The Callindra Chronicles Book One - First Quest (23 page)

“
You don’t speak like a
peasant.” Tryst replied, his eyes twinkling.

“
You don’t seem like a
priest.” She retorted, annoyed.

“
Fair enough.” Said Tryst,
laughing merrily, “I don’t feel much like those stodgy old codgers
either.”

“
So we’re going to the High
Forest then?” Said Vilhylm with his usual abruptness.

“
That’s a helluva long
trip.” Cronos said with a frown.

“
Well in that case, we
should leave today.  The sooner the better right?”
 Callindra said, standing and brushing the dirt from her
pants.

“
You seem to be restless
young one.” Tyreen said, smiling at Callindra’s indignant look.
 “Why are you so hesitant to sit still?”

“
I need to keep moving.
 The more I travel, the more likely I am to find my Master.”
 She said, not wanting to admit her fears, her feeling of
abandonment or how useless she felt.  To cover her
consternation, she took her pipe from its water tight case and
packed the bowl with tac, lighting it with flint and
steel.

“
Who is your Master?”
 Tyreen asked, and the others gave her confused looks.
 Callindra hadn’t brought him up before.

“
He… taught me the Sword.”
She mumbled around her pipe stem, “He wasn’t supposed to and now
he’s in trouble because of me.”

“
Ah, and you think you can
help him?”  Tyreen asked, raising an eyebrow.
 

“
Well… I can’t…”
 Callindra blew out a cloud of smoke, frustrated that she
couldn’t organize her thoughts better, “He’s out there with nobody
to watch his back.  I can’t just let him face the Inquisitors
on his own.”  Realizing what she had just said, she shut her
mouth with an audible snap.

“
By the nine hells…” Cronos
said, looking at her with wide eyes.  “You’re a rogue
weaponmage.  Do you have any idea what the price on your head
is?  The Order pays platinum for information on …” He trailed
off, looking embarrassed.

“
Of course we wouldn’t dream
of turning a comrade in without knowing the whole story.” Tryst
said, giving her a penetrating look.

Callindra sighed, why hadn’t she just kept
her mouth shut?  “He found me injured in the woods, took me
in, cared for me and showed me nothing but kindness and respect no
matter how often I showed him the rough side of my tongue.
 One day I saw him practicing and all but demanded he teach
me.  Of course it took me a long time to recover from my
injuries, but he took me seriously and didn’t let me off easy.
 

“
Then I guess I began to
manifest powers he said I had to learn to control before they
killed me.  I didn’t know… but he did and he never asked me.
 He knew they’d come and try to kill us, but he taught me
anyway.  I owe him, and damn it he owes me!  He should
have told me.”

“
Why was he exiled from The
Order?” Vilhylm asked, looking dark and dangerous in spite of the
brightness of the day.

“
Because he wouldn’t kill
someone I guess.  I don’t care.  If you could see him
with his sword… there is no way someone who can dance that
beautifully can be bad.”  She knew there was a look of hero
worship on her face and she forcibly hardened her features.
 “Besides, he saved my life.  It doesn’t matter what
someone says he did.  When you face someone over a sword blade
you get to know who they are.”

“
So you expect us to just
travel with you?”  Cronos asked, “You should have told
us.”

“
Now Cronos, many of us have
things in our past we would rather not reveal to certain
authorities.”  He raised an eyebrow, “Right?”

To Callindra’s surprise, Cronos blushed and
looked away.  She made note of that information for later use.
 Just in case.

“
Look, I didn’t want to
expose you to danger.  That’s why I haven’t told you about it…
I mean I had enough trouble keeping my own mouth shut.
 Secrets shared aren’t secret anymore.”  She exhaled a
stream of smoke from her nostrils, enjoying the rich flavor and
letting the scent bring memories of her Master to the surface.
 “Glarian was a harsh master but also a real friend.  I
can’t bear the thought of him fighting for the both of us by
himself.”

Cronos made a choking sound and even Tryst
seemed shocked.  “Glarian?”  Tryst said, “You apprenticed
to the Sol’Estin?  The Master of the North Wind?”

