Daughter of Hauk (The Raven Chronicles Book 1) (32 page)

              “Ah. That. Are you going to be okay?”  Joss’ voice conveyed a wealth of concern.

              “I’m sure I will. It’s just a surprise to me, that’s all. Though I would’ve thought you might have said something about it.”  She turned to face him, letting her irritation show.

              “I didn’t think it was really my place to say anything. I don’t have a problem with Barek, Arwenna. And I’ve never been worried that you’d send me away and choose him. I did my best to keep you out of the problems he and I were having. I didn’t think you needed the distraction.”  Joss gave her a sidelong look. “Why did he bring it up?  You’ve never shown any indication that you realized how he felt. And he was doing a lot to make sure you didn’t get a clue. At least not until this was over.”

              “He’s been hearing voices since we got back in the area, and they finally tried to get him to take me and run. He felt it was time to bring it up so I knew the best way to counteract the problem.”  She took a halfhearted swipe at some breadcrumbs on the counter. “In hindsight, I can see where he’s shown it but I misread the meaning behind it. I think we’ll be okay. He’s not going to just take off with me. At least not unless it’s something like that little ambush you and Y’Dürkie dealt with. He knows too much of what I went through with Borhs.”  Arwenna reached out and fell into Joss’ welcoming arms, letting the tension of the last hour slowly trickle away.

              It wasn’t long before Y’Dürkie and Barek returned with the usable portions of the deer. Arwenna got busy with Y’Dürkie to finish the meal while Joss and Barek worked on making the cottage habitable for the night. After a filling meal, Y’Dürkie and Barek pulled the bed out from the second room. “You are going to get to sleep on it, Arvenna,” Y’Dürkie told her, “but out here vhere whoever is on vatch can keep an eye on you. I do not vant something that can valk through valls coming for you vithout my knowing it.”

              “How far are we from the field, Barek?  We’ve got to be getting close.”  Arwenna settled into the bed, mentally getting ready for the days ahead.

              “Should be there in another day or two. We left Almair some time ago, it shouldn’t be much longer.”  Almost absently, he started to sharpen the edge of his massive sword.

              Settling down under the coverings, Arwenna did her best to find some rest.
The days ahead are going to be hard enough
, she mused silently,
best to
take advantage of the rest while I can
. The warmth of the fire kept the chill of the storm at bay and lulled her to sleep.

              A touch on her shoulder brought her back to consciousness quickly. Turning around, she made Joss out in the darkness. “It’s not quite dawn, but Barek thought we should be gone from here before then. Y’Dürkie’s out getting the horses ready.”  He sat down on the edge of the bed beside her, a plate with some food on it in his hands.

              Arwenna gratefully took the plate and quickly wolfed down the food. “What does the road look like?  It was raining fairly hard last night.”

“Not too bad. It’s going to be slow for a while, at least until we make it to the main road,” came the reply.

              By the time Arwenna was ready, Barek and Y’Dürkie had the horses saddled and in the front of the cottage. The ground was muddy, but the early morning sky was clear. The lingering scent of rain hung in the air. Adjusting her cloak so it sat on her shoulders better, Arwenna nodded at Barek and they slowly filed away from the cottage.

Chapter Thirty-Four

            
 
A
silence descended over Arwenna and her companions as they approached the valley where they had last seen the army. The land had been ever more desolate and dead since they left the cottage. Fields were now nothing but dried out husks of plant life. The once deep brown soil now appeared cracked and pale as if water had not been there in years.

              For the last hour, Arwenna had watched the white command pavilion they left behind loom larger and larger in the distance. It seemed intact from the distance, but now she could see tattered walls standing in the dead air. Dark brown streaks of blood colored it. It had been well defended even after they left. There was little evidence of a battle on the ground. No weapons lay about, waiting for rust to corrode the metal. No other tents could be seen as they cautiously made their way up the hill.

