Fireclaws - Search for the Golden (5 page)

“Lady…please help me…I’m not a good swimmer,” the girl whispered, struggling to stay upright. I could see she was starting to shiver uncontrollably, as well.

“What is your name, girl?” I asked, trying to remain calm as I took hold of her arm. To her credit, she didn’t panic and grab onto me like many people in danger of drowning would.

“Andea.”

“Well, Andea, you’ve been a very brave girl so far. We are in a lake, and the wolf creatures are only a short ways away, so we can’t go back to shore here. We will need to cross the lake to get away from them.”

“I don’t think I can swim very far…Lady,” she sputtered dubiously.

“You can call me Ryliss, and I don’t need you to swim, just hold on.”

“But how...? Never mind…I will try.”

“I won’t be able to talk to you again until we reach the shore, so don’t be alarmed if I don’t answer. Now grab me around the neck again, please.” She did so gratefully as I triggered yet another change. I was really burning through the stamina and calories, I would either need human food or to hunt game soon. On top of it all, the last of the sun’s rays were disappearing fast, and none of our moons had crested the horizon as yet.

Andea raised most of the way out of the water as my broad back surfaced under her, my big hooves churning the water below us. Still clinging around my long neck, I felt her reach up, exploring my neckline until she found my huge ears. As we ventured farther and farther out into the lake, I heard the dismayed savage yodeling of the hyaenodons back at the shore, but none dared follow.

“A moose? I’m riding on a moose?” Andea asked in wonder, but then amended her conversation. “I know, lady…I mean Lady Ryliss, you can’t talk to me as a moose. At least, your back is warm and I’m mostly out of the water. Thank you for saving me. I should never have left the cave my brother left me in…I hope he doesn’t run into those things when he comes home, but he’s big and strong and he wouldn’t be afraid…”

It took a half hour or more to cross the widest part of the lake. Reaching shore anywhere closer would have been an invitation for the predators that chased us to catch up. As it was, we were well out of their field of vision before I felt my long legs strike bottom, and I hoisted us up out of the thin reeds along the shore. I paused, dripping water, to listen carefully. Fortunately, this form has excellent hearing and ears that swivel around to catch even the slightest sounds. But tonight, there was nothing but the creak of frogs and the annoying buzz of mosquitoes. As the girl was still firmly planted on my back, I ventured up the gradual bank and into the trees beyond, still fully alert. Since I was starving, the young birch saplings looked inviting. However, I knew if I ate any, my stomach wouldn’t have the necessary time to digest and turn them into energy before I needed to be a dark elf again, so it would be a waste of effort.

Striding quietly a ways into the forest, I found a deadfall area that looked easily defendable. Dry loose sticks stretched across the top so nothing could come up behind us without making noise, and the way the great trees fell at cross purposes to each other created a natural crèche for me to watch over my new responsibility. Wearily, I reverted back to my dark elf natural form, which dropped Andea sleepily back on her feet. She clung to me wordlessly for a few moments, apparently just happy to hold another person. Finally, she let go of me and stammered, “Ryliss…but how is this possible?”

“Andea, could we wait until morning to answer your questions? Right now, I need to check out the area and make sure those things are not following us. I’m sorry, but I don’t have any food, and I don’t think a fire would be a good idea now either. When I come back, it will be as a really big cat, I will make a purring sound so you know it’s me. Then we’ll get some sleep. You can burrow down in my fur and I will keep you warm and safe until morning.”

I settled her in a dry spot up under one of the logs and piled loose branches around her. Minutes later as a Jag’uri, I prowled around the deadfall, gradually expanding my circle of search until I heard a cracking, gnawing sound down closer to the lake. The large lake beaver had brought down a substantial aspen earlier in the evening and was in the process of noisily stripping off the smaller branches and bark. He didn’t realize his carelessness until my jaws bit down and snapped his neck instantly. Greedily, I quickly feasted on its warm remains, leaving almost nothing to waste. Warm food in my belly, I finally felt like I could change or fight if I needed to defend Andea. Returning to the makeshift camp, I purred as I slid through the branches and rubbed lazily alongside the small human girl. Putting out her hand, my back easily came above her waistline. I made a production out of finding a good place to lie down. Settling in, I felt her crawl up next to me and take one of my huge paws and drape over her side as she snuggled up into the soft long fur of my undersides. We slept.

