Haven Keep (Book 1) (30 page)

Something pulled at his mind.  Faster.  He needed to move faster.  His mind was not his own.  It belonged to something else.  Kaiden slipped in the snow.  His face hit hard on a jagged rock.  He paid it no mind.  On he went.

“We have to catch him!”

The other side of a large outcropping of rocks revealed an opening in the side of the mountain.  In there.  He must get in there.   He could hear the dog getting closer.   There were footsteps behind him. Kaiden stepped into the cave.  It was an enormous hole in the mountain.

“Kaiden!  Don’t go in there!”

The moonlight bathed the opening in an eery light.  Something moved in the back of the cave.  Something horribly familiar.  Fear seized him.  He inched closer.  The thing in the shadows waited for him.

“Come to me,” it hissed.  The sound in his ears matched the one in his mind.

“Come a little closer.”  Kaiden felt he was running in water.  “Yes, you are the one,” the voice hissed.

Bo dashed past Kaiden, leaped for the creature’s throat.  The creature beat the dog back with his hand.  Bo let out a yelp, tumbling to the cave floor.

Kaiden stared into its face.  He remembered those eyes.  Filled with hatred.  The vyr towered over him.  It was a giant, covered in thick hair.   Sheer terror gripped Kaiden’s breast.  In a moment it would tear into him with deadly claws.  Kaiden welcomed it.  That was the reason he had come. 

Instantly the cave was filled with fire light.  Men with torches.  There was shouting and screaming.  Kaiden ignored it.  There was just him and the voice in his head.  He was compelled to obey it.

Something knocked him to the ground.  He had to get up.   There was too much weight on him.

“Hold him down.”

“Don’t let him up.”

Bo was growling.  Kaiden heard his jaws snap.  There was an inhuman scream.  More screaming.  He had to get up.  Another yelp.

“It’s cornered.  Don’t let it get away.”

“Erc!  Look out!”

Suddenly Kaiden was free.  He could see the men fighting the vyr.  There was Erc and Thad.  Oded and Tostig.  Morten and Raul.  Bo lay in a heap at one corner.  Another man lay nearby. 
Why were they fighting it?

Kaiden stepped closer. It was no longer calling to him, but he still felt a strong urge, enforced by an after thought.  He could remember the voice in his head.  He still wanted to obey.  He knew that was foolishness.  He stood there frozen.  Watching the fray.

The beast took hold of Tostig’s spear and flung him against the wall.  Its huge paws lashed out.  Erc went down with a deafening scream.  

Kaiden could see the cave in the glow of the torch light, the rear of it opened into nothingness.  Behind the vyr a faint glimmer of light reflected off a wall of bones.  Kaiden knew this place.  The back of the cave dropped off into forever.

Raul was next to meet the creatures wrath.  He groaned in blood and spit, hitting the cave floor.  Thad was sent sprawling across the ground.

Suddenly another man appeared in the cave.  The newcomer faced the vyr as if the thing were just another man, an old opponent that would finally be dealt with.  Kaiden knew that man.

Soren.

What was Soren doing here?

Morten and Oded tried to fend off the vicious claws of the vyr.  Soren ignored the danger and bounded at the beast, sword in hand.  He and the creature tumbled to the ground.  The vyr slashed at him.  Bit with his jaws.  Soren hacked and stabbed.  Kaiden watched it in slow motion, powerless to move.

Soren and the beast were back on their feet, facing each other in a dance of death.  Soren leaped once again.  The beast was too slow.  Soren slammed his sword into the vyr’s chest.   The blade sunk to the hilt.  Soren twisted with his might.  A scream of agony and protest pierced Kaiden’s ears, an inhuman sound that rose over the tumult of the cave. Vyr and man crashed as one  to the rocky ground, hitting with bone jarring force, still slashing, stabbing, clawing, kicking.  Soren and the beast slid and rolled, too close to the edge.  Man and beast fought desperately for precious life.  Tostig and Morten tried in vain to reach Soren, to pull him off the vyr.  They were too late.  A mass of fur, steel, blood and man tumbled over the edge.  Soren and the beast twisted through the air in a death thrall and were lost to the darkness below.  The vyr’s scream echoed in the chasm.   Kaiden felt the life drain out of the strange creature, felt it die.  In an instant his mind was his again.

Once again he was alone with his thoughts, the thing was gone.  So was Soren.

