Chapter 5: The Archer and his Son
Everything had been prepared for the Lady’s arrival. The camp was immaculate, everyone dressed in their cleanest and best clothes. Commander Gillian was an impressive sight, dressed in gleaming armor with all of her daggers strapped to her forearms and ankles. She looked like a polished weapon of war, ready for use. Sian stood by her side, slightly behind her bodyguards. The whole place was quiet.
Earlier, a handful of imperial soldiers had come into the camp. They were dressed in full armor, with blue bands around their arms to show which general commanded them. Their shields were covered with eyes to show their allegiance to the Queen of a Thousand Eyes. “General Mona’s imperial guard!” They announced, standing at attention.
They were ugly, Sian decided. Of course, some people had the unfortunate luck of being born with ugly features or something that just didn’t make them look right, but all of these guards seemed to have this sort of luck. They had oddly misshapen jaws and mouths that were too wide, noses that were too thin and eyes that were too small. It looked like a child had been in charge of making all of their faces. The guards usually wore their helmets over their faces, but not before some of the others saw. Commander Gillian didn’t seem to care, but Sian could tell she was disgusted.
“When will Lady Mona arrive?” Gillian asked the guards in her most polite voice.
“She will arrive when she wishes to,” one of the guards snapped, still standing at attention. “Lady Mona comes from the air, so she is allowed to take her time.”
His words surprised Sian. From the air? Was the general arriving on a travel griffon? He wondered what was taking her so long then, since griffons were known for flying incredibly fast.
Then, he felt it. Some oppressiveness in the air; it made him want to hide under something. His stomach suddenly jolted and his ears picked up a noise.
Thud.
It was a concussion of the air. The leaves on the trees shifted as if a breeze had blown by. The rest of the assembled spies seemed to feel it and looked around curiously.
Thud.
It was closer now, so much that Sian’s ears pounded. A wind blew through the trees, whipping up his cloak. Only the guards ignored the wind and noise.
Thud.
The ground shuddered now. The vibrations went through Sian’s feet, traveled up his spine and rattled his teeth together. Something was coming, he knew. Those were wingbeats. But it was something
huge, much bigger than a griffon.
THUD.
A shadow fell over the clearing and a giant wing created by the wingbeats nearly flattened him. Grass and dirt stung his eyes and he could hear things being blown over. He looked up and saw that there was a huge beast blocking out the sun, some that had such a huge wingspan that the trees seemed small in comparison. There was a grumbling sound, and the beast landed in the middle of the camp. The force of it touching the ground knocked Sian onto his back, but he was up a few moments later. His mouth opened in amazement.
A dragon was standing in front of them, or rather, one of the draconian race. It was actually a wyvern, something that came from the northwest and was the largest of the non-dragon species. It was nearly thirty feet tall, and that did not count the additional twenty feet the long, thick neck added. The rough sandpaper-like scales were a pale grass green, with the underside almost a greenish white shade. There were no front legs, and the forearms were actually the huge wings, but a massive pair or tickly muscled hind legs made up for it. It was the largest animal Sian had ever seen, he was sure it could rip any of the trees out of the ground with ease, and some part of his head that wasn’t frozen with fear told him that it was logical. A wyvern’s main diet were elephants that lived in the far northern reaches of Arunab, and you had to be very big if you wanted to catch an elephant.
Oddly, the wyvern was armored; plates of armor covered its legs, underside, and it was all topped off with a helmet decorated with three protruding blades so the wyvern could stab enemies whenever it thrust its head out. Sitting in a saddle that was strapped to the base of the wyvern’s neck was the general. She wore her own ornate dark blue and gold armor, which seemed to embody both beauty and deadliness. On her head sat a helm which was carved in the likeliness of a dragon’s head, which marked her as a general of the Queen’s army. A beautiful broadsword was belted to her waist, the hilt and crossguards in the shape of a flying dragon. Silver flames were designed on the blade.
The general patted her beast on the neck, and then slid off the saddle. She used the giant leg was a ladder, springing down like a deer. The cobalt blue cloak she wore flared out behind her as if she had a pair of wings herself; it was a majestic sight. The imperial guard saluted her, and Commander Gillian did the same and ordered her men to do so as well. As he did, Sian wondered what it was with women in charge. There was Gillian, then the general, and then the Queen. When he lowered his head, he watched as the general looked back and forth, very deliberately, and then she slowly grasped her helmet and removed it.
Sian heard a few men gasp, and hoped the general had not heard. As soon as the restraining helmet was gone, shoulder-length blond hair filtered down to frame here delicate face. She was pretty, very much so, but n the same way a cobra was beautiful. Graceful, delicate, with a natural beauty, but all of them were to lure you into a false sense of security and it was only too late when you realized that those were fangs biting into your neck. When she turned to Gillian, Sian could see her eyes were a light color, but she was too far away for him to tell exactly what color.
Commander Gillian bowed. “General Mona,” she said formally.
The general smiled in amusement. “Gillian,” she replied, her voice smooth and dark, like poisoned honey. She was the only person Sian had ever heard whom had called the Commander by just her name. “I see you’ve got yourself quite a group here.” She swept her eyes over the assembled crowd, and for a moment she locked gazes with Sian. He felt his stomach flip the instant she did, either from fear or her beauty, maybe a bit of both. She smirked again and snapped her finger at her guards. They were at her side in seconds. “These are a few of the imperial guards. The Queen gave them to me to help find this group you seem to have so much trouble killing.” Now she was definitely mocking them.
