Fireclaws - Search for the Golden

by T. Michael Ford

  I stopped, and kneeling down, looked into her blue eyes. “Rakka, we will need to stay here for a short while to rest and eat. Will you hunt for us? Afterward, I will need you to patrol the area, especially listening for any baying hounds. We were followed in our escape, and there is something I fear about those hounds…something unnatural.”

  The big cat purred reassuringly, “Fireclaws will bring you an excellent brace of small spotted pigs, my Mother. I know where they are, even though they think to hide from me.” She smacked her lips and showed some impressive fang before bounding effortlessly off into the trees.

  Chapter 8

  Finally, we reached our destination, Daphne’s poor mistreated tree. I walked up and tapped on the trunk. Again, the air around the truck seemed to shift slightly and Daphne came pouring out, an exasperated look on her face. Seeing me, she wrapped her arms around me, chattering excitedly.

  “Oh…thank the Earth Mother you came back! I’m just not cut out for this kind of assignment.” She started crying. “I’m just a pooka. What do I know about comforting anyone?” I held up a hand to cut her off, but she suddenly caught sight of Kerrik hanging back a few steps and gushed, “A MAN!” Forgetting all about me, she ducked under my arms and sprinted forward, literally throwing herself into the wind wizard’s arms. A stunned Kerrik looked down to see the spiky-haired girl wrapped around him like an anaconda. “Kiss me and I’m yours forever!” Daffi pleaded, her eyes closed, lips puckered up, and her face just inches from his.

  “Err…ah no.” He winced, prying the nymph/pooka off and gently setting her back on her feet. “I think I’ve gotten into quite enough trouble today already with the opposite sex by not knowing what is going on. Really, I would rather just rest for a moment.”

  With a profound cry of despair, Daphne collapsed on the ground and drew her knees up to her face like a small child, sobbing, “What is so wrong with me?”

  Why, I’ll never know, perhaps I spent too much time around Alex and too much niceness rubbed off, but I felt somewhat obligated to offer her comfort. I knelt down next to her and drew her in for a hug.

  “Daphne, I really think you are trying too hard. You just need to meet the right person.”

  “How, Ryliss,” she demanded tearfully. “No one ever comes to this part of the forest; the other nymphs see to that. I could leave, but I have nowhere to go and no one to help me find a better place.”

  Crap! The words of the Earth Mother echoed ominously in my brain “Daphne needs a mentor.” And while I actually didn’t work directly for the Earth Mother, she was another of the seemingly endless group of individuals who I owed at least some form of allegiance. A Druid who angered her would find life very bleak until reparations were made.

  Sighing, I stroked her head, the pooka’s face still buried sloppily in my shoulder. “Daffi, I would be willing to help you find a new tree. I know of a beautiful, vibrant forest near my home, and there are no nymphs or sylphs, or any other magical creatures, except for a recently planted pixie tree. You might really like it there.” Daphne looked up with eyes filled with hope.

  “Really? My very own little forest?”

  “Yes, and the pixies are only there for a couple weeks twice a year; otherwise, it would be all yours. There’s even a well-travelled road running through it, so there are always people for you to…umm…meet.”

  The pooka jumped to her feet, squealing and hopping up and down. “Thank you! Ryliss, you are the best. I promise I won’t be any trouble at all...when can we leave?”

  “Soon, but I have to warn you, I have to complete my mission and figure out what to do with Kerrik and Andi before I can go home.”

  The pooka’s eyes suddenly got very wide. “Alfalfa pellets! I forgot about Andi and left her in the tree! She’s going to be even more upset!” With that, Daffi dashed back to the tree and phased back into its interior. A few seconds later she reappeared, gently leading Andea out by the arm. The seer was a mess, she looked cried-out and wan. Her hair was matted, her clothes were torn in places, and her arms looked scratched and bloodied.

  “Daphne! What did you do to her?”

  “Nothing, mistress!” Daffi said pleadingly. “She did all this to herself! I swear on all that is leafy!”

