the back of his head, a frown on his face. “Yet I am sure I heard something. I asked around, but no one else heard or saw anything. Maybe it was just a really loud mouse or something.”
“Maybe,” said Helnia, trying not to look guilty in order to avoid making Sarzen suspicious. “Maybe you were half-dreaming and heard things in your dream that you thought you heard in real life.”
“That’s possible,” said Sarzen, “But it seemed too real, realer than any dream I’ve ever dreamed before. Then again, I didn’t have any time this morning to investigate as much as I’d like, because we had to leave so early, but I doubt it was anything important.”
Helnia nodded, but privately she was glad that Sarzen didn’t know. She considered telling him about what she’d seen last night, but at the same time, she was hesitant to do it because she didn’t want him thinking she had been up to no good. Besides, Helnia still didn’t quite understand everything that had happened herself. She hadn’t had much time to figure out why Icicle had reappeared in Misma’s room at such a late hour. And until she understood it, she did not feel the need to mention it to Sarzen. She felt bad about it, because it was the second lie she had told him, but like the letter from their parents, Helnia felt that it would not be good to get Sarzen’s hopes up or make him think things that might not be very helpful to him at the moment.
At least, that was how she rationalized it.
“Anyway, our next stop is the Cursed Lands,” said Sarzen. “That should be about a four day journey from Sinmo. Did you get your magical beads refilled before we left?”
Helnia nodded. She gestured at her colored beads and said, “Of course. I took advantage of Sinmo’s stores to fill up all my beads. I also got several bottles
of extra Raugus in case we run out.”
“Good thinking,” said Sarzen. “We probably won’t be near another Raugus well for a long time. The Cursed Lands aren’t supposed to have any Raugus, right?”
“Right,” said Helnia. “Some legends do say that the Cursed Lands have some Raugus, but if it does exist there, it is buried deep underground where most people can’t reach it. So we’ll have to be very careful about conserving our Raugus supplies during the next leg of our journey; we won’t be able to refill our stores if we run out.”
“Right,” said Sarzen. “But I’m sure it won’t be long before we find the Dragon Gods. We’ll find them so fast that we won’t have to worry about running out of Raugus. And once they return to Yores, they will be able to refill the wells and we will never have to worry about running out of Raugus again.”
Sarzen spoke so happily and with such confidence that Helnia wanted to believe him, but she didn’t. She just leaned back against the side of the cart, pulling her coat more tightly around her body to keep warm in the cold morning air, and hoped that the next four days would not be too exciting, because she was getting tired of it already.
-
Helnia’s wish was granted, because the next four days went by surprisingly uneventfully. The days were calm, the nights were quiet, and they were not attacked by any Draymens. They did not even see any Draymens, not even at night. Sarzen claimed that that was because the Draymens were afraid of them, as news of the miraculous appearance of the lesser dragon at Sinmo had no doubt already spread among the Draymens, but Helnia had a feeling that there was another reason for the lack of attacks. It was especially odd because the Draymens were supposed to be more numerous near the border between Yores and the Cursed Lands, yet they saw none at all on their way there.
Just because they did not see any Draymens along the way did not mean that they did not see evidence of Draymens activity. More than once, they passed a destroyed village that reminded Helnia of their own hometown. Sometimes they would also come across the skeletal remains of humans or horses that had been slain by the Draymens, which Sarzen and the other Warrior Priests would always pray brief prayers over, even though most of these remains had been dead for a long time. But Helnia did not say that aloud, because she knew how important praying for the spirits of the departed was for the Warrior Priests.
They did not run into only dead humans, however. They also ran into living humans, refugees or survivors from recent Draymens attacks. These humans were always headed north, their ultimate destination often being Ars or the other mountain cities. There wasn’t much that Helnia and the others could do to help them get there, because they were headed in the opposite direction, but they did occasionally give them a portion of their food or water supplies, as those were always the most important things that the survivors lacked.
These survivors also brought news with them of Draymens activity. And all of them shared the same news: The Draymens were becoming more and more violent. Not only were the Draymens destroying towns and villages, but they were also poisoning the groundwater or even rivers and lakes. Draymens were also starting to leave one or two of their own behind in the ruins of destroyed villages, who would attack any human who came to investigate or stay in the ruins for any reason. It was depressing to hear, especially because it sounded like there was no real organized resistance against the Draymens.
But all of these survivors were always happy to hear that Sarzen and the others were searching for the Dragon Gods. Even the survivors who admitted to disbelief in the Dragon Gods were supportive of their quest, especially after Sarzen told them about the ‘Miracle at Sinmo,’ as he had taken to calling it. Seeing the depressed and frustrated faces of the survivors turn to smiles of joy and hope made Helnia feel as confident and joyful as Sarzen at times, especially whenever she saw happy children.
One of these survivors—an old man who had a long, gray beard—actually asked Sarzen if he had heard of someone called ‘the Draymens Slayer.’
