Shadows of Aggar (Amazons of Aggar)

by Chris Anne Wolfe

  With the quietness of a ghost, Elana returned to Diana’s party. In mute affirmation she met Di’nay’s gaze and the sentries’ scene passed between them; there were only two sentries to be deceived, and the distance they used to hide themselves would now be used against them. Unlike the ultra-sensitive Changlings, these sentries would be easily passed beneath the Sight’s cloak.

  Diana mutely acknowledged Elana’s intentions, and the woman of Aggar again disappeared into the night. Cleis looked questioningly at her friend. Diana drew her sword. Mutely Cleis followed suit and signaled the three men to press more closely around Garrison’s mount. Weapons drawn, in utter silence, they continued on.

  The night’s blackness seemed denser. The sound of their horses’ hooves seemed to die — almost to be smothered — by the air’s blackness. She saw no trace of the sentries or of Elana; they stayed in a tight formation.

  Gradually, the clouds grew more defined. The half-sphere of the midnight moon drew visible. Wary, Diana looked above. Surely they were too close to the Counsel’s Keep for Maltar’s Seer to play his game tonight? The smothered feeling lifted more, and the noises of the forest slowly drifted back into her consciousness. Diana felt relieved. This was Elana’s subtle touch.

  She caught Cleis’ glance as she sheathed her blade. The younger Amazon hesitated, then did the same. Diana had been dealing with these hunters for longer than she. Cleis did not doubt her judgment now.

  They broke into a trot again, and after a time Elana cantered out of the darkness to join them. They were a good two hours from Gronday now. If they could hold this pace — trot, walk, rest and repeat — they would make the gorge bridge by mid-morning. If the Mistress kept her word, there would be no followers beyond that border. But as Elana had reminded them, the dawn would bring new sentries to relieve the old and their tracks at the crossroads would become visible in the daylight. That meant in two, maybe three hours, Maltar’s men would be following… the difference should be enough. It was going to be a narrow margin.

  At dawn they rested the horses as their steady rhythm demanded. Elana left the others to find herself a quieter place where the trees were more ancient. The smooth-barked pines drew her into the forest, their touch welcoming; at her request their whispering life rushed through the wooded leagues, seeking a helper.

  From the branches above the wild hawk crashed downward. A piercing screech rang, and with a ruffled flutter the sharp talons dug into the silverpine’s limb. The lower branches were all but bare of needles and twigs; the sunlight seldom found these places. But the golden eyes glimmered with the light from above as they turned their wide and glossy stare to the woman. Blue and gold matched, and the icy fire bonded them. It sprang with a short, protesting cry and rose, twisting and climbing between the thick upper branches. Then with a wild fluster of wings, it broke free, and the two were soaring above the Mother’s land.

  The red fingers of dawn stretched to touch the northern mountains where wooded slopes yielded to barren, wind-stripped snowy peaks that were splayed with dawn’s rose and orange and where the air was sleek with dampness. The joy of wind and mountain heights danced as wings tucked. Together they rolled and banked and played… but thought formed and somberness settled. They circled and turned west, their sharp eyes following the crevice cut amidst the trees — the road of men. Beyond leagues to forked paths the winged quest sailed; where men lodged, the brown of mud was lost. A party of men astride well-muscled steeds was setting out to the East.

  Elana blinked, releasing her wild friend to the morning’s wind. Her fingers curled against the glossy green bark, drawing its strength as she steadied herself. She smiled then, stroking the giant in silent thanks before turning. They had gained two hours, no more. They would need to hurry.

  † † †

  “Fifteen? How does she know?” Cleis demanded in hushed tones. She and Diana stood apart from the others, tightening the cinches of their horses in preparation for another ride. “Each time she returns she knows more. How?”

  “She has a gift,” Diana returned flatly. “Something like n’Shea.” Diana swung up into the saddle. Then she paused before reining Kaing about, and her voice softened as she met Cleis’ worried gaze. “Can we leave it at that, Soroe?”

  Cleis hesitated, then a smile broke. “Of course we can.” Mounted, she turned with Diana to start them off.

