Haven Keep (Book 1) (10 page)

Kaiden shrugged. “Still, we will need to be extra cautious.  That bear probably isn’t the only thing out there tonight.”  Kaiden hoped it was.  He walked over to Lester and started digging.

“Let’s get this stable cleared out.”  His stomach growled reminding him how hungry he was. “Donell, start a fire.  It’s been a long time since lunch.  The sooner this is done the sooner we can eat.”  He continued digging.  The physical labor warmed him almost as much as a fire would have.

“Ah, food for the horses.”  He uncovered a trough full of the tall wild grass that grew in these hills.  Whoever left, left in a hurry.  Kaiden wondered who they were, and why they would have gone to so much trouble to hide they had been here.  It wasn’t the actions of someone Kaiden would consider friendly.

The fire was soon going strong and the horses were all groomed, watered and fed.  A smell of peppered stew permeated the air, producing another growl from Kaiden’s stomach.  It would be good to get a bowl of something hot in his belly.

He settled down to eat near the fire.  A dry snow began to fall.  The camp actually felt peaceful, despite the mystery of who built the place.  The forest always had a way of calming Kaiden.  The simpleness and wonder of his natural surroundings almost made him want to learn more about the ancient religion of the clerics.  Almost.  The Men of the north had long ago abandoned those beliefs, relying more on their own prowess and skill.  A man succeeded by his own strength and will as far as Kaiden was concerned.  The gods and demons didn’t care for the lives of mortal men, nor how they fared.  What need had Kaiden for them? They never interfered with his life, he never interfered with them.  Still the clerics did prove useful with their cures and medicines.  He couldn’t think of anyone who knew more about herbs than Wellen.

Kaiden was soon gulping down a second steaming bowl of rabbit stew.  The fire was burning brightly and he relaxed in its’ warmth.  Maybe this hunt was not turning out so badly after all.

Lester broke the silence. “If  I didn’t know what it was we were hunting, this might actually be fun.”

“You mean if this bear hadn’t killed more than just live stock,” replied Biv.

Lester nodded.

Soren snorted.

Lester would have fun no matter what he was doing.  Soren on the other hand was all business.

Bo curled up next to Kaiden’s feet, warming himself by the fire.  The hounds would warn them if anyone came near, man or bear, but even with the dogs, care needed to be taken.  “We’ll take turns with the watch.  Two men at a time tonight.  Soren and I will take first shift.”

Ralf and Donell sat sharpening their spears.  They looked up and nodded.

Lester and Biv pulled their spears out too.  Soren set to oiling his sword and looked as if his mind were somewhere else.  He stared intently north, over the hills, to the mountains. Stared as if he saw something in those mountains, something he’d seen before and didn’t care to encounter again.  Kaiden realized Soren had worn that look since the morning they left Azmark, only now it was more obvious, more grim.  Soren insisted on coming, and Kaiden was grateful he did.  His presence helped to remind the younger men why they were out in this weather, risking their lives.  This was a serious task, one that was turning out harder than Kaiden originally expected.  He hoped he was up to it.

When the sunlight began to fade the men retired to their bed rolls, wrapping themselves up tight against the dropping temperatures.  The fire kept Kaiden nearly comfortable and over the next couple of hours he added quite a few logs to it.  The coals were burning hot and would at least keep the company from freezing.  He wore his thick fur lined cloak pulled tight around his body.  From what he could tell, the others were asleep and  Lester was snoring softly.  Kaiden and Soren had not spoken for a while. Both men stood watching the darkness.  Kaiden wondered what the older man was thinking.

The snow stopped falling and the wind began to stir.  Fresh snow blew off the hills, down onto the camp.  Branches swayed with the breeze, and occasional gusts made whistling sounds through the canyon.

Kaiden never thought this hunt would take them so far away from Azmark.  Normally bears that came down from the hills and mountains did not return to the hills so soon.

“Normally not ‘till the next summer,” Soren said.  Kaiden looked at Soren with a strange expression until he realized he had spoken his last thoughts aloud.

