Haven Keep (Book 1) (9 page)

Chapter Seven

The strange trail had gone cold, again.  Kaiden couldn’t even identify the bizarre tracks and that made the situation worse.  The unidentifiable predator led the hunting party two and a half days into the foothills.  Then nothing.  Kaiden and his men doubled back twice, returning to this same spot, each time unable to follow their quarry any further.  He hoped the animal had not slipped by them, returning to the pastures.

Kaiden wished he’d brought his father’s dogs, Jen and Isk.  The dogs were Von’s now he supposed.  Of the six dogs Kaiden had brought with him, only Jo and Fras were experienced at hunting bear.  Mic, Gray and Jack were all proven at hunting wolves, which came naturally, seeing that was what they were bred for.  This hunt, however, was turning out to be something entirely different than tracking wolves.  Bo, a young hound Kaiden raised from a pup, was showing some promise, only this was the dog’s first major hunt.  Bo had taken down some rabbits and a fox or two, and Kaiden was optimistic the dog would develop into a fine hunter.  So far all that promise hadn’t manifest itself today, and the frustration of not finding the trail wore on him.  His irritation increased when the other dogs couldn’t find the trail either, despite all the back tracking.  They’d probably traipsed over the trail in all their wanderings, destroying any evidence a large predator had traveled this way at all.

Kaiden waited in the clearing for the other men to return.  It wasn’t a large area, more of a bald spot in the forest, devoid of any large trees and underbrush.  Low hanging branches of oak and walnut surrounded the clearing, reaching out crooked, gnarled arms over the top of him.  The dark branches had shed most of their leaves revealing a partially clear sky.  That sky had been invisible for a good part of the day, obscured by the large branches and the tall evergreens intermingled amongst the hardwoods.  Kaiden watched the sky for a moment.  It would be dusk soon, and night made this a dangerous place.

His thoughts turned to the conversation in his father’s chambers from the night before he left.  His father’s words echoed in his head.  “Von is from Evenfelle.”    Kaiden couldn’t shake the idea his father was saying, “Von is Evenfelle.”  As if preserving Von would somehow change the fact Evenfelle was now gone.    Kaiden possessed only vague memories of Evenfelle and the war that destroyed it.   He knew his father loved the empire, loved the emperor even more.  His loyalties remained strong despite the fact the emperor was long dead and the empire as well.  It was all gone now, and whatever guilt his father felt he would need to learn to live with.  Kaiden tried to understand, but he was very young when those events transpired and the life he knew now was the only one he could really remember.  To him, life in the north was good, what need did they have for an empire or an emperor? He tried to forget it all, keep his mind focused on the hunt.

Bo was at Kaiden’s side.  He was large for such a young dog, and calm.  His thick black fur made Kaiden jealous as an icy wind whipped through the trees.  Suddenly Bo sat up straight.   Kaiden’s gloved hands gripped his spear at  the dogs signal. It was tipped with the head Von gave him.  The spear was exquisite, the metal so hard it took Kaiden four times as long as normal to put a proper edge on it.  He watched the woods, but thought of Von and wondered what he was doing.  It would have been nice to have Von along, another pair of eyes and another pair of able hands, but Kaiden’s father had been adamant.

Kaiden detected some movement amongst the trees, then Gray and Fras trotted into sight followed closely by two men with athletic builds.  Biv and Soren moved easily over the uneven terrain even wrapped in fur, their cloaks blowing in the wind.

“Anything?” Kaiden asked when the two men drew near.

Biv shook his head and Soren just frowned.

Ralf, Lester and Donell should be returning soon as well.  The party split off in different directions to look for signs that may have been overlooked the first three times, but so far the search revealed nothing new.  This was where the trail ended so this was where they would reunite.  Kaiden remained at the clearing to watch the horses, who had been restless since being tied off near the edge of the trees.  The horses needed a rest, so did Kaiden and his men, but that was not a luxury  Kaiden could afford them at the moment.  Hopefully on foot the others would see something they previously missed.  Maybe someone else had had some luck.

