The Callindra Chronicles Book One - First Quest (28 page)

The food in Callindra’s mouth lost its
flavor.  She cleaned the dottle out of her pipe and carefully
stowed it in its watertight case.  “I’m not sure if it’s a
good idea to trust a dead man living in your head.”  

Cronos laughed, “I DON’T trust him!”  He
said, “Would YOU trust someone who did this to you?”

“
I must cross the river.”
 Tryst said grimly, “I will take whatever chances I must but I
will not ask the rest of you to do the same.”

“
Oh don’t be so cursed
melodramatic of course we’re coming with.”  Callindra said,
punching him on the arm.  The look of relief on his face as
the others chimed in made her forget her fear about what was to
come, and even deadened the pain she felt about failing Glarian.
 She would get through this.  They would get through
this.  The only other option was to give up and that just
wasn’t something any of them would accept.

-

“
So you want us all to just…
ride toward the cliff at speed?”  Vilhylm asked, staring
incredulously at Cronos.

“
You expect our horses to
jump?”  Said Tryst, “These nags?”

“
My girl can do it.”
 Callindra said with a feral grin.  She patted her
horse’s neck and the animal whickered eagerly.  “See?
 Let’s do this!”

“
The only way the magic
works is if you believe it works.”  The voice that wasn’t
Crono’s voice said.

Callindra couldn’t help it, she burst out
laughing.  “Oh come on now, that’s the stupidest thing I’ve
ever heard!  Magic is a God rotting curse, if it was that easy
to get rid of it I’d be free.  How about you stop playing the
fool so we can get this over with?”

“
Oh you’re no bedamned fun.”
 He said, giving her a disgruntled look.  “The beasts
will be happier if you blindfold them.  You all can close your
eyes too if it makes you feel better.”

They all bound cloths over the eyes of their
mounts who snorted and tossed their heads in annoyance but
otherwise took the treatment with good grace.  Walking their
mounts to the edge of the cliff, they paused to look down at the
water churning far below.  The horses snorted and stamped
nervously.

“
Time to go.”
 Callindra muttered, swinging into the saddle.  Looking
back along the road that followed the river she caught a glimpse of
something moving.  “Hey, someone’s out there.”  She
whispered to her companions.

“
What?”  Vilhylm had
been looking dubiously at Cronos but now he swung his gaze to
follow hers.  “Trouble, we need to move!”

Cronos grimaced and his master’s voice
cursed, “Sorry, no time for the kid gloves.”  

A group of humanoid creatures, running fast
and using their arms as much as their legs broke from the bushes
near the road.  Before they had covered half the distance, an
impact like falling into water from on high slammed into Callindra
and her friends, tossing them through the air like thrown stones.
 The horses screamed in fear, thrashing about.

Timing the landing, Callindra managed to tuck
and roll, absorbing most of the shock of the landing but still
bruising herself on rocks and sticks.  The others didn’t fare
so well, Tryst getting the worst when he tumbled into a thorn bush.
 Cronos crumpled as though he was a puppet with broken
strings.

The best part was the creatures on the other
side of the ravine screaming their rage to the sky.  Their
anger made it all worthwhile.  Callindra laughed and made a
rude gesture toward them and fell onto her back.

“
We made it!”  She
said, her voice rough from the terror that had gripped her until
she realized she was going to survive.

Chapter 23

After nearly a week’s travel across
wilderness that was more remote and barren than Callindra had ever
remembered seeing they finally came to something that resembled a
road.  From what they’d seen by looking at the map that Cronos
had, they were only about an hour from the small town of Maple if
they managed to keep their current pace.

As their tired band rounded a corner in the
road, they could see down a short rise.  A traveling carriage
was disabled alongside the road, one wheel having come off in a
pothole.  A pair of guards were straining to lift the wheel
while a gowned and coiffed Lady stood to one side, a maid holding a
lace parasol over her head.  Even at this distance her
strident voice was audible, although the words were still
indistinct.

“
A Lady in trouble.”
 Vilhylm said, “Perhaps we can offer assistance.”

