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

  “This is Racso, Elder of the Village,” Sirod said.

  “For your coming, we offer welcome. For what you will do, we offer ourselves and will await for your call. Our village is yours, our people at your service.”

  Areenna reached out and took his hand in hers and, slowly, Areenna, Princess of Freemorn, knelt before the elder and placed his hand on her forehead. She remained kneeling for several seconds before she stood. When she was upright, she saw twin trails of tears rolling down the elder’s cheeks. Looking around, she realized the villagers spread out behind him had knelt when she had.

  She took in all their faces and tried to find the right words to say but could not. Instead, she simply said, “Thank you.”

  The elder bowed his head again, turned and walked to his people. “We have placed food on your animals,” Sirod said, pointing to the kraals. Each had four heavy skeins hanging from straps placed across the kraals. “Four bags have crushed cob for your animals, the other bags contain salted freesh. The freesh will keep you strong. Tasteless though it is,” she said with a slight smile.

  Rather than speak, Areenna pulled the older woman into her arms. I have no words to thank you.

  Words are as unnecessary as thanks. “But leave now you must, for I sense your anxiety.”

  Releasing Sirod from the embrace, Areenna glanced at Mikaal, who nodded, already knowing what she was about to ask.

  “There comes something dark behind us, a wraith,” she told Sirod. “It will come to the village perhaps later today or tonight, tracking us. It seeks to tell the Dark Master where we are, where we go. It will find our scent and follow us. Do not challenge it. I think the villagers will not see this dark thing, but you and Neleh…”

  “Concern yourself not, if you are certain the villagers are in no danger,” Sirod said. “We leave soon after you. I sensed the change coming to Neleh the day before you arrived. She will become a woman in the next day or two. We must go to where this will happen. But only if you are certain my people will be safe.”

  Areenna turned to Mikaal. Can you see? Can you call your ability for this?

  It happened yesterday. I will explain later, but for today, tonight, they are safe.

  Areenna turned back to Sirod. “They will not be harmed,” she said.

  “Then we go to do what must be done for Neleh. Travel swiftly, Areenna.” She turned to Mikaal, stepped before him and placed her hands on his shoulders. You, Man of Power, stand strong by your woman’s side, for I see you and she are not of two but of one mind.

  She lowered her hands and stepped back, “It is our custom to bless those who go forth. Allow us this honor which has been handed down from before the beginning of our time here,” Sirod said, both manner and voice gentle.

  When Areenna and Mikaal nodded, the villagers moved forward. Neleh stepped before Mikaal, and Sirod before Areenna, their right hands on each one’s chest. Behind them, they spread in a semi-circle of expanding rings; the villagers put a hand upon the shoulder of the person before them until each connected to another and finally connected to Sirod and Neleh.

  When the energy of the villagers flowed forward, Sirod said, “Venture forth you do, and within you carry the strength of each of us. Fear not what crosses your path, know we stand with you.”

  When Sirod finished speaking and drew her hand from Areenna, Neleh did the same. “Travel swiftly,” Sirod said, repeating what she had said moments before. She turned and walked away. The villagers all did the same, moving off in different directions without speaking.

  Only Neleh remained. Looking from Areenna to Mikaal, her wheat-colored eyes were large and luminous. “I know I will see you soon.” She went to Mikaal and slid her arms around his waist, pressing her head to his chest.

  The calming warmth so deep within her spread over him. She stepped back without speaking and started away. Behind her, Charka cried out and reared slightly.

  Neleh froze. She turned and the large blue-coated kraal walked up to her and nuzzled against her chest with his long triangular head. Neleh laughed at the touch and pressed her head to his as she had with Mikaal. A moment later, she followed her mother.

  Areenna waved toward Neleh and Charka. “I have never seen such before. It was as if…”

  Mikaal nodded. “It seems Charka has become her guardian as well.”

