The Dreaming Hunt (26 page)

“Are you saying you know who made yon bracer?”

Halvar's face went more tightly closed than a clam over a boiling pot. He knew something about the makers of storm copper. “Looks like rain the rest of the night. If'n it clears in the morn, we'll head out then. Ye can bunk down by the fire if ye want. I got no bed for ye, though.”

“Floor's good enough for me, and grateful I am for a roof o'er me head and the warmth of a fire. But if ye'll just tell me where to go, I'll make the trek and find yer friend mesself, thanks.”

“No one up that way'll talk to an outsider, even if he wears a beaded beard. Ye'll need the introduction.” Halvar got up and moved over to the big kettle hanging over the fire. He gave its contents a stir with a big, wooden spoon. “You want a nip o' stew?”

Gunther never had been one to say no to a hot meal. He nodded his assent. But as soon as Halvar's back was turned and the fellow was occupied spooning stew into bowls, Gunther scooped up the breastplate and buckled it back about his person. He'd been sleeping in it ever since those cursed soldiers confiscated the helm, and he wasn't about to change that habit now.

So. The piece
was
old. As he'd suspected. But lightning-infused copper? Who'd have guessed such a thing existed? Maybe when he got up into the mountains, someone would tell him more about the creators of the ruined forge—and the storm copper.

*   *   *

Lenora looked up from the unrolled parchment weighted down upon her desk as Raina knocked upon her open office door.

“You summoned me, High Matriarch?”

“I've received a letter from Emissary Balthazar.”

Raina nodded politely and sank onto the edge of the chair before her desk. Well-mannered girl. She could cast circles around all of them, and she knew it, yet she still demonstrated respect for her elders.

“This letter was penned at the demand of the Boki warlord. It is an edict to all outsiders to stay out of the Forest of Thorns or be put to immediate death, no warnings, no questions asked.”

“Nice of him to let us know,” Raina replied wryly.

“While he had access to paper, ink, and a messenger, Balthazar took the opportunity to report that there is friction within the Boki ranks. Apparently, Will Cobb's appearance among them with Lord Bloodroot's spirit in him has caused much discord.”

“I can imagine. When we first arrived, there was a pitched argument with some wanting to kill him on the spot as an impostor, and others defending him as Bloodroot's chosen one. When he fought Ki'Raiden's son, Ki'Agar, to a draw, the disagreement only seemed to deepen.”

“Balthazar says that some Boki think Will must have cheated to hold his own against Ki'Agar. Furthermore, as long as Bloodroot chooses to hide inside a puny, weak human, he is not worthy of their reverence.”

Raina looked taken aback, as well she should. They had all assumed Will's link to Bloodroot would protect him from Boki recriminations for possessing a piece of their sacred tree lord. If their assumptions were wrong, though, it would mean Will Cobb was in mortal danger from Boki who would stop at nothing to rip the heart of Bloodroot off his chest.

As if that were not worrisome enough, Lenora took a deep breath and got to the meat of the report. “Balthazar also says there is a deeper split within the Boki leadership. Some support the youngsters who engineered the recent attacks, and others revile them.”

Raina leaned forward. “So it
was
a splinter group! I could not believe the senior Boki leaders would support an invasion of Dupree. They know all too well the wrath of the Empire and have no wish to feel its bite.”

“Balthazar agrees with you. He says the Warlord of the Boki does not wish to confront the Haelan legion and is livid that a faction has disobeyed him by raiding the settled lands. The warlord is sending thanes to neighboring areas, possibly to separate the hotheads from one another and possibly to form new Boki outposts.”

Raina nodded. “They will consolidate their power beyond the reach of Koth and grow their armies in the safety of the wild forests.”

“Balthazar also reports that the warlord's daughter Ka'Anka is now seventh thane. She and her sister Du'Ynda apparently are gone on some secret mission having to do with recovering the Great Boar that has gone missing from the Forest of Thorns.” She looked up at Raina. “Remind me what those ranks are?”

“Ka's are sub-thanes, if you will. Du' indicates a scout.”

Lenora shook her head. “I have trouble keeping all their ranks and titles straight.”

