Wandering Lark (22 page)

“Well, what have we here,” he said. “Looks like our lucky day, lads. I think we just found us some coin for ale.”     

Alaric blanched. At least they were not wearing black.

The call hit Vagner hard and angered him.
He hated it when he was called in that fashion, and he thought it rather rude of Ronan to force Alaric to use the demon’s true name in vain—especially when he was close to capturing a second deer.

And succulent juicy things they were. Fat and sleek, and running on all fours, and not a hint of demon essence or ancient magic to them. Just plain deer. Living, breathing creatures with blood pumping through their limbs in terror.

The one he had in hand was still struggling. Snarling, Vagner tore the head off, drained the life’s blood and shoved both parts in his expandable maw. Then he turned and charged for the road where he perceived Alaric was in some sort of pain. Struggling, actually.
Against whom?

The demon increased his speed, charging through the tangle of trees like a fierce wind. He reached the road and stopped.

There were men there, men in armor carrying weapons, and they had Alaric surrounded. The young mage was struggling to rise and not doing so well.

“Look,” Alaric said in the foreign tongue of his internal companion. “This is some sort of mistake. I have nothing of value.”

“Really, so what’s in the sack,” the foremost man said, and he thrust the head of his cudgel at Alaric and punched him in the chest. Alaric staggered back.

That was all the incentive the demon needed to act. With a roar, he charged into the road and seized the man. Before anyone could draw a breath, Vagner opened his mouth, jaws widening, and shoved the man down his gullet.

The other men had backed away, and as the demon turned, they were trading looks.

“Who’s next?” Vagner asked, and while they probably didn’t understand his language, his looks probably implied all they needed to know. They shouted—or rather screamed like women—and scattered into the trees.

Vagner turned back towards Alaric who was rubbing his chest.

“What did you just do?” Alaric said.

“Saved your hide,” Vagner replied.

“Yes, well, I told you not to eat anything even remotely human, didn’t I?”

Vagner snorted and crossed his arms. “And what was I supposed to do? He attacked you. They all threatened you.”

“You could have just shouted or something.”

“I think what I did was most effective,” Vagner said and sniffed. “It certainly sent them scattering like the rats they were.”

“Well, next time...”

Alaric stopped, and even Vagner turned to look. There was a rider on a bay mare charging up the road, shouting.

“Quick! Hide in the trees and be a horse!” Alaric said.

The demon cursed and disappeared in a flash.

The things I do,
Vagner thought.

Talena kept her distance
for nearly a candlemark. She didn’t want the bard to discover her presence too soon. Her plan was wait until he either settled into camp or found an inn, and then to try and win his trust, if possible. But now as she listened to his voice singing about trees fighting one another, she was starting to notice other things. Like a scent on the air that was not quite what one expected in a forest. A faint hint of campfire smoke wafted through the trees, and with it, the lingering scent of old leather and man’s sweat.

A hunter? That was possible since they were known to trek several leagues around the village. But hunters were careful with their fires and their odors. Smoke spooked game, as did the scent of a man. Frowning, she urged Kessa over to the side of the road. Dismounting, she hung onto the reins as she stepped off the rutted dirt and knelt to study the ground. Her father had taught her much about surviving in the forest. How to hunt and track and find food and shelter. She frowned as she noticed the impressions of boots and knees, as though someone had knelt here and watched the road. The owner of the impression had then risen and walked away into the trees, and as she led Kessa along, Talena saw that the watcher had met with several others. Many tracks pitted the ground just in the trees.

She could only think of one reason that men would congregate in the woods and watch the road.

Bandits.

By the Triad, she had not taken the time of year and the desperation of bandits into account. With autumn, merchants were returning home, and traveling the forest was best in the company of caravan guards if one wanted to keep ones coins in ones pocket.

It would not do well for her to lose her quarry to a bandit’s blade. She stopped and listened, noticing that the birds in the forest were quiet, and that Kessa’s ears were twitching back and forth. Maybe it would be a good idea to catch up with the bard now...especially since she did not hear him singing.

She had just dragged Kessa back up on the road and remounted when she heard the screams of terror. Drawing her sword, Talena applied hard heels to Kessa and forced the mare into a gallop. The road ahead turned and twisted into the trees like a snake. She rounded the bend only to drag Kessa to a halt.

What in the name of the Holy Three? Was she really seeing what she thought? A monstrous bat-like creature with scales and fur and wings rearing over the bard? It looked up and spied her, and vanished quickly. She spurred Kessa again and rode up to him, pulling the mare to a sliding halt and dismounting. Scanning the woods, she heard the frightened shouts of men fading in the distance. The bard struggled to his feet, hesitantly drawing his sword, peering at her with uncertainty.

“Oh...it’s you,” he said, looking only slightly relieved.

“What was that?” she said and pointed into the trees.

Lark looked at her, his face pale. He hesitated, cleared his throat. “Uh... I’m not sure. Some sort of monster, I think. It spooked my horse.”

“What were those screams?”

