Fireclaws - Search for the Golden (7 page)

“Excellent! You found me a morning snack,”
Naurakka sent across our bond.

“No, this isn’t an ordinary rabbit,”
I returned, trying to massage the creature out of its state of shock. The big cat moved closer and sniffed Daphne experimentally.

“It smells edible enough. Is it dangerous? I heard about this bunny once that lives in a cave that killed many…”

“No,” I interrupted, talking out loud, “she’s not dangerous; at least, I don’t think so.”

“Who’s not dangerous?” Andi said, still astride Naurakka.

“Well, that’s the thing, I’m not sure what she is, Andi, some sort of shape shifter. Right now, she’s an unconscious bunny rabbit.”

Finally, rubbing the back and feet of the creature paid off, as I saw her eyes slide open languidly; at least until they fixed on Naurakka, whose panting face was still just inches away. Suddenly, she became wild in my arms, struggling to escape, but I had a firm hold on her body and my other hand held her long ears like a vise.

“Enough struggling, Daphne! Naurakka isn’t going to eat you!”

“Well, maybe later,”
the puma sent archly, as Andea slid gingerly off her back onto her feet. Huffing, the big cat moved off to the shade at the edge of the meadow and stretched out. As soon as the puma was out of immediate sight, the bunny started to elongate and become heavier, until I had a girl in my arms, with her fingers interlaced around my neck and her face grinning up at me.

“Thank you for rescuing me from the ferocious beast. Kiss me and I’m yours forever!” She laughed, her dark eyes sparkling in the morning light. “But…oww, next time, mind the ears!”

“Ummm, before we get to that ‘yours forever’ part,” I said doubtfully, lowering her feet to the ground and removing her clinging arms, “what are you exactly?”

A flash of sadness crossed her features and she dropped heavily to the ground, drew her knees up, hugging them, and buried her face in her arms. “No one ever takes me up on the ‘kiss me and I’m yours forever’ offer. I’m just pathetic. None of the other nymphs have this problem. They all have brave, handsome knights searching the woods for them, and believe me, they get a lot more than a stupid kiss! Then, of course, they have to parade them by my poor sad little tree and show how superior they are.” By this time, she was sobbing uncontrollably. Andi walked over cautiously, centering on the sound, and put a comforting hand on Daphne’s shoulder.

“It’s going to be alright; Ryliss and I are going to be your new best friends now.”

She looked up in tears. “Huh? You don’t even know me; you’ll both hate me when you find out what I am,” she wailed, and I saw her feet twitch erratically like she was poised to return to rabbit form.

“I doubt that,” I interrupted. “The Earth Mother wouldn’t have brought us here otherwise.”

Daphne’s eyes widened in alarm. “You mean that wasn’t the carrot buzz talking? She was really here?”

I nodded impatiently. “Yes, of course, she was here. Now, Daphne, get to the explanation!”

She glanced down at the ground with resignation. “Fine, I’m only half nymph; my sire was a pooka. Are you happy now?”

“A pooka?” I echoed in disbelief, and then I recited what I knew of them. “Types of earth fae, pooka are mischievous tricksters that can lean to either good or evil. Shape changers, they normally have three or more assumable forms, usually a horse, goat or rabbit. They are considered very rare, with only about half a dozen recorded encounters noted in the archives of my people. The famed explorer, Maglor Elsenfiir, reported an incident on his storied Eregjhael highland forest expedition that involved an albino pooka…” I stopped as both of my companions were staring at me with mouths hanging open in disbelief.

“Wow, I bet you really are the life of a party,” Daphne muttered. “Anyway, there you have it. Yup, a real life, half-nymph, half-pooka. Save the nickering behind my back, horny-as-a goat and, of course, the humping-like-a-bunny comparisons; I’ve heard them all.”

I shook my head and changed the subject. “So what can you do differently than a regular nymph?”

She sighed. “Basically, I’m not tied down to any one specific tree. I can actually move around in any of my forms. I only need a tree to make a true home in and any laurel will do. That’s one of the reasons the other nymphs hate me so much. If they get more than a hundred yards from their personal tree, they start to wilt.”

“So you actually intentionally picked this particular…specimen, then?” I said, appraising the pathetic looking tree.

“Not really, but the other nymphs bribed the woodcutters to cut down all the other nearby laurels. They left me this one to shame me, and I don’t know where to go to find a better one. I was born here and I’ve never left this forest.”

