Tranquil Fury (38 page)

It had been two weeks since their first encounter with the black-clad soldiers, and every morning Alron wondered if
today would be the day
? They were barely two hours on the road when they came across the Dawnfalcons, the front guard.

 “Alron, black-clad guard post, two miles ahead. Four does be dead.”

 “What does thou mean?”

Careel looked at Alron, “Camp we does find. Horses tethered and four does be dead. We does naught know what does happen, just does report what we does find.”

 “Does thou kill them?”

Babartin shook his head, “Alron, frost bear tracks we does find. Death by beast, naught by sword.”

Alron called to Panry, Aaro, and Bor. The four then rode ahead to the camp where the dead soldiers lay. It was just as the Dawnfalcons had reported, four frightened horses tethered to a tree, and four dead soldiers ripped apart by some kind of bear. The claw marks, and the wounds presented evidence that no one could argue with. Alron ordered them to carry the bodies into the forest, and to bring the horses with them.

As they waited for the wagons, Alron looked at Aaro and Bor, “Frost bear, sense does naught make.”

“South too far, no snow here,” Aaro replied.

Alron shook his head, “Perchance lost?”

Bor shook his head, “Odd it is?”

Alron sent the Dawnfalcons out as front guard when the wagons showed up, then tied the horses to Mirtza’s wagon. Two hours later, again Alron found the Dawnfalcons waiting for him. When he asked for a report, their reply was simple, ‘
Does be same’
. Again, they came across a guard camp, four dead, and huge bear prints on the ground. Alron could not believe his eyes, “Perchance, same giant bear?” The elves and dwarves that were with him did not know how to answer, as they could not explain it either. He ordered the bodies disposed, and attached the additional horses to the back of the wagon.

As they got underway, Lauren called to Alron, “What is happening?”

 “Earth Daughter, I does naught know. Two guard stations we does find. All dead does be, bear killed, it does naught make sense.”

They travelled for two more hours when once again the Dawnfalcons were waiting for Alron, “Guard post, one mile south. All still does live.”

Aaro and Bor also heard the report, “Sneak by can we?”

 “Naught,” replied Babartin

Two guard posts taken out, a third one still occupied. Alron could not deny it any longer, admitted to himself that they were in enemy-controlled territory. Eight missing guards were bound to raise questions, and the wagons were moving too slow. Alron rode over to Lauren, “Another guard post does be ahead. Let us turn back, does find a spot to camp, and discuss what options we does hath.” Lauren nodded, as the concern on Alron’s face was enough for her to agree with the captain of her Earth Guard. Slowly, the wagons turned on the narrow road and headed north. When Alron found a rocky section to hide their tracks, he ordered the wagons into the forest, leaving Panry at the road’s edge to wait for the rear guard, then followed the wagons into the forest. The day was still young, Mirtza and Gor started to prepare the meal, but Alron stopped them. He would not allow them to light a fire, as he was afraid that the smell of food would give away their position. They had consumed all of Gor’s fresh fruits and baked goods long ago, so Mirtza pulled fresh fruits, dried meats and more from his chests, and each time Gor saw the exchange, he was still amazed.

As the meal was being laid out, Alron went over to Mirtza, “Earth Daughter does say thine wagon in thine pocket thou can carry. Does this be true?” Mirtza nodded in agreement.

Alron then went over to Lauren, “Earth Daughter, threats does increase, and we does move too slow. Eight mounts extra does we now hath, we does only need seven. Both wagons, we does marry as one, put all we does carry into thine wagon that Mirtza does hath. Mirtza does then place wagon in his pocket. Horse, pony, and stag does we then ride. Faster it does be, less obvious tracks does we leave, does be easier to hide.”

It made sense, so Lauren nodded in agreement, and then went over to the food that had been set out, filled a plate, and then sat down beside John, “I want a hot bath.”

 “I want the internet,” replied John.

 “She still isn’t talking to me. I think Alron has aged seven hundred years in the last few weeks. He won’t tell me, but the black-clad now control this country. Three guard posts in one day. That’s too many. You didn’t pack any stealth technology with you before we left, some sort of science project you were working on?”

