Origin (22 page)

Elwyn lost for any more words to express her feelings just put her arms around the morden’s sizable necks and gave them each a big hug. She learned more each day about their extraordinary intelligence and fearless courage. She was especially amazed at Raffe who, even through the incredible grief he must be suffering, held firm in his willingness and determination to help and to continue the journey. Her discussion with the morden concluded, Elwyn saddled them and prepared to lift Keroc up so that he could ride with her on Gemma. Raffe and Gemma both snorted and stomped their feet at her actions. Raffe came over to her and nudged her gently in the arm that was holding the little drakenhawk, and she soon realized that Raffe was volunteering to carry him. She quickly fashioned a small litter that resembled the ones she used to carry game when hunting, and attached it to Raffe’s saddle. Raffe stood very still while she did this and she got the definite feeling he wanted to feel a useful part of the group. Actually, having Raffe carry Keroc made a lot of sense, because it would enable her to ride faster and be freer to fight if they were attacked on the trail.

Elwyn quickly washed off as much sap as time would permit, and changed her clothes for the second time that day. She also made sure both waterskins were full, and that she had easy access to the jerky and travel biscuits. She intended to ride straight through to Kren, even if it meant sleeping in her saddle all night. It was difficult not knowing how far she had left to travel. She was also determined to not become an easy target for another assassination attempt, and would depend on the morden to alert her as they had the night before. She kept her short sword at her side and slung her bow and arrows within easy reach across her back. She reminded the morden one more time to alert her if they sensed anything that smelled similar to the scents they picked up the night before. She wanted to have as much time as possible to decide how best to evade a shadow squad, if one did try to attack them as they rode. Elwyn turned and took one last look at the grave where she’d laid Thane to rest, and at the four bodies that lay sprawled around their campsite and sighed deeply. The price of this journey had been very high so far, and she hoped with everything in her, that there would be no more injury or death to face before she arrived in Kren. With a determined sigh, she mounted Gemma, signaled to Raffe who was carrying Keroc, and rode north away from their campsite without looking back.

A
yron missed Keroc. It was as simple as that. As he and his soldiers rode escort for Rhys and Clayre along the road leading away from Port Strabo toward the land of Urafiki and the city of Amarni, he realized that he felt very much alone. He was dumbfounded at how quickly his drakenhawk companion had become such a vital part of his everyday life. He was always amazed by Keroc’s love of life and often sent the little drakenhawk on small errands or scouting missions, enjoying the pictures and emotions that Keroc shared with him as he flew. Keroc was young enough to be amazed and captivated by almost everything new he encountered. He was also very curious and loved to have Ayron explain to him the many things he saw that puzzled him. They had indeed grown very close since their life-bonding ceremony. Ayron hadn’t realized just how close, until his link with him was interrupted. It was difficult for him to go through each day with only his own thoughts for company.

The more time that Ayron had to process his thoughts, the darker his mood became. It was almost as if nothing in his grand plan was going according to expectation. He was so sure that they could ride quickly to Amarni without any delays, and that hadn’t happened. He’d been so sure that Stefan would be fooled and Elwyn and Thane would get to Kren without being attacked. That hadn’t happened. He’d had a difficult time earlier in the day when he told his soldiers about Thane’s death. He was definitely doing a poor job at consoling Alea, who appeared extremely distraught at the news. He hadn’t realized that they were so close. He was beating himself up for not having sent more men with Thane and Elwyn. He’d thought that they would be able to travel swiftly enough reach Kren before having to deal with an attack. With Thane dead, she was left alone, with no one to help or protect her. He had no idea where she was and certainly didn’t see any way she could find Keroc, survive another assassination attempt, or deal with a grieving morden. Morden who have had their life-bond broken were often inconsolable and Keroc, even if she found him, was probably critically ill. They were both were dependant on a young woman who had never even known about the existence of their species until three days ago. All in all, the world was shaping up to be pretty bleak.

