Origin (12 page)

Now that they were underway, Ayron felt comfortable contacting Keroc to see how things were going with Elwyn and Thane. He knew Keroc would have contacted him if there were problems, so he assumed that all was quiet; at least for the time being. Keroc seemed happy to hear from him and sent him several mental images of Elwyn and Thane riding along at a steady pace. Keroc reported that the two of them seemed lost in thought. His mental images came with the report that Thane was spending most of his time strategizing and planning the next several days, while Elwyn was still just trying deal with her feelings. After he broke contact, it occurred to Ayron that it was very unusual for a drakenhawk to surmise what a female was thinking or feeling. He shrugged off the thought and attributed Keroc’s attempt to figure out what Elwyn was thinking to his desire to provide him with as much information about her as possible.

After breaking off contact with Keroc, he rode over to the side of the wagon to let Rhys and Clayre know that Elwyn was doing as well as could be expected. Rhys was asleep, but Clayre seemed happy to hear the news. He then turned his thoughts to the villagers at Tarlon. He felt a little guilty at having provided them, as well as the village elder Ston, with misinformation about their travel plans. After asking Clayre to plead ignorance if asked about their trip or intended route, Ayron led anyone who asked, to believe that they were heading east towards the city of Port Galba, and from there north into Silvendil. Another piece of misinformation he fed them was that Elwyn was waiting for them just past the edge of the village to the north, and would be traveling east along with them. That way, if Stefan’s men came to question the villagers, they could answer honestly and tell them what they knew. The villagers were simple folk and would not hold up to the rough interrogation techniques that might be used on them by Stefan’s troops if they felt they were withholding information. Ayron made sure that he did not request any of the villagers to keep anything secret. He did not want issues of loyalty or friendship resulting in an innocent’s death.

Even though Ayron was pleased at how quickly they’d gotten underway, he was still very much afraid that they would soon be followed by more of Stefan’s assassins. Stefan was a man of little patience and an overactive sense of paranoia, and Ayron was absolutely certain that he would send more of his men after them. The only questions in his mind were who and when? Most men trained as assassins were used to being in the saddle for days without rest, surviving on very little sustenance, and living off the land. They were also relentless in the pursuit of their goal. That he and his men had foiled the first attempt to end the lives of Rhys and Elwyn today, would only fuel their resolve to try harder. Ayron knew that a few of the assassins escaped their clutches in the village. Any of those men might have found one of the scattered ponies and made his way back to Avrelan to report the failed mission. Because he was so certain of being followed, Ayron decided that, after they were a safe distance from the village, they would stop briefly for an evening meal, and then continue traveling through the night. Barring any unforeseen delays, they would arrive in Port Strabo by the next afternoon. As he rode along the trail, Ayron suddenly realized that he was still very tense. He tried using some of the relaxation techniques he learned as a young man. As he felt his body begin to relax, he could feel fatigue setting in. It had been a very long day filled with all sorts of physical and emotional challenges. He continued to relax his mind and muscles until he felt himself dozing off to the regular drumming of hooves hitting the hard ground.

T
hinking of Thane brought Elwyn’s focus back to the present. She watched the young soldier riding down the trail deep in thought. Elwyn felt a bit sorry for him. The responsibility of guarding her seemed to weigh heavily upon his shoulders. On top of that, he had to complete his mission alone, and not in the company of the small band of soldiers that had learned to depend on one another in battle. He was also without a seasoned commander to guide his actions. He only had her, a stranger, to help him if they ran into trouble. Just thinking about the journey to the village made her nervous and jumpy. For the first time in her life, she was not at ease in the woodlands. She’d only used her hunting and fighting skills in village contests, to spar with her uncle, or to bring game home for the table. Until today, she’d never encountered a person who was actually trying to harm her. Elwyn wasn’t really sure how much help she would be to Thane if the assassins came looking for them.

