Myrkron (Volume Two of The Chronicles of the Myrkron) (34 page)

“Tell us and we will find him and kill him.”

“You know of the Oakkrin?”  Mieka asked.

“Yes
, we know of the ancient trees,” One of the Garoliths hissed.

“Forbidden place,” the other Garolith hissed softly to his companion.

“To the southeast of their grove is a small stone house.  It is there that the Avari Lord resides when he is not abroad.”

The two Garoliths eyed one another.

“That is forbidden place,” one Garolith repeated softly.

“No
, only the grove is forbidden and much time has passed.  Perhaps it has changed,” the other Garolith answered.

Mieka was not sure what it had meant when it said ‘
forbidden place’.  She had been to the grove a couple of times with Uncle Merric when she was young; and once to the Avari Lord’s house though she never got to go in as he was away when she visited.  Secretly, she was glad the grove seemed to be a place the Garoliths would avoid.  Such a peaceful place should not be desecrated by their presence.

“I can teleport us there if need be,” Mieka told the creatures.

“Little wizard cannot teleport us.  Your magic does not work on us.”

That answered one of the questions that had been rolling around in Mieka’
s mind.  It wasn’t just offensive magic that was useless against them, but all magic.  Well, all magic that was available to her anyway.

“As I have no intentions of walking all the way to the Grove of the Oakkrin
, and I have done as I was commanded, I will leave you to fulfill your part,” Mieka informed them.  Without waiting for a response, Mieka quickly spoke the words of transport.

Mieka stood in the center of an ancient grove of trees.  Even seeing it in the moonlight, she could tell that nothing had changed in the nearly thirty years since her last visit.  As she scanned the grove
, Mieka detected movement in the surrounding forest.  With great stealth, ten huge wolves entered the grove, surrounding her.  Each one had its head down and ears flattened back.  Even with their heads down as they were, Mieka had to look up to meet their eyes.  All of the wolves kept their distance, but were no less threatening for it.

A wind stirred the leaves overhead and one of the wolves cautiously approached her.  When it got within five feet of her
, it stopped and began sniffing the air.  After a couple of sniffs its lips raised, displaying teeth the size of daggers and it began to growl ominously.  Intimidated as she felt by the wolf, Mieka let no sign of her fear show.

“I am sorry I intruded upon your domain.  I will leave now,” Mieka said addressing
the forest in general.

The wind stirred the leaves again
, but this time Mieka heard a voice in the breeze.

“Why have you come, child of deceit?”  The Oakkrin asked.

“Why would you call me such a name?”  Mieka asked taken aback.

“We know you, Wizard Mieka, but when last we saw you, you were clinging to Wizard Merric’s leg.  Now you come to us as an ally to an enemy.  The Grove Wolves can sense your Master on
you.”

“I do not know why I came here.  Recently
, I have revisited places from my childhood.  I thought of this place and…I don’t know,” Mieka replied sighing.

“Perhaps you seek places of fond memory to relieve the guilt you now feel.  Merric’s distress at your betrayal could be felt through the very bones of Kantwell.  It saddened us greatly,” the Oakkrin told her.

“You could sense Merric’s feelings here, all the way from Kantwell?”  Mieka asked in shock.

“Aye.
We are connected to the world and have always been.  Very little cannot be detected by merely listening to the rhythms of the world around you.  That is how we know also that your Garoliths are approaching.  They seek the Lord Micah.  If you have come to aid them, then know that you will die.”

“Come now, the Avari Lord is good
, but to deal with two Garoliths and a wizard is likely to be much more than he can handle,” Mieka replied incredulously.

“We did not say you would die by his hand,” the Oakkrin replied cryptically.

Mieka’s eyes narrowed as she looked to the wolves surrounding her.

“Yes wizard Mieka, the Grove Wolves have grown quite fond of the Avari Lord.  Any hostility toward him in this place will result in retaliation by them.  They not only guard us
, but him as well,” the Oakkrin informed her.

“I do not wish to harm them or you
, and I did not come here to cause you distress.  I will leave in peace,” Mieka spoke softly.

“Perhaps the reason you came here is that you are unsure of the course you have embarked upon.  Listen to the heart of the child you were.  Merric does not deserve what you have put him through and we think, in your heart, you know that.  Consider carefully the course of your future, wizard Mieka
, before that future is no more.”

Mieka bowed slightly and spoke the words of transport, vanishing from the grove.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Micah
returned to his home.  He had gathered the scattered Avari from their various posts and transported all of them to The Slot.  Commander Salic was relieved to see over four hundred more Avari reinforcing his position.  Micah had given them his orders, which amounted to getting their assigned positions from Commander Salic; though he had made it clear that when it came to the battle they were to use their own judgment.

Micah moved to his bedroom and refilled his flask from the large silver vase hidden there.  Just as he was returning the vase to its hiding place
, he heard a howl at his front door.  Sounds of growling and snarling were followed by a loud yelp.  Micah quickly downed a bit of the liquid from his silver flask as he ran toward the sound of battle.  He nearly tore the front door from its hinges as he barreled through it.

Outside he saw two hideous creatures fighting nearly a dozen Grove Wolves.  Instinctively
, Micah reached for his swords then remembered that they would do him no good against these monsters.  His front lawn was alive with circling and charging wolves.  He could see two of the great wolves lying on their sides a good distance away.  Micah’s acute hearing could pick up that their hearts were still beating, and he was relieved.  He sent a mental command to all of the wolves telling them to back off and hold their positions.

“So your Master has sent you to do what his feeble wizards could not, eh?  Well come and meet your deaths, misshapen ones,” Micah called in challenge to the two Garoliths.

