Sons of Evil: Book 1 Book of Dread (34 page)

“Nor can I,” Barlow said. Without
conviction he added, “Perhaps we’ll get lucky, and the season will be late to
arrive and mild.”

“Perhaps,” Aerlos said, though
she looked away, not thinking the odds were in their favor.

They had agreed to meet again
just after daybreak, and though the companions did speak of the perils that
might lie before them, and of the necessity of adding one or two more to their
fellowship, there was never a doubt that they would press on or accept the
guides Aerlos offered. After they said as much the next morning, Aerlos called
two elves into the throne room, a tall female and an even taller, young-looking
male, whom she introduced as Uesra and Xanar, respectively. Uesra had a serious
look about her, and spoke in soft, measured tones. Xanar, in contrast, wore a
perpetual smile, and was openly excited about the chance to venture forth.

“Both Uesra and Xanar are
experienced guides, and have shown their mettle in the wild,” Aerlos said. “And
both are highly skilled warriors, if it comes to that. I have told them your
story, and what we’ve learned of the book. Both go with you willingly, and have
my leave to follow their best judgment on how to proceed given any situation
that you might encounter. You’ll have the opportunity to get to know one
another far better in the days and weeks to come, so I’ll leave it to you to
get further acquainted once on the road.”

“Welcome,” Silas said to Uesra
and Xanar. “Your help is greatly appreciated.” He then turned to Aerlos and
added, “And our thanks to you for all your help. I take it from your last
statement that we should be away swiftly?”

Aerlos nodded. “I do not wish
to deny you further rest, and if you desperately need it, please tell me so. But
I have received word that the Dezku patrol the edge of the Auerl, and I fear
that my concern about the Book of Dread drawing evil has already come to pass.”

“Do they enter the wood?”
Barlow asked.

“No,” said Aerlos, “for they
will not alight on the trees. But they clearly keep watch.”

“Then what hope have we to go
east undetected?”

“There I can be of some help
to you, I believe. The Dezku are numerous, but not highly intelligent. I will
give them a reason to move to the west when the time comes. Hopefully they will
lose track of the book, or simply return to watch the forest, if such was their
task. Even if they pursue you, at least you’ll have a head start.”

“That won’t matter much if
they chase us,” said Darius. “They can move far more swiftly than we can.”

“We’ve been near them before,”
Adrianna noted, “and with the book. I don’t think they are drawn to it.”

“I believe you are right,”
said Aerlos, “which is why I think someone—or something—with more intelligence
set them to watch this wood.”

“The enemy we sensed pursuing
us?” asked Barlow.

“Quite possibly, or its
master. The variations are too many to cover. Suffice it to say we’ll try to
arrange an undetected passage east for your group as best we can.”

They remained one last night
in Lon Antar, privileged to dine with the queen and their new companions. The
next morning they departed, their packs filled by their elven hosts. Darius
noticed that he cast more longing glances back at the city than either Uesra or
Xanar. He guessed that soon his new companions would be wishing for the
comforts of home as well.

Moving east there was no road,
hidden or otherwise, upon which to travel, but the elves were surefooted and
confident in their skill at finding their way through the ancient wood. Uesra,
while the quieter of the two, was always pleasant when spoken to and Xanar soon
rivaled Caltas in his willingness to share and listen to stories. Darius saw a
lot of what he liked in Luke in the elf—a quick wit and a quicker smile, the
ability to laugh at himself—and found himself walking next to him more often
than not. When he had asked Xanar his age, the elf had just smiled and said he
was far older than Darius or any of the others he traveled with, but despite
this Darius felt the elf was a young man just as he was, and a natural bond
started to form between them, as had the one between the now-older Barlow and
Silas so many years ago.

Their second journey in the
Auerl Forest, despite the lack of a road, was briefer than the first, as they
had less distance to cover. The elves who watched the wood and marked their
progress usually did so openly, exchanging greetings with Uesra and Xanar and
letting the whole party know that Queen Aerlos and her folk were aware of the
companions’ progress, a necessity to keep the promise she had made them. Whenever
the trees thinned enough for them to get a good look at the sky they looked for
signs of the Dezku, but the bat-things remained out of sight. When the
travelers reached the edge of the wood eight days after they had set out, they
were greeted with clear blue skies, a chill breeze, and no sign that they were
being observed by any servant of the enemy.

As they put the forest behind
them, Darius scanned the horizon to the east. The land before them was colored
with the usual dull greens of grass going dormant for the winter, but not the
paler, sicklier hues seen in the southern kingdoms of late, nor what he
recalled seeing just outside the southern edge of the Auerl. The hills here
were gentle, but Darius knew further east were the Grim Mountains, and beyond
them the Endless Hills. Belzlak’s tower, he had learned from earlier
conversations with Xanar, was even further east.

“Which route will we take?”
Darius asked. “North or south?”

“North,” Xanar replied.

Darius frowned. “Is it colder
that way?”

Xanar laughed. “I suppose it
might be, but likely not so much that our numb fingers could tell the
difference. Don’t worry about the cold yet, my friend. Enjoy the last bit of
warmth while you can.”

“Warm?” Barlow interjected. He
walked with his cloak tightly pulled about him, trying to fight off the biting
wind. “I was thinking about pulling out the clothes your queen provided as soon
as the sun starts to set.”

“You’d find yourself drenched
with sweat if you did. It’s far too warm to be wearing such gear.”

“There’s that word again,”
Barlow said with a shake of his head.

“Is the northern path more
direct?” Darius asked, returning the conversation to the original subject.

“Yes. We can pass above the
Grim Mountains and the Endless Hills by going almost directly east from where
we currently stand. If we take the path between Lake Fostoria and the
mountains, we would add several hundred miles to our journey.” He glanced at
Barlow while a playful smile graced his lips. "And it still wouldn’t be
warm.”