              At the top, they all dismounted and stared down at the valley below in horror. Thousands of bodies lay strewn about, twisted like pretzels. In the center, a lone figure overlooked it all. Hanging from a cross, the sick version of a scarecrow kept lonely vigil over the rotting corpses. The figure moved ever so slightly, giving Arwenna hope that he was still alive. Y’Dürkie bellowed in rage, shattering the silence. Arwenna lunged for her arm as she ran down the hill towards the figure, but she couldn’t stop her. Looking back at Barek and Joss, she took off down the hill in pursuit.

              Arwenna’s pace quickened as she got closer and realized the figure on the cross was D’Mitta. She reached the cross shortly after Y’Dürkie, magic swelling up in her. “We have to get her down first, Y’Dürkie!” she called out, trying to direct her sister’s rage. “Barek, Joss, get ready to help ease this down. We don’t want to harm her further by hitting the ground hard.”  Once everyone was in position, she gave the nod for Y’Dürkie to start chopping at the base of the cross with her axe. Y’Dürkie put all her rage into the blows, and it didn’t take long before D’Mitta was lowered to the ground.

              Kneeling beside her, Arwenna made a quick assessment of D’Mitta’s injuries. There was no evidence of nails securing her, just thick leather straps and rope. While the others began to cut through the bindings, Arwenna drew a deep breath, healing D’Mitta’s wounds. Her shallow breathing grew deeper and more even. “She’s going to be okay.”  Arwenna at last sighed in relief. “She’s been kept alive for some reason. They didn’t intend to have her die up there or she would’ve been long dead.”

              Arwenna raised her head, the extent of bodies finally sinking in. Thousands lay where they fell, surrounding her with death. Weapons and armor streaked with dried blood, the wounded flesh festering and rotting away. Rising slowly, she turned, taking in the vast sea of death. The realization that all were marked with the same blue stripe on their shoulders added to her horror. Their army lie dead around her, D’Mitta the only one left alive.

              Screaming in rage and frustration, Arwenna began to gather the magic within her, bent on bringing the dead around her back to life. She closed her eyes, reveling in the feel of the power surging within her. Her grey eyes opened, the intensity blazing in them caused Joss and Barek to take a step back.

              “No, my daughter. I cannot permit you to do this,” a voice cut through her concentration.

              Arwenna spun on her heel towards the sound. The bearded figure of Hauk stood nearby. “And just why is that?  There is no reason for this kind of slaughter!”

              Hauk moved forward slowly, a calming tone to his voice, “This task is yours to finish, my daughter. Any army you raise will be destroyed. Innocent lives will be extinguished in the process. But, in the end, it is still a battle between you and Corse. You must have faith in yourself, and trust that what I tell you is for the best.”

              “Their families
were
innocent, Hauk!  Corse and Senyan still slaughtered them! Why should I not return them to life, give them the chance to go home?”  She angrily waved an arm about, her eyes burning with fury. “Do not preach to me about having faith! I have done
everything
you have asked of me and all I have been given in return is more demands and more trials! You ask me to trust you? What have you
ever
done for me that would make me trust you?! The gift you gave me is finally coming out and you forbid me to use it! You gave me the ability to heal these men and their families, breathe life back into their beaten bodies, and then tell me no?!” Arwenna strode towards Hauk in a fury, brushing off Joss as he attempted to restrain her.

              The God watched her approach, raising a hand to calm her. “You have every right to be angry, Arwenna. It has not been an easy path for you to follow. But I had to be sure of your strength, your dedication, and your sense of what was right. How much I loved you, or the pain I felt in not being able to watch you grow, could not interfere. If I had been able to, I would’ve kept you safe and far from harm during those years you were lost to me. You should’ve grown up with your mother, been able to get the training you needed in a way that would not have been so difficult.”

              “Don’t you dare talk of my mother. She gave her life to protect me the night Corse brought his minions to our village. Where were you, Hauk, when her body was split in two by that creature?  You could’ve gotten her and me both out of there, but you left us. In the end, you stood back and let her die!  You left me on the side of the road to be found by those clerics of Silas!  Every single thing I went through after that night could’ve been prevented if you’d even given the least bit of attention to what was going on with us!  That I was “lost to you” is your fault!  All of it!  Don’t you dare come here now and start putting limitations on what I choose to do with the power you gave me!”  Arwenna’s chest heaved with the vehemence of her words.

