Into the Fray: Volume 1 of The Sorcerers of Jhanvia Series (25 page)

Kaitra tried to summon up her magics, but she was dizzy and unbalanced. Something was wrong, but events were upon her. As the soldiers took aim, Kidreyli looked over to Kaitra, her face brandishing that concessionary smile one has when you know your end is at hand, and grounded her sword. The sorceress took a deep breath, bringing in all the energy she could muster, and flung it in the direction of the warrior with both hands as the soldiers let fly with their arrows and crossbow bolts. A powerful cyclone of wind, dust and magic encircled Kidreyli and deflected the weapons far into the forest in all directions.

As the effects of the spell subsided, two arrows unexpectedly flew in from the forest, each hitting their separate targets. Two of the soldiers fell with arrows protruding from their backs. Those arrows were immediately followed by two more, one finding its mark in a soldier’s throat and the other lodged firmly in another soldier’s chest. A moment later, the sound of powerful hooves could be heard emanating from the trees. The soldiers turned about to face their attackers just as the swords from a pair of Valtyr lopped off their heads.

The soldiers on horseback who had been observing from afar turned and galloped away. The two Valtyr stopped their Katrion and looked at each other. One motioned with her head to the other and they both smiled. They drew their bows and each of them fired an arrow that found the backs of the fleeing horsemen. The soldiers both fell in death from their saddles.

Kidreyli ran to Kaitra’s aid. The sorceress had collapsed into the dirt and was quickly fading from consciousness.

“What’s wrong?” Kidreyli asked frantically as her hand came up bloody from touching the wounds in her lover’s side.

She replied, “I don’t know. I’m dizzy and I’ve lost feeling in my arms.”

The two Valtyr had ridden up and overheard them speak. One of them remarked, “Sounds like poison.”

Her lover dismounted, picked up one of the arrows lying on the ground and sniffed the point, “Definitely poison.”

Kidreyli asked the two Valtyr without looking at them, “Do you have any antidote?”

One of the Valtyr held out her hand and her Katrion came to her. She took a small flask from a leather bag affixed to her saddle and handed it over. “I’m not sure how well it will work for her. Pour it on the wound and have her drink it,” she instructed.

One of the elders came up, leading the rest of the villagers and he said, “Thank you so much for helping us.”

With a sense of urgency Kidreyli explained, “She’s been poisoned. Is there a place where she can rest out of the sunlight?”

“Follow me,” he stated.

Kidreyli carefully picked up Kaitra and followed him to a nearby hut. A woman from the village followed as well. The two Valtyr looked at each other, a little surprised and confused.

The elder motioned toward the straw bed. Kidreyli gently laid Kaitra’s head back on the pillow and pushed the hair from her face.

The woman who followed them into the hut explained, “I’m a healer. Let me look at her.” Kidreyli backed away as the middle-aged woman dressed in classic village garb examined the wound. She held her hand over Kaitra’s heart and closed her eyes. “The poison is deep within her,” she reported. “The Valtyr antidote should help and I have some things that should be effective. With that combination, I believe she will be well. I’ll be right back.”

“Thank you,” the young Valtyr replied as the woman hurried off.

“Drey,” Kaitra’s voice was weak and her forehead was covered in sweat.

“I’m here, my love.”

“I got hurt again. I’m sorry,” the sorceress struggled to get the words out through a pained smile.

“You certainly seem to attract injury.”

“I know. You’re going to have to break me of this. Did we save the villagers?”

“We did. And you saved me.”

“I think that…makes us even.”

Kidreyli wiped her forehead with a cloth. “You should rest now.”

“I’m feeling cold.”

The warrior pulled a blanket over her as the village healer returned with her supplies. She explained, “This woman is going to help. I’ll be right outside.”

“I love you,” Kaitra said with shortened breath.

Kidreyli leaned over and kissed her. “I love you.”

The healer explained, “I’m going to treat and bandage her wound. This potion should be effective against the poison.”

She put her hand on the woman’s shoulder and said, “Thank you.”

