Exodus: The Windwalker Archive: Book 3 (Legends of Agora) (20 page)

When the vision came to me of Vaka Kastali engulfed in flames, my heart smiled. I did not enjoy the idea of lives lost, but rather it was the destruction of the symbol of oppression that I enjoyed watching burn to the ground.

-Azzeal, Keeper of the Windwalker Archive

Talon returned to Beorn’s Cave and Han landed right behind him. The general leapt from his mount and confronted Talon at the mouth of the cave, grabbing his arm and spinning him around.

“What the hells was that?” he insisted.

Talon pulled his arm away violently. “It was a warning, and a message,” he said before continuing into the cave.

“That was reckless! Not to mention stupid!” said Han, following him closely.

“No, it was not,” said Talon, turning to face the general in the main cavern. “Vaka Kastali burns to the ground as we speak. The commons will be alive with talk of revolution.”

“And the Vald villages will be as well! You have played your strongest hand too soon.”

“All due respect, General Ford, but I am not some sneaking assassin. Your king has asked this of me, and I am doing it the best way I know how. I mean to stand in the daylight and face off with the Chieftain Winterthorn and his son, before the entire village. They would respond to nothing less.”

Talon walked deeper into the cave and sat at the small table near the fire. He poured himself a drink from the clay pitcher and drank greedily of the water as Han came to stand before him.

“Will your father stand by you?”

Talon shrugged. “It is hard to say. When I left him, he was trying to stab himself in the chest.”

Han let out a sigh and sat opposite Talon. “So you took out your frustrations on the symbol of Vald authority.”

“What I did should have been done years ago. If I fail tomorrow, at least I did that. Do you know what an act like that means to the Skomm?”

“It means hundreds will die as retaliation by the Vald.”

“They will all die anyway. They will die as slaves. But they will have the memory of what I tried to do. Perhaps, if I fail, it will spark a fire in another.”

“We are here to defeat Winterthorn. The revolution was to come next.”

“Was it?” Talon asked, studying the general’s eyes.

“I can understand that you have never learned to trust anyone,” said Han. “But I can assure you. My king’s word is as good as gold.”

“So is mine.”

Talon slept little that night. He spent the hours tossing and turning beside the fire, wishing that morning would come. As he lay there, he replayed the fight inside Vaka Kastali. He had killed every Vaka that he came across. The killing had been easy. When once he had argued the killing of the enemy with Tyson, now he was dealing death like a cold-blooded assassin.

What is happening to me?
he wondered.

The answer was both terrifying and exciting.

He knew that something had snapped inside of him. Perhaps it was fighting in the arena that had done it, perhaps it was seeing Akerri being manipulated by an evil dark elf. He did not know. All he knew was that he was different.

Now the prospect of facing off with Winterthorn thrilled him, when once it had filled him with dread.

His mind drifted to the image of his father trying desperately to kill himself in the face of his defeat. He saw those accusing eyes, that hateful glare. Talon realized that he had been a fool to think that his father would embrace him after all this time. The passing of time had done nothing to soften the man’s heart, and Talon’s accolades had only been further disgrace.

Talon got up, unable to stand his own thoughts any longer. He went outside to get a breath of fresh air and found Ash leaning up against the stone wall beside the cave and witling a stick with a small knife. It was taking on the form of a perched hawk more with every flick of the dwarf’s wrist.

“Oye,” said the dwarf with a nod.

“Quiet night,” said Talon.

“Clear too. The star o’ Ky’Dren be out tonight.”

Ash pointed to the southwest, and Talon glanced in the direction.

“To the Vald, that grouping of stars is Thodin’s crown.”

“Aye, and to the elves it be something else.”

Talon looked out over the dense forest stretching out before him. He knew it gave way to the old abandoned mines to the south, but there was nothing to be seen of it from this vantage point. The coast was not lost to the horizon, however, and the moonlight created a silver rim where it fell upon the waters.

“You ready for tomorrow?” Ash asked. Still the sound of his witling could be heard.

“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”

“You sure about that? You be what? Eighteen years old?”

“Sixteen,” said Talon, somewhat reluctantly.

“Aye? Sixteen? Hells…”

Talon turned and faced the dwarf. “What is it? What’s on your mind?”

Ash glanced back toward the cave and came to stand beside Talon. “I ain’t no man o’ Shierdon. So I don’t foster their blind love o’ the throne. Let me just say that you would be wise to watch yourself in your dealings with the king of Shierdon. He’ll use anything to get out o’ a bargain. If ye be slippin’ up in the least, he will milk it for all it’s worth.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you, Ash.”

“Bah, I just be warnin’ ye is all. Ye never can trust no one. Not ever yourself.”