“Very strange behavior,” Kaiden mused.  They had hunted the beast for three days now.  Three days on the strangest trail he’d ever tracked.  “Attacking a man.  Hiding the corpse in a tree.  Something this large would not need to protect its prey from other animals by pulling it up a tree.”  Kaiden shook his head.  He didn’t know why he was going on like this, maybe Soren could make some sense of it all.  “It just doesn’t make any sense.  Sometimes it acts like a cat, sometimes like a bear.  It’s too big for any snowcat I’ve ever encountered, maybe bigger than any bear.  Walks on four legs.  Sometimes two.”  Kaiden thought he was beginning to sound foolish.  It was almost as if he were describing something from children’s nightmares.  Stories he’d heard as a young boy.  Stories used to scare Flenn and him into listening to their parents.  He hadn’t lost sleep over those stories in years.  Tonight he thought he might be lucky to get any sleep at all.  Scourges, boogeymen, vyrs, banshees.  Silly.  It had to be the darkness weighing down on him, stimulating his imagination.

The wind whipped through the camp.

Kaiden laughed out loud. “Scourges!”

Soren did not laugh, falling even more silent.

Finally he spoke. “The Scourge.  Maybe.  That I do not know.”  His voice was low, almost soft, an echo of the wind.  “I have seen this once before.”  He looked Kaiden straight in the eyes.  “When I was a boy.”  He was speaking deliberately.  Pausing between sentences to collect his thoughts.  “Only one other who saw what I did lived to tell the story.  All thought him mad.  Mad with the loss of blood.  With the loss of his arm.  The village thought he’d filled my young mind with nightmares.  He died days after.”

Kaiden hadn’t expected Soren to take him seriously, yet Soren did. 
A scourge?  Of course it wasn’t, but what was it?
  Soren somehow knew.  Kaiden was certain of that.  At this point Kaiden would believe near anything.  Wanted to believe anything.  Wanted an explanation.

Soren continued, “It followed two men from this camp to Azmark.   It returned here when the men did.  They fled from here.  We should not have stayed.”

Kaiden knew Soren was the best tracker among them, but he still wondered how Soren could know all this. Maybe he’d noticed the tracks closer to Azmark and he just waited until now to voice his opinion. Still, when he spoke it was not to question him about why he would think such a thing.

“We have six men, and dogs.  Not to mention fire.  No animal will harm us.  If the men have fled we are safe.”  Kaiden had never heard Soren talk this way.  Too many grown men acting crazy, believing in fairy tales.  As if to mock Kaiden’s words the wind blew more forcefully, bending branches and driving snow.

“This is no animal,” Soren whispered.

“Then what?” Kaiden asked.

Bo leaped to his feet.  Fras and Gray were at his side.  Gray growled at the darkness.

Kaiden felt uneasy, something or someone was out there, watching them.  Soren drew his sword.  Kaiden gripped his spear, searching the darkness.  Something
was
out there.

“Wake up!” Kaiden yelled.  The horses, sensing something amiss, stamped their hooves, backing further into the make shift stable.  Donell and Biv were up and calming the horses. Kaiden yelled again.  “Get Up!”

Ralf and Lester joined Soren and Kaiden.  The four men stood with their backs to the fire.  A circle of men, dogs and steel, they watched the night.  Shadows danced across the trees.  The crackle of the fire and growls of the dogs were drowned by the wind.

Mic was under the lean-to, his soft fur rising slowly in the rhythm of a deep sleep. Slowly the dog rose, eyes focused on nothing, pointed into the night.  Mic made no sound and trotted off into the darkness.

Donell screamed at the dog, “Mic! To me! Mic, heel!”

Mic disappeared into the blackness.  His foot steps padded softly up the hill, leaving tracks in the snow that were easy to follow.  The men yelled to him.  The night answered with a howling of the wind.  Snow blew savagely through the camp, blinding the men with driving fierceness.

Donell started to run after Mic.  Soren grabbed him by the arm in a vise grip.  Soren shook him. “NO!”

A high pitched yelp pierced the night.  The gusts of wind died suddenly.  Gone as fast as they began, leaving not even a breeze.  Donell tried to pull free from Soren.

“No,” Soren said.  He used a calmer voice this time.  “There is nothing you can do.”

