Sapphire of the Fairies, Book 1 of Sword of Heavens Page 18

  “Okay, so far,” Fredrik replied. “I’ve never really done this for any period of time. It’s strange. Every time she hits my shield, I feel it more. At first it was like a distant thump, now it is more like a jab with her fist. Not hard enough to hurt, but annoying to my concentration. This is something I am going to have to practice more when I get the time.”

  “You are getting practice right now,” Tedi chuckled.

  “Yeah,” Fredrik laughed, “but I am concerned about Niki and Tanya. She’s not nearly as strong as I am and she is getting hit just as much.”

  “Don’t worry about them,” Tedi said. “If it gets too tense, they will withdraw.”

  “I hope you are right,” Fredrik grunted with another jab from Wolinda. “With women you never know, though.”

  The arrows were starting to take a toll on the Dark Riders with fifteen of them dead or dying in the canyon below when Fredrik announced that he could no longer maintain the shield. “We have to retreat, Tedi. Garth was clear with his orders and I never want to feel his wrath or displeasure. Let’s go.”

  Tedi backed away from the edge of the rim and Fredrik gazed across the canyon and saw that Niki and Tanya were still there. The two boys took off running and Fredrik hoped that Tanya wasn’t as stubborn as Niki. If she were, both girls would likely be dead before the battle was over.

  The Dark Riders were not making much progress at climbing the walls because Arik was concentrating on the climbers. Any time a man got higher than the level of Kalina’s invisible barrier, Arik shot him down. He no longer concerned himself with the men on the canyon floor. It felt strange to him to see armed men trying to kill him and not be concerned about them. He began to think that magic did have some good benefits.

  With the thinning ranks of Dark Riders Tanya finally got her shot at Wolinda. Her arrow ran true and struck Wolinda in the left side of her chest. The witch tumbled to the ground and the Dark Riders below started shouting.

  “My shield just went down,” Niki shouted. “I don’t understand it. I felt it getting weaker and weaker and then it stabilized and her punches didn’t hurt anymore. Then, all of a sudden, it just collapsed.”

  “It doesn’t matter any more,” Tanya replied, watching the Dark Riders heading for the mouth of the canyon. Those that could find live horses mounted and rode back the way they had come. Those without horses ran. Tanya managed to get one more as he was running away.

  “Damn!” Tanya shouted. “I didn’t want any of them to get away. Now they will just get more men and come after us again.”

  Garth rode into the mouth of the canyon hoping he wasn’t too late. The sound of shouts echoed off the canyon walls with the wail of men in retreat and Garth drew his sinuous sword. Garth slowed his steed to a stop a little ways from a bend in the trail and waited. He didn’t have long to wait before two riders came flying around the bend. The enemy approached while trying to draw their swords and Garth swung into action. Garth swung his sword and decapitated the first rider. Stopping the swing short, he lunged at the second rider with his sword and it cut cleanly through the man’s armor and pierced his chest. Yanking his sword free, Garth saw two more riders round the bend. The second set of riders immediately halted their horses, nearly colliding with each other, and drew their swords.

  Garth slowly approached them and they tried to sandwich him between them. Garth’s steed suddenly rose up and turned towards one of the Dark Riders, its hooves lashing out at the man’s head. As if this was a practiced maneuver, Garth chose that very moment to swing his mighty sword at the other Dark Rider. Garth’s sword cut a long rent in the man’s body from his neck to his waist as Garth was sliding off his horse to the ground. Ignoring the man he had just severed, Garth turned to the rider who had been knocked off his horse by the beating hooves. Garth halted his swing at the man on the ground when he saw a pair of lifeless eyes staring up at him. Garth’s horse had crushed the man’s head.

  Garth stepped around the bend in the canyon trail and saw three men running towards him on foot. He placed himself squarely in their path with a stance that indicated that the men were not getting past him and they slid to a halt. Eyeing his blood-drenched sword, the Dark Riders drew their own steel while looking for another way out. Garth furtively slipped his hand into a pocket and grasped a Lanoirian Star. He stood with his sword point on the ground in front of him, hilt in his right hand, with his left hand concealing the Lanoirian Star.

