“You should get some rest,” Erc said. “I will wake you when it is your turn to keep watch.”
Kaiden was puzzled. This man would sleep while Kaiden watched? Was it some strange custom of their’s? Maybe they trusted him more than he thought. Kaiden rolled over and tried to get comfortable. As tired as he was, Kaiden did not find sleep right away. He laid there with his thoughts. It was weird knowing Erc was watching him. Kaiden wondered if Soren was alright. He hoped so, but didn’t want to hope too much. He laid there for a while, thinking. He finally resigned himself to just go to sleep.
Without warning a windstorm came upon the camp, with nearly the strength of a micro burst. An unnatural wind howling through the trees. It gave Kaiden uneasy thoughts which he tried to quell. He needed his rest and he tried to ignore it. After a while his mind began to drift into quiet subconsciousness.
Erc yanked on the rope. “Kaiden! Get up!”
Kaiden was teetering on the brink of dreams when he was awakened. He could not have been asleep for very long. Was it Erc’s turn to sleep already?
Kaiden’s answer came in the form of Erc dragging him across the snow.
“Wake up! Get up!”
Kaiden decided he’d been awakened for some other reason.
Kaiden sprang to his feet. Erc wasn’t the only one who could be ready at a moments notice. “What is it?”
“The beast. It is here.”
Kaiden could hear screaming in the middle of the camp, the sounds of a struggle. Someone was shouting. “Hold him down!” The voice was nearly drowned in the wind.
“The beast? What do you mean?” Kaiden demanded.
“The beast has attacked,” Erc answered. He was almost in a sprint now. Kaiden, not entirely awake yet, struggled to keep up. Either that or be dragged.
Erc came to a stop at the other end of the camp. Oded was standing over a pile of men. It was hard to tell how many men were in the heap. More piled on. For every two that leaped into the fray one was thrown off. They were all trying to subdue the man at the bottom. After a few moments they managed to pin him securely down. Two additional men hog tied him. The man moaned, made grunting noises, but never spoke. Even after being bound he continued to struggle.
The man’s wrist was tied to the wrist of a man Kaiden recognized as Arn. Kaiden met him briefly, earlier that day. Arn’s face and beard were a bloody mess. He looked like he’d been hit pretty hard between the eyes. More than once.
“What happened?” Kaiden asked.
“The beast has taken over Hin’s mind,” answered Erc. “It calls to him.”
The man, Hin, Kaiden supposed he was, was writhing on the ground. Still moaning, fighting against the bindings.
“Can we help him?”
“There is not much we can do,” Oded said with a sigh. “He may regain his mind, he may not. Some have had their minds wiped clean, leaving their bodies an empty shell. They do not live long after that.”
Kaiden was startled. He recalled how Oded wanted to leave the mountain the day before, yet he’d come back searching for the beast. The same beast that somehow was in control of Hin’s mind. “So you leave him tied up?”
“Yes. Until he recovers or dies.” Oded sounded concerned. “If we let him loose he will seek out the beast and become its prey. The beast is still calling to him.”
Kaiden finally realized what the rope at his wrist was for. It was to keep him from running off and getting killed by the vyr. That’s what it was. Kaiden was convinced of that now. Not a scourge. The stories never mentioned a scourge stealing your mind, but the vyr were said to do just that, and Soren hinted the thing might be a vyr. He said Macman was convinced it was.
“Soren called it a vyr,” Kaiden announced. “He said he encountered one when he was a boy. I did not fully believe him. I do now.” At least it wasn’t a scourge Kaiden thought.
“Yes, I have heard of this vyr,” Oded said. “A dangerous creature. An ancient creature.”
Kaiden nodded. “They are supposed to be extinct. Maybe there are still some living here in these mountains. Or in the Rift. No one ever goes there. Not even the men who escape from the mines.”
Tostig joined his father. Kaiden realized that the whole camp was standing around Hin. At least it appeared like the whole camp. Kaiden estimated there were about fifty men there. Fifty! How could that many men move so fast and leave so few signs. Kaiden tried to get an accurate count. He didn’t want to be obvious so he tried to do it quickly. There were men missing, he was sure of that, men he had seen more than once, but were not there now. He looked at the crowd again and saw new faces. Fifty was not an accurate count. There could be a couple hundred for all he knew.
“The Rift? What do you mean by the Rift?”asked Tostig.
Oded answered before Kaiden could. “I thought I’d educated you better than that. I wish we had some proper maps so you would have learned your geography better. The Rift is at the eastern end of the Emerald Sea.”
“Is that the same as the Emerald Fjord?”asked Tostig.
“No,” Kaiden said. “The Emerald Fjord is the inlet of the sea between the north and middle talons. The city of Azmark is on its banks or at least near its banks. The Emerald Sea is to the north and divides the island almost through the center.”
Oded was nodding as Kaiden spoke.
“Im sorry,” Kaiden said. “I did not mean to interrupt.”
“No, no,” Oded replied. “I can’t pretend to know as much about your geography as you do. You go ahead. I may just learn something myself.”
