Esra (19 page)

       “Why didn’t ye keep him fer dinner?”  Esra said with confusion as she watched the Rabbit disappear into the brush.  “I don’t think I’ve ever let an Animal go once I’ve had him good and caught.  Although with yer skills ye can probably catch a hundred.”

       “We don’t need him to make meat fer eating.  Keepers don’t eat Animals, we just replicate their taste by magick,” Nadia explained.

“Replicate?  What do ye mean?”

 “That’s a discussion fer another time.” Nadia waved the question away and continued with the lesson. “Now I want ye to try to sneak up on me as best ye can.  I’m going to close my eyes and cover my ears out in the field.”

       Esra pondered how she could best rise to this challenge.  She knew she was not capable of anything near what her Elf-friend could do.  That was not even a consideration.  As Nadia started back out into the field, Meshok trotted up to them, sensing something of importance was about to occur.  

       “Aside from Cane, this is my first real lesson from a Keeper,” she said to Meshok, rubbing her vigorously behind the ears.  The Wolf flopped over with a grunt and smiled blissfully as Esra massaged her exposed belly.

       “Ready!” Nadia called.

       “Here goes nothing,” Esra whispered.  Tensing her body in nervous preparation, she lifted her left foot stiffly and gingerly placed it on the ground.  Trying to keep her breathing low, she followed with the right foot, taking very small steps.  Her body was rigid with the knowledge that every movement she made could be detected. 
Not too bad,
she thought.  Continuing her slow journey, she was ecstatic to find that a minute later she was only five feet from Nadia, and had only snapped two twigs in the process.

       Nadia pulled her hands from her ears and turned about suddenly.  “Ye have taken thirty four steps so far, and I have heard every single one of them like a galloping Vernok.”

       “And here I thought I was doing so well,” Esra sighed.

       “The problem is that ye are trying too hard to be quiet.  Yer body is all tense.  Loosen up and think about being fluid.  Close yer eyes and imagine that ye are not stepping on the ground but rejoining it, as if ye are the same.  There is a force that connects ye and all living things.  Imagine that force as a line between ye and the ground, as if yer foot is really still attached in some way, even when ye lift it.”

       Esra did as she was told and imagined herself made of Earth, her feet covered in soft, lush Grass.  She could feel her muscles loosening, her body becoming more like it was when she was riding Roja or swimming with Meshok. 

       “Keep yer eyes closed and trust that ye will meet softly with the ground.  Join, not step,” Nadia urged.  Softly, Esra joined the Earth with her left foot, swaying against a sudden gust of wind, fighting to keep her balance. 

       “Don’t fight the Wind or anything else that may change yer course.  Let it be what it is.”  Esra focused on letting her body move with the Wind, forcing her muscles to relax even further.  It was a strange sensation to give up control.  A Bruncabird called in the distance, his low cry echoing hauntingly through the open field.  A sudden burst of Honeysuckle filled her nostrils, and she sighed pleasantly.  Esra fought the desire to open her eyes, to see where she was going, but she knew to do so would break the spell of trust she was experiencing between the Earth and her body.

       “Much better!” Nadia encouraged.  “Just a few more steps.”

       Esra moved peacefully towards the sound of her friend’s voice.  Opening her eyes, she saw that they had traveled half the length of the clearing.

       “Oh,” she exclaimed in surprise. “That felt brilliant.”

       “That’s a great job fer a first lesson, much improved.  Let’s head back to the others and get something to eat.”

       “I agree,” Esra walked proudly back towards camp as Meshok came to congratulate her.

       “And ye thought I would be a disaster,” she bragged to the Wolf.  Suddenly Esra’s foot caught on an upturned root and she watched the sky tumble before her eyes as she fell crashing to the ground.  Sitting up to rub her skinned knee, she looked up into the panting face of Meshok, who seemed to be grinning as she gave her friend’s face a long, wet lick. 

       “On second thought, maybe the stampede is still wishful thinking.”

