Blood Ties (Noble of Blood Series Book 2) (11 page)

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two nights later, after Dartein made sure Matten was healed enough to stand watch over the Keep during their absence, he and his rangers and fighters assembled in the yard to begin the trek west then north into the Lothnau Forest. He had everyone counted up and was turning to wave farewell to Matten when he spotted Nikka and Victor leading their horses towards him.

“Nikka, I wish you would not come for this. I would be a poor father indeed leading you into battles.”

“Well if Mordred is to be believed, your daughter is the key to our survival and chances of winning.” Yosan spoke up from next to him. The warlock was checking the saddle cinches on his enormous mount.

“Mordred? Isn’t she just some village fortune teller?” Victor asked.

Yosan looked up at him and barked a short laugh. “Mordred is many things, and I guess fortune teller could be one of them. She is a Seer, and as far as I know, the only one of her kind.”

“Indeed she is the only one, which is why she bargained with me for eternal life when I set her as the watcher of the village in the Northern Reaches.” His father walked up behind Nikka and Victor, leading his horse to the front of the assembly near Dartein.

“Aye, I had wondered how she was still haunting us these days,” Yosan said, turning away from his horse to look at Mortul. “Her having been turned seems to have enhanced her powers of obscurity as well.”

“It did have some interesting side effects on her powers. I am not completely sure of all the changes, but her omens have always been accurate. When she chooses to actually tell us of them, anyway.” Mortul added.

“I wonder if she would have said anything about Nikka to any of us had myself and Hudreia not travelled to the vault.” Yosan mounted as he spoke.

“I was there when she spoke of it to Nikka's mother.” Victor stated.

Dartein's attention snapped to Victor, as did everyone else’s.

“I forget that you were there for that. That visit to the Seer was what spurred me to rush north.” And miss the pain of his beloved’s death. Maybe it had been a blessing in disguise, considering he could not have saved her.

He felt a heavy hand on his shoulder, and looking up he saw that Victor had come over to give what little comfort he could. Dartein gave his friend a lopsided smile and patted him on the back.

“Let's get mounted and moving. I think I am starting to feel the need to kill something, myself.”

At his signal, all the men mounted and moved their horses into a double file formation. He spurred his horse to the front, where his father joined him, Yosan directly behind them. Nikka and Victor decided to ride in the rear, and would be one of the points of contact for the scouts after they rode out to gather the lay of the land.

The scouts had been ordered that as soon as they spotted goblins, to ride straight back to the group and not try to fight any of them on their own. Dartein was sure that after the small battle the other night, they were sure to understand the greater fighting power rode alongside him. Yosan volunteered to scout once they came into the heavier woods, since his mount could move cat-like through the forest.

And so they rode, quickly and quietly through the tall grass plains, scouts darting in and out of their group, falling into an easy rhythm of information fetching and relaying. The fighters riding in line had muffled their equipment so their swords and daggers didn't clink. Their mail was light and padded as well, noiseless and easy to move in. They had traded bits and snaffles for leather braided bridles. The only sounds that were made were the clop-clop of horses’ hoofs falling softly in the grass and small creaks from leather saddles.

Seen from afar, their group looked like a squadron of pale riders, death's troops out riding to meet their enemy in the Otherlands. From a distance the only thing to give them away would be the reverberations through the ground, to animals sensitive enough to feel it.

When a few hours had passed and their mounts grew tired, Dartein ordered a stop. As the group came in, they dismounted and tethered their horses out to graze. They settled down in the long grass and stretched their legs. No need for a fire, as the weather was plenty warm and they had nothing which needed to be cooked.

Coming over from staking out their horses, Nikka and Victor took a seat near him. He expected to see his daughter full of excitement on her first ride out to possible battle, but she looked thoughtful and somewhat grim.

“What plays on your mind tonight, Nikka?” Dartein asked her.

Nikka looked over at her father and then over to Victor, clearly unsure of what she was about to say. Finally, his daughter took a deep breath and began talking.

“
I
think there are a couple of things I need to air out, and ask, before we potentially have a battle on our hands.” Nikka looked straight at her father. “First, I need to know what the blood is being stockpiled for.”

Nikka watched her father's eyes grow bigger for a split second, then relax as he realized his secret was important to share now.

“Well, I guess this will be a good discussion, then. But one that should be discussed with your grandfather and Yosan present.” Her father turned and waved at a ranger a few feet away. “Clyd bring me a couple casks from the pack horses, will you?”

“Sir?” Clyd was obviously unsure, hovering between following an order and keeping his leader’s secret.

“Yes, it is time to bring this little secret of ours into the open,” Dartein said.

“As you wish.” Clyd nodded his head and disappeared into the dark towards the horses.

