Talon: The Windwalker Archive (Book 1) (12 page)

Soon the sails were drawn back and the anchor was lowered. The rowers came up from below deck and helped the other crewmen with the big nets. Talon marveled at the crew’s speed and precision. Vaka Bjorn never stopped with his bellowed commands. Even when there seemed nothing left to do, he made something up. The nets were set in the water and the sails were lowered once more. As they sailed to the north, Talon saw the many wooden floaters painted white with a big black V and marveled at the operation.

Ten such nets were placed by noon, and the crew took their lunch. Talon and Akkeri sat on the wide aft rail and ate what food they had brought. The sun was warm and the breeze pleasant. They were out far enough that they could see no land in any direction, and with the sun so high, he had no idea which way was north.

“Wouldn’t be hard to lose your way out here,” he said as he chewed his bread.

“We won’t be out this far,” said Akkeri.

“Won’t we? How far out do you have to go to lose the shore?”

“I’m not sure, but we will have the stars to guide us,” said Akkeri.

“
If
we have good weather,” he reminded her.

If they had no stars to guide them, and no light shone upon either coast, they might easily sail in the wrong direction.

Later that night they carried their seaweed back to the Skomm village and went straight to the hut. Jahsin was there waiting for them, looking anxious.

“We learned what we could about sails…” Talon began, then he noticed Jahsin’s expression. “What is it?” he asked, suddenly worried.

“Chief. I think I found him.”

Krellr Warg,
he shall hunt with the assassin.

—G
retzen Spiritbone, 4979

Under cover of darkness
, Talon, Jahsin, and Akkeri snuck to the outskirts of Timber Wolf Village. Jahsin led them to one of the pens that held the wolves. The wooden pens—nearly twenty feet long and half as wide—were each attached to a bigger Hus.
Talon searched the pens from afar, but Chief was nowhere to be seen.

“
Where did you see him?” Talon whispered as they peered beyond the tree line.

“
In that one. I’m telling you, he looked just like you described,” said Jahsin.

Talon strained to make o
ut Chief among the others. None had the right markings. One was nearly pure black, and the others either too brown or too white. A circular window on the wall facing them caught his attention.

“
I’m going to get a better look,” Talon told them.

“
Be careful,” Akkeri said, worried.

“
I will.”

T
alon made sure no one was about and hunched down as he scrambled for the closest tent. He knelt down beside it and listened. Laughter warned him someone was coming, and he ducked back just as two Vald went walking by. Their voices and heavy footfalls faded in the distance, and Talon scrambled to the next in line. A dog began barking from inside the tent, causing Talon to jump with a start. He looked around frantically as the animal carried on.

“
Who’s there, then?” a voice called from inside.

Talo
n hurried to the side of the Hus that held the wolves and ducked down below the window. He eyed the tent with the barking dog, hoping they wouldn’t come out to investigate. From inside a gruff voice yelled, “Shut your yapper, Blacktooth!” followed by a quick yelp.

Talon
looked around one last time and peeked his head over the sill. The window was cloudy, but the inside of the Hus was brightly lit. . Loud, taunting voices issued from within. He saw no one to the front of the Hus. On the opposite wall hung thick chains and wicked looking muzzles. To the left, two big Vald with catchpoles in their hands yelled and carried on. The object of their taunting turned out to be a mangy wolf.

Chief.

The ropes at the ends of the catchpoles bit tight around his neck. A Skomm man sat cowering in the far corner
,
and the Vald taunted Chief to attack him. They poked and prodded him with sticks until they had worked the wolf up into a snapping frenzy.

Chief appeared
starved. The outline of his ribs showed clearly against his fur, and his coat was so dirty and matted that Talon had not recognized him at first. Why the Vald treated the tribe’s spirit animal so badly was beyond him.

“
Get him, you worthless wolf!” one of the giant Vald yelled and jabbed him hard in the side.

Talon needed to do somethi
ng, but his mind went blank. He couldn’t take on
one
of the Vald let alone both of them. They jabbed at Chief’s flanks and egged him on. He snapped and snarled but could do nothing to free himself. With the catchpoles they steered him closer to the Skomm man in the corner who cried and begged for his life. The Vald just laughed and spat curses at him as they jabbed Chief all the harder.