Gillian bowed again, wisely holding her tongue. “We have places to accommodate you and your troops, Lady,” she said.
General Mona nodded. “See to it that my wyvern is properly fed,” she ordered, patting the beast’s leg. “He’ll need about fifteen deer.” She smiled at the shocked faces and stepped forward, obviously enjoying herself.
Gillian bowed once more and set off, leading the general to her quarters. Sian was left with the guards and the wyvern. He gulped and looked the beast up and down, focusing particularly on the feet the size of wagons and the huge maw that could swallow him whole and wouldn’t even choke. The others seemed to have the same sentiments as he, they all gave the draconian a wide berth while it glared at them with yellow eyes. He quickly decided to show the guards around instead, anything to be away from that monster.
* * *
So far they had avoided more mishaps. It had been a day since the attack in Arcus, and Dreyken was still recovering. Cinder bound his wounds in bandages and used some magic to heal the tears in his wings heal. He was in no condition to fly and spent the day in Cinder’s arms. They would not be able to fly again, not for a long while. Instead they ran, so much that Cinder was coughing constantly and was on the verge of fever most of the time. Despite his weakness, he kept constantly casting magic to hide their tracks and further weakened himself.
Caron always covered their rear and Ilona scouted ahead for enemies. Their panic was growing into full-fledged paranoia, and despite all of their precautions no one remembered Ilona, who had been struck by a magic blast. That magic wrapped around her and flared like a beacon, although it was invisible to anyone unless they looked for it. Any mage worth their salt could find them no matter where they went. They also spent their second day running like this, and at one point Old Road split, one road going north to Taersis and one going south to the Windview Plains. They took the south road. By the time the sun set again they were all exhausted and couldn’t bear to stand up. Cinder was asleep almost instantly and lay curled up beneath a tree with Dreyken beside him. The other three all sat around the fire moodily.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Ilona muttered as she chewed on a stalk. “First, they sent five people, then half a city’s coming down on us.”
Gwen was scuffing her foot against the ground. “First time’s a failure, second time is a narrow escape, third time’s the charm,” she sighed, reciting an old phrase.
Her words made everyone fall silent. It wasn’t a matter of if, but when they would be attacked again. They all knew they were being hunted now, and the prospect of constantly running was not a pleasing one. Caron frowned as if contemplating a puzzle.
Ilona noticed the look and got his attention. “What are you thinking?” She asked, watching his eyes darken.
“About the town Cinder and I grew up in,” he replied. “We should be near it.”
“Is it safe?” Gwen asked.
Caron shrugged in reply. “It’s fairly deep in the woods, so it’s not well-known. But, you never know.” He noticed that Gwen was staring at him intently. “What?”
“I was right,” Gwen murmured, almost to herself. She noticed his expression and smiled. “Your eyes change color. Both yours and your brother’s.”
Ilona glanced at them in surprise. “What?” She asked, “I’ve never noticed that.”
Gwen smirked, “You weren’t looking.”
“Not the most subtle change of subject.” Caron replied, trying to sound light.
“It was never my intention to change the subject. You wanted to know what I was thinking, so you got it.”
Caron sighed, “I suppose. But I’m surprised, hardly anyone ever notices it.”
Gwen nodded. “It’s subtle. I first saw in Arcus, when Cinder was angry with me. His eyes looked black then. Just now your eyes were dark, and now, when you were surprised, they turned a bright yellow.”
Caron smiled, and before their very eyes his irises turned into a warm gold. “Yes, my eyes do that. Anyone who has had gold eyes in the family has had that happen to them, it goes back a long way.”
Gwen nodded and sat back, content with her discovery. Ilona threw up her hands at the pointlessness of the conversation and went to go sleep. The two warriors stayed awake, taking turns on watch.
* * *
Sian watched the guards nervously. It had been a day since they had arrived, and now they had their own group of horrors with them. They were called Krushken, another member of the draconian family. They were about the size of horses, and their color varied from a muddy red-brown to a muddy dark yellow. Their bodies were thin and narrow, but with stout legs that reminded Sian of a crocodile. They had thin necks with long, narrow heads that were filled with sharp teeth that tried to snap off fingers on more than a few occasions. Their wings seemed out of place, too large compared to their too small bodies. While they might have been fierce and misshapen, they were known to be the fastest fliers in the entire draconian family. The guards kept boasting that the animals while flying at full speed could catch up to the group in a day. A pretty bold announcement, since from t heir position it would take a horse nearly three times that much to even get to Arcus.
“We will get to them just before they reach the fork in the road.” General Mona once said. “According to the spell they’re heading south. No doubt to lose us in the Windview Plains.” Her crooked smile, which Sian had never seen her without, got even wider. Something about the general scared him, and it wasn’t just because she was the general. Gillian had this ugly, angry energy about her that made her scary, but the general was sweet, polite, and at the same time at a poisonous glint to her eyes and words.