  By this time, Kerrik had perked up. He couldn’t see well in the darkness, but he seemed to recognize his sister, and in a few short steps, he had enveloped her in his arms. The two of them just held each other silently for a couple minutes, not speaking at all. Finally, Kerrik broke the silence.

  “Andi, I’m so sorry to keep putting you through all this,” he whispered, kissing the top of her head gently.”

  “Kerrik, you don’t seem at all well either…” Andea returned, probing his chest and arms with her slim hands.

  “I’m pretty sure I nearly died. If it wasn’t for Ryliss…”

  I walked away to give them some privacy and was just in time to intercept Naurakka before she entered the glade. She was dragging two recently dispatched spotted pigs through the underbrush, and their size was even causing the puma some difficulty. The lack of a blood trail told me that she had ended them by breaking their necks, something not easy to do on an animal that basically doesn’t have a neck to speak of. I smiled; for all her bluster, Rakka was very considerate and probably didn’t want to leave a bloody trail behind for flies or other vermin to follow. The big cat spat them out at my feet.

  “Two tasty small spotted pigs, my Mother. You need to feed well to keep up your strength. I go on now to guard.”

  “Rakka, these are your kills; by rights, you should eat first.” The black puma sat back on her haunches, licked a paw delicately, and made the chuffing noise which was her form of laughter.”

  “I am sated for now, my Mother…there were three little pigs when I found them.” A last barking cough and she slid soundlessly into the darkness.

  Picking up the two hefty pigs by their back feet, I carried them farther into the woods until I found a convenient fallen split log that would serve admirably as a butcher’s table. Removing my bone knife from the sheath inside my boot, I quickly removed the succulent loins from both kills and carefully wrapped them in linden leaves. I placed them on the far end of the log while I contemplated the rest of the still-warm carcasses. Despite my best efforts, my stomach growled viciously and I was reminded I still needed food immediately, or risk being too weak to fight or run.

  My Jag’uri form was a twin to Naurakka, with a sizable appetite to match, and I extended my claws into the cool sandy soil as I got my bearings. For a few seconds, I allowed myself to revel in the experience of sensory overload that accompanied becoming a wild creature. I sniffed disparagingly at the wrapped meat I had set aside for the humans and then walked back and tore into the still hefty pig bodies with pent up need. Letting my inner Jag’uri feast, my rational mind chuckled at human preferences for lean muscle tissue. The big cat that I had become would always prefer the rich organ meats: heart, liver, and tongue. In the span of a few minutes, I had ravenously consumed all but the large bones, feet, and skulls. I was lying out on the cool forest moss in the process of a delightful marrow extraction, using my powerful jaws to crack open the bones, when I heard a voice behind me.

  “That might be the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen, and I know some trolls.” Daphne smirked, leaning up against a small birch.

  With a feline snarl of irritation, I stood up and began the return to my two-legged form. Looking around at the carnage, yeah, it did seem a little extreme to my elf eyes, but I had been famished and I now felt a lot better. Fortunately, when the change is triggered, all blood, dirt, and gore are left behind. So I primly watched where I stepped, and after retrieving the meat wrapped in leaves, headed back to the laurel glade to start a fire.

  Approaching Daffi’s tree, I saw Kerrik and Andi sitting morosely on a fallen log, talking quietly. Making some noise so it didn’t seem like I was sneaking up on them, I went about mundane tasks like starting the fire and assem
bling a framework of green twigs over the fire to hold the food. Pulling out my bag of dimensions, I rooted through it pulling out the clothes and blankets I removed from the farmhouse and some of the potatoes and carrots. The potatoes, I skewered on sticks in the heat. A little later, when I had some actual coals worked up, I would heat rocks and bury the potatoes alongside them to quicken the process. I just passed the carrots over to my companions for immediate consumption and stretched the pork out over the twigs to begin the roasting process.

  “If I may ask,” Kerrik said, nervously looking around now that he had the light of the fire to see by, “where is the cat?”

  “Rakka is ranging out looking for signs of pursuit.”

  “And you can talk to a puma?”

