“I will lead,” Lucina said.
“You can’t be serious,” Godfrey protested, and the magistrate and the mayor nodded in agreement.
“Please, spare me your pleasantries and protocols,” Lucina scolded the men. “Not only will I be better able to sense the presence of this evil, but I can more than protect myself from any danger.”
The men nodded but didn’t speak. It was obvious that if Lucina felt comfortable taking point on their hunt, then point it would be. Despite the misogynistic ideology that sometimes permeated the realms of Agon, there was little doubt that Lucina, as a Fist of Astor, was a notable exception.
“Let’s go.” Helvie ended the debate and whirled her horse toward the heart of the forest at a healthy gallop. Lucina had to spur her horse into a run to take the lead, while the two scouts, one from the troops and the other from the town, also raced ahead to follow an obvious trail. The entire group had a bad feeling about it, as if it was left too obvious for them, yet they had no choice but to follow. They would not abandon their young.
An hour passed before they reached a clearing and came to a halt. For long moments, Lucina sat on her mount with her hand on the hilt of her sword. The horses stomped the ground occasionally, and the breeze occasionally caused the leaves to rustle and dance on the trees all around them.
“What is she doing?” Fergus asked from fifty yards behind the holy warrior where the bulk of their force had stopped.
“She senses something,” Helvie said.
“Could it be the evil from last night?” Clive asked.
“Possibly,” Helvie said, continuing to watch her protector and warrior.
Godfrey motioned with his head. “I’ll go check with her. You three stay here.”
“Right,” Fergus and Clive said in unison, looking at each other as they did so.
Godfrey spurred his horse forward, walking it until he came to Lucina’s side. He allowed a long pause before speaking to the woman. “What is it?”
In turn, Lucina took her time in answering, leaning toward the commander but not looking at him, instead keeping her eyes on a point in the forest ahead of them. “Something is watching us.”
“Do you see it?”
“No, I feel it.”
Godfrey moved his hand to draw his sword, but Lucina shook her head. “Not yet,” she said.
The commander allowed his hand to rest on his sword’s hilt and looked back at the mayor and magistrate and did his best to shrug in his armor, conveying the idea that he didn’t have any news to share. The group waited for a moment longer, and Lucina looked back as if to return when the soft faint sound of a baby crying came to them from deeper within the forest.
“Did you hear that?” Clive said, spurring his horse forward.
“Easy there,” the mayor said, trying to reach out and hold the magistrate back, but too late.
Helvie also lashed on her reigns to move her horse forward, kicking as well. “I heard it too.”
Several of the soldiers moved forward, and soon, the group was in chaos as everyone started to talk over one another and move about, searching for the baby who was crying. Lucina realized immediately that this was exactly what their enemy wanted, but she was confused. She felt no evil presence, and this didn’t make sense to her.
“Find the child,” Clive called out to his fellow townsmen, as a half dozen of them had accompanied the baron’s troops. The men fanned out on foot, as they weren’t mounted, and started to call out for the child, which seemed quite ludicrous to Helvie, as the baby would not be able to respond.
“Stop your men,” Lucina yelled at Clive from her mount.
Clive rode up to her, followed by Helvie and the mayor. “We must find the child; it is close.”
“Something’s wrong,” Lucina said.
Suddenly another baby’s cry came from their left, close, but not enough to be sure to pinpoint it.
“There, another one.” Clive pointed.
“Hold your position,” Godfrey said to the magistrate. “Me and my men will investigate this one. Stay to the one ahead of us.”
Godfrey motioned to the two closest soldiers, and they started to ride to their left, where the sound of the second child had come from.
“This isn’t right,” Lucina said, looking to Helvie. “Stay close to me, my lady.”
“Why, what is wrong, Lucina?” Helvie said, keeping her mount close to her protector and noticing that the mayor did the same as the soldiers and townsmen fanned out.
A third sound came from their right, a higher pitched cry, but definitely from a baby. Several soldiers whirled their mounts toward the sound, and two men from the town changed direction, as they were lagging behind their comrades, and started off in pursuit.
“All three?” Fergus asked, looking to Lucina.
“Do you sense evil?” Helvie asked.
“No,” Lucina answered, “but my instincts tell me that there is something wrong.”
“Surely we can’t leave them here when we are so close,” the mayor said, rubbing his chin and looking toward the right.
There was no time for an answer. Far ahead, the first soldier ran headlong into a figure near a tree. They could barely make it out, but it looked like a young woman in a blue silk dress. The soldier dismounted and approached the woman. Time froze for a split second.
“No!” Lucina yelled, pulling her sword.
A bright light flashed as the young woman reached and grabbed the soldier. In an instant, the man and woman disappeared, leaving a startled horse to bolt away. The event happened so suddenly that there was no time to intervene.
Immediately there were several similar flashes from both in front of them and to either side. There were no yelling, sounds of combat, the familiar ringing of steel on steel, war cries, screams of pain and death, nor shouts of defiance or challenge. They simply heard the alluring whispers of the ladies of the forest. All clad in silk gowns of blue, green, white, and yellow. All were barefoot, with long flowing hair, some a golden white color, others dark brown, and of course, the intense flash of light that indicated their disappearance.
