Origin (41 page)

Elwyn thanked Ayron for preparing breakfast, and helped herself to some of the porridge he prepared. He added some of the dried fruit they had to the porridge as it cooked, which gave it a sweet taste. She ate slowly, savoring the flavor and just enjoying the feeling of safety she felt here in Wheryn. Even though it had been less than a fortnight, it seemed a long time since she’d felt rested and safe enough to just relax and enjoy her food. It was wonderful to sit by the fire with her uncle and share a meal without fear of being attacked. Neither one of them spoke much while they ate. When the meal was finished, they both went about the process of cleaning up and packing their things. Elwyn made sure to fill all of their waterskins. Because the heat and humidity could become intense in parts of the swamp, it was easy to become dehydrated and disoriented if there wasn’t enough drinkable water available.

Elwyn still wasn’t sure how to let the companions or the werecats know that she wanted to talk to them, so she started thinking about talking to Madrigal. Within seconds she heard the kind voice of the female werecat in her head wishing her a good morning and asking her to think about what she wanted to say to her. Elwyn pictured in her mind leaving their campsite and moving north toward Silvendil. Madrigal quickly offered two of her best scouts to lead them safely through the rest of her land. Elwyn also pictured herself, Ayron, and a large group of people coming to the aid of the werecats. Madrigal thanked her for her support and for Ayrons as well.

Elwyn felt very grateful for Madrigal’s help and was trying to think how to picture that when the werecat quietly thanked her and said that she had the feeling that they would cross paths again. She also said to tell Ayron that the little cub was doing well. They’d found a foster mother for her who would raise her and teach her how to survive in Wheryn. She asked Elwyn to tell Ayron that they allowed the cub to choose her own name and she chose Geron, because it reminded her of Gerrack and Ayron who she believed saved her from certain death.

She ended their communication by letting Elwyn know that she would always be under the protection of the werecats, even if her family was unable to help them defeat the monstrosities that lived in the swamp. She also said that, if Elwyn was amenable, she would try to contact her from time to time when she was close to the borders of her land. Elwyn pictured herself excited and pleased with the idea. Madrigal then bid them a safe journey.

Ayron waited patiently while Elwyn communicated with Madrigal. As she shared with him the details of their conversation, she could sense his slight irritation at not being able to interact with her himself. She realized right then and there that she and her uncle were very much alike. They both like experiencing things themselves, rather than hearing about them second hand. She also sensed that he was extremely impatient to continue their journey to Silvendil. He chuckled when he heard the name that the little cub had chosen for herself and walked over to share the news with Gerrack while he saddled him. While he was doing that, he expressed his pleasure and relief that the werecats offered to help them navigate the rest of the swamp safely and asked her if she knew when they would arrive.

Elwyn laughingly explained to him that as soon as they finished saddling and loading their bags on the morden, the scouts would probably show themselves. She said she was sure that the two scouts were most likely watching them now from a distance, not wanting to hurry them. She also said that she was pretty certain that they had been close by the entire time they’d been camped there. Within minutes they were ready to travel. Elwyn knowingly smiled at Ayron when, as soon as they were packed and ready to go, two werecats stepped silently out of the trees.

For reasons she didn’t understand, the werecats were only willing to communicate with her. The largest of the werecats stepped forward and announced himself as Gral, who Elwyn recognized as the scout that saved her life, and Dras, another scout from their pride. They were both very large male werecats with beautiful variegated gray fur. They came over and held their noses near the morden, Keroc, and Ayron, so that they could commit their scents to memory. When she asked them why they didn’t require her scent, Gral politely told her that the entire pride had her scent memorized. That way, if she were to approach their borders again, the scouts that patrolled that region of their land would recognize her and welcome her back. Gral added that it was necessary to do so until they could rid themselves of their inability to communicate beyond small distances near and within the land itself. Gral inclined his head toward her and along with Dras turned and led Elwyn, Ayron, the morden, and the drakenhawks away from the campsite into an adjacent swamp.