“You never did tell me what you were doing working for General Ford,” said Talon.

“I ain’t workin’ for Han. I be workin’ for me king.”

“Your king wanted you to be a hawk rider?”

“Yah and nay, it be one o’ the conditions o’ the pact. Ye see, them birds come from a tiny region in northern Ky’Dren, right on the legal border to Shierdon. When the humans caught wind o’ the birds, they tried to claim that they were on their side o’ the border, but me king thought different, and then a long disagreement began. In the end they came to an agreement. On me king’s terms, the Shierdonian king could use the birds for a fee, but the base o’ operations had to be in the Ky’Dren Mountains. And they had to allow a dwarf to become a rider so that we might be keeping an eye on ‘em. In exchange, the king of Shierdon agreed to some trade route or another, and vowed that the riders would answer the king o’ Ky’Dren’s call if ever they be needed.”

“So you were appointed to the station?”

“Nah, I volunteered for it. No one else wanted it anyway.”

Talon was trying to steer Ash toward the incident with his brother that he had heard about from Haze, but he had to be delicate.

“Why did you volunteer? What did you do for work before you became a hawk rider?”

Ash glanced at him quickly. “Why you be askin’?”

“I’m curious is all. You’re the first dwarf I ever met.”

“Aye, and you be the first Skomm I ever met. I ain’t askin’ you your life story.”

“I’m sorry. I will leave you alone,” said Talon, turning for the entrance.

“Bah!” said Ash, waving him over. “Might as well stay. It be a good night for talk anyway.”

Talon tried to hide his grin as he came to stand beside the dwarf once more. He knew that in his own way, Ash had just apologized for being so rude.

“I worked in the mines my whole life. Which be seventy-five years, though ye might not be thinkin’ as much by me appearance. We dwarves can live to see near on a thousand years if we be so blessed. As I said, I loved the mines. I be a descendent o’ Ky’Dren, if ye didn’t know. I be blessed with the power to move stone with me mind. So the mines weren’t as backbreakin’ as some humans might think.”

“I worked the mines south of here, but I cannot say that I enjoyed it,” said Talon.

“And how could ye, with a whip crackin’ on yer back? No, this weren’t no slavin’ work. This was discovery. Ye know what it be like to blast the end o’ a tunnel and find a shimmerin’ vein o’ silver? Course ye don’t. Well let me tell ye, it be the best feelin’ in the world. And when ye come across a deposit o’ diamonds, or rubies…damned if it ain’t better then seein’ a pretty lass’s breasts for the first time.”

Talon chuckled, and Ash eyed him knowingly. “Aye, it be glorious.”

“But why would you give that up if you loved it so?” asked Talon, hoping that he hadn’t gone too far.

Ash seemed to debate between telling him to piss off and spilling his guts. At length he sighed and looked to the moon.

“I always had a bit o’ a drinkin’ problem. It be a common enough jab that we dwarves be a lot o’ drunkards. And it might be true. But most know that there be a time and a place for such indulgences. Most know to keep it out o’ their work. Well. I learned that lesson too late. Ye see, there wasn’t nothin’ I loved more than tyin’ one on an’ blowin’ shite up. Me brother told me more than once to stay off the spirits while we was workin’, but I never listened.”

Talon listened quietly, not wanting to cause Ash to stop his telling. He waited, watching the dwarf out of the corner of his eyes. He thought he saw a hand quickly wipe an eye.

“One day I got into the rum a little heavy a little too early in the day. Me and me brother Fengar was diggin’ into a bit o’ iron ore we knew had gold in it. We just knew it…We had some bets goin’ with the others, five to one odds that we would find gold in the old abandoned tunnel. I was keen on winnin’, and in my haste I lit a fuse too soon.”

Talon bowed his head, knowing better than to look at the dwarf when his voice was cracking so.

A few violent sniffles later, Ash continued at a near whisper.

“I brought down the tunnel Fengar was in. Brought the whole thing down on him. I used me power to toss aside the stone as I dug into the ruble, trying to find him. I stopped when I found the bloody stones. I knew he could have survived a cave-in. Those with our power can survive such things, but it was the explosion what done him in. There weren’t even a body to bury.”

“I’m…I’m sorry, Ash.”

“Aye, so am I.”

“I once had the chance to kill Fylkin Winterthorn. But instead I ran, and then my good friend died by his hands. If I hadn’t been so weak, he would still be alive.”

“Aye, and if I hadn’t been so drunk, me brother Fengar would still be alive.”

“We can’t punish ourselves forever,” said Talon.

“Ye tellin’ me that ye be forgivin’ yerself?” Ash asked, looking to Talon with bloodshot and watery eyes.

