by BJ Hanlon
“I said no,” Albe rasped and then his voice softened. “Your mother and nephew need you more and despite your skills, you will not find a place in the army.”
“It isn’t fair.”
“Life isn’t fair. Master Edin could tell you that. Not everyone gets the same opportunities. You who can fight do not have that opportunity, but neither does a cripple or a blotard. We must all make the best of what we were born with. Use your mind and your skills and protect your family. It is what you were born to do.” Her father reached out and took her hand. Then he hopped down.
There, at the crossroads, they lingered for a time. Everyone ate a bit of breakfast and sat in a makeshift circle. There were no words between anyone, not even Vicker. But Edin caught looks, teary-eyed looks; sad and weak and tired looks. Those of a family that thought they were looking upon each other for the last time.
Or until they meet again in the next life, if those people who thought like the young baron were to be believed.
It had to have been more than an hour they sat in the weird light. Edin thought it felt like an eclipse at sundown. Then slowly, Albe stood. It seemed to take a lot as he shook out a leg. “Blasted foot has fallen asleep.”
Melian was there moments later helping him. Nona stood next to Hotep with Duria and Vicker. Then suddenly, they were all hugging each other. Edin thought Vicker cried, “Daddy I want to come with.” But it was a difficult statement to translate with the child’s tears. It was much like Melian.
Hotep dropped to a knee and hugged his son. He said things Edin couldn’t hear but he could guess at. ‘You are the man now, take care of your family.’ Or something like that. Maybe he’d add, ‘I know you’ll make me proud son.’
Then the rest were hugging and there were sobs and tears and the two couples were kissing and saying their “I love yous.”
He wished he had the power of prophecy so he could look into the future and see what truly happened. Just so he could tell them and he wouldn’t feel as uncomfortable.
Arianne grabbed his hand and pulled him about ten feet away. She wrapped her arms around him and leaned against his chest. They stood there, Edin staring out into the darkness looking at a broken line in the dim sky. A ridge or maybe a tree line. He had no idea what it was but it was out there in the shadows.
Like so much else in the world.
“Edin,” the general said, and Edin turned. He and Arianne broke apart and they went to the family. General Albe reached out and gripped Edin’s forearm. Edin responded doing the same. “Take care of them, will you?”
Edin nodded. Then he thought of his mission, the one he’d told the Duke he was going to do. “And when you see Sinndilo, tell him where I am and that they have not yet been contacted.”
“They? Who is they?”
Edin shook his head. “Let Sinndilo tell you. It is not my place.”
General Albe let go and Edin shook forearms with Hotep. The big man leaned in and whispered, “Please, my family means everything to me…” he trailed off as his voice began to crack.
Then after another round of hugs, the men began down the road south. They watched until they’d disappeared completely, which wasn’t long, and then they waited a bit longer until their footsteps could not be heard anymore.
Edin really did not want to be the one to break the family from its silent reverie but they had to get going. They had to get moving and he needed to think.
Traveling through the forest would be difficult, then there was the task of getting them all into Calerrat, and what he had to do after that.
He guessed that the general’s family wouldn’t take well to being lifted over the wall by a couple of wind magi.
Edin moved toward Nona and whispered, “Are we ready?”
She continued to look out at where her husband and son had disappeared and nodded. Soon, they all climbed on the cart.
The going was slow. Nona was at the horse reins with Edin on one side of her and the kid on the other.
Behind, he could hear the women whispering but he couldn’t make out what they were saying. Edin kept his eyes and head churning like Grent.
The ridge or tree line he’d seen when they were saying their goodbyes never materialized though the road descended slightly and the cart increased speed. Nona said over the bumping and clattering, “It is easier on the horses.”
Then the descent ended and they were on a semi-flat ground again, though the road was pockmarked and undulated as only a road not kept up would be. Edin guessed it was only used by Dunbilstonian patrols. And not very often.
Edin thought he’d seen a map with a fort somewhere down here, but it could’ve been on the Resholt side.
Even if there was, he guessed they could pass within twenty yards of it and not be seen, though to get out of earshot, they would need to get a bit further.
He watched and listened as best as he could. The air began to smell fouler, dirtier like he imagined a coal mining tunnel would smell. There was a bit of sulfur in it mixed with a taste that made it feel like he was chomping on sand.
He raised his cloak over his mouth and breathed through his nose as they moved on in silence.
Some hours later, they stopped for a brief snack. Leathery meat and cherries that should’ve had more flavor and less insect bites in them. Arianne nearly gagged when she saw it but she ate because she needed to. They all did.
After the snack they continued. Edin took a seat in the back with Melian in his spot. Arianne leaned against him as he watched their rear and their flanks.
A few hours later Melian said, “On the right.”
So Edin looked to his right, then realized it was Melian’s right and turned left. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for in the darkness.
He heard no sounds other than the wind rustling the grass and the constant chirping of crickets. The chirping, which had become an irritating ring in his ears for so long and recently begun to fade to background noise. Though if he thought of it, he would hear it again.
Slowly, in the gloom, he saw the outline of a shape. Ten feet tall and thin.
