Dark Lord of Kismera: Knights of Kismera

by Tamara H Hartl

  “I love you, too. Take care of yourself, Magdalene Sarah Shaffer.”

  He kissed her, a hard, sweet goodbye kiss, and tasted her tears.

  “You had better go,” she finally said as they broke apart. “Be happy.”

  Drace touched her cheek gently. “You too. Maggie, I…,”

  She stopped him with a finger to his lips. “Go on.”

  Drace hugged her once more, then ran a hand gently over her cheek. He gave a choked sounding sigh and turned abruptly to climb onto his wagon.

  Maggie walked back to give Cerise a hug and say goodbye.

  “Don’t grieve for him,” Cerise told her. “He’d hate that.”

  “I know, but it’s going to be hard for awhile.” Maggie patted Cerise on her arm “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me. Take care of him and yourself.”

  Talk became difficult as the wind began to increase and the horses began to move restlessly. They exchanged one last hug and Cerise climbed up on the second wagon.

  Maggie turned to look towards Drace and found him watching her. He gave her his beautiful smile and then he turned forward and kissed to his horses. The two black stallions started forward, leaning into the harness, and Cerise’s team followed, their noses close to the rumps to the horses tied behind Drace’s wagon.

  Maggie had to squint her eyes as dust picked up with the wind and when she was able to open them wide again, she caught a flash of the tails of Cerise’s gray horse and the red coated Andalusian stallion. A second later they were gone.

  Maggie sent a prayer up to Arahtok, falling to her knees. She let the tears come freely then, as she felt the pain of loss wash over her. She felt a hand touch her shoulder, but when she looked behind her there was no one there.

  A woman’s voice whispered in her head. “Be at peace, little one. The dark one will be well.” Ah Tala, bless her.

  Maggie felt peace wash over her, then staggered to her feet and with one last look in the direction Drace had taken, she turned and headed back to her car.

  Cerise had to pull the mares to a halt when Drace came to a sudden stop in front of her. He jumped from the wagon’s seat to land on the ground, wobbled a few steps and then went to his knees and vomited.

  When he finally finished, he rose and wiped his mouth, his other hand going to hold his head. “Jesus,” he swore. He walked over to Cerise. “You okay?’

  “My head hurts a bit but I’ll be fine,” she answered, feeling a dull throbbing in her temples and an annoying feeling of fatigue.

  Drace checked the horses and they all seemed to have made the transition well. He went back to his wagon, stopped at Pride’s rump and then bent to vomit again.

  When he felt that he could stand straight and not puke, he patted Pride’s hip and then climbed back onto the wagon. He found his bottle of water and took a pull then spit it out, rinsing his mouth. His head pounded viciously.

  Drace squinted against the bright sunlight, looked around to get his bearings and saw a familiar landmark, a rock that looked like a falcon’s head. They were further away than he had anticipated. At least two days, probably more, with the wagons.

  They were sitting in open grassland, interrupted by the occasional boulders jutting up. He looked to the sun and got his directions worked out.

  Drace kissed to the horses and they started rolling again. He turned them more westward and picked up a slow trot. He was taking it slower than he wished since the smaller Friesian mare appeared close to foaling. He had worried that the very trip to the other plane would upset her. She was pulling at her lead in high spirits so he put that worry away for a while.

  They traveled about a mile when Drace stopped again to vomit.

  This time Cerise set the brake on her wagon and came to where he knelt, looking pasty with a sheen of sweat on his face. “Drace, what’s wrong? Did you come down with the flu or something?”

  Drace didn’t answer right away a he retched again. He covered his eyes. “My head,” he gasped. “God, it’s going to split in half. I can hardly see.”

  She knelt down beside him. “Did it hurt before we left?”

  “No. It’s the transition. I know it. It was pretty bad the first time, but Vashti did something to help. I don’t remember much the second time—I was so doped up at the hospital. Oh, Christ!” he swore and dry heaved.

  “It sounds like a migraine kind of headache. We have two choices, I think. We can camp here and go on when you feel better, or I can see if I have some sort of super strength headache medicine in my bag.”

