Haustis hugged Relin quickly and Pars handed him food. “There is no time to rest then.”
They traveled through the forest following the path Relin had taken earlier, and quickly passed the point where the Eifen had climbed the tree to scout the road ahead. From there they slowed, and everyone turned their eyes to the ground in the hopes of finding other signs of Drae Ghern’s passage. As darkness descended, Kimi and Hokra took the lead with Relin, using their darkness-attuned senses to keep the trail.
The group traveled largely in a line with Pars and Relin at the rear and Haustis a few strides behind Lydria. All carried naked steel.
“Something doesn’t feel right.” Kimi stopped, and the others followed suit quickly. Lydria wasn’t sure if the cat had spoken only to her or to everyone, but she relayed the information silently to the others.
“Is someone out there?”
“Something is. But I have no idea what.”
Again, Lydria relayed the message and the group moved back into a circle, pushing the wielders toward the center.
“There is more than one something, but … my nose tells me perhaps two, but my ears tell me many more.”
Lydria knew by the reactions of the others that Kimi had spoken directly to all of them, but it was Pars who broke the silence. “The Giant Nethyaxl. It is a beast about the size of a goat with up to twelve legs. It has a hard shell that is all but impervious to most weapons. It also has a sword-like nose that it uses to inject venom into its victims.”
“What happens to these victims?” Relin was scanning the ground all around, standing on the balls of his feet with his curved sword held in front of him.
“They die. If the beast stabs you with its sword-like nose, it injects you with a poison that will turn your insides to liquid. If you are not dead before you hit the ground, you will wish you were.”
“That is fascinating. How do you kill one?” Haustis’ voice was calm even in sarcasm. Ever the warrior, she wanted only the information she needed.
“Dropping a very large stone on them would work, but from the ground, I have no idea. I’ve never seen one.”
“There,” Hokra pointed to a spot in the trees. Two sets of eyes were just visible at waist height and large probing noses sniffed at the air in their direction. Hokra knelt with one hand on the ground he reached up to hold Lydria by the other hand. “Help me, wielder,” was all he said before he buried his enormous hand into the dirt.
Kimi did all he could simply to run up a nearby tree as the first of the beasts scuttled into the small area around the circle of friends. The nethyaxl fanned out, pushing their noses into the ground like probing spears. Haustis, Pars, and Relin stood their ground with their blades in front of them while Lydria took a green arrow from her quiver. With her left hand being held by Hokra, she couldn’t use her bow, so she threw her arrow into the air, magically propelling it in an arc to come down on the giant insects in front of them. After clearing the treetops, the arrow burst into a brilliant green light, and a weighted net fell to the ground, trapping one of the creatures.
“That is a fine thing. Do you have more?” Haustis looked quickly behind her to see Lydria slowly shake her head. “I have three more, but none like this.”
A sudden movement by Relin caught Lydria’s attention and she realized a nethyaxl had lurched forward toward the man, it’s enormous snout whipping across and nearly ripping the Eifen’s sword from his hand. Haustis lunged with her spear after the insect’s attack and her blade glanced harmlessly off the creature’s thick shell. “We will have to turn one over if we hope to kill them,” she said.
As the insect prepared to charge in again it stopped as the ground shook beneath it and the defenders moved their feet to maintain their balance as the rumbling grew. Within seconds, five people were moving upward on a pillar of stone until they were nearly level with Kimi who sat in the lower branches of a tree.
“You may now drop stones.” Hokra kept his place with his knees on the ground but he let go of Lydria’s hand and she felt a sudden wave of nausea and tiredness rush up until she too took a knee near the Chag Ca’Grae.