  “You wanted to serve the Dark One, didn’t you?” Garth sneered. “Well, come, let your blood flow for him.”

  The three men screamed as they rushed as one. Garth waited until they closed the distance before tossing out his left hand and sending the Lanoirian Star into the leftmost man’s eye. A second later, he brought his right arm up and the tip of his sword caught the center man just under the right side of his jaw. The sword continued upward and sliced through the man’s nose and left eye. Dropping to one knee, Garth felt the shock of the third man’s sword striking his sword. He allowed the blow to push his sword back by withdrawing it in a smooth arc that came around and sliced through the third man’s legs. The man lay screaming and Garth plunged the sword into his heart.

  Garth rose and looked down the canyon for more adversaries. Seeing none, he wiped his sword clean on one of the bodies and sheathed it. He recovered his Lanoirian Star and wiped it clean, also. He walked with his horse down the canyon towards Kalina. Kalina lowered the barrier and walked out to hug him.

  “Arik,” Garth said over Kalina shoulder, “I need a count of the bodies. I want to make sure that we got them all.”

  The two teams that had been on the canyon rims came riding in, and Garth ordered them to retrieve arrows and anything else that they could find which would be useful. When Arik came back with a count of twenty-six, Garth frowned. He left Kalina’s embrace and went to examine the bodies.

  “Klarg is missing,” Garth sighed as he returned. “Everyone is accounted for except Klarg. He will organize a new troop and pursue us. Loot what you can. We move out in half an hour.”

  Chapter 15

  Melbin

  They stopped for the evening in the pine forest. Tedi got a fire going while Tanya helped Arik with the horses. Niki helped Kalina with dinner, while Fredrik helped Garth butcher a deer that Garth had killed. Everyone was tired from the stress of battle as much as the long day of riding.

  “How come you didn’t want any offense magic during the battle?” Fredrik asked.

  “I had hoped to kill all of the Dark Riders,” Garth answered. “If we had gotten them all and left no trace of a magic battle, anyone who discovered the bodies would attribute the scene to a bandit gang who were hiding in the canyon. If we left blasted boulders and scorch marks that would not be believable. Bandits generally don’t have anything to do with magic. The fact that Klarg escaped means we will be hunted. It is unfortunate because all of you need a lot more training before we start getting into battles.”

  “Do you think there will be a lot of fighting?” Fredrik queried.

  “There will be more than any of us will want,” Garth sighed. “After dinner we must all train and hone our combat skills. You, Niki and Tanya will join in. Have you ever used a sword?”

  “No,” Fredrik admitted, “I have never even touched one until today. I shot a bow quite a bit when I was younger and I learned to throw knives. That is about the extent of my warrior skills.”

  Garth examined the boy’s wiry frame and delicate hands and nodded. “Knives may do fine,” Garth commented. “That and some hand-to-hand techniques that I can show you.”

  Garth heard laughter and turned to look. Tedi was coming from the stream with a long pole over his shoulders with four small buckets of water suspended on it. Arik and Tanya were laughing at Tedi, but Garth was impressed with the boy’s balance. The buckets were not discharging their contents. “And maybe the staff,” Garth added absent-mindedly.

  Kalina signaled that dinner was ready so everyone washed up an
d gathered around the campfire and started eating the venison and apples that Tanya had picked on the way from the canyon.

  “How do the King of Alcea and the descendant of the Dark One relate to each other?” Tedi asked. “I mean we have at least one of them with us and maybe both. Should they be working together?”

  “Absolutely,” Garth affirmed. “The Kingdom of Alcea will be devoted to bringing the end to the Dark One’s reign and the descendant will be working to bring an end to the Dark One, himself. They are not necessarily the same thing. The Dark One has many followers. The Black Devils are a group of magicians devoted to the Dark One. There is also a group called the Servants of Sarac who are not magicians, but also devoted to him. There are races from the other Universes that worshipped Alutar, the Demons, Goblins, Yaki and Ogres. They will want Sarac to succeed because it will mean the return of Alutar. People who wish Sarac to succeed may well run some of the rogue armies. Whomever the King of Alcea is, he will have to marshal whatever forces he can to fight Sarac’s horde. It is imperative the King and the descendant work together to accomplish their goals.”