Thane, on the other hand was working hard to slow the ideas and thoughts swimming around in his head, so that he could deal with them one at a time. Here he was alone with a strong willed, possibly unskilled, and definitely ignorant young woman, facing any number of dangers. He wasn’t sure how much to tell her and how much to keep to himself. If she was capable, than any help he might get if they were attacked could possibly save both their lives. But, if she had been raised like most human girls, she might end up hysterical and actually endanger them more. She said she’d won an archery tournament. That sounded promising to him. Maybe he should share everything with her and just hope for the best. Normally he had a leader, like Ayron, to discuss his concerns with and make these decisions for him if he felt confused. He really missed that now. It was a small comfort to know that Keroc was out ahead of them flying and searching for danger as they rode. He also found it encouraging that, so far, Keroc hadn’t encountered anything of note.

Something else that confused him was Gemma. It was obvious to him that Gemma was a morden and had life-bonded with Elwyn. Thane didn’t know how this had been possible, especially since Elwyn thought her a beautiful, but regular, horse and had no idea that any bonding had taken place between the two of them. He thought it would be best for them to stop and make camp early in the evening, so they would have some time to talk before settling in. He just wanted to make sure that they were far enough from the village to be safe; in the event a second group of assassins showed up looking for them. He also hoped that his fellow soldiers, especially one small but feisty elf, named Alea, were safe. They had, over the past few seasons, become the best of friends. But Thane promised himself that he would tell her exactly how he felt about her when they were united again.

After about four hours of steady riding, Thane slowed Raffe and pointed to a small clearing next to a stream by the edge of a thicket of brambles and small trees.

“I think we should stop and camp here for the night. Dusk is fast approaching and we have a lot to discuss and some planning to do, if we are to reach the village of Kren safely.”

As they approached the clearing, Thane lifted his hand high, and whistled. The responding keen was shrill and high pitched. The noise stabbed sharply at Elwyn’s ears, causing her to grimace. From high in the sky, a small form came hurtling down toward their location. Just as Elwyn started to duck for cover, Keroc landed on Thane’s outstretched, heavily gloved forearm.

“You don’t need to fear Keroc. Ayron commanded him to defend us with his life and he is a more ferocious warrior than I am by far. He will also be able to warn us of any impending danger, and help us to communicate with the others heading toward Amarni.”

“I’m not afraid of him,” Elwyn replied, slightly miffed at being considered ungrateful for the drakenhawk’s help. “I just wish he would stay out of my head. He seems to think that something gives him the right to know how I’m feeling and what I’m thinking. If nothing else, it’s rude, considering the day I’ve had. Besides, he keeps sending me different images of what he is seeing as he flies and I have no idea why. This has been a difficult enough day for me, without feeling as if someone is popping in and out of my brain.”

“You are probably just stressed and imagining that he is communicating with you Elwyn”, replied Thane smiling. “No drakenhawk has ever communicated with a woman.”

“Well this one does. He lets me know when he’s happy, how much he misses Ayron, and wants to know how I’m feeling. He also wants us both to know that he takes his mission to protect us very seriously. He really misses his nest-mates though,” she said, a little miffed that Thane would doubt her.

“Oh, and by the way, he finds it a bit humorous that you have trouble believing that we can communicate, and says to tell you that he can communicate with anyone he wishes to, depending on the need. It may be part of the drakenhawk culture for the hatchlings to life-bond with a companion of the same sex, but they can communicate with anyone they choose to. Keroc believes that in this case, the success of his mission may depend on his ability to communicate with us both, so he is attempting to get me used to hearing him and sensing him entering my mind.”

Elwyn looked at Keroc sitting on Thanes gloved hand and said sheepishly, “I’m sorry Keroc, I’ve just had a really stressful day and my mind is having problems wrapping itself around everything that has and is happening. I know that you are not trying to be rude and are just trying to help me, so please forgive me for my rudeness to you.”

