Origin (36 page)

“I know you will do your best to reach her before she leaves, Ayron. Please remember to take care of yourself and not behave recklessly in your efforts to reach her. You will do Elwyn no good if you become ill or are so exhausted you cannot provide her with the guidance and support she’ll need from you.”

“That is wise counsel and I will make every effort to heed your words. Kierra, I know how difficult it is for you to remain connected with me at such a long distance, but I would really appreciate your staying in my mind as long as you can, so that you will know as much as I do about the situation in case you need to contact someone else. Until we are forced to break contact, I will let you know everything I see when I enter Kren. If you have not heard from any of us in the next two days, I would ask that you find a way to communicate what has happened to Azavon. He may be able to rescue Elwyn if for some reason I cannot.”

“I will do as you ask and maintain a link with you as long as I can. Good luck Ayron. I have faith in you and wish you the best.”

Ayron felt his link with Kierra recede, but not leave his mind altogether. He focused his attention on riding east again, making sure to allow Gerrack time to cool down, drink fresh water and graze for short periods of time as he rode. Even though he knew he was traveling quickly, time passed very slowly for Ayron. He grew wet and chilly as rain fell intermittently during the night. Ayron not only lost track of time, but riding in the darkness at the edge of the thick forest also caused him to lose track of direction as well. It was only Gerrack’s sharp eyesight and unfailing ability to keep to a trail that kept him from getting hopelessly lost.

His spirits fell as dawn came and he still had seen no sign of the village. He nibbled on some jerky and drank some water as he rode. He checked in briefly with Kierra who had not heard anything from her drakenhawk warriors either. Unfortunately Ayron still had no idea how far away from Kren he was, so his only option was to keep riding east. At some point in the early afternoon, he began to see signs of tilled fields. He and Gerrack picked up speed and rode quickly through the fields. As he rode, he noticed that everything was overgrown and the crops hadn’t been harvested. Kierra confirmed his suspicions that he was getting close to Kren when she mentioned that it was getting harder to keep a link between them.

As he continued riding toward the village the fields continued to look overgrown and unharvested. When he drew close enough to view the village itself, he was horrified. After everything that Elwyn had been through, he had sent her to a deserted village to fend for herself. Tremendous grief and sadness came over him at the hardships his young niece had been forced to endure over the past eight days. By following his lead, an innocent village maiden had been separated from the only family she had ever known. Since that time she’d to survive vicious attempts on her life, been forced to kill, had to nurse and bury a dying friend, had to try to save an injured drakenhawk, and endured both Kierra and Keroc entering and leaving her mind, without the proper training. In addition to this, she was informed that she had a deadly enemy trying to kill her, that she had another family living in another land, that she wasn’t entirely human, and would have to face learning about whole new culture. Having to endure all of that in eight days would have been enough to terrify most adults, and yet his young niece seemed to continue to persevere. Ayron and Kierra were both amazed that she’d found the courage to push on.

Ayron quickly perused the village, noting where the morden had been grazing, and identifying the hut that Elwyn stayed in during the time she was here. Kierra was only just barely hanging on to his thoughts so he hurried into the hut, found the note Elwyn left for him on the drying rack and read it quickly to Kierra.

“
Dear Uncle, I have waited in this place for three days and have still not seen or heard anyone approach. There is something here that is not right, and I fear to linger longer. We are heading for Silvendil and hope that you will soon catch up to us. Gemma, Raffe, and Keroc are with me and are doing well. We have headed due north into the thick forest that lies outside the village. I hope that by taking this route that I will be easy to find and that I will reach Silvendil quickly.

Fondly your niece,

Elwyn”

Ayron clutched the note tightly to his bosom. His niece, thinking it was the quickest route to Silvendil, had entered Wheryn. As tired as he was, he could not stop to rest for even a few moments. He bade farewell to Kierra, interrupted Gerrack from his grazing, mounted him, and after locating the small game trail Elwyn had taken, headed into the woods.

