Authors: John Buttrick
David nodded his head and took a deep breath. Daniel sensed the beasts come within ninety strides, raised both hands, and focused. Six hair-thin beams of topaz blue light shot from his fingers, straight to the foreheads of the onrushing sasquatches. Their thoughts, similar to those of Terroar, flowed into his mind,
obey Serena,
hunt, kill, and eat
, being the foremost among them. He sent his own thoughts into the six males, “Humans are not food and should be avoided because they tasted bad and are extremely dangerous. Stop, you are free to go elsewhere.”
They came within seventy-two strides before coming to an abrupt halt. Gurrumble was the largest, nearly ten and a third cubits tall. Rumble seemed to be a slightly smaller version of him and Daniel learned through the link that they were father and son. Turremble had slightly lighter fur than did the others. Quaker was missing one eye and Kerrash had only one thumb. Buraker had pitch black fur and was lanky rather than bulky. They all stared at Daniel as if he was the new alpha and none of them had
any desire to go elsewhere.
David visibly relaxed. “They stopped. The beasts are in your swirl,” he rightly concluded, even though he could not see the blue beams that struck the sasquatches, only the results.
Daniel gave him a reassuring nod. The Teki’s last sentence came out sounding like a question. “Kerrash and Quaker are a little confused and adjusting to the idea that humans aren’t food. Gurrumble and Turremble are intrigued, while Buraker and Rumble think I am small for an alpha but they accept my authority none-the-less. Get ready, the rest of them will be here soon.”
David tensed slightly, yet clearly more confident, and still on the alert. “You named them already?”
“Those are the names they introduced themselves by, who am I to change them?” Daniel replied. Sheila was different. He named her because she did not have one.
“Um, they’ve done nothing but grunt, somehow I missed the introductions,” David replied, clearly confused.
The statement jolted Daniel back to his escort. The thoughts of the sasquatches were flowing at him. He had been relaying their thoughts to Terroar and the other adults in his swirl.
Gurrumble turned and bellowed a command, “Come,” Daniel’s brain translated. A series of growls and grunts followed. “Daniel is Alpha,” the sasquatch proclaimed in a series of roars.
“Is he angry?’ David asked in a soft voice, clearly unable to understand the male.
“The link allows me to understand their thoughts and no, Gurrumble is not angry, he’s rallying the troops to our cause,” Daniel replied.
David’s lips quirked into a smile, “I think you mean your cause. I doubt they would be loyal to anyone else.”
The sasquatches were looking at the gators, pythons, water moccasins, frogs, turtles, and birds, all of which were remaining close by. They recognized each other as being part of a larger whole, this was not speculation. Daniel
knew their primitive thoughts.
Gerowel, the alpha female and mate of Gurrumble, along with Croka, and Korilla, were moving up behind the ten, nine with one having a baby on her back, who were now rushing to obey the alpha male. As soon as the ten came into range, Daniel linked with them, bringing all of the remaining sasquatches, nine of which were female, into his swirl. Shereeka, with a white stripe beginning above her brow and extending over and down to just above her tailbone, was the new mom and her baby was Choak
er, a male fathered by Terroar.
“All one big happy family,” Daniel announced.
“If you say so,” David replied while putting away his blades, demonstrating a mountain-sized trust in the man he chose to follow.
“So,” Daniel joked, and it felt good. He missed having Tim around to lighten the mood and hoped their paths would cross again soon.
David chuckled at the quip and then raised an eyebrow. “Are we finished here?’
“We are,” Daniel affirmed and Sprinter, knowing his thoughts, turned north.
David rode beside him and occasionally glanced back to see the sasquatches, but the pack was staying out of sight. They were free to do as they will, with only a few suggestions about humans not being food and the need to avoid them, yet they followed.
