The Wand-Maker's Debate: Osric's Wand: Book One (12 page)

Osric's jaw hung slack as he wondered what the unicorns could be hiding from the other races. Bridgett held Pebble a little tighter, disturbed by what she had heard, but unable to deny that the unicorns were often secretive.

Gus sighed, and continued with a somber tone, “I shared what I saw with my fellow Wand-Makers, and Eni was among them.” His pitch rose steadily as he related the encounter. “He called me crazy. Said that I made the whole thing up to make myself out to be better than the rest of them. Ever since then, he has done everything in his power to oppose me.” Gus clenched his paw into a fist and his face grew angry. “I think he hunted my wife just to deprive me of the old wench's company!”

“Oh's neat! Look's at the birdies!” Pebble had roused from his nap, and he spoke with such innocent enthusiasm that it cut through the tension as he giggled. Everyone found themselves laughing with him until the levity fell from Osric's face. His pupils dilated, his muscles tensed, and he felt as though his skin boiled without heat.

“Greyback! Dive!” Osric shouted, and reached toward his sword.

Greyback looked up and spotted an eagle diving toward them. Bridgett grasped Pebble tightly, and Gus grabbed for the nearest spike to hold on to.

As Greyback began to bank to the left and dive, Osric stretched as far as he could, but the straps holding him in his seat were too tight, and his fingers could only brush the hilt of his sword. Just then, a large, black eagle collided with Greyback's right wing as it swooped down toward them out of the clouds. It sent them spinning toward the ground. Greyback fought to regain control, but her wing had been badly injured by the collision.

“No! You fool!” A voice shouted from high above them. Seconds stretched into an eternity in their uncontrollable fall.

Suddenly, they were right side up again. Osric twisted in his seat to be sure everyone was accounted for. Pebble was giggling in Bridgett's arms, asking if they could do it again. He turned back and looked with fear at the spot where Gus had been standing; he was not there.

“Don't you dare eat him!” Came the voice again, but closer and from their right side. “Bring him right back up here this instant! Don't you ever listen? We don't hunt walkers, and never hunt anyone on a dragon!” The voice came from a large eagle, roughly the same size as Greyback. He was gliding on huge black wings and white feathers crowned his head. He had stabilized their flight somehow, and supporting Greyback's right wing with his left one.

“I hate to trouble you, feathered friend, but I must land. I am afraid my wing is broken.” Greyback said with surprising politeness. Short, pained gasps of air could be heard as she spoke to the eagle, “I would be grateful for any assistance, if my passengers would allow me to land?”

“Of course you can land.” Bridgett spoke quickly. Osric was amazed that she would feel the need to ask.

“Our aerie is just at the top of that mountain. Can you climb?” Asked the eagle, motioning to the east. A dark shadow covered them, slightly smaller than the body of the dragon, causing them all to duck in fear of another attack. Osric breathed a sigh of relief as Gus was dropped in his lap.

“No, my injury is too great, I cannot climb. I am afraid I cannot stay in the air for long.” Gus struggled out of Osric's hands while yelling insults at the smaller eagle for not eating him. “I could make it to the clearing ahead, next to the tall oak and stream. I think that will be a large enough area to land in, don't you?” No one wanted to interrupt their conversation. Although she had just been injured by an eagle, she spoke to him with great respect, and he seemed to reciprocate the emotion. Though, whether or not that translated to her passengers, nobody wished to test while strapped into their seats.

“But, we were supposed to be hunting!” Protested the younger eagle, whining in frustration.

“Silence is your best option right now. We will talk later!” Shouted the bigger of the two birds. They began their short descent to the ground, landing awkwardly in a large field surrounded by oak trees.

9 – The Caves of D'pareth

The landing had caused Greyback even more pain. What at first had been a typical break became two protruding bones, yet very little blood. The larger of the two eagles began to examine Greyback's wounds. Osric and Kenneth gently removed the equipment from her back.