T
he air around Elwyn dropped several degrees as the little group wound their way through the trees in the forest. Elwyn pulled her cloak from her saddle bags and threw it around her to ward off the cold chill that began to cut through her light tunic. The sun, whose rays she could see far above the tall trees, did not venture deep enough to challenge the chilly air or provide much light. Very few of the normal woodland sounds were present and those that she detected seemed muffled and distant to her ears. Her progress was slow. Gemma and Raffe had to walk carefully so that they didn’t trip over the thick undergrowth, or the exposed tree roots that seemed to be reaching up as if to ensnare their legs.

Elwyn reined in Gemma and Raffe as the wind shifted and the air around her changed abruptly from the fresh odor of new growth, to the stench of rotting vegetation. As she slowly moved forward along the small trail, she began to see early signs of a swamp. The ground became increasingly spongy. Rich green leaves and rusty brown tree trunks were invaded by washed out lichens and mosses of varying greens and yellows. As they traveled deeper into the forest, Elwyn noticed that the trees slowly lost their healthy aura, until they were little more than lifeless posts for the foul growth. She also noticed that the spongy ground became a black brackish liquid that oozed between the rocks and rotting logs. Elwyn dismounted and began to lead the morden. They moved slowly with Elwyn testing the water ahead of them for sinkholes or quicksand. As they continued north, the air around them seemed to grow thicker and heavier. As Elwyn looked up, large dark clouds seemed to descend threateningly upon her location creating an impenetrable mist. Rain started to fall, soaking her to the bone within seconds.

After traveling across the dark, wet, foul smelling swamp waters for about an hour; Elwyn sensed something that felt evil touch her mind. It was reaching out of the vast swamp, attempting to draw her in. The danger was palatable. She could tell that Gemma and Raffe were feeling something similar by the way they shivered in fear and danced around her uneasily in the encroaching mist. They suddenly came to the edge of what seemed to be a deep lake. The waster was very dark and murky. Elwyn couldn’t see bottom, even near the shoreline. Just as she decided to turn to the east and skirt the deep water, she saw a ripple cutting through the inky stillness as something quickly approached where she stood. The sound of rushing water filled her ears as the ripple increased in size until a large black mass could be seen rising up out of the murky depths. As it drew near, she could only stare in horror. She felt frozen by fear; unable to move. Suddenly a shrill cry exploded in her ears. A large black drakenhawk suddenly appeared in front of her face, like a beacon warning her back. It was enough to bring her out of the fog and free her from the compelling urge to stay frozen in place. She saw five other drakenhawks dive at the large black shape in the swamp fiercely attacking the creature with sharp talons and snapping jaws. As the monstrous creature slowly receded back into the black swampy water, Elwyn quickly turned and began to retrace her steps. She froze again as a large dark shadow stepped out to block her passage.

There standing in front of her was the largest cat she’d ever seen. He was a magnificent creature. She found herself fascinated and frightened at the same time as she stared into a pair of large yellow eyes that were level with her own. His fur was a variegated gray in color and his ears, easily the size of her hands, stood up straight with tufts of white hair at the base. Even though his mouth was closed, it didn’t hide his upper canines which were each about the size of her little finger. His legs rippled with muscle, and his paws, as large as her feet, had powerful claws that weren’t entirely retracted. His tail was about as long as his body and lay curled around his feet as he sat staring at her. The cat made no aggressive moves toward either her or the morden standing beside her. Elwyn felt a familiar tickle in her mind as the largest of the drakenhawks announced himself as Toruk, one of queen Kierra’s protectors.

“The creature standing before you is a werecat and says he means you no harm. His name is Gral and he came upon you and the two morden while scouting this part of the swamp. He is aware of the monstrous creature that inhabits this lake and patrols this area frequently so that if it moves on to dry land, he can warn the other werecats in his pride. He wants you to know that he would have tried to protect you from the monstrous thing, had we not acted first.

I would also like to apologize for barging right into your head the way I did, but we found you just as the creature was about to attack, so there was no time for pleasantries. Our queen ordered us, above all else, to ensure your safety; with the protection of the rest of your companions to follow closely after that.”

