Chapter 9

Tara woke when the mental scream rang out across Gardallen. She saw the images embedded in it and understood what she saw right away. How had those lizard bastards gotten here and remained hidden all this time? That explained so much though. If they had arrived at the same time as the humans, they could have had a hand in bringing about the collapse. That would require exploring later. Now she understood the threat that she and her family faced.

She dressed and stood in the darkness of her room. The gentle silence of the night now held threats greater than any she had ever faced before. She wondered if the vampire knew about them. If he didn’t know, then telling him would throw all his plans to escape out of the window. His kind had spent uncounted eons hunting and destroying those cold-loving monsters. He might just decide that the destruction of the Ice Spine would take priority over escape.

‘Tara, this is a bad idea, but that woman has to know that the threat to them all has surfaced.’ She laid down on her bunk and let her mind drift. Her vision raced across the sea and soon it was daylight. She arrived at the castle and quickly found the Blood Queen. Tara gave her a light touch, asking her to join her in the dream realm. The Blood Queen joined her a few minutes later.

“What do you want now?” she asked irritably.

“A new threat to us all has arisen, and your master may want to know about it,” said Tara. She flashed the images to the Blood Queen. Seconds later, another being joined them. “Are you sure of what she sent Elven?” asked the Vampire.

“As sure as we can be at this point, bloodsucker.” Tara finally asked, “Do you have a name? I am getting tired of insulting you by not addressing you properly.”

“Do you know how long it has been since anybody has asked me that?” he asked.

“I can take a guess,” replied Tara with just a touch of sarcasm in her voice.

“I was Count Fulton of a minor Realm until a Master got hold of me and changed me.”

“Well Count Fulton, we have an enemy that will require all the forces we can muster. I have no wish to see them gain access to the Star Walk,” said Tara.

“It took far too long to eradicate them the first time. If they get out that way, they will become a threat to every world in all the realms.” He seemed to be waiting for an answer that didn’t come. “Still not strong enough, even with the world’s power restored to reach any of the others. I agree, a truce to destroy those meat-eating monsters.”

The Blood Queen was at a loss. She couldn’t understand the sudden changes in the planning. “Master, what are these creatures you speak of?”

The Count would normally have punished her for a question of that sort, but for now, she needed knowledge if she was to be of any use. Her recent changes in behavior had reduced her usefulness. “I will explain later, for now, be silent.” Tara felt it when he focused his attention back on her. “It will take some time yet before I am free from this prison. This much I can tell you so you can pass it on. These creatures are cold resistant. Extreme heat will hurt them. Fill them with enough steel and they do die. Arrows are about useless against their scales.”

Tara felt it when the Vampire broke the link. He also severed the link to the Blood Queen. ‘I need to pass this information to the others, everywhere.’ Tara spent the night reaching out to anybody that would listen.

Aco

Aco sat in the darkness during her watch period, listening to the night. She had allowed the fire to burn down to embers that could be stoked in a few minutes should the need arise. The night was quiet now as most of the early night animals had settled down and gone silent. Aco had undergone many changes in her life since she had left the traveling show. One of the largest was the rebuilding of her face. At times she still felt like she was no longer herself with the acid burns repaired and her face restored. These feelings she would put aside and ponder them when events allowed the time to relax and reflect.

She had seen the changes in her dearest friend and part-time lover, Robin Songbird. Ever since the day Ledger had released the power to the world, Robin began to change. She could sing a song now that would give power to those, she wanted to have it. She had proven she could heal some lesser wounds with the correct song. Early on, the first skill she had discovered was the ability to shout. One such shout created a wall of force that could knock down walls. Others gave her attacks that could level entire cities should she ever have the desperate need. Aco just prayed that Robin would never have to go to that extreme. Robin was still learning what she could do as they traveled north.

Aco considered Aston, her man, and full-time lover. His ability to communicate with animals and people had grown to the point he could feel when others were around him. The deer they had eaten the night before he had called to him and put to sleep with a single thought. He had admitted to her that he was afraid of the power growing in him. He feared he could tell somebody to just die and they would. She held him and comforted him in his moment of terror. She knew he would be able to do exactly that when the time of need arrived.

