Island Shifters: Book 01 - An Oath of the Blood (15 page)

“No, I want to get answers from him first if I can. Why don’t you try to rest?” She nodded gratefully and walked over to sit next to Rory on a fallen log by the roadside.

Beck went to his pack and pulled out a piece of rope. “Help me tie him up,” he said to Rogan and Airron who, he was glad to note, had already shifted from his horse form and was dressed. Without hesitation, the two immediately walked over and dragged the large hostage off his horse to the ground. Beck quickly tied his hands in front of him.

The creature, free now from the pseudo thoughts that were responsible for his every action since abandoning The Crown Bluffs, growled at Rogan and Airron and kicked out with his legs.

“Easy, big boy,” said Airron. “In case you haven’t noticed, we are not the enemy here, you are.”

The one-eyed invader glared at Airron but said nothing as he assessed his surroundings and captors with obvious mistrust.

Beck paced back and forth in front of the prone figure, large pieces of dirt flying off his boots with every determined step. “What is your name?”

Silence.

“I know you speak our language because I heard you use it back at The Bluffs. What is your name?” Beck asked again, stopping in front of him.

The captive glared up at him but again remained silent.

Rogan appeared at Beck’s side, twin fireballs flaring to life in his palms. “Why bother with a monster like this, Beck? He is a murderer! I say kill him now before he brings more harm to the people of Massa!”

This brought the prisoner upright into a sitting position. “I am not a monster!” he roared, struggling against his bindings.

Rogan stalked over to the prisoner. If it was not such a serious situation, Beck might have laughed at the diminutive Dwarf glowering down at the seven-foot trespasser. Even sitting on the ground, the considerable difference in size was unmistakable. Rogan leaned over him. “Not a monster, eh? Then what do you call people who invade other lands and slaughter the people they find there? Where you come from, what do you call people who butcher innocent men? Answer me!”

“Adrian Ravener,” he replied.

Beck heard Kiernan suck in her breath behind him. Beck’s suspicions were now confirmed. The man in black on the ship at The Bluffs was the centuries old Mage whose actions killed hundreds of thousands of people in the Mage War. Just like Galen Starr, the evil wizard was still alive.

“I am not a monster,” the prisoner repeated. “My name is Titus and I am a Cyman. This is not our war, but we ‘ave no choice but to fight in it. It would be best if you surrendered to the Mage so that more of your people do not die needlessly.”

Rogan let his fireballs dissipate. “What do you mean that this is not your war?”

The Cyman turned his head and refused to answer.

Rogan turned to Beck. “We should kill him.”

Beck looked questioningly at his friend. “Since when do you talk about killing people so casually?”

“You know, it’s a funny thing, Beck,” he snorted, “but, when people try to kill me and my friends, I tend to want to do it to them first before they succeed.”

Beck nodded, knowing Rogan was right. These Cyman people declared war on Massa. There could be no doubt as to their intentions. Their brutal actions at The Bluffs by spilling the blood of young innocent Massans was unredeemable. Beck thought of Jon Anders’ body sprawled in the dirt.

He stared at the prone figure.

“What do you want?” he hissed through clenched teeth, reaching down and grabbing the shirt of the seven-foot Cyman with both fists and lifting him off the ground. The earth began to tremble along with his fury. Kiernan and Rory quickly stood when the log they were sitting on began to roll with the wave of disturbed soil.

Even had the Cyman wished to reply, it would have been impossible with the steel grip Beck had under his throat. To his amazement, it was Rogan who diffused the situation by putting a hand on his shoulder. “Forget him, Beck. We will get the information we need one way or another. Right now, it is more important to return to Parsis and warn the others before it is too late.”

His friend’s words pierced through his anger, and he reluctantly released the Cyman to fall back to the ground with a grunt. Walking over to Kiernan, he said, “I am sorry to ask, but can you please shift this creature so we can continue on?”