Feeling stunned at this revelation, Thane could only watch with his mouth agape as Keroc jumped from his gloved hand and landed on the pommel of Elwyn’s saddle. He was even more shocked as she stroked his back and wings with her ungloved hands and then patted his head. As Keroc flew off to take watch for the evening, Thane realized that he had a lot more than he’d previously thought to discuss with Elwyn. She seemed unlike anyone, human or elf, that he’d ever met. He dismounted and started to unsaddle Raffe. He noticed that Elwyn did the same with Gemma. As he watched her brush down her mare, he felt relieved that, at the very least, she knew how to show respect to her mount. In Silvendil, all young riders were taught to treat their mounts, whether morden or horse with the utmost respect and love. Every rider was taught that their lives might one day depend on the physical condition of their mounts, as well as the relationship they were able to establish with them.

After Gemma and Raffe were tended to, Elwyn and Thane split up the job of setting up camp for the night. She was to gather wood and kindling, make the fire, and search for some tubers, while he would set up a shelter and try to catch some fish in the nearby stream. They both worked hard and within the hour, they had a savory stew of dried beef, edible tubers, and herbs bubbling away on the fire. They were also grilling the fish he’d caught on a rack she’d made. Before cooking the fish, she stuffed the body cavities with herbs to help add some flavor to the flesh. Thane realized, with the way she went about quickly gathering wood and starting a fire in such a short time, that she was experienced in camping and surviving in the woodlands. This small feat made Thane feel less as if he was babysitting and more as if he was on a mission with a fellow warrior; actually four warriors, not wanting to leave Keroc or the two morden out.

When the stew was finished, they sat down to dinner on the soft leaf covered ground, using an old log as their table. At first, the only sounds were those of the morden munching on a nearby patch of grass. Elwyn and Thane, having had nothing to eat all day, were famished and focused on eating as well. The stew turned out to be delicious and they both used some of the travel biscuits that Clayre sent along to sop up the left over gravy. The fish also tasted wonderful. The skin was crispy, but the flesh was moist and flavorful. They both ate until their bellies felt like they could burst. As they relaxed by the fire, their hunger sated, he asked her if they could spend some time talking and strategizing.

Elwyn was happy that Thane was planning to share information with her. She was also happy that he was treating her more and more like a traveling companion and less like a helpless guest. She hoped that her skills would live up to his expectations. He had been particularly quiet through dinner and she wasn’t sure if it was because he was worried about what lay ahead of them, or his discovery that she could actually hear Keroc. He interrupted her musings by asking a question.

“Elwyn, are you absolutely sure that you can hear Keroc’s thoughts? It occurred to me during dinner that perhaps he understands what you are saying and was reacting to that.”

“Yes Thane, I hear or see in my mind whatever he wants to communicate. I really do believe that he is trying to get to know me so that if we get into any trouble, I will recognize him and not panic if he needs to contact me. I have been speaking to him out loud, but I’m not sure that it’s necessary, because he knew instantly that I saw something moving in the brush behind you when the assassins attacked us in Tarlon.”

Thane looked intently into her violet eyes and said, “You are certainly a woman of mystery. You are the first woman to my knowledge that a drakenhawk has ever communicated with. I do wonder what it is about you that causes companions and people to befriend you, to want to protect you or, if necessary, lay down their lives for you.”

“Thane, I wish I had some answers for you. I know very little about my parents. Until today, I thought my uncle Rhys was my only living family. My mother died shortly after my birth of an illness and I never knew anything about my father, not even his name. I still don’t know very much. I only know that he lives, his name is Azavon and he is a brother to Ayron. And that is news that I heard for the first time today. I hope that by traveling to your land, I can find the answers I seek. Ayron says my father lives far to the north in the city of Findara, and when we get there he will take me to meet him.”

“Well that explains why Ayron is so anxious to get you safely to Findara as soon as possible. Your father, Lord Azavon is the current ruler of Silvendil and you are his heir. The ramifications of your existence will ripple through our entire nation. Do you realize what that means?”

“No, I know nothing of Silvendil or of Lord Azavon. Rhys and Clayre just told me to trust Ayron because he is my uncle and I am now part of a larger family.”