Unicorns' Opal (9 page)

“Niki’s gone!” Arik exclaimed. “Her horse is still here, but her pack is missing.”

“She must be close by,” reasoned Tanya, “or she would have taken her horse.”

“She would never have gotten out of the cave with her horse,” corrected Tedi. “Too many light sleepers in this bunch. If she took her pack, she doesn’t plan to come back.”

“But she is the descendant of Sarac,” interrupted Arik. “We need her or else Sarac will continue to rule the world. We must find her.”

Alex stood and walked to the mouth of the cave. The rain had finally stopped, but the foliage was still wet. The sky was a dark and dreary overcast reminiscent of the Darkness; indeed, it was the Darkness. Alex walked out of the cave and searched for Niki’s track. As the other Rangers started to leave the cave and join the hunt for Niki, Alex turned.

“Everyone back into the cave,” ordered Alex. “Quickly.”

With confused murmurs, the Rangers turned and reentered the cave. Alex strode in and faced them with a worried look.

“I have not seen tracks like these in many years,” he intoned. “There are Yaki tracks outside. Prince Midge, I want you to go out and scout the area. Keep away from the ground. The rest of us need to prepare for an attack.”

“What are Yaki?” asked Fredrik. “Why are you so concerned about them?”

“It was a Yaki attack that wiped out his village,” offered Tanya. “They are ferocious fox-like animals that stand seven feet tall. They attack in packs and generally don’t give up until their prey is dead and eaten.”

“Very good, Tanya,” Jenneva frowned. “You have done your studying well. It was in a cave similar to this one that Alex and I first met. We were no older than you are now and totally unprepared for the Yaki. They do not like fire, but they will leap over a fire to get their kill.”

“They also eat their own dead,” Alex grimly smiled. “We will use myric quills on the first ones to show themselves.”

“What about Niki?” asked Arik. “We can’t just leave her out there?”

“I do not intend to leave Niki to the likes of the Yaki,” declared Alex. “Prince Midge will see what is out there opposing us while we fortify the cave. After everyone here is secure, I will go after her.”

“You will not go alone,” stated Tanya. “I probably caused Niki to flee and I will not stay here cooped up while you hunt for her alone.”

“I am almost as a good a tracker as you,” declared Tedi. “Tanya and I can handle the job of finding Niki.”

“I can work with Prince Midge to find her,” offered Arik. “There is no need for anyone else to go outside.”

“She won’t listen to anyone but me,” sighed Fredrik. “She is just confused and moody. I can talk her into returning and the Yaki will not stand up to my magic.”

Everyone turned with confused expressions as Jenneva started to laugh. Blushing from the sudden attention, she smiled and shrugged. “I’m sorry,” apologized Jenneva. “This is not a time for levity, but I could not help it. Look at you. Listen to what you are saying. You have finally become the Rangers you have long professed to be. Even with Niki in peril, my heart warms at your display of courage and caring for one of our own.”

“That may well be,” interrupted Alex, “but none of them have faced Yaki before. This cave is our best chance of survival. We cannot outrun the Yaki and we dare not chance being exposed to their packs in the open. Even climbing a tree is only temporary safety. The Yaki will patiently wait for you to fall asleep and fall or die of hunger. Either way, they will get you. When the fortifications are complete I will go after her.”

“I do not recall swearing allegiance to you, Alexander Tork,” scowled Tanya. “Nor to Garth Shado, as you used to call yourself. I have as much right to go after Niki as you do. If you feel you must go out there alone, then you will have to accept that I might feel the same way, too.”

“You don’t have to go alone, Tanya,” offered Tedi. “I’ll go with you.”

“Let’s not start this routine over again,” interrupted Alex. “The best defense against the Yaki is a cave with a fire across its mouth and a lot of archers inside. Each person who leaves to search for Niki will be taken away from the defense of the others. It does not make sense for more than one of us to go.”

“Without Niki,” interjected Arik, “the Dark One reigns forever. We cannot think of our own safety in the face of that undesirable possibility. Niki must be found if it takes all of us to do it. I think you, Alex, should stay with Jenneva to guard Tedi. Both of you may be required to protect the King of Alcea. The rest of us are expendable. Fredrik and Prince Midge can supply the magic and Tanya and I will handle the rest.”

