‘What is it?’ Dare asked when he had paused in his rowing and noticed the look on Aeron’s face.
Aeron did not answer immediately. ‘I do not know,’ he replied and that was the whole truth. He did not know what it was, he only felt it.
Dare knew to trust the elf’s senses for on too many occasions, his perception had saved their lives. He tensed, disliking this feeling of not knowing from where danger was coming. ‘What do you feel?’ He asked quietly for there was no need to alarm everyone just yet.
‘Its closeness,’ Aeron answered and his words made Kyou even more wary.
‘Is it the Enemy?’ Dare asked.
‘No,’ Aeron shook his head. ‘It if were the Enemy, I would know it instantly. Darkness of such magnitude is not easily missed. This is smaller but dangerous, I am certain of it.’
‘The foolishness of it,’ Kyou snorted in annoyance. ‘What could they be thinking? Rushing of like that to the peril of all their lives to face who knows what, without telling us! This should be a quest handled by all of us not the three of them alone.’
Aeron shot Kyou a look of annoyance because this type of rant served no one. Dare was already worried for his wife and such words would only deepen his fears for Arianne and their child. ‘These are hardly unskilled women Kyou, Arianne is the daughter of Lylea and she has been alive a great deal longer than you. Celene fought with us at Astaroth and Keira, well I do not need to tell you what she faced with far more courage than most men.’
‘You know that I have only the greatest respect for all three,’ Kyou answered, realising now what effect his words were having on Dare. ‘Lady Lylea is wise but this quest upon which she has sent Arianne is ill thought. Arianne is with child and should be guarded, not traipsing about the countryside to face who knows what.’
From where he was sitting, Aeron could see Dare’s spine stiffen.
He knew that Kyou’s feelings about what the three women had embarked upon were mostly tempered by his affection for both. Aeron felt the same way. Arianne was like a sister to him and he loved her dearly and Celene was a comrade in battle as well as friend. While he did not know Keira as well as she should, he respected what she had suffered for his best friend. He feared for their safety not merely for himself but also for their husbands.
Overhead the sun was starting to set and though Dare wanted to travel further, he knew his companions needed to rest. They had been journeying up river for almost a day and the if the weariness was starting to seep into his limbs, then they must surely feel the same. It would not do to press themselves into exhaustion if they would no good to Arianne when they finally reached her.
Besides, he suspected that the women might seek shelter themselves, after all Arianne was not accustomed to travelling at such an arduous pace and he knew his wife well enough to suspect that she would take care not to harm the babe by straining herself.
The Circle aimed their boats in the direction of land and stepped onto the Eastern Shore. By the time the sun had disappeared into the horizon, they were all gathered around a campfire watching the dance of flames. They feasted upon some rabbits that Aeron and Ronen had managed to snare while Tully did the honours cooking. The conversation around the fire as they ate was not at all as lively as it had been during the celebration in Sandrine.
‘What route do you think they would take to the north?’ Kyou asked in an effort to dispel the awful silence around the campfire.
Dare looked up from his cup of mead as if he had been a thousand miles away and shook the distraction from his mind as he addressed the dwarf. ‘I think they would journey up the Yantra to the Winter Keep.’
‘Yes,’ Ronen agreed with that assessment. ‘Celene knows the Caretaker there. I believe they fought together at Astaroth.’
‘Galain is his name,’ Dare volunteered, having met the man once. ‘He would offer them shelter for the night and perhaps horses.’
‘Horses?’ Tully asked.
‘Yes,’ Tamsyn replied before Dare could. ‘They would need to travel by land to avoid the Falls of Iolan. I believe they are bound for your father’s kingdom Aeron.’
‘That would be sensible,’ Aeron agreed, ‘mother and father would certainly give them shelter and a means to travel west.’
While it would be nice to see Syanne again, Dare wished the circumstances of his return to Eden Halas was better. Despite having been given the best of an elven upbringing thanks to the Queen of Eden Halas, his relationship with King Halion had never been warm. Halion had looked upon him as indulgence his wife had allowed to continue for too long. His lack of interest in the human child brought into his home was part of the reason why Aeron had become so close to Dare in the first place. Unlike his father, Aeron possessed a compassionate nature that Halion sadly did not share.
