More men-at-arms from Percheron and Vestfold joined in the fray. The invaders were totally outnumbered. Their cause was lost, but they didn’t turn and flee. They stayed on the attack, protecting two of their own who started to dispatch every one of their wounded who weren’t able enough to get away. Eventually, the few survivors turned and fled, while the last two felled men, before Tarn’s soldiers could stop them, plunged daggers into their own breasts. None of them intended to remain alive to be interrogated.
Some of the soldiers set off in angry pursuit. Nerya had no desire to join them. Sighing with relief, she lowered her blade. Dead bandits littered the ground. There were more than she’d initially thought. At least they’d come off the worst in the encounter. She stiffened as a hand touched her shoulder, until she realized it was Tarn solicitously draping a cloak around her. “Thank you, my lord.”
“You’re a formidable warrior, Nerya,” Tarn said.
“I’m flattered you think so.” She found herself blushing like some crass maiden. Tarn was a magnificent specimen of manhood and even more attractive with his muscular chest bare and his golden hair loose around his shoulders. He wore only skintight breeches.
He smiled warmly at Nerya, then turned toward the royal tent, appearing to have eyes for no one but his beloved wife. Rianna, beautiful and every inch a queen, stood at the entrance, clad in a thin, white silk nightgown.
“Rianna, you should’ve stayed inside.” Tarn joined her and placed a protective arm around her shoulders. “It’s cold out here, my love.”
“I’m fine,” she assured him.
He hugged her for a moment. “Return to your bed. It’s over now. The bandits have been driven off, and they’ll not dare attack again.”
“Just make sure all is well first,” she replied.
Tarn nodded and stepped over to Jaden, who stood, bloodied sword in hand, surveying the carnage the brief attack had wrought.
“We should’ve posted more guards,” Jaden muttered. “The attack was a complete surprise.”
“I never expected such a bold move this far inside the borders of Kabra.” Tarn sounded weary.
“I admit, neither did I.” Jaden seemed to be blissfully unaware that he looked a little strange clad only in a linen shirt which barely covered his buttocks and left his muscular legs bare. Nerya smiled. He would have been wiser to slip on a pair of breeches like Tarn.
A Kabran captain hurried forward. “Majesty, at least five of my men are dead and another six wounded. I’ve yet to count how many of these bandit scum have been killed.”
Nerya suspected the toll might well grow higher. She was certain she’d also heard sounds of a battle over Sarin’s side of the camp.
“Go to Prince Brion’s tent and bring him here to join his mother,” Tarn ordered. “He’s well-guarded, but we would prefer him to remain with us at all times from now on.”
As the captain hurried off, Jaden knelt by one of the dead bandits, running his hand over the strange, matte black armor. Nerya had no idea what it was made of. It didn’t look like metal or toughened leather. Something about Jaden’s expression made her suspect he recognized these bandits. Frowning, Jaden pulled aside the dead man’s mask to reveal flat features, slanted eyes and strange blue markings on his cheeks. As Jaden bent forward, his shirt rode up slightly at the back, and Nerya’s gaze was drawn to a tantalizing glimpse of her lover’s naked buttocks.
“Who are they?” Tarn asked.
Jaden rose to his feet and took the cloak one of Tarn’s servants offered him. “Mercenaries in the service of the Dragon Lords of Acheron,” he said grimly as he swung the blue cloak around his shoulders.
“Then they knew we were expected here.”
“That, or they followed us.”
Tarn frowned. “So it’s possible we might have a spy within our ranks?”
“If we have, it would be nigh on impossible to ferret him out.”
“Then the Dragon Lords know of our planned alliance.” Tarn ran his fingers through his hair. “Most probably they attacked in an effort to prevent the treaty being signed.”
“They clearly wanted to slaughter as many of us as possible,” Ragnor said in his gruff voice as he appeared from behind one of the tents and strode toward them. He wore only a pair of breeches, and his massive, hairy chest appeared deathly white in comparison to his weather-beaten arms and face. The huge battle axe he carried dripped with blood.
“If they wanted to cause such disruption, why did they send such a small force of men?” Jaden asked. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“Nothing makes sense to me,” Ragnor growled. “I prefer to face my enemy on the battlefield, not sneaking ’round in the dead of night.”