“Okay,” Kaiden said, a little uneasy at being the center of attention. “The Rift, as Oded said, is at the south eastern side of the Emerald Sea. Legend has it the sea was created when the Rift opened up, swallowing an entire mountain range. I personally think it just divided the mountains into two separate ranges. The Iron Mountains, which we are in now, and the Blue mountains. Anyway, the Rift is not exactly straight. It runs south easterly from the Emerald Sea then forks and runs nearly north and south from there. At the south end are the iron mines. I don’t think anyone knows what is at the north end. Supposedly it opens to the center of the earth and is the habitat of devils and worse. There are many campfire tales of men who have traveled through the Rift, but I know of no one who has gone beyond the fork. You can see the Rift from the top of almost any mountain in this range, but it is too deep to see what is actually at the bottom. If there is a bottom.”
“We should have had you around to teach school lessons to these young boys, Kaiden.” Oded sounded pleased.
Most of these “young boys” are older than I am, Kaiden thought.
Kaiden grew up hearing stories of the creatures that once inhabited the mountains, creatures that according to the legends were swallowed up in the Rift. Kaiden believed them as a child, but when he got older he dismissed them as the tales of crazy old men. Now he had likely encountered one of those creatures. What else in those stories could be true?
“What do we do with Hin?” Kaiden asked.
“We will place a guard over him and hope he recovers,” replied Oded. “Often the victims do not recover until a new victim is taken. It makes me believe that this..., this vyr, you called it?”
Oded paused long enough for Kaiden to nod.
“Yes, it makes me think this vyr can only control one mind at a time. When a new victim is taken the other is let loose. Besides that I don’t know why some recover and some do not.”
“How many victims have there been?” Kaiden asked.
“We lost four men before we began watching over each other in our sleep. Since then we have only lost two into the night. We have succeeded in restraining the others. Three of those did not recover. We were...fleeing is the best word I can think of... we were fleeing the mountain when we encountered your party. Most of the men here thought you were going to slay this beast that has been plaguing us, so we stayed. And watched. I fear so far the outcome has not been one we have hoped for.”
“Soren said it bleeds so it can die,” Kaiden offered. “I am not leaving until I die or it dies. The stories say the vyr mostly fed on other animals, but once they began to prey on humans, their hunger became insatiable. It has already come down to Azmark and taken a young boy. I was sent here to kill it and that is what I am going to do.”
Oded gave Kaiden a look of approval. It pleased Kaiden, though he didn’t know why it should. Kaiden looked around at the group of men. They all appeared to be showing him more approval. Was it because of what he said?
“The stories say other things about the vyr,” Oded said. “They say the vyr are the ancient enemy of man.”
“Those stories also say the vyr and the dragons fought over control of the north until man appeared and dominated them both,” said Kaiden. “Does that mean I am to believe in dragons?”
“From what I have seen since coming to your strange land,” Tostig said, “I could almost believe anything.”
Kaiden secretly began to wonder if dragons did exist, and other nasty things as well.
“We should all try to get some sleep,” Oded said.
The crowd, or small army, as Kaiden was beginning to think of it, was already dispersing. They settled into their beds, at least half of them did. The other half sat up to watch. Kaiden was made very aware that these men were intimately acquainted with death.
Kaiden followed Erc over to their fire and laid back down on his bed roll. He slept very uneasy that night.
Chapter Fourteen
Last night was a disaster. Berkler was given a seat at the head table and Von was forced to spend the evening seated right next to him. Dethan’s father Jeret was incensed Von was even allowed at the table and though he said nothing, did little to hide his feelings. Dethan didn’t appear to notice. He occupied himself with Anora. The two spent the whole evening flirting with each other. Flenn told Von that Anora was trying to make him jealous, but Von didn’t think so. Anora and Dethan always acted that way around each other. Von would be glad when this meeting of the chiefs was over and he could spend more time with Anora without the extra company. He ate his food as quickly as possible and only stayed long enough to be polite before excusing himself.
After dinner Von went straight to bed, wanting to forget the evening and to make sure he received enough rest for what he planned the next day. Thankfully his sleep was restful, and surprisingly untroubled. Well maybe not surprisingly, since he’d gone to Corren earlier in the day to ask the young cleric to bless and watch over his dreams.
Whatever Corren did last night must have worked. It was the best night of sleep Von could remember having in months. He jumped out of bed and went to the window, using his nightshirt he cleared away the frost. Darkness still covered the yard below, but he felt like he’d slept through breakfast and into mid morning. He wondered what it would be like to always have a cleric watch over one’s dreams. Even one night of it had him springing out of bed full of energy, ready to take on the day. Not even the debacle of last night’s dinner could weigh him down. His body was rested, his head clear, his mind focused on the task ahead of him.
Von tested the water in the night stand basin. It was chilled and very refreshing. He splashed his face, scrubbed the sleep out of his eyes, then rubbed his wet hands through his hair. He didn’t care how he looked, he just wanted to feel clean at least once today. With any luck it would be a few days before he found a chance to clean up again.
Isk and Jen were laying next to the hearth, the fire long since burned out. The dogs looked curiously up at Von probably wondering why he was up so early. Jen was healing well under the attentive care of Corren. She was getting around fairly decent already and Von thought it wouldn’t be long before she was as healthy as ever. A few more days and she should be able to run out in the fields, chasing grouse or rabbits. Isk had become more attached to her, following her around everywhere.