By the time Andea awoke the next morning, I had been up for a while. I was already a dark elf and had started a modest fire and began amassing a small pile of apple root, berries, and cattail pollen spikes. Next to the flames on small sticks, a rabbit was dressed out, cooked and cooling. When she did stir, she had a shy smile on her face.

“Ryliss?”

“I am here, Andea. Why don’t you warm yourself by the fire here; I will stoke it a bit more so we can get your clothes dry. There is food next to the fire, as well; you must be hungry.”

The girl got up, brushed herself off, and cautiously oriented herself to the fire, feeling its warmth. It was the first time I had the opportunity to take a really good look at her. She was wearing ragged leggings and a dirty brown overdress, with plain moccasin-like slippers. She had jet black curls and a small impish-looking face that radiated goodwill. This, despite what had been done to her; both eyes looked like they had been destroyed with burning sticks or embers and left to heal without the benefit of magic or even herbal healing. It sickened me to the core of my soul to look at them.

I walked over and stood next to her, about to show her the food when she put her hands out tentatively and touched me. She ran her hands over my shoulders, hips, and clothing and finally stopped at my face. She gently outlined it with her fingertips, pausing when she touched my ears and I jerked back slightly.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “Did I hurt you?”

“No, they’re just sensitive, that’s all.”

She nodded. “You are an elf and the woman I told Kerrik to search for.”

I took her hands and led her over to a flat rock near the fire where she could sit. I filled a section of her over shirt with some of the berries and apple root chunks so she could eat and talk. “Andea, tell me what you know about all this.”

“It’s a long story, Ryliss, but right now we need to find Kerrik. He will be worried sick and he’s probably looking for me right now.” She said hesitantly, “But I can’t do it without your help.”

“Andea, I met Kerrik yesterday for the first time. Our conversation lasted all of about five minutes before three dozen armed men and a fire mage kicked open the door to the tavern. They were apparently searching for you, with wizards as a secondary target, as they had a demon crystal that lit up in the presence of magic. Before they could check me, your brother started a commotion that drew their attention away. At the same time, he caused the crystal to light up, indicating he was a wizard. I’m sorry, but they hauled him away in a locked wagon.”

She looked stricken, paused in her chewing and cocked her head slightly. “What will they do to him?” A tear was forming on the outsides of the ruins that were her eyes. I tore my gaze away and answered.

“If they wanted him dead, they could have done it on the spot. My best guess is that they will hold him and try to make him work for them in some capacity.”

Andea gulped and her throat tightened at the thought, but then she surprised me by changing topics. “Would the crystal have lit up if it had gotten close to you?”

“Honestly, I don’t know, it depends on what the crystal reacts to. Me, personally, probably not, but I carry some items of magic that I wouldn’t want revealed.”

“But you are a wizard?”

I sighed; this was getting uncomfortably close to areas that I usually don’t talk about. But I guess she already knew about my wild forms and I was reminded that she apparently knew somewhat more than that, as well. “I am a Druid, actually…but it’s not something I talk about to most people.”

She nodded sympathetically. “That’s what Kerrik says, too. He doesn’t tell people he’s a wizard; I guess some bad stuff happened in the war. He says he won’t tell me about it until I’m older.”

“Andea, who did this to you? And why are bad people after you?”

She nibbled on a piece of root and oriented on my voice. “When I was nine, my oldest, and favorite brother, Kerrik, went off to war to fight against the undead for Elcance, since Ocanse didn’t favor the use of wizards. My father and mother were farmers; we had a medium-sized farm on the edge of Ocanse, but sadly, not far from the evil necromancer’s lands. Just before the end of the war when the Duke was winning, Ocanse fell and our farm was overrun. I don’t remember much about that night except the blood and the flames and my mother bundling me up and passing me off to a shepherd couple who watched our flock of sheep high up on the mountain. Their plan was to escape by following the wild goat trails that wound through the high passes. That was the last I ‘saw’ of any of my family.”

