Talon (The Astor Chronicles Book 1) (15 page)

My instincts screamed at me to keep going until we found Rekala and the Jarians, but the horses were foamed and trembling. I was both famished and exhausted. It would be no state to attempt a rescue.

‘Aye,’ I replied. ‘There’s a cavern with supplies.’

The Rada-kin would continue tracking the Zeikas. We’d be able to catch up with them in the morning.

When lightning illuminated the forest and sky, the clouds looked like an enormous ceiling high above us. Sarlice’s horse fidgeted nervously, but she held her grip with her knees and tried to calm it with soothing words. I led them to the cavern, trying not to think about what the Jarians might be suffering.

Chapter Eight—The Quarry

‘W
ere you a warrior in Lyth?’ I asked Sarlice.

‘In a manner,’ she replied. ‘I am… was… one of the prime’s guardians. He had me trained from a young age and liked to keep me close by.’

‘Your father?’ I asked, recalling what Ivon had told me a few weeks back.

A look of surprise crossed her face, but she quickly shrugged it off. ‘I wondered if I was his “guardian” so that he could keep a close eye on me. He doesn’t really need me.’

‘Clearly,’ I replied. ‘You’re here.’

She licked her lips pensively. ‘Mmm… let’s just say my appointment as Ambassador wasn’t among my father’s plans for my life.’

I looked at her with awe. ‘You’re Lyth’s ambassador?’

It was a worthy appointment, bestowed only upon the most trustworthy. Ambassadors went forth as spokespeople for their nation, usually in times of war, to form alliances. An ambassador was expected to travel to the courts of nobles, regents or kings and work out policies or alliances with them.

With the Rada nations of Jaria and Lyth this involved contacting their prime leader, over vast distances, to outline and agree upon the terms of a negotiation. Where possible Anzaii were chosen for this purpose because they could usually communicate directly with the prime leader’s Rada-kin or, possibly, even the prime leader. That Sarlice had been chosen indicated how skilled she was in defending herself on the open road and at communicating and negotiating, yet she was not Anzaii. It would be up to Kestric to reach all the way back to their home realm of Lyth.

‘I can still reach it from here,’
he replied to my wide-open thoughts.

He was scouting some distance away, following the path two of the other Rada-kin had taken the day before. Above him were the tops of a great variety of tall trees, their crowns forming a canopy at a height of more than one hundred feet. It may have been difficult for a foreigner to determine the time of day in the darkness of the rainforest, but I knew the cadence of Jaria forest well.

There were smaller trees beneath the canopy, and ferns with little red and gold flowers that only opened in the morning at this time of year.

A green tree snake, that would have been invisible to my eye, slid across the leaves of one of the ferns to Kestric’s right. The firetiger could also sense the movements of tiny frogs, snails and flatworms in the bushes or leaf litter around him, but he put them out of his mind. He was intent on assisting the other Rada-kin to find the most direct route for us to get to our people.

‘Folai and Kang have found the camp up further,’
he called. Both Sarlice and I were able to hear him. We shared a look of relief.
‘They’re waiting for us.’

‘How far away are Folai and Kang?’

‘Why don’t you ask them yourself?’
he replied haughtily.

I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate. Black. Red and blue stripes behind my eyelids. Kestric.
There he is
. It was as if my mind had to flip-up to a new way of seeing—the focus came off what my eyes saw, and dived into the waves. Through the waves I could just make out the shape of Kestric’s body. More than just a simple blob, Kestric appeared almost like he did in the flesh, his reddish fur standing on end as he looked at me over a great distance.

‘Reach further,’
he told me patiently.

With effort I closed the distance between us by blocking out the emptiness and looked around for more signs of life. Thinking back to all the voices I had started to sense in Jaria, before the battle, I began to listen through the waves as well. In the distance was a faint murmuring, two Rada-kin having an unshielded conversation. I could almost see them, but something crowded the way between us. I reached out my hand and brushed leaves and vines aside—at least that was how I visualised it—one of the Rada-kin took shape and I nudged it gently with my thoughts.

‘A human?’
the Rada-kin queried,
‘…Anzaii… Ah, Talon.’

I could sense it was a fox in rabbit form, Folai. I had played with her in Jaria, and felt a familiar twinge as I connected with her for the first time.