Nerya tensed as she heard an anguished shout. “Majesty!” The captain Tarn had dispatched to collect his son ran toward them. “Prince Brion is not in his tent,” the man gasped. “He’s nowhere to be found. His guards are slaughtered and his nursemaid is missing. I’ve dispatched soldiers to search for him.”
“Tarn.” Rianna ran anxiously toward her husband. “Brion may be hurt or—”
“No,” Tarn interjected, prevented her from voicing aloud the suspicion that shot through all their minds. He pulled her into his arms. “He’s safe. You know how nervous Jana is. She probably dragged Brion off to hide somewhere as soon as she heard the first sounds of the attack.”
“Here.” Jaden removed his cloak and placed it around Rianna’s shivering form. “Take this. You’re frozen, my lady.”
“Send more men out to look for the prince,” Tarn ordered, the tightness of his tone betraying his concern as Rianna clung desperately to him.
One of Ragnor’s tall Northmen suddenly appeared from between the tents carrying the lifeless form of a woman in his arms. Her dark blonde hair spilled almost to the ground, and blood spattered the skirt of her gown. As the man knelt to lay his burden at Tarn’s feet, the woman’s head fell back. Rianna gave a gasp of horror. The woman’s throat had been cut from ear to ear, and blood had turned the bodice of her pale grey gown a deep scarlet.
“Jana!” Rianna trembled as she gazed with anguished eyes at the slaughtered girl. “Brion—where is he?”
“I found this girl close to the edge of the camp,” the Northman said.
Tarn’s face had turned deathly white. “Jana must have given her life to protect our son.” Even his commanding voice shook with emotion.
Tears poured down Rianna’s pale cheeks. Nerya sympathized with her sister, but she’d never had a child and she couldn’t even begin to imagine how devastated Rianna must feel.
“We have to find him. Brion will be scared,” Rianna sobbed.
“Search the camp even more thoroughly for Prince Brion,” Tarn ordered. “My son must be hiding somewhere—too terrified to reveal himself.”
“I fear not, Majesty.” A stooping, overweight servant with straggly grey hair stumbled toward the king and knelt before him. “I saw it with my own eyes.” The man spoke haltingly. “They dragged Prince Brion from Jana’s arms before they slit her throat. But they didn’t harm the prince. They took him with them when they fled.”
Tarn appeared speechless with anguish for a moment as Jaden asked the man, “In which direction did they flee?”
“Due east,” the man replied, shaking his head sadly.
“Toward Acheron,” Jaden said, gripping the pommel of his sword until his knuckles turned white.
There’d been little rest for anyone in the camp during the long night. A faint mist hung like fine threads of silk in the chill morning air as the sun started to rise. It was still quite dark, as grey clouds covered most of the sky and reflected the mood of the encampment this morning. Jaden sat on his white stallion waiting for the others to join him. Nerya was already mounted, her horse standing beside his. They would have to ride hard and fast if they wanted to catch up with the men who’d kidnapped Prince Brion, so they carried only the most basic supplies.
Jaden didn’t know for sure wh
y they’d taken Tarn’s son hostage. He suspected they intended to use the child as bait to lure Tarn, and anyone else who accompanied him on his rescue attempt, into a trap. Despite that, he knew Tarn couldn’t just abandon his son to his fate.
A grim-faced Tarn strode from his tent, Rianna at his side. Her beautiful eyes were swollen and her face wet with tears. Jaden considered himself quite hardhearted as a rule, but even he was moved by her painful distress.
“Ready?” Sarin, dressed all in black and mounted on a black stallion, rode up beside Jaden. Tarn had protested, but he’d insisted on accompanying them.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Jaden said. Probably more than most he dreaded entering Acheron, but he could see no other choice.
Ragnor appeared, striding forward, accompanied by two of his men. He’d offered to go with them. He hadn’t seemed at all disappointed when Tarn had asked him to stay and protect Rianna, at least until her father arrived. It had been agreed that once Gerek reached the meeting place, they would all repair to Ruberoc and await Tarn’s safe return. If they didn’t come back, Tarn had told Rianna she was not to send anyone after him. Jaden doubted she would do as Tarn ordered. Rianna, he’d learned from Tarn, could be as headstrong as Nerya at times.
