Destiny Intertwined, Lan'as'atal
#9 of Destiny Intertwined
Part nine in the series. It is a bit shorter than the others, but I have a very specific idea for what to do on the next one and this is where I have to end it.
Anyway, hope you enjoy it. As always, comments are always appreciated.
Continued from "The seas of fate"...
Shae paused in her ascent to catch her breath. She hadn't climbed like this in a while and she had forgotten how draining it could be. Peering down from where she clung to face of the sheer cliff, she smiled. At least the ability hadn't left her. Taking another deep breath and returning her sight to the cliff face, she began to climb once more, finding another hand hold by feel. Not far above her, near to the top of the cliff, dangled her goal. Slate grey Cievines clung to the cliff side, feeding off the stone they dug into from above, their deep roots slowly dissolving the cliff over the centuries they had lived. She pulled herself up another few feet, searching for another hold. The vines were just out of reach, another few feet and she would be able to grab them. Unfortunately, there wasn't another hand hold. Frowning to herself, she moved her feet up as high as she could against the cliff and pushed off, jumping high up and catching the barest trailing edge of the lowest vine. She was slammed against the cliff when she swung back, the impact almost making her let go of the vine, but she wasn't about to let go when she was so close. Slowly pulling herself up hand over hand, she reached the top of the cliff, and pulled herself over the edge with an effort.
Once on top, she lay on her back on the mossy top of the cliff, panting, her muscles quivering with exhaustion. Gradually, strength returned and she rose to her knees, peering over the side of the cliff. It was a very long way down from there to the icy sea below. Shuddering slightly, she found one of the vines that was flowering and sliced at it with her knife until it came free. Coiling the vine around her arm like a rope, she looked for an easier way to descend from cliff. She grimaced when she saw that there wasn't one. Which meant that she was in for a long and dangerous climb down. Shaking her head, she sat down on the cliff and looked out into the plains stretching out below her. The sun was setting and she decided to wait for the morning to try getting down. Once she built her fire from the branches of fallen trees, she stared out into the plain again, her sharp eyes spotting the flickering light of the campfire where Ardal waited for her to return. She shook her head and then lay down beside the fire. Climbing down was always hardest...
***
Hours later, Shae stirred and awoke to the dawn, the golden light washing over her like the waves of the sea. And, with that thought, came a solution to her problem. There was an easier way down. She got up and peered down the edge of the cliff for a moment and then smiled, looping the coil of vines around her torso, left shoulder to right hip. She walked back from the cliff a good ten paces and paused, taking a deep breath. 'Easier, but no less dangerous.' She thought, then sprinted toward the cliff edge. The moment she got up to it, she dove forward, making her body into a spear of white fur as she shot towards the waves below. The water was coming up very quickly and she formed her fingers into fists just in time. She hit the water with incredible force, but the impact did nothing to her, her fists parting the water just enough to save her from injury. Bobbing back to the surface, she looked up and smiled at the height she had jumped from. That was another thing she used to do regularly and it was always a hell of a rush. She dove back beneath the water and swam towards shore, her precious cargo safe...
***
Dawn was rapidly approaching when she finally returned to the camp were Ardal waited. The youth was sitting on a rock by the fire, sleepily leaning upon the haft of his spear. His eyes were almost closed when she walked out of the darkness and he sat upright with a jolt, lifting the spear for battle. When he saw who it was who had disturbed him, he smiled and returned to his seat on the rock.
"Hello Shae." He said, yawning loudly. "How did it go?"
"I found what we need." She replied, taking the coiled vines off her torso and laying them by the now dry thornweed before joining the boy at the fire. "How long have you been awake?"
"Since you left." He said, the glazed look in his eyes a testament to his effort. Shae laughed and ruffled his white hair.
"You silly fox, go to bed." She said and Ardal leaned away from her fingers with an irritated look "I will stand watch while you rest."
"Okay, I guess." He replied and stretched out on the ground beneath his blanket. He was asleep within moments and she shook her head at him. She hadn't really expected him to stay on guard all the time she was gone, but he had done so. She made a mental note to instruct him about why staying on watch that long was a bad idea and stirred the fire with a stick, provoking a small shower of sparks as an air pocket in a log was exposed to the night. She sighed and stretched with feline grace, feeling a ripple of small pops as her spine readjusted. It had been a very long day and all she really wanted was to lay down, but she had made a promise to keep watch, so she sat instead and wondered what Aden was doing...