‘Where are you?’
I queried.

‘We are far away. The Zeikas travelled overnight even in the rain.’

‘Is it… is that… you’re near the Catacombs of Krii, aren’t you?’
I said.
‘But why would the Zeikas go near there?’

‘They’re not right near it,’
Folai replied.
‘They’ve laid the cornerstone for a fortress a few miles away from it. Unless we act quickly, the Jarians will be branded and shackled as slaves.’

‘We’re on our way,’
I said.

Sarlice stood watching me, one saddle bag slung over her arm.

‘You really are Anzaii, aren’t you? You had that unfocused look of being deep in conversation with a Rada-kin a long way away.’

‘They’re not even in the realms of Telby or Jaria any more,’ I replied. ‘The Zeikas have started building a fortress in Naioteio.’

‘Not far from the Catacombs of Krii, yes, I know,’ she said. ‘Kestric told me.’

Kestric was already beckoning us in the right direction. We finished loading our gear onto the two weary horses and followed after him. Although we travelled swiftly, it took us all day to catch up to him.

‘The trail ends here,’
he told us.
‘We’ve been hesitant to go much further without you, Talon, in case of spirit circles.’

There were other Rada-kin hiding in the trees, including Folai and Kang, a few hundred feet east. We hid the horses in a cluster of tall trees and tied them. Continuing on foot, we accompanied Kestric through the trees, which thinned to a wispy wood, around a seemingly empty clearing.

‘Is there a spirit circle here?’ Sarlice asked.

‘I don’t know,’ I replied. ‘I’ve never seen one before, nor do I understand exactly how they work.’

‘Infused with Zeika wards,’
Tiaro explained,
‘a spirit circle portrays ordinary ground inside it, concealing the reality. If you cross it, the demons within will tell the Zeika who created it.’

‘Look ahead of you through the waves,’
Tiaro told me,
‘and call upon Sy-tré.’

‘I’m going to try something,’ I added to Sarlice. ‘Will you watch over me?’

She drew her warbow and nocked an arrow, standing up and moving a few yards behind me. Kestric was nearby in a cluster of orange plants, utilising all his senses to keep a buffer of safety around us—no Zeika could get within fifty yards without him being aware of it.

‘Concentrate,’
Tiaro cautioned.

I wanted to do as she said, but it was like trying to see through eyes that didn’t know how. I closed my eyes and faced in the direction of the clearing. Almost immediately I was overwhelmed by the metallic stink of blood. I could see a three foot wide ring of gore scraped over the foliage and grass, right around the outside of the clearing. It hadn’t been detectable to my natural senses, but in the waves the smell was overpowering. What number of humans or animals had been sacrificed to make it? I daren’t imagine. Their screams flashed at me from the spirit circle, almost as if the demons there revelled in the memory of their suffering.

I strained to see where the severe laughter was coming from, eventually becoming aware of the presence of hundreds of dark green and grey imps. Their cackling reverberated through the waves as they played on the spirit circle, throwing lumps of sinew and flesh at each other. My gorge rose and I blinked back tears, trying to deny the terror and disgust I felt from overwhelming me.

‘Quick, before they see you and alert their master,’
Tiaro cried.
‘Banish them.’

‘How can I—?’

‘You must summon Sy-tré.’

I remembered the chant of my people, the prayer for our herald, the wolf, to come to our aid.

‘Come, Sy-tré,’
I called,
‘kindred of Krii. Refresh the hearts of the faithful with your wolfsong. Let the marks of your paws lead the way for your pack. Light the shadows with the flash of your eyes, and drive back the darkness. Bite through the snare that assails us. Rake your claws through the belly of the mountain, and set loose wonder upon the world.’

A slight breeze rustled through the waves, blowing softly at first, then with more force. The demons were shaken to the ground and the cackling ceased. Grasping onto entrails and hair they clung to the spirit circle, unable to speak or reach out to their Zeika master because of the rushing wind.

‘Sy-tré stands with me,’
I wave-shouted.
‘By the power of Krii, be gone!’

The winds grew stronger and I could hear Sy-tré’s howls upon them. With one final blast, the immense furred wolf himself appeared out of the rushing wind behind me, and swept around the entire spirit circle. The east end of it was so far away I wouldn’t have been able to see it with my natural eyes, but in the waves my perspective was no longer limited by the position of a human body. I could float higher, see further and close distances my human eyes would never have been able to penetrate. I blinked in wonder at the scene beneath me, which was now completely clear of blood and gore, revealing the Zeika construction site and their camp.

