Haven Keep (Book 1) (53 page)

The day was uneventful so far and he hoped it would remain so.  They traveled in near silence, watching the forest line.  Von saw no signs of life other than a hawk flying off in the distance.  He imagined they could be home in a couple of days, as long as they could keep this pace up.  The horses may not last.  Maybe they could find a farm to trade for fresh ones.  Von was sure any farmer would be willing to trade whatever animals they owned for the quality horses that now pulled the work sled, that was if they could find anything else but an old nag to replace them.

The day wore slowly on.   They often changed directions slightly, making switchbacks down the mountain.  Traveling straight down would have been too steep and the horses could not take that grade.   They stopped for their meals, just so the horses could rest.  No need to run them to death the first day.  The evening meal they ate cold and Von took time while they were stopped to rub the horses down.  He wished he could do something more about their fatigue.  Maybe once they were off the mountain they could run them until they did give out.  He would regret losing them, but it may just mean making up enough time to make the difference.  The rest of the way they could run on foot if need be.  It took much longer to run a man to death than a horse.

The sun shone low above the horizon of the sea.  Von was still amazed at how far he could see at this elevation.  Any higher up and he could probably see the end of the world.  The ocean always reminded him of Anora.  He would be home soon to see her.   Hopefully she was safe.  Baiden would make sure she was.  He tried not to think too much about that.  It was time to be moving again.  Still enough light for a few more miles today.

Von climbed back on the sled.  His back ached a little from sitting all day and he said as much.

“Oh you’re not the only one,” Kaiden replied.  “I only wish there was a warm bath waiting for us at home instead of a fight.”

Von could see the allure in a warm bath, but if he was honest with himself he was looking forward more to the fight.  At a time when the north needed to be whole it was divided worse than ever.  Ky was going to pay for his actions and Von was going to ensure he did.

Twilight was fast coming on them and they would soon need to find a place to shelter for the night.  If the temperatures continued to drop it could become deadly very quickly.  The horses had exerted themselves so much this day it would not take much for them to freeze.

As the light faded so did Von’s eyesight.  Still he scanned the tree line.  Once or twice he swore he saw movement out in the waning light.  Maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him.

A small alcove of trees ahead might be able to provide shelter.   The moon would be out soon and with its light reflecting on the snow they would have plenty of light to travel again once the horses were rested.  That is if the temperatures did not drop too fast or too far.

They stopped at the alcove of trees and built a fire.  The wind started to stir and the icy chill of it stung Von’s exposed face.  He pulled his cloak around himself tighter and tried to warm himself by the fire.  Kaiden was cooking again.  It smelled wonderful.

“You’ll make someone a fine wife someday,” Von told him.

“Someone has to cook for you helpless louts or you would probably starve to death,”  Kaiden chuckled.  He tried to sound offended, but Von could sense the mirth in his voice.  It was good they could still find humor, considering their situation.

“We’ve already eaten.”

“Nothing hot.  This will warm your bones.”

“A few hours rest and we should be on our way,” Soren said.  “The moon will be out soon and we will be able to travel.”

“What of the horses?”  Kaiden asked.  “They will need more rest than that.”

“The sooner we are out of these mountains the better.”  Soren scanned the forest.  “There are things moving in this night.  If the horses die from exhaustion it will be well worth our being away from here.”

Von surveyed the edge of the trees.  Shadows danced in the firelight and the gnarled branches swayed in the wind, casting an eerie black veil over the weary travelers.  He could easily imagine something out there.  Imagination or not, he knew there were vyr still in these mountains, probably closer than he cared to know about.

A sudden scream penetrated the stillness of the night.  The sound of a wildcat cry, only more human.

“Was that a snow leopard?” Yaris must have known it wasn’t.

Von wished he could have told Yaris yes.

“Vyr,” Kaiden whispered.

“Probably,” Soren acknowledged.  “Wether it was or not, it sounded very close.  We should go.”

“I agree,” Von said.  “As dangerous as it is to travel in the night it is more dangerous to stay here.  Kaiden put out the fire, Yaris help me with the horses.”

The horse were not pleased to have the harnesses placed on them again so soon, but the worst they did was whinny in protest.  Von and Yaris soon had them hitched again to the sled.

