See chapter 1 for dislaimers.

Chapter 8: A Memory's Worth

The overhang deep in the forest was the best shelter they had found in some days. Staying well away from anything resembling civilization seemed the only way for foreigners to survive in Seejay at the moment.

The natives had quickly learned that they had to choose a side if they wanted to live. Anyone who tried to stay neutral or to, foolishly, reason with the rampaging soldiers, would be killed as a traitor by one side or the other. Foreigners and those that sheltered them were marked for death by both sides. As the family stood out from the locals so clearly, thanks to their dark skin, were easy targets. Leaving became a priority of everyone who hadn't been born in that country and quite a few who had.

Ebron, the family's elder had guided the family through many a crisis and was still fit and strong, despite their, often, harsh life and his 68 years. It was he who settled on the best course out of the country for them.

Baron Kibare's estate had been just north of the central part of the country. At Ebron's direction, they had been moving north, as steadily as they could, for weeks, living off the land and avoiding people as best they could. This often meant making wide detours around towns and villages and occasionally backtracking to avoid soldiers of both factions. The soldiers weren't the worst of it, though. They had witnessed one battle between two groups of magic users that seemed to affect the land around them in bizarre and unsettling ways. They hadn't lingered.

The family had encountered a few other foreigners, usually merchants, who had barely managed to escape the insanity that seemed to grip the country. The locals, at least those not openly taking part in the civil war, were terrified and trying to keep their heads down. That meant, at best, chasing away any outsiders they saw. No one wanted to be perceived as aiding the enemy. Whoever that was. No one seemed sure.

The day they spent hiding in what was almost a cave was one of the more restful they had had that week. Sleeping in shifts, they each managed to get a couple of hours of sleep. The patch of blackberries they had found near dawn was also quite welcome.

As night fell, they prepared to move out. The nearest town was almost a half-day's walk to the west, but they're course for the night would force them to skirt two farms. The border, according to the last trader they had met, was barely two days walk away, and no one wanted to delay their departure from the madhouse Seejay had become.

Moving through the woods as quietly as they could, they paused at the edge of the first plowed field they came to. There were no lamps lit in the farmhouse at the east end of the field, which was good, but there was no point in taking chances. They turned west and headed around the far end of the field, careful to keep a line of trees between them and the farm.

Ebron spoke to them silently, guiding them as best he could as he had the best night vision. :There is a break in the trees ahead. Keep low and move quickly.:

Not all of them were able to respond, but they could all hear him. They moved as directed, and soon bypassed the first farm without incident. At the direction of the family elder, they picked up as much speed as they could while moving with only slightly less caution.

Most of them were experienced hunters and knew how to move quietly through the woods, no matter how thick the brush might be. The less experienced were helped or made slight detours as necessary. In this manner, almost an hour passed and they approached the second farm the merchant had mentioned. As they approached the edge of the field, however, the patriarch that was leading the way, paused. He examined the ground closely in a patch of moonlight.

:Grandfather?: Jebel asked silently.

:Tracks,: the old man sent. :The spoor is confused, but there's a set here that I don't recognize. They're big. Eyes open everyone.: Cautiously, he led the way forward. They came to the edge of the tree line and paused. The farmhouse was closer to them than the previous one had been, and there were lamps burning. It was because of those lamps that they saw the creature.

In the limited light, it was difficult to discern details, but the thing was roughly the size and shape of a cart horse, but it moved like a predator. There were flashes of both fur and scales, and Ebron knew he had to decide quickly whether it would be best to retreat or stay still until it left. The beast seemed focused on the farmhouse, which was fortunate for the family. Not so fortunate for those inside.

Gritting his teeth, angry over what was about to happen but unable to do anything about it, Ebron told his family to hold very still and wait for his signal. The beast snuffled at the door for a moment, and then, knocked it down and charged inside. Screams immediately sounded from inside, and Ebron signaled his kin to fall back. He led them away from the farmhouse and toward a brook they had passed a short distance back. It flowed to the southwest and was not terribly wide or deep, but he reasoned that it should help confuse the beast's tracking if it detected them.

It took a little time to reach the brook, but they all entered at his direction and began to move downstream, in an attempt to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the creature. Fortunately, spring was quickly becoming summer, and the water wasn't cold. They were able to keep to the stream for almost an hour before leaving it and heading north again. They had to move more quickly now, as there was no telling whether the beast would be able to follow them if it picked up their scent.

The area was heavily wooded and there were no immediate signs of towns, farms, or even roads, so it seemed safe to proceed directly north, and hopefully, make up some of the distance they'd lost in backtracking.

They had only been traveling for a short time when Jebel heard someone or something coming through the woods. They hid at Ebron's direction, hoping that whatever it was would pass them by without incident. Enlee and Mijad climbed a large three with low-hanging branches and hid in the foliage. Trentes and Isleis hid under a bush and lay still. Jebel wasn't sure where the others disappeared to, but he lost sight of them as he scrambled up a different tree and hid.

A young woman came dashing through the area, casting frantic glances over his shoulder. The nightdress she wore caught on a branch but pulled free almost immediately, leaving a few threads behind. Jebel winced as the lost thread fluttered in the breeze, obvious even from where he was hiding. If someone was tracking her, as seemed to be the case, she wouldn't get far.

