Unicorns' Opal (39 page)

Alex turned to see Jenneva sitting on the bed staring at the wall. She did not appear to even notice that Alex was talking to her and he sat down beside her and put his arm around her.

“You can’t be that tired,” prodded Alex. “What is bothering you?”

“Oh,” Jenneva said as she shook her head. “I am sorry. Nothing is bothering me really. Just something that is puzzling me.”

“What is it?” inquired Alex.

“I am thinking about the strange occurrences of magic since gathering the Children,” Jenneva answered thoughtfully. “Several times Niki’s shields failed and then suddenly strengthened again. The muting of Niki when her mouth was running faster than her brain and the cushioning of your decent into the pass.”

“What has made you dig up those old memories?” queried Alex.

“Remember the headaches that Tedi was getting as his hearing ability increased?” questioned Jenneva. “Well I talked to him on the voyage up here from Tagaret about it. He no longer suffers from headaches. His hearing is still sensitive, but it is not getting any keener and the noises of the city no longer bother him. In short, he will not go insane. The problem has been solved mysteriously.”

“That is peculiar,” admitted Alex, “but it is hardly something that should keep you awake at night. Have you come to any conclusions about how these things are happening?”

“Yes,” frowned Jenneva. “At first I suspected that we were being followed by a mage, perhaps the mage that put the locating spells on Aurora’s cloak and Tedi’s necklace. The sea voyages that we have taken pretty much exclude that possibility. That leaves only one other conclusion that I can come to.”

“And what conclusion is that?” queried Alex.

.“One of the Children is a mage,” answered Jenneva.

***

Tedi held his hand up to halt the column and then signaled to his right. The Rangers turned as one and quietly rode off the trail and into the forest on the right side of the trail. Once they were well off the trail, they dismounted and grabbed their bows. The Rangers stood motionless in their concealment as the goblin squad came marching along the trail. Alex counted the number of goblins as they passed. The Rangers remained hidden until the goblin squad was long gone.

“That group had forty in it,” Alex reported. “That is the largest group we have seen so far.”

“The groups are getting much too numerous to be just coincidence,” sighed Jenneva. “It would appear that they are grouping to attack Tice as you suspected.”

“Without a doubt,” nodded Alex. “They get more numerous with each passing day. We can only hope that as long as we see the groups still heading south that the attack has not begun yet. It will take that group three days to get to Tice. Lead us out of here, Tedi.”

Tedi nodded and the Rangers mounted and rode back to the trail. Tedi continued to lead the Rangers, his keen hearing constantly alert for the sound of approaching goblins. A little over an hour later, Tedi again called a halt and indicated that the Rangers needed to hide. The Rangers turned silently and left the trail as they had before. Within moments a goblin column appeared on the trail and Alex began counting. When the column was almost gone, Tedi’s horse whinnied. The goblin column halted amid shouts and the goblin leader ordered his troops to investigate.

“There will be no avoiding this battle,” whispered Alex. “I count thirty of them, assuming that was the end of the column. Jenneva, erect a shield around the Children. I am going to get around behind them. Feel free to use your tree mines in any direction except straight at the trail.”

Jenneva nodded as she erected a shield around Tedi, Arik, and Tanya. Alex slipped off into the forest. Tedi’s horse whinnied again and the Goblins shouted and pointed towards the Rangers.

“They found us,” frowned Arik. “Let fly your arrows as soon as you sight a target.”

The goblins charged towards the Rangers, heedless of the noise they were making. Arik’s first arrow found its target and the goblins dived for cover. Tanya and Tedi joined in the battle as the Rangers' bowstrings sang out a deadly tune. As Jenneva sensed the goblins spreading out, she tossed tree mines to the left and right. Trees exploded in a shower of wooden splinters that pierced any goblins in the vicinity. Arrows and thrown axes aimed at the Rangers bounced off the shield, which Jenneva was maintaining over the Children. Death cries could be heard from the area of the trail and Jenneva nodded with the knowledge of Alex’s position. The Rangers kept firing arrow after arrow and the goblin ranks were slowly diminished.

Jenneva had just thrown another tree mine when she screamed loudly. Tanya turned just in time to see Jenneva’s left arm fall to the ground along with the thrown axe that had severed it.

“Tanya,” cried Jenneva, “take over the shield. I cannot maintain it.”

