by Spoor, Garry
“Oh, I think the name suits me just fine.” He laughed as he raised his arms and his black tattered robes fell around him. She had to admit that at that moment, he did kind of look like a large raven’s shadow.
“Um… Kile?” Emara whispered, pulling on her arm again. “I think we have more trouble.”
The young mystic was pointing up at the rafters this time, and Kile could see why. The wooden beams were now occupied by hundreds of ravens, each one of them staring at the girls with their little black eyes.
“I’m afraid this discussion is at an end.” Ravenshadow said, and as he brought down his arms, folding his tattered black robes about him, the ravens took flight heading directly at the two girls.
***~~~***
5
Of all the parts of her edge that Kile had learned and was still learning, there was one part, one skill, that she despised above all else. The reason she disliked it was simple. It went against what she had come to believe to be nature, in a way it was an abomination of the order of things. She hated the way it made her feel, she hated the fact that it came so easily to her, she hated what it did to the animals around her and worse of all, deep down, somewhere in the dark recesses of her psyche, the one thing she hated the most about it, was that some part of her actually enjoyed it.
The Maligar was a power that she swore she would never use again, but as it consumed her, as its thick black stands reached out from her mind and sought out those of the raven’s, she felt empowered. Her psyche merged with those of the black birds, and there was nothing they could do to stop it. Within a matter of moments, not one, not a dozen, but hundreds of the ravens had fallen within her control and turned on their former master.
She could see everything that was happening, not from her own eyes, but from the small black eyes of the ravens. She saw what they saw. She knew what they knew. She felt what they felt. She lived a hundred lives all at one time. She hatched one hundred times. She learned to fly one hundred times. She saw every place from the black seas of southern coast to the Spine Mountains, all in a matter of seconds. She heard the curses. She heard the shouts as the ravens attacked that black robed man and his cruel little toady. She felt herself clawing at them with her talons, pecking at them with her beaks, until the touch of one hand brought her back to her senses.
“Kile?”
Emara stared at her with a looked of fear.
She was back in her body, but only just, she still had control of the ravens. Her mind was torn between two worlds and she was holding on by a thin thread of sanity. She turned the ravens down the hallway against the uhyre that threaten their escape. Emara grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into the now vacant halls, but the girl wasn’t going in the right direction, she was taking the wrong turns. She was heading up instead of down to the main gate. Kile knew the way but she couldn’t speak. Each time she tried it came out as a chorus of caws all around her.
Emara pulled her toward the stairs, spiraling further up as the valrik closed in behind them. The guttural cries and the clashing of crude weapons were getting closer as they exited the tower door onto the battlements under the warm night sky. Kile suddenly lost the connection with the ravens. Snapping back into her own mind one hundred times left her dazed and confused as she fell to her knees on the cold stone. She could only watch as Emara worked her arts over the door.
“That should hold them for a little while.” The young mystic said as she stepped back “Assuming that was the right spell.”
There was a loud crash on the opposite side of the door, followed by some verbal exchange between the valrik. They had no idea what was said, only that it was followed by an eerie silence. Whether it was just a strong door or Emara had worked the right art, it looked as if it was holding.
“We’ve got to get out of here.” Emara said as she came to Kile’s side and helped her to her feet.
She could say nothing as Emara started her chants, and she suddenly felt herself being pulled out of reality, spiraling down a deep hole and suddenly hitting the ground, and then everything went black.
When Kile finally opened her eyes she was staring at a vast wasteland of cracked earth as far as she could see. The sky was a hazy gray in color, but there were no clouds, only the dim yellow sun that hung low on the horizon. She tried to get to her feet, but for some reason her legs wouldn’t hold her weight and she figured sitting would be to her advantage.
“Thank the arts you’re back to normal.” Emara said from somewhere off to Kile’s side.
“Normal? I don’t think I would use that word.”
“How about just conscious. You gave me a right good scare there.” The mystic replied as she dropped a pile of what could only be described as plant leaves on the ground.
“I must have… over exerted myself.”
“What did you do? One moment there’s these birds flying right at us, the next moment they’re attacking everyone in sight. Then they go and clear a way for us to escape.”
“It’s… difficult to explain.”
“They’ve been teaching me every skill in every sphere at the Tower, but none of my instructors taught me anything about controlling birds.”
“Well… it’s not exactly a common… skill.”
“I’ll say. They way you controlled those rats, and then the birds. It was incredible.”
“I didn’t control the rats.” Kile replied.
“What? What do you mean?”
“The rats. I didn’t control the rats… I asked them for their help.”
“Same thing, what difference does it make.”
“It makes a lot of difference.” Kile shouted, and then regretted how the words came out as she saw the startled look in Emara’s eyes, and it didn’t help her head much as it pounded every word back at her. “I’m… I’m sorry. I… I didn’t mean to snap. It’s just that Reginald’s family helped because they wanted to… the raven’s had not choice. I didn’t give them a choice.”
