Return of the Matka-Zem (The Sorain Chronicles) (4 page)

In spite of her misgivings about traveling the forest at night, she decided to leave immediately, before anyone could realize she had gone. She did not trust the staff, especially Inga with her false laughter and eagerness to help. A sense of urgency filled her and she fought the desire to race to her room. Reaching the third floor, Jane realized the house had a stillness about it. The manor was always quiet, of course, yet something made her insides quiver.

"It's the Keeper's death," she mumbled, not really believing she had solved the mystery. Out of habit, she briefly glanced out the third-floor window that overlooked the hedge maze. With a gasp of surprise, she stopped short and witnessed the cook and two of the workers as they knocked over one of the male statues.

They
're looking for the key
, she realized. She watched the men dig where the statue once stood, but they found nothing. To her surprise, she saw Inga strike one of the males with her fist, knocking the man to the ground. Startled by the cook's behavior, she gasped in shock and stumbled away from the window. Not looking back, she raced down the hall towards her suite.

"
What in the hell is going on?" She leaned against the closed bedroom door as she tried to calm her nerves. "I don't think she saw me." Not confident of her assumption, she hurriedly locked the deadbolt with shaky fingers and dragged the closest piece of furniture in front of the door.
There is more to Inga then just being the cook,
she thought as fear filled her soul. The urgency to leave intensified into panic. She hastily rummaged through the walk-in closet in search of some kind of carrier to aid her in her flight. To her astonishment, she discovered a backpack buried behind her winter clothing.

Where did this come from?
To her surprise, the backpack was already packed and there was a note pinned to the front. As she carried the pack into the main room, she ripped the note from its pin and saw that it was written in the Keeper's handwriting.

"
Run! Trust no one!" The words sent a shiver down her spine. With those written words, she realized the Keeper may not have been her jailer at all, but her protector, and now that the old woman was gone, she was no longer safe. She squealed in fright when three hard knocks shook the bedroom door.

"
Jane, are you in there? Dinner is ready." Inga's voice was syrupy. The door handle slowly turned but the lock stopped it.

Jane backed away from the door as the handle shook with more effort.

"Are you okay in there?" said Inga.

The sound of Inga
's concern rang false in her ears. Jane jumped when something hard rammed against the door. Thankful that the wood held, she threw on a jacket, and thrust the pack over her back. Before bolting towards the balcony, Jane patted her boot to make sure the knife the Keeper insisted she carry was secure. Panic-stricken, she searched for a way to get to the ground, but only found a thin vine delicately clinging to the wall. Trapped like a bird in a cage, she whimpered in despair.

With no other options available and time running out, Jane reached for the thin vine knowing the fall would surely maim her or worse. Panic stricken, she did not recognize the unfamiliar sting of power that swelled inside her until the energy spontaneously surged like a lightning bold into the plant. With a wail of both pain and ecstasy, her body convulsed as the current poured from her outstretched hand. Like the fairytale of
Jack and the Beanstalk
, the tiny vine tripled in girth. With a mind of its own, the now strong vine firmly wrapped around her wrist and hauled her off the balcony. She heard the crack of the bedroom door just as the vine gently lowered her to the ground. When her feet touched the damp soil, she glanced toward the balcony and saw Inga and two of the male farmhands staring down at her.

"
Jane! What on earth are you doing down there?" Inga's voice grated on her ears. "Come back inside. We need to talk!"

"
Oh no, we don't," she mumbled under her breath.

One of the male groundskeepers snarled like an animal and swung one leg over the railing.

"If only there were bars across the balcony," she whispered as the plant began to unravel from her arm. The vine trembled before it uncoiled from her wrist so fast that it cut a thin slice into her flesh. With dazzling speed, the thick vine encased the balcony, forming an impenetrable barrier, preventing the man from jumping to the ground. Frozen in place by the plant's behavior, she watched the vine entomb the servant.

"
Jane!" The cook's angry bellow broke the spell and she was able to force her paralyzed limbs to work. As fast as her trembling body could move, she dashed towards the barn. To her utter shock, an inhuman screech echoed off the hills, sending a shiver of terror coursing through her body.

"
What in the hell was that?" Jane panted when she reached the barn. As she rounded the corner, she noticed the barn's double doors were wide open and she pulled the knife from her boot. As fear shivered down her spine she glanced around the field to see if anyone followed, not wanting to be caught between two foes. With a gasp of horror, Jane spied the bloody heap that was the remaining groundskeepers. Their dismembered bodies did little to stop her from recognizing the distorted faces of the men who had been at the compound as long as she could remember. "Oh my God!" she whispered as she pressed her back against the wall. Her mind was too numb to feel her body slide away from the disturbing site.

