“Dragons and wraiths can wait,” Bodrin said. “Delia’s going to lick Saxthor’s skin off. He’s not going to slip away from her like that again.”
“I promised never to leave her, and she’s going to see to it that I live up to that,” Saxthor said. He was petting her while trying to convince her to stop jumping up. Then he looked up to see Twit, watching the people.
“Look at Twit, looking down on all the fawning with condescension. For him, the trip to the city was a nonevent, and Delia is just spoiling me.”
Hendrel and Tournak laughed.
“It just took longer than expected, Bodrin,” Tonelia said, through a comforting smile.
“We were in and out of the enemy’s second most powerful fortress-city, where Tonelia got to dance for the prince. Saxthor only vaporized one guard,” Hendrel said, grinning.
“Danced for the prince?” Bodrin said, taking his arm from around Tonelia’s waist. He looked at her with raised eyebrows.
“It was for the cause, Bodrin,” Saxthor said. “It was nothing like what you think.” He turned to Hendrel, who was looking sheepish. “You should be ashamed of yourself for upsetting Bodrin so.”
“Oh, I am, I’m utterly ashamed,” Hendrel said, but then he broke out laughing. “Astorax is the hero, and he also earned us our supplies.”
“I should’ve stayed in the forest of Heggolstockin, where I only had to deal with the hostile villagers of Girdane,” Astorax said. “I can see I joined the wrong group.” The band broke out laughing.
It’s good seeing everyone so happy to be together again, Saxthor thought. This reunion has relieved the tension from last night’s hair-raising experiences. He looked over at Astorax, who was introspective and sad. Saxthor went to him, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“Something’s wrong?”
Astorax looked up at Saxthor. “Spending last night in the stable, with the horses, wasn’t very pleasant.”
“I’m sorry about that,” Saxthor said, and he put his arm around Astorax’s shoulder and neck in a half-hug. Astorax relaxed and, feeling better, put his arm around Saxthor’s waist. Suddenly, entwined side to side, the two danced around in a circle with outer arms extended.
After extensive greetings among the reunited companions, they repacked their gear and headed back down through the forest scrub along the stream. They avoided discovery, traveling back through Prertsten’s woods, and safely reached the grasslands once again.
“We’ll be heading south now. Seems that we must go back through Sengenwha,” Saxthor said.
“I’m not anxious to go through that wilderness again. Left us too exposed,” Hendrel said. “South it is.”
They followed the Akkin River, trying not to leave tracks, knowing the orcs were traveling along the river as well. They were still in Prertsten. Capture would mean immediate death.
“Stay hidden in this wooded strip between the Akkin and the sparse scrub to our right,” Saxthor said. “The orcs are moving along the open land at the wood’s edge, they can move faster, but we must stay out of sight.
Tonelia wiped her brow and looked up at the sky for signs of clouds or rain. Then she looked down at the river. “I hope we don’t run out of water. We’ll have to replenish from streams. I’m not drinking river water, draining from the Edros Swamps.”
Halfway down the Akkin, the adventurers encountered a low dark area. The tree canopy was thick, with roots anchored in moist soil.
“The Akkin’s foul water is filtered through the mud, but even so, the tree leaves have a black tint to them,” Tournak said. “The ground is even a charcoal color, where the floods receded, leaving the tree trunks coated in the black Edros sediment.”
“It’s the most depressing place I can remember,” Bodrin said. “Even the light tone is gloomy.”
At the same time, Hendrel and Astorax both stepped into some leaves covering quicksand. “Help!”
The others pulled them out, but they had churned up the area.
“We can’t hide this mess,” Saxthor said.
“Well, we’ll just have to move fast and hope the orcs don’t choose this foul place to venture down to the river,” Bodrin said.
*
Unfortunately, foul dark places were no problem for orcs, who came looking for game.
“What’s that over there?” an orc said, looking for tracks.
Another orc went to inspect closer. “There’s deer tracks here, musta got stuck in the mud and struggled to get out.” Half a dozen hunting orcs rushed over.
“We ain’t had no deer meat in ages,” an orc said. “Let’s go up on the ridge and get the four saber-wolves to track it,” the leader said.
