Haven Keep (Book 1) (39 page)

Kaiden sped through the trees like a mad man.  He only released Von’s reigns when he knew Von was not going to try to make him stop.  Von did his best to keep up, chasing hard after Kaiden.  Isk and Jen followed closely behind, their massive paws acting as snow shoes.  At least Von didn’t have to worry about them. The horses were another story.  This kind of pace through this terrain was going to break a leg on one of the horses, or even worse, Kaiden or he could be thrown to their death.

“Kaiden, we have to slow down,” Von called.  The icy wind bit at his exposed skin and drowned out his voice.  “This isn’t safe!”

Kaiden didn’t slow.  Von spurred his horse harder.  He needed to catch Kaiden.   He ducked and dodged low lying limbs, urging his horse on.  Still Kaiden remained ahead.  The tree limbs scraped at Von’s face and arms.  He did his best to dodge the thicker branches.  Keeping low to the horses neck he raced forward.  Kaiden darted to the right around a large tree.  Von took the low side, around the left.  The men emerged on the opposite side of the tree side by side, both in full gallop.  Von reached for Kaidens’s reigns.  His hand caught only air.  His momentum carried him sideways  nearly out of his saddle.  He caught hold of his pommel, narrowly preventing him from falling to the forest floor.  His horse never missed a step, matching Kaiden’s hazardous speed.  He gripped his reigns, steadied himself, then pulled his body back upright.  This was madness.  They would escape the Halfen and the vyr only to kill themselves in this death race.  He maneuvered closer to Kaiden.  This time his hand caught hold of the leather reigns.   He jerked hard.  The horses reared, nearly throwing their riders, then came to a halt.  The mounts breathed heavily and danced sideways, anxious to be moving again.  Von held the reigns tight.

“What are you doing?”  Kaiden tried to pull his horse’s reigns out of Von’s hands.  “We have to get out of here.”

“I know,” Von tried to sound as level headed as he could.  “But this is going to kill us.”

Kaiden took a deep breath.  “Okay, but we have to keep moving.  We can’t stop.”

“I’m not arguing with that.  Let’s just do it without breaking someone’s neck.”  Von tossed the reigns back to Kaiden.  “Let’s go.”

Von took the lead this time, keeping a good pace, but still slower than a trot.  He hoped his friend could keep his head.  If they were unable to continue to think rationally they could easily lose their lives.  Kaiden normally saw reason very easily.  He just needed a little help right now.  Maybe he needed time to come to grips with what occurred on the hunting expedition.  Von would watch him close, keep him safe until he regained his composer.

It was getting darker, the wind was still howling, spinning the snow into cyclones, and the ground was not exactly level.  Von was not about to let his fears force him to travel faster.  Kaiden would just have to be satisfied that they were still moving.  They wove through the trees and around the dark rock formations that dotted the Iron mountains.  The snow piled high in drifts, sometimes covering the trees, burying and bending them under enormous amounts of weight.  These mountains bent or broke many unwary travelers.  Von couldn’t let that happen now, not since finally being made free, not since hearing of Oded’s and Tostig’s survival, not since his triumph in the forge.  His hand went to his sword, then to Anora’s lock of hair.

The night was split with screams.  Unnatural screams, echoing the horror of Von’s worst nightmares.  Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to move a little faster.

“Should we go back?” Kaiden asked.

“What do you mean?  What for?”  Von didn’t know where Kaiden had regained his courage from.

“I know they are Halfen, but no one deserves to die that way.”

“If anyone deserves to die that way, they do.”  The Halfen were traitors.  They deserved to be put on pikes.  Von would see to it that they all were, every last one of them.  “They deserve it, Kaiden.  They deserve it!”

“We could kill it.  Soren did.”

“And died for it.”

“He died from the fall into the Rift, not from the vyr.  He put his sword through the thing’s heart  and pushed it off the edge.  They both fell, but the vyr died from Soren’s sword, not from the fall.  I could feel that through whatever mind link it had on me.”

“That was one vyr.   There are at least four back there.”

“Four!?”

“At least.  There were three more near the jagged rock formation.  It was lucky for us we didn’t stay there.”

“You saw them?”

Von nodded.  He didn’t think he needed to explain further.  Kaiden had more experience with these creatures.  Von was sure Kaiden felt the same terror that he did.  But, no matter how strong their fear, they needed to keep their emotions under control, keep calm, keep their wits about them.