“At least you do not underestimate the complexity and richness of their society because they are green skinned,” Raina replied dryly.

Lenora smiled. “Spoken like a true White Heart member.” A pause, then, “Tell me this. Do you believe these factional divisions within the Boki pose an ongoing threat to Dupree?”

Raina frowned. “The Boki were enraged when Anton invaded their lands. And many, many of them died to—” She broke off.

What had Raina been on the verge of saying? Died to do what?

“Died to defend their home and repel Anton,” Raina finished lamely.

That was
not
what the girl had originally been thinking.

Raina continued, “In spite of their recent defeat at the hands of the new governess, or maybe because of it, I expect many of the younger Boki to be spoiling for blood revenge. I cannot guess how effective the elders will be at sitting on them. What does Balthazar say on the subject?”

“He predicts more trouble.”

Raina looked worried, as well they all should. The Boki had nearly destroyed the colony on the first Night of Green Fires. Boki and other greenskins had swarmed the colony and burned everything in their path. The most recent attack, although much smaller and ill-coordinated, had still caused plenty of damage and loss of life.

“One last bit of information. The Boki warlord is aware that Anton contracted with Ki'Raiden secretly. The warlord does not trust the Viper and worries that Anton may attempt to use Ki'Raiden again.”

“Has the warlord taken action against Ki'Raiden, then?” Raina asked.

“Apparently, he has been promoted to fifth thane but sent out of the Forest of Thorns to a remote location for now.”

“So Ki'Raiden is still a threat,” Raina murmured. “I must warn Will … and Bloodroot.”

“I think that would be wise. As would staying safe within the walls of this city be until the Boki problem settles down.” Not that she expected for a minute that Raina and her friends would do so. After all, they were young. Brash. Convinced they were immortal. That said it all.

What secret mission was Aurelius training them all for, anyway? Surely, it was not a simple jaunt through the countryside that the Mage's Guildmaster had in mind for his young protégés. Of all people in Dupree, she, as an Imperial genealogist, had perhaps the best idea of just how special a group it was. Every last one of the youths had an extraordinary lineage yet not one of them knew the full extent of their own identity.

But they would learn. The day was coming—sooner rather than later—when they would all have to find out exactly who they were and what they were born to do.

And then they would all see if the training she and Aurelius and Krugar were frantically cramming into the youths was enough or not.

 

CHAPTER

15

Justin staggered a little as his feet touched solid ground once more. After several days aboard a rocking ship, the earth felt as if it rolled and heaved, while the great Estarran Sea behind him was the unmoving thing.

“Ready to go?”

He sighed. The Royal Order of the Sun knight, a barbarian named Hrothgar, never seemed to tire. Ever. Even confined to a small cargo ship, the fellow still managed to be exhausting company. They'd bumped into one another on the road at the southwestern margin of Dupree, and the gregarious barbarian had quickly figured out that Justin hailed from close to where Sir Hrothgar was headed.

It was lucky for the Heart man because Justin knew exactly where to find the recipient of the letter the Heart knight was charged with delivering. Not so lucky for him, though. Hrothgar had more or less ordered him to act as his guide and take him to Tyrel.

Justin had set out months ago from Tyrel to track down his childhood best friend, but he'd found no trace of Raina in any settlement west of the Estarran Sea. He'd crossed the body of water separating the mostly unsettled west from the more heavily populated lands of Dupree and had promptly heard stories of a young girl who was shocking everyone with her powers of healing. That sounded like Raina, all right. He'd been bound for Dupree to check out the rumors when Hrothgar derailed his plan.

“Come, Justin. The daylight grows short. We need to reach the Heart before dark,” Hrothgar declared.

He rolled his eyes and hoisted his pack over a shoulder. “This way.” He led the Heart knight westward through the rough waterside town of Bannockburn. There were a few more landing points farther south, closer to Tyrel, but this was the last even remotely safe one.

They came to a dilapidated, one-story building sided in rough wood. It was covered in a layer of dust like every other person and place in this forsaken slice of nowhere. The roof needed work and the front porch looked ready to collapse in the next strong breeze. Truthfully, it was no more run-down than any other structure in the town. But the Heart symbol was freshly painted upon the door, and the place had an air of energetic bustle about it.

