Thawed Fortunes (19 page)

As Va'del came around the rocky outcropping,
he was surprised to find it masked the entrance to what turned out
to be an amazingly large cave.

Si'mon saw Va'del pause in wonderment and
waved him on through. "Aye, it's amazing. Near big enough to locate
a village here, but it's too close to the lowlanders. We've never
really had the ability to defend ourselves completely from them as
would prey on us. The mountain has always been our first line of
defense."

Va'del nodded and continued on into the vast,
irregularly shaped cavern, looking around until he found the piece
of rough floor where Javin's family had stopped and started
unpacking. Despite his persistent fears, On'li had come through on
her promise. Despite the warning, Va'del had still nearly been
struck speechless the first night when Jain had appeared to eat
with Javin's family.

Jain still wasn't completely happy with the
way things stood, but at least this way the two of them got to
spend several cycles together each evening. Vi'en didn't like it,
but there was absolutely nothing she could do to stop him from
eating with the leaders of his bloodline, and she had no right to
dictate who they could or couldn't invite to eat with them.

After so many days on the trail, everyone
knew their duties, and Javin and Va'del led the gurra away to the
oblong stable area. The pair quickly stripped packs off of the
beasts, and then Javin began ferrying the bundles that they'd need
for the night back to their little campsite while Va'del fed the
creatures and checked to make sure none of them were developing any
problems.

Javin finished up with the packs and returned
just in time to help with the last two beasts. They didn't have to
go outside and collect snow for water because someone had drilled a
hole through the roof of the cave, and once a heat stone was placed
on a specially constructed platform underneath the channel, the
snow above began melting and a trickle of water made its way down
into a long trough built for the gurra.

A quick look around was all it took to find
another, more centrally located basin, which fed from a separate
opening with the purpose of serving the needs of the humans. It
wasn't a very fast flow, but once all of the heat stones were set
up and the interior of the cave warmed up to comfortable levels, it
looked like they'd have an overabundance of water.

Their part of the chores done, the pair
returned to their section of floor. Jain looked up from the pair of
pots where she was fixing dinner, and smiled at Va'del, but there
was as much warning in the expression as there was welcome.

Oh, Vi'en decided to stay and eat with us
tonight. I wonder why. She usually chooses to eat with her old
friends.

On'li finished arranging her, Mar'li's and
Javin's bed rolls next to each other, and then leaned back with a
sigh. "The best part about this way cave is that all of the extra
water will mean we can bathe for the first time in days."

Javin nodded and then fixed Va'del with a
look that the younger man knew meant that they'd be sparring
tonight. Javin wasn't one to let a chance to get clean go to waste,
not when it meant he could first run Va'del around until they were
both sweaty and completely exhausted.

Jain announced that dinner was ready, and
after dishing up a plate for herself and one for Va'del, sat down
near enough that they could talk, but not so close as to be
improper.

Vi'en sniffed disapprovingly and directed a
look at Va'del that seemed to say she could read his thoughts and
they were all dirty. Jain moved as if to open her mouth and give
the older woman a piece of her mind, but Mar'li placed a hand on
her arm and calmed her with an understanding look.

On'li's entire family had been hugely
supportive during the entire trip. Their help had gone a long ways
towards ensuring that things weren't awkward anymore between them
and Va'del, or them and Jain. It had also helped that On'li had
privately told Va'del she wouldn't have let him go through with the
marriage to Vi'en if she'd realized how unreasonable the other
woman was going to be.

On'li handed a plate to Javin and then took a
seat between her husband and sister-wife. "Vi'en, I noticed that
you haven't cooked yet this trip. I think it's about time you took
a turn."

Va'del's wife shot the other Guadel a nasty
look. "The men haven't cooked yet, why should I have to?"

"Javin and Va'del take care of all the gurra,
including yours, each and every night. That exempts them from
having to take a turn cooking. You on the other hand haven't done
anything other than bounce back and forth between us and your
friends in an attempt to avoid having to do any work. Not only
that, but I rather doubt you've bothered linking with Va'del since
you married him. Cooking isn't spelled out under the list of duties
required of a female Guadel, but that is. If you don't link with
him, he can't become used to fighting at an increased speed, which
in turn could result in people dying."