It was near the end of their third day on the road, after they had left Sinmo. It was late in the evening, when the sun was about to set. They had run into a small group of survivors—the aforementioned old man, his son and his son’s two children, a boy and a girl—and had agreed to let the survivors camp with them for the night, especially after the old man and son revealed that they had served in the Yoresian Army and had managed to take their old swords with them from their village before it was destroyed.
As they usually did at night, the carts were brought together in a circle, forming a barricade that would keep out any Draymens or wild animals at night. They also started a small fire, both to provide light and to cook dinner, and the traveling party and the survivors started to talk about recent events.
That was when the old man, whose name was Juren, had asked the earlier question. Juren was sitting on the other side of the fire across from Sarzen, his gray beard tangled and messy, and had been listening to Sarzen tell the story of the Miracle. Helnia had been sitting off to the side, playing with Juren’s grandchildren, Isa and Yema, while their father, Cehre, watched.
“Who?” said Sarzen through a mouthful of chicken.
“The Draymens Slayer,” said Juren. He looked at the Warrior Priests and mages. “Have none of you heard of him before?”
Helnia turned away from Isa and Yema—who were now rolling a ball between themselves, laughing all the while—and said, “No, we haven’t.”
“How odd,” said Juren. He stroked his beard, a thoughtful look on his face. “All survivors know of him. He’s a living legend, even though most have never seen him. I have, though. He’s the reason me, my son, and my grandchildren survived the destruction of our village.”
“Really?” said Sarzen. “None of the survivors we have run into have ever mentioned a Draymens Slayer to us.”
“Eh, I suppose most are more interested in finding a safe place to call home than in talking about living legends,” said Juren. “Well, the Draymens Slayer is a man who slays Draymens. He travels around the plains, going to villages and towns under siege by the Draymens and defending the people in fighting them off. He also protects survivors who are trying to reach Ars or other towns and cities that haven’t been destroyed by Draymens.”
“Who is he?” said Rothel, who was sitting up in one of the carts, his legs dangling over the side of the cart. “What’s his real name, I mean?”
“No one knows,” said Juren. “He appeared in the plains about ten years ago, wielding an ax made of light. No one knows where he came from or who he really is, but he has made it his mission to destroy the Draymens. He’s acted where the Elect have failed; as a result, he’s considered the Hero of the Plains, though he is better known as the Slayer.”
“How successful has he been?” said Sarzen.
“Very,” said Juren. “By himself, he’s been unable to save any village or town; however, he has helped many, many survivors safely reach larger towns like Sinmo or even the mountain cities. He’s a friend to the friendless and an enemy to the Draymens.”
“Have the Draymens tried to stop him?” said Sarzen.
“Yes,” said Cehre, causing Helnia to look over at him. Unlike his father, Cehre was young, probably in his late twenties at most, though based on the scars on his face, he looked much older than that. “It is known that whenever the Slayer appears, the Draymens drop whatever they are doing to try to kill him, even if that means letting their prey escape. They always fail, though.”
“He saved us only a couple of days ago, after we had to flee our own village,” said Juren “Cehre, the kids, and I were fleeing from the Draymens, but they managed to catch up to us anyway. Cehre and I fought with our swords, but we were almost overwhelmed, and would have been had the Slayer not appeared.”
“He came out of nowhere,” said Cehre. “Like a sudden ray of light, he appeared and attacked the Draymens. He killed them all before they even knew what was happening, and after he finished, he gave us direct
ions to Sinmo. He even gave Isa and Yema that ball they are playing with, because they had to leave their toys behind when we fled from our village.”
Helnia looked at Isa and Yema. The two kids looked much like their father, except smaller and, in Yema’s case, more feminine. They were still playing with the small wooden ball, pushing it back and forth between each other like it was the funnest game they had ever played, and did not appear to be paying attention to the conversation.
“This Slayer, what does he look like?” said Sarzen.
“He looks much like you, actually,” said Juren, pointing at Sarzen, “except older, with longer hair and green eyes rather than brown. Green eyes much like the eyes of this young mage over here.”
Juren gestured at Helnia when he said that. “He didn’t wear armor, but he did wear a silver cloak, which seemed to act like a kind of flexible armor. I saw one Draymens slash him, but its claws didn’t even tear the cloak, despite hitting it.”
Helnia and Sarzen exchanged brief but significant glances. The description of the Slayer sounded to Helnia much like a description of their father. Their father had looked like an older version of Sarzen and had green eyes, green eyes which Helnia had inherited from him. Helnia remembered the letter from their parents that was packed with her other possessions in one of the carts.
Could the Slayer be our own father? Helnia thought. He did die ten years ago, which is the same time that the Draymens Slayer is said to have appeared. Maybe our father didn’t die at all and instead became the Slayer, but if so, where is our mother?
“He sounds like a great man,” said Sarzen. “Tell me, where is he now?”
“I don’t know,” said Juren. “The Draymens Slayer goes where he wants. Most likely, he’s protecting a band of survivors from the Draymens somewhere. Why? Do you want to meet him?”
“Yes, of course,” said Sarzen, “because I think I know who he might be.”
“You do?” said Cehre. “Who do you think he is?”
The Cursed Lands Page 13