The woman nodded her acknowledgement and knelt down next to Kaitra to begin her work. Kidreyli walked outside, closed her eyes and faced upward toward the sky.

“Kidreyli?” a familiar voice carried through the air.

She looked over to see who was asking. “Nidreyka. It’s so good to see you.” She stepped over and gave her oldest friend a firm, passionate hug. Nidreyka was the same age as Kidreyli, but she was a few inches taller and her shoulders were a bit wider. She wore the usual Valtyr warrior clothing which was filled out with her pronounced muscles. Her long blond hair was a bit unkempt from riding in the winds and fell to the lowest part of her back. The companion who stood behind her was a few years younger and a bit shorter than Kidreyli, but she had those same muscles and that famous northern hair.

Nidreyka responded, “It is good to see you again, my friend. This is my anamhra, Dikaylia.”

Kidreyli gave a firm hug to her and said, “It is an honor to finally meet you.”

“And you,” Dikaylia replied. “My love speaks of you all the time.”

“All good, I hope?”

Well…mostly,” she laughed under her words.

“I appreciate the assistance,” Kidreyli said. “These new soldiers are getting better trained and organized all the time. Why are you both so far from home?”

The look on Nidreyka’s face told the tale. “Actually, we came looking for you. Your mother is ill. She’s not expected to live much longer. We came to bring you home so you could see her before she crosses.”

Kidreyli was stunned. “What’s wrong with her?”

“I’m not exactly sure. Suliya was talking about some abnormal growth within her. It seems to have taken her over.”

“She seemed fine the last time I saw her.”

“The Valrakul don’t hold out any hope. They say she could cross within the month,” Nidreyka explained, putting her hand on her friend’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry, my sister.”

Kidreyli stood silent as Tyral came up behind her with Sestru still in tow. You could almost see the tears welling in Tyral’s eyes at this news.

“How is it I did not sense this?” Kidreyli asked herself out loud.

“We’ve noticed recently that our ability to sense the feelings and well-being of others within our people has diminished significantly,” Nidreyka explained. “That is why we came looking for you.”

“We should leave straight away,” Dikaylia stated.

“I can’t. Not until Kaitra is well,” Kidreyli stated.

“Kaitra?” Nidreyka asked.

“She is my anamhra.”

“You bonded with an outsider?” A glimmer of Dikaylia’s outrage sparked to the surface.

Nidreyka put her hand on her lover’s shoulder as a sign to calm. She smiled at her friend, “My Kidreyli, always the one to swim upstream.”

“I need to get back to her.”

“Go. We’ll wait as long as needed,” replied Nidreyka.

Kidreyli smiled her acknowledgement and went back into the hut.

“You seem very calm for someone whose best friend has betrayed our culture to an outsider,” Dikaylia observed.

“You presuppose the facts. Let’s be patient and see where this leads.”

“If our culture has been betrayed, we are honor bound to kill the outsider.”

Nidreyka’s voice was firm and her overtly domineering deep blue eyes commanded all of Dikaylia’s attention, “You are correct. But before any action like that is taken, I want to know exactly what’s going on. If it becomes necessary, I will be the one to kill her. This is strictly between Kidreyli and me. Do you understand?”

“Yes, my love. I will respect your friendship with Kidreyli.”

Nidreyka kissed her, smiled and said, referring to the battle, “That was fun.”

Dikaylia smiled back, “Exhilarating, really. Makes me want to go hunt more of them.”

Nidreyka looked over and said, “Tyral, good to see you again, my friend.”

The Katrion responded into her mind, “And you, old friend.”

“Kidreyli been treating you well?”

“As well as one could expect. You know she’s always off in some other non-existent, idyllic world.”

Nidreyka laughed, “That’s our girl. We’re going to get settled in for the night. We’ll talk later.”

Kidreyli stood back in the shadows as the healer finished tying on a new bandage on Kaitra’s wound from a few days earlier. The sorceress was only half-conscious and her breathing was labored. Her face and neck were covered in sweat as her body fought the poisons. There was a large bandage wrapped tightly around her waist, a little blood was already oozing its way through where the arrow had found its mark.