“
No, Chief,” Talon whispered against the glass.

The man in the corner shook with fear and tried unsuccessfully to press himself farther into the corner.

“
Drepa
,
drepa
, kill him!” one of the Vald yelled.

“
Kill the filthy Draugr or I’ll feed you to the boars,” said the other as he began whipping him with a long rod.

Chief yelped and tried desperately to get away
, but the catchpoles afforded him no freedom. He managed to get his jaws around the end of one of the poles and bit at it viciously.

“
Now he shows some spirit,” one of the Vald laughed.

The two barbarians moved behin
d a high wall and closed a gate separating them from Chief and the man in the corner. They pulled on the ropes at their end of the poles and the nooses came lose. Once free of the catchpoles, Chief slammed against the high wall trying to get at the Vald. They laughed and prodded him through the boards.

“
Drepa, drepa!” they urged him on. “You so damned hungry; eat the Throwback!”

Chief set his sights on the man in the corner who whined and kicked at the dirt floor trying to back farther still
against the walls. The wolf stalked back and forth, growling low in his throat with his head down and his piercing eyes locked on his prey. Chief lunged forward and went for the man’s neck.

“
No, Chief!” Talon yelled and slapped at the glass.

“
What are you doing?” Jahsin grabbed him and Talon jumped, startled. “C’mon, hurry; they’re coming!”

Talon rel
uctantly followed Jahsin as he sprinted for the tree line. The Vald called out behind them as they ducked down in the underbrush next to Akkeri.

“
Who’s out there?” one yelled.

The three friends kept their heads down and began to crawl backward
through the soggy foliage. Talon dared a peek; the two Vald searched the ground with torches.

“
They are going to be able to follow our tracks in this mud. Take Akkeri back to the village; I‘ll head them off.” he told Jahsin.

“
Thanks, Knight in Shining Armor, but I can take care of myself,” she muttered.

“
I have to help him,” said Talon, looking back at the Hus.

“
You’ll be no help to him if you’re dead. Please, Talon,” Akkeri pleaded.

She led them at
a fast sprint through the forest beside the Vald village, and soon they reached a small meandering brook. They splashed into the cold water and followed the brook for nearly half an hour before carefully climbing out onto stones and fallen trees to hide their tracks. Talon thought of nothing but Chief attacking the Skomm villager. The Vald were trying to turn him into one of their hunting wolves, like the ones who had eaten the dead during the Kelda Agaeti
slaughter. He couldn’t bear to think of Chief in that way. The timber wolf had always been gentle and well-tempered. Talon hardly recognized the killer they were turning him into.

The three of them got to the Skomm village and tried not to act suspicious when one of the Vaka rode
by on his horse. Talon worried that their wet boots and pants told of their guilt, but the Vaka paid them no mind. They reached the hut and Talon breathed a sigh of relief as he closed the door behind him.

“
I have to get him out of there,” he told them as he began pacing in the small hut.

Jahsin sat on h
is bed looking overwhelmed. Akkeri offered Talon a sympathetic smile. He told them what he witnessed through the window, and they offered reassuring words. But Talon was not placated by their sympathies. If they didn’t do something soon, Chief would become an unrecognizable killer.

“
I feel for you, Tal, but how we suppose to free Chief? You said so yourself: they’re turnin’ him into a killer,” said Jahsin.

“
I said they’re trying,” Talon corrected him with a scowl.

“
All right, they’re
trying
. But even if we could free him, where would we keep him? He goes missing, they’ll search for him here first; you can bet on it. So we can’t keep him, and he can’t live in the wild if you raised him since he was a pup,” said Jahsin.

“
I don’t know,” Talon replied, as helpless as ever. “But I would rather set him free to take his chances in the wild than see him turned into some…monster.”

“
We can’t bring him with us if we don’t get the raft ready in time,” said Akkeri, reminding them of their priorities.

She and Talon told Jahsin what they had learned of sails from watching the
fishermen on Vaka Bjorn’s ship,
Icebite
. Where and how they would get one had still not been determined. The sails on
Icebite
had been huge, even the smallest one too big for a little raft.