Alex frowned as he noticed the rest of the Rangers nod at Arik’s suggestion. He had trained the Children to be self-confident and they had learned their lessons well. At that moment Prince Midge returned.

“I lost her track,” reported the fairy Prince. “Her track is old. She must have left the cave early last night. The Yaki are following her, but their track is fresh, not more than an hour old.”

“The rain last night must have cleared our tracks away,” suggested Tedi. “The Yaki don’t even know we are here.”

“Very well, then,” decided Alex. “We shall all go. Remember that the Yaki travel in packs. If they scent us, they will turn and attack without warning. Get the horses ready and put out the fire.”

The Rangers split up immediately and started breaking camp. Within minutes everyone was ready to go and Arik took the lead with Prince Midge in his shoulder pocket.

“The winds are still easterly,” chirped Prince Midge. “We should be able to get very close to the Yaki before they know we are following them.”

“I hope so,” commented Arik. “I don’t look forward to fighting off a bunch of them if they have us surrounded.”

“Niki has led them in a curving path,” Prince Midge emitted excitedly in his high-pitched lyrical voice. “We will make very good time going straight east. Their tracks are easy to follow in the wet ground. Shall I keep watch for you?”

“Yes,” nodded Arik. “That would be a good idea. I will keep heading east until I hear from you. Come back often so you can direct me properly.”

“As you command, Bringer!” exclaimed the tiny fairy prince as he leaped into the air and vanished with an amazing burst of speed.

Arik smiled and shook his head as Prince Midge disappeared. He was still not entirely comfortable with this Bringer business, but Prince Midge was a pleasant companion and Arik had developed a close bond with the courageous fairy.

Further back in the procession, Tedi earnestly tried to engage Tanya in conversation, but she appeared preoccupied with some secret or personal thought and did not respond to his overtures. Fredrik led Niki’s horse, followed by Alex and Jenneva who were talking quietly at the end of the column.

“I know they are courageous,” sighed Alex, “but they also need to follow orders. Our task is too great to allow them to go running off on their own.”

“You have been training them to be leaders,” Jenneva pointed out. “They are not like the members of the Targa Rangers who were trained to execute your command without question. If we are right, Tedi will be the King of Alcea and must learn to make decisions and lead people, not follow orders. Arik, for some reason, has already inherited an army of thousands as the Bringer of the fairies. We do not know what lies in store for the others, but I am sure the fates have brought them all together for some reason.”

“They are still the Children,” protested Alex. “We must guide them and help them along the way.”

“Guide them? Yes,” insisted Jenneva, “but lead them? No. By us leading them, we make them dependent upon us. They must be independent of us, or else we become a liability to the prophecy. They must be able to function without us. We are the ones who are expendable.”

“I understand that,” argued Alex. “That is why I was going alone to look for Niki. We can’t afford for any of them to be hurt.”

“Then you should have phrased your response to them in that light,” explained Jenneva. “Instead, you ordered them to remain without an explanation. I think you are dwelling on their rebellion wrongly, anyway. It was uplifting for me to see them accept the responsibility so courageously. Remember, they are the Children of the Ancient Prophecy. We may use our time with them to influence and train them, but we are not mentioned in the Prophecy. They must learn to survive with or without us.”

“
Jenneva is right, Alex
,” mind-spoke Kaz. “
They are now heading to my people where you and Jenneva will be welcomed as honored guests, but their acceptance as someone wanting the Unicorns’ Opal will be a problem they must deal with themselves.
”

“
Will your people harm them?
” returned Alex. “
That is not something I would have thought of.
”

“
That will depend on their actions,
” snorted Kaz. “
I will speak to my father about the Ancient Prophecy, but if the Children try to steal the Opal, I will be helpless to interfere
.”

Alex pondered Kaz’s comments. He could order the Children not to steal the Opal, but they had just demonstrated that they would do what they believed to be right, no matter what he ordered them to do. Jenneva was correct. Jenneva and he were advisors and trainers, not the leaders of this expedition. The thing that bothered him most about that was the problem of Niki. She was unpredictable, uncontrollable and dangerous. Nothing she did made any sense. Something else bothered him, as well. They had had tremendous victories so far because they worked together as a trained unit under his command. If they went into battle leaderless, they would be no more efficient that a skilled gang of thugs. That lost efficiency would cost them lives, precious lives.