“There is a secret among the Nobles, and only a few of us know of it, about the effects that fresh blood has upon us. It was written in the history of the Ancient War that the Warlocks had stored blood to drink before battle. It amplified everything about them; their speed, their strength and most of all, their magic. My father had told me of this secret before I ran off to find the Chambers in an effort to save your mother.”

Nikka glanced over at Victor, wondering why he had never told her about this. Victor met her gaze and gave a small shrug, as if to say he was sorry. But she understood, really. He was her father's friend before he was her lover. She couldn't fault him for his loyalty.

She snapped her attention back to her father as Clyd walked back from the horses, with three small casks in his arms. Handing them over to her father, he turned and walked back out to the horses without a word.

Handing her and Victor each a cask, he began to speak again.

“In the history, and from what my father told me, there is a large difference between drinking properly stored blood and drinking it straight from a main vein. Properly stored blood maintains quite a bit of its enhancing properties, but has a much milder effect. It is also not nearly as addictive.”

“Addictive? What does that mean?” Nikka asked, confused. She had drank blood since she was small and had never felt addicted to it.

“Taken straight from the source you not only take in the strengthening properties of the blood, you take in the creature’s life force as well. It is overwhelming, as it opens up every sense you possess and amplifies it twenty fold. Then later, after a bit, a haze overcomes you. It overtakes your ability to think, to rationalize. It makes you thirsty, angry, and if not controlled, will make you plain murderous.” Dartein paused in his speech to let his words soak in.

“Which is why I never passed on this secret to anyone else,” her grandfather chimed in as he walked over to the small group. “I had created a balance between the Nobles and the humans. If Nobles had been given this secret, the ones who lust after power would have fallen prey to it. And preservation of human life was why we were created all those years ago. This secret is lethal, and necessary to keep amongst only those who are trustworthy.”

“Which is why we store it. Victor, Clyd and Tynen are the only ones who know the full secret.” Dartein scooted over to make room for his father to join their circle.

“Okay” Nikka said slowly. “So explain to me this. Why was I fed blood since infancy? And does that have anything to do with this?” She held up her hand and let her nails grow out into claws, then quickly retracted them. When she looked back, up her father was not looking at her hand, but at her face. He seemed stunned into silence, and her grandfather spoke up instead.

“Indeed, that would definitely be the reason. You see when a Noble goes feral, lusting for blood, his canine teeth elongate and sharpen. And sometimes, though I've only seen it happen with myself and the other warlocks, claws will spring forth from the fingertips.” Her grandfather, The Patriarch, master warlock, held up his hands and his nails turned into claws. Just like hers did.

Looking up at his face, she watched as he opened his mouth and tapped on one of the now long and sharp teeth there. Total of four, two from the top and two from the bottom, and it made him look vicious.

“But how come I don't have those?”

“Oh, but you did. I think since you have been raised on the blood, your mouth had adjusted to allow for those teeth, and it feels quite normal to you. Have you ever looked in a mirror while growing your claws?” Her grandfather asked.

“No.” Nikka was shocked. She hadn't ever thought of looking at herself for that reason. Never had felt anything different.

“And, as for why I fed you blood, I was half crazed when I fled the Palace with you and Victor. I had no idea how to take care of a child, let alone one born to Nobles. I tried different milks; goat, cow. None of them satisfied you. You were weak and blood was the only thing I knew of that had the possibility to strengthen you. And it did. After drinking the blood, you were healthy, strong and grew quickly both in body and mind. It took some time to wean you from the fresh blood to the stored kind, and later it was another difficult transition to go from blood to fresh meats.” Her father stared down at the cask in his hands. “I did the best I could without your mother here to help me. And I was too heartsick to return to the Palace where she died to ask my father for his advice.”

A silence grew around them as they all considered what had just been discussed. Her father's grief was still as fresh as it ever was. She looked over at Victor and decided she could understand his grief over losing someone who meant so much to him. Victor smiled at her and pulled her close, laying his cheek on top of her head. At least revealing her secret hadn't freaked him out. She hadn't been sure how he would react to her being able to grow claws. And fangs? She was going to have to consult a mirror when she got back home to the Keep.

“Well, let us mount back up and make a bit more time before camping for the day. By midday tomorrow we should reach the border of the Lothnau, and we can spend some time scouting before we head in.” Her father got to his feet and moved away towards his horse.

Victor squeezed her shoulder then stood up. “I will get our mounts ready,” he stated before walking away in the same direction as her father.

“Do not worry too much about these things which make you different. You have the potential to be greater than all of us, truly. I just wish we had more time to make you ready, but I fear this war will pull us all in before we know it.” Her grandfather's sincere smile made her feel a bit better.

However, she couldn't shake the feeling something big was looming in the distance ahead. Something none of them were ready for.

I
t
was slow moving through the dense forest, following only rough deer trails. Since the goblins had been growing bolder and more numerous, humans had been avoiding the forest, which meant the old trails had been completely grown over by scrubby bushes and saplings. In single file, the main group moved through the thick trees, while the scouts rode off to each side, trying to stay in sight as best they could.

