Kaina's Dawn (Kaina Saga Book 1)

by Brittany Comeaux

  After being being stripped of his equipment and reduced to just his tunic, trousers, and boots, the Blackthorn gang tossed Tristan into the basement. Three men walked into the almost empty room with amused expressions and circled around him like vultures over their prey.

  “Well well,” one of the men said, “What are we going to do with you?”

  Tristan stared stone-faced at him and said, “If you have any luck at all, you might end up with nothing more than a broken nose.”

  The men laughed.

  “I don't think you're in a position to be making threats,” another of the men said.

  “Who's making threats?” Tristan remarked. “It's your best case scenario, plain and simple.”

  The third man said nothing, but instead lunged for Tristan, but the latter looped around and grabbed the offender's arm and pulled it behind his back. He pulled with such force that he felt the unmistakable pop of his shoulder as it came right out of his socket. Tristan then came around and kicked the howling thug in the back and sent him tumbling into the dirt.

  The other two men stared as Tristan turned to face them and said, “I'll give you one last chance to surrender.”

  The two fools didn't seem to get the idea, for they both lunged at him at once with their weapons drawn. Tristan smirked and grabbed each of their weapon hands and used their weight to pull them behind him, and they both fell forward, disoriented. Tristan turned in time to kick the blade out of the hand of one and he caught it. He then brought it up just in time to block a hit from the one that was still armed. He twisted the blade around and knocked it out of his hand, catching it in midair with his free hand.

  Now armed with both weapons, Tristan plunged each right into the chest of the men he snatched them from. They fell with a thud, dead before they hit the ground, and that was when the one with the injured shoulder got up to try again.

  When he saw the damage that had been done, however, the thug meekly stared at Tristan like a deer facing a bear and slowly crouched down in defeat.

  “That's more like it,” Tristan said. He was about to turn around when he heard footsteps approaching down into the basement. He readied both swords and faced the intruder, but instead came face to face with someone he didn't expect to see.

  “What the—Tristan, it's me!” Kaina shouted, putting her hands up in the air.

  Tristan paused, then he lowered his weapons. “You got out? Good. That's one less thing I have to take care of.”

  Kaina scoffed, then she stared down in horror at the dead men on the dirt floor and the third one cowering nearby.

  Tristan looked back at them, and then back at Kaina and said, “We had a bit of a disagreement...”

  “Do all your disagreements end with you killing two men?” Kaina said, never breaking her gaze from the carnage.

  “No,” Tristan said, “I usually kill around five.”

  Kaina glared at him. “Really?”

  “Of course not. Let's get our gear and get out of here.”

  “What about him?” Kaina asked, pointing to the thug who was holding his legs in the corner.

  “He won't be any trouble,” Tristan said. “Let's go.”

  It wasn't long after Kaina had left Drake in the cage that he began to feel his appendages again, starting with his fingers and toes, which he managed to barely move, to his hands and feet, then arms and legs. He could feel himself breathing again, and his eyes could finally blink. His body fell limp after a few more minutes, but even then he didn't have the strength to stand until another several minutes passed.

  Once Drake was able to pull himself to his feet, the first thing he did was bang on the cage and shout, “Get in here, you fools! Let me out!”

  One of his men soon came into the room to see what the racket was. As soon as he saw Drake in the cage, he rushed over. “Boss, what happened? Where's the Haventhorn girl?”

  “Never mind that. Where is the spare key?” Drake said.

  “It's with the guards,” he said.

  “Go get it and get me out of here,” Drake said, “and keep an eye out for the girl and her accomplice.”

  The thug rushed off to carry out his orders and left Drake to mutter to himself at what a fool he was to let that girl outsmart him. Then again, it wasn't really her who had done that, but the book. He didn't know what that book was nor did he care, but he knew one thing: that book was definitely more valuable than he could have anticipated, and he had to get it back by any means necessary.

  Chapter 11

  Kaina and Tristan made their way to the ground level of the hideout and the former headed straight for the exit, but the latter tugged her arm to stop her.

  “What are you doing?” Kaina whispered. “Let's get out of here!”

  “Not without some kind of protection,” Tristan said, gesturing to the storeroom.

  “We don't have time-”

  “We won't stand a chance if we leave here unarmed,” Tristan said. We just need to get a few things and we can leave.”

  Kaina knew that they would waste more time arguing, so she conceded and gestured for Tristan to lead the way.

  They made their way to the storeroom. Once inside, they crept behind the crates, since the lack of a door to any of the rooms would mean that they would have to stay out of sight and began their search.

  “Do you see our gear?” Kaina whispered.

  Tristan scanned the room and saw some weapons in the opposite corner. “Let's check there.”

  Once they were sure no one would see them, Tristan and Kaina moved over to the other side of the room while still in a crouching position. They then ducked behind another set of crates that were just in front of the weapon rack against the wall. Tristan examined the swords, then his eyes fell on a silver blade with a black hilt on the rack.

  He removed it and made a few test swings, then muttered, “This is brilliantly crafted...certainly a viable weapon to get us out of tight situations such as this.”