Callindra sighed and rolled her eyes, but the
others seemed eager to help and she didn’t see any reason not to.
 Nobility were difficult and entitled but fulfilled a
necessary role; certainly not one she wanted to fill.  They
rode toward the struggling men and were caught completely unaware
when a dozen misshapen creatures with jaws that dripped glowing
green ichor leaped from the trees.  

Half of the monsters sprang on the men,
slashing with razor sharp claws and biting with wicked fangs.
 The others landed close enough to Callindra and her friends
that they could smell the decaying flesh on their breath.

“
Arm yourselves!”
  Callindra shouted, vaulting from the saddle and
swinging Brightfang from his scabbard at the same time, severing
the thing’s arm off just above the elbow.  She landed,
bringing her blade to guard just as one of the monsters tried to
remove her head from her shoulders.

Cronos unleashed a burst of flames from his
fingertips, but he only managed to kill one of them.  The
blast knocked him from his horse and onto the dust of the road
where he struggled to his feet, cursing like a soldier.  While
the others attempted to dismount and keep control of their horses,
she drove their opponents back with a wall of flashing steel.

“
Take heart against these
demons from the Abyss!”  Tryst said, “Fight and destroy thine
enemies!”  Callindra felt his magic form around her,
bolstering her resolve and her physical strength.

Vilhylm let go of his horse’s bridle and
slammed a fist into the midriff of one of the creatures like a
hammer, throwing it back into the trees.  Ignoring the
monsters that threatened his friends, he bounded forward with giant
leaps, landing between the Lady and the other group of beasts.

Cronos incanted a spell that made his muscles
swell to strain against his armor and drew his hand and a half
sword.  He swung with the same motion, finishing off the
monster Callindra had wounded.  They spun and fought back to
back, slashing their way through the attacking creatures with a
series of coordinated strikes.  In spite of the danger she had
to smile at how well they fought together.

The first few of the fallen creatures began
to swell as though they were rotting from the inside at an
incredible rate.  The flow of the fight took them away from
the fallen and they began to explode one after another, each
throwing showers of boiling ichor on anyone unfortunate enough to
be close.  A few drops spattered on Callindra’s cheek and
burned like cinders.

“
Pox and rot!”  She
shouted, “Ware the corpses!”

Even as she spoke, she saw the two guards go
down screaming as several more of them exploded.  The lady’s
maid was already laying in a pool of her own cooling blood but
Vilhylm had managed to keep the Lady alive somehow.  The
horses screamed in pain, one going down thrashing and the other
dropping like a poleaxed cow.

As suddenly as it had begun, the attack was
over.  All the creatures had been killed and then had
exploded, some of them had even killed their own kind then their
bodies burst.  Tryst looked them over swiftly, making sure
none had serious injuries before seeing to the horses.

“
I will need to heal this
mare.”  He said, “Her foreleg is broken and this carriage is
too large to be pulled by one.”

Callindra approached and helped him calm the
animals, something that normally Vilhylm would have done.  Vil
was occupied with the Lady, she was crying out at his few burns and
minor cuts, exclaiming at his bravery and lavishing praise on
him.

“
You!  Boy!”  The
Lady said, “Get my parasol, I will not risk burning my skin in the
heat of the day!”

Callindra waited for the outburst she was
sure Cronos would unleash for such treatment, grinning to herself
as she loosened the harness of the frightened horse.  Tryst
was chanting softly under his breath, a glimmer of light emanating
from his hands and the shield on his back as he called upon holy
powers to heal the wounds of the other animal.

“
Boy, I said get my
parasol!”  The Lady said again, “The Countess Adbar will not
be left second to the ministrations of animals!”

Callindra glanced up and saw that the
Countess was pointing at her, Cronos having left to gather their
own horses.  She met the other woman’s gaze levelly, her sea
green eyes meeting the Countess’s dark brown.

“
I am Callindra Sol’Estin, a
warrior who slew monsters that would otherwise have been gleefully
dancing upon your corpse at considerable risk to myself.”  She
said coldly, “I am no boy, nor will I cease tending the beasts that
will otherwise be unable to pull your carriage.