The cart halted and Edin pealed himself up and stepped off.
There was a tingling in his butt and he stumbled, then righted himself. As he moved closer he saw it was some sort of thick post. Tree like, but not a tree.
“The left, there is something lying in the grass,” Duria said and Edin glanced that way. But as he was about to, he saw something light brown, wood partially submerged in a sea of grass. He moved toward it and saw symbols. Letters.
Then he saw it was broken in two and all he could read was ‘st of Dorr.’
“Now entering,” Arianne called from the other side of the wagon.
Edin looked up but saw nothing. Then he headed to the front of the wagon, he ran a hand along the horse’s flank and it snorted and stomped its hooves in quick succession.
Then the trees began to come into view. They were dark and in them, he saw yellow glowing lights. Eyes, though they were small. Critters he thought.
To Edin, it seemed like the forest was expanding. There were smaller trees on the edges of the forest and then as they moved further in, they grew tall and rose beyond Edin’s sight.
Edin wasn’t sure what they were, and drooping limbs and leaves hung low over the road. He could see a few yards in, but with the coming night, he didn’t know how far they’d be able to make it and if there were any places to camp there. They could continue with Edin’s ethereal light to lead them or Arianne could create an undying flame but he wasn’t sure how much the family knew about their talent. Or maybe they called it a taint.
“I say we go for a little longer,” Edin said. In the dim light, he saw Nona nod. “Okay then, we go slow.” Edin made his way back toward the carriage. He stopped by Melian. “Keep your bow nocked. Arianne, do the same.”
The regent had given her a bow and a quiver, her own enchanted bow from the mage Laural was somewhere in the underground with her bejeweled knife. Her story
still hadn’t been told to Edin, though he’d hope to hear it someday. Maybe she’d write it down for him if telling was too difficult.
Edin took the rear again and sat up against a trunk, with his legs hanging off the back. He watched carefully and listened harder. If there were people looking for trouble in these woods, maybe the dark would let them slip by without a hassle.
He heard the brushing of trees and felt weeping leaves caress his hair like that of a caring mother. The footsteps of the horses were loud though and they crunched fallen branches.
After about twenty minutes or so, the dim light was gone and there was nothing about them. It was pitch black and impossible to see.
“We cannot go on,” Nona said after the horses and wagon had come to a stop.
Edin hopped down and his foot sunk a half inch into mud. He sighed and felt for the wagon. He gripped the lip and followed it up until he found a foot. “Arianne.”
“Yeah,” she grabbed his hand and he helped her off.
“I don’t suppose either of you magi can make it so we see in here,” Nona called out from somewhere. “I was born with eyes to see. I’m not made for fumbling in the dark.”
Arianne squeezed his hand and neither said a word.
“Oh, come on,” Melian said. “She healed me with magic and I saw you with that ball of light in the cabin.” Then she paused. “And you didn’t deny being the mage that killed the thunderwyrm.”
Nona said, “If us not turning you in isn’t good enough to have earned our trust and therefore some light, maybe the fact that you’re two magi, both armed and with a group of women, is good enough.”
They made good points. Without thinking, a ball of ethereal light appeared in his open palm. Dim at first so as not to blind everyone.
“Oh gods, bright!”
Not blinding them was his hope, but that faded quickly as it blinded all. Even himself who was ready for it.
When he was able to see again, he saw Arianne next to him, her bow out and nocked but Melian was just holding up her hands. Arianne lowered it.
“We’ll need a few branches,” Edin said.
“And a location to sleep that isn’t in mud,” said Nona looking at the ground.
Arianne used her undying fire spell on the branches.
Vicker gasped and oohed as the flame turned purple and blue and white before settling down in the normal colors of a flame.
Edin released the ethereal ball and looked at the mud.
“We can see, but where to sleep?” Melian said. “I do not think all of us can squeeze into the cart.”
“Step back,” Edin said and raised a hand. He was a glasorio as well as a terestio now.
He felt the mud and the water inside and slowly, let it evaporate into the air. Edin watched the particles in his mind rise up and out and float away back into the black night.
After a few minutes he looked at the dry dirt road before them. Arianne moved up, put the logs in the center and Edin threw on more. The family moved slowly toward the fire and sat down across from Edin and Arianne. They dished out food and had some of the regent’s wine he had given them for the trip.
They drank little and ate. The night was quiet as they curled up by the fire. Despite wanting to set a watch, Edin was far too tired from his lack of sleep the night before.
He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the earth.
5
The Not-So-Nice Thieves of the Woods
It was whispers and crunching as much as the smell that woke him. Edin blinked and saw the firelight and then a moment later, he felt the cold steel on his neck. It was strong and any more pressure, he felt like his skin would burst.
Then he saw others, men in dark cloaks with dirt covered faces and matted hair. A moment later they pounced on the rest. Edin barely had time to realize what was happening when the shrieks and screams of the women and Vicker echoed through the forest.
Edin said nothing but he smelled the smell again. It was the warm breath of the man holding the knife to his neck and it smelled like he only ate slop from a pig trough with his rotten teeth.