“You need to go get help! Bring her transport and aid to carry her passengers!” Bellowed the large eagle to the smaller one. The younger eagle let out a frustrated squawk and flew northeast toward their home. “I am sorry, but I must insist. We have Healers experienced in these types of wounds.”

“Oh? You try to hunt passengers often, do you?” Puffed Gus, glowering at the eagle. “Some kind of sport for you eagles, is it?”

“What is your name, friend?” The eagle addressed Greyback, completely ignoring Gus.

“Greyback.”

“I am known as Ero.” He replied with a bow. “I have help on the way. Do not worry; we will take care of your passengers.” Ero stated, looking at each of them with his large golden eyes, and motioning toward them with his head, to tell her that they would be alright. “We will have you all brought to our aerie. Our Healers can have you mended as soon as possible.”

“So's we can see more birdies?” Pebble was bouncing with excitement.

“Yes, we will see more birds.” Gus barked. “If you're lucky, they won't just eat you!”

While they waited, Bridgett and Ero tended to the broken wing, while Gus soothed and distracted Greyback. Kenneth and Osric organized their gear to be transported by the eagles. Osric checked the crates and let out a slow whistle.

“We have a problem.” Osric sat down on top of the box. “All of our supplies are gone.”

“Yes, of course they are. We were upside down twice before I fell off of the dragon, you idiot!” Shouted Gus. “What did you expect?”

“Osric, it's Toby, do you have a minute?”

Osric was startled by the voice emanating from his wand. He took it out of its leather pouch and held it up in front of him, and could see his Profice's miniature figure standing in midair above it.

“Toby, do you have any news?” Osric was eager to hear of more survivors, hoping that some of his superiors were among them. It would make him feel better to at least have one of them tell him he was doing what they would have asked.

“We have uncovered another twelve survivors in the last week, but we still cannot get to the throne room. We are finding less and less whole walls as we uncover more, and we are having a hard time preventing cave-ins. It is making the whole rescue process slow and labor intensive. Our stabilizing spells can only do so much.” Toby said apologetically.

They continued their conversation for a time, as Toby explained the issues they were encountering with the removal of the rubble from above the throne room. Soon, Osric could see eagles arriving to take them to their aerie, so Osric ended their conversation, but asked him to contact him again when they uncovered more. Kenneth and Bridgett assisted him as he loaded their gear on one eagle, then they all climbed aboard another, and watched as Greyback was ferried off by four more.

They watched the large oak trees fade into the distance as they gained altitude. Soon they could see that they were approaching cliffs with several thousand large nests nestled in the crags of the rocky ledges. The nests were woven from branches and vines. Osric got the impression that a single gust of wind would topple them from their precarious perch on the rocks, but the varying signs of weathering and wear on the branches showed they had been in place for a very long time.

The eagles landed on a wide ledge in the center of the nesting colony. The space had looked a lot smaller from the air; however, upon landing they were awestruck by its spacious width. The eagles unloaded the passengers and their gear and flew off in silence. They were only a few strides below the tree line and the temperature had decreased dramatically. Osric watched his breath float away in the bitterly cold air. One thing was certain; they could not sleep outside without cover. Osric could see the same thought in the eyes of his friends. Even Pebble and Gus, with their fur pelts, seemed to feel it as much as the rest. Osric decided he would have to do something about it since they had seemingly been abandoned by their escort.

He informed the group of his intentions and set out to locate Ero, but it was no easy task. There were thousands of eagles about, and none looked happy to see a man walking among them. It was an odd thing for Osric to see. He had encountered many different species in Stanton, but the eagles were colder toward them than the mountain air. After all of the recent efforts to bring the world to the brink of unification, it was unnerving to experience their negativity at such a crucial point in history. He continued cautiously around several nests that would be large enough for Greyback to coil up in. He had to climb over sharp rocks to reach adjacent ledges, and was quickly feeling the effects of the thin air at such a high altitude.

