Victim of Fate (7 page)

As they drew nearer, they could make out
several wasps crawling across the walls and roof of the farmhouse.
The windows had been boarded up and the door was shut. The body of
one wasp lay near the door on the ground.

"Seems promising," Karthor offered.

"I count four of them, be careful!" Tristam
said as he spurred his horse into action.

Namitus drew a dagger and held it in his left
hand. He frowned when he saw Alto pull out his massive broadsword
and grin before he followed after Tristam. Karthor joined the two
warriors, brandishing his mace.

The wasps took to the air and met them on
their way. They closed faster than Alto was ready for and he barely
dodged the thrusting stinger of the wasp that came out at him. He
swung his sword but he was already past his target. Alto yanked on
Sebas's reins and pulled him around so he could dismount and be
better balanced to fight the massive insects.

The wasp was already on its way back towards
him. Alto frowned when he saw that the insect’s path would take it
over him. He swung his sword but failed to come close enough. Sebas
whinnied behind him in fear.

Alto turned and saw the wasp hovering over
his stallion. He ground his teeth and charged, yelling and waving
his arm to get the insect’s attention. The wasp struck at Sebas but
the stallion bucked away from it in time to dodge the attack. Alto
slammed his sword into the body of the insect and knocked it to the
ground. It buzzed about for a moment before laying still.

Alto turned to see two of the bugs were on
the ground near Tristam and a third near Karthor. Tristam thrust
into one of the grounded wasps and killed it, and then turned and
met Alto's eyes. Both men were on the ground, but Tristam's mount
was staggered and blood ran from its haunch.

"Damn thing stung my horse," Tristam said. He
turned to look at the steed and watched as it stumbled and then sat
down roughly. His horse was breathing heavily and whickering
softly.

"Karthor, can you help him?" Alto asked as he
hurried over.

Karthor frowned. "Perhaps, but I'm not sure
Leander will grant me power to help a horse."

"I'd think Leander would want to help anyone,
man or animal."

Karthor smiled. "I'd think so, too, but I've
never tried it."

Tristam's horse slumped over on its side as
the paralytic poison worked through its veins. The steed's eyes
were wide with terror.

Namitus and Kar rode up, watching the scene.
"Sausage in the making?" Kar asked, only to receive a glare from
Alto and Tristam both.

Karthor chanted to the saint of growth and
light, causing his holy symbol to glow before his spell ended and
the glow faded. Tristam's horse was breathing deeper by the time he
finished. "I think he'll be okay," the priest said. "I couldn't get
all of the poison out but his wound is healed and I think he's
strong enough to fight it off."

"You think?" Tristam asked.

Karthor shrugged, earning a curse from the
man.

"Quick, put your horses in my barn!" a voice
called from the open door of the farmhouse. "If the wasps can't see
them, they'll be safer."

They turned to look at the farmer. He was
older than any of them, but younger than Alto's father. His hair
was thinning but he seemed hearty if exhausted from worry. "My
thanks," Tristam said. "Alto, see to the mounts, and then join
us."

"I'll help," Karthor offered. He guided
Tristam's horse back to its feet. The horse staggered and seemed
shaky, but it followed Karthor as he guided it into the barn. Alto
took Sebas and gathered the reins of the other mounts.

When Alto and Karthor entered the house, the
farmer shut the door and barred it from within. When he was
satisfied that it was secure, he turned back to the others and
offered a pathetic smile. "Welcome, strangers. I'd offer you more
than just my thanks but our pantry is near empty and venturing a
trip outside to the root cellar is a trip to the hangman's
noose!"

"What happened here?" Tristam asked. Deeper
into the house, the farmer's wife and a young boy stared at them
with a mix of fear and hope.

"We don't know. The wasps came weeks ago.
They've taken my livestock and my daughter," the farmer said. The
man's wife let loose a strangled sob at his admission.

"They don't look big enough to take cattle
and horses," Kar thought out loud.

The farmer nodded. "They're not, but I seen
them chew the animals up and take them."

Alto gasped. "Was your daughter..."

