Chronicles of Den'dra: A Land Torn: Ancient Powers Awaken (25 page)

Urake was firing arrows as fast as he could at any target that presented itself. He checked once and saw that Emeck was at his back before sprinting towards the only exit from the clearing. An arrow caught him in the side but left little more than a shallow cut through Tusul’s armor. His last arrow expended Urake found Ice Heart in his hand and the bow in the other. He saw the injured archer step into his path and instinctively pulled Ice Heart up. An arrow skittered harmlessly off the blade an instant before Urake was engaged in fierce hand to hand combat with the archer who wielded his bow with skill to equal Urake’s despite the arrow still embedded in the shoulder.

“Run!” Urake shouted the order to Emeck as he swung Ice Heart in a mighty slice down on the bow. The bow was not equal the impact and shattered as the surprised archer leaped back. A footfall at Urake’s back gave him scant warning as another cloaked and hooded figure joined the fray. This one was armed with a curved blade in one hand and a throwing knife in the other. The knife clattered to the ground as Ice Heart blocked it but the sword was now in close quarters. A quick block and side step put the other attacker in Urake’s sight. He was now armed with a sword that matched the other having discarded his ruined bow. These were not bandits awkwardly wielding mismatched weapons. Neither were these the memorized actions of a soldier. These men were skilled in the use of their weapons and were easily a match for Urake one on one. Desperately blocking the combined attacks Urake was unable to land a blow of his own.

Taking a chance he blocked one slice and allowed another to be absorbed by his armor and took the opening to land a smashing blow with his bow to the side of the injured archer’s head. Spinning again on the other he only barely managed to ward off a mortal blow from the attacker still standing. Leaping back he put space between himself and the remaining attacker. Seeing the supine archer’s exposed face he paused an instant. An instant that almost cost him his life. The hood had been pulled back exposing the distinctive pointed ears of an elf. Parrying the other elf’s attack he side stepped to avoid being backed into the thorn bush. His every attack was fended off and gaining ground became increasingly difficult. It was when his vision started to blur that Urake realized what was happening. The arrow cut on his side and the blow he had let past his defenses was bleeding and the blood loss was taking its toll. Fending off a last blow he was forced to step back into the clearing that was filled with elves finishing their bloody work. In an instant a dozen bows were notched and pulled taut with their deadly projectiles trained on him. Knowing that he was hopelessly outmatched Urake staggered backwards dropping the bow and holding Ice Heart over his head.

“I yield.” Just as his vision narrowed to a pinpoint Urake felt a tingling in the palm that held Ice Heart. After that came darkness.

“
Should I finish him Essdra?” Lyrak questioned as he held his sword tip to the senseless soldier’s throat.

“
Wait.” Essdra pulled back her hood and leaned over Urake. “Is that frost?”

Lyrak leaned down himself careful to keep Urake covered with his weapon. The white frost crystals glistened in the waning sunlight on Urake’s shoulder and side. Just then another of the elves tried to disarm Urake. His attempt at prying Ice Heart from Urake’s clenched fist resulted in a flash of light and a thunderclap that threw the surprised elf a dozen paces backwards before landing.

“I know the markings on that blade.” Essdra was careful to conduct her examination from a safe distance from the seemingly harmless blade. The struck elf was pulled to his feet by another elf and seemed little the worse for the blast. Only a little burned around the hand and sore from the landing. Dignity was more injured.

“
Where is Lepolis?” Essdra inquired of the assembled elves.

“
This soldier felled him over there.” Lyrak tipped his head in the other elf’s direction.

“
Bring him here.” Essdra’s command was promptly obeyed and a couple elves helped the barely sensible elf into the clearing.

“
How did a human manage this?” Essdra asked Lyrak who flushed a shade of red to the tips of his ears.

“
He was fast. Extremely fast. It was all both Lepolis and I could do to hold him off before he weakened. When he knocked Lepolis out, I thought he was going to finish me off as well. I have never seen a human move as fast as he did.” Lyrak was still flushed as he explained. Essdra pulled back the slashed cloth and revealed the armor beneath. White frost contrasted with the red blood stain. However it seemed that the blood flow had been stanched by the mysterious freezing of the wound.

“
It’s not so surprising when you consider that he has a soul forged blade. My guess is that it is Skeln’den'hal all things considered. If that is the case then this must be the Asgare. Strange that he should be here after so many years of silence.” Essdra stepped back and pinched her chin as she thought.

“
He was with a youth. The lad escaped while we were fighting him. If he is the Asgare then that explains a lot.” Lepolis’ head had cleared enough for him to follow the conversation. A purple bruise was already forming where the bow had connected with his cheekbone.

“
Hmm. Indeed it does. We should take him to the city. Skeln’den’hal would not protect someone unworthy.” Essdra still observed Urake’s supine form thoughtfully.

“
What about the sword?” Lyrak still held his sword at the ready. Essdra glanced over and nodded.

“
Skeln’den’hal, soul forging of Eld’or, hear me. We will not harm your bearer.” Essdra cautiously placed a gloved hand on the silver sword’s hilt. When no thunderclap struck her she carefully pulled the sword out of Urake’s grip. Looking at it closer she was able to see the bluish tint to the metal and the dwarven engraving that declared this blade to be the mighty Skeln’den’hal. Wrapping it in her cloak she gave the order to move out.

The elves traveled into the night in the direction of the Elder Forest carrying their captive. Lyrak assisted the wounded Lepolis and followed the elves that carried Urake. Suspended as he was on a cloak tied to two poles he was bound hand and foot but hadn’t awakened yet. The elves marched single file for hours before Essdra called a halt.