The orc came back with two more orcs, each restraining two saber-wolves on chains, which prevented the vicious creatures from tearing out the other orcs’ throats. Only the two orcs that fed them daily could approach or control the beasts. All the trackers moved back away from the muddy lowland disturbance, as the saber-wolves approached.
“Now them beasts will be useful for a change,” a hunter said. Another grumbled and nodded. “Them beasts will track that deer for us if they knows what’s good for ’em.”
As soon as the saber-wolves got close to the quicksand, they started sniffing left and right for the trail. When they determined where it led, they jerked at their restraints.
“They gots the scent,” a wolf handler said.
The wolves howled and dragged the orc-handlers, restraining them through the lowlands’ dark gray litter.
* * *
“I hear wolves!” Astorax said, turning to pinpoint the source better.
Hendrel looked about, listening. “I don’t hear anything.”
“To avoid capture, I’ve long had to listen for the sounds of dogs hunting deer in my native mountains,” Astorax said. “Those are the howls of hunting wolves on our trail, but they’re louder, longer, and deeper than any dogs I’ve ever heard before.”
“I still don’t hear anything,” Hendrel said.
“Listen!” Astorax exclaimed to the others.
Everyone turned to the direction Astorax was facing and listened for what alarmed him. Before long, the others heard the distant baying of hunting animals.
“It could be a pack of wild dogs, but it sounds much worse,” Saxthor said. “It could also be the sound of hunting saber-wolves. If it’s saber-wolves, they’ll be with the orcs, marching south to Sengenwha.”
“We could climb into the trees if it’s just dogs or wolves alone,” Hendrel said. He then looked at Astorax’s hooves. “Maybe the tree idea won’t work.”
“If it’s saber-wolves, they won’t be alone,” Bodrin said. “I killed one of those things. They won’t give up if they trap us in trees.”
“If they're saber-wolves, they’ll bring the orcs down on us,” Saxthor said.
Tonelia shuddered. “That soul-wrenching howling seems to rip deeper into me.
“Well, we can’t afford for the orcs to discover us in any case,” Saxthor said.
“We must cross the river, if we’re to escape without discovery and fighting,” Astorax said. “We can’t stay on this side of the river; the saber-wolves will track us down.”
“Let’s get going; they’re close. We’ve little time to get away before they see us,” Saxthor said.
Leading the way, Astorax headed east toward the river. The fugitives soon worked their way to the Akkin through the foul mud left by the floods. The deer-man skirted the soft mud, so at least the tracking orcs couldn’t see how many people were ‘chasing’ the deer. He hoped they wouldn’t see Tonelia’s small tracks that would alert them to the presence of a woman. Traveling through the underbrush, Astorax spotted a dry log lying, where it settled on the riverbank.
“Look there!” Astorax said. “The log’s big enough to carry Tonelia and Bodrin. The rest of us will have to swim across the river.”
“I hate the thought of getting into that nasty water,” Tonelia said.
�
��This is no time to be squeamish,” Saxthor said. “Head for the log.”
As they raced for it, Astorax saw a skunk’s tail pop up on the log’s far side. It was concentrating on scratching out insects and didn’t concern itself with the people rushing for the same log.
“Stop!” Astorax slipped up on the skunk and threw a piece of cloth over it, pinning down the skunk’s tail before the creature could shoot its defensive musk. “I’ll hold it, while the rest of you slide the tree trunk out on the river.”
The rest heaved the log, inching it into the water, where it floated.
“Tonelia, get on the log,” Bodrin said.
Tonelia curled her upper lip. She stared at the dark water and groaned, but then crawled onto the log. As soon as she was seated and holding tight, all the rest pushed the log out into the current and swam with it.
Astorax turned the skunk so its tail pointed up along the bank they’d just come down. Controlling the tail, Astorax let the angry skunk squirt its musk along the fugitives’ tracks. He tossed the thrashing animal up on the bank, where the orcs would come, following the tracks. He stamped his hooves around over the human tracks in the mud, then turned, and dashed into the Akkin’s black waters. The adventurers stayed with the log for almost a mile down the river.