More screams pierced the night.  

“Let’s go,” Von said.

He spurred his horse on, doing his best not to panic and start his horse galloping again.  Kaiden followed.  There was somewhere they needed to be.  Baiden claimed they needed what was in Haven Keep. Von was not going to let the Halfen or some demon from legend keep him from it.  They continued weaving through the trees and navigating around the large rocks and boulders.  Von felt his eyelids begin to sag.  He was exhausted.  The horses must feel the same.  This pace could kill them.

“We need to rest the horses,” Von announced, and dismount.

Kaiden dismounted too.  “Just a half hour or so.  We can’t rest for the night this close to the vyr.”

Von was tired.  Dead tired.  If he stayed in one spot too long he would find himself slipping into sleep.  He could not afford to do that.

“Do you think we can outrun them?”  Von asked.

“I hope so.” Kaiden sounded tired too.

“Don’t fall asleep on me,” Von joked.

“I won’t.”  Kaiden didn’t sound as if he heard the humor in Von’s weak attempt to lighten the mood.

“What is that?”  Von heard someone coming, or something.  Whatever it was, it was coming fast.  “Quick, get behind that rock.”

Von and Kaiden pulled their horses around one of the larger rocks.  Isk and Jen followed on Von’s heels.  Von positioned himself so he could see what was coming.

Three men on horseback came thundering into view.  Von recognized one as the man Isk attacked the night before.  His arm was in a sling, but that wasn’t slowing him down.  The two other Halfen men were fast on his heels.   They were panicked.  Running from something.  Running from the vyr.  They had to be. 
What else could make them flee like that?

The men galloped past.  Von and Kaiden could have been standing in the open and the Halfen would not have cared.  They sped past oblivious to everything except what was behind them. 

The last horse fell, tripping on something covered by the snow.  It went down, screaming in pain, throwing the rider.  The man flew through the air, crashing headfirst against a large ore filled rock.  The other two riders did not stop.  They did not even turn to see if their companion was hurt.  They raced off and disappeared into the trees.  The sound of hooves faded. 

Von ran to the fallen man’s side.  His head was split bad.  He wasn’t breathing.  Von was
surprised he even cared. 

“There is nothing you can do for him,” Kaiden said.  “It looks like his neck is broken.”  Kaiden drew his sword.  “His horse is done for too.”  Kaiden silenced the horse’s screams of pain.  It was more merciful to kill it then to let the wolves find it alive.
             

Kaiden wiped his blade clean on the dead man’s cloak.  “We need to get moving.”

“You don’t have to tell me.”  Von was on his horse almost as soon as he was done talking.  “Lead the way.”

Kaiden set a pace a little faster than the one Von set.  If it was unsafe, Von was not going to argue.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Flenn always thought he would enjoy his first council at Stone Abbey, yet enjoyment was the last thing on his mind at the moment.  He was not trying to shirk his duty, but, under the circumstances, he was not exactly looking forward to the Council of Chiefs Baiden had called for.  There would be difficult negotiations and the fate of the north would be determined by the outcome.  Flenn suspected the Halfen would try some kind of intrigue or play for power.  The best that could be hoped for was the Halfen agreeing to stay out of the way while the rest of the north marshaled their forces to the aid of Oded.  Flenn had no delusions the Halfen would do any such thing.

Riding all day made him a little weary.  Baiden’s party didn’t exactly make good time with all the fresh snowfall, and Jeret’s group was in no hurry, which did nothing to help the speed of their travel.  It would have been rude to leave them behind, but Flenn almost wished they had.  The party would be forced to stop for the night soon, meaning they would not reach Stone Abbey until sometime midmorning.  The Halfen were probably already there, poisoning the minds of the other chiefs.

Normally Flenn would have enjoyed the ride.  The air was brisk, the sunlight warm, the forest filled with color.  Many of the trees still displayed red and orange leaves, which clung to their branches, trying in vain to protest the coming of winter.  The Iron Mountains were to the east, the Emerald sea to the west.  He was in the company of good friends and two beautiful women.  Of course they were both spoken for.  Well Alensa was, and Anora just as well might have been, although no one had bothered to tell Dethan.

Anora and Dethan caught up to the group about mid afternoon.  It wasn’t difficult for them to do with the slow pace the party was setting.  Anora wasn’t happy she was left behind after her father promised she could come.  Baiden tried to explain circumstances had changed, but she was adamant about coming.  Now she was here, there was no sense in sending her back on her own. 

