To Be Chosen (2 page)

Later in the night amid the hooting of owls, croaking frogs and a chorus of other nocturnal sounds, was the full throated bellow of a yeti. The roar of the nine and the half cubits tall creatures can be heard from as much as eight spans away, depending on the acoustical quality of the landscape and the stillness of the night. Daniel estimated this one to be about six spans to the west. Multiple replies answered the first and seemed to be heading away from his location, but that was little comfort. He was not concerned about himself or Sprinter, they were safely shielded, it was the danger these creatures posed to others. A yeti will eat practically anything, animal or vegetable, but they, due to the influence of the Serpent Guild, have acquired a taste for human flesh and will choose a child over a goat even if the goat is closer and tied up.

Sprinter’s ears twitched and his muscles tensed but the stallion did not panic. He and Daniel faced thousands of yetis in the past and the horse was ready to stand or charge, whichever his rider decided. The options were few. Daniel could stay where he was and do nothing or go rid the world of some man-eating beasts. If he did nothing the yetis would likely attack any people in the area, the shaggy creatures rarely bellowed unless they were fighting for dominance or to signal they have cornered prey, and that prey could be human. Without further consideration, Daniel saddled up, heeled Sprinter in the flanks, not that the horse could actually feel the pressure just knew his rider well, and headed into the night. He rode low in the saddle to avoid any low hanging branches but dips in the ground and the need to avoid the trees did slow progress a bit. He expanded, Find All, focusing out to the west about ten spans, and winced. Thirty of the beasts were six spans ahead, far more than he had seen in one place since the duel at Mount Gosian. He deeply hoped this was not a sign of things to come; Yetis forming larger communities and attacking on their own initiative was a thing of nightmares. The white terrors were surrounding a large group of people who seemed to be gathered in a circular mass. He counted one hundred sixteen humans, more than half female, but could determine little else without physically touching them. He knew enough.

As the distance shortened, a westerly trail emerged and the ground was more even, allowing the stallion to speed up. The bellows and roars grew louder and human screams and shouts were added to the mix. He had just enough arrows to kill the yetis and preferred to use them to eliminate the threat rather than resort to spell casting. He would cast
, Die Now, the death spell he recomposed since leaving Aakadon, rather than let people be killed, and his secret be condemned if it comes to that, but Yetis dropping dead with no wounds or apparent cause of death would definitely rouse suspicions. He would stick to the bow for now and do what needed to be done as the situation unfolded.

The wind was blowing to the south and carrying the smoke with it. Red-orange flames encircled a large group of wagons in a clearing about eighteen strides off the trail. People were throwing all sorts of things into the fiery wall, keeping it alive. A yeti leaped the flames, trying to get at the shouting humans, and became a living torch. A tiny man, compared to the shaggy beast, ran with sword in hand to meet the threat. The man ducked under a swinging flaming paw, slashed the yeti across the abdomen, and jumped back as entrails spilled out onto the grou
nd and the creature fell dead.

Daniel reined Sprinter to a halt and closed his eyes in order to better concentrate on what he was sensing through the spell; the exact location of each yeti. Two of the flesh eaters lay motionless within the wall of fire, eight were on the far west side of the circle, six bellowing from the north, an equal number to the south, and seven had
their backs to him on the east.

Men and a few women stood atop the wagons raining arrows into the outer darkness, visibility had to be low from their perspectives, having to sight through smoke, and even though many of the shots missed the mark, they did manage to wound a few yetis. Daniel once pinned a rat to a tree at a hundred strides. It had been a clear day with no wind and the conditions then were perfect, nothing like what he faced now, even so he was no slouch with a bow. He move
d to about twenty strides from the seven roaring beasts whose backs were to him, drew fletching to ear, and let fly. Yeti number one fell to the ground with an arrow in its throat. In quick fluid motions Daniel pulled, aimed, and let fly until all seven yetis were dead. He needed to get the attention of the rest.

“Sprinter, let’s show them we are here,” he told the stallion and then pulled back sharply on the reins.

Sprinter rose up on his back legs, neighing a challenge, and then dropped into a charge toward the firewall. Daniel reined the stallion in at fifteen strides from the flames and closed his eyes, concentrating on the current location of the remaining yetis. Half of the creatures were now filtering through the trees along either side of the trail while the others continued to torment the defenders by darting at the flames, as if daring them to loose an arrow, and then jumping aside as the shafts shot back in response. Yetis were not mindless beasts, except when under the control of an Accomplished of the Serpent Guild, like in the Battle of Bashierwood. When the Accomplisheds controlling the beasts died they continued to follow the last order given, which was to attack.

Daniel sensed four yetis approaching even before he opened his eyes and had his first arrow aimed and ready. He let fly as the beasts roared and charged at him. He sent shaft after shaft at the hairy monsters, all died, and number four actually managed to get within six strides of him before dying with an arrow
sticking out of its right eye.

A group of yetis started around the flames from the north while two came from the south, one of which died with an arrow in its back, thanks to one of the archers on top of the wagons, and Daniel became aware of more yetis moving through the trees to his left while another five did the same from the right. They were going to encircle him and then charge at once. With those in the front and nine creeping into position this promised to get interesting. He drew and shot his arrows methodically, killing the closest yetis, leaving the nine, and then urged Sprinter a little closer to the fire, ensuring none of the shaggy beasts could get at him from behind. The move was more to protect his secret than anything else.

