Avondale (30 page)

They used some of the moss to help start the fire. Nothing seemed dried out, but the moss burned readily enough. The dung took a while to ignite, but once it did, it burned almost like wood.

“I’m glad it doesn’t smell,” Lexi said.

“Me too,” Ti agreed.

“Don’t you think she should be waking up?” Rafe asked about Olyva.

“I don’t know,” Tiberius said. “It could take a while for the effects to wear off.”

“Can’t you do something? Use your magic on her?”

“I don’t have a spell for that. I can work on fever, on seasonal ailments, broken bones and burns, but not something like this.”

“Damn, I just feel so helpless.”

Tiberius moved over by his friend and talked reassuringly. Lexi wasn’t as confident as Tiberius, but she didn’t foster ill will on Olyva. She got busy making a simple stew with the salted pork and the few vegetables that Tiberius had packed away.”

“I meant to buy more food at the market before I left the city,” he said when he finally came back to the fire.

“That would have been nice,” Lexi agreed.

“Rafe’s exhausted. He hasn’t slept much at all since we left Avondale. I told him we’d cover things tonight. I hope that’s alright.”

“It is,” Lexi said. “After you eat you can get some sleep. I’ll stand guard as long as I can, then wake you.”

“Alright,” he agreed.

The soothing sound of the river, combined with warm food in their stomachs, was the perfect combination to help everyone sleep. Rafe was out almost before he finished eating. They didn’t have much in the way of dishes. Tiberius had packed a small pot, a tin plate, and two pewter cups. There were three more cups in Rafe’s bag. So they ate out of the cups, and Tiberius helped Lexi wash up after diner.

They sat and talked for a while, both marveling at the beauty of the blighted lands. Tiberius felt guilty for not staying up with Lexi, but she assured him she was okay. Once he laid down on their blanket, he was asleep almost immediately.

It was easier to stay awake if she walked, plus stretching her aching muscles felt good after being in the saddle all day. Her back ached and her bottom was sore, so she paced back and forth beside the river. She had seen to the horses, removing their bridles and saddles, rubbing them down, and hobbling them in patch of long green moss that they seemed to enjoy the taste of.

The night wore on and despite the beauty of the blighted lands, she missed the stars at night. It was still warm, with a soft breeze blowing, nothing like the nights she had spent shivering in Avondale with no place to sleep. Many nights had been passed in tiny spaces between buildings, lying on the hard ground, staring up at the bright stars. They seemed magical to her somehow, like dreams. They were beautiful, but untouchable, and now they were hidden behind the thick mist that covered the blighted lands like a blanket.

She was getting tired after what she guessed was several hours. She tried to be strong and let Tiberius rest, but she could hardly stay on her feet and she knew that if she sat down, even for a moment, she would drift off to sleep. Rafe’s words came back to her,
we shouldn’t let our guard down.
Their camp by the river seemed so idyllic, yet she knew they couldn’t risk going without someone on watch, no matter how much they all needed to rest. There were still wild animals in the blighted lands, Tiberius had even seen Graypees by the river. She hoped they were nowhere near the place where the Graypees had been seen.

She walked over and nudged Tiberius.

“Ti,” she said quietly. “Ti, can you wake up?”

“Huh?” he asked sleepily. “What is it?”

“I can’t stay awake,” she said.

“Okay, okay, I’ll get up. Thanks for letting me sleep.”

She knelt down on the blanket as he got up. Her body was aching and her eyes felt dry. All she wanted to do was stretch out and sleep. She was arranging herself on the saddle, which didn’t make a bad pillow in her opinion, when Tiberius lay down a velvety cloak with fur around the edges, covering most of her body.

“It’s a little out of place on a journey like this,” he said. “But it was all I had.”

“It’s wonderful,” she said.

She could smell Tiberius in the soft garment. He must have had it stashed deep in his pack, she thought. She pulled it up around her face, and fell instantly asleep.

Tiberius walked slowly to the river and splashed cold water on his face. He was exhausted, but he knew that it was important to keep watch. Perhaps they could stay near the river for a few days and get some much needed rest.

Their fire had died down, so Ti added more of the dried dung. Once the flames took hold and cast a little light around the camp, Tiberius went to check on Olyva. He touched her forehead, but there was no sign of fever. Rafe was sound asleep as well, and Tiberius was glad that for the moment they were both at peace.

He paced back and forth across the camp, peering into the darkness. There was nothing to see, just a pitch-black void on every side of the ring of light cast by the dancing flames of their campfire. The hours seemed to drag on relentlessly and Tiberius did everything he could think of to stay awake. He exercised, doused his head with cold water from the stream, and stood close to the fire until his legs ached from the heat.

It was still an hour before dawn when he noticed the change. He was standing close to the fire, with his back to the flames, staring out into the darkness. His mind kept drifting off into blank thought. At one point he worried that he would fall over into the fire if he wasn’t careful. He tried not to worry that he was letting everyone down, but it was difficult. He felt like a stronger man wouldn’t fall asleep on watch. Of course, he hadn’t had a full night’s rest in several day either. They all needed more rest and better food.

Suddenly, after shaking himself awake yet again, he realized he was seeing something in the darkness. It was so small he had to rub his eyes to be sure he wasn’t dreaming. There were lights in the distance. Tiny sparks of light, at least a dozen of them. He stood staring at the lights for a long time, entranced that he could actually see something in the darkness. Then it occurred to him that the tiny sparks of light were getting closer and they they were pairs of light. He watched them, looking for confirmation and sure enough, the lights were moving closer. Each light had a twin that moved in perfect synchronization. It finally occurred to him that what he was seeing wasn’t light at all, but a reflection of light from his own fire. They were eyes.

He hurried over to Rafe and shook his friend awake.