Aco looked over to where Ledger and Robin lay. They were wrapped in each other’s arms in comfort and security. Ledger was the most powerful of the group, the least experienced. He was still trying to gain control of his newly expanded power. His study of the ancient magic text had gained him an insight into the magic he had never believed possible. He could memorize spells and use them as needed now. Only one sub-set still evaded his talent. He could not transmute matter from one form to another. No free gold was his lament. Aco suspected that even that would one day be his as well.

Aco stood and stretched, took a brief walk around the camp, checking the horses as she passed them. She didn’t see or feel anything out of place so returned to the log she had been sitting on. She looked at the pair on the other side of the fire. Brena and Andrew. Brena was strange. She didn’t seem to have any advanced talent, but she could gather information, come up with a solution in an instant. Brena’s ability to sneak and move amazed Aco. She wasn’t as limber and herself, but lately, in practice, Brena had been able to take her down several times. That said a lot about Brena Sizemore. The Queen of Thieves was going to be the ultimate force in the Thieves and Brotherhood when they returned to Fairham’s Cove.

Andrew confused her. He did not seem to have gained any new ability from the day of the Flash. He did have that sword, Bloodrend. But he had had the weapon long before current events overtook them. Now that they were clear of the city, he had begun training those that needed it in the staff. Aco found it to be an interesting weapon before. Now that she was being trained in it, she was able to adapt her special skills to it. Andrew was still sporting a bump on the head when she had done a flying leap over his head and snapped out with the staff while air-born. What she did learn later that same session, when she tried it again, Andrew was able to deflect the blow, capture her under her right arm and bring her done hard. No trick ever worked twice on him now. Maybe that was part of his skills, to learn to prevent a repeated attack.

The one thing that Aco was wondering was, what was her talent? She wasn’t any smarter, faster, or stronger than before. She was still only as flexible as she had always been. She hoped she would have a special skill that just had not manifested yet. She glanced at the sand glass and saw it was time to wake Ledger for his time on a watch. She picked up her staff and gently tapped Ledger on the shoulder. They had all learned, don’t touch him while he slept. Getting a shock was a way to stay awake the rest of the night.

“What?” he muttered after she had tapped him a few times.

“Time for your watch Ledger,” said Aco.

Ledger groaned as he rolled over to extricate himself from the blankets and Robin. She muttered a bit at the disturbance but went back to sleep after he pulled the blankets over her. “All quiet?” he asked.

“So far,” replied Aco. Maybe too quiet at times.

“Well, let us just hope nothing wants us for dinner,” he said. “Sleep well, Miss Aco.”

Aco tried to smile, but she hated it when he called her that. She stripped off her tunic and slipped into the blankets with Aston. He slipped an arm over her and pulled her to him. He didn’t stir any more than that. Aco drifted off to sleep, her thoughts of what lay ahead.

Ledger

After checking the camp, Ledger brought the fire to life with a log and a thought of heat in the mostly dry wood. He heated some water and added a bit of tea to warm. Even with his talent, he still preferred his tea heated the old-fashioned way. Aco was right, the night seemed almost too quiet. He decided to see if anything was sneaking upon them. He felt out to the weave. In this he found dozens of large rocks and stones lying about. With a slight push, the woods all around him lit up brighter than both moons full. The sudden light caused animals that had been sleeping to stir and scramble for better cover. The one animal that didn’t run was a badger. It growled and began walking towards the camp. Ledger could see it approaching in the weave. He pulled the missile wand from the quiver he wore and prepared to send it to the next life if it entered the clearing. He watched as it paused, sniffed at the air then turned to amble away into the dark. Seeing no other threat, Ledger allowed the stones to return to their natural state in the darkness. He sat and thought about all the changes he had gone through over the last two, no, nearly three years now.