The little group traveled very slowly, with the werecats taking them around, rather than through, the deeper wetlands. They made good progress when they crossed the dry stretches and could ride the morden, but it was slow going in the wetter regions when they had to get down and lead them. At Ayron’s request, Elwyn asked Gral how long they would have to travel to reach Silvendil land. Gral told her that it would take until late the next evening for them to reach the edge of Wheryn at the pace they were traveling. When she told Ayron the news, he got quiet. Elwyn knew that he hadn’t realized that it would take them so long to reach Silvendil, where he would feel more comfortable. He was out of his element in this environment, and the only creatures that could make him feel more at home were unwilling to communicate with him. As the little group continued to move slowly forward, the six drakenhawks sent to guard them flew overhead, circling from time to time looking for signs of danger.

After several hours of travel, the werecats brought them to another large stretch of dry land that contained a meadow and a small pond. Gral let Elwyn know that they were stopping so that the morden could graze and they could all get some fresh water. The weather was very changeable in Wheryn. The forests were cool, but the swampy areas were extremely hot and humid. They unsaddled the morden, brushed the swamp mud off their legs, and toweled the sweat from their backs. She also put more salve on Gerrack’s wounds so that the insects didn’t aggravate them. While she did that, Ayron fed Keroc some dried strips of meat and some water. Then Ayron and Elwyn washed down some jerky and travel biscuits with the cool clean water from the pond. After they had rested for about an hour, the two werecats signaled that it was time to move on. They refilled their waterskins, saddled the morden, and set off again through the swamp.

They rode on in silence for several more hours, crossing both swampy and dry terrain. It took all of their concentration to find solid footing for themselves and the morden in the shallow swamp water. Just as the sun was starting to dip below the tips of the tallest trees, the two scouts brought them to another dry stretch that they could use to spend the night. There was plenty of marsh grass and a small clear stream of running water. While Elwyn tended to the morden, Ayron built a small fire and prepared a meal for them both. They exchanged very few words, each lost in their own thoughts as they had been for most of the day. Continuing their journey to Findara gave them both many things to contemplate. After finishing their evening meal, they cleaned up the dishes, added wood to the fire, and lay down on their bed pads. Elwyn wished Ayron good-night, as he did her. Elwyn said a mental good-night and thank you to the drakenhawks, who let her know that there was nothing dangerous in the area around them, and that they would stand watch while she and Ayron slept. She also sent a mental thank you to Gral and Dras, who assured her that it was a duty they were happy to fulfill and that they would also be watching over them as they slept.

As Elwyn drifted off to sleep, her thoughts drifted to Kierra. She was so grateful to the drakenhawk queen for communicating with her for so much of the journey. She missed their conversations and hoped that Kierra would be willing to speak with her again once they were safe on Silvendil soil. She compared gentleness of the drakenhawk queen to that of her son who seemed to enthusiastically bounce in and out of her mind whenever he felt like it. Keroc sent her images of great love and gratitude and sent her a mental picture of a strong healthy drakenhawk next to a dead one with a twisted wing.

She also wondered what her life would be like in Findara. So far she’d been raised as a simple country girl who spent most of her free time in the woods honing her archery and woodland survival skills. She had a feeling that it wasn’t going to be so easy to get away by herself any more. If her family wasn’t keeping watch over her, the companions surely would. The lack of privacy was her biggest issue with ever seeking a drakenhawk companion of her own. She was by nature a very private person and had recently discovered that not even her thoughts were private anymore. She would probably have to have a conversation with either Kierra or Ayron about that sometime soon. It was too much to contemplate tonight. So she slept.

As Ayron lay on his bed pad, he was nowhere near sleep. His mind was filled with one huge problem. He knew that he should tell Azavon about Elwyn, but he questioned when he should do it and how much he should say. He knew his brother should be told of her existence and that he was bringing her to Findara, but there were several problems with doing that. Ayron knew that when Azavon discovered that he had a daughter who had been born in Unity; it was going raise lots of questions. After realizing that it could not be Rhianna in the grave he had been lovingly caring for over the past sixteen seasons, Azavon was going to begin to ask questions that currently had no answers. His brother would also come to realize that he had been lied to by some of his most trusted advisors sixteen seasons ago. He would want to know who was in that grave. Ayron wasn’t sure how many of those questions he could or should answer without being there in person. Neither he nor Elwyn had been able to put enough of the pieces together to understand it themselves. Azavon was a man who liked answers and was short on patience when they weren’t forthcoming. Communication through companions, while great in emergencies, could prove difficult when trying to relate large amounts of information.