More movement in the trees told Kaiden another party member  was returning.  If it had been anything else the dogs would have warned them. A moment later Jo led Lester over a knoll to the east, and to the delight of Kaiden’s stomach Lester had a rabbit at his belt.  Jo at least had caught something.  The rabbit would make a tasty stew and might serve to warm their tired bones.  Lester shook his head when the others gave him an questioning look.  No one seemed to be much for words at the moment.

Ralf and Donell were not much longer in returning.  The two hulking masses of grey at their sides were Mic and Jack.  There was a quickness to their step that told Kaiden they had found something.

“Get the horses,” Kaiden ordered.

Kaiden was first to his mount. He quickly loosened the horse from his ties and was in the saddle in one smooth motion.

Rove was large and powerful, but no larger than most northern mounts.  His thick brown hair was highlighted with a reddish tint and served to shield the stallion from the winter chill.  He possessed strong lines and stronger muscles that never seeming to tire.

Lester and Biv followed Kaiden, leading Ralf and Donell’s horses behind their own.  Soren took up the rear, as he normally did, acting as some kind of rearguard.  Kaiden didn’t think they needed anything of the sort on a hunt, but he let Soren do as he wished.  The four men met Ralf and Donell at the top of the knoll.

Ralf leaped onto his horse before he spoke.  “A branch,” he said.  “High up.  Broken off like the others.”  His sentences were short and concise, revealing only what was necessary.  He jerked his head north.  “This way.”

Ralf and Donell led the way through the snow and trees. The terrain was rough, made worse by the crusty layer of snow.  They navigated around a downed tree then over another, moving further and further into the woods.   The snow deepened, slowing the horses, covering the rocks and brush.  The party cut through a ravine that would turn into a deep creek during the spring runoff, feeding into the many rivers that crisscrossed the northern countryside.  The procession of man, horse and dog moved silently through the woods, now more aspen and evergreen than oak, the only sound the crunch of snow under the hooves of the horses.  The dogs ran along side the horses, moving easily through the terrain, padding along soundlessly, their massive paws acting as snow shoes.  The stillness of the forest would have been peaceful under other circumstances.

Ralf stopped nearing the base of the Rocky Hills.  “There,” he said, pointing at a large oak.

Twenty feet up the tree a branch as thick as Kaiden’s body was snapped clean off.  The break was at least a week old.  Still if the icebear, it had to be a bear, had come by here it may return.

“That looks to be old,” Soren said, his words mimicking Kaiden’s thoughts.

“Yes,” Ralf replied, “but the other markings are not.  Look there and there.”  He pointed again to the base of the tree and at another large oak.

The markings were hard to see through the thick growth, but they looked new.  Other markings were older.  As the party approached the two big oaks Kaiden noticed more trees with the bark scraped bare even further up the hill.  Definitely bear markings, only larger than he’d ever seen and higher up.  This bear liked to mark his territory, and if the animal was as protective of its’ range as the markings suggested, it would be back here, and probably soon.  “We’ll make camp in that direction,” Kaiden announced.

The little alcove of rocks and boulders Kaiden picked was a quarter league north of the bear markings.  The camp was far enough away to be out of any trail the icebear may be accustomed to wander, but close enough to track it when it reappeared.  The rocks of the alcove provided shelter from the wind and snow, and a perfect place for a fire.  The largest rock overhung the ground three or four spans, providing a much better place to sleep than what Biv  chose the night before.  A snow drift made a wall on the southern end of the overhang.

This might actually be a comfortable night,
Kaiden thought to himself, at least not one where the wind would whip through his blankets and chill him to the bone.

“Let’s cook up that rabbit,” Kaiden suggested.  “I’ve got some vegetables that will make for a great stew.  With any luck that bear will smell the food and come to us.  We may just be home by tomorrow evening.”  He set to undoing his saddle and travel bags, anxious to get a fire started and the stew cooking.

“Did anyone else see how high those claw marks were?” Biv asked.  “This is one monstrous bear we’re chasing.”