“Yet you are intelligent and well-spoken,” I complimented. “Not what anyone would expect from someone who spent their entire life in an isolated spot of the forest.”

“Yeah, well…the pooka side isn’t without a few advantages,” she muttered resentfully under her breath.

“Daphne…I need a favor.”

“You’re a powerful Druid, you know the Earth Mother personally, and you need help from someone like me?” she asked haltingly. She looked at Andi to see if she was sharing in the joke, which, of course, she wasn’t.

“Yes, I need someone to watch over Andea while I rescue her brother from an evil mage. It would have to be somewhere safe, like inside your tree.”

“My tree? I don’t know…I wasn’t really expecting company and it’s kind of a mess…”

“Daphne, in case you haven’t noticed, Andea is blind.”

“Oh, well, that’s great then…” she said, grabbing Andi by the wrist and pulling her gently toward the tree. “You can call me Daffi…everyone does.”

“I can certainly believe that,” I whispered under my breath.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of her! It will be fun to have someone who isn’t mean to talk to,” the half-nymph said brightly. Then she drew Andea through the shimmering portal and they were gone.

Naurakka sidled up alongside me and snarled,
“A pooka? Oh, this is going to get interesting!”

Kerrik

Before I even opened my eyes, the stench of piss, vomit, and rancid sweat told me it was not going to be a good day. I could feel my wrists manacled with steel to the cold stone wall behind me as I sat on a similarly cold floor. The only difference being the floor was wet. I tried not to think about what was causing the wetness as I forced my eyelids to obey me and open. Everything felt puffy and swollen, and then I remembered the beating, or rather beatings. The first at the tavern had been mild compared to the one administered after the five-hour ride in the freight wagon.

I assumed I was in the castle of the wizard Verledn; for such new construction, the stench of corruption was already ingrained in the stone. The only other time I had been here was in the middle of the night, and this holding cell hadn’t been on my places-to-visit list. Taking a deep breath, I ran my tongue along my teeth to ascertain whether or not they still existed. They did, but the movement stirred up the clotting blood pooled in my mouth and I nearly retched.

Light was beginning to filter lazily through a small grate high up on the wall over my head, so at least we weren’t underground. More likely a stone prison somewhere inside the walls, but not too close to the main courtyard. As more light lifted the gloom, I could see I was in a twenty-by-twenty or so room with a planked wooden ceiling. At one end, a steel fence with a padlocked gate separated us from a grim-looking guard holding a heavy crossbow. Behind him was the real door to this cell, a heavy wooden affair with a sliding viewing portal which opened, I assumed, outside.

Inside the cell with me were three other prisoners; two men and a woman. I recognized the couple as being the same one I had shared my wagon ride with, but both seemed asleep at the moment. As I was moving my pounding head around to see better, the other man roused himself from his thoughts and cleared his throat.

“Kerrik? Is that you, boy?”

“Flight Wizard Marson?” I answered shakily, recognizing the voice from my years in the army. Somehow, I still wasn’t getting my jaw to work quite right.

“The same. How in the world did they catch you? I would have thought you were too smart for that.”

“Well, there was this girl in a tavern…” I explained. As the light increased, I was able to make out the form of the grizzled old wind wizard chained across from me. Gray hair, unkempt beard, and filthy robe; he was a far cry from the stalwart superior officer I served under for two years. He frowned.

“Well, that doesn’t sound like the Kerrik Beratin I knew.” He coughed dryly and tried to spit, but couldn’t. “You never were one for drinking to excess or chasing skirts as I recall.”

“I was working in the tavern and trying to keep Verledn’s apes away from the girl.”

“Aye, well, that makes perfect sense then.”

“Sir, what are you doing here?”

“Same as last time, lad. I’m ashamed to say I’ve been through this before,” he wheezed and shifted his weight somewhere more comfortable. “The first time they didn’t have the walls up yet, and they held us in tents. I was lucky to escape that time and I swore never again, but ever since the war, the call of the wine bottle has been louder than my good sense. They caught me sleeping it off in a stable next to an inn on the Parksburg road and I was too drunk to run. Same as last time, they’ll hold us for three or four days to weaken and break us. No food and barely enough water to work up a spit. After that, the ones who still show defiance will have their throats cut, and the compliant ones will be put to work finishing the castle or be made part of Verledn’s army.” He coughed again and swallowed as if in pain. “The last I heard, you were off to the Bermant village battle. That was a hard one to take and, to be honest; I didn’t think you made it out, boy.”