              Her words hit Hauk like small blows, the sadness and regret in his eyes evident. “You’re probably right, Daughter. I’ve been a most inattentive father in some ways. But there was much that needed to be done then, much that needed my attention. Sometimes even Gods cannot let their emotions override their duties.”  He sighed, reaching out to take her trembling hands into his. “I can only hope, in time, that you and I may understand each other better. From the moment I first saw your mother I was smitten. I knew a very special child would emerge, one that would change the course of history. I did not wish that for you, but yet I still allowed myself to fall in love with her.” 

              Arwenna recoiled in shock at his words, not even realizing that Joss was behind her. She felt her knees buckle; strong arms slowly lowered her to the ground. Her mind went blank, unable to deal with what she had been told. A small voice within her told her it was the truth. Her mother had never said much of her father, only that he was gone. Arwenna had always taken that to mean he had died. Joss’ arms were still around her, lending her strength. She opened her eyes and looked up at Hauk.
My father,
she quietly tested the word out in the silence of her mind. Closing her eyes again briefly, she calmed herself before slowly rising back to her feet. Murmuring thanks to Joss for his help, she avoided looking at him. This news had been shock enough for her; she wasn’t ready to find out how her friends were reacting to it. Smoothing the front of her riding dress with her hands, she turned to face Hauk again. “Am I a god, then?”

              “No, my daughter. While my blood does run through your veins, you are not a god. There are duties, responsibilities, which are not yours to take up.”

              “Then the restrictions you have do not apply to me. You trained me to do a task, Father,” Hauk recoiled slightly from the sarcasm she put into the word. “Get out of my way and let me do it. Do not question me, do not interfere with me, and don’t lecture me.”  Before anyone could react, she closed her eyes again and released her magic.

              A green glow emanated from her, slowly spreading over the entire valley floor. Wounds closed, gasps of surprise and shock started to ring out. Men began to rise, looks of amazement on their faces. When the glow subsided, over half the dead were now up and breathing. “See, Father?  I am not completely ignorant. They were given the choice to return, which is more than you have given me in my life. Those who returned can march with me or return to their families….I do not care which. But I’ve got a task to complete. If you’ll excuse me…”                Without a glance back, Arwenna turned on her heel and strode back towards Y’Dürkie and D’Mitta.

              “Arwenna, Daughter, know that those you have brought back will be gone again within minutes. It was their fate to die here, and I will not permit you to change that. Your power still comes from me.”  Hauk’s voice echoed across the valley, making Arwenna close her eyes against the threatening tears.             

Chapter Thirty-Five

            
 
A
rwenna focused her mind on D’Mitta, refusing to notice anything going on around her. It did not surprise her, though, when Joss came up and quietly informed her that he and Barek had managed to put the pavilion back to rights and had a place for D’Mitta to rest inside. Soundlessly, she rose from the ground and followed Barek and Y’Dürkie as they carried the litter towards the pavilion.

              Once in the pavilion, Arwenna found a chair near a wall and collapsed into it, burying her head into her hands. She could hear Barek and Y’Dürkie move D’Mitta over to a cot. Another chair was placed in front of her. She didn’t fight Joss as he moved her hands away from her face. Slowly, she raised her eyes and met his, almost afraid of what she would see. There was still love there, mixed with a great deal of concern.

              “You okay?” Joss kept his voice low, preventing it from carrying over to the others.

              “I don’t know. I really don’t know. I don’t know if I’m even awake right now.”              

              Joss smiled slightly, “You’ve had a big shock. It’s going to take a while to get used to it, I’m sure. You’re strong, Arwenna. You’ll be fine.”

              Arwenna looked back down to her feet, halfheartedly kicking at a stone in front of her shoe. “It’s more than just me it affects, Joss. This could change how any number of people, including you and those three,” she nodded towards where Barek and Y’Dürkie watched over D’Mitta, “see me. I don’t want people who have taken such care of me in the past to feel like I’m something to be in awe of.”