“
Oooh, you’re a girl.”
 The Countess said, eyes artfully widening in surprise, “I
never would have guessed what with that hair and those clothes.
 Or that sword.  Or that armor.”

Callindra sighed inwardly at the foolish
prejudice of the nobility.  She had seen as much before,
although this particular noble was more direct and rude than most.
 Instead of rising to the bait she turned her attention back
to the horse.  Stroking him on the nose, she kept him calm as
she unbuckled the last two straps of his harness so he could
struggle to his feet.  Other than a few scrapes and some small
burns he seemed fit enough.

Tryst finished his spell and the other horse
shuddered, the sound of the bone setting itself and knitting back
together grated in Callindra’s ears.  She winced, but the
animal didn’t seem to feel the pain.  Instead, she lurched to
her feet and eagerly nudged Tryst’s chest until he rose to his feet
and patted her neck reassuringly.

“
You’re welcome girl.
 Humans aren’t the only ones who deserve the attentions and
healing I can offer.”  He said with a smile.

“
If we are going to reach
that town before the sun sets we need to get moving.”  Cronos
said, approaching with their horses.

Now that the adrenaline of the fight had worn
off, Callindra was beginning to feel all of the scrapes, cuts and
burns she had suffered but not noticed before.  With a heavy
sigh, she began to buckle the gelding back into his harness while
Tryst did the same for the mare.

-

It was just after sundown when they limped
into the small town of Briarwood, the horses as tired as they were.
 The lights of the tavern were inviting and they were drawn as
moths to a candle flame.  A boy came to take their horses and
Callindra tossed him the reins.

“
Careful, she bites if you
don’t watch her.”  She warned.

Vilhylm was helping the Countess Adbar from
her carriage, all bows and smiles.  Callindra rolled her eyes;
she expected most men to be god rotting predictable, but had
imagined her companions were of a different sort.  Ah well,
she supposed the Lady was pretty enough, if you like soft
curves.

They walked into the common room, the light
and sound overwhelming at first.  A large man in a clean white
apron stood behind the bar pulling tankards of dark brown ale and
flirtatious barmaids made their way among the patrons, handing out
frothy mugs and saucy winks in equal measure.

“
Hey hon, what can I
getcha?” A wench walked up, swaying her hips invitingly before she
noticed that Callindra was a girl.  Her eyes stayed on
Brightfang’s hilt for a few moments before going back to her
face.

“
Ale.  Dinner.  We
need rooms and stabling for the night too.”  Callindra said
smiling and rolling a gold nobel over the back of her hand and
flicking it to land in the girl’s hand.  “That ought to at
least get us started?”

Grinning, the wench bit it and tucked it into
her generous cleavage, “Aye that’ll be a good start.  Find a
table an we’ll getcha sorted out right enough.  Good bitter
tapped tonight an fresh venison on th spit.”

“
I declare, what a quaint
place you have brought me to Vilhylm.”  Said the Countess,
looking around the room with a derisive smile on her lush lips.
 “Barmaid, you will prepare a bath and your finest room.
 I will wait here with whatever passes for wine in this
town.”

Vilhylm led her to a table and pulled out a
chair for her.  Callindra sighed and sat down at the table,
taking a long pull from the tankard the wench brought.  The
strong bitter ale washed the road dust from her throat and she felt
the annoyance she had at the Lady’s attitude fade.  It wasn’t
her fault that she’d been born to privilege, and it didn’t make a
lot of sense to expect her to change her ways immediately.

The common room resumed some of its noise,
but was much subdued compared to how it had been.  When their
food arrived, a young girl in a brown dress came and nervously
informed the Countess that her bath was ready.  She rose,
handing her cloak to the girl and following her from the room, her
silk gown whispering like a bedroom promise.

“
I’ll be waiting for you
later.”  She purred to Vilhylm as she passed him.
 

Only Callindra was close enough to hear.
 She ignored the comment, watching Vil over the rim of her
tankard.  He shifted slightly on his chair, looking as though
he was trying to decide if he should run after her or run out the
door.