The thing that cemented fear of her among the other men happened the morning after she and her guards arrived. Sian—like many others—had first been drawn to the training ground by the sound of steel against steel, crashing against each other with a racket like a madmen let loose in a smithy. When Sian had finally gotten into view, it was unlike anything Sian had even seen. The general and one of her guards were dueling, battling with such ferocity and skill that it made Sian shudder at the sight. The spy had once visited Tyronor and its infamous gladiatorial pit, where the best and fiercest warriors dared to battle, and he saw that General Mona could flatten any of the fighters he had seen. The worst part was that Mona had won, easily. Even now as she stood with her back to Sian and looking at her map, he was hoping that she would not notice his presence.
The general had wanted to head out with her soldiers to hunt, but she decided not to just in case the mission failed. She was still staring at the map when Commander Gillian came up to her. “General,” she said formally. “With all due respect, how are you going to capture them? They have a Magus with them.”
Mona turned a little, her plates of armor whispering to each other as she did. Her smile was definitely cruel now. “Capture them?” She repeated, that sweet voice sending chills down Sian’s spine. “Gillian, we’re not here to capture them. All enemies of the Queen must be killed.” She bent down and grasped something piled next to her feet. It was a huge net. “This will take care of the mage, no problem.” She must have noticed Gillian’s dubious look, but she ignored it. She handed the net to the guards’ leader, who attached it to his saddle.
“Will that be all, general?” The guard asked.
Mona seemed to think for a moment, then she handed him a compass. It was actually Sian’s compass, the one that could point to tracer spells. Commander Gillian had demanded him for it the other day and even though Sian was afraid to make his presence known the sight of his compass in their hands made him burn with anger. “If in the event that you fail,” Mona said as she handed it over. “Just know that you wouldn’t have died in vain.”
The guard nodded. He turned to his troops and shouted and soon they were all climbing on top of their Krushken. The beasts were snorting like horses and were impatient to be off, but first the riders had to strap themselves in. The saddles they were sitting in were unlike any saddle Sian had seen; there were straps all along the sides so you could strap your legs securely to the saddle. Apparently this was so that no rider would accidently fall off if their draconian made a complicated aerial maneuver. It took a few minutes to finish with the saddles, the Krushken hissing impatiently all the while. Finally the guards pulled the reins up, and with cried of delight the Krushken leaped into the air and took off. They flew like insects, zooming in one straight line before having to flap and fly off. They were gone in seconds, flying faster than anything Sian had seen, even faster than the wyvern that General Mona often flew over the camp.
The general herself stood watching for a few more seconds, then turned around and smiled. “Gillian, where are your messengers? I need to send something to the Queen.”
* * *
It was easy to tell that they were heading further south. Aside from the warmth, the west began to become more sparsely wooded in comparison to earlier, while the left still remained strong. Ilona was certain that to the left still lay Ellessearimensati, but the tower-like trees were too far away for even her to see. More Saruren began to appear as well, although none of the sandy lion-like cats attacked. Dreyken felt a little better, enough to sit on Cinder’s shoulder and look around, but Cinder refused to let him fly. Ilona was almost always in the woods, bringing back berries whenever she appeared and warning them of dangers further ahead.
It was up to Caron to lead them, for they all had decided to head for the town called Autumnleaf, where the twins had grown up. Cinder, for all of his memory, said he could not quite remember where the road turned and left the navigating up to his brother. Gwen did not believe him for a second though, since the mage seemed to have some strange aversion to the place, as if the mere idea of the town repulsed him. Either way, finding the town was easier said than done, since there were only one or two landmarks to go by.
“Are you sure you know where you’re going?” The swordsmaid asked on more than one occasion.
“Yes,” Caron would always reply. “The road is on the left. It’s very small.” That was the greatest thing about Old Road. Being the longest road on the continent, virtually every road to every city, town, or village was attached to it. You could get to anywhere in Casta as long as you knew which road to turn onto.
Ilona chose that moment to step out of the woods. She moved like a ghost and just seemed to appear out of thin air. “There’s a road about half a mile ahead,” she reported, munching on some beechnuts she had found somewhere. “It’s barely big enough to fit two horses on it, and it looks only half-used.”
“Does it have a big birch near the front?” Caron asked excitedly. Cinder’s expression told that it had better
not have a birch anywhere near it.
“Yes,” Ilona replied, watching Cinder’s lip curl in disgust.
“That’s it,” Caron said with a huge smile. “That road takes you straight to Autumnleaf."
Gwen had a smile of her own, a tired one. “How quick can we make it there?” She asked, starting to get tired of all the walking.
Caron frowned for a moment, then looked over at Cinder. The mage was busy watching a handful of birds fly across the sky, although they flew much faster than any birds he had ever seen. He answered without looking down. “That depends on how fast we’re walking. I’m no woodsperson, although I would guess that if we kept walking at our current rate then we might arrive sometime before midnight.”
Even though he already said that he might be wrong, his words were still taken into consideration. They went on, Ilona leading them to the road she had pointed out. The trees grew so close together that their branches began to intertwine, giving the feeling that one was walking down a tunnel. When they were in they were almost immediately besieged by animal noises and undergrowth. It was like being in a story and they were traveling down the wild path that led to the witch’s hut. The close trees overhead made the place much darker and flashing animal eyes watched them warily. Witch’s hut indeed.
