Hawk's Nest (Tremble Island) (8 page)

Hawk escorted the women back to the Hall. The fact that people stopped and stared at his new companion did not shock him at all; she was in fact, something to stare at.

“You have no idea how frustrated I have been these past years. When Fern’s body came to me I was ready to grab onto her and not let go. Unfortunately for me her rescuer was stronger than my spirit physically. I do not blame you for snatching Fern back from the deep waters, I only wish you had been a bit slower at it. Thanks be the Goddess saw fit to share with Fern what had happened, and shown her the way to repair our souls. Hers has been restored to her and will go into the Goddess’s keeping, as it should be. To honor my rescuer, I shall be called the Lady Fern. No one will question the Witch for finding a new shell for her soul, especially when the old shell was worn to the point of death.”

The new Lady Fern kept up her chatter through the village and into the Hall. “I will take the master’s chambers and need at least one woman for my comfort, for the time I am here. It should be only for perhaps a week or so. Then I will be in residence with a new mate and a new home. It is time the mistakes of the past be rectified and the natural order of life cycle correctly.” She stood in the Hall and seemed to reminisce for long minutes. Seeing the banquet tables being laid out for the night’s celebration of the Lord’s mating, Fern turned a questioning brow to Hawk who explained the situation. “I have recently mated to Flora. My second in command and friend will also be mated to her. She will come to no harm, nor will any offspring be harmed, should one of us die before our time. We privately celebrated our mating. This banquet is to honor Lady Flora for the entire scope of Hawk’s Nest to help us celebrate our union. My friend, Con, will also take on the title of Lord Con this night.”

Flora was pleased he had ordered the feast to honor her. She felt warm inside from his words, and was happy to know that he held her in such esteem. This day had been the strangest one she could name to date. Waking up between two bossy men, and having her first experience with both men together deep inside of her body’s openings was a lesson she hoped to repeat soon. Now her mate was making it known to the entire Hall that she was his choice. The Witch’s resurrection was amazing. And it concerned her greatly, yet when he looked directly at her while explaining to the older Witch that his mate was to be honored this evening, nothing else mattered. She excused herself to go back to the hovel to collect her possessions, not knowing that she was being watched.

Lark had been in the village since the early morning, the place had grown since his last visit, and seemed to be thriving. There were women in feathered uniforms of browns and red who carried spears and bows. Several men watched the Amazons go by and made lewd comments, but they spoke quietly until the females were out of earshot. He blended in as one of the recent repatriated villagers, sharing a skin of spirits, and loosening their tongues at the same time. He listened to the tale of how the Amazon women became so cherished by Lord Hawk. If he weighed their words, and what he had seen this day, it would seem the men of this place were cowards that allowed their women to fight in their place. He hated the idea of shedding blood, yet he would pick up a sword and defend his Master and home when the need arose.

A pretty young maid began to flirt with him, and he enjoyed the bantering, but refused to go for a walk into the woods with her. She tagged along behind him chattering inanely as they made their way to the Hall for the feast. When a beautiful woman with flowing red-blonde hair walked past them, his interest perked up. His companion saw where his gaze rested and told him to watch himself, “She is a Witch, everyone knows of her here.” If everyone knew her here, then she must be a very strong Witch, he leaned in and gave the little flirt a swift kiss on the cheek, and told her to save him a seat at the banquet table. The silly girl almost skipped like a child as she went through the doors of the Hall.

He had no minutes to dawdle, his Master needed this Witch, and he would get her. Lark wasted no time in meeting with the escort Zurcho had sent with him, and together they made a quick plan of action.

*****

Hawk searched the Hall room by room and could not find her. He searched the hovel where she’d stayed with Fern, and found a mess scattered about. He pulled two of the shifting wolves into the hunt for Flora, yet they could find no scent of her anywhere in the Hall or village. Something strange had happened, he’d seen the light in her eyes as she listened to him discuss the reason for the banquet. She would not have walked away from her mates. He searched the water’s edge of the river, but again, no sign that she had been there could be found. On a hunch, he took the wolves to the Eyre that had become their chambers. They found her scent there, so he had all the proof he needed that something mystical had happened to her, and a certain red haired ancient soul was going to tell him where his woman was, or she might find herself back in the lake with a large stone to keep her down there. He sent a prayer to the Goddess that Flora set such store in, to send Con back to join in the search for their mate.