A ragged exhalation of breath escaped her lungs as she fought to control her trembling body before she stepped into the dark opening of the barn. She screamed in fright when a large, gloved hand grabbed her by the nape of the neck and pulled her deeper into the structure. Suppressing her fear as best she could, Jane attacked the stranger with a vengeance, and fought for her life.

"Ch'iidii!" The man hissed in pain. He'd been caught off guard by her viciousness, and her first thrust sliced into flesh. To her dismay, the assailant quickly adjusted his stance and easily blocked her every move. It took him less than a minute to disarm her.

"
Get away from me!" she snapped in anger. The Keeper had taught her combat fighting and she thought she was skilled in the art of war, but the stranger easily disarmed her. When her blade went flying across the barn, she still fought on, striking at him with fists and feet.

"
That's enough!" the man said sternly as his gloved hand backhanded her across the face. His blow was so hard it sent her sprawling to the floor. As the assailant towered over her, she glared at him with hatred in her eyes. The stranger resembled a character straight out of a fantasy. He was gigantic, almost eight-feet tall, with broad shoulders and a lean, muscular body. His traveling clothes were those of a woodland warrior with sword and bow strapped to his body. The shadows of the night hid the stranger's face under the hood of his dark cloak. As she glared at the strange man, she thought she saw a flash of yellow in the black emptiness of his cowl.

"
Good. Naji taught you how to fight." The stranger chuckled softly and extended his hand to help her to her feet. "I feared she would have broken your spirit, but I see I was wrong."

"
Leave me alone!" she spat, and refused to take his hand. His slap still stung her face but she resisted the desire to rub her cheek. She would not give him the pleasure of seeing her pain. She struggled when the man grabbed her arm and hauled her to her feet.

"
We don't have time to play games tonight, Princess," the man whispered in her ear as he pushed her towards a waiting horse. His words felt hauntingly familiar and she stopped struggling. "You're in danger and I need to get you out of here."

"
Who are you?"

The stranger
's only answer was to push her onto a chestnut-colored horse that had been saddled and ready to ride. "Stay close, don't get separated from me," he instructed firmly as he mounted his own tan steed.

"
I've never ridden a horse." She briefly wondered how the huge animals had gotten into the barn in the first place, having never seen one in there before.

"
Just hold on!" the strange man demanded. "Trust your horse—she knows where to go." Without looking back, he kicked his mount and bolted out the rear of the barn onto a worn dirt path. She yelped in surprise as her steed lunged forwards to follow the other horse. She hurriedly grabbed the saddle horn to stay on the animal's back.

Another screech filled the air as they raced down the dirt road. Jane glanced over her shoulder, and gasped in shock. Chasing after them was a two-legged creature with hairless, sickly gray skin that appeared luminous in the dark night. It looked like a prehistoric velociraptor, minus the tail, with clawed hands and an elongated neck and enlarged jaw, lined with sharp, pointy teeth, made for tearing flesh off its victims.

And I'm its prey!
She thought as she frantically kicked her horse into a faster gallop. Suddenly, she felt an electric shock race through her body and she heard a buzz of power in her ears. When she saw the lane vanish in front of them, she realized they'd passed through a holographic, protective barrier. In place of the dirt road, there was a little-used animal trail. The mysterious stranger led her deep into the dense forest as if he knew the way through the woodland maze. They zigzagged through trees and jumped small streams, avoiding open areas as much as possible. The echoes of the creature faded as they put distance between them. Yet the strange man kept the horses at a run for close to an hour. When she thought she could bear no more, the stranger finally slowed the horses to a walk.

"
Who are you, and what the hell was that thing?" Jane demanded when she brought her horse next to the man. She nervously glanced over her shoulder, in search of the creature, before she brought her gaze back to her rescuer. With his cowl pushed down, she took advantage of the opportunity to study his profile. She hated to admit it, but she actually found him attractive, even handsome, in a rugged kind of way. The man looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties. Not overly muscular, he looked as sleek as a puma. His long brown hair, woven into a braid, flowed against his cloak and hung past his foot and she wondered if it touched the ground when he stood. His nose had a slight hump, as if it had been broken a time or two, and his bottom lip was fuller than the top, giving his mouth a slight, barely noticeable, pout. Feeling her eyes upon him, the stranger gave her a sideways glance and she finally got a full look at his eyes. They were bright yellow and they instantly captivated her. She suppressed a gasp of amazement. Like the eyes of a timber wolf, they practically glowed in the dark. A vague memory of seeing those yellow orbs flashed inside her mind, but the memory quickly retreated into the black emptiness of her memory, leaving only a ghost of a thought.