  “So, in effect,” Fredrik offered, “we have just joined the Alcea Army.”

  “Yes,” Garth said grimly. “More accurately, we probably are the Alcea Army.”

  “Doesn’t Alcea already have an army?” Arik inquired.

  “I don’t really know,” Garth answered. “I have not been there in many years. At the time people were still calling it Tagaret, which was its name when Targa existed. The Collapse, the war with Sordoa that was going on at the time, and the attacks from Sarac’s Army, all decimated the Targan Army. After the Collapse, all that was left of Targa was the city of Tagaret. What was left of the Army probably settled in wherever they were.”

  “What of Alexander Tork and the Targa Rangers?” queried Tanya.

  “Alex and Jenneva left to imprison Sarac in his castle,” Garth answered. “They haven’t been seen since. The Targa Rangers were only a thousand strong at their peak and Captain Mitar Vidson ran them. I would assume that they remained loyal to King Byron and rallied to him. If so, some of them may still exist.”

  “You paint a pretty bleak picture,” commented Niki. “It sounds like this King of Alcea doesn’t even have a country.”

  “He doesn’t,” Garth sighed, “but between Kalina, me, and you children, he will, and we will see that it grows strong.”

  “You really need to stop calling us children,” Tedi stated. “I know you mean it as Collapse Children, but we still find it offensive.”

  There was a general agreement to Tedi’s remark and Garth nodded. “You certainly proved today that you are not children. I am proud of the way you all followed orders, but what shall we call you, then?”

  “We should be called the Alcea Rangers,” offered Tanya, “and that includes you and Kalina.”

  Calls of agreement went around the campfire and Garth smiled. “Okay,” he said, “I will be proud to serve with each and every one of you in the newly formed Alcea Rangers. However, as proud as I am to serve with you, I would rather feel safe serving with you, so I think it time to start our training for this evening. Niki, you will train with Kalina this evening. Tedi, I want you to cut another pole like the one you used to carry water. I want you and Fredrik to start learning how to handle a staff. Tanya, you get to prove you are as good as the other boys against Arik. Let’s go.”

  Everyone started to get up and Garth turned back towards the fire. “Forgot a couple of things,” he stated. “Everyone in the Rangers will be required to be proficient in using a knife and throwing a Lanoirian Star. These are two weapons that are easily concealed and deadly if used by someone who has been trained. See me when you can and I will supply you with enough to start training. You should train with these two weapons whenever you have nothing else to do. One more important thing, seeing as we have people in camp who see nothing wrong with going through others’ belongings. I have a satchel that contains Lanoirian Stars and myric quills. Do not go in it. Myric quills are deadly poisonous. One touch of the tip and you will be dead before you hit the ground. I will instruct you in their use when you are ready.”

  A few red faces appeared as the Rangers headed to their appropriate training spots. Garth walked around and observed or instructed as needed. Fredrik was awkward at first with the staff, but Tedi had a fine sense of balance and handled the stick with excellent control. With a little training and a lot of practice, Tedi would be deadlier with the staff than he would be with a sword.

  Tanya was indeed giving Arik a contest. Of the two Lorgo boys, Arik was definitely the better swordsman. Tanya was very good with a sword and was besting Arik, but it was obvious that she had received some good instruction. Eventually, Arik would beat her constantly because the boy was so powerful, but for training, Tanya would prove to be an excellent sparring partner for him.

  Raised voices from Niki and Kalina drew Garth towards them and he stopped to listen.

  “It just is not possible, Niki,” Kalina was saying. “A shield never remains stable or levels off, it keeps getting weaker each time it is hit. That is the very basic nature of the shield. It is probable that you just became numb and didn’t feel it getting weaker. Now I want you to list every spell you know and I will start to teach you spells which are closely related to the ones you already know.”

  Tedi gave Fredrik a good hit to the ankle and Garth hurried over. He knelt down and examined the ankle. “It’s okay,” Fredrik declared. “It hurts a bit, but that is my own fault.” Fredrik limped to his feet and picked up his staff and continued his practice with Tedi.

