Origin (17 page)

“I agree with you that Stefan is relentless in trying to eliminate any threat to his power. Do you really think he is already aware of the outcome of the attacks yesterday?”

“Well, if we assume the best possible scenario, which would be that none of his men made it back, given the importance of the targets and knowing Stefan as you do, wouldn’t you think he would send more men to find out what happened, and to strike again if it was discovered that the first group failed?”

“But don’t you think that was the group that attacked us last night, elf? What is it that really has you so glum this bright sunny morning?”

“I realize that I may be seeing ghosts where there aren’t any,” Ayron said shaking his head in puzzlement. “I am just afraid that by now it’s likely that Stefan is aware that we have split up and will hire a shadow squad to use against one or both of our groups. They are the only assassins that can travel swiftly enough to overtake us and that is the one type of attack that none of us is prepared or properly trained to deal with.”

Ayron could see that Rhys was getting paler and increasingly agitated as he spoke. He tried hard to think of anything he could say to comfort the gravely injured man.

“Look, there is no sense in getting upset about things that might go wrong. We have our hands full with just getting to our destinations intact. So far, Elwyn and Thane have had no trouble and seem to be making excellent progress. They have also been spending time planning and strategizing what they would do if they were attacked. They are both aware of the danger and plan to be prepared if the worst were to happen. Thane is my best warrior and strategist. He has received some training in fighting these assassins. You should also remember to give your niece some credit. According to Thane, she seems to be a very resourceful young woman, and not without considerable skill. You raised her well, Rhys,” Ayron added with a smile. “Maybe we should all have a little more faith in her.”

“Ayron, why can’t you just leave us with your men and go after them? In my mind, that would pretty much guarantee that they would survive any circumstances.” Rhys said, frantically trying to lift his head from the pillow.

“There is a part of me that would love to do just that Rhys, but I promised Elwyn that I would personally see you and Clayre to safety. That is the only reason I’m staying. She would never forgive me if I abandoned you and took off after her. That means that I must get you to Amarni as quickly as I can. You have my promise that I will travel and push my men as fast as you are able to safely be moved, so that I can leave you and go after her.”

Rhys laid his head back down, obviously exhausted, and Clayre signaled Ayron to go. He quickly mounted Gerrack, signaled his men to mount up, and the small group continued their journey toward Port Strabo. He looked over at the wagon from time to time and saw Clayre leaning over Rhys and talking softly to him as they traveled. Ayron had two of his soldiers ride ahead and look for any danger that might lie in wait on the trail ahead of them.

They traveled another four hours before he began to smell sea salt in the breezes that swirled in the air around them. In about thirty minutes more they were able to see the towering walls of Port Strabo in the distance. He signaled his soldiers to stop and set up camp in a clearing that surrounded a small pond. The clearing was just above the beach and about a mile outside the city itself. Within the hour, they had everything unpacked, a fire was blazing, and he was busy giving orders to the soldiers who were going into the city to replenish their supplies and purchase a new wagon.

Ayron divided the purchases that needed to be made among three of his soldiers. Stuart would take Tomak and purchase a sturdy wagon that would carry Rhys and Clayre safely through the rest of the journey to Amarni. He was also to try to find a more comfortable harness for Tomak to wear and perhaps a pad, so that the leather did not chafe his hide as he pulled the wagon. Alea was to buy additional weapons for the soldiers, replace some of the arrows they’d lost, and have some of their swords sharpened by the weaponsmith. While taking an inventory of their arms, Ayron discovered that none of their archers had a full quiver of arrows left, and many of them were short one if not both of the small daggers they normally carried. In retrospect, if saving Rhys’ and Elwyn from danger cost him a few lost weapons and arrows, it had been a very low price to pay and one he would willingly pay again. But because they were stopping here in Port Strabo, he planned to take the opportunity to replenish their supplies.