When the sun starting to set the place became even darker. Because the road was so small, they camped off a little into the woods. They barely had time to settle down though. A noise came from the woods, like a screech. Everyone, especially Ilona, jumped. Gwen unsheathed her sword in a flash and began whipping her head around in search for trouble while Dreyken let out a fierce snarl. “What in the name of the goddess was
that?!” Gwen demanded, gripping her sword tightly to hide her shudder.
“It might have been an owl,” Caron said, looking to cinder for an answer. The Magus was frowning and was busy listening to Dreyken, who seemed to be greatly upset over something.
“I’ve never heard an owl like that,” Ilona replied. She edged forward, her knives in hand. “It sounded like someone was screaming.” After a moment of hesitation, she ran off into the forest.
Immediately Dreyken yowled and shot off into the air to follow her. Cinder ran after them with a yell of his own. Not wanting to be left behind, Caron and Gwen quickly followed him. The group ran through the woods, ducking around trees and roots, all trying to keep up with Ilona. The light of the two moons barely penetrated the thick leaves, and whenever they did they left a ghostly glow in the air. Ilona could see where she was going, and she could see a clearing up ahead. She made her way towards it, and paused at the edge for a moment.
It seemed quiet and serene, with gentle silver-blue moonlight flowing down and lighting up the place with an almost otherworldly beauty. Not even the animals were around. Ilona slowly stepped out, listening intently. Not even an insect chirped. She realized too late what that meant, and as she turned to run something rushed at her. It was a man, dressed in armor and was swinging a sword at her head. She managed to avoid it by jumping back, but this carried her right into the arms of the other soldier that had been coming up from behind her.
Cinder rushed out the moment Ilona was in trouble, but he didn’t get very far. The ground under his feet leaped up and wrapped around him. It was a net that had been hidden in the grass, and the moment it touched him it began glowing a sickly green. Cinder felt his power faded and gasped in realization; the net was draining away him magic! He tried to cast a spell to free himself, but as soon as he reached for the magic the drain on him increased so sharply that in involuntary moan escaped his lips and he went still.
“Cinder!” Caron yelled and rushed forward. There were two soldiers holding the net, and he collided with one of them and thrust his sword deep in their gut. Dreyken had already started to tear at the net, but a heavy boot kicked him away.
Gwen found herself up against two soldiers, and to her shock they disarmed her easily. They moved so fast and were so strong that they reminded her of elves, but that just didn’t make sense. Even so she fought and kicked, but as she knocked one back another grabbed her ankle and flipped her over so she hit the earth. She barely had time to get up when someone was sitting on her and pressing her arms into the grass. From the corner of her eye she finally saw Ilona’s adversaries subdue her, all while she was kicking and screaming as if she had been possessed. When Gwen looked back into the face of her captor she frowned. His face was misshapen, his eyes too far apart and his mouth too wide. It was as if someone had sculpted a face with only a vague idea of how a face was supposed to look like. Then, before her very eyes, the face disappeared and showed what was really underneath.
Gwen bit back a scream. The man’s skin was black. Not the blue-black of the far west but a smooth, deep black as if he had rubbed charcoal all over his skin. Its head was bare and it had holes were its ears would be, like a reptile’s. The eyes were slanted and a deep, luminous red; to Gwen’s shock she saw that the pupils were shaped like horizontal hourglasses. The creature smiled, and the smile stretched all the way to its ears and revealed needle-like teeth that were stark white against its skin. Gwen suppressed a shudder of horror.
Caron was still fighting, even though his opponents outmatched him, until a voice cried: “Enough!”
Everyone froze, and another one of the black-skinned creatures stepped into view. He had to be the leader, he had that air about him. He had been one of the people holding the net, and very slowly he placed a foot on Cinder’s chest Caron growled deep in his throat but didn’t move. He gripped his sword and Gwen noticed with a shock that the blood on it was bright blue. "Enough," the man repeated, his voice like claws sliding over rocks, "or I will spear this man where he lays." To make his point he drew a wicked-looking barbed spear and placed the tip against Cinder's throat. "Not a single move. That means you, drake."
Dreyken hissed long and low, but he did not dare move. Gwen had to wonder what the point was. They were going to be killed anyway, she could tell from the look in their captors' eyes. She and Ilona were hauled to their feet, the creatures keeping an unforgiving grip on them. From the edge of the woods, a snorting started up, like horses but bigger. Draconian eyes stared at them from the trees. "Krushken," Gwen heard Ilona whisper.
The leader clicked his tongue and one of the large creatures skittered over. The creature rubbed the Krushken's neck and then looked at Cinder again, a bloodthirsty gleam in his eyes. "Just a quick stab," he whispered, lifting the spear a little. "Right through the vein in the neck." He began to press the spearhead down.
There was a loud hiss, and suddenly an arrow came streaking out of the woods. It was going so fast that it pierced the creature's skin between a junction in its armor and ended going straight through its body. It stared at the shaft of the arrow with a look of dumb surprise on its face, then fell over backward. The Krushken shrieked, the sound they had heard earlier, and took off. The other men looked around in an attempt to figure out where the arrow had come from when anther flew out from the opposite direction and suck into another's neck.