  † † †

  “I hate to quit so close. We’ve barely two leagues to go,” Cleis mumbled as they found themselves dismounted again. “But the horses — ”

  “I know.” Diana sighed. Gratefully she patted Kaing’s sweaty neck; he had done well. She was thankful to the stableman that had kept him exercised too. But then, she should have known that Mattee would have allowed nothing less.

  The men’s laughter drew their attention, and Cleis hid her own humor. Neither Cedros, Jörges nor Stevens had let Garrison’s stiff gait go unnoticed. He obviously was going to be a very sore fellow tonight. She sobered then — if there was tonight.

  “Up!” Elana’s voice sounded through the forest. Scrambling — sliding she dodged through the trees on the hillside above. “They come! Mount up!”

  Jörges’ strong hands seized the spindly form and near threw Garrison into the saddle. Cinches jerked, knees clamped and they broke — Leggings already in a run as Elana pulled herself up.

  They prayed their mounts would last.

  Cleis forced them to a slower canter, her heart pounding. They could not gallop the entire way; panic would not decide their fate. The gamble was that those behind had been pushing harder to make up the distance. She hoped that outweighed the extra leagues from Gronday that their own animals had traveled.

  “They have lost two,” Elana announced as she came along side of the Amazons. “They may lose one more because of their pace.”

  “Just so we do not,” Diana said under her breath, but Elana grasped her concern.

  “Paul…” Elana warned, “his legs already quiver from the exertion. His seat becomes more unsteady by the stride.”

  Cleis nodded and dropped back to warn Stevens and Jörges. They would hold him up by the elbows if they had to.

  † † †

  With a shout from Elana the first arrow came. It arched wide, and in the back Cedros snatched his dagger free and flung it behind. Too fast to aim, it whistled into nothing, but the silver flashed, causing the horse to shy. Screaming the animal stumbled, rolling forward — its rider tumbling — a single rider, his horse the swiftest.

  He heralded the thundering pack to come. Their horses jumped forward. With spirit their riders were proud of, the animals leveled low into the gallop.

  Battle cries and arrows loosed. As the bend opened, hope lifted — the bridge!

  Then suddenly Leggings was spinning aside and Diana was cursing. A cry wretched from behind and the Amazons glanced back to see Garrison bounce from the saddle — his horse smashing into Stevens’!

  Kaing wheeled with a shrill whistle as Diana’s blade came free. The stallion launched himself forward between soldiers and Terran. Silver flashed — white foam splayed as steel blade and stallion teeth bit deep. The sword swept wide — an arrow halved in mid-air as beneath it Elana bent in her saddle, dragging Garrison to her. Jörges was there too. Carrying him, they drove for the bridge.

  Hooves beat across wood and the Keep’s arrows loosed. Cleis rounded at the bridge as Stevens raced by. She kicked a soldier from his horse, her sword singing as it met another. An arrow unleashed, and she slumped, weapon dropping. Cedros snatched her arm — urging both their mounts across before she fell.

  A call of Blue pulled Diana ’round, and Kaing leapt for the bridge. But a blood-curdling cry split the air and a Northerner came.

  Arrows whisked from across the gorge and one found his shoulder. Her sword countered his as they galloped. Too late she saw him dead as she was pushed aside from the road.

  Gritting her teeth, she felt the great muscles of her stallion gather and she
leaned forward with him. Reins tight to steady his head — sword flung wide for balance — they lunged into the air, and the jagged teeth of the river gorge below.

  Trainees dove to the sides as the chestnut cleared the low wall and then they scrambled to send their arrows off, protecting her back. Sword arms swung, downing the three who tried the bridge crossing; and suddenly the remaining crew were reining back, swords slackening… bows lowering.

  “You have come to our borders!” The robed figure of the Old Mistress appeared beside the bridge and young sword carriers.

  “Our quarrel is not with you, Old One,” the captain challenged. “Let us pass!”

  “Your quarrel is against those we now protect,” the booming voice of the Old Master proclaimed. He stood with the archers against the southern wall. “Would you challenge the Council’s very Keep?!”

