Talon: The Windwalker Archive (Book 1)

by Michael Ploof

  “Who’s out there?” one yelled.

  The three friends kept their heads down and began to crawl backward through the soggy foliage. Talon dared a peek; the two Vald searched the ground with torches.

  “They are going to be able to follow our tracks in this mud. Take Akkeri back to the village; I‘ll head them off.” he told Jahsin.

  “Thanks, Knight in Shining Armor, but I can take care of myself,” she muttered.

  “I have to help him,” said Talon, looking back at the Hus.

  “You’ll be no help to him if you’re dead. Please, Talon,” Akkeri pleaded.

  She led them at a fast sprint through the forest beside the Vald village, and soon they reached a small meandering brook. They splashed into the cold water and followed the brook for nearly half an hour before carefully climbing out onto stones and fallen trees to hide their tracks. Talon thought of nothing but Chief attacking the Skomm villager. The Vald were trying to turn him into one of their hunting wolves, like the ones who had eaten the dead during the Kelda Agaeti slaughter. He couldn’t bear to think of Chief in that way. The timber wolf had always been gentle and well-tempered. Talon hardly recognized the killer they were turning him into.

  The three of them got to the Skomm village and tried not to act suspicious when one of the Vaka rode by on his horse. Talon worried that their wet boots and pants told of their guilt, but the Vaka paid them no mind. They reached the hut and Talon breathed a sigh of relief as he closed the door behind him.

  “I have to get him out of there,” he told them as he began pacing in the small hut.

  Jahsin sat on his bed looking overwhelmed. Akkeri offered Talon a sympathetic smile. He told them what he witnessed through the window, and they offered reassuring words. But Talon was not placated by their sympathies. If they didn’t do something soon, Chief would become an unrecognizable killer.

  “I feel for you, Tal, but how we suppose to free Chief? You said so yourself: they’re turnin’ him into a killer,” said Jahsin.

  “I said they’re trying,” Talon corrected him with a scowl.

  “All right, they’re trying. But even if we could free him, where would we keep him? He goes missing, they’ll search for him here first; you can bet on it. So we can’t keep him, and he can’t live in the wild if you raised him since he was a pup,” said Jahsin.

  “I don’t know,” Talon replied, as helpless as ever. “But I would rather set him free to take his chances in the wild than see him turned into some…monster.”

  “We can’t bring him with us if we don’t get the raft ready in time,” said Akkeri, reminding them of their priorities.

  She and Talon told Jahsin what they had learned of sails from watching the fishermen on Vaka Bjorn’s ship, Icebite. Where and how they would get one had still not been determined. The sails on Icebite had been huge, even the smallest one too big for a little raft.

  Jahsin had spent the day chopping poles for the Vald tents and had managed to hide one of the long pieces. They figured if he saved one piece every so often, they would have enough to make a good-sized raft come time to leave. Finding the rope they would need to secure the beams proved harder than expected. Jahsin had inquired to many of his contacts in the underground market. They said all available rope was nabbed by the sailors as soon as it was made. One of his contacts had made promises, no doubt spurred by Jahsin’s offer to pay double.

  The Skomm were not allowed any sort of coin or real wealth unless they be Vaka. They handled all the trade supplying the Vald with what they needed from the mainland.

  Rather than use money, the Skomm bartered with each other for what they needed. Jahsin had offered to pay double the price for the rope, which in this case meant two baskets full of apothecary supplies. Talon feared the means of payment would give them away as the buyers; however, Akkeri assured him there were dozens of healers like Majhree in the large Skomm village; the Vaka’s love of the whip demanded many healers.

  Ingredients for healing salves were in high demand. Aside from the Skomm healers, Vald healers, mystics, shamans, and witch doctors also depended on gatherers like Talon and Akkeri to supply them with what they needed for their rituals and spells. There were also a number of secret witch doctors and the like among the Skomm. The mystical practice was a crime punishable by death; still many of the Skomm—mostly women—took the risk due to the wealth and power to be acquired. These practitioners usually partnered with Vaka, who turned a blind eye for a steep cut of the profits and kept them safe.

  “We could get the rope from Vaka Bjorn!” said Talon.

