The Eye of Zuebrihn, page 24
part #1 of Eldenworld Series
“I’m sure we’ll find out.” Gareth watched the three riderless horses disappear in the distance. “When those three horses return without their riders, I’m sure the guild will empty the local guild hall to pursue me.”
Chiu followed his gaze as the last horse disappeared into the trees in the distance. “I could fly out and try to catch them.”
He shook his head. “You don’t have the time to catch the horses before nightfall, and besides, those four probably had a spotter hidden in the woods behind them, in the event that something exactly like this happened.” He stared at the carnage splattered across the bottom of the hill. “I do feel sorry for the horse, however.”
Gareth sat up late that night, smoking his pipe and staring into the flames of the fire. Chiu, Lyndra, and Wokeg were already asleep in their small tents, the normal sounds of the crickets and the breezes hissing through the pines lulling them to sound if not blissful sleep. He tapped the ashes out of the bowl. “This job sucks, Athena.” He said in a matter-of-fact voice. “Those men didn’t have a chance.” A log popped in the fire, sending up a shower of sparks, and he sighed.
“Would you rather have fought them hand-to-hand, to demonstrate your prowess?” Athena asked from no place in particular. Gareth was beginning to form a mental picture of the hidden face and body behind the voice. There was a trace of bitterness in her words.
Gareth didn’t bother to turn. “No. Would you?” There was a pause, but Gareth interrupted. “Sorry, you hire your dirty work done to keep your hands clean.” His fists clenched at his side. “I murdered four men today. Oh, they would have killed me if they could, with an arrow in the chest or a knife in the dead of night, but what I did today was murder pure and simple. It was necessary to save millions, and to save myself and my companions, but I still don’t have to like it.”
An invisible hand touched his arm. “No, you don’t.” Her voice was soft. “I needed a champion to do a job for me, and a champion, by definition, has very strict morals. You are such a champion. My champion.” She gave a little laugh. “None of the other ten I selected to do this job managed to get so far. The furthest any came was the middle of the Lake of Shadows, where he was eaten by an ice snake.” Despite his distraught features, she gripped his arm more firmly. “Don’t lose hope. Unlike the others you are changing the world around you as you go.” There was a bitter little laugh. “Your odds are actually better now than when you started.” She hesitated only a moment. “By a little bit.”
He smiled, although he really didn’t feel like it. “Please don’t tell me the odds.”
A log popped in the fire. “Would you like me to go so you can be alone with your thoughts?” she asked softly.
He thought about it. “If you can stand my pipe smoke and my foul attitude, I’d relish your company.” He looked up into the air, and thought. “Duos vas fervens chocolate.” He said aloud. Two steaming mugs appeared on the ground beside him, and picking one up, he set it on the log where the woman’s voice had been coming from.
“How very romantic,” she mused. Gareth blinked as the level of liquid in her steaming cup dropped by two and a half centimeters.
Gareth chuckled. “The same thought passed through my mind.” He looked up at the clear starry sky and the strangely distant moon. “Tell me about yourself, Athena. Tell me where you were born and how you ever came to get stuck in the caretaker position for the world.” Gareth watched the play of the firelight on the surrounding trees. The level of cocoa in her cup dropped again.
“I was aware when the comet hit and killed the dinosaurs, so long ago. I watched species rise and fall, and finally I witnessed the coming of man. There were times when I fervently wished for another comet to cleanse the world of this latest human infestation, but like your generation was so fond of saying, I had to ‘deal with it.’ I dealt with it for a very long time until, using the theories and technology of the same humans I was observing, I was able to reach into the past to pluck you out to assist me.”
Gareth thought about it. “Then this,” he patted the solid log beside him, “is the present to you.”
“Yes. I can neither see nor project into the future, or should I say my future, although I do have some minor abilities where precognition is concerned.”
“It makes my head spin. To me I’ve been shot a zillion years into the future, to find a world that’s in worse shape than the one I left, and a hell of a lot stranger.” He shook his head. “People changing themselves to look like creatures from fairy tales.” He chuckled dryly. “Pretty soon I’ll be seeing leprechauns, elves and fairies.” His voice dripped with sarcasm.
