I dipped my brow and saluted Iyumi with a surprising, for me, lack of mockery in it. “Or die trying, Your Highness.”
“Don’t say that too often, Captain,” Iyumi commented dryly as she nudged the roan into a hand gallop. “Or I might trust you.”
The highland terrain slowly rose the further north we rode, the jagged peaks of the Shin’Eah looming like an evil pall. Muted sunlight tried to break through the annoying half-mist that accompanied us through the morning and into the afternoon, but failed miserably. The weather dampened not just our clothes and hair, but also whatever humor that chanced to rise. As Malik stalked a hundred rods in front, Edryd riding at his flank, Sky Dancer trotted regally next to Iyumi’s roan stallion and told a joke or three. Her attempts to bring a smile to Iyumi’s face failed as utterly as the sun.
Gaear blew in from time to time, the breeze from his wings lifted Malik’s damp hair from his shoulders, but I couldn’t hear what he said or reported. As Malik didn’t pause or react, I assumed the news Gaear passed was uninteresting and without any imminent threat of danger. I rode Kiera several rods behind the roan, surveying the country we rode through, speculating. Steep and rocky, tall columns of boulders that had broken away from the Shin-Eah a millennia ago lined the hills. I knew Flynn hadn’t given up. Yet, these hills could easily conceal him as he plotted his next move.
High up, on the ridge to the west, Alain trotted his horse. Well-trained and dedicated, he often paused to turn about, checking his back-trail. When he lifted his hands to his face, I knew he utilized his magic to bring his view the hills and valleys up close. Seeing nothing alarming, he once more trotted north, paralleling us. I swiveled on Kiera’s back. Far to our rear, Valcan flew in his raven shape, circling endlessly, also watching for Flynn and his cronies. Gaear buzzed from him to Alain, then flew hard to circle over Padraig and Edara in the vanguard, a half-mile ahead.
I looked up, sighting Kasi, Grey Mist and Windy flying high against the dismal clouds and thought, “Where are you, Flynn?” With the vicinity a prime location for an ambush, why hadn’t he created one? Did he conceal himself from our eyes with his magic even now, tripping hard at our heels and none of us could see him? I knew of several spells that could uncover a hidden magician – but my powers weren’t strong enough. Perhaps I should ride ahead and ask Malik to try one or two.
Just as she answered my knees and struck a strong lope, Kiera stumbled – heavily. Her fetlocks and nose struck highland heather as I was unceremoniously tossed over her shoulder. Instinctively, I rolled, and continued rolling, until I was out from under should her rear quarters sail over her head and crush me under them. Rising quickly to my feet, unhurt, I reached for Kiera as she scrambled to regain all four hooves under her. She didn’t appear hurt, but her ears canted backward in annoyance and humiliation.
“Van?”
Ignoring Malik’s voice, I ran my hands down her forelegs, searching for injuries. All I found was a scratch on her soft muzzle and a starkly bruised ego. Her black tail lashed as she tossed her head from my hands, unwilling to look me in the eyes. Never in all the years she’d been toting me around had she ever stumbled, much less fallen. And never before had I come off her. Angry with herself, Kiera felt disgraced and shamed, and I suspected she wanted the earth to swallow her whole.
“Easy, lass,” I murmured, stroking her neck. “It’s all good, happens to the best of us, right?”
“Captain Vanyar!”
I waved my hand. “Go on. We’ll catch up.”
Princess Iyumi turned in her saddle, her hand on the cantle as Malik continued jogging, watching me with concern. I offered her a grin and swift salute as the roan loped on Malik’s heels. Sky Dancer half-flew at her side, her beak swiveled toward me. “Van?”
“I just want to look her over,” I replied. “Carry on.”
As the group, with Gaear flying low overhead, cantered up the next hill, I walked at Kiera’s side, watching for any lameness my hands and eyes missed. Outside of Kiera turning her face from me, she walked and trotted with her usual silky gaits, unencumbered by obvious pain. I rubbed her neck affectionately. “Don’t beat yourself up, honey,” I said, my tone light. “It’s –“
The rumbling sound interrupted me, and I lifted my head. Slightly confused, I glanced first right, over Kiera’s shoulder. Nothing save the ever-present drizzle and green-grey heather met my gaze. I glanced left – and froze for a fraction of an instant.