At Tarn’s insistence, three of his most trusted men and three of Lord Sarin’s soldiers would travel with them. Jaden would’ve preferred not to take them. The smaller their party, the easier it was to keep hidden, especially if this was indeed a trap and was not just some attempt to extract a large ransom from Tarn. However, one of Sarin’s men was an expert tracker which, coupled with Jaden’s expertise, should help them to trace the path the mercenaries had taken. Also, two heads often proved better than one. Jaden hoped that, with the man’s help, it might be easier for them to avoid any traps the mercenaries might have laid for them.
Jaden watched, hiding his impatience as Tarn gave Rianna a loving hug. Turning from his distraught wife, Tarn mounted his horse. “Ready?”
Glancing behind him, Jaden saw the six soldiers had now joined them. He waved them forward as he spurred his stallion into a slow canter. Once they’d left the confines of the camp, he urged his mount into a gallop. With Nerya riding beside him, he turned, heading due east across the plain toward the distant line of trees and the mountains beyond.
As the sun rose a little higher in the sky, shafts of sunlight penetrated the dark clouds, turning the snow-covered peaks of the mountains deep reddish gold. The impassable range of mountains separating Kabra from Acheron had protected Tarn’s kingdom from invasion for many centuries. They were not as impassable as most believed them to be. There were a few hidden trails that traversed these mountains and eventually led into the western forests of Acheron.
Behind him beat the steady thudding of his companions’ horses. As he gazed at the lower, heavily forested slopes of the tall peaks, Jaden had the uneasy feeling his past was rising menacingly to greet him. It was a part of his life he didn’t even like to think of now, but when he entered Acheron, he’d have to face it again. For the first time in many years, a shudder of sheer, unadulterated terror slid up his spine.
Chapter Eight
Nerya tried to hide her apprehension, having no wish to reveal such failings to her companions. Sheer rock faces lined either side of the narrow pass through the mountains, and the path was so narrow here that the trail was little more than a deep fissure in the rocks that divided two massive peaks. Jaden had warned them before they entered that the slopes were unstable and any loud noise might set off a rock fall. She glanced up at the sheer rock faces either side of her. Even the noises of the horses’ hooves on the rocky ground sounded loud to her. She was no coward, but she could see no chance of any of them surviving if an avalanche of boulders rained down on them.
Dark clouds had covered the sky most of yesterday as they’d raced toward the mountains. When daylight had started to fade, the sky had become clearer, enabling them to travel far into the night. Eventually, exhaustion had forced them to stop and rest. Nerya had woken just before dawn feeling refreshed, although most of her companions had still appeared weary to her as they’d set out at first light. They’d ridden through the thick pine forest at the base of the mountains. As they’d climbed higher, the slopes had become steeper and harder for the horses. The land had leveled out a little when they’d reached a wide band of barren land littered with large patches of rock and shale. Here the mercenaries’ tracks had become very difficult to follow. They’d disappeared where the ground was covered with jagged rocks surrounded by large pebbles and thick layers of shale. However, Jaden had appeared to know where he was going and, much to everyone’s amazement, he’d guided them straight into the hidden pass.
Would this valley never end? She tightened her hands on her reins as they turned a sharp bend which seemed to almost double back on itself. Her nerves on edge, she tensed as the roan’s hoofs dislodged a shower of stones. Don’t be so stupid. There was no obvious rumbling coming from above her head. Jaden, who rode just ahead of her, broke into a trot as he guided his horse around another bend. She realized why as the narrow pass opened out in front of her and she saw the mysterious land of Acheron for the first time. Filled with relief, she faced an impenetrable barrier of green. The massive forest girdled the bases of the mountains and appeared to carry on endlessly in both directions.