“It was probably standing on a snow drift,” Donell said.  “No icebear I’ve ever seen, nor heard of, is that tall.”

“There are probably two of them and they stand on each other’s backs,” Lester offered with a laugh.

Soren shook his head.  “The claw that made those marks was huge.  Could probably take off a man’s leg.”

Soren was by far the oldest man in the group and though he’d lost some muscle with age, he still possessed some spring in his step.  His wiry frame had a good deal of strength left in it, and his experience in hunting made him an easy choice for this expedition.  Kaiden once saw him take on a snowcat with a hunting knife.  That cat’s fur now lined Soren’s boots. 

Soren’s back was crossed with scars.  Old scars.  He never spoke of how he received them and more than one rumor floated around concerning the cause.  Kaiden believed none of them.   The thing Kaiden found odd was Soren’s choice in clothes.  He wore his bearskar, a shirt made from the skin of a bear, an old custom from generations gone.  Berserkers were warriors from legend, who wore their bear skins, and not much else into battle. The word berserker came from the wearing of the bear skin.  The old word, bearskar, or bear skin, eventually became berserker.  The furry garments supposedly exhibited magical properties, giving the warriors increased strength and endurance.  Berserkers went wild on the battlefield, hardly controllable by their captains, fighting where the battle was hottest, causing fear and destruction among the opposing force.  Kaiden suspected the concoction of herbs the clerics administered to berserkers had more to do with the warrior’s wild state than anything else.  Not many young men put stock in it.

It was said for the shirt to gain its power, the wearer must kill the bear himself, within the den of the bear.  Kaiden was sure Soren gained his bearskar in just that way.  Why Soren thought it necessary wear the skin on a hunt was a mystery to Kaiden.  No matter
. Why should he care what Soren decided to wear?

The prospect of sleeping outdoors on the ground usually didn’t bother Kaiden, but tonight was different.  Not only were these woods dangerous, the temperature was too.  He was not looking forward to spending the night in the cold.

“We’ll need to make sure we have ample wood for the fire,” he said to no one in particular.  “Let’s keep the horses close too.”

Kaiden was beginning to rethink this hunt.  Maybe it wasn’t wise to venture so far from Azmark.  Winter was coming, and he didn’t want to be stranded in these woods if the temperature dropped, or the sea gods decided to send a storm their way.

“Kaiden,” Donell called.  “Someone else has stayed here.”  He motioned Kaiden over.  “Recently, it seems.” 

Kaiden dropped the saddle and strode to where the others were digging in the snow.  They had uncovered a fire pit, and from the looks of it, one that received a great deal of use.

Donell shifted through the ashes, looking for any clues that might show who’d been here.  “Hasn’t been used for days,” he observed.  “Deep though.  I’d say someone was here for a few months at least for the pit to have burned that deep.”

“I found some firewood.”  Ralf tossed a log at Kaiden’s feet.  It was sawed at both ends and quartered with an ax.  “There’s a pile of it over there.  Thought it was a snow drift at first.”

“What else is covered in snow?”  Biv asked.

Kaiden was curious to know.   “Let’s find out.”

Soren and Ralf used the butt end of their spears to push through the snow.  The others followed suit, poking and prodding at the drifts. The shafts of the spears found something solid and the men began digging.  Their efforts revealed rough hewn wood set together into some kind of structure.  They cleared the wall of snow against the overhanging rock, exposing a lean-to.  The lean-to was constructed from felled aspen trees and very well built.

“Somebody buried this.” Soren declared.  “For what reason I couldn’t say.  The wind would have blown the snow over the top of this shelter and up over the rock, not into it.  Whoever was here left within the last couple of days.  The last few snow falls covered what they did and which direction they headed.”

“They rode horses,” Lester announced.  “About ten were stabled over here.”  Biv and Ralf were helping him clear away another large structure.

“Whoever was here,” Soren insisted, “went to some trouble to hide their tracks.”

“Whoever was here,” added Kaiden “did us a favor.  Maybe our horses won’t die from the cold tonight, and we have plenty of wood for our fire.”

Soren gave him a level look.