This Battle Lord's Quest (6 page)

Chapter
Six

Omen

The rains stopped prior to midnight. Atty listened
to the sound of thunder as it rolled away into the distance. She’d had trouble
sleeping through the night. Anticipation of the coming hunt was like an elixir
running through her veins, keeping her from getting any true rest.

When it was finally time to get up, she rolled out
of bed and dressed in the adjoining bathroom. Coming out, she heard her husband
turning over.

“Be safe, Atty.”

With his back to the window, she could barely make
out his face. Crawling over the covers, she exchanged a warm kiss. “We
shouldn’t be gone more than two days out and two days back. If we get lucky and
fill our brace, we could be back earlier.”

Yulen reached out and snagged her arm to draw her
down for one more kiss. It was warm and demanding, and nearly made her crawl
under the blanket to see where it would lead. With great difficulty, she broke
away.

“I love you.”

“You are my life,” she whispered. “You and Mattox.”

“I’ll worry for you the whole time you’re gone. I
don’t care if you take half of my army with you.”

Atty snickered. “I’ll have Warren and Renken, plus
Fortune and our five best Mutah hunters. I’ll be fine.”

“I’ll still worry. You have an uncanny knack for
getting into trouble, you know.”

She smiled at him in the predawn light coming
through the reinforced window overlooking the bed. Getting to her feet, she
checked to make sure her Ballock was secured to her outer thigh.

“See you in four days, my love.” She paused before
she waved goodbye, taking in the way the soft light from outside highlighted
her husband’s hair, until it was almost a halo about his face. He was watching
her, and for a split second she imagined he was memorizing the way she looked,
the same way she was remembering him. Blowing him a final kiss, she hurried
down the spiral staircase. Grabbing her bow and quiver of arrows where she’d
placed them by the front door, she lifted the crossbar and let herself out.

The guard in the tower a few yards away gave a
whistle to let her know he’d spotted her. Atty waved in acknowledgment.
Normally she would hear him call out “Battle Lady about!” whenever she emerged
from the lodge in the morning. However, at this hour, and with the majority of
the compound still asleep, it was wiser to give a whistle to let her know he
was alert to her presence.

She met up with Paxton halfway across the compound.
Together, they jogged across the open courtyard to join the others who were
gathered and waiting for them at the east gate.

Atty mentally ticked off those in the group. Two
Normals and seven Mutah, including her. It was a good group. The hunters were
well-seasoned and trustworthy. And whatever hunting skills Paxton and Renken
lacked, they more than made up for it with their abilities with the sword. She
also noted how Renken moved around to take his place on her other side, bracing
her between him and her Second while Fortune did a quick head check.

“All right. Everyone’s here. Good. Before we head
out, let’s get a few rules straight. This is as much a search and explore
expedition as it is a hunting party. Rule one, never stray from the group, not
even if you have to pee. Remember the connecting rule, and keep in sight of
someone else no matter what. Rule two, if you spot prey, give the signal. You
get first shot. After that, it’s open to whoever can bring it down.”

“What’s the connecting rule?” Paxton asked.

“You should always have two other people in your
line of sight,” Dergus answered. “That way, if one of us goes down, someone
will notice immediately.”

Fortune continued. “Anyone else have a question?”

“You said to give a signal if we spot prey. What’s
the signal?” Renken brought up.

Atty let out with a soft cooing noise. The
ex-soldier nodded and tried to imitate her. “How’s that?”

“Perfect. It sounds nothing like the real thing,”
she told him amid good-natured laughter.

Fortune finished. “Rule three, if you spot danger,
cry out. Don’t try to take it on by yourself. And lastly, rule four, if someone
gets injured, the hunt is over, and we head straight back here. Any further
questions?” When no one spoke up a second time, he nodded. “All right. And in
case anyone has a problem, I’m in charge of this expedition, which makes my
decisions final.”

That comment had several look to Atty, but she
waved in Fortune’s direction. “I defer to him. He has way more experience.”

“But you’re the better hunter,” Paxton argued.

“You’re right. She is,” Fortune agreed. “But in
this instance, I’ll be in command. Can you handle that?”

Atty turned to watch her Second nod in reply. There
was an odd sense of relief on his face, and she made a note to ask him later
why.

Fortune eyed the rest of the group. “Does anyone
else have a problem with me being in charge? Speak up now, because later on, if
we run across any trouble, I don’t want to worry about who’s watching my back.”
He glared directly at Renken, but the ex-mercenary only grinned and shook his
head. Finally satisfied, Fortune gave the hand signal to advance, and they
exited the compound. They walked as a group toward the thick wall of trees
bordering Alta Novis five hundred yards away. Once there, they reformed into
one horizontal line before entering the woods. Atty took one last look over her
shoulder at the fortress, and a strange thought entered her mind.

What if this is the last time I see my home?

A shudder ran through her, as if she’d jumped into
a tub of ice water. First there was the incident while saying goodbye to Yulen,
and now this.

“You okay?” a voice whispered behind her.

She nodded. “Yeah. Just felt a cold chill go
through me.”

“My grandmama always said that’s somebody walking
over your grave,” Paxton murmured. When she shot him a dark look, he simply shrugged.
“Sorry.”

Gritting her teeth, she hoped it wasn’t an omen of
things to come.

Fortune kept them moving true east. As they
advanced through the forest, they observed the coming dawn. Fortunately, the
trees protected their eyes, and kept the sun’s rays from blinding them.

They moved at a moderate pace, making as little
noise as possible. Every now and then Atty spotted ground squirrels and a
couple of rabbits, but held back going after them. They needed to find bigger
game. Animals that would produce two to three meals, or more.