 
              “Is everyone alive?”  Oded struggled to his feet. 

Kaiden looked around.  The cave was a bloody mess.  Oded , Tostig, and Morten were all on their feet.  Thad slowly picked himself up.  No one else was moving.  And never would again.  Even Bo lay lifeless.  Tears filled Kaiden’s eyes.  

“I’m sorry.”  Kaiden truly was.

Oded tried to be comforting.  “It was not your fault.”

“Ow,” Thad grimaced.  “I think my arm’s broke.”

“Be glad if that is all that is wrong with you.”  Morten’s voice was unsympathetic.  “We lost some good men tonight.  My cousin included.”  He stared blankly at the cave wall.  Obviously he had been affected more than he wanted to let on.  “Who was that man?  He appeared out of nowhere.”

Oded and Tostig looked to Kaiden for an explanation.

“His name was Soren.  He was one of my men.”  A stab of guilt pierced Kaiden’s heart.  Not a single man he’d brought on this hunt now survived.  Not even a single dog.  He could never lead the north.  Never.

“He was a good man.”  Morten finally sounded sympathetic.   “He gave his life for ours.”

Kaiden would remember that.  Soren died so others could live.  So he could live.  The vyr wanted him and these men saved his life once again.  He owed them now more than he could ever repay.  If it were up to him the north would be Oded’s to command until the Horde was sent back to whatever abyss it came from.

More men now poured into the cave, poised and ready to do murder. 

Oded waved them down.  “Put your spears away.  It is done.”  He motioned around the cave.  “We need to give these men a proper burial.”

The newcomers jumped as if given specific orders.   The bodies were soon covered and laid on stretchers much like the one used to carry Coen.  Kaiden carried Bo himself.  The dog had saved his life.  Slowed the vyr long enough for Oded and the others to arrive.

The walk back to camp was silent, the mood grim.   Kaiden was again left alone with his thoughts, blessedly alone.  He wondered if he would ever forget the invasion into his mind.  He shook his head trying to rid his mind of the thought, but the memory remained.

Camp was a joyous sight.  For some reason it felt safer to Kaiden now than it did this afternoon. Kaiden finally decided he could trust these men.  He no longer doubted.  He knew Oded still kept back secrets, but Kaiden would trust him.  His mind was clear on that, if not on anything else. 

Tomorrow he could start for home.  Someday, when he was an old man, he would have stories to tell that would give the young girls nightmares.  The boys would pretend not to believe and the young men would openly scoff.   Kaiden smiled to himself sadly.  He couldn’t do anything to bring Soren back, but he could at least make sure Soren would be remembered.  It was a small thing to do for the man who saved his life.  His story would be told, and maybe someday he would even become a legend.

Chapter Eighteen

The camp packed up with the quickness and efficiency  Kaiden was beginning to expect from Oded and his men.  Maybe even a little faster than normal. No one wanted to stay longer than needed.  Kaiden didn’t blame them, he didn’t want to remain longer than necessary either.  Before long the whole encampment was on the move.

Traveling down the mountain took less time than climbing, but the going was still slow.  The rocky switchbacks were treacherous to a horse, and just as treacherous to any man riding that horse.  Consequently Oded was in no hurry and Rove kept up easily.  His steady footing put Kaiden at ease.  Well, at least at ease as he could be.  Kaiden was relieved to have his faculties returned, but there was a lingering memory in the back of his consciousness, one he couldn’t shake.   He knew he was alone again with his thoughts.  The vyr was dead.  He was sure of that.  He felt the life drain out of it and  the connection between the vyr and his mind was gone at that same moment.

Kaiden rode in silence.  He occasionally felt a jolt of pain when Rove stepped down a steep embankment.  The pain reminded him of Soren. And Donnell, Biv, Ralf, Lester, even the dogs.  Especially Bo.  Kaiden felt responsible for their deaths.  They were in his charge.  He failed them.  They were all good men.  Soren foremost. 

Kaiden could sense Tostig was a little embarrassed Soren was able to trail them.  Soren apparently had stayed outside the camp for days, undetected.  Kaiden did not know why Soren did not make himself known.  He must not have trusted these men.  Kaiden understood that.  He did not trust them at first either.  He was finally sure they were being truthful to him about their cause.  Kaiden was now convinced it was his own cause as well.  They would stand united against the Horde. Without an alliance of some sort the north would fall prey to the Horde, just as the south did so many years ago. 

