Book 6, Chapter 18: Campfire Interrupted
Four of us sitting on logs around a fire, yellow lights on the face of the two men sitting with me. It crackled. Some of the logs were fresh. Sparkles funneled up into the night’s sky by slightly too grey smoke, burning bright, until winking out, their darker ash floating away. No one spoke for a while.
It suited me fine. I sat there cupping my mug, staring into the fire. A squirrel began chattering off in the distance, which struck me as odd, since squirrels usually slept at night.
Then the red bearded man whom I had not be introduced crossed his arms and said, “Bullshit. I don’t believe a word of it. First you tell me she’s aged backwards, then this yarn. This is a peasant girl, she wants food and made up a nice story for it, nothing more.”
“Peasant girls,” the captain didn’t look at him, but shrugged, saying, “do not best five men in single combat.”
“And neither did she.”
The blond-haired mage never took his eyes off me. He said, “So. You are a mage killer.”
“Yeah.”
“And I was your target?”
“Maybe.”
“Now I am the only one left. You are, it seems, out of a job.”
“Why don’t you tell me why you are in irons?”
“You know why.”
“Indulge me.”
A cocky little smile grew on his face, “I was at the temple. I saw the old women growing younger.”
“Bah!” said the bearded man.
The mage turned to look at him, nodded, “They did. And the soldiers accompanying Grand Magister Tye. He stayed outside every night, you know? Did not want to become a child. None of the women came outside, of course, they were old crones when the deity arrived. No, they wanted their youth back.”
“Either you were going to take over Tye’s position as grand magister or . . .” I rested my elbows on my knees, leaning forward, suddenly curious and wondering if I was on the right path. “You refused to imprison the girl?”
He sat back. “I refused to use this cursed magic since knowing where it’s from. And for that,” holding up his arms, he rattled the irons, “they did this to me. Sent you after me.”
“Have you told the good captain here where your magic is from?”
“He doesn’t care,” the mage held his cup up, tilted a bit. “He’s going to torture me until I become his weapon.”
“I am not!” Gyges jerked back like he’d been slapped, then adjusted his posture, straightening his back, squaring his shoulders.
“But you are delivering me to the hands of someone who will. Once I agree and once I take these manacles off, Captain, I will find you.”
The captain’s voice raised, his exclamation akin to begging, “I didn’t put those on you!”
“And you won’t take them off.” Slamming his hands on the table, half rising, he said, “Take these off now. I am the sole remaining mage and therefore your sovereign.”
The captain almost backed off the log, caught himself, then looked at me, saying, “Is this not your job, Lady Sarah? You know how to control these wayward wizards. I am henceforth putting this man under your parole.”
The other man said, “You seriously believe her now?”
“Everything she described is accurate,” said the mage, my unlikely ally, looking at him. “Why don’t you believe her?”
He pointed a finger at him, “If we had our mages, you’d be hanging now. Why do you betray your own kind and refuse the gift you are given?” He then leaned forward, “You could protect our lands and people and forge a kingdom here!”
The mage simply sat back.
It was my chance. I took it. “Yes, Captain. This man is exceedingly dangerous in ways you cannot comprehend. I will look after him. Take charge of him.”
Gyges let out the breath he was holding, “Good.” Then he stood, saying, “Come, Major. I’ll brief you on the state of our army.”
“What you mean is,” he said, also standing, leaving his half full cup on the stump he’d been using as a seat, “that I’ll explain to you how to reach the main forces.”
“As you say.”
They headed off, leaving me alone with this man who had so much power, except for the iron. I’d earlier wanted him dead, to finish off the job. But now I wasn’t so sure. A person who refused the power of the divine was to be rewarded. And would possibly make for a strong ally.
“Well?” he asked. “Are you going to finish the job?”
“I’m deciding.”
“I’d prefer you to get it over with. I’m in no mood to be tortured by his people.”
“Patience is the only virtue I have left. You’ll have to wait.”
“In that case,” he picked up the jug and repoured his drink, “I’m going to get drunk.”
Pushing my cup over to him, I nodded. “Pour me a cup too, if you don’t mind.”
He poured for both of us. “It’s amazing. You appear no more than a girl. Though I understand the process, it’s hard to believe the temple can do this to someone.”
“And you? How long were you in the temple?” I was worried that he saw me.
“Only briefly. Tye and I had an argument about what to do with the goddess. I warned him that tossing her in that mirror would destabilize the dimensional prison, risking the escape of the beings within.” With his cup touching his lips, he paused, “Ah, forgive me. Esoteric magical nonsense. Suffice it to say, he tricked me into entering the temple. There, with my magic gone, I couldn’t defend myself and his guards quickly put me in,” he rattled his wrists, “these.”
“Did you say beings will escape?” My mind was racing – he was backing up my annoying dream portents, that the Others would escape, possibly soon. But I didn’t know why. Or how. And he apparently did, and I needed that knowledge. Though, asking him! I’d be outing myself as the cause of all these problems.
Talaren leaned forward, “Terrifying horrors. Worse than anything you can imagine. I told Tye that putting the girl in there would allow them to escape, but he didn’t listen.” Lifting the cup to his lips, he took a long draught, set it down and picked up the jug to pour more. “He wanted the power for himself and damn this world.”