‘That’s it, you did it,’ Sarlice whispered, patting my shoulder from behind.

‘Not I,’ I replied, coming back to reality. ‘Sy-tré came.’

‘Praise the Lightmaker,’ Sarlice said.

Sarlice and I looked out over the clearing—large burgundy tents were positioned in a lazy circle around a huge green pavilion. Firelight within caused many shadows to play over the material. The figures inside lifted strange objects to the sky in some kind of offering. A tingling sensation of foreboding crept up my spine.

‘So this is why there are no fish in the river,’ I muttered. ‘They must have been travelling into Jaria, west of town, to catch them upriver.’

‘It’s a wonder the Rada-kin didn’t notice,’ Sarlice said. ‘If I remember my maps correctly, they would have just about passed through the outskirts of Jaria to get to the western part of the Jarvi River from here.’

‘Not if they crossed the mountain range west of the catacombs,’ I said. ‘Food in Naioteio is scarce and they’re much too far away from Reltland to have a supply line coming in.’

‘Aye. Well at least it’s a small group,’ Sarlice said softly. ‘It can’t be all that important to the Bal.’

When I made a confused face, she added, ‘There are at least a hundred thousand Zeika warriors in Reltland, maybe many more. We only have to deal with a few hundred here.’

I frowned, and crouched down on the ground for a better view through the foliage. ‘It’s all they need to outnumber Jaria.’

‘Not by much,’ she said, ‘but we’ve seen how easily they overcame your defences. I wonder what they’re after, apart from yourself.’

I reached out to hold a bunch of grass aside. ‘Probably want to use Jaria just like King Flale did years ago.’

She caught my eye. ‘Rada would never fight for Zeikas.’

I snorted. ‘I was thinking more along the lines of wave slaves. That murderer back in town said something about Bal Harar wanting to use Anzaii to locate other Kriites.’

Kestric growled and inched closer to the clearing. Green light from the camp illuminated one side of his head, and his whiskers appeared to glow, but Sarlice’s full attention was on me.

‘Talon, I really think we’re making a mistake by being here,’ she said. ‘Prime Arone’s instructions to me were very clear—to keep you out of danger.’

‘I wasn’t blessed with these abilities so I could sit tight in Jaria Fortress, like them,’ I replied. ‘Now is when my people need me.’

‘But the Zeikas must be expecting you,’ Sarlice argued. ‘Surely they did all this just to get you here—captured your Rada-kin and then your people.’

‘It has to be part of it, you’re right, but not all. I don’t know what I can do yet, but I think I can do something….’

‘Don’t be afraid,’
Tiaro said.
‘Krii is working with us. The Zeikas may not expect it yet, but I believe you can overcome their sorcery.’

Sarlice, unable to hear Tiaro, grew angry, ‘If you know it’s a trap then don’t splittin’ go—’

‘What would you have me do?’ I interrupted. ‘Turn my back and walk away?’

‘I’ll go,’ she replied. ‘You stay here.’

‘Nay,’ I retorted. ‘You didn’t even want to come in the first place.’

‘I did. Jaria may not be my home town, but you are my brethren. I don’t like this any more than you do, but we are outnumbered. Can’t we go and get help—does Jaria have any allies in Tasset?’

‘I have to get Rekala back now,’ I growled. ‘It’s already been more than three weeks. And we have to free the prisoners before more of them are killed. Surely you can understand—’

‘Kang and Folai have found them,’
Kestric interrupted.
‘The Jarians are in a cave of some kind.’

The two Rada-kin had advanced when I lifted the spirit circle, following the scent of the Jarians to a small cave guarded by Zeikas. Kestric looked up at me and then at Sarlice. He chuffed at her and they conversed privately for a time. A small frown creased Sarlice’s brow.

‘We should join them,’ I suggested.

Sarlice gestured reluctantly for me to lead the way. Kestric crept after us, keeping a close watch on the forest behind us. Crawling on all fours was the only way we could reach Kang and Folai without being seen by the Zeika guards. The three that I could see had just turned their backs on us.