He shook his head. "She disappeared before
the wasps came. She was fetching water for dinner. The bees came a
few hours later."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Alto said. He cast about,
trying to think of a way to make the farmer and his family feel
better. "We've enough rations we can share; you don't look to have
eaten well lately."

Tristam silenced him with a glare.

"The girl, your daughter—you say she
disappeared a few hours before the wasps came?" Kar asked.

He nodded. "Does she get water from the
forest?"

He nodded. "Fool child's been told to stay
away from there but she keeps going back." He paused and shook his
head, and then took a deep breath and let it go.

Kar nodded. "Interesting," he mused.

The farmer's eyes narrowed but Tristam
stopped him from further suspicion by speaking. "My name is
Tristam. We're the Blades of Leander. We've come to help put a stop
to these things troubling Fairhaven. A man named Baldwyn sought us
out."

The woman gasped while the farmer nodded. "I
welcome the help, but I don’t think this pestilence won't be ended
easily."

"I fear you're right, but we're dumb enough
to try anyway," Tristam said with a smile. "I'm impressed you've
survived this long, being so close to the forest. Most of the
town's been taken or killed."

The farmer winced. "Terrible news," he said.
"My name's James. My wife is Willamina and my boy is Kevard. Our
daughter was Rosalyn."

"Kevard?" Alto blurted out. "Are you
Kelgryn?"

James turned and stared at him. "Kelgryn? No,
why?"

Alto felt the heat in his cheeks. He'd never
heard the name Kevard before joining the Blades of Leander and now
he'd heard it twice in one year. Seemingly by coincidence. "I'm
sorry. My sword once belonged to a Kelgryn man named Kevard. I'm
Alto, by the way."

The farmer grunted without even looking at
the ornate hilt at Alto's side. "I planned to take my family and
flee once the sun sets. We've lost nearly everything but one
another and I'm not wanting to risk that, too. Those things don't
come out at night. I suggest you head back to where you came from
then, too. There's too many of them."

"A wise move," Tristam said. "For you, at
least. We still want to help what's left of your town. Wait until
we leave; perhaps we can be a distraction helping you get
away."

"You're headed to the forest?"

Tristam nodded.

"May the saints favor you or grant you a
quick death. That forest is evil and only fools go there!"

"We'll keep that in mind then," Tristam said
through a forced smile. "I make it to be about four more hours
until the sun sets?"

The farmer nodded. "That's about right. Make
yourselves comfortable; there's naught else I can offer."

Alto fought back the frown at the man's
bitterness. He felt bad for the farmer; he knew how difficult his
life could be in the best of times. To lose a child and then be
overwhelmed by a plague of giant wasps was beyond thinking.

"Pardon me, but how much land do you farm?"
Alto asked.

The farmer turned, his eyes widening before
they narrowed. "Why?"

Alto offered him what he hoped was a smile of
friendship. "I grew up on a farm like this one. In the northern
reaches, not far from the Northern Divide. My father farms nearly
two hundred acres."

"That's a lot of land," James
acknowledged.

"I'm the oldest of seven children," Alto said
with a chuckle.

James smiled. "That explains it. I, well, we
made do with the eighty we've got. Before this happened, that
is."

Alto saw his expression darken. "That's
impressive all the same, more land per person than my family
managed."

Alto saw Tristam motion for the others to
move away from him and the family. Alto took the hint and moved
closer to the farmer, leading him into the house closer to
Willamina and Kevard. He saw his companions conversing, no doubt
making plans and discussing what was to come. He saw Tristam glance
at him and offer him a nod, letting him know his job was to keep
the farmer and his family busy. Alto returned the nod and focused
on the conversation. It surprised him how much he missed talking
about his former life.

* * * *

Rosalyn gasped when the group of men rode up
to her house. She glanced up at the open doorway to the room where
Therion had taken refuge. He was working on something, he'd said.
She had no idea what it was or what that even meant. For all she
knew, he might have been cooking a stew or darning his socks.