Kormir, another of Ayron’s men, would seek out and purchase any foodstuffs that they would need to last them until they reached Amarni. Ayron advised him to purchase extra fresh vegetables and fruit to supplement their meals, thinking that it would help Rhys gain strength and heal faster. Clayre, who was also helping with the cooking, gave Kormir a shopping list as well. Ayron was planning to take Clayre into the city so that she could replenish her medical supplies and make any other purchases she felt she needed to properly care for Rhys. While they were gone, there would be ten of his soldiers, including Galdor his healer, to watch over and protect Rhys. Before they left for the city, Ayron discussed with them the need to hurry and requested that they return to the camp in three hours time.

All of the shoppers reported that their time in the city passed quickly, but within minutes of the requested deadline, everyone returned to the camp loaded down with their purchases. Ayron was anxious to have an evening meal and then set out again for Amarni, riding through the night. The camp was a busy place, full of the movements and the noises of each person going about his or her assigned tasks. The sky was filling up with large black clouds moving in from the water and forming over the city; hovering there like a dark mantle. Ayron was hoping that they could finish stowing their purchases, have a hot meal, and get underway so that they could travel out of the range of the fury he felt brewing in the approaching storm. He was pleased to see that the supplies were loaded quickly, and in short order a quick meal was prepared by Kormir with Clayre’s assistance. Galdor reported to Ayron and Clayre that Rhys had been sleeping peacefully all afternoon. He told Clayre that he was actually surprised that Rhys hadn’t woken, even to ask for her. Clayre explained that before she left for the city, she explained to Rhys that she would be going to the city to shop for several hours. She also let him know that Ayron would be going with her to keep her safe, so he wouldn’t worry about her. That news seemed to satisfy him and he fell asleep before she’d even left his side.

As they sat around the fire waiting for the evening meal to finish cooking, Ayron quickly checked in with Keroc, who seemed a bit reluctant to talk. He did communicate to Ayron that Thane and Elwyn had set up camp for the evening and were busy preparing an evening meal. Ayron could almost feel hunger pangs as the drakenhawk explained that he was on his way to hunt for the first time in three days. Ayron, not wishing to distract him, wished him good hunting and promised to check in with him later that evening. He shared the news with Clayre as she busied herself putting the finishing touches on the meal. She then sat and ate her evening meal with Ayron and his soldiers, enjoying the companionship and soaking up the many complements about her wonderful cooking skills.

W
hile Elwyn and Thane waited for their dinner to finish and Keroc to return, they laid out their bed pads, and looked at Ayron’s map trying to identify how far they still were from Kren. It was difficult to estimate the distance because there were no identifiable villages or points on the map between Tarlon and Kren; just a small dotted line that tended to meander. Based on Thane’s best calculations, it looked as if they could arrive in Kren by evening meal the following day, if they woke early and traveled steadily throughout the day. The sun was setting and darkness was slowly creeping into the small clearing where they were camped. Elwyn was a bit unnerved at how many shadows surrounded them and it was all she could do to not reach out to Keroc, if for nothing else to feel his presence. If Thane felt the same way, he was keeping it to himself. He spent the time, while waiting for their dinner to finish, sitting on a large rock and softly humming, while sharpening his short sword with a whetstone. Elwyn also noticed that he kept his bow and quiver full of arrows within arm’s reach.

When the evening meal was finished cooking, Thane and Elwyn ate their carefully prepared supper in silence; both of them lost in their own thoughts. He was focused on trying to determine where the most likely areas for attack were located; and she, not wanting to say anything to disturb or upset him, sat going over the fighting and defense strategies they discussed earlier in the day. After dinner, she quickly washed off their dishes in the nearby pond, checked on the morden, and lay down on her bed pad to rest. Neither of them had any idea how long it would take Keroc to hunt, so they agreed to each take two-hour watches until he returned. As she lay trying to relax her aching muscles from the long day of travel, she became aware of how alone she felt knowing Keroc was no longer with them, listening and watching. She was amazed at how fast she’d gotten used to his presence in her mind. Just as she started to drift off to sleep, she heard Gemma and Raffe neighing, snorting, and stomping their hooves. Elwyn tensed. This wasn’t normal behavior for Gemma. Not wanting to alarm Thane, she rose, said she couldn’t sleep, and was going check on the morden one more time.

