Tales Of Nevaeh: The Trilogy and Backstory of the Epic Sci-Fi Fantasy Series Tales Of Nevaeh: (The 4 Book Bundled Box Set)

by David Wind

  She watched the spirit move closer. She knew it sensed her, could feel its frustration when it could not find her. Then the spirit reversed itself and continued toward the cavern.

  Invisible to the spirit and the mutated animals following it, Areenna raced ahead, the advantage of height in her favor. When she found a level spot where she could kneel, she raised the bow and fired. The first animal fell, a howl spewing from its mouth before it died. The others stopped. With blurring speed, Areenna released two more shafts and the first three animals lay dead on the rocks below her, their blood turning the rocks dark.

  The spirit solidified into a curtain of dark misty air, which began to whirl madly. Dust and rocks kicked up, but it moved neither forward nor back. The pack of creatures following the dead ones raced forward. Weakening, Areenna realized the hiding was draining her too fast and released it. The moment she did, the spirit stopped its whirling and settled down. It had found her.

  Use me, came Mikaal’s command.

  She drew on his strength, and as low as it was, it helped her. Then she saw the wolf-creatures turn from their path and climb toward her. Without thinking, she dropped the bow and called up more of her power. Her hands glowed white and then blue. She stood as the animals drew near. She knew her weapon would not penetrate the shield protecting the wolves but remembered the time in the journey to the Island, when she had discovered the ability with which Bekar had gifted her. Her anger at herself for not having used this power rose furiously, burning through her body like a fever gone mad.

  When the creatures were within a dozen feet, their eyes a glowing orange-red, fangs dripping strings of saliva in anticipation of her flesh, she slammed her hands together. The shockwave of power exploded, bursting the Black Witch’s shield apart. It caught the animals in midstride, sent them flying backwards and down.

  As they fell, Gaalrie sent her a frantic warning. She turned and looked up, hearing her aoutem’s screaming charge as it flew toward a small wraith above her she had not sensed. Reacting without thought, Areenna raised her right hand toward the wraith and released a stream of silver white light. The wraith was trapped within it a second before Gaalrie was able to pull up and barely avoid the stream of energy.

  She encircled the wraith within the globe of white energy. It fought wildly to break free, while Areenna drew on the reserves of her strength to hold the wraith prisoner within the globe.

  Stunned at how the wraith had appeared without her sensing it, Areenna pulled the globe toward her. Careful, came Mikaal’s warning.

  I need to learn about it, she responded. When it was close, she pushed her thoughts at it. She gagged when she touched the edge of its mind. When she pushed harder, she found nothing other than an overpowering need to find and take Areenna and Mikaal.

  “Never,” she said and closed her hand into a tightly balled fist. The white globe began to collapse into itself.

  Turning quickly, her chest heaving from her efforts, she sent a stream of energy at the still visible spirit. A flash of blackness met the white of Areenna’s light. The spirit deflected her power and spun again. Seconds later, it shot up and away.

  She followed its path, seeing not the sky, not the dark spirit, but the shadowed form of the Black Witch herself. “You will not stop us!”

  She picked up the white wood bow, slung it over her shoulder and started back toward the cavern with Mikaal still firmly lodged within her mind. We eat from our supplies tonight. We leave in the morning, she told him.

  Yes, he replied, pushing as much of his waning strength to her in an effort to help her exhausted body move faster.

  She walked to the cavern with one terrible thought burning deeply in her mind. The brief contact with the repulsive spirit had gained her an important piece of information. They had been wrong. The Black Sorceress’ creatures were not trying to kill them… not any more. Mikaal, she seeks to capture us.

  <><><>

  The great hall of Tolemac’s keep echoed with the voices of those gathered within. Roth and Enaid sat on one cushioned bench while Akassia and Trebor sat on another. Across from them were Ilsraeth and Timon and next to them were Atir, Layra, and Laira.