“I’ve heard the hills are
troll country,” Adrianna said.

“They are,” Uesra replied. “We
will need to be on our guard.”

“We’ll be staying north of
them, won’t we?”

“As we can. But the trolls
patrol the areas around the hills, and often venture forth to hunt. They do so
less in the winter. We may be lucky that way.”

“If not,” Xanar added, “at
least friend Barlow will need not worry about keeping warm.”

“I know I shouldn’t ask,”
Barlow said, having experienced Xanar’s jovial nature for over a week now. “But
what, exactly, do you mean by that?”

“The trolls like to roast
their meat, preferably while said meat is still very fresh.”

“Meaning the victim is still
alive,” Uesra added for clarification.

“Lovely,” Barlow said, pulling
his cloak ever tighter.

*

Three days after they had
passed beyond the edge of the Auerl, Xanar and Darius were lagging a bit behind
the others, talking in hushed tones about the feelings of dread and menace that
had plagued the southerners for much of their journey in the north, feelings
that had fled when they entered the elven wood. Xanar had broached the subject
in gentle tones, his serious expression seeming even more so since he rarely
wore it. Xanar had asked about Luke, the emotions Darius had been dealing with,
and the dreams that had troubled their sleep. “I’m led to wonder what might
have happened had you not come to our wood,” he commented.

Darius shook his head and
looked away. “I try not to think about it. I’d rather face an enemy than be
stalked like that—if that’s what was happening. It was all very confusing, and
depressing.”

They walked in silence for a
time, Xanar weighing his next question. Deciding he had to know, he asked, “Any
further problems?”

“No,” said Darius with a
forced smile. “For that I’m grateful. The magic of your home has spared us.”

Now it was Xanar’s turn to
smile, a wide grin.

“What?” Darius wanted to know.

“We’re clear of the wood. Have
been for days. No sign of the Dezku, no nightmares, no feelings of doom…”

“And no visions,” Darius
added, nodding his head. “Perhaps we’ve made a clean escape after all.”

Xanar clapped him on the back.
“It’s good to see you smile, my friend.”

“Feels good,” said Darius. “I
suppose I could bring up the trolls, if I wanted to be a pessimist.”

“They’re still far away, and
not our first obstacle. Many other creatures wonder loose in the wild.”

Darius nodded, knowing from
firsthand experience that this was true. He thought of the giants that had
brought down Luke, of the large spider he had fought in the dark… “Have you
ever encountered a man-sized spider before?”

“Elf-sized,” Xanar corrected
with a smirk.

Darius shook his head and
rolled his eyes. “Have it your way. The question stands.”

“I have. May happen again
before this trip’s through.”

“White fur, at least on the
tips?”

Xanar’s features hardened. “You’ve
seen one?”

“Had to fight it. Lucky I had
some help,” he added, gesturing toward his companions.”

“Where was this?”

“A bit south of Fostoria Lake.
Came upon us at night while we camped.” Darius studied his friend’s expression
and asked, “Why? Thought you’ve seen them before, too.”

“I have, but much further
north. Tundra spiders, we call them. I’ve never heard of them ranging so far
south.”

“It seemed to be alone.”

Xanar shrugged. “Maybe it’s
nothing. Still…”

They caught up to the others,
and Xanar told Uesra what he had just learned.

“Food must be scarce if
they’ve roamed that far south,” she said. “I hope.”

“Could just be a wanderer,”
Silas pointed out.

“Not very common in their
young.”

“ ‘Young?’ ” Darius repeated. “It
was huge.”

“Not for a tundra spider.”

Darius’ eyes flew open wide. He
turned to Xanar, looking for confirmation of what Uesra was implying.

“You said the white was only
on the tips of the spider’s fur,” Xanar said.

Darius nodded. “It was kind of
dark,” he said lamely.

“Adults are all white,” Uesra
said.

“And larger,” Xanar added.

“And I suppose they don’t mind
the cold,” said Barlow.

“They
are
called tundra
spiders,” Xanar replied.

Barlow
shook his head and grumbled, “More fun to look forward to.”

“Why the concern about this
one being so far south?” Adrianna asked. “Do you fear them entering the Auerl?”

“No,” said Uesra. “They’ve
done so before, although only rarely. But they are territorial. If food is
scarce, maybe the one you dealt with was simply foraging far from home. There
is another possibility, though.”

“That their numbers are
growing,” Adrianna said.

Uesra nodded.

Barlow continued to grumble to
himself.

Xanar patted him playfully on
the back. “Take heart. Perhaps we need not worry about the weather
or
the trolls.”

The words apparently brought
little comfort to the old paladin.

*

On the morning of the fourth
day out of the wood Uesra asked them to don the first item of elvish clothing. The
hooded cloaks were warmer than those they already wore, but it was not for
warmth that she instructed them to wear them. “They will provide at least some
camouflage,” she had said. “Green side out now. We’ll switch to white when the
snows begin.”

Two days later, a little
before noon, they were moving along in a shallow area flanked by two hills, a
gentle slope to their right, and a heavily wooded, steeper slope to their left.
Xanar was telling one of his better stories to Darius, drawing regular laughter
from the young man, and the others seemed to be enjoying the bits and pieces of
the tale they heard as well. Uesra was in the lead, and had slowed her pace to
pull the group closer together. She glanced three times at the wood, doing so
without turning her head, so that she appeared, under the cloak’s hood, to be
looking straight ahead.

“Xanar,” she said, a quick,
sharp note.

He had heard the tone before. He
immediately stopped telling the story and asked, “The wood?”

“Yes. A group pacing us.”

“What do you want us to do?”
Silas asked in a hushed voice.