There was no way around the forest as far as she could see, but the trees were crammed so tightly together she didn’t know how they’d ride through it. None of the vegetation appeared familiar. Glossy, dark green, spoon-shaped leaves nearly concealed the distorted branches of the tall trees, while the twisted trunks looked as if someone had grabbed them and wrung them out like freshly washed sheets. Other, shorter trees grew between them, their growth all but choked by deep purple, rather ugly vines. Large bushes with dense spine-like leaves and huge scarlet, trumpet-shaped flowers filled every available gap, adding a welcome dash of color to the relentless greenery. The valley had been warm, but it had grown hotter now, and a strange dampness hung in the still air, accompanied by a vile odor that reminded her uncomfortably of rotting flesh.
“It’s the flowers.” Jaden slowed his mount so he could ride beside her as they got closer to the trees. “They exude sweet, sticky nectar that attracts insects and small rodents. When they enter the bloom, the flowers close and the plant devours them.”
She grimaced. “The smell is disgusting.”
“Get used to it,” he said. “They grow all over this forest.”
“How can you know this? Surely no one truly knows anything about Acheron. It’s said those who venture into this land never return.”
“I make it my business to know things.” He shrugged. “And I’ve met many travelers in my time. Not all such wild tales are true, Nerya. We’ll return, never fear.”
“This forest is so dense, how will we ever be able to make our way through it?”
“We take that trail over there.” He pointed to a spot a short distance away, oddly enough not even bothering to check for tracks. “There’s no other way the mercenaries could’ve gone.”
Nerya frowned. All she could see was the mass of densely packed trees.“Where? I can’t see any trail.”
“You’ll see.” As they got closer, she was at last able to make out a small gap between the trees, barely wide enough for a horse and rider.
When they reached the entrance to the narrow track, they were forced to ride single file again, and Jaden moved to the front of the column once more. It was very warm, but Nerya shivered as they rode into the forest. This place had a sinister air about it, as if it were the entrance to the underworld where evil beasts lurked, ready to tear their victims to shreds. She shook her head, unwilling to let her foolish imagination run away with her. A warrior such as her should never scare this easily. Her horse neighed and pranced sideways, its ears laid back. Nerya glanced behind her. She wasn’t alone. All her companions’ mounts appeared skittish, apart from Jaden’s stallion, B
arsan. She couldn’t blame the horses; she felt much the same.
The dense vegetation made it impossible to see into the forest at all as they rode in single file along the narrow pathway. The tree branches wove tightly together, forming an arch of green above their heads, nearly blocking out the sunlight. In the murky gloom, the oppressive warmth bore down on Nerya like a heavy, moist blanket. Even the air thickened, making it difficult to breathe. Beneath her doublet, perspiration welded her linen shirt to her skin, while her breeches clung slickly to her thighs.
Sinister sounds emanated from the depths of the forest—weird screeches, eerie wails, guttural grunts and the odd roaring sounds that appeared to belong to something incredibly large. In this strange and unfamiliar environment, no doubt the creatures that inhabited it would be equally alien. She shuddered as something brushed against her face, but it was only the wispy fronds of a plant which hung down in long strands from the branches. Around one branch above her head coiled a lizard-like creature with creamy white, almost translucent, flesh.
Barsan whinnied and reared away from something. Jaden hauled back on his reins. Nerya kept a tight check on her roan as a massive red and black snake, its body as thick as Jaden’s muscular thigh and at least twice the length of a full grown man, slithered past Barsan’s hooves and disappeared into the undergrowth. Nerya shuddered. This forest might be filled with thousands of these massive snakes. She’d never liked snakes, not even the small non-venomous ones that inhabited Freygard.
As they rode deeper into the strange, primeval jungle, the unsettling noises emanating from the forest became even louder. She couldn’t help thinking of the terrors they might face. They’d encountered no more serpents, but it was possible many more terrible creatures stalked them from the cover of the trees.
Soon they entered a small clearing and, to Nerya’s relief, she at last saw the sky once again. It felt a little less hot and humid here. She took a deep breath, trying to ignore the foul smell of the carnivorous plants that still tainted the air. Three separate paths fanned out in different directions. She frowned. They needed to ensure they took the right one, but the bare soil was churned by any number of hoofprints. Jaden jumped from his horse and scanned the ground. “Come here.” He beckoned to Sarin’s tracker. “Look at these.”
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