              Joss leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “I wouldn’t worry about it that much. If anything, Y’Dürkie and Barek will think of it as just one more reason to keep watch over you. For me, it means we’d best keep a
very
close eye on our child. There’s no telling what kind of presents his grandfather will give for birthdays!”  The smile on his face was infectious, making her laugh with him.

              “Arwenna,” Barek called out, getting her attention. She rose from her chair as he walked towards her and Joss. “You might want to come over here. D’Mitta’s saying something but we can’t make it out.”

              Murmuring thanks to Barek, Arwenna crossed the floor towards D’Mitta. Without warning, D’Mitta sprang up from the cot with an inhuman scream and charged at Arwenna, a small dagger in her hand.

              Arwenna hit the floor hard after being pushed out of the way by Barek. Grabbing onto Joss in stunned disbelief, she watched Barek wrestle with D’Mitta with wide eyes. It took a few moments for Barek to disarm her and lock her into a bear hug.

Arwenna stepped closer to D’Mitta, drawn in by the blankness of her stare. It was the same look Irini had on her face after that attempt on her life.

              “Thy time in this world draws to an end, Arwenna. I await you in the city. Make your preparations and come meet thy fate.”  The harsh voice coming from D’Mitta’s throat made Arwenna shudder.

              “It is your time that is nearing an end, Corse. When we meet, you will not survive the end of it.”  Arwenna put as much confidence as she could into the words. Without breaking eye contact with D’Mitta, she asked Joss, “Can you put her to sleep?”

              The voice continued to spew from D’Mitta’s mouth, reciting the same words over and over. Arwenna felt the slight rush of Joss’ magic the instant before D’Mitta slumped in Barek’s arms, sound asleep.

              Quickly, they placed D’Mitta back on the cot. Taking a closer look at her injuries, Arwenna’s heart sank as she found the tell-tale lines of a curse around a wound hidden under her armor and tunic. She raised her head to meet Y’Dürkie’s eyes, the painful truth evident.

              “Barek, did she hurt you at all?”  Joss’ voice cut through the silence. Arwenna turned to see him standing above the small dagger D’Mitta had wielded.

              “Nicked my leg a bit,” Barek replied “but that was it. Nothing you should worry about.”             

              The heavy sigh Joss breathed made Arwenna close her eyes against what she feared he would say. “The blade was cursed, Barek. If she cut you, it’s in you.”

              Arwenna watched as Barek quickly moved the cut part of his trousers aside then raised his head in horror to look at her. A small cut trickled blood just above his knee, thin black lines snaked out underneath the skin.

              She started to draw into her magic without thinking, when Joss’ voice interrupted her. “Don’t try it, Arwenna. You can’t do anything about it. But I can.” 

              “Are you sure?  No one has ever been able to remove a demon’s curse, Joss.”  Arwenna looked at him, both confused and hopeful at the same time.

              “Lexi gave me this gift. Since I’ve been cursed and purged of it myself, my body will absorb and destroy it once I remove it from Barek and D’Mitta. There’s one problem, though.”

              Swallowing hard, Arwenna quietly asked, “What’s that, Joss?” 

              “I’m not going to die if I do this, but I’ll be very weak for a day, possibly more. Barek and D’Mitta will as well, most likely. You and Y’Dürkie will have to go on to Tanisal without us. Time’s running out, I fear, and we can’t let you sit here waiting for us to get better.”  Joss took a close look at Barek’s wound. “I’d want to start with you. You’ll be easier to pull it out of. If you’re willing to let me, that is.”  The inflection in Joss’ voice made everyone in the room aware that the comment covered more than just the curse.

              Arwenna looked at Barek, willing him to say yes. Even if they were a few days behind them, she’d need his sword before they were done. Barek nodded his agreement.

              “You’re probably going to want to lie down first, Barek. This isn’t going to feel the best.”  Barek found an empty cot and lay down while Arwenna sat opposite of Joss.

              “If I can help, Joss, just say so,” Arwenna whispered as Joss began to draw in his magic.

              Arwenna watched closely as Joss placed his hands near the wound in Barek’s leg. Thin blue lines filtered down from his hands, finding their way into Barek’s skin. They followed the path of the black lines, slowly pulling them back out of the skin and up towards Joss’ hands. After about fifteen minutes the lines in Barek’s skin were gone and the wound healed.