He found “Lady” Fern as she had demanded to be called, amidst several of the Witches of the village coven, holding court. In fairness to her, she was a beauty now, gone was the mud brown hair and vacant features. In their place was a vivacious woman with a Queen complex. He hoped she spoke true when she told them earlier that she was to mate soon and leave. For this night, she could prove her touted reputation as a great Echo Witch and help them find Flora.

He excused himself to the Witches and took Fern’s arm in a firm grip. “We need to talk, and I do apologize, but we need to speak in private.” He led her outside the doors of the Hall and explained his worry. “She is not the kind of woman to make promises and leave, so, my question to you is, where is she?”

*****

Had he known she was not far from the village, being carried over the shoulder of a hulking minion, he would have taken her back within a matter of minutes. Flora was still cursing and making it as hard as possible for the men who grabbed her from behind and tied her hands, gagged her, and tossed a sack over her head, before carrying her away from the village. She tried kicking her captor and got a swat on her ass for her troubles. As long as her hands were tied behind her back, she could do very little, the same for her ability to voice a curse on the heads of these men. They were moving swiftly through the forest, and she felt every low hanging branch slap back on her thighs and backside. Her transport tired after a while and she was handed to another to carry for a short while. His build was much thinner, without the padding of muscles to cushion her stomach. She twisted her body sideways to throw them off balance and succeeded. Unfortunately for her, she went down first and the minion landed on top of her. She felt the damp Echo soil seeping into her shift, and wanted to cry. The more she wanted to cry, the madder she got at her captors. If her mouth was not gagged, she would have laid a curse on them to last until their dying days. She reached for a ley line, hoping the energy would assist her in some way, but one of them cursed and snatched her from the forest floor. The man scolded the others by explaining to them the error of their ways.

“You never allow an Echo Witch to touch the ground when you have captured her. She will tap the Echo’s energy and lay you on your ass, then waltz away with your balls in her hand. A smart man never trusts a Witch, no matter her abilities, this one is said to be powerful so take more care than you normally would.”

She resented the man’s knowledge. It was obvious he had a working kinship with magical beings. It bothered her that she actually believed him when he laid a hand on her shoulder to get her focus on what he wished to say to her. “I swear, you will be returned to your home as soon as my Master talks with you. You are not to be harmed, the haste in taking you without your consent might have been wrong on my part. You must understand that you are needed to consult with him. Once your meeting has been completed and my Master is satisfied, you may leave unmolested. I give you my word on it.” She nodded her head to let him know that she understood his words.

The one thing she did know was the man was taking her to the Wizard’s keep. She felt his thoughts when he touched her. The Wizard Zurcho had masterminded her kidnapping, and she would make him pay as soon as she got her hands on him. All the man had to do was ask and she would have gladly consulted with him. Although he should have taken the new Fern, she was more learned than she was. Copper was a legend in their village, her abilities far exceeded any other Witch that had gone before or since.

Their journey seemed to take forever, especially while being slung over the shoulders of three men constantly. She wanted to rest, but the continued jostling did not allow for that small leisure. The men rarely spoke to each other, which told her that they were not friends, but minions, with one being of higher rank than the others. The low voiced curses that stopped them in their tracks, at first gave her hope that somehow her mates had found her. When she heard and felt the fighting going on while she was being carried faster, she tried to scream, but the man who had spoken to her before whispered to her, “Shut it, woman, those creatures are not someone you want to call attention to you for any reason. They belong to Lord Pladrin, you have heard of him I am certain of that.”

