To Be Chosen (60 page)

Time went by and Simon stood up. “I enjoyed our discussion and would like to talk more, but I have to go relieve Samuel, and begin the process of slowing down.”

Daniel nodded his head. “We dare not violate the law of momentum,” he stated to prove he had been listening. “Go on and thanks for the lesson, I found it illuminating.”

Another thing he was pleased to know, Simon and Samuel had both been near him while the active spell, Find All, was being focused, in front of the Russet and on the Javelin. Daniel knew in theory the potential of the Symphonic was low enough not to be detected by a fellow Accomplished, but meeting up with his Aakacarn friends and talking with one right beside him, proved he could focus potential in a broad radius and still have it below even the visual range of an Aakacarn, if the life force energy is kept low.

Simon gave the slight nod of the head due a fellow Accomplished and then went to the back of the riverboat. Daniel stepped out onto the deck to watch the process of slowing down. The sandy-haired Aakacarn spoke in Samuel’s ear and the orange energy vanished from around the wheel and was replaced by cobalt blue. The Javelin began to slow at a steady rate, necessary to keep the boats behind from slamming into the waterwheel and each other. When the speed was down to about a third of what they had been going, Simon called out. “Release the Sprite.”

Samuel hand signaled to Jonah, who relayed the warning to prepare for release down to Sergeant Keenan, who passed the message on, going from boat to boat, down the to last. Readiness was signaled back up the line shortly thereafter and the rope of solidified air pulling the Sprite vanished. The vessel then raised sail and would enter the harbor under its own power. When that boat was clear, Samuel signaled the ninth boat and so on until all of the fishing vessels were free and sailing on their own.

Daniel went up to the wheelhouse to watch his father bring the Javelin into Port Valeen. The facility was huge with multiple docks and piers full of berths with ships and boats coming and going. The process of dealing with the port authority and finding berths for each vessel took the better part of three marks. It would have taken five marks or more if not for the fact that on board the lead vessel was a Royal Knight of the Realm. At two and a half marks before sundown Sergeant Keenan and Corporal Carlin had the vessels off loaded and the Royal Guardsmen mounted and lined up in two columns ready to go.

Daniel was on Sprinter at the head of the company. There was a tense moment when Simon and Samuel attempted to occupy the same spot behind him as Silvia and David were accustomed to having. Each cousin tried to pretend the other was not there. None of the three Teki would speak to each other because two of them considered the one to be dead. It was a little difficult to ask a dead man to give place.

“Daniel, I’ll be back with your parents ahead of the supply horses,” Simon spoke up. “I volunteered to be their escort and it is only fitting that I be riding with them. Oh, Sam, why don’t you come with me, we can reminisce about what it was like when this woodsman was posing as a Talented.”

Samuel’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, and then he seemed to realize what the sandy-haired Accomplished from Battencay was trying to do, and winked. “He blended in like a wolf running with a pack of coyotes. Let’s go see what we can learn from his parents and let them know what their son was up to.”

Daniel appreciated Simon’s handling of the situation, although not so much the topic to be discussed. “Do as you will,” he told them and chuckled at the thought of those two trying to pry information out of his parents.

Silvia and David took their places behind him without commenting on the discussion Simon had with the person they considered to be dead. Jonah and Sergeant Zaccum lined up behind them, and the company’s four new archers were at the rear, they being Daniel’s parents, Tim, and Gina, all of whom had quivers of arrows and were well acq
uainted with the bow and knife.

The city was huge with both wood and stone buildings, some of which went as high as eight floors. The cobblestone streets were wide and accommodated horses and wagons flowing east and west without interfering with each others progress. Walkways were provided for pedestrians in front of the various business establishments so as to keep them off the busy street. The clothing styles changed depending on the section. Near the wharfs folks dressed like fishermen while farther up the street a butcher wore the traditional gray pants and shirt along with the red apron. In toward the center of the city most of the men were wearing suits. Daniel noted few people wearing buckskins and many of the fashions were similar to what was being worn in the capital, especially by the women.

The Royal Guardsmen rode on, faces forward, they had seen it all before, and were too disciplined to gawk even if they had not seen the like. Silvia and David seemed to be looking everywhere, not to gawk, more like watching out for trouble. Jonah sat his saddle with the bearing of a prince and had the formal Sergeant Zaccum at his side. Everyone in the company was riding with his or her head held high. People along the street began shouting their greetings and waving, some of them with drawings of Daniel fighting yetis or dueling Balen Tamm, none of which were accurate, and others with small portraits of Daniel in their hands. Clearly word of his arrival had spread from the port and they knew exactly who was passing through their midst. He smiled and waved back. Both sides of the street were packed with well-wishers and the greetings only ended when the procession passed beyond the city limits.

Silvia nodded her head approvingly. “That was a greeting fit for the Chosen Vessel.”

“Even if they do not yet know you have been chosen,” David added.

Daniel shrugged his shoulders. “They know me from the Queen’s proclamations. I don’t need a greeting of any kind, but admit this was better than being met with hostility.”

David patted one of his many throwing blades. “Be assured, we were ready for that kind of greeting as well.”

Daniel had no doubt both Teki would have launched into violence the instant anyone became hostile. Fortunately, none of the over thirty-five thousand people within his scanning radius seemed to be aggressive. No one followed as he and his detachment of Royal Guardsmen entered the forest, so there was little danger of being attacked, although he was ready for an assault should it come to that. He did not need a repeat lesson on expecting the unexpected.

The only members of his swirl with him from the animal kingdom were the birds, all of the other creatures were far to the south and making their way north. He doubted any of the Sasquatches, bears, wolves, coyotes, foxes, or cougars would reach him in time to be of any help in scouting out Serin Gell’s lair. The moles, squirrels, rabbits, and ferrets never left the Lake Tomlin area, which was fine with him. It did not hurt to have eyes and ears in diverse places.