The one holding Gwen grabbed her in a headlock and unsheathed his sword. "Show yourself!" He shouted, looking around wildly and keeping her in front of him.
His answer was another arrow. Gwen didn't even see it coming, and it thudded into the creature a few inches away from her head. There was a wet thunk, with the undercurrent of cracking bones, and the creature let go of Gwen with a hiss of pain. She quickly elbowed him in the stomach and jumped away. It was chaos now, the Krushken were trying to take off and their wingbeats were tossing up dirt and grass that was blinding everyone and the creatures were hissing and running around trying to find their invisible shooter. Caron had gotten free and was tugging the net off of his brother, who was barely conscious. All the while the deadly arrows rained out of the forest.
Ilona had found Gwen's sword, and she handed it to the warrior absently. There was only one creature left, and he ran for the woods. An arrow sunk into his leg and made him trip, and almost an instant later another sailed out of the woods and found its mark between his shoulders. He finally fell to the ground and did not get up.
All was quiet after the arrows stopped. The Krushken were gone and none of the soldiers moved. Caron was still trying to get Cinder to wake up, even though the mage was limp and unresponsive. Ilona wasn't too sure about her observational skills, but somehow it looked as if Cinder had gotten worse than he usually looked. His skin looked bone white in the moonlight and the shadows in his eyes and cheeks were more pronounced that before. He somehow managed to look like he had lost a week of sleep within the length of three minutes.
Ilona could hear soft footsteps approaching, two of them, both of them coming from a different direction. She knew the others couldn't hear it, the owners of those steps were trying not to be heard. She went over to one of the soldiers and yanked free a short sword and held it in front of her. Her eyes peered into the darkness to look for the shooter or shooters.
He stepped out of the woods silently, like shadows made solid. He held a bow that still had an arrow knocked in it. Almost every inch of him was hidden by a large green cloak that blended in with the forest and made him nearly impossible to see, and his face was hidden by a hood. From the other side of the clearing another figure stepped out, although this one was younger and thinner. He had on a similar cloak, but his bow was empty.
The larger one paused, and his head swept back and forth as he looked at the dead soldiers. When it was apparent that they were, in fact, quite dead, he slid his arrow back into the quiver and slung his bow across his back. "Are you alright?" He asked, looking at the group. His voice was soft and gentle, warm like a ray of sunshine.
Gwen seemed to be a bit distrustful, and Caron and Cinder weren't going to say anything anytime soon, so it left Ilona to do the talking. Yet again, apparently. She lowered her sword in what she hoped was a friendly gesture. "Yes, we are. Thank you," she said, hoping she didn't sound ungrateful.
"Father, this one doesn't look too good," the smaller one said, the voice of a boy. He was staring at Cinder, who seemed to be even worse.
The man looked over at the twins and started to move forward. Gwen narrowed her eyes, but Ilona placed a hand on her shoulder. These people had just saved their lives, so the least they could do was place some trust in them. "One of the Magi," the man said, his voice amazed. "What happened to him?" He reached out to touch Cinder, but Caron pulled away and glared at him.
"Look at this net," the boy said. He tried to grab it and it started to glow green, causing him to drop the net. "It drains energy away."
Caron knew that keeping Cinder out in the open like this wasn't the smartest of ideas. "Do you know where the town of Autumnleaf is?" He asked with a pleading look at their savior.
"Of course I do," the man replied. He paused, and then drew back his hood. "I'm Alan Owensson, a forest ranger and a guide." The face underneath was well sculpted and incredibly handsome, with very tanned skin and slightly messy brown hair. He had a casual, easy smile that seemed to belie the current situation. "It's a few miles from here, if you're willing to walk."
"We are," Caron replied instantly, standing up. He held his brother in his arms as if he weighed nothing more than a child.
Gwen and Ilona knew that Caron would go on whether they wanted to or not, so they simply nodded at the ranger. Alan swiftly went over to the net and picked it up. He stuffed it into his pack and looked around. "Ugly looking things," he muttered, nudging a corpse with his boot. "What are they?"
"We have no idea," Gwen replied. "Doesn't matter now, though."
Alan laughed, looking back up at her. "No, I suppose not." He agreed, then lifted his hood back up. "Well, I suppose we better get going."
"Do you need help with anything?" The younger one asked. His hood had fallen back to reveal a boy that had to be at least fifteen years old. He had pale skin and the most beautiful blue eyes Ilona had ever seen. His hair was an odd reddish-brown and lay flat along his head.
Ilona frowned in puzzlement. "No, we're fine." She peered at the teenager, and couldn't help herself. "Did you call him Father? You two don't look anything alike."
Oh, I know," the teen replied cheerfully. "He's my adoptive father, took me in when I was younger. My name's Faolan Pryder, and you can tell Alan's not my father 'cause he always says he would never have named me Faolan Owensson in a thousand years."
A sigh came from up ahead. "Don't talk them to death, Faolan," Alan said. "Please excuse him, he talks so much that he'd have a conversation with a tree if he could."