Daniel focused on one of the smaller gators, Cleo, suggesting that the female swim up river and see if other humans were moving beside the water. She accepted the name and suggestion, and then dived down, tail propelling her forward, swam beyond the guardsmen, and was soon making good speed up the Tollus. Gators did not name themselves, but he decided the animals in his swirl should all have one, if only to help him keep them straight in his mind. Sending the reptile was the best way to locate the Aakacarns without casting a spell and possibly letting them know they were being pursued by a spell caster. He might even get a glance at Serena through the gator’s eyes and f
inally put a face to the name.
He and David caught up with the supply wagons and rode with Rus
s Monner until they reached the designated campsite. Silvia inspected her crossbow and bolts.
“Not a spot,” she said and then placed the bolts back into her belt and hung the handheld device on the clip. “Are the beasts dead? We heard a lot of bellowing, most of which seemed to cut off abruptly.”
Daniel hesitated to answer. Cale, Jonah, Zaccum, and Keenan were standing right beside him while Corporal Duwin organized the camp set up.
“Too bad Jared isn’t here. He would have loved to document the strength of your swirl,” David seemed compelled to share without being asked. He turned to the others, eyes wide in excitement, a Teki storyteller in full measure. “Six stinking beasts came screaming at us and fell right into his trap. Just as I began to think we were safe, ten more ran at us, and I didn’t even get to throw a single blade before Sir Daniel dealt with them as well. Believe me when I tell you, none of the shaggy monsters will trouble us again.”
The Teki’s words turned out to be helpful. They seemed to answer Silvia, who gave a satisfied nod, and the tale was told with no mention of the linking. He would probably fill her in on the details later, which was fine with Daniel. The entire reason for bringing David along for appearances was now dashed to pieces, but it did not really matter, and Daniel was getting used to things not working out the way he wanted. The sasquatches were in his swirl and that was well enough for him.
“Did you hear that? Sir Daniel has dispatched sixteen sasquatches.” Sergeant Keenan announced in a voice that carried across the camp.
The men cheered and whistled, even Jonah. When the noise eventually died down they went back to work, rubbing down the horses, even Sprinter, whose shield had been temporarily removed, while Russ Monner started the cook fires. Watches were set and everyone settled in. Dinner consisted of ham, beans, and bread rolls. After eating, Daniel took up his guitarn and began to play. Silvia and David danced while Sheila slept peacefully inside Daniel’s tent. Guardsmen joined in the dancing and about a mark later, Daniel ended the concert and then inspected the camp. He also revitalized the horses, as he had done each evening after leaving Ducanton.
He invited David and Silvia to his tent for a brief meeting. A lantern on an upside down box provided the light. They sat on fold-up wood-framed-chairs covered by cloth. Daniel gave a quick account of the links made to the various animals, along with their names, and Shereeka in particular. “She is nursing Choaker and is willing to take on another babe. Like you said, Sheila needs to be with her own kind.”
Silvia glanced at the sleeping sasquatch. “I’m glad you recognize the wisdom of my words. When am I to hand her over?”
Daniel had intended to deliver Sheila to her foster mother. “It would be better if I take her.”
Silvia was shaking her head in an instant. “No, the guards will be suspicious if you go out with the babe. Nobody would think twice about my taking her with me.”
David leaned forward in his chair. “They are going to see the little one is gone, I don’t know why this has to be a secret.”
Daniel shifted his gaze back and forth between the pair of Teki. “I just don’t want trouble in the camp when Shereeka arrives, better for us all if she comes and goes unseen.”
Silvia smiled, employing her dimples. “Tonight we will introduce Sheila to her new mother and tomorrow I will proclaim to the men that she being adopted by the sasquatch is a peripheral affect of your swirl.”
Which was better, for everyone to know that he could summon potential, or for everyone to attribute any strange occurrences to his being the Chosen Vessel? With all of the Teki troops proclaiming his new designation, it would not be long before most people knew at least some folks considered him to be the Chosen Vessel, and presently only a few individuals knew he could summon potential, so Daniel decided to go along with Silvia’s idea. His decision had nothing to do with her dimples. “I’m picturing you in my mind and sending your image to Shereeka. This way she will recognize you and allow herself to be seen. I am also going to place a shield on you.”