The day he had finally broken through the barrier that prevented him from being a simple enchanter was one of the greatest days of his life. It also spelled the end of his old life at home. His parents knew of the plans his siblings had for him and wanted to prevent his being used and murdered in the manner they had planned for him. Minda and Baron had him on the road away from home that same night. The discovery of the weave seemed to set things in motion he had no control over. Thinking back, he remembered an event that had taken place after he had walked away from the town that had been taken over by the slavers. He had come on a patrol from the slavers on the road that evening. He had to use his power to kill again. He did not like doing that to living beings. He had cooked alive them by heating their bones to a white-hot state. This time he made sure no bones remained to be discovered. The only item he had found was a medallion of an unknown metal. It had not melted and didn’t show any damage from the extreme heart had subjected it to. The surface was embossed with the head of a serpent head with human features. He had tossed it to the side of the road, not wanting to be caught with something that could be associated with the slavers. Ledger walked as fast as his legs would go. He wanted to be away from these evil people as quickly as possible.

Ledger snapped back to the present, looked east, and saw the first faint glow of dawn in the sky. He looked at the sand glass and saw it was nearly ready to be turned. He heard Robin groan a little as she rolled over in the blankets. The ground underneath was hard and bumpy, so sleeping on it was not the most comfortable experience. She sat, holding one of the covers over her front. “Hi lover, all quiet?” she asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes to clear them of the sleep.

“Other than a badger, nothing happening here,” said Ledger quietly. “It will be time to begin waking the others soon.” Andrew stirred then sat up, looking around franticly. After a moment, he settled down and laid back down, breathing hard. Ledger asked, “You all right Andrew?” He was on his feet now, looking around for whatever it was that had Andrew spooked.

Andrew crawled out of the covers, waking Brena as he did so. She stayed down, looking up at her mate. “I think Tara tried to reach me while I slept. Something was blocking her though, and it wasn’t Bloodrend.” Andrew picked up his boots and shook them out, causing a few bugs to fall to the ground. A few more shakes and they were bug-free. “Whatever it is that blocked her is not related to the Blood Queen. I can tell when she is involved now.”

Brena sat up and pulled her tunic dress over her head, not bothering with the undergarments yet. “Whatever it is, we will have to deal with it in due course.” She shook her hiking boots out and jumped back as a small snake dropped to the ground in front of her. She noted it was not a poisonous type so shook her boots again. Nothing else fell out, so she slipped them on her bare feet for the time being. “We can only deal with one battle at a time. Finding this Weena is the current mission. Then we can worry about the other problems,” said Brena. She looked over at Ledger who had enjoyed the brief view of her nude body, “Ledger, have you felt anything odd or different in the weave in the last few weeks?” she asked.

“Nothing that I can really call different. Right now the world is still settling down from the restoration of the power,” he said. “I feel the surging and flexing of waves of energy as they wash over this world. It’s like ripples in a pool that has had a large stone dropped in it from a great height.” He shivered at a thought. “I still wonder what it is the Judge erased from my memory. What did I learn that had to be removed?” He tossed another log on the fire and filled the hot water pot for the morning tea. He turned and looked at Robin as she climbed out of their blankets. She stood and raised her arms, then did a slow turn to show off her body to the staring men. Aston was awake now and chuckled at the sight. That earned him an elbow on the ribs from Aco who slipped out and proceeded to the spot designated for as a latrine. She had not bothered to cover herself either. When she finished, she stepped into the clearing and began her morning exercises while others handled the cooking. Brena and Robin joined her, Robin having slipped a tunic on and nothing else. The men were left to cook and clean camp while the women worked out.

Aco assisted Brena through motions and positions she had never been trained to handle before. Robin was at the limits of what she could learn and pushed herself as hard in jumping and flipping as she could. Brena had a heavier frame so was not able to bend to the same degree as Robin. She did try her best and found that her training as it stood would be her best asset. Trying to push herself too far and hard would end up hurting her in the long run.