Pars wasted no time in drawing an arrow and firing straight down at the nethyaxl, but the missile did not penetrate the creature’s shell. Looking to Hokra, Lydria could see his right hand, now free, reaching into the ground where his left hand lay, still embedded in the earth. Finally, both hands began to move, and the sturdy man lurched to his feet, a massive piece of stone clutched to his chest. Relin and Pars quickly moved to either side and held Hokra’s clothing and shoulders as they leaned him over the lip of the stone column and told him to release the massive stone he held. The stone struck home with a thick crack followed immediately by a spray of blue blood out either side of its crushed shell. The large nose of the creature wavered in the air for a moment before collapsing on the ground. Hokra repeated the process for the creature in the net, managing to throw the stone the short distance from the tower where it met its target with similar results.
No one said anything. They clapped Hokra on his wide shoulders and smiled and the Chag climbed down the dirt tower, ripping out chunks of earth as handholds for others as he descended.
On the ground they surveyed the nethyaxl, one of which had ten legs and the one under the net twelve. They were larger than goats but stood about as high and their noses were longer than the sword Relin carried.
“How do you know so much of these beasts?” Lydria’s question was directed to Pars, but she continued to carefully survey the beast and its nose, pulling two small bottles from her pack. “Will the poison affect me if I touch it, or does it have to be injected?” This time she turned to look directly at Pars and waited for an answer.
“It is my understanding the venom must be injected, like a snake, to be effective. Still, I cannot make any assurances.” Pars’ manner was humble, even a little apologetic, as if he had done something wrong by telling them what he knew. “As to how I know about them, well, I have traveled a good deal and there are places where one can learn many things if you know where to look. In all Eigrae, as far as we know, the nethyaxl is one of the most feared creatures because of its poison. But it also one of the most rarely seen. They live mostly in the area of thin forests next to the great desert. Certainly, none has ever been known as far north as Wesolk, and it is odd to find one this far west.”
Lydria took a vial of fluid from the nose of the nethyaxl and carefully placed it back in her bag and held out her hand to help Hokra to his feet. “Are you well enough to travel or would you prefer we stop?”
“Thank you, I can continue. Although, I will perform no more magic for a time, I think. While night lasts, I will be fine, but come morning, you may have to wrap bandages around my eyes and lead me, for I cannot close my inner eyelids.”
12 - Drae Ghern
By the time the sun was up, Hokra was asleep in a makeshift shelter covered deep with branches to keep out the light. Looking around, the long march and fight with the nethyaxl was catching up to everyone, and Lydria offered to take first watch with Kimi.
Pars and the Eifen looked at each other to see if anyone would resist and when no one did, they each took a place near the shelter of Hokra and fell almost immediately to sleep.
“What will we do when we find Drae Ghern? We follow one man, perhaps a few, when so many more are needing our help.” Kimi’s voice was low and soft, and his tone said he understood the odds stacked against ever finding Wae Ilsit and the rest of the Eifen.
“If we can find Drae Ghern, perhaps he will help us find the rest. Regardless, we cannot leave him on his own. He had the strength to escape or to separate himself from the Qorghal, perhaps that will sustain him.”
The sun was nearing its apex when Pars woke Lydria. “Wielder go rest with the others, I will watch for a time.” If he was angry she had fallen asleep, he did not show it, but his eyes drifted to the forest, and she knew he was aware Kimi was nearby. “Go to her, big cat,” he said to the trees,
and Kimi came out of the forest and curled up next to his friend and went to sleep.
“Wake up you lay-abouts!” Hokra woke everyone by giving them a gentle shove with his large foot. He had started a small fire, and prepared food. Haustis was sitting by the fire, eyes closed and breathing smoothly, almost certainly communing with the spirits. Kimi was gnawing on the haunch of something, while Pars and Relin were just getting up.
After a quick meal, Lydria was clearing their site when Haustis whispered in her ear. “We must hurry. Drae Ghern is soon to join his wife with the spirits.”
With a careless wave of her hand, the camp was packed and ready, following Haustis’ lead through the woods. By night they traveled only slightly less quickly than by day, using the natural stillness of the evening to help them hear whether anyone else was nearby. The trail picked up again, and by the middle of the evening, Relin had found the remains of a small camp, and picked out the direction their prey had taken. “It is hard to say if we are close or still many days behind, but the fact we can still find their trail gives me hope.” The Eifen hadn’t been speaking to anyone, and Lydria thought that perhaps even he had misgivings about searching for Drae Ghern when they should be looking for Wae Ilsit and the rest.