Granite rocks and boulders as large as a serf’s hut rolled in a swift avalanche down the steep hill. Perhaps our hoof-beats loosened the unstable pile, or perhaps the almost continuous rain undercut the soil holding it upright fell apart. No matter the cause, an implacable wall of broken stone fell toward me faster than Kiera’s best race. I had two, maybe three, seconds before it struck us broadside.
Kiera!
She’d never escape in time. In a wild, desperate, magical maneuver, I translocated her fifty rods up the hill. Well out of the danger zone. I’d heard of magicians using this ability to move an object from one place to another, I never had the chance, or the need, to try it myself. I didn’t take time to think – I acted. And the terrible strain on my limited abilities took its toll. Lights flashed in my eyes, as my gut roiled in protest.
No time. The crashing rocks were but a rod away from burying me beneath them. I shifted shape.
Not into a bird – I had zero time to both change and escape. My falcon, lunging into swift flight, would be caught by the rolling, tossing rocks. Instead, I coiled myself into a ball, as hard as the granite that crashed into me, and carried me along with them. The Clan discouraged the shifting of one’s shape into inanimate objects, and for good reason – the rock had no heart, lungs, blood or brain that a Shifter needed to survive. But I was always one to ignore protocol, and the rules were in place just so I could break them.
As one more rock among hundreds, I rolled safely down the hill until level ground ended the stampede. In a cloud of choking dust the drizzle couldn’t damp down, the horde spread out and slowly stopped, its impetus contained at last. I stayed where I was, however, fearing to stand in case more boulders still fell, the last to arrive. No sense in removing my armor until no enemies threatened my life.
In the distance, Iyumi’s voice rose on a scream. “Van!”
Under me, the ground trembled under the hooves of Malik, Kiera and Iyumi’s stallion. Back down the hill they charged, risking yet another avalanche of loosened rocks. While I heard no more rumblings from above, I waited to revert into my usual irreverent self until I knew the area was secured. Sky Dancer, like Iyumi, screamed my name and I felt rather than saw her shadow pass over me, low overhead.
Minutes ticked slowly past as the four of them, plus Gaear, roamed amid the rock-fall, yelling my name, searching the area for any trace of me. I sighed. If any more rocks wanted to tumble south, I hoped Malik’s power would stop them in their tracks. I unwound myself from the ball I shaped myself into, and slowly stood up. Unlike the usual change from a horse or a falcon into my own body, reverting from solid stone into breathing muscle and blood and tissue wasn’t at all easy. Dizzy, shaking as though ill with the ague for months, I wanted to vomit. Instead, I coughed, clearing my lungs of rock dust and tried to avoid doubling over. “Over here,” I choked, my hands on my knees.
“Van?”
“Vanyar!”
Sky Dancer shrieked, diving toward me, her wings wide and her beak agape. Malik dodged and leaped silent boulders as Iyumi hugged her roan’s neck as she urged him into a reckless pace that might yet break his legs. Not to be outdone, Kiera outraced them all, and all but killed herself on the granite strewn slope after I almost killed myself saving her life. She ducked around a boulder higher than her head, and skidded on several small ones that rolled under her hooves. She slid hard, her quarters buckling under her, and all but slammed into me. I ducked before her chest collided with mine, and caught her mane in my hands.
“Quit,” I gasped, “I’m c
ool, relax, it’s all good.”
Nickering in anxiety, Kiera nudged me with her muzzle, and in my weakness, I almost fell. Malik’s strong arm under mine held me upright, and I leaned against the strong support of his massive shoulder. “Thanks,” I managed, sweating rivers.
Iyumi slid from her roan’s saddle and cannoned into me. “Tell me you didn’t just do that,” she snapped, her voice hoarse. “You didn’t just do what I think you did.”
“Uh,” I stammered, “all right, I didn’t.”
“Liar,” she hissed, her arm snaking around my waist. “You turned yourself into a rock, didn’t you?” Her backhand smacked me across my arm. “You’re not supposed to do that.”
“Telling him what he’s not supposed to do, Princess,” Malik rumbled, “is like informing the tide it’s not supposed to obey the moon. I wouldn’t waste my breath.”