“
Um…. yes?”  She had
known that Glarian was extraordinary but hadn’t really thought much
of it beyond the trouble she was causing him.  “Is he really
that famous?  He seemed just like an old man living on his own
in the woods…”

“
He was the only member of
The Order to ever escape their full punishment.  The only
member to ever leave their ranks with his title.”  Vilhylm
paused, “You really didn’t know?  He fought in hundreds of
significant battles and was credited for the victory on his side in
almost all of them.  Many of them were nearly bloodless with
him simply defeating the general of the opposing army or his
champion in single combat.”

“
He’s a legend.”
 Cronos said, finally recovering.  “My… teacher even
mentioned him sometimes.”

“
Where is he now?”
 Callindra asked, curious. “Your teacher I mean.”

“
Dead.” The boy said flatly.
 She wisely decided to drop the subject.

“
I think the girl is right
though.  We should leave today, there’s still plenty of
daylight and we have a long trip ahead of us.” Said Vilhylm,
standing and drawing his cloak about himself.

With that, they seemed to come to an
agreement.  The rest of them stood as well and Callindra felt
her pulse rise, they were back on the road.  Their time of
rest was over, and she would be able to get back to fighting,
training and getting stronger.

Chapter 19

They were setting up camp, two days out of
Lin Lamorak when a stranger stepped into their camp.
 Callindra jumped and almost dropped her smoldering pipe; she
hadn’t heard him approach which was amazing since he carried a pack
that was twice as tall as he was.  He stopped just inside
their firelight and hailed them.

“
Ho the camp!  Cn I
share yer fire?”

“
Of course stranger, we
welcome any friendly travelers.”  Tryst said, standing and
intentionally revealing the heavy hammer hanging from his
belt.

“
Heh, nah need ta worry lad.
 If ah meant ya harm yeh’d be dead.”  The man walked
further into the firelight and

Callindra gasped.  This man wasn’t
human.  He was short and stocky; his arms were as thick as her
thighs and he had a long beard woven into two wide braids clasped
with heavy silver beads.  Dark eyes gleamed from under bushy
eyebrows and a leather cap covered unruly hair that was also fell
in braids that reached past his waist.  She had read about
Dwarves but had assumed they were a myth.

“
Mah name’s Felix.” The
Dwarf said, setting his pack down with a thud that they could all
feel more than hear.  He pulled a chair made from canvas and
wooden poles out of a pocket on the side of his enormous bag and
sat down with a satisfied sigh.

“
I’m Tryst.  This is
Vilhylm, Cronos and Callindra.” Tryst said, indicating his
companions in turn.  “Well met master Felix, we have rabbits
roasting and trail bread.”

“
Ah ain't no master.” Felix
said, “But thanks fer th hospitality.  Ah have some salad
greens an carrots t offer in return.”  He turned and rummaged
in his pack, pulling out a burlap sack of carrots and an armful of
fresh lettuce.

“
Where did you get fresh
produce?” Callindra said, her eyes round.

“
So.  What’s a Wind
Dancer, a priest of the Old One, an Archmage’s apprentice and a
Mask Master doin together?”  Felix asked with a friendly grin,
ignoring Callindra’s question.  

“
Your eyes see much.”
 Vilhylm said, looking at the Dwarf from the depths of his
cloak’s hood.  “How did you know any of that?”

“
Was pretty obvious.
 Yer cloak has pockets of tha right size and yeh cover yer
face, tha girl’s a gale in a bottle an has tha winds allus playin
tricks, tha boy’s leaking power I ain’t seen since tha last war an
if yeh don’t know what tha holy symbol of tha Old One is then yeh
need an education.”  He turned to look at Callindra, “Is that
Karalan Imperialis girl?”

“
Yes it is.”  She said,
feeling a little over whelmed by the concise dissection of their
group.  “Would you like some?”  All things considered she
couldn’t help, feeling a kinship with someone who smoked the same
leaf as her Master.

“
Ah ain’t had the Imperial
blend for ages.”  Felix said, eyes twinkling.  “Ah’d love
some.”  The Dwarf took a short stemmed pipe with a wide bowl
made of dark red stone from a pocket and Callindra passed him her
pouch of tac.  He packed the bowl and it lit on its own.
 