  The horses shifted uneasily beneath the soldiers — witness to their riders’ fears.

  “You have come to our borders,” the Mistress repeated. “You will not be given passage this day. Tell your master such, and he will understand it is over.”

  The captain hesitated, then with a disgusted grimace jammed his sword into its sheath. Curse the old woman! They all knew that much more than this journey was done — that his report would never be made. Any that carried this news to the Maltar would lose his head.

  With a wave of his hand he signaled the arms to be stowed, and still glaring at the robed figures, he pulled his horse around.

  † † †

  What would have been a leisurely ride to the Keep became a grueling wagon trip. Their party had not gone as unscathed as Diana had hoped. Garrison had slipped from his mount after taking an arrow in his hip, and Cleis had been struck in the side. The extra protection of her rib belt had deflected the arrow, but the impact had badly dislocated a rib. Elana’s Sight warned that a lung had been pierced.

  The healers immobilized them both and packed them into one of the supply wagons before drugging them against the journey. Garrison would walk again, they assured Diana, but only the Terran surgeons could repair the damage well enough so that he would not limp. Paul jokingly told them limping wouldn’t be so bad since it meant he’d never have to sit on a horse again, but Diana knew better than to take his humor so lightly. Agents such as he didn’t keep their jobs if they were easily identifiable — a limp would retire him. She would get him to the base surgeons.

  Cleis was a different case. She despised the imperial medical profession with a passion — her lover had died on an operating table. Diana knew the Chief Surgeon at the base. Indeed, she had served with him years past on assignment elsewhere, and she respected his abilities. If any could save the lung, he would. And he would respect their request that he do nothing but immediate needs. The House n’Shea would assume the rest of Cleis’ care, provided the Amazon agreed to an immediate discharge. Somehow, Diana didn’t think that was going to be a problem now.

  In the end Hal Jörges and a young trainee drove the wagon as Elana and she tended the two in the back. The Master promised a hawk would be sent ahead, and the base would be notified. A shuttle would be there by the time they arrived at the Keep. But watching Cleis’ drawn face made Diana wonder if it would be soon enough. She wiped the sweat from her friend’s brow, her throat tightening. At what risk was she putting her Sister? A person could live with just one lung.

  Elana’s hand touched Diana’s. “She would want this chance,” Elana said. She remembered the vibrant energy of the young Amazon. To be forced to limit how far she ran or how hard she played would be a different kind of pain for this woman. Elana squeezed Di’nay’s hand. “She has time. It will work.”

  Diana nodded gratefully. If the Goddess willed, it would.

  † † †

  The shuttle seemed empty to Elana despite the tidy rows of a dozen or more seats. Metal, she though disgustedly. Metal and artificial air… but they were pressed for time, and she forced her attention back to their patients.

  Behind another of the sliding doors, beds were set in the wall, and Elana recognized the red crosses that Di’nay’s medicine box carried. Hal left them quickly to find the pilot in the cockpit, while, with practiced efficiency, Di’nay arranged the two in the beds. Under her quiet commands, Elana helped put life support systems in place before the man returned.

  “We’re set when you are, Di.”

  “Nearly — damn.” She turned to Elana. “The tranquilizers — the drug we gave them on the way in. The surgeons will need to know what it is.”

  “I’ll get it,” Elana assured her, turning for the doorway.

  “I’ll call when ready,” Diana told Hal, and he nodded, letting Elana pass before following her forward.

  The trainee handed her the purse, and Elana sent him off with the wagon. The shuttle would only spook the horses while the craft was lifting off. She hit the door’s button, ducking inside. The door sealed behind her; in mid-step, she froze.

  The metal cavern of emptiness stretched about her. Unprepared, she found herself suspended in a synthetic world — devoid of wood or linen or any organic fixture. She faced a white abyss and felt herself falling.

  A door slid open and someone said, “Elana?” Diana grabbed her, holding her upright as she searched the darkened face anxiously. “Elana?!”

  Her skin felt clammy and her breath was forced through clenched teeth. As Di’nay’s strength stole into her body, she realized this was not the emptiness of the Seer’s Tomb. Scattered remnants of men and women lay in seat corners, in the dust trekked in by boots — even faintly in the odd taint of the air.