  “Tristan,” Kaina said, “the gang probably stole that.”

  Tristan looked her in the eye and said, “Well now they'll get a taste of their own medicine.”

  Tristan placed the blade back in its scabbard and tied it to his belt. He searched the nearby crates and didn't find his own jerkin, but he found some other padded armor that would still be light enough to maneuver in. He pulled the armor over his tunic and also found some bracers nearby.

  Kaina gave in and searched for a dagger in some of the crates, but she couldn't find any.

  “You'll just have to take a sword,” Tristan said after Kaina voiced her frustration.”

  “I don't know how to use a sword,” Kaina replied. “I can't even lift one.”

  “A short sword wouldn't take long to learn,” Tristan replied, “and it wouldn't be too heavy either.”

  “I don't know...”

  “Kaina, no one should travel without a weapon of some kind,” Tristan said. “Besides, we may have to fight our way out of here.”

  Kaina certainly didn't want to have to do that, but she couldn't help but admit that he was right. “Very well. Do you see any?”

  Tristan scanned the nearby area for something that resembled a small blade, and he finally found in a nearby crate. He then handed it to Kaina and said, “Try moving it.”

  Kaina accepted the sword and she noticed right away that it was lighter than she thought it would be. The blade was about the length of her arm and had a simple design, nothing too intricate or detailed, but it felt sturdy in her hand, and she presumed that that was all she needed.

  They then gathered everything they could and Kaina tied the short sword to her belt, then they crept to the doorway to the store room. They didn't see anyone patrolling the tunnel, so they slowly came out into the corridor and turned towards the exit...

  Until they heard hurried footsteps coming down the stairs.

  “Find her, find her and kill her,” Drake screeched, “I don't care about the reward anymore.”

 
; Kaina's heart sank as she turned to Tristan and said, “Run to the stables, quickly!”

  They dashed out the front door, where thankfully they didn't see anyone, and headed straight for their horses. After mounting and heading for the pathway to lead down into the valley, Kaina turned just in time to see one of the gang members running out after them and shouting, “They're escaping!”

  Kaina brushed Duchess' mane with her fingers to soothe the mare, who shivered as they began to move. This did little to calm her own nerves, as when they made it to the bottom of the pathway, she could hear Drake's towering voice shouting orders to the rest of the gang. A few moments later, Kaina heard the thundering sound of hooves behind them, and when she turned, she could see Drake and about ten other men hurdling towards them on horseback at top speed.

  Kaina caught up to Tristan and said, “They're coming!”

  “We'll have to try and lose them,” Tristan called back. “If we're lucky, they'll give up before we reach the Black Forest.”

  “Why don't we just go into the forest to lose them?” Kaina asked.

  “Because it's almost sun down, and I refuse to travel through the Black Forest at night,” Tristan said.

  Kaina was about to ask once again what was in the Black Forest that made it so terrifying when an arrow flew by her head and landed just in front of Duchess' hooves. It spooked her into shifting right, but Kaina tugged her reins to correct her.

  “How far away is the forest?” Kaina asked.

  “You see that curve up ahead?” Tristan said.

  She followed his gaze to a section of the valley that curved around the base of a mountain and with it, the river as well.

  “When we make it around that curve,” Tristan said, “you'll see the Black Forest in the distance.”

  “Why don't we go around it? I think the extra time it will take to get to Eldercliff would be worth avoiding them.”

  “There's nothing but plains for miles on the eastern side, so we won't have any cover to lose them in, and the west is too rocky for our horses to travel, so they will corner us there.”

  “You mean we...”

  Tristan nodded, and said, “We have no choice: we have to enter the Black Forest.”

  They rounded the corner just in time to avoid another torrent of arrows flying their way. True to his word, Kaina could see the line of trees about half a mile ahead along with the end of the valley wall. It was at that point that she could see exactly where the Black Forest got its name. The tree line was nothing more than a black smudge on the horizon, a disease on an otherwise healthy land that no one dared to even try to cure.

  A film of mist lined the timberline, and Kaina soon began to wonder if this blight on Ilesia was truly the lesser of two evils.

  Without warning, Duchess howled and lunged forward, knocking Kaina right off and into the dirt path. She felt the sting of the dirt breaking her skin and scraping the palms of her hands as she reached out to catch herself. She skidded to a stop and turned to see what had happened.

  An arrow protruded from Duchess' hind leg, and not a second after she turned around, another flew straight through the mare's skull.

  “NO!” she cried, but she was cut short when she was yanked up by her belt and pulled onto the saddle of Tristan's horse. Tristan then took off again just in time to avoid a slice from Drake's blade.

  Tristan took off again and Kaina straightened herself out so that she was sitting directly behind him. She wrapped her arms around his waist to keep balance as he picked up speed. The gang followed close behind, but he managed to gain a bit more of a lead.

  “We aren't going to make it,” Kaina shouted.

  “We're going to make it,” Tristan said. “They're backing off.”

  Kaina turned and saw Drake and the others backing away from them and slowing to a halt. A second later, the shadow cast by the black trees enveloped them and daylight became a distant memory.