John did not have an answer for Lauren, he was afraid that if he kept talking, that she would hear the fear in his voice, and he just continued to pick at his cold meal.

Lauren was not upset that John did not answer her, as she was afraid that if she kept talking, John would hear the fear in her voice.

It took some convincing, but Alron finally got the dwarves to load their possessions into the back of Mirtza’s wagon. When they expressed fear of losing their possessions should something happen to Mirtza, Alron suggested that they ensure his safety if they wanted their possessions back. Mirtza had to turn his back to hide his smile, now knowing the six Ironhouse brothers would be looking out for his safety.

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IT like. Too easy. So Many. Fresh. IT like fresh.

Chapter 27

That night Alron did not trust Mirtza’s guard bats by themselves, especially with a strange beast in the woods. He assigned everybody a one-hour guard duty, always having two posted in the camp. When the morning finally arrived, everybody was grumpy, tired, or both. Mirtza and Gor had the last watch of the night, and as the camp began to stir, the two prepared a meal of fresh buns and fruits, but it did little to satisfy their desire for fried meats and hot bean juice. Before everyone had completed their meals, Mirtza walked over to his wagon, and threw his cloak over it. As it came down, the wagon was gone, and Mirtza grabbed his cloak before it landed on the ground. He bent down, picked up the gold amulet, and tucked it into his cloak. When he turned around, the dwarves and elves were speechless, this being the first time they had ever seen the Trickster practice his arts in front of them, other than the mysterious boxes. Aaro and Bor walked over to where the wagon had sat a minute ago, walked around the spot just scratching their heads. When Mirtza did the same with the oxen in the harness, their confusion multiplied. Then they took to their mounts and headed back to the south road.

The Dawnfalcons were waiting at the last guard post that had made them turn around the day before. When Alron asked for a report, Babartin and Careel just raised their hands, trying to form an answer, but both were speechless. They rode up to the guard post, and saw the four black-clad, dead, and Alron cursed under his breath. When word made it back to their command, they would increase the patrols in this area to hunt down the beast. Those extra troops would likely arrive from the south, making it harder for them to travel in that direction. He sent the front guard ahead, and waited for the rest to meet up with him. As they rode south, he reported to the Earth Daughter, but made no comments about the strange situation, which two hours later repeated itself. Alron had them pick up the pace, but like a simple equation, their progress again came to a stop after two hours. The Dawnfalcons advised of the next guard post, ‘all still live.’

In some ways, Alron hoped the beast that dined on black-clad soldiers would continue its nightly feasts, and possibly provide a distraction to help hide their presence. But with its appetite satisfied, he needed to find a way to avoid those, that the bear so eagerly sought out. “Through woods canst we go?”

 “Forest does be too thick,” Babartin replied.

Lauren rode up beside them, and listened to Alron update their current situation, “Earth Daughter, pass we canst naught, neither canst we wait. And other routes we does naught hath. Guards we must dispatch.”

 “No, they have already lost too many up here. If more die, and by sword, it will only get worse. Babartin, how far is it to the guard post?”

 “Quarter mile it does be Earth Daughter”

 “Alron, let’s ride up and look for a place to enter the forest. When we get inside, I will help it to conceal us, and the noise that we make. When we arrive at the other side, we will be back on the road. If something goes wrong, then you can attack them. I think it would be better if the black-clad did not receive reports that two-legged intruders with swords were present.”

As they rode south, Lauren spotted a section of forest that looked promising and turned her horse into it. When everybody was off the road, she slowly began to hum, very softly. The trees and branches in front of her began to part, providing her passage. The ground became moist to absorb the sound of leaves rustling, and dried branches breaking. It took about forty-five minutes, longer than Alron would have liked, but he eventually saw the road come into view. They gave the front guard a ten-minute lead, and then started down the road again, but two hours later, Lauren again had to coax the forest to allow them to pass another guard post. When they made it to the road, Alron advised the front guard to find them a camp for the night. If the pattern continued, they had less than two hours before they would find another post, and he wanted to camp exactly between the two, so that he did not push their luck.