“Get away from her, Godfrey,” Lucina yelled at their commander, kicking her horse forward and preparing her sword for combat.
The other two soldiers, near the commander, vanished in flashes of bright light. Godfrey tried to turn his horse; instead, it reared and he found himself on the ground as his mount bolted. He looked at the young lady approaching him slowly. Her steps were measured, and though she smiled, her countenance conveyed sadness, a strange dichotomy.
She reached the commander and stood over him, reaching down with her outstretched hand. Godfrey smiled at her. She seemed to be peaceful, and he found himself raising his hand to touch hers, not really hearing the sounds of screaming around him. It was as if the young lady had a bubble of serenity around her, blocking out the troubles and sorrows of the world. He found himself at peace . . . until a jarring reality in the form of Lucina appeared.
“Don’t touch her!” Lucina yelled, swinging her blade in a killing blow at the lady. The woodland nymph jumped back, falling to the ground, and narrowly avoided losing her head.
“That was rather rude of you,” Godfrey said, and then he felt himself feeling rather silly that he was so enamored with the young woodland lady.
Lucina whirled her charging mount around quickly and headed right for the nymph again, who was struggling to stand and ended up crawling rather unladylike to the nearest oak tree. Upon reaching it, she disappeared in a flash of light again, narrowly missing Lucina’s sword, which swung through the space that the lady occupied not a half second later.
“What is happening? Why are the soldiers acting this way?” Helvie asked, riding up and coming to a halt next to Godfrey, who began his rather unceremonious task of standing in full-plate armor.
“The woodland women have some sort of charm that is working on the men,” Lucina said, disdain in her voice, though Helvie couldn’t tell if it was dire
cted at the nymphs or the soldiers.
“What can we do?” Helvie asked, looking around at the confusion and noting that most of the men, though not all, were wandering around aimlessly, as if children lost in the woods.
“I don’t know if this will work, but I don’t see any other option,” Lucina said, reaching into her pack and pulling out a small ivory horn that was inlaid in silver and marked with holy ruins.
“I’ve never seen you use that before,” Helvie stated as she tried to stave off the panic that was overwhelming her.
Lucina brought it close to her lips, pausing for only one comment. “That’s because I’ve only used it once before . . . once before you were born . . .”
With a large intake of air, Lucina pressed the tip of the horn to her lips and blew, exhaling as hard as she could. The results were immediate. The horn had such a clear and loud note that vibrated off of the very trees and small rocks of the forest floor, that it caused all who heard it to pause in their actions and turn to face its sound.
The men instantly shook off the fog that had clouded their minds and looked upon the woodland dryads and saw them for the danger they were. Helvie noticed this when most of them drew weapons and held them in front of the young ladies.
The woodland nymphs in turn focused all of their attention on Lucina, and they no longer beckoned to their prey. The men slowly started to back away, about half of them remaining from their original number. Lucina gave a second blast of her horn and rode to the center of the group, calling for the men to rally around her.
Helvie followed her slowly, accompanying the commander, who walked in his armor rather stiffly. The woodland ladies stood their ground, neither retreating nor moving forward, allowing the soldiers and men to gather around the holy warrior.
The silence in the forest was almost absolute. The hunting party retreated without sound, and the dryads said not a word. Indeed, there was no movement at all from them other than their attentive watch on the Fist of Astor.
“What did you do?” Helvie asked her protector, awe in her face and voice.
Lucina was challenged to hold the horn and reigns in one hand and keep her sword in the other. She paused a moment to ensure that the men had a relatively safe distance between them and the nymphs before answering. “It’s a simple horn of Astor, given to her servants to call upon the Mother in time of need. It is very rare and forbidden to be used unless in dire circumstances. I did not know what it would do, but I had to do something.”
“That was brilliant, Lucina. I don’t know how it worked, but it brought our troops out from that hypnosis or spell that these woodland creatures cast upon them,” Helvie said, allowing herself to breathe easier and resist the temptation of relenting to the sense of impending doom that had almost overwhelmed her. “We seem to be immune to them as women.”
“No, not immune,” Lucina answered, her voice low and hushed, barely audible, “just a different effect. Did you not feel dread and panic come over you?”
“I did, though I thought that was from the nature of the encounter itself and not from them,” Helvie said, pulling her mount closer to Lucina and motioning for Godfrey to join her. The poor commander seemed tired and walked stiffly to the center of their group.
“That was from them,” Lucina said, giving an almost imperceptible nod at the dryads surrounding them, now at a healthy distance. The women of the forest looked sad now. None were smiling, but they stood solemnly, as if awaiting something.
“What are they—?” A loud cracking sound caused Helvie to stop mid sentence.
“Mother of Agon, no,” Lucina muttered from atop her mount, looking deep into the forest. “Not now.”
“You sense something, Lucina?” Helvie asked.
“Yes,” Lucina answered. “Evil.”
“What is it?” Fergus, the mayor, asked, the first man to speak after the encounter.
The question didn’t need answering. The trees far to their front shook violently, and the leaves danced, some falling to the forest floor while others mocked them from atop the tree limbs. A scaled beast slid effortlessly between the larger of the trees, its massive clawed feet sinking deep into the moist forest floor as it approached.