  “So it does,” Areenna agreed as Gaalrie descended from the thatched roof where she had watched the proceedings and landed on Areenna’s shoulder. Areenna ran two fingers across the cinnamon and silver feathers of the treygone’s head before sending her aloft to lead the way to the mountain.

  CHAPTER 28

  A day and a half after leaving the village, eating the salted freesh, which was as tasteless as Sirod had said but powerfully nourishing, and drinking melted snow and ice, they reached the opening of the narrow trail leading to their destination.

  The ride had been monotonous with nothing to break the long stretch of ice and snow-covered mountainsides. Even Gaalrie, who was always more comfortable flying than anywhere else, had ridden on Hero’s saddle bar, Areenna’s cloak covering everything except the treygone’s head.

  Because the trail from the village had been narrower than the one they’d taken when getting there, it was impossible to camp; there was not enough room on the trail between the mountainside and the drop-off to the ice field below for all to sleep. Even the kraals needed space to move, for when they slept they, like people, shifted and stirred.

  While a poor way to travel, there had been no choice; but when they turned off the trail, they found a large area separating the entry from the even narrower ascending trail.

  Mikaal inspected the area. “We should camp here for a few hours before moving on. The rest will help gain us back strength.”

  Yes, Areenna agreed gratefully and dismounted. Gaalrie remained on the saddle bar. The treygone, having been asleep on the bar for the last several hours, was fresh and strong and she sent an asking.

  The treygone stretched her wings, her body arching much like the way a person would stretch upon waking. Then the large bird was aloft, floating above them. From Gaalrie’s eyes, Areenna saw the trail they had been upon—saw it receding until it faded into the grayness that was so much a part of the frozen north.

  There is nothing behind us, yet. I sense no darkness.

  Good, Mikaal sent back as he pulled their sleeping silks and knelt on the ground where he would spread them out. As he had been doing for weeks, whenever they made camp in the ice and snow, he called up his ability to create fire and bathed the ground in flames. It took only a few minutes for the snow to boil away and reveal the ground beneath. Three minutes longer and the ground was not only dry, but the first few inches of earth was softer.

  He spread the silks and called Areenna, who put out crushed cob for the kraals. Mikaal sent an asking to Charka, to keep Hero within the opening while they slept. Then he laid down and Areenna came next to him. Gaalrie circled lazily above them.

  Sleep claimed them both within moments of their heads touching the silks.

  <><><>

  Two ships bobbed on the choppy waters off the coastline of the Frozen Mountains. The Master stood at the bow, staring out at the mountain range. He saw not the ice and snow; rather, he hunted for his creature. When he finally caught a snatch of its emanations, he followed it to its source. The wraith was flying over the ice fields, moving slowly above a trail.

  The Master entered the creation and took control, making it drop to the trail. He pressed its head to the ground and cast out his sensing. It took only an instant to find the traces of kraal. Mixed with it, was the ‘feel’ of the woman he must destroy and the man... For him, there would be no death. He needed to understand how this… abomination had come to be.

  He pursued it until he was certain this trail was the one they were upon, and not an old scenting. As soon as he was sure, he withdrew from the creature and returned his essence to his body upon the ship. He twisted from the waist and r
aised both hands. The ships turned toward land. He knew, somehow, his creature would find them soon and when it did, he would be ready.

  <><><>

  Gaalrie’s sharp cry woke Areenna and Mikaal instantly. The overwhelming sense of danger sent by the treygone sped them to their feet. What?

  Areenna, her eyes closed cast out her senses. Her eyes sprang open an instant later. The wraith! It comes. We must stop it before it can tell its Master.

  “How?” he asked aloud.

  “By surprise. We need to catch it off guard. It has not found us yet, but it’s only minutes away. We…” She paused, her mind racing.

  “We must take it down,” Mikaal finished for her. “If you are right, if it is but tracking us, we have to stop it before it can give us away.”