  “Go on,” Drace whispered, holding his head carefully. “We need to go on. Got to camp by water.”

  “Okay. Let me go see what I’ve got in my bag. Don’t let your wagon get away,” she said but grabbed a lead rope from the seat and snapped it to Pride’s bridle, handing Drace the other end. She doubted that the horse would leave him anyway. Raven on the other hand might start something.

  She walked swiftly to her wagon and found her bag. Quickly, she rummaged until she lucked into finding some migraine formula pills. She wasn’t even sure why she had them but was glad that she did. She read the dosage and came back with the required amount of medication.

  Drace had climbed back to his wagon’s seat and sat with his head in his hands. He took the pills from Cerise gratefully; his hands shook. He swallowed them and took a cautious sip of water to chase them.

  “Listen,” he whispered and proceeded to tell her how to navigate on the plains.

  “Why are you telling me this?” Cerise asked, worried.

  “If I can’t get us there it’s up to you. Pride and Raven will follow you,” he explained. There is a stream about a half day’s ride from here, if I remember correctly. That was an easy pace on horseback. I think we can do it close to that. We can take a break there.”

  “What do I look for?”

  “There’s a high rock shaped kinda like a chimney. Just past that you should be able to see a small stand of trees. The stream is next to it. Don’t go into the trees. I’ll check it out. Assume that anything and anyone is dangerous. Beat the hell out of me to get my attention if you have to.”

  Drace gave her a pained but stern look. “I mean it, C. I can fight if I have to. Keep a careful watch as we go.”

  “Okay. How far do you want to go before resting the horses?”

  “If we keep up a fast walk, give them a break in a couple of hours. Check for any rubs.”

  “I know. Hopefully that medicine will kick in quick. I wasn’t nervous until you said that.” Cerise patted his hand and walked back to her wagon.

  Drace released the brake on his wagon and spoke quietly to Pride. The horse flicked his ears back and then picked up a brisk walk.

  Drace managed to hold out the whole day, but felt miserable when they finally reached a place to camp by a small river with trees lining the bank. The jarring of the wagon had done nothing to help the pounding in his skull.

  He climbed from the wagon after arming himself and came from the trees a few minutes later to lead Pride and Raven into their shade.

  Drace and Cerise got all the horses settled; tied to trees after being watered, hay nets provided, and each one blanketed as the temperature was dropping.

  Drace started a fire and finally settled to rest.

  Cerise found the fried chicken she had brought for their first meal. “Do you think you could eat something? This chicken won’t last until tomorrow.”

  “I don’t know. I don’t feel as bad as I did earlier. At least I don’t have the desire to gouge out my eyes anymore.” He reached for a thigh and took a hesitant bite. He ate only a few more bites before giving up. “Sorry to waste it but I just can’t eat anymore or I’ll puke again.”

  Cerise fetched him more medication and let him rest. She watched him for a while as he sat quietly, staring into the flames of the fire. His posture was deceptive, she knew, as he listened to the surrounding night. Arahtok had promised safe passage but only a fool traveled this world without
taking some care.

  “I’ll watch for awhile if you want to try to sleep,” she volunteered.

  “I could stand to close my eyes for a bit. Pride will warn you if there’s trouble,” he said. He handed her his dagger, knowing it would make her feel safer. He also knew his condition was tantamount to the deep dragging fatigue he had experienced the first time he had arrived here.

  When he woke four hours later, his headache was mostly gone, except for a nagging ache behind his eyes. He turned his head to see Cerise nodding off as she sat leaning against a tree. She was still wearing brown breeches, and a cocoa colored thick sweater, with a tan barn coat over it. She had her plaid wrapped around her, one hand free of the soft tartan material, the dagger fisted tightly in her right hand. Her head jerked up as she caught herself.

  “I’m awake,” he said quietly so not to startle her. H stood and handed her his blanket, and then added a couple pieces of wood to the fire. Satisfied it would burn for a while, he went to walk the perimeter of the trees, his own plaid loosely draped around his shoulders, his sword free for his hand.