‘It would be faster to reach the Frozen Mountains by crossing the Baffin Range.’ Kyou remarked in between chewing his food.
‘That would require crossing the Northern Province and then the mountains,’ Ronen spoke up. ‘The route by river is the safest and the one I think Celene choose to ease the burden of the journey on Arianne.’
‘I thought that we got rid of all the Berserkers,’ Tully frowned, aware that the creature were still roaming about in the Northern Provinces.
‘Not all of them,’ Tamsyn rumbled. ‘They are like insects, they merely go to ground until they are needed by some dark malevolence to guide them. Until then, they scavenge for what they can.’
‘Balfure’s forces were many,’ Dare sighed, wishing he had spent more time these past two years ridding Avalyne of that particular threat. Unfortunately there had been so much rebuilding to do after the occupation and the war that the Berserkers and ogres, powerless without their master, had become less of a priority.
‘We vanquished many during the War but some had fled after Balfure was destroyed. With all that we had suffered to defeat him, there are simply too little resources to spend on seeking them out and finishing them once and for all. We had to address our wounds, rebuild what was destroyed and bury our dead. Once we replenish our forces, we will resume the hunt for them.’
‘Still what is left of them seem to have grown bolder of late,’ Ronen pointed out, recalling the focus of their attention prior to the announcement of Arianne’s pregnancy. ‘They have been emerging from their places, attacking the border lands, fleeing before the watch guards can deal with them. It is as if they are preparing.’
‘They are readying themselves to ally with the Enemy,’ Tamsyn announced, his eyes lifting from the pipe he was smoking.
‘Who is this Enemy?’ Tully asked.
‘I cannot say,’ Tamsyn responded and saw the anger flare in Dare’s eyes. The king was still fuming over his silence at the danger to Arianne. ‘It is not that I do not wish for you to know Dare, it is because I am not certain what we are dealing with. I have a sense of him but little more than that. Not even Lylea was able to look into his mind and that speaks to his strength. All I know is that he is very old and strong and is able to keep us out.’
Dare swallowed thickly and saw that Tamsyn was speaking earnestly. The magii had been a true friend and while the ways of wizards could be maddening at times, he also knew that Tamsyn would not intentionally keep the identity of the Enemy hidden unless there were good reason for it. He breathed in deeply, as much to calm his anger at this whole situation as it was to accept the magii’s word.
‘We have been through much together old friend,’ he cast his eye upon Tamsyn. ‘I will trust your counsel in this.’
‘Thank you,’ Tamsyn bowed his head slightly in gratitude of the faith Dare was placing in him.
‘If you cannot tell us what he is, you can tell us something of his powers?’ Aeron asked in an effort to give Dare something more than just riddles.
‘Once again, I am uncertain,’ Tamsyn answered honestly, ‘I have a senses of him but it is clouded. I believe he may have be able to cloak himself with a spell of glamour that makes peopl
e see what he wishes.’
‘Glamour?’ Ronen asked, not liking the sound of that at all.
‘Yes,’ the magii blew another puff of smoke from his pipe. ‘He can make them believe a thing with such fierce determination that there is nothing else but the illusion.’
‘That’s quite a trick,’ Tully exclaimed. ‘How can we fight something like that?’
‘By not trusting our eyes,’ Dare answered automatically. ‘What we see can be just as deceiving as what we hear.’
‘So we must look closer then.’ Kyou started to say when suddenly Aeron jumped to his feet, picking ups his bow.
‘Dare! Something is coming!’ The elf warned as he stared into the darkness, searching.
‘Can you tell what it is?’ Dare demanded getting to his feet with the rest of his Circle who were now reaching for their weapons as they too stood up and began searching the darkness, more aware of the shadows than ever.
‘No,’ Aeron shook his head in frustration. He knew that there was danger coming but he could not tell in what form. It was still not close enough.