  Jahsin and Akkeri were locked in a heated debate about what sails might be made of.

  “Who?” Jahsin asked.

  “Vaka Bjorn,” said Akkeri. “The captain of Icebite.”

  “Feikinstafir, Tal! A Vaka? Are you out of your mind?” said Jahsin with a look of bewilderment.

  Talon became excited as his mind raced. “Akkeri said our big order and payment of apothecary supplies wouldn’t be noticed because of the nature of the market, because the secret witch doctors and such make deals with the Vaka; well, why not Vaka Bjorn? Surely he could procure some rope for us, maybe even a sail!”

  “Listen pal,” Jahsin said, putting his stump on Talon’s shoulder, “the only rope a Vaka is gonna procure for you is the one he intends to put around your neck.”

  “Bjorn is different; he’s…different. I can see it in his eyes,” Talon tried to explain but fell short.

  “They’re all the same,” said Jahsin.

  “What’s your problem?” Talon suddenly burst out. “You shoot down rescuing Chief, you shoot down my idea on getting rope, and you get in a fight with Akkeri over—what—whether sails are made from silk, hemp, or feikin cotton? What’s your problem? If you’re having second thoughts, then out with it. Would that I didn’t know you better, I’d think you too scared to get your own miserable arse off this rock!”

  “You sound like a feikin Vaka!” Jahsin hollered back. His usually rosy cheeks grew red with rage, and he looked like he wanted to punch Talon.

  “Go ahead then, get it out of your system!” Talon egged him on.

  “Endrbaga!” said Akkeri shoving the two of them. “Both of you!” she stressed to Talon. “Of course he’s scared; we all are. Since when do you two act this way toward each other? You want a beating? Keep making noise and carrying on like a bunch of drunken Vald. You won’t have to smash each other’s heads in. The Vaka’ll do it for you!”

  Silence followed her outburst, and the two refused to look at each other. When he calmed down, Talon felt bad for his words.

  “She’s right. We have enough to face without tearing into each other,” he said.

  “I’m sorry, Tal; you’re right. I been a Bacraut lately. I just…I didn’t want…” Tears streamed down Jahsin’s plump cheeks, and he wiped at them angrily with his good hand.

  “Gods damned son of a Bikkja!” His voice cracked and a look of pure misery spread across his face in a twisted smile.

  “What’s wrong, Jah?” Talon asked, concerned. Something more than the pressure of the escape haunted his friend.

  “Vaka…Vaka…Feikinstafir! I can’t even say his name,” Jahsin laughed weakly. “To think a Skomm, one of the shamed, is too ashamed to admit somethin’.”

  “You don’t have to tell us,” said Akkeri, rubbing his shoulder.

  “Yes, I do,” he said wiping his nose.

  Jahsin took a moment to get ahold of himself. He regarded the two of them with quick, darting eyes, unable to hold a gaze. “Vaka Brekken was my brother,” he finally said in a shuddering breath. He groaned in effort to suppress the tears. “Was my fault how he treated you, Tal. He saw you with me outside the house of healin’, and from that day out he had you in his sights. He treated every real friend I ever had the same way. Majhree insisted you bunk with me, else I would have never brought his attention to you. I’m sorry,”

  “That’s why he never killed you for sticking up for
me,” Talon surmised.

  Jahsin only nodded.

  “And I got him killed,” Akkeri said solemnly.

  Jahsin shook his head. “You did what you did for good reason. He raped your sister, got her pregnant, sent the Vald after her. You didn’t know he was my brother. Would it have mattered? He got what was coming to him.”

  Talon didn’t know what their relationship was like. He guessed it had always been bad. Jahsin was a good-natured man, and likely wished his brother would have been his friend. Jahsin’s tears fell for what might have been and what never would be, rather than for what was. While Brekken was alive, there had always been a chance he would warm up to his little brother. Now that chance was gone, and all that remained were bad memories of a violent and bitter bully who had himself been a product of violence and bullying.

  “It’s all right, Jahsin; if it hadn’t been for you, I wouldn’t have survived here. I never had a friend in the Timber Wolf village. I would take two of you if I could, Vaka brother and all,” said Talon.