Jahsin had spent the day chopping poles for the Vald tents and had managed to hide one of the long pieces. They figured if h
e saved one piece every so often, they would have enough to make a good-sized raft come time to leave. Finding the rope they would need to secure the beams proved harder than expected. Jahsin had inquired to many of his contacts in the underground market. They said all available rope was nabbed by the sailors as soon as it was made. One of his contacts had made promises, no doubt spurred by Jahsin’s offer to pay double.

The Skomm were not allowed any sort of coin or real weal
th unless they be Vaka. They handled all the trade supplying the Vald with what they needed from the mainland.

Rather than use money
, the Skomm bartered with each other for what they needed. Jahsin had offered to pay double the price for the rope, which in this case meant two baskets full of apothecary supplies. Talon feared the means of payment would give them away as the buyers; however, Akkeri assured him there were dozens of healers like Majhree in the large Skomm village; the Vaka’s love of the whip demanded many healers.

I
ngredients for healing salves were in high demand. Aside from the Skomm healers, Vald healers, mystics, shamans, and witch doctors also depended on gatherers like Talon and Akkeri to supply them with what they needed for their rituals and spells. There were also a number of secret witch doctors and the like among the Skomm. The mystical practice was a crime punishable by death; still many of the Skomm—mostly women—took the risk due to the wealth and power to be acquired. These practitioners usually partnered with Vaka, who turned a blind eye for a steep cut of the profits and kept them safe.

“
We could get the rope from Vaka Bjorn!” said Talon.

Jahsin and Akkeri were locked in a hea
ted debate about what sails might be made of.

“
Who?” Jahsin asked.

“
Vaka Bjorn,” said Akkeri. “The captain of
Icebite
.”

“
Feikinstafir, Tal! A Vaka? Are you out of your mind?” said Jahsin with a look of bewilderment.

Talon became excited as his mind raced.
“Akkeri said our big order and payment of apothecary supplies wouldn’t be noticed because of the nature of the market, because the secret witch doctors and such make deals with the Vaka; well, why not Vaka Bjorn? Surely he could procure some rope for us, maybe even a sail!”

“
Listen pal,” Jahsin said, putting his stump on Talon’s shoulder, “the only rope a Vaka is gonna procure for you is the one he intends to put around your neck.”

“
Bjorn is different; he’s…different. I can see it in his eyes,” Talon tried to explain but fell short.

“
They’re all the same,” said Jahsin.

“
What’s your problem?” Talon suddenly burst out. “You shoot down rescuing Chief, you shoot down my idea on getting rope, and you get in a fight with Akkeri over—what—whether sails are made from silk, hemp, or feikin cotton? What’s your problem? If you’re having second thoughts, then out with it. Would that I didn’t know you better, I’d think you too scared to get your own miserable arse off this rock!”

“
You sound like a feikin Vaka!” Jahsin hollered back. His usually rosy cheeks grew red with rage, and he looked like he wanted to punch Talon.

“
Go ahead then, get it out of your system!” Talon egged him on.

“
Endrbaga!” said Akkeri shoving the two of them. “Both of you!” she stressed to Talon. “Of course he’s scared; we all are. Since when do you two act this way toward each other? You want a beating? Keep making noise and carrying on like a bunch of drunken Vald. You won’t have to smash each other’s heads in. The Vaka’ll do it for you!”

Silence followed her outburst
, and the two refused to look at each other. When he calmed down, Talon felt bad for his words.

“
She’s right. We have enough to face without tearing into each other,” he said.

“
I’m sorry, Tal; you’re right. I been a Bacraut lately. I just…I didn’t want…” Tears streamed down Jahsin’s plump cheeks, and he wiped at them angrily with his good hand.

“
Gods damned son of a Bikkja!” His voice cracked and a look of pure misery spread across his face in a twisted smile.

“
What’s wrong, Jah?” Talon asked, concerned. Something more than the pressure of the escape haunted his friend.

“
Vaka…Vaka…Feikinstafir! I can’t even say his name,” Jahsin laughed weakly. “To think a Skomm, one of the shamed, is too ashamed to admit somethin’.”