Island Shifters: Book 01 - An Oath of the Blood (20 page)

“Do you want something to eat?” Kiernan asked Airron gently as he sat down on the log beside her.

He shook his head. “No. I am not hungry.”

Kiernan reached over and squeezed his hand. “I hope you realize that we are here for you, Airron. We are your family and always will be. You do know that don’t you?”

Airron nodded his head and looked at her. “You also know what it feels like to lose a parent.”

“Yes. I was only five when my mother died, but I remember her well and the pain of losing her.”

Beck dished out a plate of the rabbit stew and handed it to Titus. The big Cyman shifted on the log and then took the food hesitantly. Beck did not know if it was his extreme grief or that he just did not care anymore, but he decided not to bind Titus. There was something genuine about the young Cyman, and Beck believed him when he said he would not try to escape.

“There is no mud ‘ere,” Titus suddenly blurted out.

Beck reached behind him for a few twigs and threw them in the fire to keep the blaze hot. “Mud?”

“That is all we ‘ave in Nordik. Mud.”

Beck looked up in surprise. “Well…. we do get mud after a rainy spell, but the sun dries it out quickly,” said Beck, not sure if he was understanding Titus correctly.

“We ‘ave no sun.”

“Of course, you do,” Beck scoffed.

“We ‘ave no sun. The Mage’s dark arts ‘ave blocked the sun for many years. There is only cold and rain…. and mud.”

Beck shuddered and murmured, “I cannot imagine what that would be like.” The sun was intrinsic to life and especially to the elemental magic to which he was bonded. He handed Rogan a dish of the stew in the discomforted silence.

“I feel for your loss,” Titus finally said to Airron. “I sometimes wished death for my own Ma rather than she keep livin’ a life of pain and sufferin’ as one of Ravener’s slaves.”

“Why do the Cyman people allow this?” asked Rogan. “Is there no way to defeat the Mage?”

“You were there, fireshifter! You saw what ‘appened with your own eyes. The Mage destroyed thousands of your magic people with little effort. There’s no fightin’ that.” He put down his plate and stood up. “That is why I tried to tell you to surrender to ‘im. It did not ‘ave to end this way,” he said sadly, shaking his head. “Your parents did not ‘ave to die.”

That riled Rogan. “The shifters did their duty, Titus. If we had bowed down to the Mage, we would have died anyway. It just would have been a much slower, painful death, like the one the Cymans are living.”

Titus stared at Rogan with his one eye. “I ‘ear you, Dwarf. ‘Tis just that the shifters were the only chance your island ‘ad. The only chance my people ‘ad. It will take powerful magic to destroy Adrian Ravener. Can you do it?”

Rogan shrugged. “I do not know, but I can promise you that we are going to try. We travel to the land of Iserlohn next. We are hoping that the King of Men can aid us in uniting the lands against Ravener. Unification is our only hope.”

“Unification is your only ‘ope against the Cyman Army. You,” said Titus, pointing to each of them, “are the only ‘ope against the Mage.” Titus sat back down and speared his hand through his hair, clearly agitated. “Would you like to ‘ear what you are fightin’ to avoid? What ‘tis like to be one of Ravener’s slaves?”

They all nodded.

“Even though the Cymans are good people, they will fight to the death for Ravener. They ‘ave come to believe that fightin’ for the Mage is what is goin’ to save their loved ones. For years, Ravener has brainwashed and dominated the Cyman male. One of ‘is cruel games is to parade the women slaves naked and chained together by their necks in front of the men as they train. If a soldier so much as looks up at the women or slacks for one second in the trainin’, Ravener ‘as that soldier’s Ma, sister, or daughter whipped raw. ‘E leaves the woman with ‘er wrists lashed to a pole for the entire night in the cold temperatures. All of the soldiers ‘ave to listen to ‘er cries for ‘ours.”

He took a deep breath. “The males are whipped and starved and tortured on a daily basis. We do not get much time with our families. Only enough so that we do not get too ‘ardened and forget why we fight. The Mage also did somethin’ even more tortuous on the voyage ‘ere. ‘E gave us false ‘ope. ‘E vowed that as soon as we defeat the people of Massa, ‘e will give us our freedom. It is a lie, but the Cymans ‘ang on to that shred of ‘ope with everything they ‘ave.”

He paused. “And, all of what I just told you about the men, it is ten times worse for the women.”

Kiernan sucked in her breath.

“Why is it that you know the truth and can see through Ravener’s lies?” asked Airron.

Beck answered before Titus. “Because his father is the Captain of the Cyman Army.”

Titus looked at Beck. “Yes, ‘e is and ‘e is not fooled. ‘E has seen great evil in the Ravener Keep. If there is a way to leverage this war with Massa to the Cyman’s benefit and spare ‘uman life in the process, ‘e will find it. ‘E is a good man.”

“Are there other Mages where you come from?” asked Kiernan.

“No. I ‘ave ‘eard there were more at the beginnin’, but now there is just Adrian and ‘is sister, Avalon Ravener.”

“What do you know of this Avalon?” asked Kiernan. “Is she as evil as her brother?”

Titus’ eye glazed over. “In my opinion, the witch is worse. Ravener listens to ‘er and she whispers evil in ‘is ear. She is sick and likes to play ‘er own kind of games with the Cyman male.” Red spots colored his cheeks, but he went on, explaining how the Cyman people came to be through Ravener’s experiments with humans and Desert Trolls.

Beck’s face hardened into rock. “I have sympathy for the plight of your people, Titus, but I will fight them to the death as long as they stand with Ravener. I cannot let what happened in Nordik be repeated here in Massa.”