“Another battle where they spent us like so much chaff,” I said woodenly. “They ordered spell after spell cast, and then we started to drop from exhaustion. The cavalry skirmishers that were supposed to be screening us scattered at the first ghoul attack. I woke up a few hours later with a zombie gnawing on the arm of the wizard next to me like some kind of bloody dog chewing a bone. By that time, the battle was long over and whatever troops we had left had moved off. I had just enough strength to wind myself into a tree. Lucky for me, there was plenty of food on the ground and the new and remaining undead ignored me until I recovered enough power to escape.”

“But I’m guessing you had to sit in that tree and helplessly watch your entire cadre be slaughtered in front of your eyes.” The old man supplied sympathetically.

I kept my eyes firmly affixed to the stone floor but nodded in affirmation. “The worst were the ones who woke up as they were being eaten; their screams still haunt me every night when I dream.”

“What did you do then?”

I shrugged. “Did my duty, waited, and rejoined the army, or the scraps that were left of it, a few miles away. We fought a holding action for a couple days until the dead backed us up to a fast-moving river, and we didn’t have enough earth wizards to make a bridge. Then just when it looked like it was drown or be eaten, the undead turned around and left.”

“They left?”

“Yeah, pulled away for some bigger battle somewhere else…I don’t know, we were in no position to argue the point. Oddly, that was the last I saw of the armies of undead. Oh, a straggler here and there, but just singles. Whatever formed them into a cohesive army was broken.”

“Did you ever hear where they went?” he croaked, trying to moisten his lips with his tongue. I noticed the other two prisoners were awake and now listening to our conversation.

“No, just the same rumors that have been flying around ever since,” I said quietly. “But it must have gone badly for the necromancer, which is fine in my book.”

“I heard the Lifebane lost a bet with the gods and they threw him into the sun. He so tainted it that the gods had to make us a new one,” the woman hissed vehemently joining the conversation.

I raised a skeptical eyebrow, but I guess her explanation wasn’t any worse than the other farfetched ideas I had heard, which ranged from a army of paladins taking him down, to a dragon that lived on the moon swooping across space and swallowing the Duke whole. Apparently, the necromancer meal didn’t sit well and the dragon then vomited new stars into our sky.

Worn out by injury, weakness and lack of food, we all drifted back to sleep. The next time I woke up, it appeared to be late afternoon or early evening and the guard was changing. While there were two of them, the newly arrived guard used his keys to open up the gate and went around and checked everyone’s bindings while the old guard watched, weapon ready. Satisfied, he retreated back behind the gate and locked it, and the previous guard was free to leave. I watched all this carefully as it would make sense that if there was to be any escape attempt, it would have to be when the gate was open.

Unfortunately, it appeared the guards knew their business, and the way my head was pounding, it didn’t seem like some grand scheme was going to pop into it anytime soon. The new guardsman barely had time to sneer at us properly before a small gray finch landed on the window grate and chirped a few times before it winged into the room and back out. I guess it didn’t like the accommodations any better than we did. I settled back against the stone and watched the guard and my now silent companions.

A light tapping sounded on the outside door, and the guard uttered some form of low curse, got up off his chair and slid open the viewing portal. Whoever was on the outside must have been acceptable, because he muttered something about being early and started unbolting the outer door.

I looked across at Marson, and I saw him straighten up and lick his parched lips in anticipation. A wizened old woman, dressed in little more than rags, was let through the door carrying a sloshing bucket and a ladle.

“That’s old Annie,” he whispered. “Smile nice and you might get an extra ounce or two.”

The old woman puttered aimlessly with her burden for a few seconds while the guard re-locked the door. When he turned around, a lightning fast roundhouse kick caught him in the throat, flung him back and his head snapped against the stone lintel over the low doorway. He crumpled soundlessly to the floor. That was an impressive kick for an old woman! I watched as she effortlessly dragged the body off to the side and relieved it of its keys. She quickly unlocked the gate and walked confidently over to me, shaking her head as she bent down to unlock my restraints.

“I always suspected the quality of your music would land you in a place like this someday, Master Bard,” she said sadly. The voice was familiar, rich, and her jibe was well delivered, certainly no old crone spoke any of it.