“
So… where are you headed?”
Tryst asked as Callindra turned from their unusual guest to turn
the roasting rabbits.

“
Noplace special.  Just
out collecting.”  Felix said, puffing contentedly on his pipe.
 

Cronos looked up from where he was shredding
the lettuce and slicing carrots to make a salad.  “Collecting
what?” He asked suspiciously.

“
Whatever ah find that ah
don’t have yet.” The Dwarf said with a shrug, “It’s getting harder
to find things like tha though.  Just tother day though a man
played a song he’d composed that he’d never played for anyone else.
 Tha was an interesting thing to keep.”  

“
How can you keep a song?”
 Callindra asked, “That’s not possible.”

Felix stared off into the distance for a
moment, streams of smoke trailing from his nostrils.  “Wen ya
go to tha High Forest don’t go through the Wastes.  It’s tha
shortest way but it ain’t safe.”

“
How did you know that’s
where we were heading?”  Tryst asked, his hand straying toward
the handle of his hammer.

Callindra shifted her shoulders slightly to
allow Brightfang’s hilt to fall to within easy reach of her left
hand and she could see Vilhylm reaching into a pocket for a mask.
 Cronos actually drew his longsword with a dangerous rasp of
steel.  Felix knew too much for this to be coincidence.

“
Nah don’t get yer nickers
in a twist.”  Felix said, folding his massively muscled arms
over his chest.  “Knowin things is what I do.  Tha girl
was kind enough to share some of her smoke with me so I gave her
somethin in return.”

They still stared suspiciously at him, Cronos
taking a half step to the side so as to be in the Dwarf’s blind
spot.  Felix seemed totally at ease where he sat, still calmly
smoking his pipe.  “Yer coneys are gonna burn.”  He said,
looking at the fire.  When they still didn’t move he sighed.
 “I jus visited Tyreen.  She mentioned sommat about a
group heading ta tha High Forest.  Sounded interesting so I
caught up with ya.”

Callindra moved to take the rabbits off the
flame so their dinner wouldn’t be ruined.  She set them of a
flat slab of stone nearby to cool and then looked at the others.
 “If he wanted to hurt us, I think he would have done it
already.  Cronos, really, put up your blade.  From what
I’ve read of Dwarves we would likely have a hard time stopping him
if he did wish us harm, although I’d love to spar with him… just to
see.”

Felix chuckled, “She’s a feisty one ain’t
she?”

“
What?  In Vlarias’s
The Art of Combat he mentions a Dwarf holding a doorway against
hundreds of foes on his own for an entire day.  My Master
keeps telling me I need to build up my stamina; sparring with
someone with that kind of constitution would be…”  She trailed
off, embarrassed.

“
I ain’t heard anyone talk
of Vlarias in years.  Tha blowhard was generally fulla hot
air, but once ya got a couple of drinks in him he weren’t so bad.”
 Felix said, “Oh speakin a drink…” He opened one of the many
flaps on the side of his pack and pulled out a small keg.
 Callindra blinked; the pocket he had withdrawn the keg from
should not have been able to hold something that large.  From
the same pocket, the Dwarf produced a pewter ale jack for each of
them.

“
You KNEW Vlarias?
 Like personally?”  Callindra asked, going over his words
in her mind. “He died over fifty years ago.  How old are
you?”

“
Old nough.”  Felix
grunted and broached the cask with a practiced bash of his
fist.

As Felix dipped out mugs of a rich brown ale,
Callindra drew her sword and quickly quartered the rabbits.
 She was so used to using him for everything that she didn’t
even think of using a knife.  Carefully wiping the blade with
a scrap of cloth before sheathing him again.

“
Where.  Did yeh get
one of Beliach’s blades?”  Felix’s voice had a dangerous note
to it; an implicit threat that made Callindra shiver.
 Nonetheless she forced herself to look him squarely in the
eye.

“
He was a gift.  My
Master gave him to me.”  The winds gusted around her, flaring
the fire and making her hair whip back from her face.
 Callindra let herself slip into the Ready Stance; a relaxed
seeming posture that would allow her to respond to whatever was
coming quickly.  “What do you know about the
smith?”

“
He stole somethin from my
clan.”  The Dwarf rumbled, “Ah been lookin for
him.”