“I’ll waste my breath if I want to,” she all but screamed, her fury directed at me. “How dare you frighten me like that? How dare you!”
“I, er,” I muttered, “I, like, didn’t intend to. Why would I?”
“Because you’re in an inconsiderate ass, that’s why.”
Malik’s firm grip on her arm tugged Iyumi away from me and into the implacable care of Sky Dancer. “He needs a spot of healing, Princess,” Malik soothed, giving her a gentle push. “Please? Give us room?”
Muttering imprecations under her breath, Iyumi permitted Sky Dancer to lift her onto her stallion’s back and led her a few paces away. Kiera had no such notions, and hovered at my back, her chin on my shoulder as Malik put his hand on my brow. Though I’d returned to my usual shape with all my organs intact, my experience as a rock sent my belly and nerves into hyper-drive. I sweated and felt chilled at the same time, wanted to hurl while I had nothing in my guts with which to hurl. My head ached as at the same time my sight tried to blacken.
Malik’s healing power calmed my outraged stomach and quieted my revolting head. Strength returned to my muscles, and the bruises left by the other boulders I hadn’t noticed withered and died. I straightened, breathing in a deep breath of relief, and chuckled.
“Thanks,” I said, my hand on Malik’s shoulder.
He gazed down, his expression dark. “You’re lucky to be alive.”
“It’s not every day that one survives an avalanche – “
I cut off, my blood chilling in my veins. I recognized in his eyes what my instinct suddenly screamed: that wasn’t a fluke of nature. That wasn’t an accident I stumbled into. The persistent rain hadn’t loosened anything, not did the vibration of many hooves cause the hill to kick outward. Magic sent that rockslide careening into me and Kiera. Did Kiera truly stumble, or was that an act of ungodly power? I fell off – Van never parted from his horse with such drama. I was too good a rider, Kiera too good a mount, as everyone knew.
So what the hell happened?
My thoughts returned to that night when Padraig urged my fellow Atani to consider me not just a traitor, but to aid in my execution. I heard Padraig’s voice within the depths of my mind. “Shit happens,” he whispered. “So do accidents.”
Courteously shaking free of Malik’s help, I stared north. Hard. To the tall hill we intended to climb a short distance away.
Edara must have vanished down the far side, for I didn’t see her. Under a canopy of spruce, pine and white elm, Padraig stood quiet, his bulging arms crossed over his bare chest. He stared out and down, toward the new river of rock on the pristine grey heather that hadn’t been there three moments past. His dark eyes gleamed under his heavy brows, easily seen even from this distance. Unfolding his arms, Padraig lifted his right hand to chest level. In a gesture understood by all, Padraig’s fingers crossed in that rapid-fire flicker that meant only one thing.
Vengeance.
Turning slowly about, Padraig loped across the hilltop and vanished under the trees.
“Water.”
Malik’s fist in the air brought Edryd’s chestnut slithering to his haunches, mid-lope, behind him. Iyumi’s sure hands on the stallion’s reins brought the blue roan from a gallop to a walk within a few strides and without the drama. Kiera obeyed my sharply canted weight and slid to an effortless top beside and slightly behind the roan.
Gaear, on the other hand, swooped past and up, banking around for another pass as Malik turned around, scowling. He lifted the water skin attached to his belt to his lips, and squirted a thin stream into his mouth. He swallowed, and let it drop. The skin sagged like a dead animal, perhaps only a quarter full. “Princess? You have water?”
“Enough to fill a teacup.”
“Van?”
“Not even that much.”
“Corporal Edryd. Did you extinguish this morning’s fires with water from our skins?”
“Yes, my Lord Captain.”
I always considered Malik a fair and just commander, not prone to acting out of temper or fury. His discipline, while harsh, fit the crime. The close attempt on my life and his inability to prove anyone responsible put Malik into a foul temper. Had I not shoved Kiera between himself and Edryd, and seized his arm, his fist might well have knocked several teeth from the young cavalry soldier’s face.
Paling, Edryd lowered his head and reined his red stallion away from his commanding officer. A blush crept up from his throat to his cheeks to finally seep out the tips of his ears. Only then did he recognize his folly.
“He’s got all the experience of a babe in swaddling clothes,” I said, my voice soft. “Maybe? Just this once, cut him some slack?”