Vi'en swelled up like a gurra trying to avoid
being harnessed, and all but spit her words at On'li. "You're not
the head of my bloodline and I'll thank you to stay out of things
that are none of your business."

Javin shrugged his massive shoulders. "That
may or may not be the case. Do you really want us to visit with
Va'ma and his wife and determine your exact status once and for
all?"

Vi'en spent the rest of the meal studiously
ignoring the rest of them, and then left as soon as she was
finished. Va'del had been pretty sure the other woman hadn't liked
On'li before, but it was pretty evident things had gotten even
worse in that area now. That didn't necessarily worry Va'del though
as long as Vi'en didn't take her frustrations out on him.

Once they were finished, Va'del and Javin
both handed their plates to Mar'li, and stood. Jain looked at
Va'del wistfully, but he knew if he offered to try and delay Javin
for a few minutes that she'd tell him she had plenty of other stuff
to do with the other Daughters in the caravan.

Almost as if she'd read his
mind, Jain smiled, the expression lighting up her dark blue eyes.
"Go on, I'll see you after everyone's had a chance to clean up.
Si'mon will no doubt choose to mark the occasion with a reading
from the
Teachings
."

With a shrug and a wistful look of his own,
Va'del picked up his practice weapon and followed Javin to the far
end of the way cave. The irregular walls came together in a space
only slightly wider than two people, and then opened back up into
an oval chamber. Light spheres had been placed at regular intervals
around the edge of the room, creating an odd set of shadows.

One of the guardsmen chuckled as Va'del
stepped closer to examine the texture of the rock. "Careful there,
lad, these walls bite."

Most of the Guard was still treating Va'del
like a candidate rather than someone only a single step away from
becoming a full Guadel. It rankled, but Javin didn't seem to have
heard the comment, and Va'del wasn't sure what else to do, so he
ignored the guardsman, instead taking a closer look at the wall.
Unlike the outer chamber, which had been made of fairly
unremarkable gray stone, the walls here were a darker rock,
interspersed with concave, shiny spots that a cautious test
revealed were as sharp as any knife he'd ever held.

"It's a type of glass. Like lowlander
mirrors, but black. Too brittle for working." Javin had reappeared
at Va'del's side, and seemed to think his curiosity was perfectly
natural.

"Did you want to train together, or would you
rather spend some more time against the others closer to your
age?"

Va'del looked over to the small knot of
figures practicing at the far end of the room. Even if he hadn't
recognized Se'ath's tall, blond figure among the trainees, he
probably would have decided against the idea, but the sight of
Be'ter's best friend made the decision for him.

"No. If you don't mind, I'd rather stay with
you."

A brief look of something that was probably
concern passed over the Guadel's face, but he promptly masked his
thoughts and nodded. "Very well. Mind the wall."

Javin wasn't quite as fast as Va'del had
expected, but he was as strong as he looked, and still knew tricks
that the younger man hadn't ever seen. For a while Va'del was able
to forget Vi'en, and all of his other worries, losing himself in
trying to keep Javin's weapons from his skin.

During one of the times when the pair had
stepped back to catch their breath, Va'del looked over and saw
Mar'li standing nearby. Looking shyly up at her husband, the
younger Guadel shifted back and forth from one foot to the other.
"I thought maybe once you and Va'del were finished we could link
for a little while tonight."

Javin reached out and tenderly cupped
Mar'li's youthful face with one scarred hand, in a gesture that
seemed to have levels of meaning Va'del couldn't even begin to
guess at, and then nodded.

Va'del watched as Javin found another Guadel
willing to face off against him. The two men saluted each other and
then attacked, moving like snow leopards, executing blindingly
quick strikes that flowed from one technique to another in a
seamless chain.