“What?” Rafe said, his voice still thick with sleep.

“I think there are animals of some type approaching the camp.”

Rafe rubbed his face.

“You sure?” he asked.

“No, that’s why I woke you. Come see what you think.”

Rafe rolled out from under the blanket he was sharing with Olyva. He touched her head, grimaced, then tucked the blanket it around her. Tiberius helped pull his friend up.

“How close?” Rafe asked.

“It’s impossible to tell,” Tiberius answered. “All I can see is the firelight reflecting in their eyes. But they seem to be getting closer.”

“Any chance they’re the big cows you saw the other day?”

“It’s possible, but it could also be the Graypees.”

“Do the horses seem nervous?” Rafe asked.

“No, they’re quiet.”

“Okay, show me.”

They had to move to the other side of the fire. With their backs to the bright flames, they could peer out into the darkness. It took Rafe a minute, but then he confirmed Tiberius’ suspicions.

“You’re right,” Rafe said. “It’s definitely a pack of animals. Better to prepare for the worst.”

“Prepare how?” Tiberius asked.

“Well, the best thing to do would be to build a ring of fire around the camp. Animals are afraid of fire.”

“We don’t have enough dung. We can build up the fire we’ve got, but not by much.”

“Well, we’ll need to move Olyva closer to the fire. Wake up Lexi, we’ll need everyone armed and ready.”

“She’s only been asleep a few hours,” Tiberius said.

He hated to wake her. She seemed so peaceful and so beautiful curled under his cloak. He shook her shoulder gently. Her eyes fluttered open.

“We have trouble,” he said quietly.

She nodded and got to her feet. Rafe tried to wake Olyva, but she wouldn’t come around. He and Tiberius lifted her by picking up the blanket she was sleeping on and set her as close to the fire as possible.

“See to your weapons,” Rafe said.

Lexi handed Tiberius a spear. She kept one and gave the other to Rafe. Tiberius had a good dagger, but he doubted that he could do much with it if they were facing the Graypees. In his mind, he remembered the reptilian creatures. They looked like big lizards, with powerful hind legs that could hurtle their heavy bodies forward rapidly. Tiberius had been lucky when he’d killed the Alpha that had lunged at him outside the walls of Avondale. The creature had impaled itself on his spear. He doubted he would be so lucky a second time.

“Can you do that fire trick like you pulled on the trees?” Rafe asked him.

Tiberius thought about it. He wasn’t sure if it were possible. He remembered that in the book of magic, the second part that described the Fourth Order of magic had said something about kindling fire. He wracked his brain for a moment, trying to remember what the book had said.

Fire is universally known and used, from a cook using fire to roast meat, to a blacksmith manipulating fire in a forge. Yet, very few truly understand fire, and as the second principle of magic states, magic begins with knowledge. Fire occurs when combustable matter loses its magical energy. For instance, wood when heated, will shed its inherent magical energy (the spark of life that causes it to grow) producing fire. Accendo summons that energy. The Wizard should feel the pull of magic from the unseen, into the physical world as fire.

Tiberius didn’t think that animals were naturally combustable. He doubted that using the spell he’d used on the trees would have much effect on them. He also wondered why the spell in his book was different than the spell that had been on Princess Ariel’s list.

“Well?” Rafe asked. “Can you do it?”

“No,” Tiberius said irritably. “It won’t work on animals. Maybe if they had fur.”

“Damn,” Rafe said. “You got any another handy tricks up your sleeve?”

Tiberius shook his head. He was tempted to pull out the scroll and look over the spells on Princess Ariel’s list again, but in his nervousness he couldn’t think of anything that would help them.

“I can’t tell how close they are,” Rafe said.

“What are we going to do?” Lexi asked.

“When we killed a couple of them outside Avondale, it scared the rest of the pack away.”

“How do we kill them?” Lexi persisted. “They’re big, aren’t they?”

“Almost as big as our horses,” Rafe agreed.

Just then, the horses began to snort and paw the ground.

“They must have heard something,” Rafe said.

Tiberius picked up a piece of dung. It was round. He hurled it toward the eyes and whispered, “Ingesco Exsuscito.”

He could have used the spell given in his book, and for a moment he considered it, but the book had said never to use the spells of a higher order until one had mastered the previous orders. So he used the same spell he used on the trees the day before.

The dung patty burst into flames just as it began to arc down toward the ground. Light flittered across the area and they saw two of the creeping Graypees. The dung hit the ground and broke apart, each of the pieces still burning. The light did little to illuminate the creatures approaching, but at least they could occasionally see the Graypees’ silhouettes as they moved in front of the small flames.

“That works,” Rafe said as he heft his spear.

Tiberius watched his friend with more than a little awe. Rafe had trained with all sorts of weapons since they were children. His powerful shoulders flexed as he drew back the spear and took careful aim. He took took two steps forward and let the spear fly. It disappeared into the darkness and almost instantly they were rewarded with a roar of pain.

Tiberius flicked his wrist, uncurling his whip in one smooth motion. He couldn’t throw a spear, but he could make some noise. He waved the long, leather whip over his head, then with a simple jerk, the whip cracked loudly. Lexi moved to stand guard over Olyva, and Tiberius tossed his spear to Rafe.

Crack! Crack!
The whip was whistling through the air now, the cracker on the end popping loudly with each of Tiberius’ practiced movements. He snapped the whip back and forth, waving it over his head and popping it as loudly as he could.

Rafe took aim with the second spear and then made his throw. Once again there as a shriek of pain, signaling that another of the dreaded beasts had been hit. They didn’t know if the Graypee’s were merely wounded or seriously hurt. They could hear the pack growling and hissing now. Tiberius kept glancing up at the dark sky, silently praying that the sun would appear.