XVI

       Baelin decided that they would take a longer than usual dinner break in order to arrive at the city under the guise of nightfall.  Esra was grateful for the extra rest and took the time to give Roja a well-deserved rub down.  She picked up the soft brush Fynn had given her, which was made of some strange Elvish material, and began to massage the tall white haunches of her new friend.  Roja swung his neck back in happiness, his long mane whipping fiercely about his head as Esra tried to shield her eyes from the assaulting tendrils.  They had begun to follow this playful routine each time they stopped, with Esra attempting to brush Roja while he danced about in a mischievous diversion.  It was obvious that the Horse needed little attention, if any, as his white coat never seemed to get tangled or properly dirty given their surroundings.  But Esra felt obligated to tend to him as she would any other Animal she cared for, especially one that was made to carry her halfway across the Kingdom. 

She also wanted to take this time to check thoroughly for any injuries.  It was hard to imagine that the Horse was free of bruises after all the thumping and poking and kicking included in one of her mounting attempts.  So Esra took care to brush the light hair with much more care than she gave her own.  Roja seemed to find this attentiveness amusing and continued to tease her caretaker with his prancing evasions, but settled after a few moments to enjoy the attention.  Even a toughened Skycatcher could not deny the refreshment of such attending, especially after such hard riding.  After their few minutes together Roja left to gather with the other Horses for some food and Water as Esra settled down for a quick nap.  Before long they were up and clumsily mounted again, riding smoothly east.

       By the time they had reached the outskirts of town there had been no Trees for a couple of hours except for the occasional orchard on a farm.  Tirbaz was fairly larger than Sorley, although not considered one of the three large cities, and had a vast grey stone wall that encased its inhabitants and various buildings.

“We can’t risk taking the Skycatchers into town.  One massive Horse will be suspicious enough, but a group of five would be simply begging fer trouble.” Baelin explained as they dismounted. “We’ll proceed on foot te the Vernok Inn and then meet our charge.”

       Approaching the town in the dead of night, Esra was fairly disappointed that the first place she had ever traveled to she would not be able to properly explore.  Sensing her fallen mood, Meshok came to give her friend’s dangling hand a good sloppy licking before taking off to the west.  Too many people, Esra knew.  The Great Wolf would not risk being seen.

       Barely able to keep herself awake on the long evening’s journey, the anticipation of their arrival began to give Esra renewed energy as they came within sight of the main entrance.  It was a huge stone archway, flanked on either side by life size sculptures of roaring Lion heads.  Esra had never seen a Lion, but knew from some of Cane’s picture books that they existed somewhere far east of LeVara.  The heavy wooden doors were held open by two thickly braided ropes tied securely to the standing wall, ready for removal should the entrance need to be sealed off suddenly.  It was a different atmosphere from her home of Sorley, where everything was open and inviting.  Esra noticed that there were two guards with long spears posted at each end.

 “I hope that there won’t be any problems fer us,” she offered nervously.

 “Aye, me too,” Baelin agreed. 

       Passing through the entrance, the inn was one of the first buildings on the left.  It was a sad, dilapidated looking structure with a thatched roof and worn, empty furniture scattered on a small front porch.

       “Is this the only place in town to stay?” Esra asked with displeasure.

       “No, but tis closest te the entrance and so the best spot fer us.  The less we are seen here, the better,” Baelin explained.  “It is already a great risk that we have come here at all.”

       “So who are we meeting here that we would risk such danger?”

       “Her name is Maeve.  She is here on business with a group that doesn’t know of her true identity.”

       Baelin walked back towards the entrance, as if to leave, then turned abruptly right to slink along the grey stone wall bordering the edge of the town.  Esra and the others trailed behind, staying as close to the cold, weathered stone as possible.  Continuing along the wall, Esra noticed after a few quiet minutes that a hooded figure awaited them in the distance.

       As they approached, she could see that the person underneath the cloak was an old woman.  She was standing casually, as if waiting for a familiar friend, and looked up expectantly at the advancing group.  Relief washed over her face as she recognized Baelin at the head.

       “I’m glad you made it.  In here,” she spoke quietly and motioned for them to go inside a small shed that appeared to be a stockroom for an alehouse.  “We haven’t much time.”