Tanya stared in horror as she watched Jenneva fall to the ground. Tanya swiftly took possession of Jenneva’s weakened shield and strengthened it so it would deflect the large axes being thrown by the goblins. She scanned the forest behind Jenneva for the goblin that had managed to get behind them and saw his bloodied body fly through the air. Yorra, her horn bloodied from impaling the goblin, stepped up next to Jenneva and guarded the magician’s body.

Tanya turned to face the goblins and joined Arik and Tedi in dispatching the remaining few attackers. In moments it was over and Alex strode into the area that the Rangers had been defending. His face paled when he saw Jenneva on the ground and her severed arm several feet away. He knelt next to Jenneva and felt for her pulse.

“I think she is dying,” Alex said softly. “How can that be? I have seen men with much greater wounds than this survive.”

Tanya picked up Jenneva’s arm and walked over to Alex. She laid a hand on his shoulder and he looked up at her with tears in his eyes.

“It is a type of shock that soldiers do not get,” Tanya said softly. “Jenneva was maintaining a shield and casting offensive magic at the time she was struck. It is hard to explain, but I must work quickly to save her. Make sure there are no goblins left. I cannot maintain a shield and do this at the same time.”

Alex looked strangely at Tanya and a question formed on his lips.

“Ask it later,” Tanya commanded roughly. “The three of you get out there and gather the goblin bodies and hide them. Make sure that none are left alive.”

Arik gently pulled Alex up and led him towards the battlefield as Tanya knelt over Jenneva.

Yorra, I need to tap into the properties of your horn. Bring it close to her wound.

Do you know what you are doing? There is much power in our horns. You could kill her.

I know what I am doing. Get that horn down here.

Yorra lowered her horn toward the stub of Jenneva’s left arm and Tanya positioned the severed portion where it belonged. Tanya fussed for a few minutes as she tried to make sure that the severed limb was positioned perfectly. When she was satisfied with the alignment, she grabbed Yorra’s horn with one hand while holding the limb in place with the other. Tanya closed her eyes and her forehead furrowed as she concentrated.

Alex, Arik, and Tedi returned through the trees and stood staring at the spectacle. A soft golden glow surrounded Jenneva’s body and a bright glare of golden light surrounded her arm. Tanya was kneeling with her head bowed low and her eyes closed. Yorra stood with her head lowered and her horn almost touching Jenneva’s arm. Tanya’s hand was tightly gripping Yorra’s sharp horn and blood was running freely down Tanya’s arm.

“Tedi,” whispered Alex, “go further into the forest and find a campsite away from the trail. No fire, just a bit of a clearing where we can rest for the night. Arik, see if you can find a gully that we can use as a mass grave for the goblin bodies. We do not want to have yaki prowling near where we camp for the night.”

Tedi and Arik nodded and headed off in two different directions. Alex stood watching the unmoving spectacle taking place before him. Nobody moved for a long time until finally Jenneva’s eyes popped open. Alex rushed to her side and gently took her free hand in his own as he knelt next to her. Jenneva looked at Alex and smiled weakly at him. She then turned and looked at Tanya and her face wrinkled with concern.

“Enough Tanya,” Jenneva said so softly that her words were almost inaudible. “You will kill yourself.”

Tanya appeared not to hear the words and Jenneva pulled her free hand away from Alex and placed it gently on Tanya’s forehead. Tanya’s eyes opened slowly and Alex was shocked at the white orbs that were displayed in place of Tanya’s eyes. She closed her eyes again and let go of both Yorra’s horn and Jenneva’s severed arm. Tanya keeled over and fell to the ground. Alex rushed around Jenneva and knelt next to Tanya.

“Bandage her hand,” Jenneva said weakly. “We will need a fire tonight. In my pack, find Kioji. Make a strong broth for both of us. Use it all for four cups.”

Jenneva passed out and Alex rummaged through her pack until he found the tin labeled Kioji. He took cloth out of his own pack and bandaged Tanya’s hand, which was bleeding profusely. Alex could see the curved cuts that were created by grabbing the unicorn’s sharp, spiraled horn. He wondered how they could afford to have a fire with the goblin patrols passing by and set out to find a cave. It took him two hours to find a cave, but when he found it he nodded in satisfaction. The cave was large enough for the entire party and well above the trail so that the likelihood of the goblins noticing it was slim. He returned to the site of the battle and saw Arik and Tedi leading the horses, which were loaded with goblin bodies.