“No, I’m sorry. I should have realized how taxing the arts are, if it was actually an art.”
“What do you mean if it was actually an art?”
“Well… I’m not an expert in the mystic arts, and a lot of my instructors would agree, but I do know a thing or two about the way they work, and what you did back there, that didn’t seem like an art to me, it seemed more like… well… a natural skill.”
“I don’t think I understand.”
“Well… the arts are more like manipulating the strings of reality, placing them in the proper order to make things happen. If you know the order to place them, you’ve basically cast a… well… a spell. If you place them in the wrong order, and believe me I’ve done that enough times, nothing really happens. At least you hope nothing happens. It’s better than the alternative. I once tried to shape a stone and… well… lets just say the outcome was a bit embarrassing.”
“I thought all you had to do was just think it to happen.”
“The simple spells, yeah, like… lighting a candle. It’s like one or two strings to get it to work. You can’t really screw up two strings of reality.”
“I wouldn’t put it past me.” Kile replied “But then I… don’t remember any… strings.”
“That’s just it. A spell, like the one you used back there on those birds. That would have been very complicated. Anything that deals with changing a person’s perception or controlling his will is really hard. There aren’t too many mystics at the tower that can do it, and you did it without thinking… and with multiple subjects. That should have been impossible.”
“Then how can I do it?”
“That's what I’m saying. It’s more like a natural skill, like a bird flying or a skunk spraying, or a fish swimming, they don’t have to work at it, it just happens, it’s what they are. Maybe this is what you are.”
“A freak.”
“I didn’t say that.” Emara replied as she sat down across from Kile and picked up one of the leaves. She began peeling the outer s
kin off.
“What are you going to do with those?” Kile asked.
“I was going to try to get water from them… Isn’t this how it’s done?”
“Not from those, they’re poisonous.” She replied.
Emara quickly dropped the leaf back on the pile. “Are you sure? How do you know?”
“Me and my freak nose could smell them from here.” Kile said as she slowly got to her feet. “Come on, I’ll show you the ones that are safe to eat.”
After a quick survey of the surrounding area, Kile began to wonder why anyone, the uhyre included, would want to stay in the wastelands. Aside from a few reptiles, which Kile refused to even entertain the thought of eating, regardless of what Emara suggested, there wasn’t much in the way of life. The few leaves that Emara had picked earlier came from a tainted tree beside an equally tainted water hole. It was as if everything in the flatlands was either dead, dying or trying to kill you.
They traveled during the night, not so much because of the heat of the sun, but simply due to the fact that they did not wish to be seen. They weren’t sure how far Emara was able to send them with her arts, and Kile was half expecting to see the hidden stronghold over the next hill with the black robed Ravenshadow standing in the doorway waiting for them.
As the first light of dawn slowly rose over the horizon, they sought a place of safety in the shadows of a rocky outcrop. It didn’t take Emara long too succumbed to the strenuous activity of walking, as she pulled the tattered remains of her robes around her and fell asleep. Kile, on the other hand, couldn’t sleep. The events of the last week just added to the questions that she already had on her mind. For starters she reluctantly discarded her belief in the Sons of Terrabin being behind the disappearance and death of her fellow hunters. If, what happened to her was any indication, then this Ravenshadow was behind it all, but he wasn’t alone. Who was this guy he was working with, and what was his part in this master plan? Ravenshadow said he wanted justice, but justice for whom, and how did Eric fit into all of this? Then there were the scattered memories of the ravens that still lingered in her head. Or was it just that one memory that they all shared. It was of a stronghold in the middle of a swamp. For some reason this meant something to the birds, or did it mean something to Ravenshadow?
She tore off a piece of the tattered clothing she was wearing and rapped it around her foot. It was a shame that the uhyre didn’t wear shoes, walking across the flatlands was not meant to be done with bare feet. She leaned back and stared up at the sun moving slowly across the sky. They were heading in the right direction, which was one good thing, the problem was they had no idea of how far away from the boarder they were. It could be tomorrow, it could be days from now, either way without food or water they weren’t going to get very far.
She got to her feet and limped out onto the flats. The first thing one does in a situation such as this was to get to higher ground to get a bearing on one’s surroundings, too bad there wasn’t any higher ground to get to. There wasn’t even a decent tree, and the only rocks they could climb were those that they were using as shelter and that would only get her three or four feet higher at the most, which wasn’t anywhere near enough. So, if she couldn’t get higher, she would have to find someone who could.
There was only one bird that she could think of, that would thrive in an environment such as this, and that was the one that fed off the dead and the dying as she watched them circle in the distance. She thought about waking Emara but didn’t really want an audience and the young mystic needed her sleep, so she headed off into the direction of the birds.