  Never was there a stranger council, nor a more powerful one, thought Roth as he observed everyone’s reactions. “Then it is settled. Akassia and Laira leave for the east in the morning. The rest of us go to Fainhall. Messengers have been sent to all dominions, warning them of the coming invasion and with instructions to prepare their people.” He paused to look at Trebor.

  “I have sent another message to Kashold to build their army quickly and join us in Fainhall. If I am right, they will use a spot between Fainhall and Kashold as a landing area for their ships. Trebor, you must travel first to Lokinhold and warn your father about what is happening and urge him to gather his forces. Then to Welkold—Libon will need your help to raise his army and prepare. We must also protect the weapon stores you’ve said he is building,”

  Roth turned to Timon and the queens. “Fainhall, Welkold, and Kashold will be the most strategic places. They will start there.”

  Timon shook his head. “They bring only a few thousand. I don’t see how they can hope to conquer any dominion.”

  “If I am right,” Roth speculated, pacing his words slowly, “this first wave seeks only to gain a foothold they can maintain until the rest of their forces arrive. With such a foothold, they can safely bring in the full force of their armies.”

  Timon nodded. “We must send word to Llawnroc and Aldimore to prepare their vessels. They will be useful for attacking from the water.”

  Roth nodded. “Most are fishing boats; others are built for carrying supplies. Small boats.”

  “And maneuverable. They will be hard targets for bowmen. They will outmaneuver the large ships. With the right men, we can burn many of their ships before they reach the shore.”

  “You’re right,” Roth agreed, “but the gathering of the boats must not be seen. We want no dark spies to know our plan.”

  “Such is wise. Shall I go and oversee the preparations?” offered the Master Boatsman.

  “Yes, and I will send messages to the two dominions to do this quietly. I will have my men ready to leave as soon as possible.” Roth looked at the others. “As soon as we can be ready, we ride to Fainhall and hope Areenna and Mikaal are nearing their destination.”

  Enaid stiffened at the mention of their names. She was very aware that the other three queens were staring at her. They must, Enaid silently reminded them. If they do not…

  CHAPTER 19

  “This is the spot,” Mikaal said, looking at the high slopes of the mountains from the center of the junction of two paths. “We need to make a decision.”

  Areenna glanced from the split trail to Mikaal’s questioning eyes. They had been on the move for three days since leaving the cavern. The lower trail, the one Roth had said would be their best way to go but the longest, had proven accommodating at times and difficult at others. There had been a lot of ice on the trail where the mountains shaded the sun on the narrow passage but overall, they had made good time by pushing themselves as fast and far as possible each day.

  The remaining wolf-creatures were trailing them by a half day.

  Within moments of awakening earlier that morning, Areenna had become aware of the beasts following them. It had been just after nightfall, last night, when they’d made camp on a level spot. There was no need to stand watch, as both Gaalrie and Charka would handle that chore easily. Nothing had disturbed their sleep except for the cold surface of the rocks beneath their sleeping silks.

  She had woken Mikaal and told him of the wolf creatures. They’d risen, gathered their things and moved on. They had eaten on their kraals and pushed as fast as the sure-footed mounts could navigate the icy patches. At the worst parts, they’d dismounted and walked. Mikaal spoke rarely and Areenna had sensed there was something disturbing him that he was not yet ready to bring up.

  Areenna had spent a good part of
the day keeping track of their followers. The creatures had gained ground during the day and were only a few hours behind.

  Areenna, Mikaal called silently.

  Areenna shook away her thoughts of the last days and refocused on Mikaal. “We need to find a way to mislead them,” she said and turned to look at the second pathway.

  “Too bad there aren’t any rabts or slungks to help us out,” he responded with a slight twist of his lips. “The way you used them against her in Northcrom.”

  His words sent her mind veering in a different direction. An idea formed and she toyed with it for a few minutes. “There is a way, but we’ll lose some of our supplies.”

  “What way?”

  She glanced back at the three trailing kralets. “It is risky.”

  “Go on.”