“Of course,” she said and walked over to Titus, who was coughing hoarsely. The Cyman looked up at her with suspicion in his eye and then suddenly his face went slack, and he walked over to his horse and mounted with his hands still bound in front of him.

The group renewed their swift ride, alternately running and walking the horses until darkness began to impede their travel, and Beck knew he had to find a place to stop for the night. They were all on the verge of collapse, but especially Kiernan who was swaying dangerously in her saddle. He scanned both sides of the road and found a shelter of trees that would provide a measure of concealment. “We will stop here and rest for a few hours,” he announced. “That is all the time we can afford to delay right now.”

“About time,” grumbled Rogan, who did not waste any time swinging down from his horse. “Give me your leads and I will take care of the horses.”

“No,” said Beck. “You have to take care of those burns on your arms before they get infected. There is salve and bandages in my pack. Kiernan can help you.”

“What can I do, Lieutenant?” asked Rory.

“You can take care of the horses, Rory, thank you.”

Airron did not bother to dress when he offered to hunt rabbits for a quick meal and shifted into a sleek hawk.

Beck walked into the sparse woods to find firewood. They were still more than a day from the foothills of the Balor Mountains, but Beck could see their mist-enshrouded tips in the distance to the south. Here, just north of the mountains, the terrain consisted mostly of wheat-colored scrub grass and large boulders interspersed with stunted Acacia Trees. The night was cooler than usual and Beck found himself wishing he had retrieved his cloak from his pack.

Eying a modest caprock formation, he scrambled on top to get a view of their back trail. He did not believe that there was any chance that the Cymans could have caught up to them, but he did not want to underestimate an enemy he knew very little about.

As his eyes roamed over the countryside, his gaze stopped on a darkened area in the middle of the wheat grass. It did not look like an animal or rock but something black—something man made. Curiosity got the better of him and he went over to investigate. As he neared, it appeared to be a piece of metal. Kneeling, he swept away the grass to get a better look and realized that it was some sort of grate that covered a very deep hole in the ground.

This is odd, he thought. Why would there be a grate here in the middle of nowhere? He peered down into the hole and was surprised to see that it looked like someone had carved a stone slide into the earth. He pulled tentatively on the metal, but it held tight. With his power, he could easily have ripped up the grate but decided against it. As curious as he was, he did not have time to spend exploring an open hole in the ground.

Dusting off his pants, he resumed his search for dry wood. Although certainly not as dense, the area reminded him of the Grayan Forest, and he thought of all of the times he and his father spent there hunting the blacktail deer. Thinking of his father worried him. He did not believe that the shifters of Pyraan alone could successfully win a battle with the number of invaders he saw out on the Arounda Ocean. It was most likely going to take cooperation from the Iserlohn Army of Men and maybe even the Dwarven and Elven armies. Beck readily admitted that he was not a good judge of the number of troops needed to win a war, but he did know that he would do whatever it took to protect his family and friends.

He would do whatever it took to protect Kiernan.

After a short search, Beck found a nice pile of dry wood. He bent to pick up the logs and then froze at a frightening sound. Something was hurtling through the woods toward him at tremendous speed. He dropped the wood and crouched, fingertips sizzling. Whatever it was that was tearing his way either did not know he was there or did not care. He gave himself just enough room to fight as the attacker came skidding around the caprock that Beck had been standing on just a few moments earlier.

It was Bajan, and the Draca Cat ignored him completely as his hind legs scrabbled for purchase and he bolted in the direction of their new camp and Kiernan. Beck’s alarm at seeing the panic in the usually unflappable Draca Cat sent him sprinting behind. They were not far from the campsite and a moment later, Beck saw his companions rise up in surprise, two dead rabbits at Airron’s feet.

They noticed Bajan at the same time Beck noticed the Cyman warriors rushing down the road at an unbelievable pace toward them. They were fast! Beck could not believe that something so big could move so fast.

