Haven Keep (Book 1) (35 page)

“I did too.   We hunted it for days.  Then it began hunting us.  It went after the dogs at first,  then took Lester.”  Kaiden didn’t know how much he should tell, how much Von would believe.  “The men began thinking of it as a demon or a wraith.  Some kind of monster, a scourge come to life from legend.  Soren said he had seen it before.  He called it a vyr.”

“A vyr?  Those are just stories.”

“That’s what I thought, but I saw it myself.  Saw what it could do.”  Kaiden left out having his mind invaded, taken over by that thing.  “If Oded and his men hadn’t happened upon us, we would all have died.”  Oded hadn’t actually happened upon them, he had tracked them, almost from the time they’d left Azmark.  “They saved my life at least twice.  Soren finally killed the thing, but was killed himself.”

Von didn’t say a word.  Kaiden wanted him to say something.  Anything.  Something to let him know at least Von believed him.  Finally Von sat down next to Kaiden.  He winced a little from his sore muscles.  Kaiden would have laughed under different circumstances.  The two young men just sat there in silence for a while.  Kaiden had never actually properly mourned his men.  No one had.  He tried to stop the tears, but they came anyway.  He didn’t want Von to see him like this, to know he was a failure.

“It’s alright, Kaiden, it wasn’t your fault.”

Kaiden looked up and saw Von standing over him with an outstretched hand to help him up.  There was a tear glistening in the corner of Von’s eye.  Maybe Von did understand.

“Come on, let’s go.  We have wasted enough time already.”

Kaiden grasped Von’s hand and pulled himself up.  Von was right.  They had wasted enough time.  The horses were rested enough from their long run.  They should get going.

“You know,” Von said, “there were troubles at home while you were gone too.”

“You mean Roren and Jordy?  Yeah, my father told me.  I knew those Halfen were no good, but I did not expect this from them.  Nothing so blatant and obvious.”

Von didn’t say anything else.  What else could be said?  Maybe some things were better left unspoken.

“Remember when we used to explore caves as kids?”  Kaiden asked.  Von just nodded
and Kaiden continued.  “We used to fantasize about having adventures, hunting demons in the Rift and fighting dragons.”

Von smiled.  “Yeah, we did spend a lot of time in those caves.”

Kaiden sighed.  He remembered exploring the caves down by the shores of the fjord.  The cave paintings always made him dream of having adventures of his own.

“I always thought it would be different.  More exciting.  Not like this.  Those cave paintings always looked so inspiring.  More majestic.  I don’t think I am much of an adventurer.”

Von laughed.  “That remains to be seen.  At any rate we won’t get much adventuring done sitting around here.”

Kaiden went to his horse and checked its’ hooves.  A run like that could cause potential problems.  “Who do you think painted those cave scenes anyway?”

“I don’t know.  I thought we agreed they were from the time of the Dragon Lords.”

“Yeah, but that was just boyhood fantasy.  I doubt they are older than a couple hundred winters.”  Kaiden was a little disappointed.  Disappointed his boyhood fantasies would never come true, disappointed he did not turn out to be the grand adventurer he always dreamed he would be.  Oh well, he needed to grow up some day.  True life wasn’t like dreams.

“Hey, what’s that,” Von pointed up toward the hills.  There were riders, barely visible over the crest of the hill, obscured by the trees.  “Who do you think it is?”

“I don’t know, but they know we’ve seen them.  Next time don’t point.”

“Oh, sorry.”

“We need to be careful, they could be Halfen.”

“I counted at least six,” Von said.  “How many did you count?”

“About the same.  There could be more.  I’m glad you brought the dogs.   They will warn us of anyone approaching.”

The two men mounted and rode in silence.  Both kept their eyes open.  They traveled in a direction away from the riders, but that didn’t mean those men would not follow.

“Do you think it was men from the south?”  Von asked. 

“Possibly,” Kaiden answered, “but we don’t have time to find out.   We have a long ride ahead, and I don’t think I am going to sleep well until we get back home.”

“I’m going to sleep like a rock,” Von said.

Kaiden thought if Von knew what was out there, what could invade his nightmares, he wouldn’t count on sleeping at all.

