Windcatcher: Book I of the Stone War Chronicles (3 page)

The northern piece of the Broken Tooth was home to the always mysterious Tiankong Empire. Although they were one of Aeterra's greatest trade partners, the Tiankong Empire actively ward off travelers from their land. They only traded on one of the larger Arosh’ad islands, halfway between the two main continents. Surrounded by a large outer archipelago, it was dead smack in the middle of the Great Western Divide. The many tiny isles had a tropical beauty to them; but, unfortunately, they were also ideal for harboring pirates and other lowlifes preying on the trading vessels.

Since the Empire was so closed off, little more than rumors were known about their region. Most merchants did not care much for it, as the goods they traded in—like silk, spices and gems—were always of the finest quality. The fear of losing such a valuable trading partner held back most merchants from satisfying their curiosity about the Empire’s mainland.

Raylan felt his mind soar on the touch of those fond memories of sailing the oceans: manning the sails, learning to use the wind to their advantage, balancing on—and climbing up—the ropes. He enjoyed the physical connection with the ship, while at the same time, he absorbed the feeling of freedom and took on the challenge of mastering the winds. During those years, the wind earned Raylan's respect—as such a powerful but unseen force of nature.

Once, the ship Raylan served on at that time was caught in an immense storm. He had never seen anything like it before, dark clouds rolled in from both port and starboard sides at a crushing speed. Within moments, the sea turned into a rough landscape of mountains that rose and fell by the will of Mother Nature. Lightning crackled along with the waves, and the thunder crashed so loud it was difficult to understand the first mate screaming at him no more than four yards from where he held a firm grip on the ship's railing.

They only survived by the wits and experience of their captain. The man steered the ship like a mad pirate. Instead of fighting the waves, he rode them like a dancer moves through a room. It took three and a half days of battling the forces of nature, after which the first rays of sun finally lightened their hearts and gave them their well-deserved rest. They smiled, and then laughed, glad all of the crew survived. And although, unfortunately, most of their precious cargo was lost, the captain did not hesitate to open an extra bottle of rum, or two, to celebrate their victory.

Raylan looked at his right arm where a memento from the storm ran under his armor. Halfway through the second day, he had tried to secure a sailing rope while he was completely exhausted. The rope had wrapped itself around his lower arm when the boat slammed into an oncoming wave. The impact yanked the rope from his hands, causing it to burn across his skin. He had been lucky not to lose the arm completely. The burn mark had never properly healed and left a scar that flowed around his arm, almost like a snaking whirlwind. It had been his constant reminder to respect and never underestimate the power of the wind.

Those times now seemed like a lifetime ago. His life at sea changed, when two years ago, rumors started to spread across the kingdom about outposts far into the northern wilderness region losing contact with the kingdom. People whispered that death was creeping in from the eastern land, Doskova.

The eastern continent was a harsh and wild land. The terrain was filled with dark forests that were home to savage tribes of hunters and scavengers. Not many tried their luck in those lands, even fewer returned. With hearsay and uncertainties, unrest grew. To ease the people’s hearts and minds, the current king of Aeterra, Quinnan the Third, sent out messengers and scouts to confirm any of the rumors, but none returned.

Upon his last return to port, Raylan was drafted, like many other boys and men. The king, on advice of the council, decided not to take any chances. He rallied an army for an unknown enemy and prepared for a possible attack. The borders were strengthened and the cities were prepared, in case Aeterra needed to defend itself from assault…but the attack never came.

Slowly, the army was disbanded, and life returned to its normal pace. During that time, Raylan only had a few more weeks of service left in the army, before he could return to his beloved oceans.

Then, four months ago, a mysterious woman arrived by sea to the king’s court, introducing herself as Xi’Lao, a messenger from the Tiankong Empire. She was on official assignment from the royal court to speak to the king of Aeterra. The briefing went on for half a day behind closed doors; but once done, things moved very quickly.

The royal family of the Tiankong Empire officially requested aid in tracking down and reclaiming an item of great importance to the Empire. An attack force of unknown origin infiltrated from the northeast, somehow surviving the barren region of the White North, leaving devastation in its wake. While a large force drew the attention of the army, a much smaller force moved quickly and looted one of their most sacred monasteries, claiming the item the Empire now desperately sought to retrieve.

Little information was provided by Xi’Lao, but the political importance of the request was not wasted on the king and the council. A special reconnaissance squad was formed, consisting of a selection of high quality fighters and trackers. The mission—to find the stolen item and retrieve it. If retrieval was impossible, they were to follow the item and relay as much information as possible about its whereabouts and the force that took it.

Gavin received the honor of leading the squad. The high commander believed they would need Gavin’s resourcefulness, strategic planning, as well as the respect the men had for him in the command position. Raylan's sword skills landed him a spot in the squad, to which Gavin instantly objected. It was guaranteed to be a very dangerous mission, and he preferred his kid brother stayed home where it was safer. But the high commander said they would need the fighting skill of men he could trust. So who better to have that close than family? Raylan knew a few of his squad mates, but most were more experienced veterans, serving in the army long before the rumors began.

Their group counted twelve men total, including Raylan and Gavin. Gavin, the squad leader, was responsible for taking command on the assignment. Two men named Ca’lek and Stephen went along for scouting and tracking. Raylan was part of the fighting team alongside Richard, Harwin and Regis. Both Richard and Harwin saw plenty of combat and had the scars to prove it. They were considered veterans with excellent records. Harwin was, by far, the oldest of the group; his extensive experience in battles would be useful in unknown territory. Richard acted as Gavin’s second in command, while Regis was a younger man who excelled with the sword, much like Raylan.