There was also the problem of not knowing who to trust. If Azavon were to start asking questions or to investigate the gravesite, whoever had conspired against him would be warned. That could possible put Azavon’s own life in danger and would definitely give Rhianna’s enemies time to prepare for Elwyn’s arrival. Ayron felt that Elwyn had been through enough traumas on her journey so far. He did not want her to have to suffer the stress of having to look over her shoulder while in Findara. Ayron was not yet ready for Azavon to share the news of Elwyn’s existence with the other members of their family or with his advisors. Elwyn’s description of how hostile his sister Alysan had been toward Rhianna worried him as well. He doubted that his sister was involved in the plot to kill Rhianna, but he was also sure she would not be pleased to learn of Elwyn’s existence. He didn’t want her to, in her upset, speak out inappropriately and warn those who were involved. Ayron also realized that keeping silent about Elwyn’s existence would not be easy for Azavon, especially if he had to stay and wait for them in Findara.

In fact, the biggest problem that he faced was convincing his brother not to mount his morden and ride to meet them, until they were close by. As ruler of Silvendil, Azavon could not just go on a little trip without letting his advisors know where he was going and how to reach him. He would also have to bring along his personal guard and Ayron didn’t know for sure that they could all be trusted not to spread the word, however innocently. Elwyn’s discovery was going to shake the Land of Silvendil from one end to the other, and bring to a head many issues that had been simmering for seasons. Ayron was very troubled and really didn’t know what to do. He was planning to ask Elwyn if Kierra would be willing to speak with him after they left Wheryn. Ayron lay on his bed pad thinking about how to best present this incredible news to his brother until he fell asleep.

Both Ayron and Elwyn were startled awake by a high pitched screeching sound accompanied by sharp stabbing pains in their heads. The screeching seemed to be coming from close by. They jumped up, grabbed their weapons, and followed the noise. Several hundred yards to the west was an area of deep swamp. On the shore was a large black creature that looked like a blob with almost a dozen thick tentacles that ranged from four to seven feet long. Elwyn couldn’t see eyes or a mouth and the creature was definitely too large for them to roll over. The creature’s body stood a bit taller than a female werecat, and was about as wide as it was tall. Gral shared with her that it was one of the smaller monstrosities they had seen in the deep swamp. Apparently, it had sensed the campers during the night and thought to attack them while they slept. The werecats felt that the creature had misjudged how far away the campsite was from the water’s edge and had gotten itself stuck in the marsh grass. At any rate, both of the werecats and the six drakenhawks attacked the creature as it crept toward the campsite.

Within minutes the creature suffered several major wounds along with severe blood loss. The creature was apparently too far from the water to retreat to safety and died from its wounds shortly thereafter. Ayron and Elwyn examined the creature as closely as possible without getting any of its fluids on themselves. Since no one knew much about the creatures, it was impossible to know if their tissues or body fluids were poisonous to humans or elves. Elwyn scooped up a sample of the creature’s black blood and Ayron carefully cut a piece of a tentacle and some tissue from one of the creature’s wounds so that they could take the specimens back to the scientists in Findara. They put the samples in two of the medicine jars that Elwyn carried and sealed them well. Perhaps by examining the tissues and blood their scientist could find more about the creature and get some idea what the Salissians were doing in Wheryn.

Ayron and Elwyn walked back to camp, ate a cold breakfast, and got ready to depart. They were both eager to leave this land and reach Silvendil land. They moved slowly during the morning. They had to skirt several areas of deep swamp water and lead the morden through several miles of shallows filled with dark brackish swamp water. The drakenhawks flew in large circles looking for any sign of danger. By the time they reached a stretch of dry land large enough to take a break, it was well into the afternoon. The morden went immediately to the small pond nearby to quench their thirst. Elwyn and Ayron cleaned the mud from their legs and dried off their sweaty bodies as they drank. Elwyn, Ayron and Keroc were not as parched as the morden because they had been drinking from the waterskins during the morning as thirst set in. After drinking, the morden walked over to a patch of marsh grass and began to graze, while Elwyn and Ayron ate some jerky, travel biscuits, and dried fruit for lunch. After all too short a time, Gral signaled that it was time to move on. Even though the heat and humidity drained much of their energy, Ayron and Elwyn were anxious to depart.