Gondrial grasped Lady Shey’s arms. “Okay, now I’m confused, and I implore you to stop slapping me in the face, my lady.”
Lady Shey took the book from the crate and turned her back to Gondrial.
“I see you found the book we were after. I assumed you had since you neglected to meet me in front of the stables near the inn at the agreed time. I—”
Lady Shey turned suddenly. “I know what you were doing while I was searching for this book, Gondrial. Don’t make small talk with me!”
Gondrial looked puzzled for a moment and then smiled. “My lady, surely you mistake what you saw. I am a gentleman after all.”
“And just what is it that you think I saw, Gondrial? I haven’t given you any indication as of yet,” she said, tucking the book into a small chest beside the crate.
For once, Gondrial was at a complete loss for words, and then, after a moment of thought, he spurted out, “What was it that you thought I was doing?”
Lady Shey threw her hands into the air. “Oh, this is ridiculous!” she said before she climbed out onto the side step of the wagon.
“Wait, Shey. Wait!” Gondrial tried to stop her, but she wouldn’t hear him, and she climbed farther onto the side of the wagon, eventually sitting just behind Trendan and Vesperin. Gondrial tried to follow her, but she had kicked the door closed and it had jammed.
Trendan looked behind him and wondered why Lady Shey had such a sour look on her face. “Is there something the matter, my lady?” he asked.
“Gondrial is aboard the wagon. He was hiding in among the dry goods. I suppose he is coming back to Brookhaven with us after all,” she said bitterly.
“So that’s why the guards almost searched us,” Trendan observed. “Why did he hide in the back of the wagon? We would have let him come along if he had asked.”
“His presence displeases you, my lady?” Vesperin asked. “I should think you would be glad.”
“No, not at all, Vesperin. I am glad.” Lady Shey shifted uncomfortably. “He should have let us know he was going to come with us is all, instead of stowing away.”
Trendan shook his head. “Was he hiding from the guards for some reason?”
Lady Shey briefly flashed on the image in her memory of Gondrial leaving the queen’s chamber. Her expression turned angry. “You know what? I don’t feel like discussing the matter at the moment.”
“Aye, my lady, sorry, my lady,” Vesperin said, facing forward.
Lady Shey continued to stay in her melancholy mood even after Rodraq found a suitable place to stop for the night. After helping set up camp, she immediately retired for the evening into her tent and would see no one. She sat watching the others go about their duties from her tent flap. Gondrial seemed indifferent about her irritation and denied involvement in her mood. Rennon was suspicious of Gondrial after he found out that he had stowed away on the wagon and began watching his every move.
After they had secured camp, Vesperin departed to a nearby clearing to pray and meditate while Rodraq and his two guards set up guard duty. Trendan selected wood from a nearby tree and practiced fletching a few arrows. Kelle and Sylvalora busied themselves with supper. Devyn had talked the two women into letting him select the menu for the evening. As the son of an innkeeper, he could not bring himself to eat another meal of dried meat, cheese, and beans. Therefore, he persuaded Kelle and Sylvalora to let him cook, and he prepared a tasty meal consisting of flatbread, succulent cuts of beef with thick brown gravy, and fresh vegetables that Kelle had purchased at the Symbor market. Kelle brought Shey a plate. After the mealtime dishes were put away and the sun had set, they all turned in for the night.
Rennon walked to Lady Shey’s tent with a bag of herbs and potions. “My lady, are you still awake?” he inquired timidly.
“What do you want, Rennon?” Lady Shey asked irritably.
“I have brought you a sleeping powder. It is a very mild powder, but it should help you fall asleep. Shall I brew it for you?”
Lady Shey appeared out from the front of the tent. “I appreciate the thought, I do, but I do not need nor do I require a sleeping brew.” She smiled a thin smile. “Thank you, Rennon, but no.” She turned back into the tent, and Rennon shrugged his shoulders. “I will just leave a bit of the powder in a small bag by your tent should you change your mind,” he said as he placed the small bag beside the entrance to her tent. As he walked away, he stopped briefly. He grinned when he saw her reach out and take the small bag. Shey gave him a stern look and retreated back into her tent.