              Leaping up as Joss staggered back, Arwenna grabbed at him as Y’Dürkie caught him from behind. Between the two of them, they lowered him onto another cot. Arwenna searched his face anxiously for any ill effects.

              “I’m fine, Arwenna. Really. It’s just going to take me some time before I can go after D’Mitta. She’s been cursed for a long time, I fear, and it’s not going to be easy to pull it out of her.”  Joss closed his eyes again.

              Turning towards Barek, Arwenna evaluated him. “I haven’t felt this weak since I was born!”  He raised a hand an inch or two off the cot only to have it fall back down.

              “Other than that, though?  Are you feeling okay?”  Arwenna tried to get an idea of the extent of his weakness.

              “Yeah, I’m fine. I could feel him pull that stuff out of me. If it was still there, I’d know it,” Barek replied sleepily. “Leaves you pretty exhausted, though.”

              With Joss, Barek, and D’Mitta asleep, Arwenna and Y’Dürkie moved to the other side of the tent. “You sit, I vill make us some food.”  Y’Dürkie took charge of things before Arwenna could argue with her.

              Arwenna kept her eyes on the sleeping figures. “Barek’s not going to want to stay here when we leave, and we can’t wait for him to recover. Suggestions?”

              Y’Dürkie paused as she rummaged through a pack for some food. “The simplest ones are usually the best. Ve go vhen Barek is asleep. Joss said they vill follow us once they are feelink better.”  She turned her head towards the sleeping trio, “Grandmother, on the other hand…. It may take longer for her to recover from the removal.”  She returned to the pack, pulling out some pots.

              Arwenna nodded in agreement. “Tomorrow at first light, then?  I can always put Barek to sleep with magic if he’s starting to stir. It might take that to keep him from following us.”

              “If he can vait, it vould be best for him to travel vith Joss. Barek is headstrong, however. And he does not like it vhen you go missink. I hope Joss knows better than to try and stop him if Barek decides to go.”

              “Joss isn’t stupid, Y’Dürkie. If Barek wants to run after us before he’s ready, he’ll let him go.”  Arwenna rose from her chair and stretched. “Mind if I sleep once we eat?  I can take the second watch so you can sleep some as well.”

              Y’Dürkie grinned at her as she passed a plate to her. “Go right ahead. You need it more than I do.”  She paused to eat some of her own meal. “Besides,” she said between bites, “I have the vonderful talent of beink able to sleep vhile ridink. I vill be fine.”

              “If the message D’Mitta gave us is accurate, they’re waiting for us. I don’t anticipate much trouble on the way there.”  Arwenna took a bite of cheese, “You’ve got that friend of ours embedded in your sword, too. I doubt it will let some minor scuffle come between you and your task.”

              Handing the plate back to Y’Dürkie, Arwenna silently made her way over to where the others were sleeping. She found a comfortable spot on the floor near Joss and wrapped herself up in her cloak, trying hard not to think of what was soon to come. Exhaustion overtook her, and she fell into a dreamless slumber.

* * * * *

Arwenna kept her eyes on Joss’ sleeping form, trying desperately to ignore the light slowly filtering into the pavilion. She’d been awake for an hour now. Y’Dürkie woke up soon after and helped her pack their things. She was outside now, getting their horses ready. They must leave soon. Resolutely, she leaned over to give Joss a gentle kiss in parting. Tears threatened to spill over with the realization that she might not see him again. She started to stand when his hand reached out to halt her. Arwenna knelt back down as his eyes opened.

              “Sneaking off are you?  It’s a good idea. Barek won’t be up to travel yet. Go, do what must be done. I’ll find you when it’s over. One way or another, I’ll find you.”  She bent over to give him a kiss, mindless of the tears.

              “Don’t push yourself, Joss. Lexi won’t forgive me if you do.”  Rising again, Arwenna quickly walked towards the door without looking back.

              Blinking back tears in the early morning light, it took her a moment to see Y’Dürkie waiting for her to mount up. In unison, they turned their horses towards the forest to the south.