The Royal Order of the Sun fellow at the door exclaimed in surprise when he spied Hrothgar approaching. For his part, Hrothgar bellowed back, “Luthien! As I live and breathe. Have they made a knight out of you yet?”

“Just barely. And I see they've knighted you. Were they so short on candidates for promotion, then?”

The men shook hands, slapped each other's shoulders, and were generally collegial with one another. Justin slipped inside mostly unnoticed and accepted a bracing bowl of rice, beans, and spicy sausage sauce from the healer on duty. Drained after the rough sea crossing—and he didn't care if the Merr sailing their boat had declared it jolly fine weather and a right smooth ride—Justin was happy to crawl into a bunk and pass out while the Royal Order of the Sun knights traded news.

Well before dawn the next morn, a jovial voice enjoined him to rise and shine as his blankets were summarily torn off his body. Justin groaned at Hrothgar and stumbled to his feet. The knight shoved a meat pastry into his hand and hustled him out of the Heart house before Justin even fully woke up.

They walked inland to Lake Stillwater, which took most of the morning. There, Justin negotiated with the local Merr for a boat ride south along the Scholl River, past the Scholl Swamp, to the northern border of Tyrel. A bargain was struck, and Sir Hrothgar passed over the agreed-upon silver.

Once more, Justin forced his land-loving body onto a boat. This time, it was a sleek, oversized canoe. While one of the gilled fish men handled the tiller, at least two more Merr swam beneath the vessel, pushing against bars protruding underwater from the hull.

Justin was fascinated watching the Merr's lazy-looking kicks with their webbed feet. The canoe skimmed over the lake, seeming to barely touch the glassy surface of the water. He'd never seen anything move this fast, and the fine spray carried on the wind of their passage was exhilarating.

“Kind of discomfiting, isn't it, realizing how clumsy we humans are in water compared to them?” Hrothgar commented. “Never tangle with a Merr underwater. Of course, they're skilled fighters on land, too. But in water, they're murderous. Never seen the like.”

To their west, the beginning of the Sorrow Wold towered over the riverbank, dark and forbidding. He'd grown up on stories of the strange and violent creatures who lived within its shadowed borders.

The day aged, and the river carried them beyond the forest and into a dank, smelly swamp. The channel of the river remained clear, but even their Merr guides looked around nervously. Apparently, this was lizardman territory, and only some sort of uneasy truce gave these Merr permission to carry their passengers through the area at all.

“We almost there, boy?” Sir Hrothgar asked as the sun began to dip in the west.

“We'll make Tyrel by nightfall. It's still a two-day walk to our destination after that,” Justin answered.

“And you're certain Lady Charlotte will be there?”

“She rarely leaves home. Her estate may be small, but she manages it diligently.”

“When you were last there, did Lady Charlotte perchance entertain any long-term guests?”

Justin snorted. “Aye, although they weren't so much guests as intruders.”

“Tell me about them.”

He frowned, unsure of how much about the men was secret. But then, those secrets were not his problem to keep, and furthermore, he hadn't liked the visitors. “There were two. Both mages. From a place called Alchizzadon. They seemed to think they had some claim upon one of Lady Charlotte's daughters.”

“Raina.” The squire stated with a confidence that startled him.

“Aye. Just so. She ran away from home rather than do what they wanted her to.”

Hrothgar commented thoughtfully, “Now the letter in my pouch makes more sense.”

“You know the contents of a letter?” Justin asked, startled.

“Aye. That way, if the actual parchment is lost, I may still deliver the message and discharge my duty.”

These knights were all so tense about duty and honor. Not that he didn't admire the nobility of it all. But the necessities of life—shelter, food, scraping together enough gold to pay taxes and still have enough coin to buy an ale now and again—rated much higher in Justin's world. In most people's worlds, if he had to guess.

Once back on land, Hrothgar set a ridiculously fast pace that strained even Justin's youth and stamina. They marched deep into the night and were up and on the road once more well before dawn kissed the sunward horizon.