Yosan led the group, moving along silently a few hundred feet in front of them. His mount made hardly any noise, making him the perfect forward scout.

Two miles into the forest, the normal noises made by creatures of the night went completely silent. With no more hooting owls, chirping crickets or squeaking bats, the forest was eerily silent. Still the group continued to move forward, but now in a tighter formation. They didn't want to be spread out in case of an attack. There was no sign or smell of their enemy, but they were prepared just in case.

The horses grew nervous in the quiet but continued moving forward, mainly because the trail was so narrow it would be difficult for them to turn around. It seemed as if everyone was holding their breath, trying to make as little noise as possible.

Another mile in, they came to what had once been a clearing with a ring of stones in the middle that had once been used for a fire pit. Recognizing the area, Dartein signaled for the group to halt. His father reined up alongside him.

“I passed through here, last time.” Dartein whispered to him. “We fought goblins here, and their cave is just to the west and north.”

His father nodded and dismounted. Dartein signaled Clyd to do the same and the rest of the group followed suit. Quietly they erected a light pen around the horses consisting of small poles and bailing twine. It would keep their mounts contained, but just in case they didn't return, the animals could easily break free of the enclosure and escape the area.

Dartein divided his pack into three groups, plus one smaller group of scouts led by Clyd. He kept Victor and Nikka in his group, and his father and Yosan led the other two. Clyd and his three scouts slid away into the night. They were to have a two minute head start before the rest followed.

Dartein started his group forward after counting out the time. The remaining two groups followed behind and off to each side. Like a slow moving spear, the Nobles crept forward in the direction Dartein remembered having seen the cave before.

About fifteen minutes later the groups caught up to Clyd, where he and his scouts were huddled up behind a large rock face. Just beyond it was the opening into the cave. Dartein listened before moving forward, to ensure nothing was moving near them. The forest was still silent, but as far as he could tell no enemies were close by. The only goblin smell was coming from the opening of that cave.

Clyd handed him a blood cask and Dartein realized he had forgotten to bring any with him from the horses. Shaking his head no, he handed it back to Clyd. The ranger would need it before he would.

Dartein turned his full attention to the cave and opened his sight up for traces of heat. Not spotting any, he focused back to normal then began to move forward towards the opening. The rest of the Nobles followed him silently into the cave, creeping slowly along the wall until they came to the cavern he had found once before.

This time there were no goblins present, it was dark and quiet. They all moved into the cavern and searched around. What they found were markings all over the walls, appearing to be crude letters, but not put together to form sentences. They were more like markings for names, as if the goblins had signed the walls.

Moving further into the cavern they found another opening in the back that took them deeper. There were more markings all down this hallway, as well. Dartein took them in absentmindedly, keeping his mind focused on moving ahead and keeping his senses open for Goblins.

Coming to yet another cavern with more of the same markings on the walls, they finally heard noises. Guttural voices, grunting to each other, growing louder and louder. Dartein spun around and realized that the voices were coming from behind them, and they were about to be trapped in the cavern.

Looking over to his father, he saw a grim delight in the man's eyes. His father nodded his head and moved to the middle of the cavern. Dartein watched as his father held his hands out before him and a blackness grew forth, spilling over and down onto the floor, spreading out quickly across the room. The blackness moved up the walls and across the ceiling, plunging the whole cavern into complete and utter darkness.

Dartein could no longer see anything, but could still hear the goblins coming towards them. Torchlight approached from the hallway, the voices following it. The oddest thing happened as the light came closer, however. No matter how close it came, it never penetrated the darkness clinging to the cavern walls and entrance.

On and on the goblins came, oblivious to their uninvited guests. They marched down the hallway quickly, almost trotting, and a half dozen of them were inside the cavern before they realized they could no longer see.

A bright blue light pierced the darkness and quickly grew to fill the cavern. Dartein closed his eyes just as the blue light pulsed and died out. Upon reopening them, saw that the darkness had completely gone. In its stead there were now a couple dozen dead goblins on both the cavern floor and in the hallway.

The rest of the goblins still in the hallway were stunned, temporarily blinded by the blue flash. Dartein spied Clyd popping the cork on the cask and throwing back a long drink of the stored blood, then handing it to the ranger next to him. He looked back to the hall just as the goblins spotted them, their vision beginning to clear.

Piercing screams came from the creatures’ mouths as they launched themselves at the group of intruders in their cavern. They poured into the room, waving clubs and handmade obsidian axes, and the occasional hammer made from lashing a stone to a large branch. Dartein's group had already drawn their weapons under the cover of the darkness, and were ready for the onslaught.

Just before the first goblin crashed into them, he looked to make sure that Nikka was safely in the middle of their group.