  “As a Druid, I can communicate with most animals, but not really talk like humans do. Most of the time, it’s pretty simplistic, but hedgehogs don’t live complicated lives anyway. The same goes for some plants and trees. I found Naurakka in a burning forest; her mother had been killed by goblins. We formed a bond that allows us to know each other’s thoughts, at least from a short distance, and we have been together ever since.” I stopped and looked at Daffi, who had just joined the group, appearing out of the trees. “Daphne, could you take Andi back into your tree and try these clothes on her? The ones she’s wearing are about to fall off her.”

  The pooka brightened. “Yes, mistress.” Gently, she led Andea back to the tree, and the two of them disappeared.

  “Mistress?” Kerrik asked with a raised eyebrow. “She works for you?”

  “It’s a long story, but I’ve only known her for a few hours, as well. What you need to know is that she is very unique, a half dryad and half pooka cross.”

  “A pooka? But I thought…”

  “Don’t even go there, Kerrik,” I snorted. “You may be a wizard, but your knowledge of magic and magical creatures is atrocious. Just assume from now on that most of what you know is wrong. But while they are away, you should be aware that the dryad side of Daffi will cause her to fall in lust with nearly any humanoid creature with a pulse, with no thought to the consequences. Part of my task will be to try and teach her more self-control, but in the meantime, I beg you to be restrained in your relations with her, she is very fragile.”

  Kerrik nodded thoughtfully, looking me in the eye. “I understand, I will attempt to treat her like a sister.” He paused as if deciding to speak further. “I think we’re all fragile in one way or another, even you, Ryliss.”

  Averting my eyes, I tended to the fire and the food. “Yes, well…as soon as you’ve both eaten, we need to talk about what to do next.”

  The wizard drew himself up stiffly on the log. “Andi and I will be alright. I will get her somewhere safe, and we will build a life together, maybe a small farm somewhere. I can’t ask you to do more for us; you’ve already done so much.”

  I sighed inwardly and perched myself next to him on the log. “Look, Kerrik, I’m sorry if I snapped at you earlier, there’s no way you could have known and I overreacted. If possible, I’d like you and Andi to both consider me your friend. That said, Kerrik, you have no horse, no food, no gold, and no weapons to defend yourself. Plus, you have essentially a helpless person to provide for, and you have some dangerous people looking to capture your sister and probably kill you. And to top it all off, you’re really not that good of a wizard. You are both going to need my help.”

  “You really don’t believe in pulling any punches, do you, Ryliss?” he said wryly, shaking his head in despair at their situation.

  Putting my hand on his shoulder, I replied in what I hoped was a calm, reasonable tone, “All is not so bleak, my friend. I would like to take you and Andea back to Sky Raven with me. The best healers in the world live there, and I’m sure Andi would be welcomed with open arms and accepted as a fellow wizard. There, her talents would be valued far beyond wasting away aimlessly at a table in a farmhouse somewhere. I think the Enchanters there might even be able to create something that would allow her to see again, after a fashion. I wouldn’t want to get either of your hopes up, but I have seen them do wondrous things. Sky Raven is attached to Xarparion so you will even be able to get some training to improve your wizardry.”

  “Why?” he interrupted bluntly.

  “Why, what?”

  “Why would you do all this for us? You barely know us, and all we have been is a burden to you.”

  “Two reasons; one, you and Andi have some knowledge crucial to my mission.”

  “Whatever a golden is, right?” he cut in.

  “Correct. And two, Verledn wants you pretty bad. I believe he is consorting with demons, and that means he’s evil to the core. So keeping Andea out of his hands is not only the morally right thing to do, but it’s also the tactically smart thing, and it serves my King and Queen’s interests.”

  “And which King is that?”

  “King Alex Martin and Queen Maya of the Nova, rulers of Sky Raven Fortress.”

  “I’m sorry, I’ve never heard of them. But this Sky Raven place is the fortress that Verledn was always demanding that Andi look for information about, right?”

  “Yes, it is the strongest bastion of good on the planet.”

  “Well, if it’s as good as you say, that’s where I need to bring Andea. I owe her that much.”

