Valdemar 11 - [Owl Mage 03] - Owlknight (35 page)

“Hurrrr,” Kel said, as he landed beside them. “Thisss isss like the Haighlei Forrressstssss, except that it isss not ssso hot.” He looked about with interest. “The trrreessss arrre asss big, and it isss damp therrre, like thisss.”

Moss and lichen grew thickly underfoot and on the trunks of the trees; and moss hung from the boughs high overhead. All of the trees were varieties of conifer or evergreen, and some were awe inspiring in their size, even to someone who was used to a Vale and the huge trees that grew there. These giants towered above their heads, so high that their tops were lost to sight among the branches of lesser trees.

Those trunks were like great, smooth columns, without any branches for such distances that Keisha couldn't see how they could possibly be climbed. This was how they differed from the Vale trees, which branched out no more than two or three stories above the ground; these trees went on forever without branching out. It was unlikely that anyone would be using these trees to house an
ekele
any time soon, unless they built from the ground up!

But the raptors and Kel all loved the new surroundings, and cheerfully went out on scouting forays while the rest moved away from the mouth of the Pass and found a secure site to set up camp.

They all returned at sunset, Kuari last of all, and as they ate fish caught by Wintersky and grilled over the fire, each Hawkbrother related what his bird was telling him.

And in the end, even Kel looked troubled by what they had not seen.

“Wherrre arrre the people?” Kel said finally. “We have flown herrre and theme—and therrre isss no sssign of people.”

“No sign that anyone has traveled the Pass recently either,” Darian pointed out, frowning. “There were tiny tribes in the other valleys—shouldn't there be
some
sign of people here? Could another sickness have come through here and wiped everyone out?”

“If it had—why wouldn't Snow Fox have brought it with them?” Keisha asked. “They only had Wasting Sickness and a few other things we already knew how to clear up.”

Hywel poked at the fire with a stick. “People do things differently, up here,” he said at last. “It could be that they are off fishing.”

“Fishing?” Wintersky said incredulously.
“Fishing?
What is that supposed to mean?”

Hywel looked uncomfortable. “I have heard—heard—that on the other side of that mountain there is a great expanse of water so far that you cannot see the other side, and it tastes of salt. This is where the peoples round about here get salt with which to trade. And I have heard that in the spring, there are torrents of fish coming up the streams. People gather at the rivers and catch these fish for as long as they come, and it is said that the fish are so thick in the rivers that one can walk from bank to bank upon their backs and keep dry feet. It is said that they can thus dry and smoke enough of these fish to serve them the rest of the year.”

“That sounds like some sort of fable to me,” Wintersky said skeptically.

Hywel shrugged. “It is only what I have heard. Also, I
have
tasted of this fish. Traders brought some back with them as provisions. It is good, very rich, and the meat of it is red, not white.”

“Huh.” Wintersky still looked skeptical.

“White Grrryphon liesss bessside sssuch a sssalty waterrr,” Kel observed, tilting his head to the side. “We call it an ‘ocean' or ‘sssea.' Could thisss be the sssame sssea?”

“I don't know why not,” Steelmind replied. “There is no reason why the coastline here could not be
much
farther to the east than it is where the Haighlei lands lie. It could be a larger lake than we can even imagine. But that doesn't address the question of where the people are.”

“No, it doesn't, but we've only looked close to the mouth of the Pass,” Darian said. “Now, if I were living up here, and I knew that this place existed and might be used by war parties or even armies, I certainly wouldn't want to live near it.”

Nods all around the campfire showed that Darian had come up with a reasonable explanation—for now.

But Keisha had the shivery feeling that this was not the real explanation.

 

After half-a-day's travel, they had finally come upon signs of people—but the signs weren't good.

“I don't like this,” Darian said, staring at the remains of the village. This place had been more like the permanent village that Ghost Cat had built in Valdemar, before it had been deserted.

Deserted? Maybe. Maybe not.
However the village had become untenanted, it had been too long ago to tell if the people had left, died, or been taken away. All that was left were the moss-covered remains of the log houses, the carved poles, the other artifacts of life. The roofs had fallen in—but that could have happened in a single season; Darian had seen how the kind of roof the Ghost Cat folks built needed constant attention. As wet as it was here, moss would have started to grow inside immediately. Grass was knee-tall, but there were no possessions, nor the remains of any.

“Hywel?” Darian said, turning to their only expert.

Hywel looked just as troubled, and just as puzzled. “I do not know,” he said, looking around at the tumbled houses, the fallen poles. “There are no bodies, and no belongings. Perhaps they—”

Then he shook his head. “No, I do not think they walked away, and it would be foolish to say so. I do not know what happened here.”

Darian scratched his head. “Do you see any signs of attack?” he asked reluctantly. “What would we be looking for?”

“There would be no signs,” Hywel told him. “If the tribe was under attack, the men would go out to meet the enemy, and the women and children would remain here. And if the men did not come back—” He paused. “Well, until Blood Bear began taking other tribes' women, the women and children of the defeated would have been left in peace to rebuild their tribe as best they could.”

“But now—we don't know.” He considered for a moment. “If they were attacked by Blood Bear, wouldn't the victors come here and carry everything off? They certainly tried to do that at Errold's Grove.”

“What if illness killed most of the people here?” Keisha asked. “Would the survivors just pack up and walk away?”

“They might.” Hywel brightened a bit at that. “It is tradition that girls go to other tribes to wed, and warriors take wives from other tribes, so there are alliances created all the time. It could happen that they would pack what they had and go, if there were too few hunters to feed the people, or too few people to make a tribe.”

But this settlement had been huge, larger than the Ghost Cat village was now. Could sickness have wiped out that many people?

The ruins held no answers for them now, it had been too long since—whatever it was—had happened.