The healer stood and explained, “I have treated her wound and bandaged it firmly. I used sticky leaves from a gruto plant to pull the wounds closed, but they will still drain a bit. I don’t think the arrow hit anything vital, but it did cause quite a bit of damage. I’m afraid there
is not much else to be done at this time. She will need to work through this on her own. This jar contains water mixed with several herbs. As often as she is able, have her drink it.”

“I will,” Kidreyli said as she took the jar from her.

“She is going to have a fever as this progresses. Try to keep her cool. Use the water in the bowl to make a damp cloth and apply it often to her face.”

“I understand.”

“I took the opportunity to re-wrap the wound on her arm. I saw that she was going to have a deep scar so I applied a little concoction I have that will make it less noticeable.”

“Thank you,” Kidreyli said. However, she thought to herself how disappointed Kaitra will be if her scar is not so bold.

The healer noted, “Someone should stay with her. If you’d like, I’ll….”

The Valtyr interrupted, “I will be with her.”

The woman put her hand on Kidreyli’s arm. “Please call me if you feel the need.”

“What is your name?”

“I am Dubhni.”

“Thank you. I will be forever grateful.”

Dubhni smiled and took her leave. Kidreyli could not take her eyes away as she watched her walk across the open area of the village. Something about her distracted the warrior’s attention, but she could not put her mind on it. The woman exuded some unexplainable influence. Once Dubhni was out of sight, her mind snapped back to the one who lay before her.

Kidreyli stood looking down on Kaitra for a few minutes, holding on so tightly to the pendant around her neck that her palm started to bleed where her claws had dug into her skin. She knelt down next to the bed and sat the jar on the floor. She dabbed a bit of water on a cloth and wiped the remaining dried blood from Kaitra’s lips. She looked
outside and saw that the day’s light was retreating. She called out with her mind, “Tyral, are you out there?”

“I am here, my dear,” Kidreyli heard in her mind.

“Are you both all right?”

“We’re fine. You just focus on bringing Kaitra through this.”

Kidreyli’s eyes misted over as she said in her thoughts, “Eirran told me to protect her at all costs. I’m not doing a very good job of that, am I?”

“She is not going to die.”

“Are you guessing or foreseeing?”

Tyral confirmed, “Foreseeing. Their poison is strong, but she is stronger. It will take some time for her to be free of it, but free of it she will be.”

“I love her so much,” Kidreyli said with conviction as she squeezed Kaitra’s hand.

“I know you do. Just stay with her and let her draw strength from you.”

“I apologize. I’m just feeling a little vulnerable right now,” Kidreyli said out loud.

“You are one of the strongest Valtyr I have ever known. You are entitled to a vulnerable moment from time to time. Have you given any thought to how you will convince Nidreyka to spare her life?”

“No. Nidreyka is my best friend and she is as fair-minded as they come. She will do the right thing, I’m sure of it.”

A short time ago, in Castle Caerlyk, a small contingent of military elite carrying torches were following the man dressed in an ornate red cloak down the stone stairs into the deepest, darkest recesses of the castle. He stepped onto the cold stone floor of the lowest level and stated firmly, “All right, Dulica, Zakrell tells me that you have something I must see, so here I am.”

“My lord Satreka,” Dulica bowed and replied, motioning toward a large bowl of water. “Please come…come over here.” The warlord followed his sorcerer as he continued, “As you know, my lord, we set a spell on certain of your soldiers which allow us to see through their eyes.”

“Yes, I know. Get on with it,” Satreka commanded firmly.

The Sorcerers of Jhanvia, who were standing at the far end of the room, had paused briefly from their ongoing ritual to listen to Dulica explain his discovery.

“A contingent of your soldiers was in the village of Klinar today, where they were engaged by a Valtyr and a woman. The events were most extraordinary,” he said as he motioned to one of his assistants.