“You are lost in thought again,” prompted Jenneva. “What is the matter?”

“We must have some ground rules for the Children,” Alex explained. “I may not control what they do with their lives, but a unit needs a leader in battle and this group will have one, even if it is not me. When we are reunited, we shall discuss this problem openly.”

Jenneva nodded and they lapsed into silence again as they rode into a wooded area which was dark even though it was daytime. The lack of sunlight had a depressing effect on the Rangers and nobody spoke. An hour later, Prince Midge returned and perched on Arik’s shoulder.

“I have found her,” beamed the tiny fairy. “She is surrounded by Yaki, but she has a protecting shield up. They can not get to her.”

Arik halted the column and waved for everyone to gather around him as he had Midge repeat the message.

“How many Yaki are there?” questioned Alex.

“Around twenty,” reported Prince Midge. “I could get you an exact count if you wish.”

“That will not be necessary,” stated Alex. “We will have a hard fight on our hands with twenty Yaki. They are very quick and once they sink their teeth into you there is not much hope.”

“I could erect a shield and we could fire from behind it,” suggested Jenneva. “How did her shield look to you Midge?”

“It was wavering,” warned Prince Midge. “She has probably had it up for a long time.”

“With your permission,” Tanya quipped while looking at Alex, “we need to move quickly. We must get close enough to fire at the Yaki over Jenneva’s shield, yet stay far enough away that we won’t be overrun before she can erect it.”

Alex’s lips compressed tautly, but he did not respond to Tanya’s taunt. Arik simply nodded and ordered Midge to show him the way. Swiftly, the Rangers filed through the woods until Arik called another halt. Everyone followed Arik’s lead as he dismounted and tied his horse to a tree. Arik led the group forward with Jenneva by his side. Tanya turned when she didn’t hear anyone behind her and saw Alex untying all of the horses. Puzzled by his actions, she quickly turned forward again so he would not know that she had seen him.

Arik stopped when he caught sight of the Yaki pack. The wind was still easterly so the Yaki would not detect their scent, but he moved cautiously to avoid the mistake of allowing them to see him. He proceeded slowly until he felt he was within bowshot for the rest of the Rangers. He nodded to Jenneva who turned to make sure everyone was within a tight radius. Within a few seconds she nodded and informed everyone that the shield was up.

Visible in a small clearing before them was Niki and she was kneeling on the ground. All around her were howling Yaki and, periodically, one of them would fling his body at Niki and be repelled by the shield. The sight of the seven-foot creatures, which resembled large foxes, sent shivers through Tedi. He stared at their gaping jaws and gnashing teeth. With the rest of the Ranger archers, he nocked an arrow and shot in a high arching trajectory. It was not the most accurate way to fire at your enemy, but it certainly drew attention away from Niki.

The Yaki whirled and snarled at the newcomers. Half a dozen Yaki immediately charged the Rangers and rebounded off Jenneva’s shield. Those Yaki were impossible to hit with arrows because they were too close to the shield, so the Rangers continued to fire at the others. While most of the hits were more luck than skill, the Rangers managed to kill eight Yaki before they were all swarming around Jenneva’s shield.

“What now?” asked Arik. “We can’t hope to kill any more with arrows.”

Tanya shook her head and turned to speak to Alex, but he was gone. “Where is Alex?” demanded Tanya. “How did he get out of the shield?”

“He was never in the shield,” Jenneva replied. “When I turned to make sure all of us were close to together, he was gone. I saw no point in delaying the shield. He can handle himself.”

“Handle himself?” Tanya shrieked. “Are you as mad as he is? Why does he always insist on doing everything his own way?”

“Your way would have limited his movement,” smiled Jenneva. “Alex is a warrior, Tanya. Do not try to limit his risk taking. I have tried ever since I have known him and the only result has been that he no longer confides in me when he thinks I will object to his plan. If it’s any consolation, his plans work most of the time.”

“Most of the time?” shouted Tanya. “Great! His plan has only to fail once and he will be dead.”