Ilona smiled to herself. She had a feeling that if Faolan was an elf then he would spend days talking to the trees. And yet there was something strangely odd about the boy, but she couldn't tell exactly what. It wouldn't matter that much anyway, since they were now under the trees again and their chances of seeing were gone. Ilona still had slightly better night vision, although it wasn't a whole lot better. To her surprise Alan navigated through the forest as if he had night vision himself, although he had to have been doing it from memory. She watched him, making only the slightest noise as he moved in comparison to the rest of the group.
They were making slow progress, everyone knew that. It was mainly because they weren't using the road, but Gwen insisted that they stick to the forest. She was certain that there were others around besides the men that had captured them, and Ilona had to agree with her. Nothing bothered then, except for the night animals. Once they saw the eyes of a Saruren staring at them, but Alan made a growling noise and it went away.
To them it seemed as if time had slowed to a painful crawl. If they thought everything looked the same in the daylight then when night fell it was even worse. Ilona couldn't use the stars to check the time, so they were all blind with no sense of place or time. However irritating that was, Ilona knew there wasn't much they could do about it.
"Let's see, I think that's the town up ahead," Alan said what seemed to be hours later. He pointed, and Ilona noticed the dots of light in the distance.
"Oh, it sure is," Faolan agreed with a smile. "It's the back of Loren's inn, you can tell from the lights."
They stepped out of the woods, trailing leaves behind them. The place seemed like a stereotypical sleepy town; the only place with lights inside was the inn. Alan led them to the front door and gently knocked. A few seconds later it was answered by a young woman.
"Oh!" She gasped in delight. "Alan, it's so good to see you!" At first it looked as if she and Alan were related, but a closer examination disproved the idea. Even though they both shared green eyes and brown hair, Alan's eyes and hair were much darker than the woman's. She was smiling widely and her gaze turned to the people behind him. "Who are your friends?"
Ilona saw Alan smile, an incredibly charming transformation of his face. "Some people Faolan and I rescued from the woods. They were being attacked by monsters."
"How kind of you," the woman said, and then her smile suddenly vanished. Her eyes grew wide. "Caron!" She exclaimed, and her shock disappeared and was replaced with joy. "I can’t believe it! Is that really you?"
Caron's eyes widened in turn, and his irises turned brighter until they were almost a lemon yellow. "Lisa?" He asked. "Oh my gods, I barely recognized you!"
Everyone looked between Caron and the woman, especially Alan. "You two know each other?" The archer asked.
"Idelisa and I grew up together," Caron explained, a smile of his own forming. His eyes were darkening a little and his moth was definitely a teasing grin.
The woman sighed. "It's just Lisa," she corrected, suddenly reminding Ilona of Gwen. She peered at Caron, and then she saw the body in his arms. She gasped, "Gods! Is that Cinder? What happened to him?" She rushed forward to get a better look at the mage and gently placed her hand on his forehead. "He's really cold," she murmured.
Caron, who had briefly forgotten his brother, once again took on that worried tone. "I don't think he's injured, but he's been unconscious for a long time now. Do you have a place where he can rest?"
Lisa nodded and slipped outside and closed the door behind her. She wore an apron over her clothes and carried a tray under one arm. "I'll take around to the side door," she said and led them to the side of the inn. "It's a door for the barmaids and servants, and Alan always insists coming through this way." The door had a staircase just inside, and Lisa led them up the tightly-packed stairs. The staircase led them right to the hallway where the guest room were laid, and many of them seemed empty. Lisa went to one of the rooms at the end of the hall and opened the door to reveal a huge room with two beds, a fireplace, and enough left over room for copious amounts of furniture. "I hope you plan to pay for this," she said teasingly as Caron brushed by her.
"We will," Caron promised and set Cinder on one of the beds. When he did, Dreyken immediately curled up near Cinder's head and stayed there.
"Thank you, Lisa," Alan said, sounding sincere. He was the last one in and turned to Lisa to talk to her.
Lisa smiled warmly, and the smile seemed to light up her entire face. "It's for some friends, there's nothing to thank me for," she replied. She looked around at the others. "Will you be alright?" She asked, mainly towards Gwen and Ilona, whom she did not know.
Ilona looked up and smiled tiredly. "Thanks, but we're fine." She said. She then noticed that Lisa was staring at her ears. "Yep, I'm an elf," she said, pulling back her hair to reveal the delicate ears that curved into points.
Her words made Lisa jump and blush. "Oh, I'm sorry," she stammered, "I didn't mean to stare. You just don't see elves around here."
"I know what you mean," Ilona replied with a laugh. "I'm Ilona and this is my friend, Gwen. She would say thanks as well, but she's too rude to."
"Am not," Gwen muttered, who was busy peering out the window.
Lisa smiled again, although the embarrassed blush didn't fade. She hooked some hair behind her ear and said, "I'll go tell Loren that you guys are up here." She said and left, leaving the door slightly open.
Alan brushed his hands off and turned to the others. "Well, I got you guys to Autumnleaf, like you asked. Is there anything else you lovely ladies need from me?" Caron noticed that he was talking only to Ilona and Gwen.
Gwen rolled her eyes and Ilona sat down on the other bed. "How well do you know these woods?" She asked politely, an idea forming in her head.
Alan turned to her, as if asking if she was serious. "Shoot, I've been in these woods all my life. Best ranger around, people say." He had a slight southern accent, which Ilona found a little endearing. The ranger folded himself into a chair, resting his chin on its back.