  Areenna forced herself to think logically. “I think I know how. It will take both of us and perhaps our aoutems as well. This wraith is different.” She pushed her idea to him.

  Closing her eyes, Areenna called up her powers. Next to her, Mikaal did the same. The heat came alive, erupting into channels of superheated fire, which leapt from deep within. Flames burst around Mikaal’s hands, Areenna’s turned bluish white as the light dancing madly over her skin.

  Seconds later the wraith appeared above them. It flew slowly in small circles, stopped, veered to the right and flew up. Then it flipped over in mid-air and started away.

  It saw us! It runs!

  Stop it! Mikaal responded.

  Areenna released the blue light at the retreating creature. The light sped faster than the eye could follow. Commanding her ability, she surrounded the beast with the light. She closed both hands into fists and caught the flying monstrosity within a blue globe.

  A loud wailing scream of anger reached them from the distance, as Areenna drew her arms and hands back. The wraith, caught within the bubble of light fought against Areenna’s power but could not break free.

  Mikaal, acting in tandem, projected a shield around them, stretching it to contain the wraith as well. When the shield solidified, he added a full block as Areenna had taught him. No dark magic could get in, and nothing could get out.

  Struggling against its capture with every ounce of dark and vile energy, the wraith fought Areenna, but it could not stop her from bringing it closer. With an unexpected shift, the wraith turned within its shimmering prison to face Areenna and Mikaal. It pushed toward them, this time trying to tear through the imprisoning bubble.

  Sparks erupted across the surface of the globe as it fought, its red eyes glowing in anger.

  It has powers, Areenna warned Mikaal.

  Mikaal, his ability rising in orange red flames, was ready to release the fire when Areenna stopped him. This is no simple wraith. We must learn about it. We must bring it down. Even as her thoughts reached Mikaal, the globe shredded. Sparks erupted when the wraith’s large talons ripped through the shimmering light.

  Mikaal did not hesitate. Twin streaks of fire shot from his hands and struck the wraith’s wings. The mist-like appendages exploded, falling and twisting, as it fought for its existence. Its loud keening wail echoed along the mountainside while Areenna worked quickly to rebuild the globe. Just before the wraith hit the ground, Areenna managed to slow the creature’s fall. Still, the wraith, for all its misty countenance, hit the earth with a thunderous crack.

  Before the echo faded, Areenna raced to where it lay, its life source fading. Areenna knelt beside it, gagging, but doing her best to stave off the putrid waves of evil rising from its misty black feathers. Knowing what she had to do, and disgusted at the need, she pushed herself into the wraith’s tiny mind.

  Five seconds later, the creature stiffened and dissolved into a pile of ash. Areenna’s stomach clenched, she vomited as the last dregs of the beast’s mind separated from her.

  Then Mikaal’s soft mind touch soothed her, as if he were holding her in his arms. He pulled her up from her knees. Lifting and turning her to him, he drew her into an embrace, held her close and patiently waited for her tremors to subside.

  Finally, taking in a deep breath, Areenna stepped back. “They know we are here,” she said.

  “They? The Black Witch?”

  She shook her head, her eyes distant. “No, the Dark Master. It was only him. It was as if she is no part of the creature.” She shook herself free of the thought and joined with him to show him what she had discovered within the wraith’s mind.

  It had to find our scent to follow us. The Master will not be able to track us now that this… thing is dead.

  No, Areenna responded, He has no need. The wraith found us before we pulled it into your shield and block. We need to go.

  “No. We need sleep. A few hours will make no difference. He knows where we are, but not where we go, not exactly. We need to be strong, not exhausted.”

  She started to argue but held back and took stock of their situation. She admitted to herself she was tired, more so even than she’d realized; this last short battle had drained her even further. She nodded. “As you say.”

  <><><>

  The Master roared in anger. Behind him, two of his followers, deformed as all of them were, trembled at the sound. He turned toward them, but the red-ringed eyes saw them not. Rather, he heard the cries of his creature when the block surrounding the two dropped. Seconds later, came the death throes of his wraith. Even that was cut off the instant the block was rebuilt.