Both dogs slowly rose and stretched their long shaggy bodies. Isk let out a long yawn, showing a mouth full of teeth. The dogs positioned themselves behind Von, ready to follow wherever he led. They must have sensed something different about this morning, somehow knowing they would accompany him this day. Von was amused he didn’t have to call to them when he left his room. The two dogs followed on Von’s heels, trailing just behind him on either side. Von was happy to have whatever guard he could get. Isk and Jen were loyal friends whom he could trust with his life. They’d proven their worth on more than one occasion and more especially a few nights ago. Today they would be a useful asset.
The hallway outside Von’s room was dimly lit. The lights flickered and cast eerie shadows along the walls, but the gloomy hallway could not dampen Von’s mood. His excitement must have been apparent to Isk and Jen. Even Jen had a spring in her step.
The Hall was quiet and felt deserted at this early hour. Von wondered if he was the only one awake. He hoped not, he was counting on Redd having some breakfast ready. Von needed a hearty meal this morning to sustain him through the next few days. He hated the thought of rummaging through the kitchen by himself trying to scrounge something up.
The walk to the kitchen was not a long one. Von was relieved to see a light glowing from underneath the kitchen door. Did Redd always get up this early? The thought made Von glad he hadn’t been assigned kitchen duties upon his arrival in Azmark. Von entered the kitchen to find Redd and Dell already hard at work. Dell was stirring a huge pot at one of the glowing fires. The embers in the fire had been burning for some time.
Redd was at one of the cutting tables chopping vegetables with a large kitchen knife. He looked up and greeted Von with a smile. “Have ye come t’ help t’is mornin’?” He asked.
“Well, actually,” Von said, scrubbing his hand nervously through his hair, “I was hoping to get a head start on the day.”
“So y’ll be wantin’ t’ get an early br’kfast then?”
Dell laughed out loud. “He just wants to avoid eating with everyone else. His girlfriend wasn’t paying much attention to him last night.”
“She’s not my girlfriend,” Von protested. At least not yet Von thought, his hand went to his pocket where he kept the locket of Anora’s hair.
“Sure she isn’t,” Dell snickered. “We all see the way you two look at each other.” Dell made kissing sounds into the air.
Redd laughed under his breath and muttered something inaudible.
Great, Von thought, his face turning red. He hoped the whole Hall wasn’t saying the same things behind his back. It was something Von could worry about later. There was at least a couple of years before he needed to think too seriously about his relationship with Anora, if he survived that long. Still, it was a nice thought that she would be here for him when he was finished with the Halfen. And with the Horde.
The thought of the Horde brought Von back to reality. He realized last night was the first night in months he hadn’t had dreams of the Horde and the death of his family. Maybe there really was something to having a cleric watch over his dreams. Maybe he could have Corren do something more permanent.
“I’d just like some breakfast if I could get some,” Von said. “I do have a long day planned.”
“I bet Dethan does too,” Dell snickered again. “He’s probably going to spend the whole day with your girlfriend.”
“I told you she’s not... aw forget it. Can I get some breakfast or what?”
Redd chuckled and muttered under his breath. Probably something Von was grateful he couldn’t hear.
“Br’kfast ain’t quite done yet,” Redd said. “There do be sometin’ left from last night ye can help yerself to.” He pointed to the ice box with his large knife. “There should be somtin’ fer ya in there.”
Von grabbed a plate and began heaping food from the icebox onto it. He seated himself at a table in the corner and began wolfing down his breakfast. He flipped some beef to the dogs, they would need quite a bit of sustenance too.
“Did ya noy git ‘nough ta eat last night, my boy?” Redd
asked in his familiar jovial way.
“Just trying to build up some stamina,” Von explained. It was nothing less than the truth. Von needed to get as much extra energy stored as he could or he wouldn’t be able to accomplish his design. This might be his last chance to eat a normal meal for a few days.
The rear door opened accompanied by an icy wind. The three men turned their attention to the other end of the room. Corren shut the door behind him, entered and shook the snow off his cloak. Shivering a bit, he stamped his feet and rubbed his arms. It must be a cold morning out there.
Redd greeted Corren with his familiar smile. “Good morn’n’ to ya,” he said. “Tis quite an early an’ cold morn’n fer so many young men. Gets me ta wondrin’ if there be somtin’ ye be up to.”
“No, no,” Corren announced. “Just want to get a jumpstart on the day.”
“Tis the same t’ing Von be doing,” Redd said, pointing with his knife again. “Help yerself to the icebox.”
“Don’t mind if I do,” Corren responded. He heaped almost as much food on his plate as Von had. “I’d like to take some extra,” he said. “I don’t know if I’m going to get a chance to come back for lunch or dinner.”
“Likes I says, help yerself.”
Corren pulled out a gunny sack and began to fill it with food. He kept glancing at Von. When he was done he made his way to Von’s corner of the room.
“May I ?” he asked. He didn’t wait for Von to answer, and took a seat.
Haven Keep (Book 1) Page 20