  “Elana?”

  Elana blinked as Di’nay shook her slightly and focused on the worried face before her. With a gasp she fell into her lover’s arms.

  And then as Diana looked at the white fiberglass and metal of these walls, she understood. Moaning, she tightened her clasp and buried her face in the dark curls. “Forgive me. I didn’t know that your Sight — never would I ask….”

  “I’m all right,” Elana protested, shaking her head and pulling back a little. “I hadn’t thought either. It’s all right now.”

  “In truth?”

  “Yes.” She smiled then and felt Di’nay accept her reassurance reluctantly. But there were still other concerns to be tended. “Here. The drug you need. A pinch mixed with a few spoonfuls of water, nothing else.”

  “This and water?”

  “Yes.”

  Diana’s hands trembled as they took the parcel. The realization of their parting was finally sinking in. Her dark eyes searched Elana’s solemn face quickly. “I’m not leaving forever, Elana. I will be back.”

  Elana shook her head slowly. “Do not say that, please.”

  “Why…? After Cleis and Garrison are tended and my reporting done, I will be back! I promise you.”

  Elana’s tongue moistened her lips as she asked, “When?” Her blue eyes lifted to Di’nay’s face. “I cannot promise that I will be here if — ”

  “How long?!” Diana demanded. “Why would they — the Council couldn’t be so cruel! I’ll only be a few days — a ten-day at the most.”

  A ten-day? Elana swallowed hard. “I cannot promise more than a ten-day.”

  “Before the ten-day then. I will be back.” If it wasn’t for Cleis she would stay and to hell with Thomas’ regulations. But she needed to explain things to the surgeon — there would be papers to sign to release him from obligations… from — damn them! “I swear to you… please let it be enough?”

  “I’ll be here,” and Elana felt the light begin to burn within her. No matter what it took, she would be here.

  Their kiss was urgent, filled with promises of words spoken and unspoken and with fear of their separation. But the shuttle’s engine hummed beneath their feet, reminding them of other duties, and they parted. Regretfully Elana stepped outside, and kept walking until she reached the edge of the courtyard. Then she turned.

  The afternoon sun was breaking through t
he clouds as the ship whined, slowly rising with a swirling wind of exhaust. It looked very white and pristine in the sunlight as it nosed its way to the southeast. Her wrist throbbed with a sudden ache as the craft shot forward. She clasped her hand over the hidden lifestone and watched until the shining speck had been swallowed by the grayness of Aggar’s horizon.

  † † †

  Chapter Eleven Elana rubbed the tired ache from her eyes and drew an icy breath. The garden’s scent was lost in the air’s chill, but the cold sting of the dawn’s mist felt fresh and alive on her cheeks. She smiled softly at memories of a snowy morning — Di’nay standing on the trail at Cellar’s Gate. Her Amazon had been irritated and exhausted that morning, not unlike she herself was today.

  That was not quite truth. Her fatigue was very real, but she was not annoyed at anything nor anybody. She was frightened, but only a bit now and it was buried deeply — something she did not need to deal with as long as she acknowledged its presence. Her exasperation was more about physical limitation. Her body was restless and grew so easily wearied; that she kept forgetting her lack of stamina was creating this internal tension. No, it was not irritability, although if she was not careful, she tended to express it as such. It was more the exhaustion of separation.

  Her blue gaze was drawn to the mountains beyond the garden walls — hidden by low, white clouds threatening to engulf the Keep with foggy tendrils. The whiteness made her think of the shuttle craft, and she sighed. The lifestone was not the reason for her regrets. She had never missed anyone as she now missed Di’nay.

  Di’nay would be back, even if for only a brief stay. That knowledge would keep Elana strong until her last breath, if need be. Elana knew the value of Di’nay’s promise to her lover. She would be back within the ten-day. It was a simple fact.

  Almost as if it were happening in a dream, she felt the heavy door of the Keep open and swing closed again. It was an effort then to draw herself inside, but it wouldn’t do to drift too far away.