As she started to walk out into the small meadow, Thane reminded her to take along her weapons. She was tired, irritable, and almost blurted out a sarcastic comment at his remark. As she felt the words rise into her throat, she stifled the urge, knowing that his only interest was her welfare. After all, he’d made it clear while they were talking earlier, that in order to assure her safety, he would need to help her learn how to protect herself. This was most likely one of those lessons. So she walked back to her bed pad, picked up her bow and quiver, shoved her short sword into the scabbard on her belt, and began jogging over to where the morden were tethered. As she jogged, the hair on the back of her neck and her forearms began to stand on end. Something was wrong. She felt it in every fiber of her being. Her first thought was that either a bear or a pack of wolves wandered into the meadow, but she really didn’t think that any forest creature would have caused Gemma to react so.

Just as she reached Gemma, Elwyn heard a sharp whistling noise, as an arrow whizzed by just missing her arm. She turned and glanced back toward the campfire and could just barely make out four figures creeping out of the shadowy woods beyond their camp. Three were bunched together creeping toward Thane, and the fourth was attempting to nock another arrow to, most likely, take a second shot at her. She shouted a warning to Thane and quickly untethered the morden. Raffe’s hooves thundered as he raced to provide Thane with some protection. Elwyn jumped up on Gemma’s back to get a better vantage point, nocked an arrow, and let it fly toward the archer. She quickly followed the first arrow with a second. Her aim seemed true. The shadowy figure fell and lay motionless on the grass, but not before dark billowing smoke seemed to rise from his location masking him, his companions, and Thane from view. She urged Gemma into a gallop as she rode to help Thane who was woefully outnumbered trying, with Raffe’s help, to battle the other three assassins.

Without a second thought, Elwyn jumped down from Gemma’s back as they drew close to the camp so that her mount could join Raffe in fighting one of the assassins. The scent of blood was almost overwhelming, but, as yet, there was none to be seen. Thane was on the other side of the campfire trying to fend off two of the assassins with his sword. Elwyn drew her short sword from its scabbard and rushed in to help, drawing the attack of one of the assassins to her. As she fought the muted green cloaked killer, she tried to remember all the tricks Rhys taught her during their many sparring sessions. Sparring with Rhys always felt to her like some form of formal dance with moves and countermoves that took on a rhythm and a pattern of their own. Elwyn had no doubt, however, that the dance she was currently engaged in was a dance of death for at least one of them.

As she fought, her anger grew, fueling her strength. She lost all track of time and focused solely on her attacker. It felt as if his red eyes were boring right through her, and his flat expressionless face was one that she knew would haunt her for a long time to come. Her attacker was very skilled. She had to give him that. She searched through her inventory of moves many times for ones that he wouldn’t be able to immediately counter. The exchange of blows went on and on until Elwyn felt herself slowly beginning to tire. The stress of the past few days had taken a toll on her stamina. She realized that she had to gain an advantage soon, or die. As if by instinct alone, she drew her skinning knife and threw it at her attacker while parrying his thrusts. The small knife hit home, striking the soft flesh at her assassin’s throat. His sword arm dropped for just an instant, allowing Elwyn to pierce his chest with her short sword. The killer fell dead at her feet, blood gushing from a large open wound in his chest.

Elwyn quickly took stock of how Thane and the morden were doing in their fights. The two morden were trying to keep one of the assassins occupied so that he could not join the second, who was engaged in fighting Thane. She knew immediately that she should join Thane in his fight, as he was probably tiring by now as well. The morden were much stronger and, as long as their thick hide didn’t get pierced, could hold their own. As Elwyn joined Thane in the heated battle against his attacker, she heard or felt a shrill keening. Keroc, back from his hunt, swooped in to aid the morden. Elwyn felt upset with herself because she knew she should have thought to contact him earlier.

As Elwyn joined in the fight against the assassin who was attacking Thane, she quickly realized that he was probably the leader of the squad. He was taller, stronger, and better skilled than the killer she’d defeated. And unfortunately for the two of them, he also fought smarter. Elwyn recognized immediately that she would be unable to fool this opponent with a simple knife trick. His blood red eyes and flat expressionless face danced between Thane and herself, taking in their every move, and anticipating the next. This dance of death went on for much longer than her first fight.