The remaining yetis bellowed at once, all subtlety gone, and charged at him. Two of the white horrors died with arrows sticking from their necks, sides, arms, and legs. They apparently forgot about the archers on the wagons, who did not forget about them. The remaining seven were still focused on Daniel, who chose the nearest target and let fly. Number seven died with an arrow in its chest from twenty strides away. Number six died at eighteen strides away, followed shortly by number five. Yeti number four had an arrow in its right shoulder from one of the archers atop the wagons and took Daniel’s longer shaft in the jugular while its head was turned toward the other archer. It fell and did not get up. Yeti number three tripped over number four but was soon dead with one of Daniel’s arrows in its left eye socket. Number two died at ten strides away and the last beast died with an arrow between the eyes after coming to within seven strides of Sprinter.

Daniel closed his eyes, scanning for additional yetis, and found none moving and no additional beasts even after extending his radius out to ten spans. If there had been any Aakacarns in the vicinity they would see a spell was being cast, but he truly did not expect any spell casters to be near, and he knew the non-Aakacarns within the firewall could not see the blue glow emanating from him. He sensed nothing dangerous and relaxed. This fight was over and he was ready to move on, but water splashed onto the flames nearest him and the fire began to die down in that spot, so he hesitated.

“Can you make it?” a deep voice called to him.

Daniel watched as a bucket of water and another of dirt hit the fire, reducing the flames to the point he was confident Sprinter could make the jump. With the personal shields in place there was no chance either of them would actually be injured, not unless he was stupid enough stay within the fire and choke to death on the smoke
. “Yes,” he called and then heeled the stallion in the flanks. The brave horse sprang forward and leaped the fire while a stout man stood watching the outer darkness and four younger men, each about Daniel’s age, ran to add kindling to the area that had been banked down.

The stout man’s silver hair and wide mustache were clearly revealed in the firelight, as were his bright green voluminous pants. His eyebrows were thick and nearly touching. His shirt was bright green with orange and yellow diagonal stripes. A scar marred his right cheek and soot covered his forehead. He beckoned for Daniel to come near while several other men gathered, apparently to get a look at the stranger in their midst.

Daniel wondered how the travelers managed to create the firewall before the Yetis arrived. The man-eaters should have been all over the camp before the first flames hit the kindling. Looking about he noticed thirty-three wagons, like small cabins on wheels, some painted in bright red, others yellow or blue or green, and some in two and three toned combinations of the four colors. People were hopping from the wagons, some scrambling up from underneath, and many were coughing and peering around wide-eyed at the camp and the surrounding fire. Folks were waving their arms in wild gestures as they conversed with one another. Most of the archers remained in position, keeping watch for any yetis that might be still out in the darkness, even though all was quiet and no signs of movement came from beyond the firewall. Daniel knew no yetis were in the area, alive anyway, but chose to stay quiet on the subject, and besides, it did not hurt for the travelers to be on alert.

The women wore blouses with skirts varying in length from all the way down to the ankles to just above the knees. These were also in vivid colors and Daniel knew he was now among the Teki, a race of traveling entertainers. They claimed no land and crossed inter
-kingdom borders as if they did not exist. He had only seen a troop twice, once when he was four and the second time ten years later. Samuel Cresh, a friend, came to mind. The young man was now an Accomplished of the Eagle Guild but was born a Teki. The thick dark hair and long bushy eyebrows were a common trait among his people and the members of this troop were no exception, even the women had eyebrows that were almost a solid line over their brows, but were less bushy than those of the men. These people being Teki also explained all the waving of the arms when they spoke, their race was known for it. Back home on Mount Tannakonna, whenever a person waves their arms too much while talking, people often say to the man or woman, “You wave your arms like a drunken Teki.” Samuel never exaggerated his gestures while speaking, not any more than a normal person. Daniel paused in his thinking. It seemed he was going to need a broader definition of what should be considered normal, especially since most folks would place him in the abnormal category, and he would not blame them if they did.

He stood head and shoulders taller than the tallest man in this troop, who happened to be standing near him and holding a bloody sword, the same fellow who had gutted the yeti. He himself was above average height among his own countrymen on Tannakonna, but not extraordinarily so.

“You have skill with the bow,” said the silver-haired man. “I’m gladdened you made it into the relative safety of our troop.”

“Baaa!” the sword wielding entertainer grumped. His shirt barely contained his bulging muscles and his shoulders were as broad as Daniel’s. “Look at him, young and sure of himself, and blighted lucky to be alive.”

“Go easy on him Stephanus,” said the silver-haired man with a slight movement of his right hand, perhaps emphasizing his words. “He settled things down quite a bit. I don’t hear a single yeti.”

Stephanus wiped the blood from his sword and sheathed it while giving Daniel a flat stare that showed he did not trust strangers. His mustache was thick, though not as m
uch as that of the older man.

Daniel knew this must be the troop’s strong man and if his no longer enhanced memory served correctly the troop should also have musicians, acrobats, jugglers, archers, animal handlers with cats and dogs trained to do tricks, and merry makers with painted smiles and long false noses. He knew somewhere in the troop there would be a Seer who foretells the future for a price. Seers among the Teki were reputed to be highly accurate but he had no intention of giving up a coin to learn his future, and no desire to hear it even for free. He already knew he was destined to live a long and lonely life. That is, if something does not succeed in killing him.

The silver-haired man extended his right hand. “My name is Enrick Krellig, Chief of the Forager Troop of the Reshashinni Teki. Whom do I have the honor of addressing?”

“Dan,” Daniel replied while shaking the chief’s hand. If the older man thought it strange that the family name had been left out of the intr
oduction he gave no sign of it.

So far none of these people seemed to recognize the vanquisher of Balen Tamm and hero of the
Battle of Bashierwood, which suited Daniel fine. The only people in the twelve kingdoms of Atlantan who disliked spell casters more than Ducaunans were the Teki. Most everyone who knew who he was would also know he had been Silenced, but would that make any difference to the Teki? Daniel was not sure and did not want any trouble. No, they could not do him any harm, his shield was still in place. He just hoped to continue on his journey without causing a fuss.