“We are being followed.” Essdra closed her eyes and focused.

“
How? We have been covering out trail and haven’t sensed anyone other than...” Lepolis paused and stared at Urake’s litter.

“
I can hardly sense him either. Someone is out there though.” Lyrak peered off into the dark foliage.

“
Shall we eliminate them?” Lepolis straightened up.

“
We only know that something is out there following us. Lepolis stays here. Lyrak take three rangers with you and capture whoever it is if possible. I want to know how they are following us.” Essdra quickly gave the orders. Lyrak pointed to his choices and disappeared back down the trail. Essdra waited patiently for a couple minutes before Lyrak reappeared with a struggling young human in tow.

“
Is that all there were?” Essdra looked the lad over critically.

“
He almost got away as it was. On top of that he doesn’t even have one of those blocking helms on.” Lyrak shoved the lad to the ground at Essdra’s feet.

“
Who are you?” Essdra scowled down at Emeck.

“
Let me go!” Emeck tried bolting but was easily apprehended by one of the surrounding rangers.

“
Answer me human! Who are you?”

“
No one.” Emeck struggled futilely against the ranger.

“
Then we will have to do this the hard way.” Essdra removed her gloves and had the ranger hold Emeck still. Placing the tips of her fingers on his temples she connected her mind and Emeck’s. His eyes rolled back into his head and his body shook with convulsions as he resisted the invasion. The first thing she sensed was his name and fear. After that she felt his mind drawing in on itself. Pushing harder she tried to pry more information free. Suddenly everything became silent. Realizing that she was losing the feeling in her extremities Essdra broke the connection. Already her hands and legs were numb. Sinking to her knees she gasped for breath. It took conscious effort to maintain consciousness. After she had managed to steady her breathing she realized that a ranger was calling her name.

“
I'm fine.” Essdra’s legs were still numb but they responded to her commands well enough to stand.

“
He is dead.” Lyrak was stooped over Emeck’s motionless body.

“
He almost took me with him. His name is Emeck and he was trying to save his friend. He was following us by himself.” Essdra tried rubbing feeling back into her fingers.

“
How was he able to follow us?” Lepolis questioned as he stood looking down at the lad.

“
He is gifted. Rather talented to say the least. It is a pity he killed himself. Lured me in then simply stopped living. I have never heard of anyone doing that. Bring his body with us. I'm sure command will want to know about what he did.” Essdra staggered a little as she walked but feeling had almost entirely returned. Her head on the other hand felt like someone had hit it with a warhammer. She gave up her position at the lead of the line and assigned someone whose senses weren’t impaired.

Essdra took up a new position right behind the litters carrying the dead human and the senseless Asgare. She had a lot to think about. One thing was why the Asgare had returned from whatever place he had been hiding in. Another thing was how close she had been to death. It was quite the quandary as to why Emeck would have killed himself rather than submit himself to the interrogation. She was puzzling over what he must have felt was worth dying to hide when she sensed a flash of consciousness. She then saw the litter carrying the body begin thrashing. The startled rangers dropped their poles and Emeck staggered out of the tangled cloak. Essdra smashed the flat of her blade down on the lad’s head rendering him senseless as soon as she recovered from her surprise.

“Tie him hand and foot and whatever you do, don’t try getting in his head.” Her orders were promptly obeyed and the procession moved on again.

*****

Urake felt the pain first. It was always the first sense that returned with consciousness. His side and shoulder were on fire. Needled by the sensation he was forced to leave the comfortable darkness and return to the light. A light headed sensation with his first movement threatened to send him back into the darkness. When the sensation of spinning left he was able to open his eyes and make out the double form of an elf holding swords defensively. A shake of his head didn’t dispel the duplication and it wasn’t until one moved independently of the other that he realized that there were indeed two elves on the other side of the bars. A few minutes later a lady elf appeared and looked him over.

“
Asgare?”

“
I have been called that in the past. Might I know your name?” Urake rubbed his temples in an effort to bring clarity to his thoughts and recollections. He remembered the fight and then feeling weak but had not expected to wake.

“
Essdra. Why were you fighting against us?”

“
If you ask anyone that was present they should tell you that I was only trying to escape with my life. The only elves that I fought were trying to deprive me of that life. If you are wanting to know why I'm in the army, it was because I had been drafted involuntarily and hadn’t escaped yet.” Urake squinted as he tried to get a better look at Essdra.

“
Your life? I seem to remember you trying to clear a path for a youth to escape.” Essdra moved so the light was directly behind her head rendering Urake’s attempt at identifying her useless.

“
So he got away?” Urake sounded relieved.

“
Yes and no. He escaped the ambush but then he followed us into the Elder Forest. He almost killed me when I tried interrogating him.” Essdra sounded like she held a grudge.

“
He is not that physically fit.” Urake had a hard time picturing Emeck as being able to pose a threat to an elf.

“
No! I was in his mind and he died. Then he came back to life.” Essdra stopped herself.

“
Oh. That. He did that once before. I had wondered why that tracker hadn’t come after me again.”

“
Emeck hasn’t been cooperating with us.” Essdra stepped out of the light and Urake caught a glimpse of her face.

“
He’s alive then.” Urake’s relief was evident in his voice.

“
There are... things that need understood before we decide what to do with you both.”

“
I have no quarrel with the elves. I was only trying to find my son.” Urake had not much left to lose.

“
Emeck is your son?” Essdra raised an eyebrow.

“
No, he has been helping me in my search. By the way, what happened to my sword?” Urake saw Essdra flinch.

“
Skeln’den’hal hasn’t been cooperating either.” Essdra scowled and walked away leaving Urake to ponder his predicament.