Talon let out a sigh, weighing the dwarf’s words. “I forgive myself with every killing blow.”

“Aye, and I apologize with every day I spend sober. Me judgement be comin’ when I be standin’ before the gates to the Mountain o’ the Gods. Me brother and king be handing down me final judgement. Until then I serve me mountain and king any way I can.”

“You are a good person, Ash. You made a mistake. I think that they will welcome you with open arms,” said Talon.

“Maybe…maybe not.”

They watched the horizon in silence as the sun started its slow ascent and began to dominate the night. When the sky was bright and pink, Han came out onto the ridge, stretching and yawning.

“Looks like a fine day for revolution,” he said, slapping Talon on the back.

“It is a fine day indeed,” said Talon.

I speak with spirit of Ragnar, he says he is very happy with grandson, very proud. He says he speak with Chief in spirit world, they become good friends.

-Gretzen Spiritbone

Talon stood on the ridge with Brightwing as the sun slowly crept toward midday. Han stood beside him, armored and armed as the rest of them. He had made it clear that the hawk riders could not make themselves known, lest word of Shierdon’s deceit reach the ears of the chiefs. They could, however, offer what help might be given in secret, from above.

Flick landed on the ridge with a wide smile spread across his red face. “There are at least a thousand Skomm gathered around the ruins of Vaka Kastali. If you are going to make an impressive entrance, that would be the place to start.”

“Thanks, Flick,” said Talon, trying to steady his nerves. “Any sign of my father?”

Flick shook his head.

Talon nodded, telling himself that there was still a chance he might not have to face the chief and Fylkin on his own.

“You ready, son?” Han asked.

Talon put on his bravest face. “I’m ready.”

“Mount up!”

The silver hawks and their riders took to the sky and headed north under the cover of feathers that turned as blue as the sky overhead. Across the fields of the white buffalo they went, quickly coming upon the southern boundary of Skomm village. Droves of people were headed to the commons. When they reached and began circling the ruins of Vaka Kastali, they found hundreds, if not thousands of Skomm standing around the smoldering waste, waiting for Talon’s return. Oddly enough, there were no Vaka and no Vald to keep the Skomm in line.

“We’ve got your back,” Han yelled over the wind.

“Give ‘em hells!” said Ash, circling beside Talon.

Talon pushed Brightwing into a dive before he lost his nerve. He steered her around the burning kastali one last time and landed before the Skomm. Brightwing gave a squawk and ruffled her now silver feathers, kicking up large clumps of dirt with her talons.

The crowd gave a collective cry and reeled back in surprise.

“Skomm of Timber Wolf, Eagle, Hawk, Snow Cat, Dragon, Bear, and Fox Tribes, hear me! I am Talon Windwalker!”

Before he could get out another word, the Skomm began to cheer.

“I have returned to challenge Chief Winterthorn, and any other chief who would see you bow before them!” he declared. “The time of the Vald supremacy is over. I have come to take you to the new land!”

Once again the Skomm cheered, but many of the older of the group looked on with concerned scowls.

“I would see us leave this island and begin our own country. One free of Vald oppression. Follow me to Timber Wolf Village. Witness my defeat of Chieftain Winterthorn. And join me in the new land!”

The crowd clapped, whistled, and cheered, but many voices rose up when the celebration died.

“How can you promise such things?” demanded one, and many others nodded their agreement.

“Behold!” said Talon, raising the timber wolf trinket. “The spirit of my tribe walks with me! Come to me, Chief!”

The trinket flashed, and swirling blue light shot out. Chief came to form and stood before Talon, glowing bright blue.

The crowd took in a shocked breath. Some even fell to their knees in reverence.

“I have fought upon the sands of the Shierdon arena,” said Talon. “I have sailed the seas of Agora. I have freed a slave ship, and with it, taken another. I have dined with elven royalty, I have found the treasure of dwarf kings, and I have made pacts with Agoran kings. You need only follow me to freedom, and it shall be yours.”

“If we do what you say, surely we will die by the hands of the Vald,” said another Skomm man.

“If you do nothing, you will surely die by the hands of the Vald,” said Talon.

“What choice do we have? We have no weapons to speak of, and even if we did, they would slaughter us all.”

“I do not ask you to fight. I ask you to follow. It is true that we have no weapons, all that we have is our numbers. If we stick together, we have a chance. Now, who is with me?”

Thousands of Skomm had gathered around the smoldering kastali, and thousands of fists flew into the air. Those who refused to raise their hands realized quickly that they were the minority.

“Then it is decided. Bring only what you can carry, and follow me to Timber Wolf Village!”

He spurred Brightwing into the air and circled the crowd, which was beginning to charge past the burning building and down the western road.