“I’m so grateful that you found me when you did,” Elwyn said hoarsely, her limbs still shaking. “I felt frozen and unable to move as that thing just kept getting closer. By the way,” she said, starting to recover her equilibrium. “How do you know what that werecat is thinking?”

It almost felt like Toruk was chuckling as she communicated her thoughts to him. It was a very unusual feeling.

“Kierra did say that you were curious about everything, a bit like young Keroc. We are communicating with him just as we are communicating with you. Gral told us he used to belong to a pride of seventy werecats who lived and hunted in this land. That is about all we have learned about him and his people so far.

Elwyn, Gral is requesting that we follow him to safety and to meet the leader of his pride. We sense no harm in his request, but we are only willing to follow him if you agree that we should.”

Elwyn, still shaken from all that was going on around her, nervously agreed, knowing that the drakenhawks would never lead her into harm. “You might let Gral know that Ayron, my uncle will probably be following my trail, and may not be far behind me.”

It was a strange looking group that made their way through Wheryn. The land they crossed varied; some of it was dry and filled with trees and marsh grass, while the rest was wet filled and with shallow swamps and deep dark pools of stagnant water. Elwyn did notice that the small pools of water they passed when they traveled through the dry land looked clear and safe to drink. While they traveled, Elwyn asked Toruk about his companions and the medicine they brought for Keroc. Toruk, the leader of the drakenhawk guard, introduced her to the five other drakenhawks, one at a time. There was Kamir, Nissl, Raski, Morn, and Filn who was a healer. Elwyn made sure to mentally greet each one of them so that they would know what her touch in their minds felt like. She discovered that they were all Kierra’s personal protectors and life-bonded to her alone and were not free to chose another companion. All six of them had eagerly volunteered for the positions, knowing that the safety of their queen was the most important post a drakenhawk could have. Toruk explained that, upon orders from their queen, their protection extended to her as well.

The little group traveled on for about two hours before coming to a large stretch of dry land. During the trip, the werecat made sure to skirt any deep swampy water and led them through as much dry land as possible. They came upon a large stretch dry land quickly moved forward until they came to a small grassy meadow surrounded by trees, with a little pond near the center. The large werecat stopped and sat quietly. Slowly, out from between the trees, stepped about twenty werecats. Some were as large as Gral and some were much larger. Most of the werecats were a variegated gray in color, like Gral. A few were pure white. Elwyn dismounted and told Gemma and Raffe to stand by her. The six drakenhawks positioned themselves in defensive positions around her; four in the low lying branches of the closest trees and two on the pommels of the morden. Elwyn wasn’t quite sure what to make of the situation. It seemed as if the werecats wished them no harm, but she was unable to discern a reason for their behavior. It certainly went against the predatory nature of all of the cats she’d seen in the past.

“Perhaps, that is because you have only known those of our species without intellect,” said a soft voice in her mind.

Suddenly and so rapidly that her eyes couldn’t follow the motion, a beautiful pure white werecat moved to within two feet of where she was standing. This werecat was even larger than the largest of the cats that surrounded the small party. Her eyes were a clear crystal green. She bowed her head to acknowledge and welcome her guests.

“Hello Elwyn,” said the werecat, still in her mind. “My name is Madrigal. I am the leader of the werecats you see around you and many more that travel this land. I sensed you and your friends as soon as you entered my land,” she said, offering Elwyn feelings of welcome and friendship.

Madrigal then told Elwyn that she had been leery of them at first but, after probing their minds, knew that they wished her pride no harm. She explained she had been able to touch the minds of the morden and learn what had taken place over the last several days. She also said that when the drakenhawks entered their land, she had been able to touch their minds as well to let them know that she and her pride meant them no harm. It was her scout Gral that led the drakenhawks to find her and the morden.

“I apologize for intruding into your mind without permission, but the circumstances made it necessary,” Madrigal indicated remorsefully. “Had you meant harm to my pride, you would all have been struck down quickly,” she added.