  Cerise woke to the smell of coffee and frying ham. Drace was squatting next to the fire, turning the meat in a cast iron skillet with a metal fork. Once finished, he rose and handed her a cup of coffee.

  “What time is it?” she asked, taking the offered cup gratefully.

  “Almost sunrise.”

  Cerise saw that the horses had already been fed. “It looks like you feel better.”

  “Almost human,” he replied and returned to his cooking. He put the ham on two metal camp plates, cracked six eggs into the hot skillet, and scrambled them with the fork.

  They ate quickly then and were soon back on their journey. It went a lot faster without Drace having to stop to throw up every few miles.

  It was a couple of hours to sundown when Drace pulled up suddenly. Cerise had been driving beside his team and looked over at him. “What is it?” she asked, concerned. She briefly touched the boot knife he had handed her, which was on the seat next to her.

  “I thought I saw something. Look straight ahead. It was in the grass.”

  They’d seen a few herd of bison beast and one of elk, but this was something new.

  “Two male lions,” Drace whispered,

  The two lions sat up and were clearly visible, watching the travelers as intently as they watched the lions. Drace loosened his sword in his scabbard but did not draw it.

  The lions were some distance away so none of the horses were spooked, but Drace could see that Cerise was. “Relax. We only panic if they decide they want horsemeat. The lions around here tend to leave people and their animals alone. It’s an understanding they have with the Werre.

  One of the lions stood and stretched and began to leisurely stroll in the humans’ direction. The other male rose and followed a few lengths behind.

  Drace stepped down from the wagon and walked in front of the stallions. He rubbed Pride behind the ear in a soothing caress.

  “Drace!” Cerise hissed. “What the hell are you doing?”

  “Letting them see who I am. I don’t think those two are truly lions,” he replied, turning his head slightly to look at her out of one eye. “They look familiar.”

  “Lions all look alike. How can they look familiar?” she argued, twisting the reins in her hands.

  “You can tell Pride and Raven apart, and all the black mares. Same with the lions,” he replied.

  “They’re coming closer,” Cerise said, her rose in pitch.

  Drace wasn’t paying attention to her any more. Instead, he walked towards the lions. The front one was slightly bigger and it had a scar across its right eye. Drace couldn’t tell it the eye itself was damaged or not. He noticed then the big cat walked with a slight limp on a hind leg.

  Despite its injuries, Drace was suddenly sure he knew the lion and began to walk faster. The lion picked up its pace as well. Soon both were running towards each other while Cerise sat in horror, one hand over her mouth.

  She thought she would be sick when they came in contact and Drace grabbed the lion by its thick mane. They hit each other and rolled on the ground.

  Drace got tangled in his sword and the cat took advantage by pinning him to the ground. He roared loudly but didn’t maul Drace. The other lion bounded to a stop beside the pair.

  Cerise nearly fell from her seat as Drace laughed joyously and wrapped his arms around the cat’s neck, his hands digging into the animal’s dark mane.

  The animal backed up, pulling Drace into a sitting position and next thing Cerise knew a man was squatting where the lion had been a second ago. She blinked and another man stood where the second lion had been.

  Oh my God! she thought. She swallowed the lump that fear had left in her throat. Drace had told her about the shifting abilities of the Werre but it still had taken her by surprise. Now she knew how Drace had felt living with these people and seeing the transformation the first time. But if all the males were as beautiful as those two, she had died and gone to heaven.

  Drace stood and the two men hugged, beating each other on the back as men do, grinning like fools. When they broke apart, the other man grasp Drace below the elbow; Drace returned the hold, and then pulled the man into another back slapping hug.

  Finally, they finished their manly greetings and started to walk towards the wagons. Pride raised his head and neighed loudly, recognizing at least one of them.

  Cerise climbed down from her wagon as the men approached, smoothing nervously at the clothes she had slept in. She knew her hair was disheveled in its braid and she felt none too clean. She stood her ground but these two strangers were big and a little intimidating even in human form.

