Night Calls the Raven (Book 2 of The Master of the Tane) (50 page)

Braxton held Jack’s eyes for a moment as if waiting for something more but when nothing was forthcoming he sighed and again took the lead. “Very well then.”

“Sir,” Dainz suddenly spoke up. “I’m sorry, sir,” he said a bit nervously, “but I feel I must know the reason why four Tjal warriors are here at Haykon and why they have been invited to these proceedings at all.”

His question invited Jne’s lethal gaze and a curt retort. “You should be thankful that we haven’t left you here alone to rot as a troll’s meal.”

Thane placed a hand on her arm but she shook it off and half rose in her seat. Jack spoke quickly trying to defuse the situation. “They are friends of mine, Captain,” he said. “I invited them because all have seen first hand the forces we are up against. Jne is right, we are lucky to have their swords.”

Dainz glanced quickly at the Colonel and then continued. “If they are as friendly as you say, Jack, then can we expect more of them to help when the fighting starts?”
              Jack sighed and then shook his head. “You have a lot to learn about Tjal honor, Captain. First of all, I suggest you apologize before you are marked
W’airt
and a blood price is placed on you. Secondly, I hope your apology is accepted enough so that we may gain the help and trust from the Tjal that part of this meeting was supposed to address.”

Dainz glanced briefly at Braxton, whose face had the distinct look of forcefully controlled anger, before turning back to Jne and quickly bowing his head. “It was not my intension to insult, Mistress Jne. Please accept my apologies for speaking out of turn and in ignorance.”

Jne held his gaze for a long anxious moment. Thane touched her arm and then leaned in close. “
T’unik’ye
,” he said softly. “
T’oban’ba
.”

Jne’s eyes narrowed for a second, her hands tightening on the table before she finally let out a deep sigh and relaxed, nodding her head slightly. The tenseness that crackled in the air seemed to suddenly lift as everyone in the room let out a collective sigh. Tam, not knowing the common tongue, or Tjal language, leaned over to Jack and whispered in Chufa, “What just happened?”

Jack didn’t look at her but replied under his breath, “The saving of a life.”

Flashing a withering look at his subordinate, Myles regarded the four Tjal and simply asked, “Since the subject has been breached, we would ask if there might be help forthcoming from the Tjal?”

Jne shrugged, her mood still dark. “I cannot speak for my people. Each will follow his own footsteps in what he does.”

“Yes,” Braxton pressed, “I understand the Tjal way, but I would still ask for the support of your master warriors. What gathers to attack affects us all in the end. This is not just our war. If nothing else, your people need to be warned. Fore should the wall hold and the hordes be
checked, the other way out is through the southern pass that empties right into the northern part of your lands. And if I am not mistaken, that is also where your own Tja normally runs.”

His words seemed to strike a chord in Jne and her face softened a bit. “I know of the threat to my people,” she said, inclining her head slightly. “It has been a heavy part of my thoughts for many days. But I am
Jinghar
. I cannot answer.”

Thane caught the swift movement of Jack’s head as he turned abruptly to look at him. He had left that part out of his story the other day when he’d rehearsed what had happen to him since being taken by the dragon. His sensitive ears also picked up the soft whistle escaping Jack’s lips as if in awed disbelief.

Thane tried to ignore Jack’s reaction while leaning close to Jne so he could whisper into her ear. “If asked, will your people come?”

She glared at him.
“
Our
people. And, like I said, I am not certain. We have never had a great relationship with these.”

Thane wanted to say that neither had his people but instead answered, “I understand, but the colonel is right. This is not just about one race. It’s about the existence of us all. We need all the help we can get.”

Jne nodded her understanding and then moved her head slightly so she could see Tam who, like everyone else, was watching them and waiting for their answer. She sighed heavily. She knew he was right. She knew that should the enemy not break through the narrow pass wall that they would certainly descend upon the plains if that wasn’t, in fact, their primary route to begin with. It had been tearing at her mind for days about what she would have to do but she was hesitant to leave Thane.

“I will go,” she finally whispered to him. “I will go and get what help I may if you order me to.”

Thane’s eyes darkened. “If I order you to?”

“Yes. I am
Jinghar
. My place is with you. But, if you order me to go, I will go to our people and raise as many swords as I can to bring back to you. They also need to be warned about what is coming.”

Thane watched her for a moment, sensing something in her demeanor that seemed almost like sorrow. He wasn’t sure he would ever understand Tjal customs, let alone what went on in the head of a woman. Turning back to Colonel Braxton, he finally spoke. “Jne will go and muster as many as will come. You can count on the Tjal in this fight.”

The colonel let out an audible sigh of relief and then glanced at Ranse. Ranse leaned over and spoke something into Braxton’s ear before the colonel replied. “That is good news, Master Thane. We look forward to such an alliance and hope that it will not only bring peace to our lands but a renewed trust between our people.”