Ayron signaled the group to stop for a break as the sun began to slowly descend behind the western mountain range. As his soldiers dismounted, he told them he had decided to take two long breaks a day, one around the noon hour, and one in the late afternoon that would last until dusk. They would ride as quickly as they could, taking into consideration Rhys’ ability to withstand the speed until they reached Amarni. He knew he was pushing his soldiers hard, but that was what they’d been trained for, and most of them had endured hardships much worse than this one. Ayron also felt that for Elwyn’s safety and Rhys’ continued healing, it was critical for him to be able to find her as quickly as possible. That would also allow him to help tend to Keroc as well. He jumped down from Gerrack’s back, unsaddled him, and led him to the stream. He then headed over to the wagon to speak with Clayre.

Clayre carefully climbed down from the wagon as soon as she noticed Ayron approaching and waved him off to the side, so that they could speak without disturbing Rhys, who was still sleeping soundly.

“Clayre, I hope that the afternoon’s travels haven’t been too taxing for Rhys. I am trying to pick routes that are not too rough and still move us along as quickly as possible.”

“He seems to be fairing well enough. I am watching him closely though, because I’m not sure the old fool would admit it if the travel becomes too difficult for him. He is determined not to slow you down. He wants you to get us to safety as soon as possible so that you can go after Elwyn.”

“Ah, dear lady,” Ayron said with a shake of his head. “If our travel to Amarni kills or permanently damages him, then the whole purpose of the trip has been defeated and my promise to Elwyn will not be kept. I have planned to take two long breaks each day which will allow for a good meal, time to see to any personal needs, and for a bit of rest. I would ask you to confer with Galdor and seek his counsel on whether it will be too taxing for Rhys. I too wish to arrive in Amarni as quickly as possible, but not at the sake of his life.”

“I’ll do that as soon as I have assisted Kormir in assembling the evening meal. It is obvious to me that the man, elf, or whatever he is, shouldn’t be allowed to fix the meals without some serious supervision. If all of the ingredients in our stews were left up to him, I would be terrified to eat them. I think he believes that he can add anything to a pot of water. I am trying to educate him so that he doesn’t end up poisoning you and your soldiers by mistake when you don’t have me around to protect you,” she said with a small laugh. “He does seem to be a willing student and eager to learn, so I will help him all I can.”

“Thank you very much kind lady.” With a smile and a quick bow, Ayron left to speak with some of the other soldiers. Stopping, he turned and added, “Make sure that you speak with Galdor and let me know what the two of you decide, so that I can inform the soldiers and adjust my plan accordingly.”

Clayre responded with a quick nod and hurried off to seek out Kormir before he could do any damage to the evening meal. She faced a difficult dilemma trying to balance Rhys desire to not slow down their progress to Amarni, against their desire to see him get there without endangering his health any more than it already was. While his body seemed to be fighting off the infection he sustained as a result of his knife wound; he was still incredibly weak, his breathing was impaired, and his immune system was in shambles. In her opinion, he was sustaining himself by the strength of his will alone. The problem with that was that she wasn’t sure just how long he would be able to continue doing that. At some point, he was going to have to just relax and let time and the healers do their work. She chuckled to herself. Spending time with him in such close quarters and listening to him grumble and fret had made her begin to appreciate why Ayron referred to him as “Old Man”. Well at least she would be able to ensure that he got a healthy dinner. Kormir was just unpacking the cooking utensils as she arrived at the campfire.

Rhys, on the other hand, lay on his litter in the wagon full of anger and frustration. He felt as weak and helpless as a new born babe just at a time when his niece needed him the most. Elwyn had become independent very early in life. He supposed it was due to her elven heritage and the abilities that came with it. He also hadn’t babied her, fearful that someday something like this would happen, and she might have to fight to survive. He thought he could lose himself in the small village of Tarlon and live a peaceful life there. His mistake was in thinking that he could keep the knowledge of his niece’s existence hidden forever. It was obvious that Stefan was still paranoid and that, for some reason, considered his niece a threat. He felt proud of how she’d dealt with the shadow squad that was sent to kill her, but he wondered if she would be able to make it to Kren alone. He was extremely angry with himself for his own weakness, and frustrated that the only people he knew that were able to help her were here babysitting him and refusing to leave.