Chapter Twenty-One

Von ached.  His sore muscles throbbed with every motion, making even simple morning tasks uncomfortable.  Every part of his body felt bruised, any movement at all was painful.  His back protested every time he bent or twisted.   He must have slept on at least twenty rocks.  His limbs cramped from overuse and his stomach still felt empty.

Kaiden was enjoying Von’s discomfort, telling him he moved like an old man and slept later than one.  Von couldn’t help it.  Last night was the first full night of sleep he had in at least five days.  His first sleep at all, if you didn’t count the few hours yesterday morning before Kaiden barged into the forge.  He still didn’t know exactly what day it was.  If he asked Kaiden he knew he would just get more razzing.

Whatever Kaiden was cooking on the breakfast fire smelled wonderful.  Von’s stomach growled again.  He was reminded dinner last night was the first real meal he’d eaten in a long time.  He meant to make up for it.

“I hope you don’t take this long to wake up every morning,” Kaiden said.  “I don’t plan on being your maid for the next week or so.”

“I’m just sore.  Just need to get my muscles moving, then I’ll be alright.”

“What did you think you were doing working that hard, days on end just to forge a sword?   I know for a fact you’ve already made numerous swords just like that one.  With the money my father gave you, you could have just bought one back from Berkler.”

“I wanted my own,” Von said.  “I made this one especially for myself.”  Von handled the hilt again.  He wondered if Kaiden thought he was a little weird for having slept with the scabbard still buckled at his waist.  Most men slept with their swords next to them when they traveled in the open country, but not buckled to their hip.  Von didn’t want to take any chances. 
Who knew what those men they’d seen yesterday were up to?

His sword possessed a different feel than the dagger at his hip.  He was filled with excitement when he forged the dagger, excitement at the possibility of solving the riddle of the strange alloy and the mystery of the power that often overcame him as he worked.  The dagger had been made with precision and speed, he was exhilarated as he worked.  Those qualities were somehow absorbed by the dagger.  The sword was different.  More menacing.  He tried to infuse the same qualities from the dagger into the sword and had succeeded in some degree.  But there was something more to the sword.  Maybe it came from his reason for forging the blade.  His desire to see justice done to those who wronged him, murdered his family, destroyed his homeland.  There was determination and tenacity permeating through the blade.  He could feel the attributes when he touched the sword.  He wondered if others could to feel the same, or if it was because he’d been the one to forge the weapon.  There was something additional within the blade.  Something that disturbed him slightly, scared him just a little.  He could feel his desire for vengeance in the sword.  It was sometimes hard to sense, but it was there, an undercurrent to every other aspect of the weapon.

Von moved slowly.  The faster he proceeded the more his muscles hurt.  He needed time to rest, but time was something he did not have.  From what Kaiden told him, the war might be coming to the north faster than anyone originally expected.  Then there was the Halfen that still needed to be dealt with.  Those traitors had already made one ploy for power and were not going to give up easily. 

Von took a seat next to Kaiden on the fallen tree they had used for a makeshift shelter in the night.  If there was one thing the men of the north knew, it was how to survive in the elements.  They could build a shelter out of almost anything.  Considering his physical condition, Von had actually slept very comfortably last night.  The temperature dropped well below freezing, yet he had barely noticed.  As tired as he was, he could probably have slept like a dead man, no matter where he laid down.

“What are we eating,” Von asked.

“Rabbit,” Kaiden answered, “and some tubers Tostig gave me.”

“Smells good.”  Von helped himself.  It was nice to get some food into his belly.  He knew if he wanted his strength to return he needed to eat to replenish it.  He wolfed it down as fast as he could.

“Slow down.  You know our food is going to have to last for a week or so.”

“We have dogs,” Von mumbled in between shoving more food in his mouth.  He didn’t care if Kaiden could understand him or not.  “We can hunt up some more.”

“Yeah, but don’t choke on it.”

Von chuckled and finished off his breakfast.  It was time to get going.  The horses were soon saddled and ready to go.  Isk and Jen seemed anxious to get started.  They were wary about something, and that made Von just a little nervous.

They picked their way along the ridge line of a hill for the better part of the morning.  The hill was nearly large enough to be called a mountain, but compared to the peaks in the east, it wasn’t considered tall at all.  The ridge was covered in trees, but every once in a while they would break out into a clearing and could see the valley below in the west, and the Iron Mountains to the northeast.