"
It's a Glauc-tuko," the strange man answered in a matter-of-fact tone, as if he were talking about the weather. His soft voice was a soothing baritone that calmed the quivering in her stomach. "They're nasty critters that hunt in packs. There's more than one behind us." She opened her mouth to ask one of the many questions that coursed through her mind, but he continued before a single sound passed her lips. "A Glauc-tuko is a nocturnal animal and we still have quite a few hours before daybreak. We have to keep going; there's no time to rest. As soon as the horses are able, we will be quickening the pace." The man tilted his head to one side as he studied her. "Although the creatures have keen night vision, they possess a very sensitive olfactory system and hunt mostly by smell. When we stop, we will have to find a way to hide your scent, but it will not be easy to fool the beasts."

"
Where did that thing come from?" she asked softly when the man brought his attention back to the path. "And who are you?" He did not answer right away, but when he did, it was only a single word.

"
Thane." The man concentrated on the path ahead, not bothering to look her way.

"
Thane . . . what is that?" she asked, baffled by the stranger's simplistic answer. The word sounded familiar but she could not recall from where.

"
Thane is my name," the man said, softly chuckling at her confusion. "I'm your Mlinzi."

"
Are you some sort of cop?" She did not want another warden ordering her around. If it were not for the creatures hunting her, she would lose the man as fast as she could.

"
More like a guardian."

Thane
's simple answers only added to her irritation.

"
Listen Thane, I'm sick and tired of riddles!" She let out a huff of frustration. "Give it to me straight." Now that the immediate danger was gone, the shock of the situation began to settle in. Tears burned at the back of her eyes and she fought the desire to cry like a baby. "What in the hell is going on?" To her shame, her voice quivered, and her body began to tremble. Trying to gain control over her emotions, she tilted her head to simulate superiority. She did not want this stranger to see her as an emotional wreck.

"
This is not the place for explanations, Princess," Thane responded in a soothing tone. "We have to keep moving."

"
When we stop, you'd better answer ALL my questions!" She tried to sound stern but realized she came across like an arrogant child.

"
Now you sound like the girl I remember." Thane barked a laugh and gave her a slight smile that only lifted the corners of his mouth.

"
You know me?" She wanted to slap the smirk off his face but she needed answers more than the gratification of seeing her handprint on his cheek.

"
Of course I do, girl." Thane briefly glared at her before he turned back to the path. "Now stay quiet or you'll draw those creatures to us."

Embarrassment heated her face. The Mlinzi kicked his horse into a faster pace and she almost fell off when her mare leapt forward to follow. Questions swelled inside her mind, but she silently admitted Thane was right. Answering one question would only form more. However, she would finally learn her history once they stopped running from the creatures.

***

"
Damn it." Inga watched as the princess disappeared into the forest. The smell of horse was strong in the barn and she kneeled to retrieve a ball of horse dung. With a snap of her fingers, a Glauc-tuko approached and she placed the moist feces to its nose. As another beast reached her side, she raised an article of the princess's clothing towards its snout. She thanked her intuition for bringing the Glauc-tuko to this planet, for the beasts possessed an uncanny ability to locate their prey, simply by their sense of smell. Although horses were a familiar smell on earth, the princess had her own unique essence and even if the girl tried to mask it, Inga's pets would easily track her. As the Glauc-tuko inhaled the fragrances, they gurgled in excitement. Inga mounted the largest of the Glauc-tuko before she spoke a single word. "Hunt."

***

The moonless night and thick woods caused a deep, unnatural blackness. Jane wondered if Thane could see in the dark with those piercing, yellow eyes, for the horses, despite the fast trot, never once lost their footing. The sound of swift running water thundered to her right, yet she could barely see past the tan horse in front of her. They continued their frantic escape with Thane occasionally slowing their pace to rest the horses. He rarely spoke, except to give her an order or two before spurring them into yet another breath-taking gallop. As the rising sun turned the night sky into a torrent of blue blotches, swirling pinks and bright yellow stripes, she could tolerate no more.

"
Thane, I have to get off this horse. My legs are numb," she whined in pain. When he did not respond to her plea, she pulled on the reins to stop the horse. Without waiting for his response, she practically fell off the animal and crumpled to the ground.

"
What are you doing?" Thane spun his mount around to frown down at her. "Get back on your horse. We'll stop when the sun is full."

"
If you don't mind, I have to pee," she snapped. Holding onto the stirrup, she forced her numb legs to support her weight. She blatantly ignored Thane as she shakily left the small clearing and made her way into the forest for some privacy.