Around midday, they paused to sear the pair of
chipmunks Gerenth and Klodon had killed. Atty stuffed the carcasses with
mushrooms for added flavor. Once they were finished, they buried the remains
and watered down the ashes before resuming their trek.

By nightfall, they had yet to see anything larger
than a muskrat. There had been game, but it had been small and scarce, and
sightings had been sporadic. “If this is what we have to look forward to this
winter, we’re going to starve,” Atty observed. The others agreed.

They found a small clearing where they could make
camp before night fell. They made a meal out of a thirty pound mole that made
the mistake of sticking its snout out of its hole, and lost its head with one
swing of Renken’s sword.

As they sat around the fire, it was Dergus who
noted what they all realized.

“There’s no night sounds.”

“You’re right. There’s absolutely nothing,” Gerenth
muttered. “Nothing’s moving out there. Or hunting. Or fighting, or mating, or
anything.”

“Do you think, if we keep moving east, it’ll
continue to be this way?” Meesel threw out for anyone to answer.

“You mean, devoid of game?” Klodon clarified.

“Yeah.”

“Who knows?” Fortune said. “That’s why we’re here.
We’ve been avoiding hunting in this direction for years because of old wives’
tales and superstitions. Even when we were back at Wallis, no one crossed the
river that runs along the eastern boundary.” He wiped his hands on his pants.
“It’s time we got past that. I’d always believed we were missing out on a good
opportunity by not coming in this direction.”

Vashayn broke in. “Fortune, look around you.
Listen! Do you hear anything? No! There’s no game out here. At least, nothing
but the small stuff.”

“What are you suggesting, Vashayn? That we go back
tomorrow?”

“We agreed to two days out,” Paxton reminded the
Mutah hunter. “It may take a while for us to find the bigger animals.”

Vashayn groused. “Okay. So say we keep pushing
onward for another day, and we find more of nothing. Are you going to suggest
we try a third day?” He aimed the question directly at Fortune, but Atty chose
to answer it.

“If we don’t find anything after tomorrow, we’re
heading back to the compound, just like we agreed.
 
But my gut tells me there’s more out here. There’s bigger game to
be had. We just have to be patient.” She stared at Vashayn. “You remember what
patience is, right, Vashayn?”

The Mutah warrior glared at her, and for a brief
moment the tension between them hung like a black blanket suspended in the air.

Renken took the opportunity to stand and
dramatically stretch as he loudly yawned. “Ohh, heavens, I’m tired. It’s been a
while since I’ve done this much hiking through brush. If there’s nothing out
here more dangerous than maniacal rodents, how does everyone feel about only
one of us taking sentry duty, and everyone donating an hour or two?” He nodded
in Fortune’s direction. “Unless you feel we need more eyes.”

Fortune agreed. “I don’t sense any danger. Unless
someone else feels differently, one sentry doing a two hour shift sounds
reasonable.”

“I’ll take first shift,” Klodon offered.

“Great. Wake me when you’re done,” Meesel told him.
Grabbing his bedroll from his knapsack, he proceeded to open it near the
campfire and lie down.

Atty set her bedroll away from the others. As they
had during the day, Renken and Paxton braced her with their own sleeping bags.
She watched her Second getting comfortable, when she remembered what she wanted
to ask him.

“Hey, Warren?” she whispered.

He rolled over to face her. “Yes?”

“Earlier, when Fortune said he was in charge of
this expedition, you looked happy to hear it, even though a few of the others
expected me to lead. I was curious about your reaction.”

The man snorted. “Atty, for all your talents, you
have personality traits that make anyone stand up and gird themselves for
battle.”

“What’s that suppose to mean?” She didn’t know if
she should be offended or not, despite his teasing tone.

“He means, if you had been leading, there’s no
telling what you would have us do,” Renken volunteered from behind her.

“He’s right,” Paxton continued in a low voice.
“You’re a free spirit, Atty. You’re not leadership material. I’m not saying
you’re not a good Battle Lady. Hell, you’re legendary. But commanding a group
of hunters and soldiers is not one of your strong points.”

“What about the time I led everyone to rescue Yulen
from the Bloods?”

“You weren’t in charge then, either, Atty,” Renken
pointed out. “You were too immersed in keeping yourself focused on getting us
to him.”

“I don’t know if I should feel insulted.” Although
she personally wasn’t put off by their comments, it did bother her to hear
their opinions, as truthful as they were.

There was a movement at her back, and Renken peeked
over her shoulder. “Let’s put it this way, Atty. Your most formidable attribute
is thinking on your feet and reacting. If you were forced to consider about all
the tactical possibilities during an actual battle, and then had to send out
orders to everyone, you’d flounder. If you were yourself, you’d already be in
the thick of the fight.”

“A squad of nine men isn’t an army,” she countered.

Paxton quickly disagreed. “Yeah, it is, especially
when we’re heading into unknown territory. Your skill as a warrior and hunter
are unequaled, but leave the calculations to someone who isn’t so narrowly
focused.”

Again, she was met with another comment about being
single-minded. “Is that why Yulen makes a good Battle Lord? Because he can
envision all that stuff, and give clear and precise orders, even as he’s
fighting?”

“Yulen’s a superior Battle Lord, and that’s only
one of the reasons why,” Paxton stated. “But his weakness is exactly where your
strengths lie. That’s why the two of you compliment each other perfectly.
You’re like two strong halves. And when the both of you are working toward a
common goal, you’re such a powerful force, no one can defeat you.” The man
patted her hand lying between them. “Now get some rest,” he ordered in a
brotherly tone, then rolled over. Likewise, behind her, Renken settled down.

You’re like two strong halves. And when the both of
you are working toward a common goal, you’re such a powerful force, no one can
defeat you.