***
Hours later, Ardal woke up, his ears twitching. By the angle of the sun, it was late afternoon and he sat up, letting the blanket fall off of him. He could have sworn he had heard faint voices coming from the west, but he could see nothing coming from the sea. He looked around the campsite and saw that Shae was kneeling beside the two Tigers, looking at them with concern. She noticed him stirring and looked up at him.
"Sleep well?" She asked and Ardal nodded before getting to his feet. "I am worried about them. They haven't eaten or drank anything in days."
"Me too." Ardal said, sitting back down on his rock. "Is there anything we can do?"
"Not that I know of." She replied, coming back and sitting down by the fire with him. "We need to talk."
"About what?" The young fox asked, looking at her with a look of almost comical curiosity and surprise.
"You can't stay on watch for days at a time without rest." She said, and he rolled his eyes. "Ardal, I am serious. You will get bored or tired and you will start to see things that aren't there. Or, even worse, you won't see something that you could have seen if you were fully awake."
"I know, I know." He stated and started to make another comment, but suddenly, one of his ears tilted back toward the southwest. He turned his head and looked out to sea in time to see a large three-masted ship come around a bend in the land to the south. He stood in surprise and watched it come ever closer.
"Damn!!" Shae swore, leaping to her feet and rushing to stamp out the fire. When the fire was out, she rushed to the side of the tigers and grabbed Cerule, lifting the huge tiger onto her shoulders with a great effort. "Ardal, help me get them under cover."
Working together, the pair managed to haul the tigers beneath the nearby trees and hunker down with weapons ready. The large ship had come very close by then and Shae whispered urgently to her companion.
"It's a human warship." She said, pointing to the huge ballistae mounted on the ship's upper deck. "If they have spotted us, we are in trouble. A ship that size could easily carry a hundred people on it."
The pair waited in silence, staring out to sea with bated breath. And then, the mysterious ship's sails were drawn in and they clearly saw the dark shape of the anchor drop off the side of the ship. Shae shook her head and lifted her spear into ready position. Ardal gulped nervously and set his spear into position as well, as ready as one could ever be facing certain death. There was a long few minutes as a boat was lowered over the side of the ship and a small group climbed in. And then, they watched the small boat row towards shore. As it got closer, they could see a figure clad in a dark full body cloak standing in the prow of the row boat and Shae stood up, gauging the distance with her eyes and readying the spear to throw. But then, as the boat came close enough to see everything clearly, the standing figure tossed his hood back and the spear dropped from her hand.
It was Aden, the white fox standing proudly in the prow. Shae ran from the trees to stand on the beach, waving her hands eagerly at Aden as he approached. When the row boat got into the shallows, Aden jumped from it and met Shae as she ran into the surf, trapping her in a hug. Ardal was close behind and the family hugged tightly.
"I thought for sure we were finished." Shae said as Aden pulled back from her and she was about to continue when a pair of the rowers approached. She looked at them with fear when she saw that they were morphic warriors but Aden spoke.
"Relax, they are friends." He said and then handed her the pouch of leaves. "I will explain later, but come, we need to hurry to help Cerule and Jessica."
The trio rushed back into the campsite while the morphic hunters still at the oars rowed back to the ship. The trio reached the campsite quickly and Aden looked at Ardal.
"I don't suppose Cerule revealed to you how we were supposed to use these herbs." He said and Ardal nodded.
"He did." The boy replied, "Everything needs to be ground into a powder and then mixed with water." Aden nodded and the trio began to use stones to grind the herbs to a fine dust while Aden explained about his adventure. While they worked, the morphic villagers came ashore with the pirate ship's long boats and Shae was introduced to Fel and his family. Aden noticed Ardal and Ferus staring at each other with interest, but neither fox had the time to make an issue of it. The moment the herbs were powdered, they were poured into two bowls and then water was poured over them. A strange smell filled the clearing and the mixture within the bowls turned a sickly sort of green. Aden grimaced at the scent and then moved over to Cerule, bowl in hand.
"Lets hope this works." He said and nodded to Fel to open the Tiger's mouth. Then, he poured the mixture down Cerule's throat and Shae repeated the act with Jessica. For a moment, nothing happened and then, suddenly, Cerule coughed violently, his eyes opening wide and he rolled over, retching. Jessica had a similar reaction and both sat there coughing until the potion came back up. Then, Cerule took a deep breath and shook his head before raising his gaze back up.
"Ug." He said and spat. Then, he noticed the villagers standing around him and he leapt to his feet, his hands already raising into fighting position, claws extending from his paws.
"Easy." Aden stated and laid a hand on the tiger's shoulder. "They are friends."