The road ended half a mark ago and they were winding through a forest of white elms, sugar pines, firs, and many other types of trees and bushes. The area was teeming with life. He added four different wasp communities to his swirl after passing within a hundred strides of their hives. There were no mountains in this region, only hills and valleys giving the flatlands texture. He came within a hundred strides of a willow oak with a black panther resting high on a branch. Daniel tightly focused
, Mind Touch, and brought the huge cat into his swirl. Dusk gave her name and let it be known she would follow at her leisure, very catlike.

“Sir Daniel, were you planning on traveling at night?” Sergeant Keenan inquired, and he was right to do so. There was not much daylight left.

Daniel was tempted to continue on without the entourage, although could not afford do so. He really wanted to leave everybody behind, race all night to the Foothills, and rescue Sherree. It was that trait Tim had spoken of, the need to shove people aside, because Daniel Benhannon is the only one who can possibly handle the situation. Three people dead taught him he could not think of every possibility or do it all by himself, and there were consequences if he tried. The Chosen Vessel cannot succeed alone. His responsibilities were growing and he was just going to have to adjust. “The area fifty strides ahead will do.”

“It will be as you say, Sir Daniel,” Keenan replied. “I know you are as eager as Lord Jonah to see the scoundrels brought to justice and to be there in time to help your two friends, but you are making the right choice. We can easily reach our destination tomorrow and be fresh and ready to deliver a blow they will not soon forget.”

Daniel smiled and nodded agreement. “You were right about the bill and right about this. Tomorrow we will be more prepared.”

Keenan saluted and rode back along the left column. Daniel signaled the stop and shortly after the men began setting up camp. The scouts were called in and watches set for the night. He performed some inspections and refreshed the horses. His parents, Tim, and Gina had purchased food for the entire company, enough for a couple of days, the men were pleased and so was Daniel. After a dinner of salted pork, beans, bread, and apples fresh from the orchard, his mother took out her guitarn and began playing, Flight of the Whippoorwill, one of the instrumentals she wrote. By the time she finished, Daniel had his guitarn out. Samuel brought out his trumpet, and Simon brought out a flute and a vyolin. He alternated the instruments depending on the song being played. Tim’s hands beat out the rhythms on
a pair of drums latched together and covered on top by buckskin. 

After the concert and pleasantries, Daniel went to his tent and spent half the night linking with any animals that came within a hundred strides of him. He added ten white-tailed deer, twenty brown bats, three more panthers,
sixteen voles, thirteen flying squirrels, and a hive of bald-faced hornets. A quarter of the bats flew off toward the cave in the Foothills. It was like Ruth had said. He was drawing what he needed. Those animals had been drawn to the area, he had no doubt. It would take a big stretch of the imagination for him to believe their proximity, within a hundred strides of where he lay, was just a coincidence.

He received an image from Grasper the owl, who was on the branch of a spruce overlooking a small village. Judging by the distance traveled from Valeen and the mental map Daniel had in his mind, this was Cana, a community of about sixty people, and located about six spans northeast of his encampment. He and his company would be passing fairly close yet he saw no reason to enter the village, better to just keep moving toward the Foothills. Nothing interesting seemed to be going on, not until Grasper suddenly dived from the tree at a field mouse, swooped low, and grasped the tiny rodent in her talons. He withdrew his awareness while the owl enjoyed her mid-night snack. The interests of an owl did not always coincide with those of a human.

Twi the panther nudged at the back of his mind and sent him thoughts along with what she was seeing.
Human pride sleeps behind thick row of dead trees.
It was a log wall around a hill fort. Daniel conveyed his gratitude to the powerful cat and focused on what she was seeing from high up in a tree above the compound, barracks, smithy, mess hall, stables, a log tower with a signal light at the top, a building that could be a supply depot and one that could be the command post.

Daniel compared the distance with his mental map and realized the fort was ten spans away and only a few spans from the border, close to where he would be crossing. As of yet he did not know if General Tallen was there, seeing as the distinguished officer could be in any fort along the border. Daniel would be passing within two or three spans of the place, well within his scanning radius of
five spans, and would be able to sense Tallen’s presence. The other men would only appear as humans to Daniel’s senses, but he could easily identify anyone he had healed. His time would be better spent on rescuing Sherree. If the General was at the fort, a proper greeting could be given him on the way back.

He thanked Twi and no sooner withdrew his awareness from her when Dusk began nudging at the back of his mind. She was hidden in some bushes and watching a peculiar campsite. Twenty five men in buckskins, two keeping watch while the others slept. An equal number of horses were picketed close by and each man had a short bow and saber within arms reach. If Daniel had not been in the emergency meeting or had not seen through the eyes of Wisp the osprey, he would have thought these men were just a group of hunters. No, these had to be Pentrosan cavalrymen and worse, they were only about two spans north of
Cana. He thanked the panther and then fell into a fitful sleep, dreaming of Sherree being tortured by Serin Gell, followed by the Queen dying before he could get back to her with a cure, and a peaceful village in harms way.

He was wakened a mark before dawn by a nudge on his mind coming from Longwing the bat. His wingspan was nearly a cubit across, making him one of the largest of his species. He was one of the five Daniel had sent north earlier in the night. Longwing was entering a cave in the Foothills and came to rest, hanging upside down among a huge colony of bats. The cave was the same one spotted by the ospreys on the north side of the Nest. He made a series of sounds and they echoed back. The color in the vision that formed was all washed out, everything in shades of gray yet perfectly recognizable. The cave was completely normal until about thirty paces in. A pair of double doors blocked the sounds so it was not possible to discover what lay beyond. The bat was well hidden among the colony and would be ready to send an image w
hen the door eventually opens.