‘I sense it too,’ Tamsyn spoke up after a time, his staff clutched firmly in his hands as he too scanned the darkness for the danger that approached.
The Circle rose to their feet and all brandished their weapons in anticipation of what was coming for them. They could hear nothing so far but Aeron appeared tense, telling them that whatever it was, it would soon be here.
‘Where are they!’ Ronen hissed, revealing his impatience. ‘I wish they would just come!’
‘They are close,’ Kyou warned, his acute hearing picking up the sounds of many feet running towards them. ‘Be ready, there are many of them.’
‘Watch each other’s backs,’ Dare ordered firmly.
‘They are upon us!’ Aeron cried out, pulling out an arrow from his collection and arming his bow in readiness.
Red eyes flashed at them as soon as those words escaped him and they were followed by a low snarl that all of them recognised immediately. The peace of the campfire was shattered by the sudden emergence of large bodies of fur moving towards them at rapid speed, led by snapping jaws and ferociously sharp teeth. They exploded out of the woods, covered in dark fur, with yellowed eyes fixing quickly upon their intended prey, their savagery evidenced by their snarls and growl, converging into a tremendous roar that soon brought everything about them to chaos.
‘Caracal!’ Dare shouted as one of the creatures launched themselves at him. He reacted without thinking, thrusting his blade through its ribs, earning a powerful howl of pain as the weapon tore through the flesh of its back.
They swarmed through the camp, their numbers so many that it was hard to count, their growls draining the world of all other sound. The caracal were yet another obscenity created by Balfure. Outwardly, they looked like cats but they were the size of bears. At Astorath, the Berserkers had used them as mounts and often these beasts were used to run down helpless prey. When he and Aeron had gone to find the dwarves in Angarad, they had encountered such creatures.
Dare saw one about to attack Tully and moved to intervene but he was soon beset by a duo of the heinous creatures who charged him. Thinking quickly, he dropped to his knees and grabbed a log from the fire and jabbed it at them to give them pause. As they hissed in black fury for being held back by fire, Dare saw that the farmer was more than adept at protecting himself.
With the short dagger Dare had given him years ago, he saw Tully hack away at the beast attempting to harm him and drive it back. In its attempt to evade the blade, the beast stepped into the fire and uttered a roar of pain before fleeing to douse its wound.
Dare saw a flurry of moment in the corner of his eye and turned just as a caracal jumped at him. He had no room to move and it felled him heavily on the ground. Sliding his blade between himself and the creature’s snapping jaws, he could feel its powerful claws digging into his skin as it tried to reach his neck. Another was closing in on them when suddenly, an arrow flew threw the air and struck the second beast in the neck. The arrowhead protruding through flesh and bone on the other side.
‘Help Dare!’ Aeron shouted unable to come to his aid when more of the cats closed in on the elf, ready to pounce.
A second beast was almost upon him when Dare threw the creature that he was wrestling over his head, slamming it into the other’s abdomen and sending them both tumbling. He rolled onto his knees and pulled out dagger concealed within his boot and flung it with a marksman’s aim. The blade struck one of the cats in the breast and it screamed in pain before collapsing on the dirt, black blood oozing across the ground. Now that one was dead, Dare rushed forward to deal with the other.
The cat glared at him with sinister eyes, its teeth dripping with saliva as it circled him, waiting to pounce. It ran forward and leapt with Dare watching closely and waiting for the moment to strike. He swung his sword in a wide arc. The blade sliced through the creature’s flesh, tearing open its insides in one gruesome blow. The beast had barely enough time to howl before it dropped in mid air, its body making a heavy thud upon the earth.
Dare turned around to see the progress of his friends and saw that Tully had somehow managed to mount one of the creatures as if he were riding a pony. He remained steadfastly attached upon the caracal’s back, his hand clutching the beast’s pelt as he steadied his blade for attack. Then he plunged it into the creature’s neck and buried the dagger to the hilt.