  “We set two kralets free, send them there,” she said, pointing to the path angling off from the one they were on, which according to the maps, would rise up and cross to the western side. “Then we hide our scent on this path and keep going.”

  It’s not risky—it is dangerous.

  His unspoken response surprised her. Not because he used his mind to speak to her—their way of communicating had become second nature—but that he thought it dangerous. Why? “Did you not tell your father you were sure there would be game? What else do we need? We bring all the supplies the kralets and our kraals can carry and we push on.” We will find game.

  His gray eyes held her like two profound jewels. Because you believe it so?

  Because we must.

  “And how do we cover our own scent? The last time we had a lake and a ferry. We have nothing but rocks, snow and ice,” he stated in a low staccato stream.

  She maneuvered Hero until the kraal was shoulder to shoulder with Mikaal. Her eyes never left his face. “What bothers you? The last time we rode out, you had not even a small degree of the power you now hold. We have done so much since we first left Tolemac for the east. We… you did what no other man has ever done before and you came away from the Island with powers and abilities unheard of. What stops you from believing?”

  Mikaal took her words in, rolling them through his mind as he gazed at her. He started to speak but stopped and shook his head. In that instant, something jumped between them, and she knew exactly what. The feeling stunned her. She had never sensed doubt within him.

  Reaching out, she grasped his hand tightly. “You blame yourself for what happened with those wolves.” Wolves… even the word was dark to her. “You blame yourself for your injuries. You think you did something wrong.”

  He remained silent. Until that very minute she spoke, he had had no idea why he had closed himself off the last few days, but Areenna’s words held true. “I should have been stronger.”

  “You were strong enough to stop me from being hurt or killed. How much stronger do you need to be?”

  He started to speak but stopped. He shook his head.

  “It was me, not you, who wasn’t strong enough. Do you not see? Mikaal, I hesitated. I did not use the abilities gifted to me. I…” She drew in a deep breath and squeezed his hand again. “What happened was my fault, not yours. Watch!” she commanded him. She drew him into her mind and replayed the attack.

  When she finished she let go of his hand and his mind. “Do you not see?”

  He had seen the ambush by the creatures, watched every bit of it through Areenna’s eyes. When the memory ended, a curtain lifted. She had been right. Nothing had been more important than protecting her, than keeping her unharmed. He had forgotten the most important of the lessons he had learned on the Island and let his need to protect take command.

  “How do we cover our own scents and force them to follow the kralets?”

  Areenna breathed easier with his words. Gone was the heaviness present moments before. “Look up,” she said.

  He followed her gaze to the cliffs above, so heavily laden with snow it seemed more like the strands of an old man’s beard, hanging from a jutting chin, than snow leaching over the edges of the cliff.

  “You would create an avalanche?”

  She shook her head. “Not quite, but snow is water. Think of the snow storm in Brumwall.”

  He remembered well the hours they had spent locked together while she had reversed the snow, drawing on both their powers to fight the storm the Black Sorceress had controlled. “Go on.”

  “After we send the kralets off, I will bring down snow to block this trail and cover our scent. We will put some clothing on the kralets to add whatever scent we can. They do not seek to catch us, not yet. They will follow the kralets as they follow us now, and her dark… spirit follows the wolf things. We ride through the night. We stop not. By the time she realizes what we have done, we will be out of their reach.”

  “You are so certain?”

  “I am. It started after I fought them the second time. I touched the edges of the spirit-thing she created. I learned but little, yet I knew its purpose as soon as I touched it. She no longer seeks our deaths. It is us she wants, alive for whatever reason.”

  Mikaal shook his head. “No, she will not have us.” When he dismounted and went to the three kralets, Areenna slipped off Hero’s back and joined him. Together they took the most important supplies: as much food as the single pack animal could carry, along with their sleeping silks, water skeins, and spare clothing. They hung the light metal armor his father had made for them on Hero and Charka’s saddles and when they were done, Areenna stepped up to the separated kralets.

