Origin (21 page)

Elwyn and the two morden wandered around searching the small meadow behind and on each side of the campsite over the next two hours and found no sign of Keroc. She took a break from the search to take a drink of cool water and develop a search plan that would leverage the fact that there were three of them. To have the two morden following in her footsteps was comforting, but counterproductive to their chances of success. Besides, time was her enemy today, and it was passing quickly. She took a stick and divided the area surrounding the camp into grids in the dirt. She called the morden over to her and explained to each of them what she wanted them to do. She felt a little silly standing there explaining her plan to the two morden, but was amazed at how much of her instructions they seemed to understand. As soon as she finished speaking, Gemma and Raffe split up, went to the area assigned to each of them, and began to methodically search as she’d requested.

Elwyn went to the grid that she’d assigned herself and focused as hard as she could on examining every inch of the terrain as she walked. She was driven by the desire to find the young drakenhawk, as well as to keep busy enough to not think of the battle the night before. She was shocked and horrified at how easy it had been for her to kill like that; quick, determined, and without thought. For the first time since she could remember, she hadn’t stopped to think about what she was going to do, she’d just reacted. While she knew she’d been functioning on autopilot during the fight, she never would have believed herself capable of such violence. It seemed surreal to her that twenty-four hours ago the idea of killing game was distasteful to her. All of that seemed to be almost inconsequential now when she compared it to killing people who might have families and friends who would suffer at their loss, just as she was suffering at the possible loss of her uncle.

She also felt horrible about her incredible sloppiness. When she first became aware of the archer in the field, she hurried to return fire. She shot him twice, saw him fall, but failed to follow up making sure he was actually dead. It was like shooting a bear or wild boar when hunting. A smart hunter always makes sure that the target he or she hits is dead, because most animals and people, apparently, were much more dangerous when wounded. She’d been in so much of a hurry to help Thane that she neglected to follow basic rules that had been drummed into her for the past several seasons by the village hunters. Her failure to do that had probably resulted in Keroc’s death, and most assuredly was responsible for Thanes. There would be a lot for her to think about when she arrived in Kren. She was definitely not looking forward to telling Ayron that it was her sloppiness that cost the lives of his close friend and his companion. She realized suddenly just how morose she was feeling and realized this was not the time to dwell on all the negatives and the mistakes. Hopefully she would learn from them, and be able to use what she’d learned to protect her other friends and fellow travelers, the morden. For right now her priorities had to be to find Keroc, to continue traveling north, and to stay alive.

The morning slowly gave way to afternoon and Elwyn felt that she and the morden were no closer to finding Keroc than they had been when they started the search earlier that morning. They searched all but one of the grids she drew on the ground and found nothing. Even the morden seemed restless and troubled. There was still a scent of blood in the air assaulting their nostrils each time the wind blew southwest across the campsite. Whenever that fetid odor invaded her lungs, it brought along with it terrifying memories of the carnage from the night before. She was also becoming increasingly concerned about still being in the same location of last night’s attack. She knew she needed to move on soon and not let another group of assassins find her still here and unprepared to defend herself adequately. She had no idea how these killers were able to locate their targets, but was determined that if this King Stefan wanted her dead, then his assassins were going to need to work hard to find her.

Tired, but determined, the three of them began to carefully search the last grid. She’d already decided that if they could not find Keroc soon, they would have to move on. She felt as if were searching for a needle in a haystack. Just as they finished searching the last grid and were considering packing up and racing northward, she felt a presence enter her mind.

“Keroc,” she cried joyously, tears filling her eyes. “Where are you? Tell me so I can find you. I’ve been so worried. Thane said you’d been hit by an arrow. I thought you were dead.” The words tumbled from her mouth so rapidly that she almost forgot to breathe. Elwyn was so excited that she actually shouted out the words. The morden stopped their search and turned to look at her. They quickly trotted over to her side and took up a protective stance. Elwyn settled down so they wouldn’t worry, but continued to speak out loud so that they could hear what she was saying.