Chapter 7: The Woods
Devyn awoke from a fitful sleep to the sound of chirping birds. He had gotten used to the soft bed at the inn, and his sleeping pallet required some getting used to. The camp was already alive with activity. The women were setting up for breakfast, and the men were packing the tents on the wagon.
“Are you finally awake?” Trendan asked. “Kelle is cooking breakfast, and this is the last tent to be packed. We should move out in less than an hour.”
“Aye, I’m awake.” Devyn looked around as if he lost something. “Trendan, will you please start waking me up when you get up? Why is everyone so worried that I sleep in?”
“Aye, I will, but Devyn, every day you look as if you are more and more fatigued. Your tired appearance is the reason no one wants to wake you.”
“I do? I don’t feel any more tired than usual. I probably just need some cool water splashed on my face. Is there a creek nearby? These campsites are all starting to look the same to me.”
“There is one a short distance from here.” Trendan said.
Devyn rubbed his bare stomach. “I feel like I have not bathed in days and I bathed just yesterday. Where is the rain this season? The road is so dry and dusty.”
Trendan looked up into the clear blue sky beyond the trees. “It is true the rains are scarce this season, but as soon as we pass Cedar Falls back into the woods, the rains will pick up and settle the dust on the road.”
Devyn nodded, pulled on his tunic, and started to pack up his sleeping roll. After he put the roll away, he helped Trendan dismantle the tent and pack his belongings away on the wagon.
After a brisk walk, Devyn found the creek and washed up. He returned to camp in time for Kelle to bring him his breakfast.
“Thank you, Kell.”
“You are welcome; just don’t get too used to it. I will expect you to wait on me hand and foot next time,” she said with a shy laugh. Devyn rolled his eyes and ate his breakfast of ham and flatbread.
The next two days and nights continued smoothly without incident. Lady Shey was over her bad mood by the second night and began to talk to Gondrial again. Speaking at length with him over a game of nine cards, even Rennon relaxed his suspicions somewhat, although Devyn knew it would still take some time for Rennon to relax and actually trust the tall half-elf. Trendan and Rodraq shared the scouting duties while Vesperin and Rennon, and sometimes Rodraq, drove the wagons. Devyn knew Trendan too well to believe he would be content driving the wagon for long. When Rodraq took the reins, Vesperin would sit near the rear of the wagon and pray. Devyn never quite understood the cleric’s dedication to prayer, but he never questioned it either.
On the third day from Symbor, the small caravan entered the large wooded area between Cedar Falls and Soldier’s Bluff. Rodraq estimated that the party would reach Soldier’s Bluff in the late afternoon.
Just after the midday meal, the loaded down ale wagon hit a rut in the road and cracked a spoke. Devyn and Rennon repaired the wheel to the best of their ability, but the stop delayed the caravan for several hours, putting their arrival in Soldier’s Bluff after dark.
Lady Shey, remembering that the area was the same area Fadral had claimed to run into vicious animal attacks, decided that the caravan should try to make it to the village rather than camp in the woods.
The sun began to set, and Devyn could hear strange howls in the distance. At first, he credited the howls to a pack of wolves, but when the hor
ses began to get antsy and spooked, he began to feel nervous. “How much farther? Can we step up the pace a bit?” Devyn shouted to Trendan who was now driving the first wagon.
“Another two or three hours yet, maybe longer,” Trendan shouted back. “We shouldn’t press the teams much harder with the load they are pulling. If the horses tire too quickly, we may find ourselves in trouble; besides, we can’t risk that broken spoke.”
Devyn sat beside Rennon uneasily. “I will be glad to get into the village. I have a bad feeling.”
Rennon nodded. “I won’t argue with that.”
A few moments later Rodraq returned from scouting ahead and called a halt. “There are some riders up ahead all killed. From their wounds, I would say by Dramyds.”
Lady Shey stepped down from the wagon. “Are you certain they were attacked by Dramyds?”
“Aye, my lady, the fallen riders bare the bite marks of Dramyds.”
“What is a Dramyd?” Kelle asked, her voice quaking.