When she reached the vultures they were picking at the carcass of what appeared to be a valrik. It had been out on the flats for some time as what was left of its stone gray skin was now ash white and pulled tight over its bones. Two empty eye sockets stare in her direction as she approached. On one level she was kind of glad, she wasn’t sure how she was going to be able to carry on a conversation with the birds if they were tearing apart some poor animal, but to see them tearing apart something that was manlike was a bit disturbing.
“Excuse me.” She called out from a safe distance.
It always surprised her that they never fled when she was around. Normally the sight of a vir would send most animals running, but for her they usually stayed around long enough to see what she wanted. Was this something to do with her edge?
-Food?-
-Food… Is it food?-
-Can’t be food… it talks… it walks.-
-For now.-
The vultures were huge, sinister looking birds with a wingspan that was as wide as she was tall. She was sure that they could carry her off with little effort as she tried to keep her distance from them. They hopped around her, craning their bald heads this way and that as if sizing her up.
“I’m sorry to disturb your… lunch. But I was wondering if you could help me out.”
-Vir asked for help?-
-New this is-
-Strange this is-
-What help could we do a Vir?-
Kile was beginning to think that this was not such a good idea after all.
“My friend and I are lost you see, and we need some directions. If you could just… fly around and… show me the layout… of the area. I would greatly a… appreciate it.”
She didn’t really feel that the vultures were paying much attention to her as they started to slowly close in around her.
-Why?-
One of them asked, as he stood before her, spreading out his great wings. If he was trying to be intimidating, he was doing a very good job at it. He was nearly as tall as she was when he stretched out his neck and stared at her. His two yellow eyes were almost as disturbing as the empty sockets of the valrik that lay in the dirt.
-Why?-
He repeated.
“I… I don’t think I understand. Are you asking why I need your help… or why should you help me.”
-Why?-
-Why should we?-
-Why should we help you?-
“Because we need to get back home, at least back to the border.”
-Why?-
“If we don’t… we… won’t survive.”
She wasn’t sure if it was true or not. She had been trained in wilderness survival at the academy, even if that training never covered the flat lands, at least not in the practical sense, only in theory. She was hoping that if the vultures knew how desperate she was, they would be more willing to help. She was kind of wrong.
-Good.-
The vulture in front of her replied as it tucked in its wings and looked her over again. The image that it attached to that one word was so vivid, so disturbing that Kile actually stepped back from the larger bird. He didn’t want to help her for the simple fact that if she died on the flat lands, he would feast on her flesh. There was no malice in the image, only the natural order of things.
“Okay… then I better be going.” She said as she started to back away.
-Wait vir.-
Kile looked up to see a pair of enormous wings momentarily blocked out the sun as another, even larger vulture descended among them. It landed on the valrik’s head, her great talons gripping into the dead eye sockets as she pulled her wings close to her body and looked at each of the smaller vultures in turn. There was respect for this one, as the smaller birds moved aside.
Kile stepped forward to present herself before this matriarch.
-I am Lindear.-
The vulture said, and her name carried with it a strange sense of familiarity, but whether Kile was supposed to be familiar with her, or she with Kile, it was difficult to tell.
“Kile, Kile Veller.”
-I know who you are child of vir.-
“You do? How?”
-This is neither the time, nor the place. See what I see and know the dangers these lands hold for you.-
Kile closed her eyes and she felt as if she was flying as Lindear showed her the world as she saw it, high over the Flat
Lands. She could see everything from the cold snow peaks of the spine all the way down to the dark waters of the black sea, but what called out to her was the west farther beyond the Flat lands, farther beyond the Great dessert, farther than any Vir had ever traveled. There Kile could see the lush green lands of the west that beckoned her, but for some reason she knew she couldn’t go there, not yet. Her fate was in the east, and so toward the east she looked, and it was there that she saw the danger that Lindear had warned her about, for all along the border of Aru the uhyre armies were camped. Not the thousands that had crossed the border two years ago, but the tens of thousands, the hundreds of thousands that sat and waited for some sign, some signal. The Kingdom of Aru was at war, the only problem was, they didn’t know it yet.
“What does this mean?” Kile asked as she opened her eyes.
-The meaning is not for me to know. Only that war is soon upon you. Return to your land with caution, you will not receive the welcome you expect.-
Lindear stretched out her wings and took to the sky. The other vultures followed, leaving Kile alone to stare into the empty eye sockets of the valrik, or was it the valrik staring up at her.
“Come on, we have to get moving.” Kile said as she kicked Emara, then regretted is since she didn’t have any shoes on.
“Wake me up in an hour or so.” Emara replied as she pulled her robes about her and turned over.
“No time. We have to find a way past the uhyre army.”
“The what?”
That woke the mystic up as she brushed the blue tipped pink strands of hair from her face. Kile had meant to ask her about her choice of color but at the moment it didn’t seem all that important.
“There is a huge uhyre army between us and the border, and if we’re going to sneak by it, we’re going to have to get a better look at it. So come on.”
“Why sneak by it, I can just transport us past it.” Emara replied as she got up and dusted the flat lands from the clothes.