       The Assembly filed in and Esra followed, pulling the door shut behind her.  The woman took a small lantern that was sitting on a barrel and lit it.  The room flooded with light as she pulled her hood down, revealing grey hair that was curled tightly and streaked with dark brown.  Her skin was a darkened hue, but not quite as dark as Esra’s Elf friends.

       “Baelin, Nadia, Fynn, Arland,” the woman nodded in greeting at each of them.  “And you must be Esra.”

       “Aye,” she answered. 

       “Let’s get right to it, then,” she sat down on one of the ale barrels and the rest of the group followed her lead.  “Esra, I will explain quickly.  My name is Maeve and I am a descendant of Cane.”

       Esra’s mouth opened in shock as the old woman continued.  “I know that I must appear at least as old as him, but remember that he does not age.  One of my ancestors, Padri, was Elvish.  She was a member of the Elders and died many years ago.  Before he became a Great Keeper, Cane was married to Padri and they had a child.”

       Looking at Maeve more intensely now, she could see how the woman vaguely resembled Cane with her thin, serious face that seemed to pull down just a bit at its corners.  And her curly hair was very similar to Nadia’s, which she guessed was an inherited Elvish trait.  She spoke with an accent more akin to the western Kingdom, and it reminded her of Lara.

       “I am a secret informant to the Elders, and have been for many years.  Being part Human has allowed me to penetrate into certain groups to gain information on the movements of Tallen and his Elites.

       “I bring you news of Tallen and the state of LeVara, and I’m afraid it isn’t very good.  Tallen has already overtaken Kiran Brae, our great city to the west, and will be using it as a supply base for his army.  It is the closest great city to The Frost Grounds, and so we knew it would be his first move to take it.  After he becomes fully settled in Kiran Brae, which hopefully will take some time, he will move towards conquering Mahesh.  Hals Arün remains untouched, but I daresay not fer long.  He knows it is the closest to the Stronghold, and he wants to be well prepared before he attempts to capture it.”

       A gasp escaped Esra’s lips as the realization of war settled in the air.  “Kiran Brae, captured?  It can’t be.”

       “It’s true, it has finally begun.  The King is taken entirely unaware and his army, if one can even call it that, is in complete disarray.  Some of the people in Kiran Brae made a feeble attempt to rebel but they were quelled almost instantly.  Almost half of the men were killed and the other half are being forced to work in the quarry, mining for rocks to reinforce Tallen’s new fortress.  Any boy or girl that was left alive and old enough to walk is being made to do the Elite soldiers bidding.  And the women, well I suppose you can guess that’s just as bad.  I heard that he’s also taking babies from their mothers, to grow as fresh new additions for his army.  Anyone who so much as gives the wrong look to a soldier is slaughtered immediately.  Having such an indifferent King has cost everyone.  No one is prepared.  Most people outside of Kiran Brae do not yet know of the falling of the great city.  But it will not take much longer for news to reach the Kingdom east of The Naduri River.

       “You will need to tell Cane and the other Great Keepers about the true state of LeVara when you arrive back at the Stronghold.  I also need to inform you that the Elders are preparing to leave, and the War Council will commence in two fortnights.”

       “Two fortnights!”  Esra exclaimed in a loud whisper.  “But that’s so far away!  People are dying, and in the meantime Tallen may try to take over Mahesh.”

       “Not likely, but it’s possible,” Maeve stated simply.  “A War Council has not occurred for hundreds of years and we will need time to gather all the races.  Esra, we are hoping to have the Unni and Shendari in attendance as well as the Elves.  The King is also sending his son, Prince Bronnen, as a representative for his Kingdom.”

       “The King knows about the Keepers?”  Esra asked.

       “Kings have always known about the Keepers.  They have just known how important it is to keep any information about them hidden.  And to be quite honest, King Keridon has another reason.  He simply has never cared enough about the condition of LeVara to worry much about them.  And now he is going to pay for his disinterest, for the Kingdom is falling into the hands of a madman.”

       A silence settled over the small, cramped space as the dreadful news became a reality in each person’s head.  Esra’s thoughts were slow, as if her mind were trapped in thick mud.  Suddenly she felt a heat rise up in her chest.