Kaiden was sure his father would agree.  He’d said as much before Kaiden left on this disastrous hunt.  His father wouldn’t take much convincing, but the other chiefs might.  Those men didn’t always agree with one another and didn’t exactly enjoy taking orders from the Lord of Azmark, but most should listen to reason.

Cray of the Halfen was another story.  He was a dangerous and ambitious man.  The Halfen didn’t help before and probably wouldn’t volunteer support now.  Maybe the North would not need the Halfen if Oded possessed a force as large as he claimed.  Kaiden had never seen that many fighting men in one place.  He wasn’t sure he could even imagine it. 
How could they be hiding unnoticed in the mountains?
  If there actually were that many men they would not stay hidden for long.

They rode down the mountain, picking their way through the snow covered firs and pines, the crunch of the horse’s hooves on the icy snow breaking the peace of the forest. A somber mood  hung over the grim procession.  That was how Kaiden imagined it.  A solemn funeral procession.  The men didn’t stay long enough to dig proper graves in this frozen earth, so the
bodies of their companions were carried on horseback to meet with the main party.  The only things missing were the drums and pipes playing a mournful dirge.  Kaiden silently sang one in his head.

The evergreens became more sparse and were gradually replaced by oaks.  That alone told Kaiden they had descended below an elevation where the snows would remain for most of the summer.  The large oaks spread their branches overhead creating a canopy and obscuring the sky.  Kaiden could no longer see the Emerald Sea, nor the Ocean Deep to the west.  He would be home in another couple days, maybe less.  He had mixed feelings about that.  Kaiden longed to be there, but knew he would have to tell his father why he returned alone, something he was not looking forward to.

The trees ahead began to open up and Kaiden could see people moving about behind the cover of the forest.  The forest continued to thin then opened into a meadow filled with people, tents, and horses.  This must be the main group.  They were much closer than Kaiden had thought.

Kaiden followed Tostig into the meadow.  The mountain clearing spread wide to the north and south, narrowing through the middle.  Kaiden scanned the view in front of him in amazement.  The meadow was populated by a small city.  There were people everywhere.  Smiths and tailors and artisans of all kinds, with shops right along side stables and tents.  Most were busily about their daily chores.  Kaiden could even hear the familiar ring of hammer on anvil.  Children were playing everywhere, dashing in and out of the makeshift shops, running along the paths and trails between the tents.  Oded had not exaggerated, nor had he told the entire story.  There were thousands here, and not just an army of fighting men.  This was a whole culture, a people transplanted from another place, living here as if they had always belonged.

Oded’s men were received with greetings and cheers.  Oded and Tostig stopped to say hello to a few then kept moving.  Kaiden followed them closely.  He didn’t want to become lost or separated.  Most of the group began to peel off and go their separate ways.  It seemed they all had somewhere to go or someone they wanted to see.  Soon Kaiden was alone with Oded and Tostig.  The three continued moving along and Kaiden nodded politely to those who looked at him curiously.  Most nodded back.  Some of the children gawked and pointed.  He supposed he must look very strange to them.

Kaiden followed the two men to the center of the camp.  At least what appeared to be the center.  He couldn’t tell for sure since it was impossible to see from one end to the other.  Oded and Tostig finally stopped in front of a large tent.  They dismounted and two young boys ran up, took hold of their horses’ reigns and began leading them off.  Kaiden followed suit.  Another young boy looked askance at Oded.  Oded nodded and the boy took hold of Rove’s reigns and followed after the two other boys.  Kaiden let Rove go.  It wasn’t like he was leaving soon and Rove could use some attention.

This must be Oded’s tent
.  Kaiden wondered how powerful a man he was to have servants to take care of his horses.  Oded parted the tent flap and walked inside.  Tostig followed.  Kaiden did not want to be left outside alone.  He pushed open the flap and followed on Tostig’s heels.   Kaiden stepped through the opening and into a small room.  The tent was divided into separate areas.  Two guards stood in front of a hanging tapestry that divided the small room from the rest of the tent.  One of them spoke.

“My lord is not here sir, I will tell the lady you have arrived.”  He ducked through the tapestry.

I guess this isn’t Oded’s tent,
Kaiden thought.

Moments later the guard reappeared. “The lady will see you now.”