  The tree disgorged Andi and Daphne and I waved them over to the fire. The new clothes were slightly big on the seer, but very serviceable.

  “Ryliss, we need to talk,” Andea stated bluntly as soon as she got closer to us and was helped down to a seat on the log.

  “I know, Andi, but eat first. I need you two to stuff in as much as you can, I’m not sure when you’ll get the next hot meal.” I served the two humans, and like all wizards, they fell on the food like wolves.”

  “Aren’t you joining us, Ryliss?” Kerrik asked between chewing and swallowing.

  “No…I grabbed a bite in the forest,” I said somewhat defensively. It didn’t help that Daffi was shaking silently in laughter off to the side. “How about you, Daphne, aren’t you hungry?”

  “No, mistress, I could never eat animal flesh! I only need sunlight when it’s available as a dryad. I can eat in my pooka forms, but my goat is really the only aspect that enjoys it very much, and she thinks weeds are tasty.”

  “Good to know; so it’s really just Kerrik and Andi we will need to worry about feeding. I hope you two like meat, it could get somewhat monotonous.”

  “Whatever you provide will be appreciated,” Kerrik said, finishing up. He looked groggy and finally just slumped down on the ground with his back to the log. A few seconds later, his breath sounds slowed perceptively and he was fast asleep. Daffi wrapped a thin blanket retrieved from her tree around him, and I threw some more wood on the fire.

  “Kerrik?” Andea whispered anxiously, not hearing any further comments from her big brother.

  “Relax, Andi,” I said, “he’s just exhausted. Healing draws most of its energy from the body of the host, not the healer. He just needs food and rest to recover. The seer nodded, the pale orbs that were now her eyes looking out at nothing in the distance.”

  “So what have you and Kerrik decided to do with me?” She swallowed hard in trepidation.

  I came back to the fire with a fresh load of dry branches and stoked it back up to a gentle blaze. Then I sat down next to the girl and took her hands so that she could feel the connection as I spoke to her.

  “Andi, we haven’t decided anything about you. I had hoped we would have time to sit down and discuss the next step, but your brother isn’t up to it at the moment.”

  “But you have talked.”

  “Yes, I was hoping that you both would agree to come back to Sky Raven with Daffi and me.”

  “Does this place have gleaming white walls and a huge waterfall flowing down the center, splitting into two rivers that flow to the right and left? It looks like an enormous dragon is breathing steam down to the earth?”

  “Yes
, it is a beautiful place. But I thought you told Verledn that you couldn’t get visions of Sky Raven?”

  “At the time, that was true, probably because I had never been around anyone who had seen the place. But since I met you, I have been dreaming of this fortress. You have been to this wondrous place, haven’t you, Ryliss?”

  “It’s been my home for the past five years, Andi, and I believe it would be a place you could call home, as well.”

  The girl cleared her throat uneasily and changed subjects. I had noticed this was something she did regularly, and I found it somewhat disconcerting as it threw my orderly mental processes off balance. It also strangely reinforced the odd feeling I had that she always knows much more than she is revealing.

  “I’m very sorry I was so much trouble for Daphne while you were off helping Kerrik. I know you can understand that since I left my parents’ farm, right up until I was taken by Verledn, I needed to fend for myself, depend on myself. I had to become an independent woman much like you to survive, Ryliss. Now all that independence has been ripped away from me, I have to depend on others for food, safety, even help going to the privy…I hate it! I hate it badly and there’s nothing I can do about it! It’s bad enough to be treated like a child, but it’s far worse to be treated like a blind child. Sometimes, I just want to die and get it over with; it would save me the pain of being a burden to everyone around me.” Tears were starting to trickle down from her opaque eyes.

  “Andi, I don’t know if you are getting visions of Xarparion, as well. It’s a huge walled city with distinct towers, although they are mostly empty and just used as classrooms now.”

  “I have seen glimpses,” she confirmed, squeezing my hands. ‘I feel there is a palatable connection to Sky Raven, but the fortress is clearly on a mountaintop, and the tower place is on flatlands. I have never experienced that feeling before.”