This would be perfect, Ilona realized. She smiled at him sweetly, knowing that a simple smile could convince more men than words. "Well, sticking to the road has gotten us nowhere. Could you guide us south through the woods?"
Her reply was a small smile and a nod. "Sure I can, although you need to do something for me first."
Ilona's stomach sank, although her face did not change. "What do you want?" She asked.
"Tell me why you want to keep off the roads." Alan answered, and even though he still smiled his voice was firm. Faolan looked over in curiosity.
The group exchanged glances. It wasn't a bad request, but with all of the attacks happening lately they were reluctant to tell anyone anything. Gwen set her jaw stubbornly and refused to talk, and Caron was obviously more worried about Cinder. Ilona sighed and wondered why
she was the one who always had to talk. The four of them had some sort of secret that perhaps they didn't know the importance of, but they needed someone to guide them, and Alan already saved them from soldiers so he had to be a good guy. She took a deep breath and decided to take the gamble and see what happened. She began telling Alan everything, Demar's request, leaving Iceberry and being attacked, heading to Arcus and being attacked again, and the latest ambush which he had saved them from. Alan listened intently, and Faolan's eyes kept growing wider. When she was done, Alan sat back, deep n thought.
"Wow," Faolan gasped, "that's amazing! It's like you're playing out one of those heroic stories in faerie tales."
"That's what I'm starting to think," Gwen muttered.
"This is no faerie tale," Alan said darkly. "This is the Queen's doing."
Ilona's head came up. "What Queen?" She asked in puzzlement. "Casta doesn't have a queen."
"I know that," Alan said with a violent shake of his head. "I mean the Queen of a Thousand Eyes. The leader of the northern armies."
There came gasps from all around. "A queen commands those armies?" Gwen asked, shocked.
"Yeah," Faolan told her. "She came from the barbarian race of people from way up north, where the ground turns to frost and ice. People say that there were all these scattered tribes and she united them and raised an army so—" He paused as Alan waved a hand and cut him off.
The man looked troubled. "There are lots of rumors floating around towns, most of them filled with nonsense and mixed-up facts. In fact, there's even this one rumor that a group of adventurers are on a quest to defeat the Queen." He leveled a gaze at them that was like green fire. "That wouldn't happen to be any of you, would it?"
Ilona let out a low groan and fell back on the bed. "What in the nine pits of Evermore have we gotten ourselves into?" She asked the ceiling, her voice heavy and leaden.
"How in the world can there be rumors about what we're doing?!" Gwen demanded Alan. "We haven't breathed a word about anything to anyone, where would they get the facts from?"
"Hey, I don't make up the rumors. I just repeat what I've heard," Alan replied, holding his hands out in a peaceful gesture.
"This is nuts," Gwen said, glaring at the archer as if the entire thing was his fault. "We aren't out on some sort of heroic quest. Gods below, we barely have any idea what we're doing!" She kicked a bed in frustration, and the thunk of metal on wood echoed throughout the room.
"Please don't damage the beds," Lisa said, suddenly poking her head into the room. "Those cost money, and lots of it too."
Everyone jumped like startled cats. "How long have you been out there?" Alan asked, knowing the only way she could have appeared that fast was if she had been waiting outside the door.
"Oh about. . .the beginning," Lisa replied with a guiltless smile. She came in, her arms full of a tray laden with food. "I think it's still warm, Basil cooked it only recently." She set the tray on a table and sighed, looking tired all of a sudden. "Really, it doesn’t matter what you're doing this quest for. If whatever you're doing stops the Queen, then I'm sure everyone in Casta, beggar to noble, will be very grateful." She sighed and sat down next to Caron. "There are monsters in Casta, you know. We're not supposed to tell anyone, but everyone knows it."
"There have always been monsters in Casta," Caron said in an attempt to reassure her.
"Not these kinds of monsters," Lisa replied moodily. The way she spoke, it was as if she had been carrying around the words for a while and just had to throw them out to relieve herself of her burden. "People say that generals in the Queen's army ride on giant wyverns caught from the northern grasslands. They have creatures that pull the catapults for the humans, animals with ice for teeth and glowing eyes, and some say that the men in the Queen's army aren’t men at all, but men-like creatures with black skin and teeth like needles."
Her words made the others stir uneasily. Gwen especially remembered that grinning face above her, with milk-white teeth that were all sharpened to points. There had to be some truth to rumors after all. "Ridiculous," she muttered, although her voice held no conviction.
"Hey Alan, didn’t we see people like that?" Faolan piped up. "They had black skin with these glowing red eyes—" He broke off again as Lisa gasped and went very white.
"Lisa!" Caron and Alan gasped at the same time. Caron put his hand on her shoulder and Alan berated Faolan for not keeping his tongue.
"I'm fine," Lisa said, smiling slightly and nodding. "It just shocked me, you hardly ever come across any true rumors." Her eyes still seemed very bright and she was trembling a little. "Don't worry, it's not like I plan to tell anyone. Although I'm at least glad that I know a bit of what Casta is up against. It's horrible when everything is left up to your imagination." For a moment she looked sad, but it was gone as quickly as it came. "You know Caron, I'm not at all surprised you're a part of this. It sounds exactly like the trouble you and Cinder usually get into." She stood up and brushed her hands off on her apron, suddenly seeming a little awkward. She nodded at the others and left, this time closing the door fully.