The heavy hitter of the team was Galen, a gigantic man with a neck as thick as a tree log. Peadar, who was a bit younger than Raylan, went along as the bird handler. Although he was not that great at fighting, he possessed a lot of knowledge about the animals living in this world. Some would say he had a gift for working with them, especially birds. He was responsible for keeping the pigeons healthy so that messages could be sent back on the progress of the mission. Then, there were the archers Kevhin and Rohan, both very skilled and among the best in the army. Having grown up in the northern regions of the kingdom, they could easily hit moving targets three hundred and fifty feet away with scary accuracy, given either a longbow or a crossbow. The final addition to the squad was Xi’Lao, who carried with her the information of the last known location of the armed force, the estimated speed of their travel, as well as the suspected direction of said travels. And, perhaps most importantly, she knew what item they were looking for. Once the item was located and retrieved, Xi’Lao would safeguard it until it was safely delivered back into the hands of the Tiankong Empire.

Wiping his forehead, Raylan looked to his left and saw Xi’Lao prepare herself for the attack. Her dark brown eyes scanned the many small knives on her belt, while her hands assured none of them would easily drop out or get stuck when needed. Brown eyes suited her well; slightly narrowed, they gave her a sensual look. While her hair was long, black and straight, it almost had a blue shine over it in the moonlight. For the occasion, it was now tightly tied together in a knot. She was quite small and of a slender build. Her movements were uncommonly reserved, she truly had a foreign way about her. Raylan wondered how such a refined woman could be expected to undergo such a dangerous journey and fight beside them during this mission. Her hands, however, seemed to tell a different story. More than once, Raylan was amazed by the speed she displayed in handling her knives—while preparing the catch of the day, hunting a rabbit, or doing some other small chore.

He attempted to talk to her during their hastened journey north, trying to find out what this mysterious item was that they were going after. But she provided little information, her answers were always polite but short. She mainly spoke to Gavin, he being the one in command, and even then, only about the pursuit they were giving.

Raindrops stung in his eyes, his dark brown hair stuck to his head, and he believed there was no piece of dry clothing left on his body. The rain fell for weeks, ever since they crossed the northern border into the wild forests. The clouds only gave way to a tempered sun every couple of days, which was not unusual this far north.

They used the messenger inns to travel as quickly as possible to Aeterra's most northern stronghold in the woods, Forsiquar. Xi’Lao disappeared during the night. When she returned, she and Gavin spoke at length about their way into the wilderness. They refreshed their horses one last time, before heading out northeast the next morning.

They slowed their pace to spare the horses, but rode for long hours every day to make sure they could catch up with the armed force they were pursuing. It took them two months since leaving Shid’el to move deep into the northeastern region, while time was moving against them.

As the squad approached the region of the White North, the weather became colder and the rains more unpleasant. Raylan and the others had heard about the wet northern regions, but the discomfort still took most of the men by surprise. Their fur coats protected them from much of the cold, but often remained soaking wet for days from the constant rain. The harshness of the environment made traveling and tracking very difficult and tiresome.

After two and a half months of traveling, the men grew restless and angry from the constant rain and cold, uncomfortable nights. Xi’Lao expressed her concerns to Gavin that the retreating force might have moved more quickly than anticipated. They could have missed them by days, weeks even, and there was a good possibility that perhaps the rain washed away any tracks already.

Morale in the group plummeted and quarrels between the men erupted on a regular base as everyone felt the pressure. It was hard for Gavin to keep control of the squad. And although Raylan backed his brother in all of the arguments between the men, he was grateful for every time they found an empty cave, allowing them to avoid the rain and to build some sort of fire to keep themselves warm in their sleep.

Their supplies ran out faster than expected. In the beginning, they were able to hunt to spare most of their rations; but now that the temperature dropped, the game became scarcer. It meant they would soon have to turn back or divert from their pursuit to find bigger wildlife to hunt. They would have to move south, away from the White North toward warmer regions; but this would also mean moving away from their primary pursuit.

Gavin was about to declare the mission a failure and change directions to a friendlier climate, when they came across a fresh trail of a reasonable size group of travelers. Stephen and Ca’lek were immediately sent out to scout. They confirmed there was a group of armed men transporting a large chest in one of multiple wagons. The chest was difficult to spot in the wagon, but as luck would have it, the wind blew up the cotton rags of the wagon long enough to spot it. The chest they saw had the same fine red wood with a gold colored metal frame that witnesses described as being taken away during the raid of the temple. The soldiers looked worse for wear, having clearly been on the road under harsh conditions for a long time. Their numbers were less than expected in comparison to the report one of the monks sent in after the ransacking of the sacred temple. Both scouts assumed that a lot of the soldiers had died of starvation, or from the cold, during the travels so close to the White North. It was a hazardous road to take, after all. Still, the group counted about three times their number, estimating a total of at least thirty soldiers and fifteen horses.

Gavin was happy to see that now that they discovered their target, the squad's morale quickly recovered…the men finally had a more direct task to focus on. They tracked the soldiers and chest for three days. They observed the harsh hierarchy in the group. These were hardened men who did not flinch at the thought of using violence. The first night, the scouts even came back with the story that they killed one of their own men over a scrap of food.

It became apparent that they could not make a mistake with these killers. So they followed them until the opportunity arose to strike. The group of enemy soldiers made camp on top of a low hill. It provided a sheltered place surrounded by rocks and a relatively deep cave in a small rock formation. Here, the weary men could take shelter from the weather. While the site provided an excellent view of the surroundings during the day, it was the cloud-filled sky and rainy night that gave the Aeterran squad their first real opportunity to sneak up and attack the camped force. If their squad had any wish of retrieving the item, they had to take this shot now.