  Jahsin laughed and some of the sorrow left his eyes. He reached across with his good arm and gave Talon a brotherly hug that was returned in kind. They opened their arms to let Akkeri in and the three huddled together, laughing at the stupidity of their bickering.

  “It’s us against the world,” said Talon, “us against the world.”

  Chapter 15

  Fylkin’s Claim

  Tears, tears in the dark; taken, he fights himself.

  —Gretzen Spiritbone, 4981

  Talon’s dreams were of blood and falling swords. Brekken came after him, cradling his severed head in one arm, and carrying a long flaming sword in the other. Laughter filled the foggy air around him but was lost in the crash of waves against the rocky shore. He stumbled about the sharp stones, flailing in the foamy waters as the raft carrying Jahsin and Akkeri drifted further from his grasp. Behind him the baying of wolves joined in the song of Brekken’s obscenities. He dared not look, for he knew the entire Timber Wolf Village was on his heels. Talon sloshed out into water up to his waist and dove in. The harder he swam, the farther out to sea the wind carried the raft, filling its patchwork sails with great gulps of air. The Vald crashed into the waves behind him and he began to sink. Hands suddenly clutched at his ankles and feet, pulling him down. He kicked and tried to swim, but the hands held him firm, pulling him down…down…

  “Talon, wake up!” Jahsin said, shaking him.

  He woke with a scream and clutched Jahsin’s shirt.

  “Talon, it’s Akkeri; hurry up!”

  He jolted out of bed half-awake, hoping he was dreaming.

  “Where?” he said, bolting for the door in only his trousers.

  “I don’t know what’s going on. Majhree told me to get you quick, said they took her. She was crying. I don’t know.”

  Talon ran to Majhree’s hut as fast as the rain and mud would allow. The rain came down at an angle, spurred on by the high winds. He fell more than once, and by the time he arrived at her hut, he was soaking wet and dragging mud.

  “What happened?” he yelled as he flew through the door.

  Majhree sat on one of the cots, bent so far that her chest rested on her knees; she was crying. Talon fell to his knees before her and took up her gnarled hands, wet with tears.

  “What happened, Majhree; where is Akkeri?”

  The old woman’s eyes fell on him, and she seemed to forget her own sorrow, for her face went slack and pity found his gaze. Her hands went to his face and held him tight before uttering words she knew would send him running through the door.

  “Fylkin sent his men after Akkeri…they took her…took her back to him.”

  Talon turned to bolt for the door, but Majhree’s hands grabbed his wrists and held him firm.

  “Akkeri gave her friend a letter when she heard they were comin’ for her. She gave it to me and made me promise I’d see you read it afore you ran out the door. This is Akkeri’s wish,” said Majhree, looking to the folded paper on the bed beside her.

  Behind them, Jahsin reached the doorway panting. Talon nodded to Majhree and she reluctantly let him go and handed him the paper. He unfolded the letter with shaking hands.

  Talon,

  Word has come to me that Fylkin Winterthorn has claimed me as one of his personal slaves.

  Please, Talon, do nothing.

  Do not come for me. I will see you on the night we have shared in our dreams. On that night I will be ready, and I will look for you where a boy fished with his wolf pup.

  I love you, Talon Windwalker, with all of my heart and soul. And though my skin may be torn and my blood may spill, my heart will ever be yours, untouched by any but you, unseen by any but you, unfelt by any but you.

  Akkeri

  Talon’s hands shook with rage and his tears mingled with those long dried upon the page. He no longer noticed Majhree sitting on the bed or Jahsin at the door. He saw only the letter and the words “I love you.” He imagined what the giant chiefson would do to her, what he might be doing now. He saw her red hair in the clutches of his big hands.

  He shot for the door with murder on his mind.

  “Talon, wait, think about this,” Jahsin warned, barring the door.

  “Get out of my way,” he grumbled.

  “I can’t.”

  “Get out of my way,” he warned.

  “It’s suicide, Tal,” Jahsin pleaded.

  “Get out of my way, now!” he screamed, shoving Jahsin. His friend would not budge. He clung to the doorway with his one hand and his stump pressed firmly against it.

  “Think about the escape, Talon; think about Chief! Getting yourself killed isn’t going to help either of them!”