Ayron sitting on a large stump on the other side of camp was feeling much the same way, but from a slightly different perspective. He was regretting the promise he made to Elwyn. He was having a difficult time dealing with the fact that his promise, made in haste to a grief stricken young women, might actually result in her death. Of course, he was also upset at himself because he realized that whoever was directing the assassins had seen right through his plan, and directed his men to attack both them and Elwyn and Thane. Ayron still doubted that they would get to Amarni without coming under attack again, but he was beginning to think the primary target of the attacks was Elwyn and not Rhys. At least their group was fighting men. Poor Thane and Elwyn had to deal with a shadow squad; and his niece was not out of the woods yet. Had he realized that, he would have at least sent a few more men along with the two of them on their journey. He was angry with himself for dismissing how important this young woman was to Stefan, and how determined he was to kill her. He also believed that this very short sightedness on his part was also the reason Thane was dead. He was glad when Kormir announced that the evening meal was ready.

The meal put together by Kormir and Clayre was delicious. There was a savory soup, thick slices of bread, and a platter of fruit and cheese for dessert. Ayron ate his fill and watched his soldiers relax as they enjoyed the meal as well. Clayre pulled Galdor aside and the two sat together eating and talking for a while. Eventually, Clayre gathered some food and returned to the wagon to feed Rhys some supper and check on how he was faring. Ayron walked over and sat down on the soft grass next to Galdor hoping to find out how he felt about their extended travel plans. Galdor was an incredible archer and swordsman, more talented with the animals than anyone, save Stuart, and an extraordinary healer. There were many time when he was able to save lives that Ayron was sure were lost. He always went about it quietly and with very little fanfare. Ayron felt confident that Galdor would give him good solid advice about Rhys, without any emotion clouding his judgment.

As Ayron conversed with Galdor, he realized that the decision regarding his travel plan was not as cut and dried as he assumed. Galdor explained that both he and Clayre as healers felt that Rhys should not be traveling more than six hours out of every twenty-four, which ironically was about the time that Ayron was proposing that they should rest. The complication was that Rhys was well enough to impede his own recovery if he got too upset. Neither healer was sure which would do the most damage to his condition; the anxiety of moving too slowly or the extended hours of travel. Both healers were of one mind though, that the longer it took to reach Amarni, the more anxiety Rhys would experience. Galdor proposed that they continue to travel the long hours that Ayron proposed so that Rhys would not become too frantic with worry, but at the same time slow their travel speed a bit so that the wagon ride was a little smoother. Riding in a wagon that bumped and jostled him, did not allow Rhys to get into the deep restful sleep that his body needed to heal itself. Ayron thanked Galdor for his assessment and left to speak with Stuart and Tomak about slowing down the speed of their travel and piling all the extra blankets and bed pads under the litter to add an extra layer of protection against the rough road.

A short while later when most of his troops seemed to be resting, Ayron stopped by the wagon to visit Clayre and Rhys.

“Am I bothering you,” he said softly seeing that the two of them were awake and speaking together.

“No,” said Clayre with a sigh. “I’m just trying to convince Rhys that he needs to allow us to take better care of him. He is already chomping at the bit to get moving again.”

“Rhys, I know you are worried about Elwyn. I’m worried about her as well, but I promise you that if she is in any danger, or under attack, Kierra will contact me immediately. If she does, I will come to you right away and tell you the truth of what I know. Since I haven’t heard from her in several hours, I trust that Elwyn’s journey is proceeding as well as can be expected, and that she is no immediate danger.”

Ayron was able to say those words with true conviction, after his conversation with Kierra very early that morning. He also reminded the two of them that there were a half dozen drakenhawks racing toward Elwyn at that very moment that would be acting as guards and protectors as she traveled. He spent some time describing some of the capabilities of drakenhawks and explained how fiercely protective they were. He then went on to tell Rhys about Keroc and how his little drakenhawk was the one who attacked and killed Crawley, the man who attacked him. He could see that Clayre wasn’t terribly excited to hear again how Keroc dove down from the sky and tore the man’s throat out, but Ayron felt Rhys needed to hear it.