As morning neared Hokra had regained his health and was able to journey through the day without the use of magic. “We don’t know what may be asked of us and when,” Lydria had told them, “but we cannot take unnecessary risks so close to our goal.”
“You haven’t told everyone what Haustis has told you about Drae Ghern?” Lydria had shared with Kimi what her sister had told her, and she wanted nothing more than to magically transport them to where Drae Ghern lay, in the same way she had removed her friends from the throne room of King Ahlric but knew it was impossible without knowing where he was.
“We are making good time. When we begin to lag, I will tell them, and they will redouble their efforts.”
It was before noon when Lydria spoke with Haustis and told the entire group what they had learned. As predicted, the effect was immediate, and they ate as they moved through the trees and meadows continuing until dusk began to color the sky once more.
“Haustis?” It was all Lydria could get out.
“He lingers still with us, and we are close.”
“Then we shall continue.” Relin’s voice betrayed no fatigue, and his was followed almost at once by the others. Haustis smiled and followed Kimi back into the trees.
A nearly full moon cast enough light to provide a clear view of the rocky hills Relin had noticed from his treetop days earlier. “There is a path that may lead to a cave entrance,” Hokra pointed to an escarpment and then to a goat path where they could access the rock face without scaling the cliff directly. At the top and along a narrow, winding track, there was a dark space among the grey of the rocks that Relin believed to be the cave entrance.
Among the rocks, with a bright moon, there was little they could do for stealth, and so they opted for speed, running up the rock-strewn path in short sections, one at a time. Kimi and Hokra leading the way, searching for outposts or guards, but finding none.
Gaining the ridge and the path to the cave, they pressed forward as if they understood they were very close to their goal. Kimi rushed forward and called for the others to hurry, and inside the cave they found the bobcat gently licking the painfully thin and pale face of Drae Ghern. He was sitting with his back to the stone wall at the back of the cave, looking directly forward to the cave mouth. The others held back while Haustis rushed to his side opposite Kimi. After feeling his neck and arms, she looked to Lydria and gave an almost imperceptible nod. Drae Ghern was alive, but only just.
Lydria knelt next to Kimi and placed her hands on Drae Ghern’s chest, a warm, golden glow emanating from her hands, using her magic to heal him, when his emaciated arm reached up and touched her own. “No, Wielder, there is no time, and I am ready to join my wife again.”
The Eifen shaman smiled and looked to the faces surrounding him, lingering on Hokra. “Is this some spirit I see before me? The time must be close. Come, all of you, join me in my final spirit journey, Haustis will show you the way.”
They closed their eyes, linked hands and with the help of Haustis and Lydria, their spirits were able to follow the women into a realm unlike any they had ever seen.
“The Haustis is strong, and my path is clearly marked for the first time,” said Drae Ghern, appearing to them all as a much younger version of the starving old man who sat on the floor of the cave. Around them, they turned to look at a sun swept field of green, blanketed in golden flowers. Nearby, a small stream of clear water echoed off the stones. Drae Ghern smiled at them as he sensed their appreciation of where they stood and then turned and moved forward down a path of clean white stones.
“This path will lead to my end and your beginning,” the shaman told them as he pressed forward, seemingly eager to reach his destination. “I do not know what awaits at the end for you, but I believe it will aid you in your search for Wae Ilsit and the rest of the Eifen.” He took a few more strides before speaking again, as if he were answering an unasked question. “Oh, yes, my son at least, is still alive. Since I managed to escape from the Qorghal, as they are called, I have spent much time with the spirits trying to learn what I could that might help affect my return to our people. The Qorghal believe that their savior will come to them on viridian wings and that this coming will be presaged by the arrival of the demon’s kin.”