Her tears of joy quickly became tears of frustration and grief as Kierra quickly identified herself. “I thought I might be some help in locating Keroc. I know you’ve been searching for several hours without success.”

“Kierra, please help us. The morden and I have searched everywhere we can think of to look. We want to give Keroc a proper burial next to Thane but we are getting close to giving up and moving on. I’m sure you understand why we don’t want to still be here at dusk.”

“Elwyn, don’t give up your search for Keroc yet. He’s still alive. He doesn’t seem to be able to communicate with his mind. I think that the assassin’s poison running through his system may be blocking his ability to reach out to us. I have been able to maintain a tiny link with him. If you are willing to walk around the area again, I’ll see if I can sense the link with him growing stronger as you walk. I’m not sure it will help, but I’m willing to try.”

“I’ll do whatever it takes to find him. Besides, we still have a few hours we can use to search for him before we have to seriously consider other options I won’t leave him here all alone in this place of death. I’m amazed that you can sense him. Is that the way it is with all drakenhawks, or is Keroc special to you.”

“Yes, I can sense any one of my drakenhawks at any time. And yes, Keroc holds a very special place in my heart. He was hatched from my last egg. Keroc’s father, Berroc, was my mate and was life-bonded to Ayron. Berroc later died protecting Ayron in battle. I actually convinced Keroc to choose Ayron as his companion. I knew he was a good and courageous man who’d been broken in grief by Berroc’s death. Keroc chose Ayron and the match is proving to be good for them both.”

Encouraged by Kierra’s offer to help, Elwyn and the two morden walked around the area again. After about an hour, Kierra noticed that her link with Keroc was steadily growing stronger. The link strengthened each time Elwyn approached the trees that grew behind their campsite. So she shifted her search pattern and walked around in the woods for the next hour, still not finding any sign of him. She was getting more and more frustrated when it suddenly occurred to her to look up into the trees. The morden had grown increasingly restless and were nickering, which made her wonder if they could smell or sense Keroc nearby, but could not see him either.

At first glance she didn’t see anything that resembled a drakenhawk up in the trees. Then, off in the distance, she spied an old abandoned bird’s nest high up in a dying pine tree, with something black sticking out just over the edge. She communicated what she saw to Kierra, who urged her to try to reach the nest to see if it was indeed her son. The tree was very difficult for her to climb. There were only a few hand and footholds and the trunk was dripping with a very sticky sap that stuck to her hands, feet, and clothing. Finally, exhausted and sticky, she reached the nest. She cried out first in joy and then in distress at what she saw. The two morden paced restlessly below, waiting for her to tell them what she discovered. Poor Keroc was impaled to the nest by the arrow that hit his wing. As horrible as it seemed, Elwyn quickly realized that the poisoned arrow may have actually saved his life. It had gone straight through his wing and when he fell into the nest as he lost consciousness, the arrow held him in place, saving him from a long fall and from predators. Elwyn quickly communicated what she saw to Kierra.

“First, it’s going to be important for you to free him from the nest. You will have to be sure not to touch any part of the arrow, or the area where the arrow pierced his wing with your bare hands. Rip off a piece of your shirt to wrap around the arrow before you attempt to remove it. If you try to pull it back out, the arrowhead might deliver even more poison into his system, so you will have to break off the shaft of the arrow and then pull it straight through his wing.”

Elwyn, following Kierra’s instructions closely, tore off a piece of her cotton camisole. She then tore the material into two pieces and wrapped a piece of the material around both ends of the arrow. She broke off the feathered end of the arrow as gently as she could, trying to keep the arrow as still as possible. She then pulled what was left of the arrow, straight through his wing and the bottom of the nest. Keroc was now free and no longer pinned to the side of the large nest. She tossed the arrow far from the tree so that she wouldn’t accidently step on it as she descended. She made sure to toss it away from where the morden were standing as well. Her next challenge was to get the unconscious drakenhawk safely down from high up in the tall pine tree. Relieved that she was the only person in the area, she removed her leather tunic and made a sling that she could put over her shoulder. When that was done, she gently slid the drakenhawk, who suddenly didn’t seem so little to her, into the sling. Making sure that Keroc was securely tied into the sling, she slowly and carefully descended the tree.