The mountains stabbed into the sky.  Their jagged peaks a mystery to Von, stark black and white against the blue of the sky, covered in a blanket of perpetual snow.  They were an enigma waiting to be explored, waiting to be discovered.

The day stretched on and the sun climbed across the sky.  Kaiden and Von climbed too.  Closer and closer to the mountains.  Closer to Haven Keep.   Closer to a goal that itself was a mystery.  Von had no idea what they were going to find, no idea what they were even looking for.  He wasn’t sure Kaiden knew either. 

Von turned again to look down at the valley and across the Emerald Sea.  It was a beautiful sight.  He could see all of Azmark and more.  The Great Hall appeared to be a tiny building, the outer walls of the city the fenced enclosure of a farmers field.    Further north were the docks of the Kragen Clan and their little fishing villages.  The plains of the Orlenc clan that were green in the spring and golden brown in the summer were now covered with the early snows.  Von spotted something else down in the valley.  This time he did not point.

“I think we are being followed.”

Kaiden stiffened in his saddle. “What?”

“I think it’s those men we saw yesterday.  They are following in the valley at the foot of the hills.”

Kaiden didn’t look.   He kept his eyes forward so the men would not realize they’d been noticed.

“Keep riding until we reach that next clump of trees,” Kaiden said, “then we’ll double back on the other side of the hill and come up behind them.  Maybe we’ll be able to find out who they are.”

Von was glad  Kaiden believed him without seeing the men himself.

They moved along the ridge until they reached the next group of evergreens.  The thick branches hid them from any watching eyes down in the valley. 

Kaiden dismounted inside the cover of the trees then crept back through the branches and underbrush, keeping himself hidden.  He crouched behind a large shrub and surveyed the valley floor.  Von did the same, but the men he’d seen were no longer visible.

“Where did you see them?”

“They were down there.”  This time Von did point.  He was covered by the brush and figured it didn’t matter.  “If they kept moving they would probably be to that point there by now.”  He pointed again. “But, I can’t see them anymore.”

“I see something,” Kaiden said.  “There, by the trees.”

“Yes, that’s them.  It looks like at least a eight men.”  Von wondered what a group that size was doing out here.  “And that’s just the ones we can see.”

“Well do you want to try to lose them, or double back?”

“If we double back we will lose another day.  I don’t think they will gain on us if they are trying to remain unseen. Then again, they are already close enough to attack us in the night.”

“So we double back?”

“Let’s wait until night fall, then double back,” Von suggested.  “Maybe we can observe them while they camp.  They won’t be expecting it, and we’ll get a closer look at who they are.”

“I like your thinking,” Kaiden agreed.  “Let’s get moving.  We still have a few hours of daylight and we can cover a few more leagues.  I think as the sun begins to set we should try to lose them so they don’t observe us doubling back.  We have to be careful they don’t realize what we’re up to.”

Von followed Kaiden back to the horses, keeping low and trying not to be seen.  If they were seen, it would not only ruin their plan, but those men might instantly become more dangerous.  As long as the men believed they were still hidden they would feel safe.  If they knew they’d been spotted, who knows what they would do.  Whoever they were, Von was sure they weren’t friendly.  If they were, they wouldn’t have made such an effort to remain hidden.  He suspected the men were Halfen.   In that were the case, Von would not think twice about ending their lives.  To him the Halfen were traitors.  They deserved a traitor’s fate.

Von and Kaiden mounted and continued to travel as if nothing were different.  Every few minutes Von sneaked a peek to make sure the men were still there.  He unconsciously  fingered his sword hilt again.  He almost welcomed a confrontation.  Let them come.

“I think we should pick up the pace,” Kaiden suggested.  “We should try to get more distance between us so they don’t know when we turn around.”

Von answered by spurring his horse.  He continued to follow Kaiden up the slow rising slope.  They were in the base of the mountains now, traveling nearly east, no longer following the ridge of the foot hills.  The terrain was rockier in the mountains and the trees more sparse.

The grade increased sharply and climbing became difficult.  Kaiden led Von in a series of switchbacks, their trail crisscrossing the slope. The horses sent rocks tumbling down the incline.  Von risked another backward glance.  The men trailing them would need to start climbing soon or they could not continue to follow.  When those men did start climbing they would have to risk being seen.