By the time the women had finished their exercises, the men had a quick meal ready for them. They had eaten and waited for them to finish. While the women ate, the men did their workouts and weapons practices. Andrew had started to push his staff training and was steadily getting faster. Aston was teaching him and Ledger as much as he could with it while staying in practice with his whip.

Once everybody was finished practicing and cleaning themselves off, they packed up their gear and set off once more to the north. The horses were holding up fairly well at this slower pace. Fresh grass kept them happy along with a bit of the grain each night. Water was the one thing that worried the party. Many of the rivers and streams were still muddy and in a few cases, fouled by the destruction further upstream. Many small towns had been swallowed up by the flooding and more lives were lost than could be counted.

The day was clear and warm, so they made slow progress on the ruined road they were following. The flood had left it a rutted ruin of washouts every few yards. They discovered that all the standing water had created a new menace. Biting and blood-sucking insects were being spawned in the puddles and ponds at a rate the predators could not hope to match. This was an ongoing problem that would take a few years to clear up. They had come across what must have been a farm before the flood. The cut stone foundations of several large buildings were all that remained. They had camped there one night and moved on.

Aston tried at least once a day to reach out to Weena. The only thing he found was blackness. He couldn’t tell if he was reaching to her or if it was a total lack of presence in her mind. The last thought was her mind being burned away by a drug before she went silent. The image of the walking snake was disturbing to him. He had never heard of such creatures before. Andrew had told him Bloodrend knew of them but would not talk about them. Tara seemed to have a little insight as well, but she wouldn’t explain them either. He could always feel when she was talking to the sword in the dreams, but he wasn’t able to listen in.

They were still at least two weeks away from the cliff way that separated the Southern Kingdoms from the Icespine when Ledger stumbled across a picture and a note in one of the old books that had been in Brena’s Bag of holding. It was a hand-drawn image of a medallion of a snake’s head with human-like features. The language was old enough that they had not been able to read it until Ledger activated a diamond he had turned into a translator gem. The notes didn’t help much.

A tall lizard that walks on two legs and speaks. It preferred cold climates and ate meat. They considered female humans quite tasty.

That was all that could be made out. The rest of the writing had faded and smudged over the ages.

“Whatever these creatures are, they are not to be trusted,” said Aston.

Brena said, “We are all in agreement on that Aston. The problem is, how many of them are there on the other side of the mountains?”

“Until we can get over the top, we will not find out,” said Aco. Everybody turned to look at her. Aco had been silent all day since Ledger’s discovery the night before. “I know, getting up without being detected will be difficult.” She looked hard at Brena, “If you had better training for non-city sneak you could do it.” She didn’t get any objections from Brena. She knew her limits better now than at any other time in her life. “None of us are really good at sneaking around out here or up in the hills.”

“Speak for yourself Aco,” said Aston.

She looked at him, “Can you hide in the open? Can you sit by a rock and not be noticed?” she asked.

“With proper clothing, yes as a matter of fact,” he replied. He rode on, remaining silent while Aco considered what to say next.

“Alright then, supposing we can get to the other side, what then?” she asked.

Andrew spoke now, “We will figure that out when we get there.” Before Aco could interrupt, he continued. “We know Weena made it by accident from the damaged roads up there. In the morning we will start a more easterly course to the Northern Edge of the Ramparts. If we can find the paths up that way, we can head west and make it to the area she was captured in above the Cut.”

“If we can get there undetected,” snapped Aco.

Now Robin broke in, “We will do it Aco. For the sake of everybody in the southern realms, we have to make it.” She looked at Aco, “I have seen and felt the evil these monsters represent, remember? I was lucky to have escaped because of that one boy. He warned me what would happen to me.” She reined in so Aco could ride even to her. “Aco, he told me I was to be raped for another day then cooked for the dinner.” She spurred her horse to return to Ledger’s side.

Aco decided that silence was the better choice of action for the moment. They continued to head north when the woods went silent. This sudden change did not go unnoticed by any of them. Andrew motioned for everybody to dismount and ready their weapons. They staked the horses together and moved to surround them, more to keep them from running in event of violence than anything else.