Alron gathered the group together that night, advising them of their current progress, but did not tell them anything that they did not already know. He informed them that they would rest for two days, so Panry and the Dawnfalcons could head south, identifying any threats. Then, when they returned, they could better plan their next move. Alron did not like the plan, but he liked playing hide-and-seek with the black-clad even less. He was hoping they might be able to find a side trail, a less traveled route, anything, as long as it was good news. The Ironhouse brothers assigned themselves to guard duty, and Alron gave strict orders, no fires, or noise.

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In the morning, the three Earth Guards were gone when the group awoke. Realizing that they had a two day breather proved relaxing for most of them—not Alron. The seventy days of incident-free travel, twenty days of increasing opposition, his concern was growing like the presence of the black-clad soldiers. If he knew where he was going, the distance, it would help. If somebody knew that he was coming, had sent out reserves, he would be less apprehensive. He only knew one thing for certain, protect and serve.

None of the Earth Guards had ever trained for anything like this, and he suddenly realized that he had more in common with Lauren than he originally thought. Alron spent his day high in a tree, where he could watch both directions of the road at the same time.

Back at the camp, Lauren found a secluded spot towards the back, and thought about what she could do.

John wandered over after she had been sitting by herself for an hour, “How are you doing?”

 “I really don’t know,” she said looking up, “I just wish I knew when this was going to end. How is everybody else doing?”

 “Good and bad. The food sucks, cold nights, it’s getting harder to sleep. Everybody is on edge, but nobody has raised any grievances against you. You seem to be doing pretty well, getting us by those sentry posts. Is Mother helping you?”

 “I think it is just the staff. If she is talking to me, she is whispering really quietly. Has Logan heard anything from Sister?”

 “No, he is as edgy as the rest of us.”

John realized that Lauren did not want to talk, could feel her anguish, “Lauren, you are doing a great job, don’t worry.” He knew she would not answer, and wandered over to Gingaar, “Tell me about your training, your talent.”

 “Friend John, gift I does naught hath. Training plenty I does hath. Gift without training, naught does happen. I does be fifty when Earth Mother does start mine training.”

John was shocked, as he thought Gingaar only looked to be about twenty-five, “How old are you now?”

 “Seventy five”

 “Wow, how old was the Earth Mother?”

 “Two hundred years, more I does think.”

“She looked much younger. What made her think you had the gift?”

 “I does tend to injured field plants.”

“I thought the elves lived in the forests?”

“We does, but raise some crops also we does. Fruits and berries, more than that does be required to survive.”

“So you would tend to the injured plants, what would you do?”

 “If one does get knocked over, be it wind, animal, or person, tend it I does. Massage bruise, stake it, even does I sing to it. Extra water, attention, that be what I does. On their own, they heal. Earth Mother does think I does hath gift.”

“What changed between when the Earth Mother saw you do that, and when they started to train you?”

 “I does naught know. Earth Mother does struggle with riddle as well. Classes I does attend with others, blossom their gift does, mine does whither.”

“How long did you heal the plants in the fields?”

“Years many I does tend them, heal them I does naught.”

John looked around and saw a small tree about twelve inches tall. It was probably two or three years old. He bent it over, but did not break it, “Can you try to fix this tree?”

Gingaar moved closer to it, straightened it, caressed it, talked to it, but in the end, it was still bent, “Naught gift does I hath John,” and a tear started to form in her eye.

“Gingaar don’t be sad, let me think about this. I am pretty good with riddles.”

The only news that Alron received that night was bad, patrols on the road every two hours. He went to bed without talking to anybody else, hoping that his men had found a safe hold for the night. The next day, Alron was again in his tree, watching the patrols ride north and south. He had hoped that his men would bring him some much-needed good news, and well after the final sun set, the forest shrouded in dark, Panry and the Dawnfalcons finally arrived.