There was a long silence. “You simply haven’t found them yet, and there are stranger things out there than fairies and the little people.”
Gareth groaned and decided to change the subject. “So, do you have any children, Athena, or am I being impertinent?”
“Chaos, Eros and I were born of the cosmic egg. My children were called the Titans by humans, and from the Titans rose the ancient gods and goddesses, mixing and comingling with the people of Earth. Of my children themselves, and my grandchildren, none remain.” The voice said sadly, and the tone pulled at his heart. “If you succeed in your endeavor, I too will leave…” He felt invisible fingers touch his arm again. “But not to die, perhaps, but to begin anew.”
He sat for some time like that, quietly watching the fire and listening to the night sounds, until Gareth finally said, “You may be immortal, but I’m only human, and I need some sleep.” He stood.
“I have enjoyed our evening, Gareth, more than I have enjoyed any evening for a long long time.” Soft fingers touched his cheek, to leave him trembling. “I will go now.” The voice was gone. After a few minutes Gareth’s heartbeat slowed to normal, and he sought his own bed.
According to the map they’d purchased in Iastoria, Zuebrihn sat in a deep isolated valley, flanked on three sides by tall imposing mountains, and on the last side by steep, boulder-strewn hills. There had been a road into Zuebrihn at one time, but earthquakes, landslides and other forces of nature had made the road impassable. Gareth found that sticking to game trails was much easier. A week later, and still a week from the Eye, Chiu landed on his shoulder, the sun only slightly past midday.
There are riders coming up in back of you, driving their horses like Hell itself were on their heels.
Gareth had been expecting it. How many are we talking about?
He could sense the fear in Chiu’s mind. There are at least two dozen riders, with a half dozen pack horses. What should we do?
Gareth knew that he could take them all, but he was loath to murder two dozen more men. Find us a safe hidden place in the hills, and we’ll see if we can’t convince those riders to play elsewhere.
How are you going to do that?
Watch and learn, my dear; now please find us a hidden camp and tell the others what we are about.
A narrow ledge, barely wide enough for a single horse, wound round the escarpment, and into a narrow crevice that opened up into a wide, high ceilinged cave. The perfect hiding spot, Gareth was surprised to find a small pool of clear water at the back of the cave, fed by an icy spring. Hidden from the entrance were signs of ancient habitation; a small fire pit was carefully concealed from the entrance so that no light would escape. With the entrance wide enough for only one, Gareth knew that he could hold the cave secure from any number of searchers.
As he hoped they would, the company of assassins paused for the night at the base of the hill. From his lofty vantage, Gareth counted six separate fires along with armed pickets guarding the horses. His heavy wool cloak kept him warm, and allowed Gareth to virtually become one with the shadows. Wokeg ran silently at his side. Gareth was again amazed at how silently the big ogre could move when necessary. Lyndra and Chiu, ran on ahead as wolves, their eyes bright with excitement.
Gareth was puffing by the time they reached the edge of the guild encampment and he stood studying the target while he caught his breath. His smile was feral as he saw a tall man in burnished golden armor come out of a brightly lit tent.
I’m impressed. Chiu directed her thought his way. They sent the Guild Master himself to deal with you.
I noticed him. Gareth replied slowly. Big guy with golden armor that aches to be shot. I also noticed that all the pack horses are still loaded, and that speaks of an early start, and sloppy thinking.
Sloppy thinking? He could hear the question mark her thought carried.
They think that nothing can or will move through the night against them. I intend to disabuse them of that notion. There are indeed things that go bump in the night. He spun the new staff Wokeg had cut for him, and shot the ogre a quick look. “Remember what I taught you? Ichimonji-mawashi, overhead twirl into a side strike… or mae-mawashi, overhead twirl into a downward side strike.” Gareth spun the staff and demonstrated both moves. “Remember folks, it is not our intention to kill, but to injure, particularly the Guild Master of Assassins.” He spun his staff in a slow hachiji-mawashi; a figure eight movement and grinned at them. Lyndra showed her teeth. He pulled his hood down to cover his face and holding his staff low, slipped into the night. Gareth smiled to himself as he felt the reassuring weight of both Colt and kukri at his waist.
The assassin camp was laid out in a horseshoe shape, with the Guild Master’s tent in the very center, and the horses attached to a rope hitch across the open end of the horseshoe. There were individual fires set in front of each tent, where the members of that tent sat. The horses were Gareth’s first target. Approaching from the dark, Gareth stroked the first horse reassuringly as he sliced the hitching line with his knife. In seconds the other end had also been cut, and although they didn’t know it yet, the horses were all free. Finished with their dinners, the men about the fires were relaxing and joking when Gareth drew the Colt and fired three shots into the central fire, causing sparks to fly and flames to dance.
The neat camp dissolved into bedlam as the horses bolted out into the darkness, one of the wolves snapping at their fetlocks. Wokeg roared frighteningly as he laid about him with his staff, crushing knees and elbows with abandon. Occasionally he would stop to pull a burning brand from a fire and toss it into a convenient tent. The other wolf, Gareth guessed it was Lyndra, tore at the men’s hamstrings and ankles. The Guild Master of Assassins stepped out of his tent, golden sword drawn, golden helmet on his head, and began to shout orders into the churning madness. It was a shame nobody was listening.
Gareth stepped forward, twirling his staff in an offhand manner, pausing only momentarily to break the nose of one assassin before continuing on toward the golden apparition. The man in the golden armor saw Gareth’s approach and raised his sword over his head for a devastating two-handed cut. Gareth struck three times; once to the man’s golden helmet, staving in the side, once to the wrist holding the sword, crushing the small bones, and a last time to the side of his victim’s knee, tearing said knee out of its socket. The man dropped like a bag of potatoes, his jeweled sword on the ground before him. Gareth bent over and cautiously removed the man’s guild ring, sliding it carefully into his pocket. The sword he jammed between two rocks, and with a twist of his wrist, snapped the brittle blade in two. The hilt he tossed into the bushes. Putting his fingers to his lips he gave a piercing whistle. “TIME TO GO!” He shouted above the din. From the corner of his eye he saw Lyndra and Wokeg turn, vanishing back into the dark, and he smiled under his deep hood as none of those still standing even considered impeding his own departure. Chiu rejoined them halfway back to their mountain lair; she was laughing as she regained her human form.
“I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a more total loss of discipline.” Her voice was sarcastic. “A quarter of the camp is trying to wake the Guild Master, and another quarter are out trying to find the horses, who are now well on their way back to Iastoria. The first sergeant has a broken nose, and is in the process of consuming vast quantities of wine to ease the pain. Fights have broken out over the few remaining rations. They will be days behind us at best, after this, and much more cautious.”
Gareth stopped and looked back at the camp. “Do you think they will follow us, even after this?”
Chiu shrugged. “It’s hard to tell. I’ll bet they will, after they send for reinforcements.”
“Damn! What does it take to make these guys give it up?”
Lyndra gave a sour laugh as she walked at Wokeg’s side. “Never will happen. They’re too dumb and too mean to figure it out.”
Gareth wasn’t listening to her, but was staring at the crossbow bolt jutting from Wokeg’s arm… the one not around Lyndra. “You’re hurt! Why didn’t you say something? Doesn’t it hurt?”
Wokeg glanced at his bleeding arm, ignoring Lyndra’s glare. She obviously hadn’t seen it either. “It hurts, some.” The ogre admitted. “Lyndra can fix it when we get back to camp.” He glanced down at blond haired woman shyly.
“But I…” Chiu began, and Gareth jabbed her with his elbow.
Shhhh. Let Wokeg handle it. He’s doing just fine.
Chiu stared at Wokeg and Lyndra over Gareth’s shoulder. And I thought that ogres were dumb creatures. She hugged Gareth’s arm as she chuckled.
“You did very well back there in the fight,” Gareth said, looking at Wokeg’s smiling human face. He looked slightly silly in his human form, carrying his ogre-sized staff over his shoulder.
Wokeg let out a deep guffaw. “The guildsmen didn’t seem to know how to deal with an ogre who knew more about staff fighting then them.” His look grew serious. “Thank you for teaching me.” He paused for a moment. “My friend.”
“It was my pleasure.” Gareth returned, truthfully. “Next I will teach you a choreographed dance with the staff, called a kata. This one is named shushi-no-kon-sho, and contains many of the elements you’ve already learned, and many you haven’t. Commit it to memory and you can practice it wherever you may go, teaching your muscles and reflexes all you need to know to use the staff.”
Wokeg stopped dead, forcing Gareth to do the same, and did something the former Marine never expected. Looking Gareth in the eyes, he gave him a deep bow. “Thank you for teaching me, Master,” he said formally.
Gareth’s mouth hung open for a moment, and he shut it with a snap. He almost refused the ogre the courtesy of a reply. What he finally said was, “You are very welcome, Wokeg.” He gave the ogre a formal bow in return. “The correct term is, sah bum nim. It means instructor.” Athena’s words floated through the back of his mind. Unlike the others, you are changing the world around you as you go. Who else would have thought to teach an ogre?
In the cave with plenty of hot water Lyndra carefully and gently withdrew the bolt from Wokeg’s arm, and skillfully sewed up the ragged wound. Wokeg’s human face paled with the pain, but he said nothing. Gareth hadn’t expected him to. Lyndra sprinkled some sulfa on the wound (from Gareth’s rucksack), binding the arm with a clean dressing. While Lyndra was cleaning up and behind her back, Chiu placed a gentle hand on Wokeg’s bandage. Her sapphire eyes took on a faraway look Gareth knew well, as her lips moved soundlessly. Wokeg’s eyes widened and Chiu gave him a wink as she removed her hand. Wokeg flexed his arm once or twice, and returned a smile.
In the morning, as Gareth loaded the pack horses, he looked over at Lyndra. “What can we expect today? More of the same?” He could have sworn that he was slowly wearing his saddle out with his backside.
Lyndra stared at the hills to the northeast without smiling. Lowering gray clouds held the promise of a very long cold day. “We have six more days of this before we get to Zuebrihn. We will go up for a while more and then begin our slow descent into the Zuebrihn Valley. Winds howl down into the valley of Zuebrihn from the north, where there are only four reindeer between that sad city and the pole.” She shuddered. “I’ve heard they have a layer of stuff here called permafrost, a few millimeters under the thin soil. The frost never thaws, and in the winter snowdrifts pile up head high. The mountaintops are always white.” She shot him a thin smile. “Even the wolves hate it.”
Gareth swung up into his saddle. “Same thing as before. Lyndra, you take point. Keep your eyes open for danger and also keep your eyes open for shelter for the night. We’ll need it. Wokeg, you roam the flanks. Chiu, keep an eye on our backtrail. If the assassins get reinforcements they will be after us in a flash.” He flicked his reins. “After this we get to worry about the trip back.”
Light snow began to fall at midday and by dusk the wind started to pick up, sliding the snow in blinding feathers and promising a miserably cold night with deep snow in the morning. Gareth was beginning to get worried when Lyndra bounded out of the surrounding woods, shaking the powdery snow from her fur and changing into her human form as she approached. “There is an abandoned homestead a league ahead of you. The house is sturdy enough, and it has a barn.”
“People?” Gareth asked, interested.
“Not that I could see.” She grimaced. “The snow is getting heavier ahead, so you had better hurry.”
He urged the horse and the packhorses into a canter, discovering after only a few minutes that Lyndra had been optimistic. Chiu slid out of the darkness to land on his shoulder, and then held on with grim resolve as the wind and snow sought to dislodge her at every turn. Gareth and Chiu found Lyndra and Wokeg waiting for them in the small house, a warm fire already blazing in the wide hearth. Gareth led the horses to the stable and attended to them while the others prepared dinner. He was all too aware of the freezing temperature, but since his meeting with the dragon, he found that extreme temperatures didn’t bother him as much as they once had. Holding out his hand he wasn’t surprised to see a thin wisp of steam rising wherever a snowflake hit and melted.