"Friends?" The tiger said, his claws slowly retracting back into his paws. "What do you mean friends?"
"It's a long story." The fox said and then guided the tiger to a seat by the fire, offering him a water skin once he sat down. When both tigers were seated, Aden explained again about the village and the pirates. When he had finished, Cerule sat back and looked around once more.
"That is quite a tale." He commented and then Jessica spoke for the first time since coming to.
"That makes a lot of sense." She said, stroking her chin with a hand. "The spell that binds the morphic people to their shaman must be broken when they die. But now what do we do Cerule?"
"Cerule? Not Cerule the Far Strider?" Fel's mother said, looking at Cerule with amazement.
"What do you mean?" He replied looking at her strangely. "I haven't ever heard that title before."
"There is a tale that has spread like wildfire from village to village for nearly ten years now." She said, "A tale of a Ka-lin named Cerule, who has wandered the length and breadth of the world. It is said that no warrior can harm him, no magician enchant him and that he knows the ways of the wild so well that he can vanish at will. It has been said that the Far Strider can travel at speed that no one can match. Are you he?"
"I suppose I must be." He said, an embarrassed smile creasing his fur. A murmur of amazement passed through the crowd and Fel's mother turned to Aden once more.
"You travel in distinguished company." She said, looking at him with renewed respect before looking back at the Tiger. "Aden mentioned that you were traveling to some island when you were injured. I know that I speak for the entire village when I say that we would be honored to take you where you wish to go." A general wave of assent passed through the crowd and Cerule answered for the Ka-lin.
"We were going to the island of Lan'as'atal. It is some distance to the west." He said and the warrior who had first spoken to Aden in the village nodded.
"That will be an easy journey, the seas are calm this time of year." He said and Cerule nodded agreeably.
"Then we should sail in the morning." He said and the villagers set about expanding the camp and setting a new watch. While this was being done, the Ka-lin lay down gratefully, for their journey had been hard for far too long...
***
Cerule stood at the bow of the three-masted ship as it sailed into a still bay on the eastern side of their destination. A day and half had passed since he had recovered and he was looking forward to seeing what made the Scio fear this island so much. He was still gazing out when he felt a warm paw on his back. He turned to his left and smiled at Jessica as she joined him at the rail. He put one arm around his mate and they stood together, looking out at the strange island. The entire island looked to be covered by forest and nothing else was visible beyond it, save for a small range of mountains at the island's heart.
"What do you think is out there?" Jessica asked, gazing in wonder at the strange land before them.
"I don't know, but it will be an adventure to find out." He replied and the pair turned at the sound of footsteps behind them. Fel's mother stood behind them there and they smiled at her.
"We are ready to go ashore, if you are." She said and Cerule nodded. A boat was lowered over the side and the Ka-lin climbed in, as well as a quartet of strong warriors.
Cerule was the first ashore and his feet had barely touched the sand when a horn blast sounded and warriors suddenly stepped out from the trees. Many were green scaled reptiles that the mainlanders had never seen before, but all were morphs of some kind and all wore green cloaks crossed with many black stripes. They had been so well camouflaged within the trees that even Cerule's senses were not good enough to find them. The Ka-lin on shore whirled around to find ships filling the bay behind them, boxing in their own vessel. Aden and the four oarsmen tentatively put up their hands, but Cerule did not, instead gazing at a trio who had stepped from the trees behind the waiting warriors. They had caught his eye because they were all Ka-lin and the warriors bowed deferentially to them as they passed before vanishing back into the trees.
"Welcome, my friends." The huge white bear in the lead said. "I am Tordek. And you," he continued, extending an ursine paw to Cerule, "Would be Cerule the Far Strider."
"I am, but how did you know that?" he asked and the bear smiled.
"I know many things." He said, then looked at the oarsmen and Aden bemusedly. "Put your hands down, you look ridiculous. Bring the rest of your company ashore and we will talk."
The oarsmen nodded and brought that message back to the ship. Soon, the entire village was on the shore and Tordek smiled once more, gesturing for them to follow him. With the Ka-lin in the lead, he led the way into the island's interior. Once they were under the trees, Cerule spoke.
"Tordek, may I ask you a question?" He said and the bear nodded for him to continue. "We came here because we overheard a Scio assassin talking with a morphic Shaman. We knew that they were threatened enough by this place that they were going to great lengths to destroy it. My question is why?"
"Straight to the heart of the issue." The bear stated and turned his head to speak over his shoulder. "But I cannot answer that in time for you to understand before I show you the reason."