  Talon lunged to punch him in the face, and the big man grabbed him in a bear hug. They crashed out into the rainy night and rolled through the mud. Talon struggled against Jahsin’s grip, but he refused to let go. Jahsin had shifted into a choke hold, with his good arm grabbing the end of his stump, which was pressed up under Talon’s chin, cutting off his air.

  Talon desperately scraped at Jahsin’s eyes and attempted to box his ears, but his position afforded him no leverage. He choked and sputtered obscenities that were never heard, as the light of the world began to dim at the edges of his vision. All strength left him and he felt himself falling…falling…falling.

  The world went black.

  Talon awoke in Majhree’s house of healing. She sat in a chair across from the bed, and Jahsin stood next to the closed door. His friend’s head was bandaged and his left eye covered. He nodded to Talon guardedly. The letter quivering in Majhree’s hands made the only sound. She handed it to him.

  “We can’t keep you here forever, nor should we. But we want you to think about this for a moment before you run off and get yourself killed by the Vald,” said Majhree from her crooked position.

  “There’s still a chance you three can escape, even that wolf of yours. There’s still a chance, now, in this moment, but you go out that door seeking revenge, you’ll never get off this island ’less given a sea burial. You leave, you go through the door, and you ain’t never gonna see Akkeri or Chief again. Is the truth. We is Skomm, we is of mind, and they is of body. If you is to beat them, it be with your mind, for they’ll crush you beneath their feet should you raise hand against ‘em. Heed Akkeri’s words, respect her wishes, and you may yet see her smile.”

  She got up from the chair and patted him on the shoulder, lingering by his side for many moments. Finally she turned and Jahsin opened the door for her. He looked back at Talon with sorrow weighing down his brow.

  “There’s still a chance, Tal; stay with me, buddy,” he said and closed the door behind him.

  Talon read the letter again and again. With every other heartbeat he wanted to crash through the door and run back to the hut for Jahsin’s axe. He pictured himself tearing into the surprised Vald. Heads set with shocked expressions spun on the ground in his wake. He would hunt down Fylkin and watch him die.
Talon got up more than once and headed for the door, and more than once Akkeri’s words stayed his hand. He paced the hut, growing more agitated by the minute. He could see nothing but Akkeri’s pained face and hear nothing but her helpless cries. She needed him now! He punched the door and tore at his hair as he slid down the wall. His only salvation, his only road to sanity, was contained within those three words smeared upon the page.

  I love you

  The rain fell as if conjured by the gods themselves and did not relent for hours. Talon paced the room all night and twice began to push the door open. No one barred his way. He stared into the downpour with eyes that had no tears left. In his mind Akkeri’s voice spoke the words of the letter:

  Please, Talon, do nothing.

  Do not come for me. I will see you on the night we have shared in our dreams. On that night I will be ready, and I will look for you where a boy fished with his wolf pup.

  When again the visions of her crying beneath Fylkin’s giant form drove him to the door, her words spoke in the rain.

  I love you.

  He finally collapsed, exhausted, in a heap next to the door. His breath came in shuddering gasps and his heart raced with all the rage boiling within his soul. He would heed her words. He would do nothing.

  There’s still a chance, he told himself over and over.

  There’s still a chance.

  He vowed then that if he ever got off this gods-forbidden rock, he would return one day. And he would have Fylkin’s head.

  Chapter 16

  Vaka Bjorn’s Offer

  The laws of my people stay my hand; how I wish to strike them down.

  —Azzeal, 4996

  Talon woke in the morning thinking he had wakened from a terrible nightmare. The tear-stained letter in his clutching grip reminded him the nightmare had been real. The same strong urge to run to Timber Wolf Village and rescue Akkeri plagued him, but he resisted. They were right. Talon was a Skomm; he stood no chance against a giant Vald. He was small, weak, Plagueborn, a curse upon his family and friends. He knew he would get them into trouble; he wished he had been man enough to leave on his own and stow away on one of the many merchant ships that came in the spring. If he would have left when he first realized he would be their doom, Akkeri would not be Fylkin’s slave. Talon hated himself for what had happened to her; he would never forgive himself. He had never deserved her attention.