“Just so long as you remember to take it off before she comes to bed,” David told him, dryly.
Really, forget once and they never get over it, not that Daniel could blame the newlyweds. “I could make you sleep the whole night,” he joked.
“Don’t you dare,” Silvia spoke up with laughter in her voice.
Daniel picked up Sheila, whose eyes opened wide. She reached out, took hold of his finger, and squeezed.
“She will be better off,” Silvia apparently felt the need to reassure him.
So he had a soft spot in his heart for the furry little creature, but that didn’t mean he could not do what was best for her. Daniel nodded and handed the baby into the arms of the Teki Seer. “Head southeast, half a span into the woods, and you will find a willow. Shereeka will be sitting in the branches.”
Silvia exited the tent and was out of sight, but well within scanning range. Daniel closed his eyes and followed along in his mind. He was aware of every person and creature up to five spans out. All of the members of his swirl were within his radius except Cleo, who was still swimming up river to locate the Aakacarns. He focused his thoughts on Shereeka, singling her out to the point where he could see through her eyes, while not taking control of her. He was there as an observer only, but could exert his influenc
e if it proved to be necessary.
Through the senses of the female sasquatch, Daniel could hear Silvia’s approach well before she arrived at the willow where Shereeka sat upon the V of the trunk, hidden among the branches.
She was invisible in the dark. Choaker clung to her back and she was content to feel his warm frame against hers. She could smell Sheila, the babe being saturated with human scent, particularly that of the human female, but also Daniel. Shereeka knew the scent of the new alpha and was pleased to accept Louda’s infant, fathered by Buraker. She also knew, through the mind of the alpha, that this is the female who had a part in killing Louda, but that was when humans were prey, now they are not. She never did like the taste of them. There was no anger in her over the death. All successful hunts end in death for one or another. She was intrigued by the new alpha, how he could speak to her without uttering a sound.
“Shereeka, I’m going to place Sheila on the ground,”
the human female spoke in a high voice similar to that of an infant.
Shereeka growled a warning for Choaker to hold on tight and then hopped down to the ground. She understood the sounds of the human female, Silvia, through the mind of the alpha
, who had also caused her to recognize this human as being approachable, while all others were still to be avoided.
“Come.”
She told the infant, who immediately scrambled out of the shiny skin she had been wrapped in and climbed onto her back next to Choaker.
“I didn’t know sasquatches could speak,”
Silvia said while taking a step back, although she showed no fear.
“Sounds alpha make,”
Shereeka did her best to make the correct sounds.
“Who is Alpha?”
The human female sought knowledge she already possessed.
Shereeka turned, headed deeper into the trees where Gerowel waited with the other females, and then decided to impart knowledge already known
. “Daniel,”
she bellowed into the night.
He opened his eyes, taking his mind off Shereeka; glad he did not have to take control of her, and glanced at David. “Silvia has given Sheila to her new mother and is on her way back to camp.”
David, who had been staring anxiously at the tent flap, glanced back. “That’s good to know, but with the sasquatch bellowing your name in the night, I think the entire camp knows something is up.”
Once again, Daniel had a plan that worked out fairly well, yet not exactly the way he wanted. He wondered how many more of his accomplishments or future plans would be altered or nullified by circumstances. “Silvia’s explanation about the swirl of the Chosen Vessel will have to come sooner rather than later.”
David leaned forward in his chair. “In the larger picture, I think she will be telling the simple truth, you are drawing what is necessary for the possibility of ultimate victory.”
The juggler voiced a good point. Daniel had made suggestions about humans to the creatures linked to him, and with the exception of Shereeka and Cleo the gator, all of the animals were free to go wherever they wanted. Momma sasquatch likely would have adopted Sheila even if she had not been encouraged to do so. Perhaps the various creatures do have a larger roll, a place in ultimate victory over
Tarin Conn. One thing was for sure. Daniel had no intention of using them as fodder on the field, the way the Serpent Guild often does.