Von jumped in the drivers seat and drove the sled forward, moving at a quick pace.   He could not see far in the darkness, but he balanced the need for safety with his desire to be away from here.  The horses sensed the mood and it was all Von could do to keep them in check.  He did not want to run them all headlong off a cliff before he saw where they were going.

The other men rode with bows in hand, ready to draw.  They watched the forest for any sign of movement, but in this light it was difficult to see anything.  The wind began to stir and Von’s anxious feeling increased.  They rode in silence, watching.  The sounds of the horse’s hooves crunching the snow and the whistling of the wind through the barren branches broke the stillness.

The moon rose behind the trees into the night sky and its light reflected off the blanket of snow that covered the mountains.  The higher the moon climbed the more the darkness dissipated.   Von noticed the constellations rising into the sky as well.  He saw the clerics cup, in the shape of a chalice, its stem pointing perpetually north.  Blane and Barg, the twin hunters, opposite in the sky from their sister, the huntress, who would appear at this time of year before the early hours of morning, heralding the dawn.  The cluster of stars known as the council followed the hunters across the sky.  There were others as well, but the one that caught Von’s attention was the dragon.  Known as the serpent on the Gothen Isle.  Von’s breath caught as he traced the line of stars that ran from the dragon’s curving neck to the hand of the high cleric.   Von had always been told that the high cleric held the staff of power in his hand, but it looked too much like a chain now.  In the high cleric’s other outstretched hand was the council, floating in the immensity of space to land on the high clerics upturned palm.    The constellations constantly moved throughout the years and seasons.  Only the clerics cup kept a constant position in the night sky. 
How many generations had passed since the dragon was close enough to the high cleric to paint this picture in the heavens?
Von thought he must be looking at something not seen since the Dragons Lords walked the icy land of the north.

He tried not to think too much about it and concentrated on the tree line.  He searched for any movement that might warn them of something following.  The moonlight bathed the snow in a soft glow.  It was not as bright as the day, but bright enough.  The forest however, was buried in shadow.   Von watched as the shadows played tricks on his mind. The branches of the trees blew in the wind.  His imagination told him something was there.  He hoped it was his imagination.

Kaiden, Soren, and Yaris stood ready to draw arrows.  Their silvery bows from Haven Keep gleamed in the moonlight.  Watching them made Von think of the sled as an oversized war chariot, with its armored bowmen ridding into battle.  With any luck they would have no battles tonight.

A guttural sound formed in the throats of Isk and Jen, their hackles rising.  Soren drew his bow, nocked arrow coming to his ear in one smooth motion.

“They are coming,” he said.

No one had a chance to ask what he meant.  The shadows became bestial figures, leaping out of the forest, like snowcats bounding toward their prey. The creatures coming at the men were not snowcats. They were larger and faster.   Soren released, his arrow flying true to the target and the vyr stumbled to the snow, but more came forward, pouring out of the trees.  Kaiden and Yaris let fly their arrows as well.  Again and again.  Some of the animals fell, but most of those that did rose again and continued the chase, slowed only momentarily by the arrow strikes.

Predatory screams pierced the night.  Von’s hair stood straight.  He cracked the reigns hard.  The horses bounded forward, needing little encouragement.  Von felt the men behind him lurch against the side boards at the sudden burst of speed.   The horses thundered down the slope, yet the vyr still came.  They were everywhere.  There was no hope in outrunning them.  Closer and closer they came. The forest swarmed with the beasts.  Nightmares come to life.  Demons rising from the Rift. The arrows would not hold them off for long. 
How many arrows did they have?
  Surely not enough.

Von fumbled with his own bow, attempting to get an awkward shot off while still trying to steer.  Amazingly he hit what he aimed at.  He did not know how much damage he had done, but if it kept the vyr off that much longer, he would continue shooting.

The horses screamed in terror.  A vyr was suddenly upon them from the front.  A massive body of hair and muscle pulling at the horses.  Hatred gleamed in its eyes.   No animal could show that emotion. Von desperately shot, taking the monster in the throat.  Down it went, under the hooves of the horses and then the skids of the work sled.  The sled crashed into the vyr, sending the sled flying into the air.  A feeling of weightlessness came over Von until the sled slammed back down on the mountain, somehow staying upright, still careening down the steep grade, horses at a wild sprint. 