  The two men were of similar height, but lacked two or three inches of matching Drace, but both were broader through the chest then him. With their long dark tawny hair, golden eyes, and bold features, they defined masculinity.

  “Cerise,” Drace said when they stopped in front of her. “This is Cearan Lionblade, Ki’s brother,” he introduced the slightly bigger of the two. He was also the one carrying the scar across his eye. It ran from his hairline, across his eye, and down his lean cheek. Whatever had made it; it had been a clean cut. He was lucky his eye had not been injured.

  “And this is Lexin, of the house of Bellmore, also of the clan Lionblade, cousin to Ki and Cearan.”

  Drace turned to the two men and took Cerise by the hand. “This is the sister of my father, Cerise MacKinnon.”

  Cerise stood to her full five-seven, wishing she didn’t feel so mussed, but smiled warmly anyway.

  Both men bowed their heads in greeting. “My Lady MacKinnon. I am pleased to meet you,” Cearan said to her.

  Cearan shook his head. “By the gods, brother, it is good to see you. We thought you lost to us forever. I know there is a tale to be told and we both are eager to hear it. I think, however, we should wait until we get to a resting spot. Your kinswoman looks rather weary.”

  Cerise bristled at his remark. “I’m fine, thank you.”

  “I meant no insult, my Lady,” Cearan said, amused at her spirit. “Let us go. I know the area you were heading, I believe.”

  By unspoken agreement, Lexin helped Cerise up into her wagon and took the seat next to her, not bothering to ask if she minded if he took the reins.

  When she started to protest, Lexin interrupted. “My Lady, be at ease. I know where we are going.” He gave her a warm smile, flashing his canines.

  “Of course, what was I thinking?” she said sarcastically.

  Drace asked Pride and Raven to go, Cearan seated next to him. They traveled for a short while to where Cearan and Lexin’s horses were tethered. The two Werre men left the wagons to ride along side, Lexin riding ahead occasionally.

  Drace recognized the wooded area they entered. He doubted he would ever forget the spot where he first came to Kismera.

  With two extra to help, the horses were cared for and camp set up in short order. Cerise went
through their provisions, pulling enough food for the four of them.

  Cearan and Lexin had been hunting and had taken a large rabbit. Cearan admitted Lexin used his bow since rabbits were hard for a lion to take because of their quickness. They’d been looking for larger game when they came across Drace and Cerise.

  Lexin had cut up the rabbit after cleaning it and began a stew. Cerise added a few potatoes and onions along with a few carrots, and a touch of salt and parsley.

  Lexin tended the pot, much to Cerise’s surprise. She made a trip into the trees for a moment and when she returned all three men were standing by the fire.

  She paused to survey them, taking in the braided hair, the clothing and boots, and all were armed to the teeth. Drace fit in as if he had been born to it.

  Cerise’s sigh caused three pair of eyes to turn to her.

  Well, Dorothy, you sure aren’t in Kansas anymore, she thought.

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  WHILE THE STEW WAS SIMMERING over the fire, the men checked the horses.

  Cearan ran his hands over the young Friesian stallion. “This is a fine animal,” he said as the horse nuzzled him. “He may rival Pride when he is older.”

  “He isn’t broken to saddle yet,” Drace said. “I thought you might like to help me with that.”

  “Really? I would like to see your techniques.”

  “I believe a man should give a lot of attention to his personal mount.”

  Cearan gave him a surprised look. “What are you saying, brother?”

  Drace smiled. “I’m giving him to you. When I bought him, I had you in mind.”

  Cearan stood speechless for a moment. “I do not know what to say.”

  “Say ‘thank you’,” Drace said. “He is yours. His name is Raven.”

  Cearan petted the stallion one last time, and then they moved on. When they were by the mare, Glory, Drace checked her to see how close she was to foaling. He didn’t think she was far from it.

  “This mare carries your foal, Lexin. The mare is for someone else, but the foal will be yours when it is ready to leave its mother.”