Its head was double-horned, the horns sleekly flowing back behind its skull to a point where one horn was cut short as if it had been hacked from its skull. It gave a ghastly appearance to the beast, while bright emerald eyes glowed from deep within its sockets. A forked tongue lolled out of a fanged mouth, and it looked at them with contempt.
“A dragon . . .” Godfrey said, defeat in his voice.
They were startled by the sound of a soft, melodious voice that spoke from right behind them. “Not just a dragon, but the heart of the forest. You should have let us take your warriors. They would have lived in peace, though at a cost in time. Now you will face Tyranna. She is what we call green death.”
No one spoke, and the only sound heard was the deep hissing of air as it passed through the teeth and fangs of the green dragon as it prepared to unleash death upon them.
Chapter 10
Haven
“I didn’t think she would be able to run after having her leg nearly amputated,” Diamedes said, watching in amazement as Gloria managed to trot in front of him along the narrow mountain trail.
“And I didn’t think you could both run up a mountain and speak at the same time,” Gloria countered, reaching the top of the trail and coming to a halt, breathing heavily.
“Well, it does help that the fine young man there was willing to carry my pack for me, and I don’t have the burden of armor to wear as well,” Diamedes said, also arriving and coming to stand next to the warrior woman at the top of the trailhead, high above the rocky spurs below them. Diamedes took a moment to bring out a handkerchief and wipe the sweat from his forehead. Despite the cooler air so high up, they all were perspiring considerably, as they were exerting themselves intensely.
“I don’t think Edric would consider himself a young man,” Elister said, smiling as he looked for his companion far below. The three runners looked in unison, hoping to catch sight of the Ranger as they all stood in a group on the trailhead.
“I think I see him. There,” Diamedes said, pointing far below and off to one side.
“Oh yes, that’s him,” Elister said, shading his eyes by bringing his hand to his forehead.
The group had traveled a few miles the night before and then made camp in a secluded cave along the side of one of the ridges of the wild northern lands. At first light, they picked up the pace and half-ran, half-marched to their current location, just a league or two distant from the mountain pass that led into Vulcrest and the Greenfeld, the very same one that Elly and Edric used days earlier.
“Are you all right?” Elister asked Gloria.
Gloria swooned for a moment and then stumbled over to a rock and sat down gingerly on it. “Yes, I need to take a rest, was feeling rather lightheaded for a moment.”
“I’m sorry my healing ability was not able to replace the blood you lost.” Elly knelt beside her.
“No, you did wonders for me,” Gloria replied, breathing heavily and touching the bandages on her leg, which were nothing more than strips of cloth from an old cloak that the Ranger had carried with him.
“How do your ribs feel?” Elly asked.
Gloria touched them and winced in pain, but quickly replaced the look with a small smile. “They are tender but fine.”
“Really, Master Elister, you did a fine job of bringing the lady Gloria back from what was certain death,” Diamedes said, walking to the other side of Gloria where he could see both of them as well as look below to keep track of their Ranger companion.
“Well, I’m mainly used to healing animals, not people, but Master Greyson taught us that the principle was the same.”
“How did you do this to me?” Gloria asked, relaxing a bit and allowing her lungs to replenish oxygen to her starved body.
“Simple really,” Elly began
, as if instructing another student. “The flow of energy from within Agon simply needed to be channeled into your body in an aligned manner that allowed for the positive energy to interact with the negative of your wounds. The subsequent interaction has the effect of the metabolic enzymes interacting in such a manner so as to replace your tissue and bone with new material in a rapid process that conclusively heals your body as a whole.”
Gloria looked at Elly for a long moment and then turned to Diamedes. “Did you understand him?” she asked the historian.
Diamedes shrugged, looking at the two before clarifying. “He said he healed you using his druid magic.”
“Now that makes more sense,” Gloria said, looking to Elister.
Elly shrugged and stood, standing sheepishly for a moment. He wasn’t used to interacting socially with others outside the abbey, and it appeared that he confused his new companions. He decided to let the moment go by and focus on their predicament. “So do you both think you can make it to the pass?”
“I feel confident I can, though I think I should help the lady Gloria with her armor, or weapons at the very least.” Diamedes looked at the woman.
“She has refused you three times,” Elly said, speaking of Gloria but not looking at her. “What makes you think a fourth request would be any different?”
“He does think rather oddly, does he not?” Gloria asked Diamedes, returning the favor of not paying attention to Elister and speaking around him, so to speak.
“Odd?” Elly asked, sounding a tad bit hurt at the comment.
Diamedes waved his hands at both of them to be quiet. “I think our companion here is rather proud and has more than a little honor, so to have one carry the symbols of her profession may cause dishonor to her. However, she may consider the impending consequences of not allowing some form of assistance in the matter.”
“Consequences?” Elly asked.
“He means my impending death,” Gloria explained.
“Oh, I see,” Elister said, rubbing his chin and looking at his new companions with curiosity.
The Green Dragon: A Claire-Agon Dragon Book (Dragon Series 3) Page 11