“We were wondering where you had gone,” greeted Arik. “This is the last load of bodies and Tedi found a clearing.”

“Just dump the bodies,” ordered Alex. “I found a cave and we are moving to it. We have to transport Jenneva and Tanya. I will take Jenneva with me on Kaz. Arik, you take Tanya on Chaco. Where is Yorra?”

“Yorra is sleeping,” frowned Tedi. “How do we move her?”

“We must wake her long enough to make the journey,” answered Alex. “Have Midge scout the area for more goblin patrols so that we don’t run into any unexpectedly.”

They dumped the bodies of the goblins and Arik mounted Chaco. Tedi and Alex gently hoisted Tanya up to him and then Alex mounted Kaz. Tedi hoisted Jenneva up to Alex and then gathered the other mounts. The trip to the cave was uneventful and Alex started a fire as soon as they got there. He heated water and then added the contents of the Kioji tin and stirred it into a broth. He filled two cups with the broth and handed one to Arik.

“See that this gets into Tanya,” instructed Alex as he sat on the floor of the cave and leaned Jenneva up against him so he could feed her the broth. Jenneva’s eyes opened and she smiled at Alex. She drank the broth and then fell asleep again.

“Her eyes are weird,” Arik murmured as he fed the broth to Tanya. “Well they are not actually eyes I guess. They are just white.”

“As long as she drank the broth I do not care what color her eyes are,” commented Alex. “Jenneva did not say when they should get the second cup of broth. I think we will wait a short while and see what happens. If they do not wake in an hour, we will do it again.”

The hour passed uneventfully and Alex and Arik repeated the feeding procedure. The sky grew dark outside and Alex told the boys to get some sleep. He sat near the cave entrance and kept watch. Several hours later, Alex heard movement and he moved next to Jenneva.

“How are you feeling?” Alex asked softly.

“Like I have been dragged by a horse across the Great Sordoan Desert,” Jenneva replied weakly as she moved her left arm.

“What did she do to your arm?” asked Alex.

“She used a healing magic on it,” explained Jenneva. “It is a very powerful magic and has drained both Yorra and herself. If she continued much longer, they could have both died.”

“How does she know this magic?” questioned Alex. “Just who is she?”

“Those are both very good questions,” frowned Jenneva. “Whoever she is, I am glad that she is here. There is nothing you would have been able to do for me.”

“I thought I had lost you,” Alex said tearfully. “I do not think that I could bear that.”

“I would not care much for it either,” smiled Jenneva. “Other than the weakness, I feel fine. My arm feels as if it had never left my body. The lass has skill, Alex.”

Tanya stirred and Jenneva struggled to sit up. “How are you feeling, Tanya?” asked Jenneva.

“Weak and tired,” Tanya replied as she also eased into a sitting position.

Alex was relieved to see her eyes were no longer white orbs. “Where did you learn magic?” he asked.

“How did you know, Jenneva?” questioned Tanya.

“I have suspected for some time,” Jenneva replied. “There were always other possibilities to shield you until the night at the Empty Keg. “No other mage would have bothered to kill the insects inside your room.”

“There is always something to slip up on,” frowned Tanya. “I thought you had figured it out in Trekum when I moved the fumes out of Alex’s face so he would not inhale them.”

“And all of those times when you took over Niki’s shields?” continued Jenneva. “That was you wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” nodded Tanya. “Niki is so weak and unreliable in her magic. And yes I gagged her too. And cushioned Alex’s fall into the pass.”

“You had me going for quite a while,” stated Jenneva. “You could have refused to pick up on my shields and kept your secret. Why didn’t you?”

“Because our safety was in jeopardy,” replied Tanya. “I also knew that I was going to have to expose myself to heal you. I knew my secret was finally finished.”

“Why even keep it a secret?” challenged Alex. “It is not like we would exclude you from the group because you know magic.”

“No you would not,” agreed Tanya. “Ask Jenneva why she has hidden her talents for the answer to your question. Having magical ability is not something you advertise. It is most effective when others are not expecting it. I would like to continue to keep the secret if you are willing to go along with it.”

“I think we can keep it in our little group,” smiled Jenneva. “How did you cure Tedi’s hearing?”