  The Master closed his eyes and concentrated. The last image his creature had sent was of the two standing within a crevice on the side of a mountain. He knew this would be their path up and across the mountain. To where he had not learned, but their goal was somewhere on or within the mountain; there could be no other destination.

  Make ready the landing, he commanded the trembling figures kneeling a few feet from him. Rising quickly, they raced to the hatch while the Master spread his arms and opened his hands. The ships moved toward the shoreline, where in the faint distance rose a high double-peaked mountain.

  <><><>

  Areenna and Mikaal awoke at the same moment. They’d slept for four hours, not two, and wakened with much of their energy restored. After eating a quick meal of tasteless freesh, and with the stars shimmering mightily above them, they mounted their kraals and headed up the mountain.

  Climbing the steep and narrow trail in the semi-darkness of the northern night was slow work. Most of the time, they rode one before the other. When the night began its transformation into day, they were able to see more of the mountain they’d been ascending, and the trail that was clearly the only possible way to go. The snow and ice covering appeared to be less than it had been below. At midday, they passed a lone, disfigured and bent tree—leafless and long dead, a single gnarled branch pointing upward—which appeared more like a road marker than a tree.

  Areenna glanced back and up. She estimated they had climbed perhaps a third of the distance. Gaalrie, flying above, continued to show them the way, as she flew higher into the upper reaches of the mountain. Go, she told the treygone and sent a mind picture of the place they sought.

  Gaalrie lifted higher and in a few minutes disappeared from their sight. Areenna joined with Mikaal and together they navigated the meagre trail while watching through Gaalrie’s eyes, as she followed the pathway toward the top.

  When Gaalrie reached it, Areenna saw the top of the mountain rose to a sharp peak. At the base of the jagged and rocky final peak were small flat areas and jutting rises. She asked Gaalrie to go lower and when she did, Areenna was able to see several valley-like passages between the short and sharp rises.

  Two thirds of the way to the top, they were forced to dismount and walk, as the trail became too steep and slippery to ride upon. While they climbed higher and Gaalrie flew above them, Mikaal caught glimpses of what Gaalrie saw. It was just as Sirod had shown them with her mind pictures, but clearer through the treygone’s eyes.

  By nightfall, they reached the base of the mountain’s peak, where the trail split just af
ter a flat open area. “Left or right?” Areenna asked staring at the way the pathway curved around the high peak. Up close, the crown was formidable, rising at least three hundred feet above them in a jagged triangular formation, looking not unlike the jagged and roughhewn tip of a spear.

  “At least we don’t have to climb that,” she said, staring at the ice-sheathed sides of the mountain’s highest point. From where they stood in the small and flat clearing beneath the crown, the path forked. The path to the left, wider than the one to the right by half again, sloped gradually downward between the crown and a jagged line of what she could only call smaller bumps in the mountain. Except, these ‘bumps’ rose high above her head. Strangely, the snow was only a few inches deep on the path. Just beyond the smaller rises, the ground widened. To the right, the trail rose upward, narrowing further.

  “Left,” Mikaal replied after studying the terrain.

  Areenna looked from Mikaal to the crest. The mountaintop was more like a sheet of ice than something created of rock. Areenna yawned and shook her head to push away the claiming exhaustion.

  You are tired and it’s getting late. We should camp there, he said, motioning toward the area just past the smaller rise where it widened.

  So close…

  It will be there after we rest.

  Areenna drew her eyes from the crest to look at him. “As you say, My Prince,” she said.

  A half hour later, with the kraals fed and themselves as well, they went to sleep beneath a lean-to of silks, wrapped in the warmth of their fur cloaks and lying close to each other to stay warm in the icy air. Gaalrie, who perched on the big kraal’s back, slept in snatches but was ever aware, and always on guard.