The force of the impact almost sent Von to the ground, but he held fast to the rail.   He turned and peered over his shoulder.  He saw that Soren had been thrown, but the man was already up and running, sword in hand.  Von did not think he could force the horses to slow down for Soren, but Soren did not need them to.  He ran along side the sled at animal speed, fighting and slashing at the vyr.  Every sword stroke put a creature to the ground, or at least kept it from reaching the sled.  Soren could not do it on his own.  There were too many.  Kaiden and Yaris were unable to hold the creatures back.  Fangs and claws ripped at the ancient sled, tearing at its occupants.  Isk and Jenn snapped back, protecting their human companions.  The vyr came forward, undeterred.  The men would be overwhelmed in a sudden rush.  Von could not die
without fighting, and he would not let Soren die for him. 

He leaped from his seat, landed in the back of the sled, sword and dagger in hand.  Anyone watching him would think him mad, flailing and slashing about, but he moved with a purpose, with a speed he once thought impossible.  Sword and dagger whirled and spun, each stroke finding its target.  More than once the sled became airborne.  With each landing, more vyr fell away.  Kaiden and Yaris fought as well.  They shot arrows at the hairy masses that threatened to leap on the sled.  Some still broke through.  Those Von did not take, Soren did, yet on the vyr came.  Monsters Von was sure had taken death blows rose from the bloody snow and continued the pursuit.

Von heard another scream over the din.  It pierced the night.  Not a vyr, the horses.  Von turned to see a horse fall to the jaws of a vyr.  The other horse fell under the weight of the first.   The sled could no longer stay upright, crashing into the fallen horses, spinning around, then tumbling to its side. 

Von hit the ground hard, then slid.  He didn’t know how far.  The sled continued sliding too.   Somehow Kaiden and Yaris had remained inside with one of the dogs.  Von didn’t know which.  The men clung to the rails desperately.   Von had to move or he would be crushed by the weight of the sled.  There was no time.  He could not move fast enough in the deep snow.  He braced for impact, then remembered pulling the sled around the courtyard of Haven Keep.  Instead of readying himself for the blow that would kill him he reached out with his hands and caught the sled.  It stopped instantly.  The work sled felt as light as ever.  Then the horses, still harnessed, slid past.  Their weight whipped the sled around.  Von barely had time to jump inside before he was again speeding down the slope.

A vyr scrambled to the top of the overturned sled, massive claws grabbing at Kaiden.  Yaris stabbed with his dagger under the fleshy part of the jaw.  Isk and Jen attacked as well.  Where they had come from Von did not see.  The vry’s scream turned to a gurgle.  Another shape was on them, moving at the speed of the vyr.  Von caught himself in mid swing when he realized it was Soren.

“Cut the horses free,” he yelled.

Kaiden went to work with his dagger on the harnesses.  The sled began to slow.  If they did not get moving again they would be torn to shreds by the approaching vyr.  A snow drift halted their movement completely.  Kaiden still did not have the horses cut free.  They would have to fight the creatures here.

Von and Soren stood with their backs to the overturned sled, facing three charging vyr.  The middle creature fell to an arrow.  That must have been from Yaris.  Von had no time to see if the vyr stayed down.  A half second later one of the remaining vyr crashed into him, slamming him against the sled.  The weight of the collision drove his sword deep into the vyr’s chest, but it still clawed at him.  Desperately he pulled at his sword, so he could strike again.  It wouldn’t move, his arm was pinned against the runner boards.  He twisted his sword, tried to wrench it free.
It moved only finger widths.  The vyr was confined in its movements as well.  Von’s other hand still held the dagger.  Again and again he stabbed.  He could feel the claws tearing at him, trying to rip away flesh.  His bone and muscle felt bruised and broken, but the claws never made it past his mail armor.  He continued to stab, over and over.  He couldn’t breathe, he was going to be crushed to death.  Finally the vyr stopped moving, but he was still pinned beneath its weight.  He squirmed and fought to get out from underneath the thing.  Yaris was there, helping him push the massive animal off him.

Von stood and saw the danger had not passed.  Thirty spans away six more of the demons raced toward them.  The things were a wall of death.  A wall that would crash over the top of Von and his companions in only moments.