“You move, they die; or you die and they die.”
All he could think about saying was ‘shut your mouth! Stop breathing on me.’ But he kept quiet.
The screaming died down and someone appeared in the glow of the firelight. He moved forward, picked up a branch and began examining it. After a few moments he tossed it back.
“Hello travelers, I’m so exceedingly glad that y’all are here. It has been quite some time since we’ve had visitors.”
Edin was grabbed by the hair and yanked up. He felt the steel blade digging into his neck and knew that if he moved, the man wouldn’t have any hesitation to kill him. He swallowed.
“Why do I get the guy?” whined the one holding him.
“You were closest,” the leader said.
“But I want her.” He let go with one hand and pointed toward Melian. She was across the way being held by another man. A dirty but rather ordinary looking guy.
The leader started to walk a circle around the campfire.
He was looking down at the ground curiously but didn’t say anything. Then he looked back up and started moving his eyes to each person in a slow and deliberate manner.
When he stopped at Arianne he began toward her. She was wide eyed and looked fearful. The man holding her was large and had a wicked looking long knife under her chin. It looked like eluvrian steel.
“Don’t touch her!” Edin shouted. Then the blade dug into his neck and blood trickled down.
“Shut up,” screamed the guy by his ear. It was too loud and a few octaves higher than his speaking voice.
There is something seriously wrong with this guy, Edin thought.
“Or what?” said the leader as he strolled closer. “What will you do?”
Arianne had seemed like she was doing better, had she fully recovered from the imprisonment of the dematian king? Edin wasn’t sure.
He slowly put a hand on her neck just above her collarbone. He looked at Edin and grinned showing at least three gaps in the teeth.
“Is this your girl?” he asked. “She seems a bit too pretty for you. Deserves a bit better of a man.” With on hand on the nape of her neck, he gripped his crotch with the other and squeezed. “A bit bigger too I’m certain.” He chuckled and the other men around him followed.
“You measure other men’s genitals?” Edin asked while glaring. All around him, he felt the talent. His blade might not be in his hands but that didn’t mean he was unarmed.
Too bad for them.
He summoned the energy around him; he felt the flames of the fire, the water and electricity in the air, the wind and the stone and the ethereal energy that surrounded them at all times.
He gritted his teeth as the man slowly lowered his hand from her collar bone to her chest. He grinned as he started toward her breast.
A bestial roar came from the forest. Loud and then it was echoed by another. The leader stopped and everyone looked around nervously. Even the man holding Edin tensed. They were looking toward the location of the sound, though Edin couldn’t see because it came from behind him.
The energy was getting thick and he caught Arianne’s eyes. They were scared and sad eyes. Those of a puppy who wanted to be loved.
Then another roar. This time from the other side and Edin knew that sound. “Crillio beasts,” he said and the man holding him flinched. “Multiple.”
“Crillios? Here?” he gasped. “No, no way. There’s no way…” he trailed off but the other men holding his people were also looking around with fear in their eyes. A lot of fear.
“Crillios are from the north,” said one of the men, “never have they been—”
A third roar cut him off and suddenly the leader grabbed Arianne’s arm and pulled her from the other’s grip. “Kill the lads and the old lady!” he shouted as he put a knife to Arianne’s stomach.
The thieves seemed to hesitate. As the leader ran
off into the forest pulling Arianne.
Edin didn’t care about human life at that point. At least not theirs.
Then there was much movement around. Duria was dragged into the forest by another big man who was playing follow the leader. A couple more who’d been standing just in the firelight followed as well. Nona pushed away from the one holding her and leapt at the one holding Vicker. She grabbed the man’s arm and seemed to attempt to wrestle the blade away from her grandson’s neck.
Melian knocked her guy in the crotch with a quick back kick and then spun and gouged his eyes with long nails.
Edin felt time slow as the man was starting to move the sword across his neck. Edin summoned an ethereal blade and jabbed it up and over his shoulder into the man’s face.
He knocked the blade away and it clattered to the dirt road. Time started to speed up again. There was a roar and a crashing into the forest to his right.
Suddenly and too quickly for Edin to do anything, the man that had been holding Nona before stepped up with his longsword and stabbed her through the back. She screamed and dropped. Vicker and Melian screamed and started toward Nona. From behind, two other thieves started at them.
With the talent flowing, Edin reached out a hand felt for the fire. He tickled and swirled the flames and then sent them up in a great big geyser.
The men stopped and stared. Edin split it into two large coils and brought one down on each of them, burning them alive.
Their screams were silenced a moment later.
Then he saw another trying to run away in the direction of the rest and Edin summoned an ethereal blade. It split the man in two and his legs took two steps before collapsing five feet from where his torso fell.
“Stay by the fire, crillios don’t like it,” Edin shouted at Melian. He bent down and pulled Mirage and then crashed into the dark jungle the way Arianne had been dragged.
There was light, very little of it, and it wasn’t a moonlight. It was different. Yellow and almost orange but not white. There was loud padding to his left and panting.
The only thing over there was a black mass that was pacing him and angling his way.