“The orcs wouldn’t pick up our trail this far away should they get past the skunk,” Saxthor said.
They finally abandoned the log and climbed the bank on a fallen tree trunk to avoid leaving tracks in the mud. Astorax went even further downriver before coming out, being careful to move on rocks back to the others. From their refuge, the group listened for the orcs and saber-wolves. They soon heard the wolves, howling and baying, intent on the chase. Suddenly, it stopped and changed to yelping and whimpering.
“The skunk trick seems to have worked,” Saxthor said.
Bodrin stuck his licked finger in the breeze. “Breeze is coming this way, so it’ll have carried the skunk odor away from the wolves until they got into it.” He laughed.
Astorax smiled at his little ploy, and the others patted his back.
-
One saber-wolf kept trying to get past the skunk odor to find the quarry. The orc restraining that pair of wolves was careless. The saber-wolf snapped its chain and leaped into the river.
“Leave it,” another orc said. “You can’t swim.”
“They’ll flog me for losing a saber-wolf,” the handler said. He turned back up the bank, jerking the remaining wolf behind him.
“Flogged? You think you’re worth as much as a saber-wolf?” another orc asked.
-
The lone saber-wolf paddled down the river, sniffing the air as he went. When he reached the point where the travelers climbed up the tree trunk, the wolf caught the faint familiar scent again. He swam closer to the bank until he caught the deer’s scent. Fighting the current, and keeping his head down, he searched up and down the bank until he pinpointed the source.
He crept out of the water, sniffing back and forth among the rocks. Finally, he located deer scent on a rock. Head lowered, following the trail, he tracked the deer back to where the trail merged with the people’s.
When the wolf knew he had the prey, he tossed back his head in a long, blood-curdling howl, calling his pack. Then the wolf jumped up on the log, following the adventurers’ trail up the steep incline into southern Heggolstockin. His pack didn’t hear his howls, but others did.
*
Walking along the riverbank’s crest, the Neuyokkasinians froze. “That’s a lone saber-wolf,” Astorax said. “It’s on this side of the river. He’s found our scent.”
“There’s only flat pastureland to our left and the lowland forest along the river to the right,” Tonelia said. “There’s no place to escape to this time.”
“The only place to get away from the animal now is in the trees,” Saxthor said. He searched the woods along the river for a tree, suitable for climbing, and large enough to hold the troupe. “Keep moving!” he said, as he sized up the woods they passed. He found a suitable prospect, which would support most of them, on the far side of a clearing. “Over here,” he said. The band followed.
“Astorax can’t climb this thing with hooves,” Hendrel said. It’s not like that little cedar tree back in Prertsten. He stood beside Astorax at the tree.
“The rest of you, up the tree,” Saxthor said. They looked to each other, then Bodrin helped Tonelia up the branches first. He scrambled up the tree behind her. Tournak went up next. Saxthor handed Delia up to him to give to Bodrin. “Tournak, you’re the best shot with the bow and arrows. “We’ll have to count on you to hit the wolf when it comes into the clearing. Can you shoot from the tree?”
“I’ll do my best,” Tournak said.
Saxthor drew his sword and hunkered down with Hendrel and Astorax behind the tree. “Hendrel, get up in the tree. There’s not enough room for three of us to take refuge here. You can shoot wizard-fire better from the tree branches.”
“There isn’t enough room to maneuver the bow up here in the tree,” Tournak said.
The wolf stopped howling, chilling Saxthor. Silence… then he heard leaves, rustling.
“It’s running up the bank,” Bodrin said. “Any second now, it’ll charge into the clearing, racing at us.
Saxthor moved in front of Astorax with Sorblade raised, clutched in both hands, fingers adjusting to the best grip. Poised, he could get maximum force and swing from that position. His heart pounded. Tournak will only have one chance to stop the wolf, he thought. Then its closeness will prevent him from shooting another arrow. If Tournak misses, the wolf will be on us.
“Stay behind me and out of my way, Astorax. Don’t get hit by the sword swing.”