“Do you know of any way to prevent their escape?” As I said that, something rustled in the bushes behind him, stealing my attention.
“. . . and I am but one mage. It’s possible that . . .”
Indistinct shapes at first, it was hard to make out in the darkness, especially with the fire in front, then something poked through the trees higher than a man could stand. Shaped like a sickle, but thick and made of bone, two of them now, pushing apart the branches. A massive, feathered, barrel-shaped chest appeared, then its reptilian head, arms ending in claws and reaching forward.
I jumped to my feet, grabbing Talaren’s hand, saying, “Run!!”
The thing cleared the bushes. Bipedal, with thick legs and knees that bent backwards, large, feathered arms, and the two claw-appendages coming from its back. It thundered out a screech that sounded like sheet metal tearing, bent forward and ran toward us.
As we raced toward the soldiers, I chanced a look back. It had stopped at the fire, shielding its face. Another creature emerged from the forest to its right, his head snaking low toward us, and let out another shriek.
“Gyges!” I shouted ahead, “Get your men up!”
“I need these damned irons off!” yelled the mage.
So heavy were the beasts that their steps thundered on the ground as they charged at us.
I dropped Talaren’s hand, and we raced into the open door in the castle walls. Soldiers were gathering spears and forming up. The two of us rushed around them and straight toward the captain.
The major standing beside him, the Gyges looked bewildered. “What in the devil is following you?”
“Just that! I need a spear. Swords are too short.”
“You?” asked the major. “The soldiers can deal with these things.”
Stepping in front of me and holding his hands up, Talaren said, “Take these irons off, man!”
“Not a chance!”
As they began yelling at each other, as the beast wailed its awful scream and lurched through the open doors, I ran over to where the soldiers set up their tents, looking for a spear, a distance weapon, anything. Nothing in sight but bedrolls around flickering campfires.
Paused for a sec, starting into the flames.
“Sarah,” shouted Cresida, “what are you doing?”
“New plan!” I grabbed a man’s bundle of clothes, used these to pick up a burning log from the fire and, holding it well to the side and out of my face, rushed over to the fray.
Towering over the men’s spear wall, its hook-like appendages swung at them from its back, batting away spears, darting in at their faces, but not quite long enough to overcome the distance. At the same time, it reached out with its claws. One spear hit into its feathers, under its arm, and it bellowed out, then pulled the spearman forward, the two hooks hitting his back over and over. Other spears were jammed against it, but I couldn’t see any blood.
Getting closer, ignoring whoever was yelling at me, I pushed the burning log into its front, fires crackling along its feathers, burning up its torso.
It roared and backed up, hands slapping at the fires, head shaking.
One of those hooks swooped down, backhanding me across my cheek, the log falling out of my hands as the force twisted me around face first into the ground. Pushed up on my elbows, blinking and blinking to stop the dizziness, I crawled forward to put some put some distance between me and it.
The boots of soldiers passed by, leaving a wake of smoke from burning logs of their own. Soon the air was filled with more screeching and yelling. I crawled a little further.
“Hey, hey, stop now. Can you stand?” A blond-haired man crouched down in front of me.
“What?”
“Where are you crawling to?” It was Talaren, the mage. “You took a nasty hit to the head. Can you sit?”
“Was I knocked out?”
“What’s your name?”
“Cayce. They call me Prince-”
“What did you say?”
Fudge. “Four. You’re holding up four fingers. Help me sit up. Where’d the monster go?”
Taking my hand, he let me put my weight on him as I shifted around to sit, then lean, against the wall. “The soldiers scared it away. How’d you know fire would hurt it?”
“Give me a sec, yeah?” Closing my eyes, I took slow breaths. Shit! I just told him my name. Surely he knows the name of the girl his order tossed into that mirror. I had to go with distraction and topic changing, hope he didn’t start asking questions. “That thing really took the wind out of me.”
“It hit your head, you flew through the air and hit your head again on the ground.” Carefully, he brushed my hair back. “You’re bleeding. I’ll get some bandages and ale.”
As he stood, I said, “When they attacked. The fire gave it pause.”
“Well, that worked,” he smiled. “The spears couldn’t break its skin. But the fire scared them away.” He pointed at the doors, “They’re rounding up the horses and bringing them inside. Then, fires at the doorways. And watching in shifts. I’ll be right back. Just rest here.”
Huh. He didn’t ask again, but he was being nicer. Not sure what that meant, but probably not good. Hopefully, he mistook ‘Cayce’ for ‘case’ and thought it was the dizziness. I’d have to be more careful.
So much for being the ultimate warrior, straight from Valhalla to remove all the monsters. I wanted to ask him more about those creatures, if he’d seen them before. They weren’t like anything I’d come across on my time here. With them outside, it looked like I couldn’t just steal off with the mage, ride back to Morry and my army, and then convince this guy to work for us. At least, not in the nighttime.
But my eyes were getting heavy, and I couldn’t wait for him to ask more questions, as I couldn’t keep them open any longer.
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