Once Elwyn reached the ground, she took a few minutes to bury the arrow so that no one else, man or beast, would succumb to its poison. She then picked Keroc up and headed slowly back toward the campsite followed by the two morden. Her eyes were overflowing with tears of joy and hope as she carried Keroc back to where she’d left her packs. He was unresponsive and very hot to the touch. His wing seemed bent at an odd angle with its leathery skin torn where the arrow perforated it. She really couldn’t tell any more than that about his condition. She knew so little about drakenhawks and just wasn’t sure what to do next. She quickly communicated her concerns to Kierra.

“I have already dispatched six of my fiercest warriors to find you and bring you an antidote that might reverse the effects of the poison. With your permission, I am giving them the right to maintain a link with you, so that they will be able to track you. Once they arrive, they will take over the job of protecting you and will also give you advice about tending to drakenhawk injuries.”

“I really need some help right now. I’m frightened of being alone and I have the feeling that another attack is coming. I’ll feel much safer if there are more of us that can fight as we travel. What should I do for Keroc until they reach us? One of the bones in his wing looks broken and I think he might be running a fever. He seems much hotter to the touch than he did before.”

“Splint Keroc’s broken wing to the best of your ability. If it isn’t done quickly, it will impact his ability to fly in the future. After you do that, keep him warm and wrapped tightly so that he can’t injure himself. Also, please give him all the water that you can force into his body. When he is well enough, feed him lots of broth made from meat.”

“I will do my best to take good care of him for you, Kierra. Keroc has grown special to me too, and I really want to see him get well. He seems to experience so much joy in just being alive, that it spills over onto everyone else around him.”

“Thank you for caring for my son. I owe you a debt that can never be repaid, but now we must turn our attention to your safety. Please, get yourselves out of there as quickly as possible. I’m very afraid that when the first group of assassins failed to return, another might have been assigned the task.”

Elwyn knew, by the position of the sun, that it was well into the middle of the afternoon, leaving only a few hours before dusk. She first set Keroc’s wing, holding the broken bone in place with a stick she’d scrubbed clean in the water. She then washed and put some ointment on the places where the leathery membrane of his wing had been torn by the arrow. Finally, she wrapped some clean strips of linen she carried in her saddle bags to use as bandages around him to keep his wings from extending as she rode. She gave him as much water as she could get him to swallow, and then wrapped him tightly in one of Thane’s blankets. Elwyn then contacted Kierra and let her know what she had done, and that she was getting ready to leave and continue north.

“I will contact your uncle and let him know that you are as well as can be expected. I’ll also let him know that you found Keroc, that he will recover from his wound, and that you are back on the road traveling north to Kren.”

“Thanks Kierra, I’m sure that Ayron is worried about us and wondering why he can’t contact Keroc. If you get the chance, would you ask him about my uncle and Clayre? I’ve been very worried about them.”

“Yes, as soon as I get the chance to communicate with Ayron and get some news, I’ll contact you again. I hope you don’t mind if I check in with you about Keroc from time to time.”

“Actually you can contact me whenever you want. I really miss having Keroc popping in and out of my head, she said chuckling to herself, remembering her annoyance at Keroc’s first few forays into her mind.”

As quietly as it came, Elwyn felt the presence in her mind slip away. She felt the heaviness of being alone again. With a heavy sigh, she walked over to where the morden waited and gave them a short rundown of what Kierra said. She then shared her plan with them.

“Gemma, Raffe, my plan is to continue riding north along the trail and not stop for anything until I reach Kren. I have no idea how far away we are from the village, but Thane thought we were about a day’s ride south of there. I’m not sure that the two of you understand every word I’m saying, but I believe that you are both my friends and fellow travelers and as such, you deserve to hear whatever plans are being made. You have proven your loyalty and willingness to help me at every turn.”