Caron watched her go with a small smile. "At least some things never change." He remarked, remembering when he was little and hardly anything could scare Lisa, not even a spider in her hair. He was snapped out of his reverie as Cinder shifted a little in his sleep.
A sigh preceded Alan’s comment. “Alright, I’ll help you. It’s not like I have anything better to do anyway.” His grin was crooked, giving him a roguishly handsome appearance. “In fact, I’ll do it free of charge, since you ladies asked me so nicely.”
Ilona nearly jumped with joy. “Thank you,” she said gratefully. “It’ll be a major help to us.”
“My pleasure,” Alan replied. He stood up, somehow managing to make the movement look graceful, and took up his bow. “Come on, Faolan. We’ll leave them to rest.”
“Father,” Faolan replied, standing near Cinder’s head. “I’m not sure if he’s okay. His breathing has gotten slower.”
Caron immediately leaned forward and placed his fingers on Cinder’s neck. “His lifebeat seems okay,” he said doubtfully. “Sometimes he does this when he’s asleep.” Despite his words he still looked worried.
The others frowned, and Faolan reached out to check for himself. He did not get very far; his fingers barely touched cinder’s skin when suddenly a pale hand gripped his wrist tighter than a steel trap. Faolan yelped and tried to back away as the mage suddenly sat up, but he couldn’t go anywhere.
“Cinder!” Caron gasped in shock.
The others started forward, and then hesitated. Faolan tried to pull away, but for such a skinny frame Cinder had a surprising amount of strength. The boy noticed with a shock that his irises were a brilliant gold, shot through with dark red. Those eyes peered directly into his, and Faolan had the sudden disconcerting feeling that those eyes were reading his soul. “Blue,” the mage suddenly said, frowning. “A deep, rich blue. Like the color of royalty.” There was a horrifying blankness to his face that said that Cinder was probably not seeing any of them in the room.
He wasn’t making any sense either. Faolan looked to the others, who all seemed to believe that Cinder had suffered some sort of head wound and was speaking gibberish. However, Alan had a different reaction. His eyes grew huge and he went over to Faolan and pried Cinder’s hand away from him. As soon as he let go Cinder lost the intense gaze, and for a moment he looked around as if he had absolutely no idea where he was. “What in the world?” He muttered and suddenly fell back, upsetting Dreyken.
In an instant Caron was with him again. “I don’t believe it,” he said as he checked Cinder’s pulse again. “He’s still asleep. His lifebeat hasn’t changed the slightest bit.”
The others looked just as confused as Caron, and Alan and Faolan stood over to the side awkwardly. “Let’s hope he’s better in the morning,” Alan said and left quickly. Faolan trailed behind him and gave the others a wary glance before shutting the door.
When they were gone, Ilona looked at the other three with a frown plastered across her face. “That was odd,” she said.
“Thanks for the obvious,” Gwen muttered. She had turned back to the window and was cursing under her breath.
Ilona sighed; ever since they had come into this room she had seen Gwen turn away from the window only four times. “Oh, come away from there.” She sighed exasperatedly, pulling Gwen by the arm and shutting the curtains. “What are you doing anyway?”
“Checking for more of those things,” Gwen replied, starting to strip off her armor. She laid them in a neat and organized pile next to her pack.
Ilona frowned a little and Caron looked shocked. “What are you talking about?” Caron asked, reaching for some food from the tray.
Gwen was busy arranging her things, but Ilona had the feeling she was just doing that so she could think clearly. “When we were caught,” the violet-eyed woman started, wording her sentence carefully and slowly. “There were about six or seven men. I think seven. But there were nine Krushken. That means that there might be two more of those monsters running around.”
Her words brought a chill to the room. Caron topped chewing and Ilona stood stock still. She shuddered violently. “Oh
please don’t give me thoughts like that,” she said. “The idea of two more monsters out there is just. . .” She trailed off, looking for the right words.
But no words needed to be said. The others got the idea perfectly well. Caron pondered the issue, and said, “Well, they can’t find us at the moment, right?”
“They might,” Ilona muttered, rubbing her temples. They had found them on Autumnleaf’s barely-used road, had they not? “Cerdwin, I have a headache.”
Gwen glanced over at her worriedly. “Get some sleep,” she said softly and reached for a bit of food herself. “I’ll stay awake. Nothing’ll get in here if I have anything to say about it.”
Ilona murmured something indistinct and then fell on the free bed. She curled up on her side like a cat and tried to sleep. Gwen watched her, and then concentrated on her food, suddenly realizing how hungry she was. “This is pretty good,” she commented.
Caron grinned, as if sharing some private joke. “Well, you can tell Lisa didn’t cook this food. If she had, she might have poisoned us all.”
Gwen paused and looked at Caron. His expression begged for a laugh, and she gave him one. The both of them laughed over the joke, and even though it might not have been terribly funny it felt so good to laugh that Gwen had to make sure she wasn’t too loud. She had a feeling that neither of their sleeping companions would be happy if they were awakened.
((So as of now this story is 58 pages in Word. Awesomesauce.
))
))