"Huh?" Jessica asked, lost by the bear's logic. But then, a moment later, they passed out of the woods, which turned out to only be a thin belt, and into a wide plain. But the plain was not empty. It was filled with tents and buildings and crawling with Morphic warriors of all species. Also, scattered among the furred warriors, more reptile folk walked, their scaly hides spanning the rainbow in hue. But, stranger than anything else, was the fact that there were hundreds, if not thousands of Ka-lin among the warriors. But most telling, was not the numbers, but the fact that every one of them was armed and many wore armor.
"Welcome to Lan'as'atal." Tordek said, spreading his arms to encompass the whole plain. "Last home of the Ka-lin and the only hope for an end to this war..."
***
Cerule and Jessica stood before a gathering of powerful leaders, nervously waiting for them to acknowledge their presence. It was late afternoon and Tordek, who seemed to be the nominal leader among the folk of Lan'as'atal, had led them on a tour through the camp of the army and to some of the most beautiful places they had ever seen. Tordek had explained that the natural beauty of the island was the reason for its odd name. Then, he had seen to it that the village was bedded down in suitable quarters among the dependants of the soldiers, who lived in a city close to the center of the island. Now, the pair of Tigriss stood before the gathering of the leaders of Lan'as'atal, wondering why they had been called here. A moment later, Tordek finally spoke to them.
"Cerule, Jessica, please come forward." He said and the pair stepped a few paces towards him. "We have news that is of interest to the both of you. First, we know why the Scio are bribing the village shaman into helping them. For the last ten generations, the Scio have been continuing the war that has raged between Humans and Morphs. It could have ended long ago, but they have been forcing it ever farther from peace. You see, during war, they have a great call for their services and it is our belief that they enjoy playing both sides against each other. But, we here on this island have never submitted to them and thus we are the greatest threat in the world. For this reason, we believe that they are massing an army to come and attack us. It may already be in motion. But, the news that concerns you two, is thus. Cerule, Scio himself has been sighted among the camps of our enemy. He has given orders that you are a target to be destroyed at all costs."
"What?" Jessica asked, flabbergasted that Scio would have known Cerule. "Why?"
"About six years ago, I found out about the Scio's practice of killing whoever pleased them and I set about trying to find out why. To make a long story short, I snuck into their fortress in the mountains and made my way all the way to Scio's personal chambers. But he hasn't lived this long for nothing. He knows magic of a kind that I have never seen before. He knew I was there and we fought. But he could not defeat me and I escaped having done something that he would never forgive me for." Cerule explained. When Jessica gave him a quizzical look, Cerule blushed slightly and continued, "I took his left arm off at the shoulder. And ever since, the Scio have hunted me."
"And he made himself one very dangerous enemy." Tordek said, but his tone was light, and he was smiling. "But he also made a name for himself, much more than his wanderings have. Word was spread with every Scio that searched for him and he has become something of a folk hero to our people. But, be that as it may, the news we have for you, Jessica, is that Scolor has begun sheltering Ka-lin. We have managed to get word to him of the Scio plot and he has agreed to help us, but he cannot openly set himself against the Scio yet, not when they control so many of our kind." Jessica nodded and Tordek paused for a moment before speaking once more. "And to that end, I have a favor to ask of you both. Cerule, word is already spreading through the island that Cerule Far Strider has come at last. The morale of our troops has already increased because of your presence alone."
"You want me to fight for you?" Cerule said, interrupting Tordek while the bear paused. But the bear shook his head.
"Not as such, no." He said and looked to either side. "We want you to lead our army into battle."
"Wait, what?" Cerule asked, his eyes wide. "I know nothing about leading an army."
"I know that. But think what an effect it would have for our cause." He said. "If word was spread that Cerule Far Strider, enemy of the Scio and Champion of Lan'as'atal, was leading the way, our troops would be unstoppable."
"I don't know." Cerule said, doubtfully. "I will have to think about it."
"Of course." Tordek said. "It is not our way to try to force you into doing something that you don't desire. But please, consider our offer."
"I will." Cerule replied and Tordek looked over at Jessica.
"And you, Jessica Starweaver, we must ask you for a similar favor." He said. "We have many magic users here on this island, but none as skilled or powerful as you are and they desperately need direction. Direction we cannot provide, not when we do not possess the powers they do. We would like to ask you to lead our sorcerers in the coming fight, for you are known to our forces as well."
"I am afraid that I must follow my mate in this." She said, linking arms with Cerule. "I need to think."
"I understand." He said. "A house has been prepared for you within the city. It is yours as long as you are here..."
To be continued soonish...