Titus nodded. “And, the Cyman people will fight Massans to the death until they get their freedom.”

Beck held out his hand to Titus. “Friends until enemies?

Titus took it. “Friends until enemies,” he confirmed.

Beck waved his hand and dirt rose up off the ground to cover the fire. “We should get some sleep. We have two days of travel before we get to the border of Iserlohn.”

Abruptly, Bajan rose up off the ground beside Kiernan and started to growl.

“Someone comes,” she said, standing.

They heard the soft scuffing of boots on the road. Beck quickly stood up and peered between the trees surrounding the clearing of their campsite. He was astonished by what he saw.

“Rory?”

The young fireshifter started and then turned his head toward Beck. “Yes, it is me.”

Beck ran out to greet him, the rest of the group following close behind. “Rory!” He grabbed the smaller boy in a bear hug that lifted him off his feet. “How did you escape the flooding?”

“I…. I happened to get out just in time,” he said.

“This boy has the blessings of the Highworld, that is for sure,” declared Airron. “Twice now thought dead and then resurrected from the ashes!”

Kiernan gave him a hug and Rogan mussed his hair. When Titus came into view, Rory turned to face him with a peculiar look on his face. “Don’t worry,” said Beck. “He will not hurt you.”

“Rory, do you think…. is it possible anybody else survived?” asked Airron, hope in his voice.

Rory shook his head. “No. There is nobody else. Pyraan is gone.”

Kiernan rode with the hood of her cloak up in the light drizzle of the early afternoon. This visit back to her homeland was unnerving her more than she realized it would. She trailed her companions as they approached the northern border of Nysa, and her anxiety intensified with each passing moment. Even so, her heart and mind still longed for home, and the memories flooded through her. She remembered the big kitchen on the first floor of the palace and snatching freshly baked cookies with her best friend, Larkin Malley. She thought of her caretaker, dear Miss Belle, who became a surrogate mother to Kiernan after her own mother died. She smiled as she thought of the Royal Guard and how they took turns teaching her to fight with wooden swords in the courtyard near the stables. She recalled the beautiful gardens and the countless hours spent helping the groundskeepers or simply reading a book beneath one of the large willow trees. It was a very idyllic and indulgent upbringing for the little Princess, and she and her Draca Cat were treasured by the people of Iserlohn.

That was then. She wondered how they would feel about her now. After her father discovered her shifting ability, she was swept away to Pyraan so quickly and discretely that she never had the chance to say good-bye.

Beck stopped his horse up ahead and waited for her to catch up so he could ride next to her. It would be tricky on the narrow path of the heavily wooded forestland in which they now rode.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Well, now that you are near,” she said and leaned over to kiss him, the horses dancing between them. He kissed her back, placing his hand on the back of her head.

“Mmm,” he said. “This is something that I can get used to.” With his lips still pressed to hers, he murmured, “Keep your eyes up front, Falewir.”

Kiernan heard Airron chuckle, and it was nice bit of levity that they all needed.

Beck broke away with a smile. “Kiernan, as soon as we deliver Ravener’s demand to your father, I will have to continue on to Deepstone and then Haventhal.”

“I know. I will be ready to go with you.”

Beck squared his shoulders and sighed. “Kiernan, you will be safer in Nysa with your father and his armies.”

“I go where you go,” she said, fixing him in her green eyes to make sure he understood that she would tolerate no argument. Although, she looked forward to returning to Nysa, Beck was her home now.

“Kiernan…”

Suddenly she alerted on the unmistakable whisper of several bowstrings being drawn taut.

“Hold!” she hissed to the others, and they all stopped immediately when they sensed the caution in her voice.

The Royal Guard is here, Princess, and it is about time. To think a person of your distinction skulking in the back woods instead of receiving the royal escort as is your due.

Kiernan smiled at the hauteur in evidence in the thoughts of Bajan.
As you well know, I have not had a royal escort in several years, my friend.

Hmmrf. Ridiculous human rules.

“Beck,” she murmured quietly, “make sure Titus keeps his face hidden.” He nodded sharply, and she slowly squeezed her horse past the others to the front.

An authoritative voice rang out. “You have entered the land of Iserlohn! State your purpose!”

Guardsmen wearing the scarlet and black of Iserlohn materialized from behind the trees. Their tunics marked them as Nysa’s elite Royal Guard, also known as the Scarlet Sabers for the thin, single-edged curved swords they carried at their hips.

Kiernan stopped her horse, Bajan arriving at her side.

“Does a long overdue visit home warrant passage?” she asked coyly.

The officer in charge who halted the group strode forward with confidence, naked sword in his hand. “I will ask one more time, state…,” the officer stopped in his tracks when he saw Bajan and then looked up at her.

“Kiernan?”

She smiled at his impetuous lack of formality. “Yes.”

He realized his mistake and immediately dropped to one knee, left fist on the ground in from of him, and the Scarlet Sabers accompanying him followed suit. “Forgive me, Princess! It has been a long time since you have been home.”

Kiernan looked down at the fair-haired head bent in deference.

“Colbie, is that you?” She casually lifted her right leg over her saddle and dismounted.

“Yes, Your Grace, I am now Captain of your father’s Royal Guard.”

Kiernan laughed. “Royal Guard now is it? Does my father know, Colbie Nash, that the last time I saw you, you were trying to steal a kiss from me in his stables?”

The young Captain blushed fiercely as snickers came from the Sabers behind him. “Quiet!” he snarled over his shoulder and immediately bowed his head in front of Kiernan again.

“Please rise. All of you.”

As they did so, Captain Nash asked, “May I ask what you are doing here, Your Grace?”