Lady Shey’s face went ashen, and she swallowed hard before she answered. “Dramyds are creatures created in the dark days before the War of the Oracle by Toborne the Betrayer. It is said he stole eggs from the dragons and twisted their offspring into stunted drakes complete with razor sharp claws and teeth to match. Their bite eats away at the flesh, leaving nothing but bone, and their claws are poisonous. Some say the god Aedreagnon bestowed Toborne with the ability to create life, and Toborne’s twisted vision spawned the Dramyds. Either way, they are dangerous creatures.”
Devyn had heard the stories before but he was still skeptical. “I thought the Dramyds were all killed off.”
“Aye, I thought they were only myth,” Vesperin added.
Lady Shey moved to the rear of the wagon and climbed up. “The Enforcers and others hunted them down and slew them, but not all of them. Some of them escaped into the Mountains of Madness in Ishrak and to the Jagged Mountains of Symboria and Abaddonia. Those howls behind us are driving us into a trap.” Lady Shey reached for the small chest containing the tome she had brought from Symbor. “I wish they were mythical.”
“There are no roads through these woods save this one, my lady, unless we make one of our own. I doubt we will reach a farmhouse or village inside of an hour, and those howls sound close enough to overtake us by then,” Trendan said. “Or we can dig in and prepare for a fight.”
“Out of the question. If those howls do come from Dramyds, they will tear us to shreds if we try to fight them off ourselves,” Rodraq interjected. “They are like nothing you have ever fought before.”
“We had better think of something,” Devyn pointed out.
“We only have one smart choice. We run!” Lady Shey said as she returned to the front of the wagon. “Rodraq, you will lead us through. We will make a run for Soldier’s Bluff, and we shall not look back for any reason.”
“Do you think that is a wise course of action, my lady?” Gondrial asked. “We do have one last alternative.” Gondrial pointed at the small chest Lady Shey held.
“Do you think that particular course of action would be a better idea?” Lady Shey asked, her eyebrows rising as she glared at Gondrial.
Gondrial exhaled loudly. “As a last resort, I suppose. We could be so much more useful if we could wield freely!”
Lady Shey gave Vesperin a sharp stare. “Now would be a good time for you to pray, cleric!”
Vesperin nodded and began muttering a prayer under his breath.
Rodraq unsheathed his sword for the first time this trip and held it high. “Onward!” he shouted. Gondrial stepped up onto the back of the ale wagon as it passed. Rennon and Trendan let their teams speed up to a slow canter, but they were careful not to let the horses run at full speed or they would tire quickly and become useless. The patched spoke seemed to be holding for now. The two guards at the rear also unsheathed their swords and began combing the trees alongside the road, searching for any sign of movement.
Kelle flinched in fear as she heard a loud howl. The harrowing screams were closing fast on their position.
Rodraq reined in his spooked horse beside Devyn’s wagon. “That howl came from the road behind.”
“Look out!” Kelle screamed from the rear of the dry goods wagon. A dark figure swooped down from a low tree, took one of the rear guards from his horse, and sent him crashing to the ground behind the ale wagon. The second guard reined in his horse and slashed wildly at the creature just before darkness enveloped them as the wagons pulled away. At first, Kelle and Sylvalora just stared at each other stunned, and then Kelle screamed and pushed herself back into the interior of the wagon.
“Something has taken the rear guard! They are on us!” Sylvalora yelled.
Beating wings thundered in Devyn’s ears as a dark shadow descended down from a tree onto his position. Rennon reined in the team of horses and veered the wagon to the right; the creature missed its target and slammed hard into the side of the wagon. It clung to the wooden panels, almost unbalancing the load.
As it passed, Devyn saw the creature up close for the first time. It was black and slightly larger than a full-grown man. Its black, bat-like wings were leathery and thick. A forked tongue hung loosely from a scaly, horned, dragon-like head, and its red eyes were determined and focused. Rodraq spun his mount around and rode full speed at the stunned creature. With an awful crunch, he smashed the creature’s skull with the hilt of his sword and then sliced off its head with a counterstroke. “Ride! Ride as if your life depends on it!” he shouted.
The second guard rode up fast behind the caravan. “Sir Rodraq, Greft is dead,” he cried.
“Ride, Freg, and stay fast to guard the rear left. I will take the right front,” he yelled back.
Devyn saw another creature come down from the trees. “Look out, Rodraq!”