Her eyes went back to the mirror and she
watched as they killed the wasps and then were met by her father.
Tears filled her eyes, and then dried up when she saw her father
turn and gesture at her mother and brother. She couldn't hear them
but he showed no sign of being upset that she was gone. Had her
disappearance made his life better? He'd always doted on her
brother; maybe she'd been an inconvenience. No man wanted a
daughter as their firstborn. Other than doing chores around the
house, all she could offer would be a closer relation with another
family when she would have been married off.

It looked like she'd solved that problem for
him. Now if only the wasps would go away, his life would be
perfect. Rosalyn closed her eyes and took a few breaths to try to
calm herself. She was on her own. The adventurers wouldn't survive,
especially if the best their wizard could do was a giant bird that
wasn't even real. Her eyes went to the young warrior and she felt a
mixture of anger and pity. He was close to her age or maybe a
little older but that didn't matter. He was going to die.

"You're all going to die," James said later
that night.

"This isn't the first time we've heard that,"
Tristam said. "Make sure if we do that you and your family get far
enough away while we're gone."

James nodded. He led his sniffling wife back
to a chair and then returned. "I've got nothing to offer for help,
but I'd be thankful beyond words if you'd do something for me."

"Thought we were going to die?" Tristam
reminded him.

"Yes, I expect you are, but even a fool's
chance is a chance."

"I've no shortage of fools working for me,"
Tristam quipped. "We need to be off, though; what is your
boon?"

"My daughter," James said without hesitation.
He looked around until his eyes fell on Alto. "I wish she'd have
met you; you probably could have kept her head on straight."

Alto frowned. "She lost her head?"

"No," he chuckled softly. "Not in any real
sense, that is. We wanted what was best for her, we always did, but
no matter what we thought or said, she had other ideas. She used to
get so mad, I swear she could plow a field with that angry gaze of
hers."

Tristam and Alto waited while the farmer
settled his emotions down. He took a breath and let it go before
continuing. "I know she's gone; no one can survive out there for
long with them things swarming. If you find Rosalyn, can you treat
her right?"

Alto frowned and turned to Tristam. If she
was dead, how could they treat her right? Tristam ignored the young
warrior and nodded to the farmer instead. "If we can, we'll bring
her back for a proper burial."

James's face turned pale in the torchlight.
"If she's, uh, presentable. I've seen what normal bees and wasps do
to other insects they catch."

Alto's eyes widened. He'd seen it, too. The
carcasses were torn apart and fed to larvae. If they did that to
the farmer's daughter...

"We'll take care of it," Tristam promised the
farmer.

James sniffed and offered a terse nod before
he turned and walked stiffly to his wife. Alto stared after him and
then turned to his mentor. Tristam shook his head, stalling any
questions he might ask, and then turned to the door of the farm.
"Keep your wits about you out there. They may be docile at night or
they may be worse. They're unnatural."

Before Alto could begin to worry at just what
sort of unnatural behavior the wasps might have, Tristam drew the
bar on the door and opened it. Alto followed the veteran out the
door and looked around, searching for movement. A light breeze
rattled the nearly skeletal trees on the farm, causing Namitus to
jump and twist about beside him.

"How's the arm?" Alto asked, distracting the
rogue.

"What?" Namitus turned back to him and then
glanced down at his arm. He flexed his fingers, making a fist, and
then curled his arm up to the elbow. His lips twisted up into a
grim smile. "Nearly as good as new."

"Alto, check the horses," Tristam snapped
without taking his eyes off the starlit sky overhead.

Alto hurried over to the barn, accompanied by
Karthor, and pulled open the door. He was greeted with a shrill
whinny from inside that set his heart to racing. He stepped aside
as a shape rushed out of the darkness at him and then passed him
by. The other horses followed, even Tristam's mount that had been
injured hours ago. Alto could see it limping in the starlight but
only because he'd grown up having a sense of such things.

"Leander's grace!" Karthor whispered.

Alto turned away from the horses and looked
where the shocked priest was staring. Dark lumps on the floor
gradually came into focus as his eyes adjusted to the torchlight.
He saw the remains of giant wasps that had been smashed into the
floor. "How many is that?" Alto asked.