The name sent chills down her spine. He and Lord Loris had been the night terrors of her childhood. The Lord of Klonslow Hall was feared by one and all. Loris was said to be afraid of the man who was said to have yellow Demon eyes and carried the animal nature of a large hairy ape-like being. He was reputed to demand and get the finest looking men and women for his bed, or his meal. He was known for picking out handsome young men, turn them loose in the forest and arrange a hunt with his soldiers. If the man survived the capture and being taken for the sexual pleasure of one and all, he was allowed to continue to serve as such. If he lay broken and bleeding, his carcass was given to Pladrin’s pets, two spotted yellow furred hunchback dogs. Women were said to be stripped of clothing, and strapped to tables or chairs, sometimes with their bodies posed in suggestive positions, for the whim of the Lord and his cronies.

It was said the man had no scruples. It was also rumored that he was setting his sights on the neighboring Halls of Care, looking to expand his empire of terror. She held herself very still, offering no more resistance to the man carrying her. His words of assurance filtered through her mind, she would be allowed to leave unmolested and unharmed.

They almost made it to the bone fence of home. Lark felt the stone hit his head before he crumbled to the ground with his burden shielding him from further damage. His next waking thought was of his failure to deliver the Witch for Zurcho. Without her, his Master would never find him, and even if he did in some long awaited rescue, Lark knew he would be too used up for the great man to want him back. He felt tears burn his eyes, yet knew better than to shed them. Any sign of weakness shown to his captors would be used against him. He hoped the Witch was still alive by morning. If she didn’t show herself to be a Witch, she might have a chance of pulling the planet’s energies to her to aid in her escape. At least he would not have her death or enslavement on his conscious when they fed him to the evil eyed dogs.

They’d traveled through the night and the next day, not reaching their destination until deep into the evening. Flora knew they had entered a building by the sounds around her. She was carried down some steps and she heard the metallic clanking sound of a door opening, and was dumped on a hard, dirt packed floor. The hood and bindings were left on, which limited her movements, but the door slammed shut and she heard a bar dropped into place. A grunt to her left told her she was not alone in her prison, and she whimpered, hoping they were unbound and could assist her. Not only was she as hungry as she had ever been, she needed to relieve herself desperately.

Shuffling sounds came her way, and hands pulled the hood from her head, and then worked the gag from her mouth and the bindings from her wrists and hands. She could barely move her arms, they had been tied behind her back for so long, it hurt to pull them around in front of her. She saw a beautiful young man on his knees beside her, trying to rub the circulation back into her abused limbs. It took her three tries to say anything remotely understandable, but she thanked him. She was surprised to see his smile, even if it was more self-deprecating than the situation warranted. Until he spoke. She tried to pull away, but he held her close and whispered in her ear.

“I have told them I was abducting you from Hawk’s Nest to be my mate, and that your parents did not approve of the match. That is preferable to them knowing that I kidnapped you for my Master, they would use us as pawns to get his agreement to join in the land grabbing schemes Zurcho has refused for the past few weeks. Do not tell them you are a Witch until you have pulled as much energy as you can. The last Witch they held in this place hangs on the far wall, and she is not pretty at all.”

He helped her to stand, and they explored the filthy prison of Klonslow Hall. Flora relieved her bladder in the furthest corner of the cavernous room, while Lark pretended to be impressed with the mummified remains of the Witch still hanging by her wrist bones on the wall. The leather shackles were moldy, and rotting. Flora quartered the floor, searching deep for any hint of life beneath the dirt. She felt bare trickles of energy, but none strong enough for her to gather and use. Since the evening she had been snatched, she was conserving the energy that was stored within, hoping to give it a boost before she would be in dire straits, by draining her energy completely in an emergency.

Finally, she sat and laid her head against the dirt wall. Lark came to sit with her and offered his shoulder for her pillow. As she relaxed on him, he told her of his quest and the reason for her kidnapping. “I really would have taken you home you know.” He then told her of his wish for a child and the rest of his life with the Great Wizard. Sometime during his biography, she fell asleep and so did he.