“The demon’s kin?” Haustis was walking quickly by her grandfather’s side, her eyes never leaving his face, knowing she was walking her last with the man she loved most in the world.
Drae Ghern stopped and smiled at his grand-daughter and then turned his attention to Relin. “I believe the demon in question is a female warrior named Wilmamen. Do you know this name?”
Relin nodded and said that if the stories were true, Wilmamen would seem as a demon to the Qorghal.
“From what we’ve heard in our travels, the Qorghal do not generally treat with those they contact, and they certainly do not take prisoners, but when they came across our party, they approached cautiously. Our scouts were aware of them for some time before they came upon us one evening. In the confusion and darkness, I was able to slip away with two others with the goal of heading south, perhaps into the great desert of Dar’Ahlmon. The two young Eifen with me, sold themselves to protect my escape and I found my way here, where my ability to travel further left me and I have sat since waiting for your coming, or death. I see now they are one and the same, yet I am happy that you found me in time and are able to make this journey with me.”
For several long minutes they walked in silence, Kimi walking opposite Haustis on Drae Ghern’s right side, the old man’s hand never leaving the soft fur of the bobcat’s neck. “You still like to have your ears scratched, don’t you?” he said to the cat, who looked up and appeared to smile. If he said anything to the shaman, even Lydria couldn’t hear what it was, but it appeared by the man’s smile, that Kimi had said something.
The scenery around them varied only slightly, the path moving in curves and up hills, but never far from the river whose noise was their constant companion. All along the way, there was only one animal they ever saw, and when they did, Drae Ghern stopped and shed a tear and knelt on one knee facing the river.
“The Great Beaver.” The others followed his gaze to the river, where a large and impressive beaver was hard at work building a lodge that would hold a dozen of his size. The beaver stopped his work and looked toward shore and raised his wet paw in greeting and recognition of the man standing there.
“Well met, old friend, well met.” Then, Drae Ghern waved and turned and continued following the white stone trail.
“When you meet the Qorghal, you must be prepared to kill without mercy, for they are as to the balance of Eigrae as are the rest of the creatures. When the world was made, it was made in balance. The Great Maker placed many creatures who were
neither good nor evil in the forests, and rivers, and oceans. The kin of the Great Maker wanted to add to the world, and so they were allowed, but they did not have the same skill of the Great Maker. Some placed among the world creatures who were solely good; and others placed among the world creatures who were solely destructive. Over time, the destroyers prevailed and the creatures who existed with no malice were removed from Eigrae, save some few of the animals who eat only leaves and grass. To help maintain the balance, the Great Maker then created Humans, Eifen, and others who are both good and evil in turn.
“Over time again, these new peoples rid Eigrae of many of the destructive beasts, but not the Qorghal. The Qorghal multiply quickly, but they do not seek to rule as do humans, or Eifen; rather they destroy those who attack them, or those who have what they desire, but rarely do they seek conflict for its own sake. On only a handful of occasions have the Qorghal attacked another without being provoked, and the latest of these wars, if you would call them so, saw the Qorghal nearly destroy the Eichag. The city inhabited by the Qorghal now, once belonged to your people, Hokra, and they have no intention of giving it back.”
Drae Ghern’s story replaced their feelings of contentment from the spirit world they walked through, with pangs of despair for the trials that lay ahead. Seeing his mistake, the shaman said only, “I give to you only what I have been allowed to see and it is all in the past. The future is for you to describe, so do not have a heavy heart.”
As she watched Drae Ghern make his proclamation, Lydria thought he looked even younger than when their journey had started.
“He is younger, now, Wielder. He will rejoin his people at an age where he is at the height of his strength. He will live here as a young, strong man for the rest of his time, with his wife and family. Look ahead, they have begun to arrive.” The voice was a man’s, young and strong, and familiar. Haustis had heard the voice and noticed too, and a small tear formed at the corner of her eye.
Magic's Genesis- Sword of Wilmamen Page 10