  Placing a hand on each of their necks, she closed her eyes and drew up her power. Coils of power spread through her until they reached her hands. She pictured the map in her mind and the trail leading up into the mountains and pushed the direction into the pack animals and, using every bit of her abilities, she drew her scent and Mikaal’s to the animals, covering them as best she could.

  When she was satisfied, she lifted her hands and gave them a silent command. The two kralets started forward.

  Mikaal nodded. Perfect.

  Now the snow, she told him. Together, they led their kraals along the lower trail until Areenna stopped them. I need your help.

  Over the past months, it had become effortless to join her, and he did so instantly. The warmth and the comfort contained in the joining was a feeling he could never describe, only enjoy and welcome each time. What do you need from me?

  Your support as I work. Follow what I do, add your power to mine.

  Without another thought, Areenna raised her powers to the fullest as she called upon the gift of divining and used the formula she had created to call water. Remembering every step she had used to control the snow during the storm at Brumwall, she wove her hands in circular motions, her palms always pointing to the snow above.

  It was hard work and she drew on the unusual power contained within Mikaal’s masculinity. Slowly, the snow above them began to whirl. Chunks of ice fell to the trail just before a huge section of the hanging snow crashed to the pathway, covering a hundred feet. As it struck the trail, another section separated from the cliff’s edge and tumbled down.

  Enough?

  She shook her head.

  The snow and ice had formed mounds, some five and six feet high, which covered more than half the distance between them and the trail’s junction. He remembered the ambush, how the creatures had climbed the rocks during the attack. He shook his head. They are climbers. We need more.

  Raising her arms, Areenna called forth the formula. She dug deep within her and within Mikaal as well, building their joined power to a peak and launched them at the mountainside. There was a loud crack as a huge shelf of snow separated from the cliff and poured down, a mini-avalanche landing atop the already fallen snow.

  When the mist created by the snowfall cleared, the pile was twice her height. “This should stop them,” she said.

  “It better.”

  They mounted the kraals. “We ride through the night, yes?”

  “Yes,” Mikaal
agreed.

  <><><>

  In the large gathering field outside the walls of Tolemac, twenty-two days after Areenna and Mikaal started on their quest, Roth sat astride his kraal, looking at the lines of soldiers, most of whom were regular citizens of Tolemac. There were four companies, each comprised of a hundred men and women and led by one of his ‘Six’ groups. Many of those who had volunteered to follow Roth were veterans of the war twenty years past, their grown sons and daughters riding at their sides. While men made up three quarters of the army, a full quarter were women of varying powers.

  None of the women marching with them was the equal to the four women who sat on their kraals behind Roth. Yet, each had valuable abilities to aid the men at whose sides they would fight. Layra and Atir’s husbands were already gathering their armies, preparing as Roth had asked, while Ilsraeth’s husband, Timon, gathered a fleet.

  Roth eyed the gathered force, hating the knowledge that too many would die when they faced the Dark One’s forces. He thought about saying something, but changed his mind. These people needed no inspiration—they knew what would happen should the dark forces overpower them. None would give up the freedom they had won, and if they had to sacrifice their lives, they would.

  Roth raised himself in his stirrups until he stood straight and said, simply, “Thank you.”

  At his words, the men and women of his ‘Six’ groups all raised their arms, their fists balled in a silent salute. A low growl emanated from the throats of the four hundred warriors behind them.

  Turning his mount, he rode to the four women and stopped next to Enaid. He gazed at her, his lips forming a half smile. “Once again we go to war. What happens from this point on determines all.”

  Enaid nodded. She knew his words were absolute. They would either be victorious, or cease to be who they were.

  CHAPTER 20

  The days grew shorter the further north they traveled, the sun rising only for a few hours, and setting for short periods of real darkness. Most of the day and night had a pale gray cast, the sky slightly brighter near the horizon while it remained darker above. It was so different from Freemorn and Tolemac, Areenna could only wonder why.