  Drake stopped his horse by yanking on the reins as his quarry disappeared into the Black Forest. The rest soon followed, and for what seemed like an eternity they all just stood there staring at the timberline.

  “Should we go in?” one of the men asked.

  “I'm not going in there,” another said.

  “But it's still daylight,” another argued, “there isn't any real danger until the sun sets.”

  Drake held up his hand and said, “We stay here until nightfall. If they're smart, they'll come out when they think we aren't around anymore.”

  “But Boss,” the man next to him said, “would they really come out knowing that we might be lurking around?”

  Drake stared at the black trees, an ominous sense of dread washing over him, and said, “They'll come out soon enough. No one stays in the Black Forest after dark.”

  The Black Forest served as a constant reminder that the world was not always simple and safe. Blackened trees dotted the land in tight clusters and made following the river difficult. Even the water seemed to slow into a dull, gray stream that was barely visible through the mist and shadows from the canopy of foliage high above them. If Kaina had not just been outside of this forest, she would assume that all color was gone from the world and only death remained.

  “This forest is...wrong,” she muttered.

  “It's been this way as long as anyone can remember,” Tristan said. “While it's certainly unsettling to be in during the day, it's still relatively safe to travel in until nightfall.”

  Kaina shivered and said, “What makes the Black Forest so dangerous?”

  “I think it would be best if I didn't tell you. One might let their imagination run wild and not be able to focus if they knew...” Tristan said.

  Kaina pursed her lips. “You don't think I can handle it?”

  “Even if I did,” Tristan said, much to her annoyance, “I don't want to take the chance. Let's just focus on getting out of here. The last thing you want to do in the Black Forest is stay in one place for too long.”

  Kaina didn't say anything else, that was until something moved in the corner of her eye. She turned her head to see what it was, but she saw what appeared to be a black mass of smoke moving around in the distance between the trees.

  Kaina shook her head. “I think that my imagination would benefit from knowing rather than not knowing.”

  Tristan didn't answer, so Kaina didn't press the issue. Instead, she dismissed the shadow as nothing more than her mind trying to scare her.

  Shadows danced around Mareth as he glided throughout the Black Forest, watching his prey's every move. The unmistakable magic contained within the book normally made his kind recoil in fear, but this was only when it was in the hands of someone who knew how to use it.

  Mareth watched from afar as Kaina and her companion rode next to the river, checking every corner for the slightest bit of movement. Kaina had noticed him previously, but she paid no heed to the danger as he predicted she would do. Typically humans were less likely to notice the awe-inspiring power that his kind possessed, but it made them no less difficult to manipulate the way he saw fit.

  Unlike humans, creatures and sentient plant life knew exactly what kind of danger that faced them when he came around. Mareth had no qualms about entering the Black Forest, for there wasn't a single living creature there who posed a threat to him.

  Mareth found a series of tree roots nearby that slithered across each other like snakes and crouched down beside one of them. When it realized that he was staring at it, the root trembled with fear and froze in the hopes that he would presume it was dead.

  Mareth smiled. “You cannot fool me, little one.”

  The root shook violently, setting off a chain reaction that caused the other roots to follow.

  “Don't fret,” Mareth purred, “I only require your assistance with a few intruders in your forest.”

  The roots calmed and stopped to listen, and then Mareth bent down further and whispered his instructions.

  Chapter 12

  Every crea
king of a tree or crunching of twigs made Kaina's blood run cold. The fading sun offered no comfort, but instead set the scene for any possibility to come true at any given moment. She tried to hide the fact that she was trembling by only taking a breath when absolutely necessary, but the shaking continued in spite of her efforts. She soon realized, however that she wasn't the source of the trembling.

  Tristan noticed too, for he suddenly picked up the pace and muttered, “That's not good.”

  “What is that?” Kaina asked. “Is it an earthquake?”

  “Oh no,” Tristan said, much to her relief. Her celebration was short-lived, however, when he added, “It's far worse.”

  Kaina saw something slither across the ground, and Tristan saw it too, for he then slapped the reins and urged his horse from a trot into a full blown gallop. Kaina turned in time to see the slithering creature chasing after them, and was horrified to see that dozens, then hundreds of similar creatures soon followed. They covered the entire path behind them and wrapped around every tree trunk as they chased them down.

  “Are those snakes?” Kaina cried.

  “They're tree roots,” Tristan said.

  “Tree roots?”

  “The plant life in this forest isn't like anything natural,” Tristan explained. “Everything here is sentient: the trees, the grass, and even the rocks, and they aren't fond of intruders.”

  “Obviously!” Kaina shouted as she whipped her head around.

  The roots soon covered the path ahead and wrapped around the horse's legs, anchoring them in place. The force sent Tristan and Kaina flying off the front of the horse and they landed on a fresh bed of roots. They weren't free for long, for soon their arms and legs were both wrapped with vines and roots until they couldn't move.

  To Kaina's horror, the roots circled around Tristan's neck and constricted until his face began to turn blue.

  “Tristan!” Kaina screamed as she struggled in vain against the iron grip of the roots.