She cast her eyes down self-consciously and continued, “Anyway, it was bitterly cold and we walked for days through the deep snow on the mountains. Eventually, we made it across and ended up in a large camp for refugees from the war. Men, women, and children lived in tents in the snow, but at least the undead left us alone. I was there for six months or so, living in packs with the other orphans. One day we heard the war was over and most of the adults loaded up and went back to wherever they came from. I was lucky and had always been good with horses, so I managed to catch on with a small traveling caravan that sold cloth, pots, tools, and spices.”

“What about the shepherd couple who took you from your home?” I interjected.

She grimaced, remembering that detail. “They felt their duty ended when they delivered me to safety. They were well past child-rearing age and did not want the responsibility of raising a rambunctious young girl. One morning I woke up and they were just gone. So I was on my own…I worked for the caravan leader for several full cycles, mostly for a little food and the right to sleep with the horses at night. Once we even traveled close to my home, and I begged Jedaro, the caravan boss, to let me take a spare horse and ride to go see it.”

Andea shook her head in dismay. “Ryliss, it was completely gone. Goblins, or whatever fell creatures, had burned all the buildings to the ground and nothing was spared. No one was around or working the land. I cried for an hour at the spot where I had last seen my parents, and then rejoined the caravan folk and never looked back. Time passed and life wasn’t so bad. I was eleven years old when the dreams started…”

“Dreams?” I repeated.

“Well, sort of like dreams, but they can happen when I’m awake, too. I see images of places and people doing things that haven’t happened yet. Sometimes I can recognize the players and they’re silent and other times I hear a narrative in my head like someone reading from a book explaining it all. But the words are always hard to understand, like someone really old is speaking. Sometimes I just get glimpses of light and darkness. It wasn’t long before I was riding alongside Jedaro leading the caravan. And every time we came to a fork in the road, he would ask me, ‘Which way, Andi?’ And I would tell him…if I knew…”

She paused and grinned. “Pretty soon, we were the best and the luckiest caravan on the trails! Jedaro’s wagons were hardly ever hit by bandits or encountered bad weather. Oddly, we always seemed to arrive in the port towns just when new trade ships were docking, so we always had our pick of the best goods. Other caravan bosses would always ask Jedaro what his secret was and, for the most part, he would just laugh, point to his head, and smile. But every once in a while after a big score, he would go out drinking, and that’s when he would talk more than he should.

“Late one afternoon, right after I turned fourteen, the caravan was bogged down. It had been a very wet spring and we had spent most of the day pulling our teams out of the mud and fighting our way up a mountainside. Everyone was in a foul mood, and to make matters worse, it started to rain again. We had finally made a couple miles of progress when we came to a fork, each trail going around a different side of the mountain. Jedaro looked at me and as usual asked ‘which way, Andi?’ Suddenly, I got a vision of spilled blood, bodies, and leering cruel faces, and I grabbed his arm. ‘Neither, Jedaro, we need to go back the way we came!’ But for once, he refused to listen to me. Even as I begged and pleaded with him, he chose the left path.”

Andea stifled a sob. “A mile ahead, we came around a small copse of trees near the trail, and suddenly, we were set upon by mounted and armed men. The leader had heard of ‘Jedaro’s luck’. The caravan guards tried to fight, but it was useless; archers were hidden in the trees. Jedaro was slain right in front of my eyes, as were most of my caravan friends. I was captured, tied up, and thrown over a horse. A few of the others who survived were strung together and forced to walk.

“A day and a half later, we arrived at a fortress still under construction, and we were told that we were now the property of the Grand Wizard Verledn. The entire place was being constructed with slave labor, both common and magical. The stronger wizards were overseeing and bullying the weaker ones who seemed to be doing all the work. The fortress had walls of stone and even a ring of deep water around it. The Grand Wizard himself came out to view us as we entered. He was about my father’s age, but he did not have nice eyes and he never smiled. He had white hair and always wore black robes and carried a big staff; he was really scary. After a few minutes of yelling and threats, the others I had been captured with gave me up right away as ‘Jedaro’s Luck’. But I was pretty sure the leader of the soldiers already knew that. I was shut up in Verledn’s tower and every day I was brought before him and he would ask me questions.”