Dethan hadn’t left Anora’s side since his arrival in Azmark, in fact he stayed behind just to be with her.  He wouldn’t even be here if Anora hadn’t insisted on coming.  Flenn chuckled to himself, wondering what Von would think of that situation.  Not that Dethan had much of a chance.  Flenn saw the way Anora looked at Von.  He may seem to be only a freed indentured servant, but Flenn was confident there was more to Von than Baiden let be known.  For some reason, it seemed  this Oded fellow and his son Tostig knew of Von before their arrival.  Nothing was said to Flenn, but he had learned to read underlying tones and hear unspoken words when the speakers thought their true intentions were veiled.  He could be patient.  After the council at Stone Abbey he was sure he would have his questions answered.  At least most of them.

The sunlight was beginning to fade, and there was no reason to continue traveling through the night, so Baiden called a halt to the day’s journey.  Camp was soon erected and the cook fires started.  Flenn couldn’t wait to get some warm food in his belly.  Whatever the servants were
cooking smelled delicious and  Flenn’s stomach growled just thinking about it.  In the mean time he could take care of his horse, make sure he was fed and comfortable.  Only fools and the ignorant neglected their horses.  There weren’t too many things worse than finding yourself away from home without a mount, but being stuck with a lame horse was one of them.

Flenn found his horse on the line next to the others.  He spent some time brushing the horse’s coat and inspecting his shoes.  All seemed well as he rubbed the animal’s nose and fed him a couple handfuls of oats and barley.  Flenn threw a blanket over the back of the horse, gave him a few more affectionate pats then left a pile of hay for him and the other horses.  The servants normally took care of the mounts, but Baiden only brought three servants and Flenn wanted to make sure his horse was not neglected.   The servants were busy cooking dinner, so it could be a while before they made it over to the animals.  Anyhow, they would appreciate some help with the horses.

The smell of the cooking food called to him.  A warm cup of mead would go well with whatever the cooks whipped up.  Flenn was determined to enjoy this night.  He was sure there weren’t many quiet evenings left to enjoy now the threat of war hung over the north.  No, Flenn knew it was not just the threat of war, it was the reality of it. 

From his vantage point at the horse line Flenn noticed riders approaching.  He did not think anyone else at the camp could see the riders yet.  There were about a score of them, which meant there were around five more than were with Baiden’s party.   Flenn reminded himself Baiden’s servants were not fighting men.  Flenn was sure Jeret’s servants were not either.  Dethan could probably hold his own, but Flenn would wager he had never been in a real fight.  He hoped these men were friendly, but by the way they rode, Flenn had his doubts.

Adjusting his sword belt, Flenn mounted his horse.  He wished there was time to re-saddle it, but he would have to make do riding bareback.  He untied one end of the horse line then quickly cut the other.  With the line in one hand he led the horses over to Baiden and the other men.  They were all gathering for dinner, but dinner would have to wait.  

“Riders are approaching from the east,” Flenn announced.  “I don’t think it is advisable for you to be on foot when they get here.”  The tone in Flenn’s voice made it clear to Baiden and the others this was not a time to ask questions.

Baiden mounted his horse before he even looked for the riders.  It pleased Flenn Baiden trusted his judgement without second guessing him.  To Flenn’s surprise, Berkler did the same.

Tostig was on his mount before any of the others and raced off to the south, disappearing between the trees.  That seemed more than a little curious. 

“How many riders are there?” Baiden asked.

“About twenty, I think.”  Flenn did not get an accurate count, but that was his best guess.  “They are riding with purpose and they do not look friendly.”

“How close are they?”

“Five hundred spans and closing.  They are riding straight at us.”

Oded spoke softly to Baiden, but loud enough for all to hear.  “Our bows could cut their number before we have to fight hand to hand.”

“That is true,” Baiden agreed, “but, I hope it does not have to come to that.  I think a little smooth talking will be able to win them over.”

Oded shrugged his shoulders.  Flenn could not tell if Oded agreed or not, but he was willing to defer to Baiden.

Flenn heard hooves thundering back into camp announcing Tostig’s return.  He pulled in reign just short of where Baiden was.  “Twenty-one men.  All heavily armed and armored.  They have the look of the men you call the Halfen.”