“Hold still, my cousin.” Osric could hear Ero's voice from somewhere nearby, and he heard Greyback moaning as well, but could see neither of them. “We need to set the bone or it will not heal properly.”

Osric crossed to the next ledge and came up behind a large gathering of eagles. Their attention was focused on Ero and Greyback, and it did not take long to get around them. Osric arrived just in time to watch them set the bone, with the aid of some very thick, leather straps. He looked on in curiosity as Healers wrapped her wing in a fibrous material, and when they were done, Ero knelt down and touched the material and it instantly became like stone.

“Osric, what can I do for you?” Greyback had noticed him standing there and attempted to stand to address him, worried that he would be upset with her.

“Don't get up, you could hurt yourself.” Osric motioned her to stay down as he approached rapidly. “I'm here to speak to Ero.” He was thankful that Greyback was there to witness the conversation. He had a strong feeling that he would get better results talking to Ero in the presence of the dragon. The intense gazes of the eagles gathered around them put him on edge. Greyback's proximity helped to ease his anxiety about the tense situation.

“What makes you think that you can interrupt her healing!?” Ero was clearly annoyed by the disturbance. “What do you want?”

“No disrespect intended. We just got dropped off on the side of a mountain after being attacked. We would be grateful for shelter or supplies. All of ours were lost when Greyback was injured, and we will freeze to death without them.” Osric tried to sound respectful, but assertive.

The expression on Ero's face went from anger and frustration to understanding, and then rapidly back to anger. It was as though he realized the responsibility he had and wanted to resolve it without speaking to Osric.

“Oh yes, I need to make sure my passengers survive.” Greyback tried to get up again.

“No, beautiful.” Osric tried to show the dragon the same respect that Gus had. Hopefully it would curry some favor with the eagles. “The eagles are responsible for the trouble we all face, as well as your injury. We will never hold you at fault for this. We will find a way to offer you more for your troubles, as well.”

It was evidently the wrong approach as several eagles cried out in anger and charged toward him. They separated him from Greyback, who screeched in protest. Osric gripped his sword hilt, prepared to draw it if the eagles provoked him. He drew his wand defensively and erected a shield charm around himself. The shield would not last long if it came to an attack by talon and beak, but it would last long enough to give him a chance to react. Osric felt power surging through him as he stared into the eyes of his would-be attackers. It was the same intense power he had felt when he cast the spell to dry his tunic. He thought quickly; it must have something to do with necessity, as he had needed his clothing to dry quickly, and he obviously needed to defend himself from the eagles. That was something he would have to explore later, as right then he needed to focus on fending off an attack.

“How dare you treat a creature of the air like that?!” Ero raged.

“What, with respect and concern?” Osric was baffled by the accusation.

“Ha! You are trying to prostitute her!”

“Prostitute her? Is that what you think?

“You offered her money in front of us! How could you deny it?”

“Extra gold for saving our lives? You are all fools if that is what you saw.” Osric let out a nervous laugh.

“We witnessed it with our own eyes!”

“What you saw was me offering my friend a gift for saving my life! Are you the authority on what friends she can have as well?” Osric had begun to sense where their anger had come from. They thought it shameful to fly for payment. If he wanted the eagles to understand and respect them, Osric thought he would need to take the moral high ground for now.

“Friends? Ha! You call your slaves friends? We have never lowered ourselves to service of another species! We are the authority in the air!”

“Because you separate yourselves from the rest of the world! You think yourselves better?” Osric turned slowly, looking each of them in the eyes. Power was coursing through him, the hair on the back of his neck stood up, and chills ran over his skin. “We offered her what she wanted in exchange for what we wanted, and now we offer her more in thanks. What is wrong with that arrangement?”

“How dare you!?” The angry eagles began to close in on him. He could hear Greyback protesting. The entire crowd seemed ready to attack. Resentment filled their eyes as the gap between them and Osric narrowed to only a light toss of a stone.