The panting wolf dashed into the clearing, yellow eyes gleaming. Spotting his prey, he stopped from a full run. When he saw the man and deer-man across from him, the wolf snarled and surveyed the clearing for others. Suddenly, the monster bolted across the opening, then leaped at Saxthor’s throat.
The racing wolf stunned Saxthor for an instant. He heard a sudden sound and saw Tournak out of the corner of his eye. His mentor had dropped back down and positioned himself behind the tree just as the wolf began to dash across the clearing.
In his frenzy, the wolf hadn’t seen the hidden men in his initial surveillance. Tournak’s sudden appearance took the wolf off-guard. The wizard sighted his arrow, but the wolf was almost on Saxthor before Tournak could take aim. Then the creature was too close for Tournak to shoot. The wolf’s huge muzzle gaped open, saber-fangs angled to rip out Saxthor’s throat.
Saxthor ducked, dodged, and rolled under the beast. He slashed up across the wolf’s belly as he rolled. His glowing sword cut through the wolf’s soft underbelly. Tournak shot an arrow into the wolf after it sailed past Saxthor. The beast collapsed. Tumbling, his head plowed through the leaf litter. The beast came to rest, lifeless.
Bodrin lowered Delia to the ground. Shaking, she stared at the saber-wolf several times her size, waiting for it to move. The others came down from the tree. All gathered around the dead wolf to see the pony-size monster up close.
When they recovered, the travelers followed the Akkin down through Heggolstockin’s pastures and fields to the Sengenwhan border. The adventurers made good time and beat the orcs to Sengenwha.
-
“Let’s stop here at this grove of old trees,” Tonelia said.
“They must have shaded a farmhouse once,” Bodrin said. “Disease and weather took many limbs, and the shrubbery has grown into small trees. Nature is taking it back.”
Tonelia set out a celebratory meal beneath an oak. The travelers ate peacefully and rested until the evening. Saxthor laid back, his arm behind his head, against the great tree’s cool bark. He nodded, chewing a grass stem.
“Not knowing the situation in Sengenwha, we don’t want to cross the border until tonight. There’s little cover this time of year.”
“More orcs contingents at night,” Tour
nak said.
Tonelia was repacking the cooking implements into a satchel Bodrin held for her. “What’s the situation in Sengenwha?”
“We know little of the country,” Saxthor replied. He tossed the chewed grass stem aside and sat up, his arms around his knees. “I know there was a rivalry between a former Sengenwhan king and my grandfather over my grandmother. There hasn’t been real communication between our kingdoms since. If the current king, King Calamidese VII I think, continues the tradition of hatred for Neuyokkasin and my family, we could be going into a very hostile environment. The orcs may control significant portions of Sengenwha. That evil presence will make a very dangerous situation for us as well.”
As they sat on a bluff overlooking the deep, narrow chasm that separated Heggolstockin from Sengenwha, they enjoyed the brilliant sky in silence. At sunset, the weary travelers looked to the west and saw vibrant pink, puffy ribbons streaked across the sky, resting on bands of rich purple. The full winter moon’s huge silver disk sailed behind the pink and purple veil, the details so close Saxthor felt he could reach out and touch a tarnished crater.
“Whatever’s in Sengenwha, I’m glad to be out of Prertsten,” Tonelia said.
Bodrin nodded. “So say we all.”
By golden moonlight later that evening, the quiet trekkers crossed the ravine into the Sengenwha.
“Tournak, tell me more of Sengenwha, so I have an idea of what to expect in this country,” Saxthor said.
Tournak walked along in silence for a moment. “You won’t like this very much.”
“Sengenwha is the oldest kingdom on the continent. When the Occintoc Empire imploded generations ago, its former imperial governor, General Calamidese, snatched and held the imperial province for his own. As the continent disintegrated into warring states, the general held off invasions of various peoples, who migrated around in those dark days.”
“Sengenwha today is a former imperial Occintoc province?” Bodrin said. “I didn’t know that.”
“Shush!” Saxthor said. “Continue, Tournak.”
“For security, the people demanded General Calamidese take the crown, declaring himself king to preserve the territory and peace. To keep his state sovereign, the general ascended the throne as the first king of Sengenwha.”
The N Arc of Empire- Complete Series Page 74