He looked hard pressed to answer that. “I don’t really know,” he said and scratched the side of his face in thought. “Might have been me, that fiend startled me so.”

“Well, these are dangerous woods, and there are bandits, and a traveler alone is not safe,” Talena said.

“So what were you doing out here then?” Alaric asked.

Talena stopped and blinked.
Spinning Toads,
she had underestimated him, hadn’t she? She took a deep breath. “I was looking for you,” she said.

“Why?”

“You...forgot this,” she said and reached into her pouch, drawing out several farthings. “The landlord said you left without your pay.”

Alaric narrowed his eyes. “The landlord was not going to pay me in coin,” he said. “He paid me in room and board...or so he said. And anyway, why would you ride all the way out here just to give me a sack of coins. How did you even know I was coming this way?”

Talena took a deep breath.
Lie, you fool,
she thought. Elsewise, she would lose his trust.

“Well, I asked the guards at the gates, of course, and only one set of them saw you leave, so naturally I followed. As for the landlord, well I must confess that he changed his mind because I encouraged him to do so,” she said carefully. “You did such a fine job and I told him that it would be a shame if he did not pay you some farthings. That way, you might be encouraged to return on your way back from...where are you going?”

Alaric sighed. “Does it really matter?” he said. “A bard goes where he wills, follows the wind, and all to seek adventure and songs.”

Talena pursed her lips. “Then perhaps I will go with you,” she said. “I have an urge to see the road.”

Alaric raised an eyebrow as though he was not entirely convinced by her tale. “I travel alone,” he said.

“Without a horse?” she said.

Alaric whistled. The big yellow horse she had seen him riding earlier came strolling out of the trees as though nothing was wrong. It looked at her and its eyes narrowed perceptibly. The ears went flat as it walked up to Alaric and pushed its large head against him.

“I have a horse,” he said.

“So I see,” she said and frowned. “He’s sort of...yellow? What do you call him? Daisy?”

The horse snorted and sent a spray of slobber over Talena. She jerked back, wiping her face.

“I call him Ordha,” Alaric said and smiled. “It means golden.”

The horse twisted his lips as though smiling smugly at Talena. She flung the last of the slobber off her gauntlet.

“So what happened to your dog?” she asked.

The bard took hold of the reins and smiled. “I...traded him for the horse,” he said in all sincerity.

And if that’s true, the other person got the better bargain,
she thought, giving the yellow beast a cold glance. “Just like that? I thought you liked your dog.”

Alaric shrugged and rubbed the spot between his eyes. Then he sighed and looked up again.

“Well, I won’t delay you,” he said and quickly mounted. “I need to be on my way.”

“Look,” Talena said and caught the reins only to let go when the yellow horse laid back its ears and tried to bite her. “You...might run into bandits on this road. And two traveling together are safer than one...and I really would like to see the world a little.”

The young man seemed to argue the matter with himself. Anger masked his features, and he closed his eyes. She got the impression he was arguing with himself. Finally, he sighed and opened his eye. “Very well,” he said. “As long as we’re heading the same way, I suppose there’s no harm in the company.”

“Good,” Talena said and quickly mounted Kessa. She tried to ride closer, but Kessa did not seem to like the yellow horse as all. She laid back her ears and jerked her head and hitched sideways as though trying to flee. Talena was forced to tighten the reins and turn the mare in tight circles.

Alaric smiled and clucked to the yellow horse. Talena urged Kessa to follow. She took advantage of the mare’s hesitation to scan the woods to make certain there was no sign of the bandits.

She clucked to Kessa, using heels and calves to force her to catch up with the yellow horse. The beast turned a glance in Talena’s direction, and she swore it smiled. Then the yellow horse shook its head, opened its mouth and burped. Talena stared at the creature. It stared back quite unabashed.

“Must have been something he ate,” Alaric said. “Hup.”

The yellow horse took off at a brisk trot, and all Talena could do was urge Kessa to follow.

“This is madness, I tell you,”
Ronan growled in Alaric’s head.
“She will be nothing but trouble. You must send her away!”

Why?”
Alaric retorted in his head.
Just because you don’t like her. I think it would be nice to have someone to talk to—someone who might actually know the lay of the land.

“Why are you being so stubborn?”

Because, it’s my body and my life that is on the line here, Ronan. I’ll take a whole army if I choose. So just remember that. You promised me that I was in charge. You promised not to interfere unless I was putting us in danger. Well, I don’t think I am putting us in danger, and I want someone I can talk to without all this clatter going on in my head. So that is the end of it. She is coming.

There was a long moment of silence. Then Alaric felt Ronan heave the mental equivalent of a sigh.
“Very well, as you say it is your body and your life,”
the bard replied.
“Just watch your back. Don’t trust her. She may not wear the black of the Temple Bounty Hunters, but I have a feeling that for the privilege of wearing that color, she would betray you in an instant.”

As if you would not
Alaric thought.

Ronan went cold silent inside his head. Alaric smiled with satisfaction to have won this round.

“...Oh, yes, your father and I had
some grand adventures in those days,” Hobbler said.