Thane just inclined his head in acknowledgement.

“Now,” Ranse spoke up, “maybe one of you who have seen what we are up against can fill us in on the details.”

Jack shrugged. “As we have said before, simply put, if the wall does not hold we will be overrun. From here they will be able to strike out at any of our lands to the south and to the east. And should they reach Calandra, I am not certain the city will be able to hold.”

Ranse paled slightly. “I have seen the wall. Surely it will hold them off.”

Jack shook his head slightly. “I can’t say for certain. Like I have been saying all along, this army is huge. It is a mass of trolls and goblins and now orcs, the size of which I have never seen
or even imagined existed. The trolls alone would be enough to take down Haykon. You saw them when they passed the first time, Myles. If the wall will not hold, we are doomed.”

“Then the wall will just have to hold,” Braxton said wearily, the exhaustion shadowing his face and straining his voice.

“There is something else,” Thane added. “They have a dragon.”

Braxton and Ranse gave him a look as if he’d just grown another head while Jace and Dainz chuckled out loud. Jack turned a surprised look at him and leaned over putting his mouth close to his ear. “I thought you said you killed it?”

“I did,” he whispered back. “But they have another one. I’m sorry but I forgot to mention it before.”

“Come now, Master Thane,” Ranse said, “at the risk of impugning your honor, which I have no intentions of doing, a dragon? Are you sure it wasn’t a Roc?”

Thane shook his head. “No, though I have to confess that I do not know what a Roc is.”

“He’s telling the truth,” Jack suddenly added, giving his support. “I saw it myself and it was no Roc.”

Dainz laughed again. “Come now, Jack. A dragon? What’s next, Chufa running about the countryside?”

Jack resisted the urge to glance at Thane and his friends but noticed that Tam had reacted catching the word Chufa out of all the jumbled words that were washing over her. Dor squeezed her knee under the table reassuring her.

“That,” Jack said levelly, “I cannot say. But the fact that there is a dragon is one that you can accept or ridicule. Either way, it will not change the truth of the matter.”

“And what can this dragon do?” Ranse
asked, his tone more serious. “Are we to believe that it has the ability to breathe fire?”

“No,” Thane said before Jack could answer.

“So it’s just large and flies around?” Dainz asked, a slight snigger still hanging to his tone.

“It breathes air,” Thane answered.

The men on the opposite side of the table looked at each other as if not quite sure how to answer. They still were not fully convinced that a fairytale creature meant to scare children into obedience actually was flying the skies around them. But they were also very aware that they were dealing with Tjal pride, which was explosive at best, as Jne had already shown. So how did one respond to such a claim?

“I don’t quite understand what you mean,” Ranse finally said, to the relief of the others. “When you say it breathes air, do you mean the same as we do?”

Thane shook his head giving them a disbelieving look. “Of course not,” he snapped. “Meaning, yes, I suppose it does, but what I meant by ‘it breathes air’ is that it emits a tremendous blast of air capable of shattering timber and maybe more.”

The four men looked at each other. “And you’ve seen this?” Braxton asked
, still not convinced Thane had seen what he’d claimed.

“Yes.”

“Can it be killed?” Jace asked, his voice finally breaking into the verbal fray.

Thane glanced at Jack and then Jne before nodding.
“Yes, but not in the conventional way. Its hide is covered in armor scales much harder than steal. Arrows and blades are simply deflected off when they hit it.”

A heavy silence fell over the group as each turned inward processing the information they’d been given and what it meant for their cause. Hope seemed to drain out of them like water through a sieve, as the futility of the fight suddenly seemed to overpower each in turn.

“Then how?” Jace finally asked.

Thane looked down at the table. He knew how, but at what cost? He couldn’t risk it again. Sure, he might be able to take down the dragon, but what about the rest of Zadok’s army? Would it be worth the sacrifice of his life? He knew the answer to that question. If it came to it, he would give his life to destroy the dragon, but would it be enough? There had to be other ways to fight it. Gelfin had told him that it was easier to pull water out of something than fire. Could it be done? Could he do it? He’d never attempted to pull out water. There had never been a need for such action. He wasn’t sure he’d even know how. And to do so would reveal the powers he had. He wasn’t worried how his friends would react to that, but trapped in a fort surrounded by HuMans was another thing entirely. How would he explain it? How would they react? He couldn’t risk the distraction while in battle. Lives would be lost for certain should he do something that would distract the HuMans from the fight.
But neither could he just sit by and not do all in his power to help. He reminded himself that should they fail, his own people would certainly be hunted down and destroyed. To act now was the only way he could help protect his people. He was a protector now, though not in a way he would have ever imagined.

Coming to a final decision, he rose to his feet. Reaching up he grabbed the
Dihne
tied tightly around his head that held back his hair and covered his ears.

“To answer
a previous question gentlemen,” he said, grabbing the cloth and pulling it free, “yes, there are Chufa roaming about the land.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE