Road to Honor, page 1
part #4 of Federal Witch Universe Standard of Honor Series
Road to Honor
From the Standard of Honor Series
By Taki Drake
Table of Contents
Title Page
Legal Matters
Dedication
Chapter 1 - Desperate Measures
Chapter 2 – The Reason It’s Called Practice
Chapter 3 - Baba’s Kitchen Magic
Chapter 4 – A Rescue Mission
Chapter 5 – Planning is Work
Chapter 6 – Subtle Differences
Chapter 7 – There is No Place Like Home
Chapter 8 – Passage of Exploration
Chapter 9 – Traps and Attacks
Chapter 10 – Landing Zone
Chapter 11 – Dealing the Cards
Chapter 12 – Playing the Hand
Chapter 13 – Doubling Down
Chapter 14 – Catch a Breath
Chapter 15 – Goodbyes
Chapter 16 – Kismet by Any Name
Chapter 17 – Bookstore Reunion
Chapter 18 – Protect and Serve
Chapter 19 – House Hunting
Chapter 20 – Back to the Bar
Chapter 21 – Reunion
Chapter 22 – Catching Up
Chapter 23 – The Morning of a New Day
Chapter 24 – Mercenary Madness
Chapter 25 – Sorting Things Out
Chapter 26 – Gifts for Now and Later
Chapter 27 – The Road Stops Here
Author - Taki Drake
Legal Matters
Copyright © 2018 Taki Drake, All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction of any kind is strictly prohibited unless written permission is granted by the author.
The story in this publication is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Published by All Chaos Press, 2018
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my husband. His support and devotion have carried us through some pretty bad times. His ongoing belief that whatever I choose to do is the best decision at the time has enriched my life more than I can say. Thank you, John. Thank you for your love and support, and being there in my life.
It is also true that no book gets to publication without the help and encouragement of others. My heartfelt thanks to the editing, brainstorming, and cheerleading dynamic duo of Diane and Dorene. Without your feedback and efforts, I am aware that this story may never have made it to life. You have enriched my life in so many ways - there are no thanks large enough.
Finally, I want to thank the crazy, creative group of Phoenix Prime. Our interaction never fails to push me to work harder, create more compelling worlds, and explore my own imagination.
Chapter 1 - Desperate Measures
The smell of burning filled the air. It was so thick that the small female had to breathe in short gasps as the oily smoke coated the back of her throat. Everywhere she looked there was destruction. The small village had been reduced to piles of rubble and shattered walls. Nowhere was there an untouched house or store.
Fighting nausea, she scuttled through the wreckage, looking for survivors, but there were none. In fact, there were no bodies, no trails of blood, silence instead of cries and moans of pain. Just nothing.
Defeated, she turned and left the square of what had once been a small thriving village, full of interesting people that she enjoyed watching from the shadows. Wiped out as if it had never been alive and engaging.
Saddened and frightened, she slipped into the shadows and left the sad shell of previous lives behind her, carrying the evil news back to the rest of her group.
<<<>>>
It was time that they saw if the myth was real. They had come to this world through the Cold Doors, which had been considered a myth before they had actually traveled them. Perhaps the myth of a place that provided help to the desperate was true also. Tranx hoped so because he didn’t know what else to do.
“Come on everybody, if we’re going to do this we need to do it quickly. The next attack could wipe us out, and they wouldn’t even know that they were fighting us.”
A bigger male came to the front of the whispering crowd, angrily asking, “How can you be sure of that? They’ve never noticed us before, why would they attack us now?”
Tranx answered patiently, as he had been doing for the last hour, “We have been safe because we have been hidden. But if the entire area is destroyed, that type of destruction, that type of damage won’t care whether we are hidden or not. Even if they don’t deliberately wipe us out, we will still be killed. And if there are survivors, there won’t be enough food in this area to live on. We have to stop this evil now before it grows any stronger.”
“Tranx, you’re just saying that because you actually liked the humans. Not all of us care about them. Let them kill each other off, and we can stay out of it. Maybe when they’re all gone things will be quieter. We would certainly be safer.” It was another, older man that spoke. His face was set in disgruntled lines, and there is no humor in his eyes or written in the wrinkles on his face. His dislike for the younger man was evident in his facial expressions and body posture. This was not a friend to Tranx.
“This is nothing to do with my like or dislike of other races. It has to do with the survival of our group, and since that is what I am tasked to ensure, we are going to pursue the strategy that I have set out.”
The man stamped his feet and raised his voice to almost a shout, “This is irresponsible. It wastes time and endangers people that you have no right to place in such a dangerous situation. You were voted in over many of our objections, and you could just as easily be voted out.”
Tranx responded calmly, saying, “When the next election comes up, Marv, you are welcome to ensure that I do not have another term. Until then, though, I am in charge, and we are going to do this.”
Turning his back on the still fuming man, the young leader checked the few people that were going with him before saying to the woman who clung to his side, “Mita, I am entrusting everyone’s general welfare to you. Don’t let the problem makers get out of control if you can help it. You know who to call on if you need assistance and I hope not to be gone very long.”
The young woman tried to keep a smile on her face, but her sadness and nervousness showed through in the tremble of her mouth and the suspicious moisture in her eyes. “Do not worry about anything. I will manage things here just fine, and we will all be waiting for you when you come back. Just be careful on your trip. We will all hold good thoughts for your success.”
Quirking his ear, Tranx asked, “All?”
Many of those around the young man laughed out loud. Taking that shared humor for the gift that it was, Tranx gathered his party with a glance, and they set off through the forest, skirting the edge of the path. They had a short distance to go before they could see if the myth was real, but the young leader knew that there was no time to waste.
<<<>>>
The journey to the cave had been swift, and they hadn’t dawdled. It was second nature to all of them to slip through the shadows of the forest, keeping to cover and alert for any other creature or being in their area. Tranx was pleased with the three that he had chosen to go with him. They were all calm individuals with good fighting skills and wise enough to know when not to fight.
He hoped that they would all survive this trip, but all he had to go on was a dimly remembered myth, a tale told to him by his grandfather of the days before the Cold Doors.
Tranx knew that he was desperate, but sometimes desperation pushed you into doing something that you should have done anyway. He just hoped that he had correctly read this situation.
They were at the mouth of the cave and paused for a moment to stare into the dim interior. Tranx knew that this was probably his last chance to abort his strategy, but with no other option, he felt pushed to try it. Taking a deep breath and squaring his small shoulders, the young leader marched determinedly through the dark entrance into the cave.
The abrupt change from sunny day to the darkness and damp of the cave was disorienting. Tranx could hear his companions as their steps stuttered and their progress slowed. He held his breath, waiting to see if any of them would flee, but he had chosen well. None of them ran, and after a moment all of their steps resumed the earlier pace forward, as they moved deeper into the cave.
The darkness was almost complete when Tranx called a halt and fumbled for the lamp in his pack. Relying on his sense of touch, he lit it carefully. The weak light that it produced was bright in the thick darkness.
Tranx could feel his own muscles relax a little bit as the dim illumination created a cocoon of illusionary safety around them. He heard sighs of relief from his companions but chose not to comment. After all, they were frightened but still moving forward. Bravery didn’t mean having no fear, it meant you went on even when you were afraid.
Moving onward again was what they did. His companions’ steps were a little more assured with the guidance of the light and Tranx held it steady in his hand and out to one side so that there were fewer stubbed toes and tripping.
From the back of the group, Tranx heard Nidji’s voice asking in a whisper, “How will we know if we are going in the right direction?”
Reptek’s sarcastic rejoinder was, “If it’s the right direction, we will get there.”
The nervous laugh that skittered around the four of them died out, leaving echoes of their amusement to chase them down the empty passage. The repetition fractured as the sound waves bounced off the cave walls, stalactites, and stalagmites adding to the intimidating nature of their environment.
Tranx kept his eyes resolutely away from the tooth-like pillars all around him, straining his vision to try to detect danger on their path ahead. He was so focused on where they were going that he missed the rise of the fog that made the cavern walls disappear and muffled their footsteps.
The encroaching cloud had narrowed their pathway down to a small tunnel when the party recognized the cruel nature of the fog surrounding them. They each reacted in typical ways.
Nidji and Reptek made exclamations of unease and disbelief but moved confidently together. Tranx heard no complaint from Narumi, who continued to act as if there was nothing unusual in the oily, thick fog that clung to the walls and seemed to reach spectral fingers as they moved past it.
Tranx didn’t want to voice any comment, as if speaking would give the mist more presence and power. The cloud felt to him as if there were millions of eyes staring out of its depths, angry and hungry. He was frightened. More than that, he was terrified. His determination was carrying him through, but if they didn’t find what they were looking for, he wasn’t sure if they would be able to walk back through this fog and find a way out.
The four Hidden Folk kept going, seeming to walk forever. Their small light was a beacon of hope, something that kept the fog from totally consuming them. The longer the walk lasted, the closer they walked together. Taking comfort from each other’s presence, they also reacted unconsciously with a posture of defense.
At first, Tranx thought that the small lamp in his hand had gotten brighter. Looking down in his surprise, he realized that it had actually sputtered out. Spinning around, he could dimly see his companions and realized something shocking. A strong spurt of terror slammed into his heart and caused it to race when he saw that the fog was creeping closer. Turning again to look forward in burgeoning panic, he saw what he had thought was the light from his lamp was a different source of illumination, and it was just a short distance ahead of them.
Without conscious thought, the young man started to quicken his pace. He felt his companions keeping up with him, almost crowding on his heels. Tranx could sense the hair on the back of his neck crinkle in warning as the dark fog chased them down the tunnel.
The group moved forward quickly now. As they got closer, the light resolved into two sources, subtly different in color but far larger than Tranx’s lamp had been. They were positioned high up and substantial in size. The lights were well over his head, but they provided enough guidance that he and his companions moved without hesitation toward them.
Getting even closer, the small Hidden Folk leader could make out more details and saw that there were two lamps affixed to a brick wall on either side of a large door. His pulse began to race, and his breath came more rapidly. Calling out, Tranx said, “There’s a door! And there are lights beside it.”
Someone behind him caught their breath and gasped with a sound that could have been a sob. Once again, the party quickened their pace until they were almost running, desperate to reach the door and the promised safety of the light.
At last, they were at the lit door, staring in bemusement at the massive door. There was a handle that could be used for entry, but it was well over their heads. Reptek asked, “How are we going to get it opened?”
Before Tranx or anyone else could answer or make a suggestion, they found that there was no reason to inquire. Slowly, the door opened by itself. Swinging away from them, it revealed an entry into a large room.
Fear of the fog drove them through the doorway without planning and without caution. Tumbling over each other in a rush of limbs and clattering shoes, they burst into the room and felt the door close gently behind them. The snick of the latch was loud in the suddenly quiet chamber.
The sound of the closing barrier released them from the tension that had driven them forward for the last hour. Like puppets with the strings abruptly cut, they collapsed onto the floor gasping. Tranx buried his face in his hands, drawing breaths in shuddering inhalations. Dimly, he felt someone settle onto the floor beside him.
Thinking it was one of his own party, he looked up only to be caught by the eyes of a human female who had settled onto the floor in a crouch. The woman wasn’t very large, and her position meant that her eyes were almost level with his. Staring at her in stunned relief, the young man heard her say, “Welcome to the Badger Hole Bar. My name is Wynn, and I’m the waitress here. How can we help you?”
Chapter 2 – The Reason It’s Called Practice
Whack! The force of the air slammed Zhanna back against a rock outcropping in the open practice area. “Ooofff,” punched from her lungs, as she was flung back several feet and tumbled to lie gasping on the ground.
Cheers resounded, and there was the sound of people clapping. Slightly cross-eyed from the impact, Zhanna looked up at the smiling faces around her and managed to force speech through her scratchy throat, “Thanks so much for the applause. I’m glad that you are all finding this entertaining.”
Mikhail was laughing as he came over to give her a hand. Reaching down, the younger of her two mercenary command staff extended his hand and pulled her to her feet. Managing to slow his guffaws down to a manageable level, he said, “I have to admit that the result was wonderful but the entertaining part was watching you forget to anchor. The arc of your flight away from the force of the impact was priceless. You might want to consider a slightly different way of channeling the momentum that you’re shielding the next time. Unless, of course, you like to be thrown around?”
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Zhanna was dusting herself off, trying to remove some of the more obvious clumps of dirt and sand that clung to her clothing as she used her mental bond to respond to the small black cat that was her Familiar.
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The young Witch gave up trying to improve her appearance and straightened up. She was surrounded by grinning spectators that ranged from very small Hidden Folk to her mercenary companions. Several of the Folk were excitedly pointing in the direction of her spell focus, so she turned around to see what had gotten them so energized.
The scene that met her startled gaze surprised even her. She had been trying to decipher one of the more difficult spells in a book that she had gotten from Blagogarsk the last time she visited. The casting that she had attempted would allow her to stop something that was rushing toward her and channel the force of that collision into the surrounding area.
To test her and help improve her control, several friends had pushed a large stone over the edge of one of the surrounding cliffs. It had come crashing down at her, and the danger of its advance and her emotional reaction had caused her to hurry her spell.
Forgetting to properly anchor herself to the underlying earth had only been one of the mistakes she made. She could see that and was upset at what she viewed as her stupidity.
The other mistake was evident in the condition not only of the boulder that she was trying to block but the debris that was thrown all over the area after the spell was cast. It illustrated how unplanned castings could cause consequences worse than the original problem.
The boulder that had been launched at her had been slightly larger than 8 feet in diameter. That size, coupled with the speed at which it traveled, had thrown the Witch off her planned actions and caused her to hurry. The situation had presented an extremely credible threat, one that was so believable that Zhanna had forgotten all of her lessons.