Looking over at Mar'li,
Va'del was surprised to see a small smile on her face despite the
obvious fact that augmenting Javin was quickly tiring her
out.
Then again, that shouldn't be so
surprising. She's inside his mind, sharing a closeness that most
normal people never experience. Will I ever share that bond with
Jain again?

The caravan was only a day away from Crimson
Rocks Village when the bag'ligs attacked. Va'del was walking along,
tiredly dragging Frost forward by his lead rope, when he heard a
strangely-familiar, high-pitched whistle and then suddenly yells
erupted from the people around him.

The sub-Guadel had just enough time to toss
Frost's lead rope back to Vi'en, and then the humanoid creatures
came lurching and bounding out from behind a stone outcropping to
the east. Each of the beasts was about half the height of a man,
with abnormally long arms and a thick black mat of hair that
covered everything but their face. The bag'ligs moved awkwardly,
which combined with their high-pitched whistle to make it seem like
moving was painful for them, but they devoured the ground between
them and the caravan with surprising quickness, moving sometimes on
two legs, other times on four.

I didn't know there were bands this big.

Va'del's weapons appeared in his hands
without conscious thought, and then he clashed with the first of
the beasts.

The bag'lig reached forward with a hand full
of filthy claws, its scarred face twisted in an expression that no
human face could have replicated, only to drop dead as Va'del's
sword found its heart before it could get close enough to strike.
The next beast lunged at Va'del's throat with yellow, rotting teeth
only to howl in pain as the sub-Guadel stepped to the side and used
the dagger in his left hand to score a mortal blow.

As the main body of the creatures finally
reached Va'del, a powerful, intrusive presence hammered at his
mind, trying to get inside and take up residence in the most
private parts of his being. The distraction nearly resulted in
Va'del's death, as he almost mistimed the parry on a blow that
would have cut through his heavy coat like it wasn't there.

Va'del felt the guardsmen on each side of him
stepping forward as if to take some of the pressure off of him.
They could tell there was something wrong and were trying to
protect him, but Va'del knew it was his duty to protect them.
Working with a desperate quickness, Va'del cut down an adolescent
bag'lig just before it hamstrung the guardsman to his left, and
then stumbled as the force crashed into his mind with enough power
that it felt like it would shred his sanity and leave him a
gibbering husk.

Pulling himself to his feet as Guadel from
the front and back of the caravan crashed into the bag'ligs like an
avalanche, Va'del suddenly realized that it must be Vi'en who was
trying to enter his mind. Jain had always metaphorically stood at
the doorway to his mind, politely asking for permission to enter.
Vi'en seemed determined to batter her way in as if affronted that
he'd dare keep her out.

The bag'ligs were recoiling away from the
Guadel now. Even beasts with such limited intelligence were able to
sense that meeting the figures on each wing would result in their
deaths, so instead they pushed with renewed fury against Va'del and
the few guardsmen surrounding him.

Dancing just outside of Va'del's mind was the
power he needed to cut through the bag'ligs with inhuman speed and
grace, but as he tried to lower his mental defenses and complete
the link, he found that something inside him, below the level of
his conscious control, refused to allow her entry into his
mind.

A scream of frustration made its way past
Va'del's lips, and he threw himself at the bag'ligs before him,
fully expecting to die.

The next several seconds were a nightmare of
teeth, claws, and steel. Va'del stabbed and slashed with all of his
rapidly-diminishing strength as he and the men to either side of
him took wound after wound.

It was obvious the best they could do wasn't
going to be good enough. Bag'lig corpses piled up before them, and
still the beasts came, climbing over the bodies like
poorly-finished golems and throwing themselves at the humans who'd
killed so many of their fellows.

Va'del cut one beast out of the air, and then
turned to try and dodge a large male coming from his left, but he
was too slow. The impact knocked him down as the bag'lig's claws
found purchase in his body. The sub-Guadel just managed to get his
arm up to protect his face, and then the creature was suddenly
knocked away from him as Javin kicked it with enough force to
shatter unaugmented bones.