  For the next several weeks, the Rangers traveled half days and spent the other half days and evenings practicing. The results of the training were promising. Fredrik was modest when he said that he had played with throwing knives. He was already better at throwing knives than most men Garth had met, and he took to throwing the Lanoirian Star fairly well. He still had quite a way to go in hand-to-hand combat with a knife, but if he could throw them quickly enough, his assailants wouldn’t get close.

  The old merchant, Boris, got his money’s worth on the instructions that he had purchased for Tanya. She was good with knives, bow, and staff, as well as the sword. She also enjoyed tossing the boys around in hand-to-hand combat. She picked up the knack of using the Lanoirian Star very easily, as well.

  Arik was an eager and fast learner. His muscular body was in excellent shape and he had an amazing endurance. Tanya still beat him most of the time in swordplay, but he was getting better. With the bow, nobody could beat him and his keen eyesight seemed to help him with the Lanoirian Star as well. Tedi, Fredrik, and Tanya could beat him with a staff and Arik generally avoided using one.

  Tedi excelled with the staff, getting better every day. He now took on Tanya and Fredrik at the same time and won most of the time. He was also turning into a good tracker, better than Arik, which surprised both of them. Garth also learned that Tedi had an excellent set of ears, hearing many things that Garth did not, and Garth’s hearing was excellent.

  Niki was having trouble with both the knife and the Lanoirian Star, the only two weapons she was training with. When Niki practiced throwing, everyone cleared out of the way. Kalina said she was progressing well with her magic, though. She was not as strong or as talented as Fredrik, but she had some unusual talents. She could smell things that no one else was capable of smelling. Her claim had led to an interesting evening when the boys volunteered to hide things in the woods and make her find them blindfolded, and she did. She also knew some types of magic healing that Kalina had never heard of. She claimed to have learned them by accident and Kalina promised to secure a book on healing spells for her when she could.

  Garth combined horseback archery lessons with hunting and food was always plentiful. Kalina combined her lessons on edible plants with instructions on gathering plants and minerals necessary for some magical potions. She began to accumulate some stock to teach Fredrik and Niki h
ow to make potions and what they were good for. For the most part, Garth was very pleased with the progress that the Rangers were making. Already, the four warriors, Arik, Tedi, Fredrik, and Tanya, would have been welcome recruits to any army. Garth had plans of making them much more than recruit material, though.

  Arik and Tanya rode into the campsite with a large buck and were arguing about whose skill contributed more towards the kill.

  “It was my shot that took him down,” insisted Arik.

  “Only because it was your turn,” Tanya protested. “I am the one who tracked him down.”

  “Tracked him!” laughed Arik. “He practically stood and waited for us.”

  The bantering continued as the two Rangers dropped the buck for Fredrik and Tedi to prepare and took care of their horses. Kalina observed Garth smile and shake his head and came over and embraced him.

  “I haven’t seen you smile in a long time, warrior,” she teased.

  “Nor you, witch,” Garth said softly as he returned her embrace. “Out here with the children, one could almost forget the death and destruction that continues in the world.”

  “Almost,” Kalina uttered as she broke the embrace. “We are going to have to make a trip into town soon. Tanya told me that some of the horses need their shoes tended to.”

  Garth sat by the fire in a thoughtful mood and Kalina sat down next to him. “Melbin is less than a day’s ride,” he finally offered. “I will take the horses in tomorrow and get them taken care of.”

  “Can I come with you?” Fredrik asked as he also sat down. “I have been making knife sheaths and most of the knives we have are a little too large for concealment. I would like to shop for something a little smaller and a bit more balanced.”

  “The knives we have will do the job,” Garth stated. “Where are you trying to conceal them that they have to be smaller?”

  “You have never been a dainty woman,” Niki laughed as she sat next to Fredrik. “Would you believe that Fredrik has eight knives on his body right now? You, Garth, have created a monster. Besides, I will keep an eye on him for you. I need to do some shopping as well. Just this morning, I broke my last comb.”