As soon and the change happened, Aston had his senses out, searching for what had caused the change around them. He could feel the faintest of thoughts around him. He had learned to filter out the nearest, his friends. “I think we have at least ten,” he paused for a second, “things approaching from the west.”

“Bandits?” whispered Andrew?

“Not sure, they don’t feel human,” Aston said, also in a low whisper.

Ledger reached out in the weave, searching for any disturbance in the patterns around him. He found something, but couldn’t make it out. It was barely a ripple in the background. He focused on the ripple and spotted ten bright points moving towards him. He reached out and found the sources of the spots. ‘Devices?’ he thought. He studied the effect and found what he sought. “Get ready, ten people cloaked by powered machines that make them invisible,” he whispered. “I will try to disable them.” Ledger felt the connections to the weave, the person that created these wonderful new things. He snipped the linking supply lines to the source and they heard a sudden cursing in the brush only a few yards away.

Aston could feel them now as well. Whatever these things were, they could shield thought as well to some extent. Four men and six women broke out onto the path and drew their weapons.

“We have you outnumbered, surr...” That was as far as he got in his spiel. Ledger fired the missile wand and the man’s head vanished in a spray of brains and blood, with bits of skull smacking into those nearest to him.

Andrew looked at the others and asked, “Does anybody else have anything to say?” He watched as weapons hit the ground. “What of the devices that concealed you?” One woman held up a necklace that had a metal disc on it. She took it off and dropped it on the piled weapons. None of them spoke a word. “Come now, at least complain we didn’t give you a chance.”

The nine looked around at each other, then settled on the oldest woman of the group. She didn’t smile but did have a resigned looked on her face. “What would be the point?” she said in a low contralto voice. Her eyes looked at Andrew, then swept over the rest of the group, stopping on Ledger. “He could kill us all in a second with that device.”

Ledger dismounted and stood in front of her, looking her up and down. She was a bit taller than he was by a few inches. His five foot five was on the short side compared to most. Her hair was black as night, bound in a tight ponytail that ran most of the way down her back. She was also well endowed. Robin was slightly more than a handful for him. This woman had breasts that would require both hands to handle. She was thin though from not getting enough to eat regularly. He could see the same problem with all of them. He asked her, “Where did you get these devices?”

The oldest of the men, maybe in his late twenties spoke, “Don’t answer, that was part of the deal.”

Andrew and Aston dismounted now and joined Ledger while the women stayed in place to prevent any of them from running. Ledger glanced around and noted Aco had put on the dragon mask and had slipped on her claws, ready to fight. When the big woman saw this, she froze, staring at Aco like a bird before a snake. He heard a faint whisper, “Claw.” The woman before Ledger talked.

“She lives in a fishing village about three days sail north of the Cove. An older woman, a widow. She has always been able to make simple light stones.” She saw Ledger smiling at her, but continued. “After the day of the Flash, she found she can make anything she imagines.”

Aston broke in, “You finding us was not chance, you were tracking us,” he said.

“Yes,” said the woman. “He,” she pointed at the corpse, “It has a compass-like thing that points out the best and wealthiest target for us to go after.”

Andrew asked, “How many folks have you robbed so far with the help of this ... This compass?”

“You would have been our third capture.” She looked around in sudden panic, “We never killed anybody, honest!” She shied away from the man that had tried to silence her as he swung on her. He didn’t connect though. He froze when he felt a blade at his throat, and a whisper told him if he so much as flinched, he would be dead, he froze. Aco slipped around him, never letting the claw blade leave his skin. When he saw the mask, he finally understood. ‘No, not her, can’t be her,’ he thought. He too had heard the stories of the one called the Claw. Aco looked at the woman and said, “Continue.”

“We didn’t kill anybody,” she repeated.

“Then why are you playing at banditry,” asked Brena.