“His idiocy is beyond incompetence,” Malik gritted, his dark face infused with such a rage I blinked. “I ought to –”
“Slow down.”
He jerked his arm from my hand. “Leave off, Captain,” Malik snarled.
I obeyed. Dipping my brow, I dropped my chin over my fist clenched against my chest. “My Lord Captain Commander.”
“Lieutenant Gaear,” Malik bellowed. “Scout ahead and find us some effing water. And keep Padraig and Edara in the loop.”
“My Lord Captain.”
Gaear’s voice drifted off the high mountain wind as he sailed upon the currents and winged northward. I sidled Kiera backward until my knee struck Iyumi’s, and Sky Dancer lit upon the heather in front of me. She furled her wings across her broad shoulders, casting a swift glance from her raptor’s eyes toward Malik. “What’s gotten into him?”
Malik stomped away, his heavy black tail lashing across his hindquarters and his arms folded across his chest. Striding heavily across the high-altitude plateau, his hooves kicked great divots from the tundra. He never glanced back, yet we followed as though anchored to him by steel cables. Neither of us shared with Iyumi or Sky Dancer that my accident was anything but.
“He’s never this –”
“Strict?” I asked.
Sky Dancer’s beak stretched into a griffin grin. “‘Temperamental’ was the word I considered appropriate.”
At Malik’s sudden flinch, I knew he heard every word. Nothing within a five hundred rods’ radius of his ears passed unnoticed. Her words stung. Deep.
“This isn’t a situation any of us want to be in,” I said, my tone neutral. “None of us shall escape if the Red Bitch gets her claws on that child.”
Sky Dancer shook her ears in chagrin. “You’re right, of course – I –”
Iyumi’s small left hand gripped my forearm with enough pressure her nails impressed half-moon shapes in my skin. Her flesh paled. “She’s dead.”
“The Bitch?” Sky Dancer asked, flaring her angel’s wings. “Let’s ruddy hope so. That certainly makes our job easier.”
I caught the fierce glimmer of panic in Iyumi’s blue eyes. “Oh, gods –”
“Not the – the w – witch,” she stammered, her voice low and hoarse. “The mother. I felt her die.” Her words broke over a deep-seated sob. “The gods weep.”
As tears rolled down her cheeks, Malik wheeled and galloped into our small circle. His dark f
ace thunderous, he shoved Kiera, and me, roughly aside. Sky Dancer saluted, her beak over her fisted chest, and backed away as Malik glared down at his princess. “What’s this?”
Iyumi swiped her reddened cheeks with trembling fingers, her eyes as downcast as Dancer’s beak. “We’ve less than three days to find her.”
“More than enough time,” I said brightly into the tense silence. “What say we gallop to her rescue, yes?”
“Princess? What happened, dammit? Where is the child?”
Malik’s harsh tone brought her face up sharply. Her fine brows lowered as her thin, aristocratic face tightened. I recognized the danger signals and caught my breath, yet Malik continued to scowl as though preparing to reprimand a raw recruit. Iyumi’s right fist rose slightly –
Powerless in magic, yet born with the power of the gods, the tiniest among us captured him with her fury. Malik froze. Locked within those blue depths, he, the most powerful magician born, could but stare down into her tight expression and clenched fist. His jaw sagged, but that’s all the motion he commanded from his own body. Speak in his own defense? Not bloody likely.
“You forget yourself, my Lord Commander,” Iyumi said, her voice soft, yet her tone harder than tempered steel. “In my father’s absence, you owe your loyalty and duty to me. I am in charge here. Henceforth, you raise your voice to me again, and I’ll have you hung from the nearest tree in chains.”
“Princess,” I began slowly, my mouth dry. “He didn’t mean – he just gets – you know –”
“Shut up, Van,” Malik said, his tone mild. “Your mouth runneth over.”
His glance never flicked toward me. Instead, his former glower lightened into an almost-smile. “My life for yours, Your Highness,” he said simply. “Accept my apologies and forgive my anger, and impatience. In my own defense, my rage is not truly for you, but for our enemies. I fear I may fail in my duty to you, and your revered father. I am in error, and Your Highness in the right.”
The Unforgiven Page 30