“Nothing?!” Donell asked in disbelief.  “It is just a beast.  It will bleed well enough.”

He jerked free from Soren, but made not further movements.  The darkness pressed in on them as they peered out into the night.

“MIC!”  The night answered with silence.

Kaiden felt  unnerved.  He knew he must do something.  Finally he spoke.  “Biv, Lester, stay with the horses.  The rest of you, make some torches.  Soren, Donell, stay close to me,” If Soren knew what this was, Kaiden wanted him close by.  Donell might do something foolish.  Kaiden wanted him on a short reign.

“This might not be the wisest thing.” Soren offered to Kaiden.  “There is much that is unseen in the night.”

“Whatever is out there is close.  Close enough for us to kill.  I want an end to this.”  Kaiden leveled his gaze at Soren.  Soren met the stare and did not blink.  He showed no fear, no emotion at all.  The man would do as he was told, even if he did not like it.

With torches in one hand and spears in the other the four men trudged up the hill in the direction Mic had gone.  Bo and Gray led the way.  Soren’s sword was out, his spear strapped across his back.  Kaiden’s hand longed for his own sword hilt.  Only he knew that was foolishness, spears were better for bears.  Better for snowcats too.  If he hadn’t needed to hold his torch with one hand he would have his long bow out.

They traveled about fifty spans when Ralf spotted blood.  Patches of it in the snow.  The dog tracks ended, but there were other tracks.  Enormous tracks.  Kaiden’s eyes followed the tracks to where they disappeared into the night, leading to the Rocky Hills.  There was no sign of Mic, just the blood.

“What in the name of the Seven Clans...”  Ralf didn’t finish.

Kaiden knew what Ralf was thinking.  It was what they all were thinking.  Kaiden had never seen such large tracks.  Any beast wanting to protect its kill would have dragged it off.  There should have been drag marks in the snow, yet there were none. 
What could have carried off a full grown wolfhound?

Bo and Gray growled.  They did not like this.  The growls were angry and did nothing to calm Kaiden. 

“It went this way.”  Donell pointed up the hill.   He was moving, and the dogs were quickly following him.  Kaiden knew they were acting in haste, but he followed anyway, as anxious as Donell to catch their quarry while it was still close.

Ralf stood, staring at the snow.  Kaiden looked back at him, motioning him to follow.  Ralf moved with a start and was soon at Kaiden’s side.  The group labored through the deep snow, moving slowly.  Traveling up hill didn’t help.

Ralf spoke with a soft voice in Kaiden’s ear.  “There was no fight.  Not even a struggle.”

Kaiden nodded.  They were playing a dangerous game with a dangerous quarry.  An unknown quarry.

They were moving too far from camp.  This thing moved much faster than they did and unless it stopped they wouldn’t catch it tonight.  They pressed on anyway.  The wind began  again, blowing down off the mountains, warning them to turn back.
Unnatural
, Kaiden thought.  They trudged on, further and further up the mountain side.  Kaiden squinted his eyes, straining to see through the driving snow.  Visibility was quickly diminishing, but he could see well enough to follow the tracks to a thick crop of trees just ahead.  The forest was beyond that, anything could be in there.  Kaiden hesitated a bit, but Donell kept moving.

“Stop.”  Soren sounded irritated.  “Not in there. It will have the advantage.  We must fight it in the open.”

“I’m not planning on fighting it,” Donell spat.  “I’m planning on killing it.”  Irritation showed in his voice too.  “If you hadn’t have stopped me earlier, maybe we would be done with this business by now.  Go back to camp then.  I’ll bring you the pelt.”

“Soren is right, Donell.”  Kaiden let this go too far.  They all should have returned to camp a half league ago.

“It’s probably just inside those trees,” Donell protested.  “The dogs will corner it, or tree it, and we’ll kill the thing.”

“It has heard us coming,” Soren said.  “If it is just inside those trees it is waiting for us.”

“All the better.”  Donell kept moving forward.

Fool
, thought Kaiden.  “Wait!”

Donell was at the edge of the trees already. The dogs were with him.  His shoulders sank in a sigh, even he would not ignore a direct order.