“Look out!” he yelled and summoned a ball of earth, the quickest and easiest way to stop the threat. He hurled the missile at the first soldier in line and it knocked him backwards into the others. His unexpected attack halted their advance for a moment, but the Cymans regrouped quickly and rushed forward again.

There were ten of them.

Bajan leapt onto the road and issued a terrifying roar that bared his sharp teeth. His lethal, spiked tail rose threatening in the air with a promise of great harm to anyone who dared to approach.

The Cyman in the lead recognized the danger that the Draca Cat represented, and he held his arms out to both sides to stop his cohorts. “Give us the boy!” he shouted.

Beck glanced over at Kiernan who, he realized, was rapidly shifting thoughts into Titus’ mind. The young Cyman’s face turned slack, and he immediately rose and walked over to the picketed horses and stood with his back to both groups.

The blank look on Titus’ face did not go unnoticed by the Cyman soldiers. “What ‘ave you done to ‘im?” yelled the leader. “Come ‘ere, Titus!” The Cyman leader inched forward and Beck stepped up to meet him, forcing Rory protectively behind him. Rogan, Airron, and Kiernan silently joined him, forming a line that effectively cut off any attempt for the Cyman soldiers to follow Titus. The four shifters made a fierce outward show as the ground began to roil, flame ignited, air shimmered, and the distinctive sound of a sword being unsheathed echoed in the night.

Beck did not want this to come to violence, but knew that they would win if it did. These were not magical creatures standing before him and the shifters could easily destroy them, even without Bajan’s help. The Cymans fought with brute strength, not magic.

Even so, Beck suspected there was something more to these creatures and their reason for being here in Massa. According to Titus, this was a war the Cyman people neither started nor wanted. Adrian Ravener was forcing them into this, and Beck was determined to find out how.

“He stays with us,” said Beck threateningly. Then, he gambled. “Turn back now. This is not your war and you know it.”

Beck could tell that the soldiers were surprised, and they looked at each other uneasily. The leader spoke up again. “Titus should keep ‘is mouth shut. ‘E ‘as said too much.”

Beck did not reply.

“Give ‘im to us and we will leave. For now.”

Ignoring the demand, Beck questioned him instead. “Why are you here?”

The Cyman hesitated for a moment and then declared, “We fight for the survival of the Cyman race. We fight for the lives of our women and children and our very existence. Even without magic, that makes us a very formidable opponent to the Isle of Massa. Do as the Mage instructs and your people will not be ‘armed.”

“What is your name?” asked Beck.

Again, he hesitated, blinking his one eye. Then, simply, “Teag.”

“And your last name?” Beck asked.

“Just Teag. We are not allowed surnames.”

“You fight for a man who does not even consider you enough of one to have a proper identity?” he asked incredulously. “I do not know how the Mage has managed to coerce you into this affair, but if you are honest in your declaration that it is not of your design, together we can rise up against him.”

Teag snorted. “You do not know Adrian Ravener or you would not make that statement! There is no one on the Isle of Massa who can challenge ‘is powers. ‘E knows this and that is why ‘e is ‘ere. ‘E is capable of immense destruction—single-handedly.”

Beck smiled forbiddingly. “So am I.” Teag narrowed his eyes as he reevaluated Beck’s strength. “The boy stays with us, Teag, so that leaves you with two choices. Leave now and stay alive or fight and die.” At his words, he felt Rogan, Airron, and Kiernan brace themselves in readiness for an attack. Bajan snarled at the soldiers, saliva dripping from his jaw.

Teag glanced at his fellow companions. “We cannot win against your magic this time, but Adrian Ravener can and will. ‘Eed my words, magic user, and tell your people to surrender to the Mage.”

Teag turned to go and then looked back at Beck. “When next we meet, one of us will not survive the encounter.”

With that, the giant spun on his heel and began running at remarkable speed back up the road, the rest of the Cymans following closely behind.

Rogan let the fire in his hands disappear. “I wasn’t sure how that was going to go.”