Rodraq swung with deadly accuracy, slicing the creature’s wings as its teeth came to bear on his shoulder. The beast tried to sink its huge jagged teeth into Rodraq but could not pierce his armor. Another creature came to bear on Vesperin and Trendan. The guard, Freg, rode at it, piercing its tough, thick, scaled neck with his sword, and the effort almost unhorsed him. Trendan veered the wagon left, and Rennon had to rein in his team to avoid colliding with the dry goods wagon. He felt the wheel wobble and feared it was about to give way. Another Dramyd took advantage of the situation and flew directly at Vesperin, wrapping its deadly maw around his arm, which he had held up for defense. The creature planted its scaled hind legs squarely on the edge of the wagon, which spooked the team into a full, wild run. The hideous creature clamped down its jaw solidly on Vesperin’s arm, and Vesperin screamed in pain as its sharp teeth tore into his flesh. The hair on the back of Devyn’s neck stood up as if a bolt of lightning had struck nearby, and he had the distinct feeling that something strange was happening. Rennon’s face contorted as he saw the creature attacking Vesperin. Rennon exploded in helpless rage, and Devyn shrank back from him. Vesperin slumped over in the wagon ahead as the creature bit down again, getting a stronger hold on the cleric’s arm.
“no! Vesperin!” Rennon screeched. Tears obscured his vision and he wiped them away with his sleeve. “I won’t let you take him!” Devyn felt a release, and he watched in awe as the Dramyd’s head exploded in a bloody mist, nearly taking the rest of Vesperin’s arm with it. The Dramyd’s headless body fell to the wayside.
Shocked, Devyn turned to his friend and then gazed ahead in fear as hoards of Dramyds choked the roadway. Devyn worked to suppress his fear.
“To thunder with all this hesitation!” Devyn heard Gondrial say as a bolt of lightning streaked past him from behind, striking several of the Dramyds down. He turned back to see Gondrial standing up on top of the wagon, arms held high in the air, and then another bolt streaked past, causing Devyn to shrink down further into his seat. The smell of burning flesh and the bright spots in Devyn’s vision made his senses reel.
The dry goods wagon crashed first, turning over and busting up from the jolt
of running over several dead or wounded Dramyds. Devyn felt the wagon beneath him lurch, and the broken wheel cracked and gave way. The ale wagon faltered as the wheel disintegrated, and it crashed in a heap, parts of it rolling to a stop beside a tree. The two teams of horses broke loose from the toppled wagons and ran into the woods wildly. Devyn, Rennon, and Gondrial all fell clear of the wreckage. Devyn stood and dusted himself off. His left elbow hurt but he felt well enough. Without checking to see what had happened to Rennon or Gondrial, he picked up and unsheathed the sword he kept under the seat, which had fallen from the wagon onto the road, and shook off the shock of the crash. He reacted first to the scream of Kelle coming from the dry goods wreckage. Frantically, he sprinted to her.
“Kelle!” he shrieked, attracting the attention of one of the Dramyds bearing down behind him. He turned and slashed at the pursuing beast in vain as it dodged his blade. The Dramyd opened its gaping maw and pounced on Devyn. He closed his eyes, preparing for the attack, but suddenly the creature stopped short and fell to the ground convulsing. Devyn turned to see Sylvalora with her hands outstretched and a determined look on her face. “Go on, boy!” she bellowed.
Devyn nodded and rushed to where Vesperin lay wounded. Kelle was kneeling beside him. Devyn could hear Rodraq wildly slashing the Dramyds from somewhere ahead. Even though he was frightened, Devyn broke away from his fear and stabbed his sword into one of the creatures as it tried to reach the wounded Vesperin. Kelle tore a piece of cloth from her dress and began tending to Vesperin’s grave injury. Lady Shey managed to find a skin of water among the wreckage, and she gave it to Kelle to wet the cloth.
Devyn caught the blur and felt the swoosh of something streaking past him. Trendan’s arrow found its target just behind Devyn and another Dramyd fell. Devyn knelt down next to Kelle who was dabbing Vesperin’s wound. “Vesperin, is he?” Devyn asked, not wanting to know how bad his injuries really were.
“He lives, but he is in terrible shape,” she answered.
Devyn’s resolve strengthened as he assumed a protective position in front of Kelle and Vesperin.
The Harrowing Path Page 9