The glowing red eyes of the Garoliths focused on Micah.  The huge scythes they wielded were poised to strike at anything coming within range.  “The Nine Key has commanded your death, Avari Lordling.  It is our pleasure to carry out such an order,” One of the Garoliths hissed as they began to move forward.

Micah
laughed, a deep echoing sound, which caused the wolves to stop their pacing and look at him with ears laid back against their heads.  “That is an order much easier given than carried out,” Micah replied as his face suddenly changed.  His eyes glowed as bright and as red as the Garolith’s and his teeth elongated into fangs.  Micah’s fingernails grew in length as he flexed his fingers.

Both Garoliths paused seeing the change come over Micah.

“You are not a man,” one of them hissed.

“I never claimed to be,” Micah replied.

As the two Garoliths turned to look at one another, Micah shot forward.  Against mortal foes, Micah was all but invincible.  Yet, against these creatures he was unsure.  The Garolith’s heads snapped toward Micah and they both reacted faster than he would have thought possible.  They separated and slashed out with their scythes trying to catch Micah between the two massive blades.

Micah leaped at the very instant the two blades descended.  He caught one of the scythes just below the blade
and, with tremendous strength, twisted his fist, snapping the blade from the scythe.  The Garolith quickly brought the shaft of the now broken scythe up and reared away from Micah.  Micah took note of its movement and as his feet hit the ground he rolled to the side.  The wind whistling off the second Garolith’s scythe told him he had been in the line of attack.  Micah drew his sword in his left hand from across his body since his right still clutched the blade and what remained of the shaft of the other Garolith’s scythe.  He completed his roll back to his feet and swung his sword overhanded at the shaft of the descending scythe.  The sword sliced through the shaft with very little resistance, so great was the force of the blow.

In one fluid motion, Micah sheathed his sword and swung the scythe blade at the second Garolith.  The creature was damnably fast and was able to twist its body out of the path of the blade.  Micah dropped the scythe blade and launched himself sideways and up at the first Garolith, hoping the change in direction and tactic would take his enemy by surprise.  It worked
.  He was able to lock his hands around the skeletal throat of the first Garolith however it was fast enough that it also caught Micah around the waist.

The Garolith tried to pull Micah away
, but his grip was as strong as that of the Garolith.  Without pause, Micah gave a wrenching twist with all of his strength and had the satisfaction of hearing bones crack and snap.  Immediately, Micah felt the hands of the Garolith loosen so he pulled himself in close and braced his feet against the monster’s chest.  Without releasing his grip he pushed with his legs away from the Garolith and pulled against the neck.  A loud splintering sound echoed off the surrounding forest as Micah was propelled backward, skull and several vertebrae still clutched in his hands.

Tossing the lifeless skull aside, Micah’s feet barely had time to touch the ground before he was forced to roll to his right to avoid the whistling shaft of the second
Garolith’s scythe.  Micah came slowly and deliberately back to his feet facing the remaining Garolith.

“I had thought your kind would pose more of a challenge,” Micah said with a wicked grin on his face.

The Garolith did not respond, but lashed out again with the shaft of its scythe.  Micah moved with inhuman speed and caught the shaft in his right hand stopping it instantly.  The Garolith tried to pull the shattered shaft away from Micah, but it might as well have been incased in the side of a mountain.

Micah, still grinning fiercely, yanked the shaft from the Garolith and with lightning speed, swung it at the side of the Garolith’s head.  The shaft connected with a cracking sound and the Garolith was knocked almost completely over.  Instead of rising up
, the Garolith turned, and staying low, darted for the forest, moving as fast as its serpentine body would propel it.  The Grove Wolves started to give chase, but at a silent command from Micah, turned and headed back to the grove of the Oakkrin.

Micah took off at a run, his keen eyesight locked on the fleeing Garolith.  The creature was fast and its body moved with such agility that the thick growth did not seem to slow it down at all.  Moving as fast as he could
, it would take him some time to overtake the monster so Micah spoke the words of transport and teleported a short distance ahead of the Garolith.  Micah came instantly to a stop and turned to face the creature.

The Garolith saw the obstacle in its path and veered to the right to try to get around Micah.  Micah remained where he was, gauging the creatures speed and its path
, then with inhuman speed he was suddenly right before the creature.  The Garolith tried to dart to the left, but Micah was faster and, as it turned its head in the direction it intended to go, Micah struck out with his fist.  He connected with the Garolith’s head in a downward strike which caused the creature to plow, face first, into the ground and sent its tail soaring over in an uncontrolled somersault. 

Without hesitation, Micah mounted the creature
's back and wrapped his hands around its throat.  As he was twisting in an attempt to break the neck, as he had the first Garolith, the creature righted itself and reared up and backward, slamming Micah into a nearby tree.  The crushing force of being pinned between the Garolith and the tree would have rendered a human nothing more than a bloody pulp stuck to the side of the tree.  Micah grunted with the force of the blow, but maintained his grip and twisted with all his strength.  He felt the bones beneath his hands splinter and separate.  Micah pushed off from the tree and yanked upward at the same time.  The tattered black robe and the skull with part of the spine tore away from the body.

Micah landed on his feet with feline grace still clutching the remnants of the monster in his right hand.  He watched as the body slid slowly to the forest floor then spoke the words of transport that would take him back to the clearing by his house.  Once back, Micah went instantly to the closest prone wolf.  He recognized the big male.  It was Rafe and he was already dead, the side of his great face missing.  Fearing what he would find, Micah moved quickly to the other.  As he got near, he could see this one was still alive
, but its breathing was very shallow.  He kneeled down and nearly gasped as he saw that it was Jewl and the way she was laying, he could tell her back was broken.