“We move on,” he decided. “We're nearly to Snow Fox territory anyway. We
know
that they're all right. Maybe they can tell us what happened here.”

He didn't have to add that they would
have
to be wary. They already knew what to do. With Neta taking point, the birds spread out to either side, and Kel watched their backtrail. Hashi ranged out in a fan shape in front, filling in wherever another scout wasn't. The one advantage they had was the forest itself; it was damp enough that scent lingered, giving Hashi plenty of information. The scant undergrowth and lack of low branches kept a relatively clear line-of-sight for them down on the ground, and a clear flight path for the birds.

But the forest was not continuous; there were huge meadows to cross, with acres and acres of waist-high grasses. They were beautiful, but dangerous; crossing them meant coming out of cover.

They had another one of those meadows ahead of them. This time, though, Darian was fairly certain that they would be safe, for a herd of deer grazed there, and Neta's probe of their minds showed that they felt perfectly comfortable here, which meant they hadn't been hunted recently. Darian was tempted to ask Kel to take one down for them, but decided against the idea. It was too early in the day to stop, and they would have to stop in order to take care of that much meat.

So they were the ones who spooked the herd into flight when they came out from under the shadows of the trees.

As the deer disappeared, the party moved warily out into the sunshine. Only now could they see the mountains towering on all sides of them; mountains with snow capping their peaks, rising through the thin clouds. It was Darian's turn on Weather-Watch, and he sensed that there were storms moving in from the west. There would be rain tonight.

He didn't know what the natives called this land, but he had a few choice selections. When they'd packed for this trip, he hadn't counted on facing rain practically every night. They'd been improvising with limited success; rain shelters made from boughs and rain sheets didn't keep the precipitation out all night long, and by dawn everyone was damp.

He used magic to dry them out, driving the water from clothing and hair. He had no choice, even though this simple act might signal their presence to an enemy; they could not afford to get sick, or pick up something that would rot feet or infect skin. Keisha had to preserve her own strength for things that could not be prevented.

Carefully, with all the birds in the air, they crossed the meadow. Steelmind gathered plants as they walked, stooping over now and again to snatch something that his peculiar Gift told him was useful. Already he had a dozen different herbs that he wanted to try cultivating—someday. For now, he was content to add flavor and variety to their meals.

This time he walked practically bent over, pulling up bulbs that looked exactly like wild onions, brushing them off, and stashing them in the bag at his waist.

Darian knew that Hakan, Steelmind's buzzard, was keeping a sharp eye out for trouble; Hakan circled highest above the clearing and had the widest view. Hakan's type was not the same as the scavenger vultures; it was closer by far to the hawk families. Buzzards had fully feathered heads, mild tempers, and sleepy dispositions. They never exerted themselves if they didn't have to—but that mild and sleepy outward demeanor concealed a determined nature. Hakan would fly through fire to protect Steelmind.

Wintersky's little sharpshin hawk Kreeak by contrast was a bundle of nerves. Never able to stay still unless he was asleep, Kreeak was making a circuit of the meadow, while Kuari stayed in the trees at the point where they would reenter the forest. Kel was above with Hakan, in position to attack if he was needed.

Neta and Hashi kept their noses in the wind, staying beside the humans. The rest of the
dyheli
spread out all around them, for they were on foot, deciding that it would be better for the humans to present less of themselves above the grass as targets.

It was Kuari who sounded the warning, before they were a quarter of the way across the vast meadow—but through Kuari's eyes, Darian saw that the hunting party drawing cautiously towards the meadow wore the emblem of the Snow Fox.

“It's Snow Fox!” he shouted, and got into the saddle of the nearest
dyheli,
the rest no more than a fraction of a moment behind him.

Hywel, on Neta, took the lead; although he was riding on an unfamiliar animal, he wore the familiar clothing of another Northerner, and more, he carried with him a token from the Snow Fox women and children and the young warriors still with Ghost Cat. Darian let him race ahead of them; when he came close enough, he dismounted and finished his approach on foot. At that distance, he and the others were no more than dots against the shadow of the trees, but through Kuari's eyes Darian saw that the meeting was going very well indeed. With that as encouragement, he led the rest on at a brisk lope.

By the time they reached Hywel and the hunting party, Hywel and the strangers were acting like old acquaintances. This was a party of young men his own age, which certainly helped, and the faces that they turned to the approaching riders were friendly and smiling.

But they soon sobered after the introductions were made and the initial excitement of the meeting died down. “We must make a kill and return quickly,” the leader of the hunting party said, with a nervous glance to the east. “We are too near to Wolverine territory....”

They didn't elaborate, and Darian figured that questions could wait until later. “We will help,” he offered. “We should not come to your home empty handed, after all.”

The Snow Fox hunters were too young to hide their skepticism well, but politely said nothing. But of course the moment that Darian had offered his help, he, Wintersky, and Steelmind had sent off their birds to scout for those deer that they had frightened off earlier.

:Kel!:
he called upward.
:These are Snow Fox hunters; they need to make some kills and get out of here. When the birds find those deer, can you help out?:

:Hah! Easily!:
cane the cheerful reply.
:I
will dive
at them so that they run toward you—it will be your task
to
see that at least one or two do not get by you!:

Kreeak located the deer at just that moment, and Kel gave them time enough to get back across the meadow and in place before he began his flush. Darian felt his blood begin to heat and his heart speed up as they approached their ambush point.

“I beg your indulgence,” he said carefully. “But there will be a herd of deer running here in a moment—will you make ready?”

Now the hunters exchanged thinly veiled looks of amusement. Of course they were amused. This was their land, and they knew the habits and movements of the animals here; how could strangers presume to predict that a herd of deer would come through a particular place?