Now that she knew she wouldn’t be hit by any of her compatriots, she opened up, “The flooding destroyed the docks and damaged the fishing boats all up and down the coast. We needed to find an easy way to get enough money to survive until the boats can go out...”

Brena interrupted her, “So you thought stealing from others would be an easy way to solve that problem?” She glared at all of them angrily. “All of us have killed others for less while we traveled. Give me a damned good reason to not have the lot of you hung right here and now for working without a writ in my province of control?” She turned to glare at another that spoke.

“Who the hell are you to think you can lay judgment on us?” he demanded angrily.

Andrew dismounted and went over to the man. Andrew could tell he was only a year or two older than himself. “She can do so. She is the Head of the Thieves, the Queen of Thieves if you will. I am her primary guard and enforcer. If she says it, I will remove your heads without hesitation. So, remain silent, Boy.” He stressed that last word making the boy wince and retreat a step. He had kept an eye on Brena when he said that to see how she would react. He noted that she blinked. He turned to one of the younger girls, “Answer her, now.”

The girl shrank back in terror from him. She undid several pouches and tossed them to the side then dropped to her knees to hide that she had just peed herself. The rest followed suit. Brena picked up the bags and checked the contents. She could see that they had not combined the contents of what they had stolen. One had a golden broach of a bird’s head in it. The rest contained small coins only. “Where did you get these from so that we can return them to their rightful owners?” Brena demanded.

“We left them tied up. The last is only about an hour from here to the west,” said the youngest girl. The next another day’s walk west. They should have been able to get loose by now.”

Ledger dismounted and walked to the corpse and collected the compass. As he focused on it, it swung back the way the children’s bandits had come from. “The arrow on this, does it show who you robbed already?” asked Ledger.

They looked at each other and shook their heads, the spokes girl said, “He was the only one that could work it, at least that is what she told us.”

“He lied. The way the arrow is locked in that direction, I suspect that they did get loose and are following you,” said Ledger. He pointed at the mess of a trail they had broken as they moved. He saw movement down along it in the brush, “In fact, I think they are getting close now.”

Aco spoke, “On your knees, now, hands behind your heads or I will slit your throats.” They complied and Aco retrieved several leather straps and began tying the hands firmly in place so that any struggle would tighten the strap and choke them. She looked at the rest and said, “Weapons out. I feel trouble coming.”

In seconds, Bloodrend, Aston’s Whip, daggers, a staff, and the staff of Ice Storm, along with the claws were out and at the ready for a fight. The trackers came into view and froze when they saw the bandits on the ground, tied securely, with the Journeyer’s standing over them. The leader stepped up, “I am Huntsman Freeman.” He looked at Aston, “I know you, your one of the newer Rangers out here.”

Aston smiled, “Freeman, I am glad to see you survived the Thaw.” He stepped over to the big man that towered a full foot over himself. “I guess it is safe to assume you have been looking for this lot?”

Freeman smiled grimly, “Yes,” he answered. He pointed at the others with him, “I found this lot tied to trees two days ago. They hadn’t been able to free themselves. I had to chase off the wolves that had killed a child that was with them.” He saw Aco stiffen, “Don’t be going and dispensing field justice Claw,” he saw the sudden look of shock from Aco, “Yes Woman, I know who you are, all of you in fact. I have been hired to bring them in to be dealt with by the crown.” He saw the look on Brena’s face, “No, I was hired before you came across them, so the Thieves have no say in the matter.” Brena relaxed.

“As for you Markenin, the Knights have a warrant out for your arrest.” Andrew stiffened, “And I have not been able to find you so far, so settle down.”

“Huntsman Freeman, there is more to you than you allow common folk to see,” said Aston.

“And it will always be that way Ranger.” ‘Keep it to yourself boy, I know where you are trying to go. Be aware that the Ice Spine is more dangerous now than at any other time in history.’ Aston was startled when the big man’s thoughts entered his mind. ‘I used to be one of you a far time ago. I heard the girls scream and saw what she saw. Beware, Aston Grey, fail to guard yourself and you will end up like the child.’