Ronen was battling just as vigorously, surrounded by the carcasses of the creatures he had already put down. Tamsyn had also produced his sword and was making short work of the creatures that were foolish enough to attack him. Although the magii had great powers that could probably make short work of all these beasts, Dare knew that it was Tamsyn’s habit to not rely so much on his magic when he could perform tasks without it. Meanwhile, with his twin blades, Kyou used his size to his advantage and was able to gut several of the beast by getting under them.
When it was all said and done, the campsite resembled an uncovered grave of caracal. Their black blood seeped into the dirt that would soon attract the attention of carrion feeders who would feast upon their lifeless bodies. Dare immediately ordered their departure, wishing to be away in case any other foul creature chose to make its appearance. They returned to the shore where their boats were waiting and sailed further upstream, away from the carnage.
For the most part, they had come away from the melee with only minor injuries. Ronen had suffered a bite but his vambraces had taken the worst of it and despite the skin being broken, it was not a serious wound. Tully and Kyou acquired some minor scratches, all of which Tamsyn was able to attend.
‘We rid ourselves of all the caracal,’ Dare stated as they gathered around the fire of their new campsite, ‘I know we did.’
‘I thought so too,’ Aeron shook his head. ‘At Astaroth, I was certain we saw the end of them.’ The archer was cleaning the arrows he had managed to retrieve from the dead creatures, appearing none to happy about the grisly task.
‘There seems to be a greater frequency of dark things emerging in recent months,’ Dare replied. ‘First the appearance of Berserkers and goblin tribes, now we have caracal whom we were certain were killed at Astaroth coming out nowhere.’
‘Its like they’re all emerging their hiding places,’ Ronen remarked, attempting to see under the swathing of bandage around his arm and frowning when Tully swatted his hand for making the attempt.
‘They’re hear the call of their new master,’ Tamsyn mused softly. ‘This evil Arianne is facing is drawing them to him, just like Balfure.’
‘Astaroth is empty,’ Dare said firmly. ‘Since Balfure’s defeat we have maintained close control of it. They have nowhere else to go.’
‘Yes,’ Tamsyn agreed. ‘They have been bred to be followers and the Enemy knows that. He takes advantage of that weakness. We must wipe them out or else they will follow anyone with the will to command them.’
Dare stiffened, not li
king to be reminded of that. It was hard enough trying to remain focussed on finding Arianne safely, to think nothing of the child inside her belly whose fate hung in the balance. If she failed then it would most likely be his son that commands Balfure’s army in the future. The thought made him sick to the stomach
‘I know that all too well Tamsyn,’ he said softly.
‘I did not mean to worry you any more than you already are, Dare,’ Tamsyn apologised, seeing the pain in his eyes. ‘I just want to say that what we face is formidable and we must be on guard.’
‘We are on our guard,’ Tully retorted. ‘We fought those things off.’
‘Yes, you did,’ Tamsyn nodded. ‘But did you not find it odd that they came after us specifically?’
Dare’s gaze snapped towards the wizard. ‘What do you mean?’
Tamsyn drew a deep breath and released it by way of his curved pipe. ‘The Enemy knows what we are on the move. He knows that we are coming and is attempting to stop us any means he can. The question is; does he know Arianne is on the move too?’
CHAPTER EIGHT:
EDEN HALAS
Arianne awoke and for an instant forgot where she was.
Sitting up, she found herself on a bed of elven design though not the one Dare had brought from Eden Taryn for their wedding night in Sandrine. It was an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room that as unmistakably elvish. The room was all windows, with sunlight pouring through the thin curtains, giving clarity to the ornate designs carved on the bedposts and the other pieces of furniture. Outside, she could hear the rustle of leaves and the peaceful quiet that was only broken by the occasionally chirp of a bird.
For a moment, she could have been forgiven for thinking herself back in Eden Taryn. She took in a deep breath and recognised the scent of the forest, crisp and sweet. It reminded Arianne of childhood when she would run through glens covered with wild flowers, lost in a sea of the golden coloured buds. Lylea used to tell her that they were drops of sun. Of course, more recent memories soon returned to her and Arianne knew she was not home at all but in a place that was almost as beautiful.
Avalyne Series 01: The Queen of Carleon Page 11