“Ryliss?” I whispered, making the connection immediately. “What are you doing here? Did you find my sister? Is she safe?”

“Whoa, slow down, Kerrik. Yes, your sister is well and being taken care of.” Rising shakily to my feet, bone and muscle feeling like mush, I would have hugged her if I didn’t stink so badly. Instead, I leaned heavily against the wall to brace myself. “Thank you, Ryliss, you don’t know how much that means to me. I swear I will try and repay you.”

She smiled dangerously. “Be careful what you promise, Kerrik. You don’t know who, or what you are pledging yourself to.”

“I hope to change that… Now what is your plan for getting us out of this hole?”

“You’re a wind wizard; can’t you just fly out of here once you’re freed?” she smirked with her hands placed jauntily on her hips. It was very disconcerting to see a ragged old woman mimicking a young girl’s coltish moves.

Picturing her as the young local girl I met yesterday, I cleared my mind of the distractions and leaned closer to her to whisper, “At full strength, yes, but not in the shape we’re all in right now. Besides, only two of us are wind wizards; the other two are water and have nothing to work with here.” I made a motioning gesture to the other chained prisoners. Ryliss glanced at the others and winced, and I could tell she hadn’t counted on taking a full group out of here. Stifling a brief sigh, she walked over and unlocked their restraints, helped them to their feet, and even retrieved the water bucket. She passed each of them a full ladle of cool, clean water.

As my fellow captives massaged feeling back into arms and legs and helped themselves to more water, Ryliss slid back over to me and whispered, “Ok, so what can you do? Invisibility? If so, can you use it on others? How about summon a wind elemental? Can you cast chain lightning?” She stopped the questions abruptly, noting that I was standing there dumbfounded with my mouth hanging open. “What? Those are first year spells at Xarparion.”

“Ryliss, you either have no experience with wizards or the wizards you do know are way more powerful than I can imagine. I can’t do any of those spells, I was only taught fly, observation, and some communication cantrips…I picked up a few minor spells on my own, but nothing like you’re talking about. Besides, Xarparion is just a myth; I’ve never talked to anyone who’s even been there.”

She grinned toothlessly and tilted her head. “I can assure you, Kerrik, I know a wizard or two. Explain to me what your observation spell does.”

“It’s like a lesser fly spell, but it takes a lot less magic and concentration. Basically, you can take yourself and one other person, usually an officer, straight up into the air so you can survey the battlefield. The downside is that you can only go straight up and straight down. There is no ability to move around once you’re airborne, although a stiff wind will cause you to drift some.”

“Can both of you cast this spell?”

“Of course, it’s a basic wind corps spell.”

“So you could each take one of the water wizards and ascend high up into the air?” she questioned, her brow crinkling even more than wrinkles could account for.

“Yes, but in our condition, we’ll only be able to manage fifteen minutes or so of hang time; after that, we’ll drop back to earth. Also, the maximum height is only about two hundred feet so we would be sitting ducks for crossbows and fireballs. I don’t see how that helps us escape. There are five of us and the spell only allows one ‘passenger’ at a time.”

She put a hand on my chest and looked me squarely in the eye. They were deep green eyes, shining with the brightness of youth. “You don’t worry about how I get away,” Ryliss asserted. “I have my own methods, and your observation spell will do nicely for an escape plan. When you cast it, make sure the four of you link arms so that you rise and hover as a single unit. No matter what happens or what you see, do not break apart…I will handle the rest.”

“But…”

“Shhusshh, I do not want to have to explain to Andi that you died because you were stupid!”

“You’re kind of bossy for an old crone, you know,” I retorted.

“Oh, you have no idea…” She smiled and turned to the others, who had been listening attentively, raising her voice slightly. “Out the door and around the corner to the left is a dead-end alleyway. That’s probably the best place for you to form up and cast your spells. It’s almost dark. Hopefully, you won’t be noticed right away. I will defend the alley entrance until I am sure you are up and away…any questions?”

“I don’t see how any of this can work,” the female water mage complained. She looked about forty, but being a wizard, was probably older. Stringy dark hair, wearing farmer’s wife clothes, she had hands that attested to a life of hard labor. “And I’m sure I don’t want to be taken two hundred feet into the air and made a pincushion out of…”