:Whoever is chasing her,: Ebron sent, :will pass through this area and find us. We need to move. Now.:

The communication had barely ended when a sound reached them. Soft footfalls and disturbed plants. It was the only warning they had before the creature was among them. Everyone froze and the beast charged after the girl, catching her within a few steps. She screamed as it knocked her down. It didn't kill her immediately, though. It seemed to want to play with its prey.

:No choice,: Ebron sent. :Attack while it's distracted!: The old man's movements were swift and virtually silent. He emerged from hiding and struck at the beast's right hind leg, scoring a deep gash while aiming for the tendon.

The beast proved to be too fast, though. While wounded, it was not disabled. Whirling to face its attacker, though, made it vulnerable to Trentes' blade, which left a long but shallow gash along its side. Jebel was next, biting deeply into its thick whip-like tail.

This began a series of strike and fade attacks that gradually wore the creature down. Jebel and his brothers worked well together, constantly drawing the creature's attention away from the others, but the beast wasn't the only one getting tired.

Ebron had left the fight to his sons and grandsons while he checked on the young woman. She was limping badly and cradling her right arm close to her as she tried to flee the scene of the battle. As she was moving, he reasoned she wasn't in any immediate danger from her wounds, and returned to the fight.

Enlee had taken to throwing seed pods from the tree at the beast, further distracting it, as it didn't seem to be able to tell where they were coming from. Both mother and daughter knew the use of a dagger to defend themselves, but their weapons were not ideal for dealing with such a beast. The weapons the men used were less than effective as it was.

Not every strike drew blood or even landed, but each attempt served to save a life as the maddened creature was continually switching from one target to another. It couldn't last, though. A decisive blow had to be struck. The creature was becoming more vicious and erratic by the second.

He worked himself back into the rhythm they had developed, taking a bit of the pressure off his grandsons. Cutting into its left rear haunch derailed its attempt to gut Mijad and refocused it on him.

Ebron had no idea what the creature was, but he had seen mageborn beasts before. This looked like someone's pet project or maybe a failed experiment. While fast and vicious it didn't seem terribly tough or intelligent. A seedpod from the tree struck the creature's head, just above its eyes, and it twisted to search for its new attacker. Really not very smart, Ebron sighed, stepping back and allowing Jebel to strike from another direction.

The beast was ready for the tactic, though. It twisted with surprising agility and snapped at the charging boy. With a curse, Jebel tried to backpedal out of range, but he stepped on a small branch that shifted under his weight. His feet went out from under him.

With a hiss of triumph, the beast leapt at his downed enemy. The others quickly moved in to assist, but Ebron knew that he was the only one close enough to do anything effective. He lunged forward, but rather than use his blade, he grabbed the beast's wounded tail and yanked, bringing the thing up short, hard, with a roar of pain. In order to get a grip that would allow it, he needed both hand and had been forced to drop his sword.

When the beast lashed its tail, the old man, who'd been growing tired more quickly than his grandsons, was staggered. With his sword out of reach, was forced to keep the beast's teeth from his throat by throwing up an arm.

OOOOOOOOOO

Jebel watched the mageborn beast's lunge abruptly halted. It roared in pain and turned away from him, allowing him to scramble to his feet. He moved to attack again, but it was too late. The beast had leapt on the downed Ebron and seized his arm in its jaws, even as its claws raked his chest and stomach. The leather armor the old man wore was not enough to protect him.

Five blades sank into the momentarily motionless beast. It thrashed and shuddered but would not relinquish its prize. When it was dead, they managed to move it away from him and checked his wounds. The old man was conscious, but it a lot of pain. His first thought, though, as for his family.

"All safe?" he asked, a little blood leaking from his mouth.

"We're all fine, father," Turim assured him. "And you will be, too. We'll-"

Ebron shook his head. "Don't waste time. This will attract attention, and my wounds are too great. Go-" He broke off to coughed up more blood. "Go. Take care of each other."

Ebron closed his eyes as first his consciousness then his life, slipped away.

OOOOOOOOOO

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," Elcarth sighed. "It wasn't my intention to bring up painful memories."

Jebel shook his head. "It was a long time ago. Worse has happened since." He noted Elcarth's wince and shook his head. "Hiding from it won't change it, and if anything can be learned from my experiences, I'm willing to share what I know."

Elcarth nodded, approving of his attitude, but still regretting the necessity of dragging up such unpleasant memories. He moved on.

"We have records of a variety of mageborn beasts, but nothing quite like that. Could be new, or something that doesn't range this far north. As to the nature of the conflict in Seejay… Well, no one outside that country seems to know what was going on, and that includes the natives who fled to other lands."

"Nothing more recent?" Jebel asked, surprised. "It's been years."

"Nothing of substance," the archivist sighed. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have considered asking you about that incident. The neighboring countries have sealed their borders and let nothing through."

"Making it hard to get any recent, or at least reliable, information." Jebel nodded, understanding. "If you're going to ask about Karse, next, you can save yourself the trouble. I'm sure you know more about that place than I do, and my recollections wouldn't help anyone, though I'm willing to have what few entries I made in Karse transcribed for the archives. I couldn't add much beyond those. Survival was more important than studying the local politics."

Elcarth nodded, not doubting for a second that that was true. "Thank you. Anything you can provide may prove useful. We do have maps of Karse and some information about their culture and beliefs, mostly gathered from refugees. It might be of use in making plans to extract your aunt and cousin."

"Thanks to Mijad, we do have an idea of where to look." He had carefully recorded what his brother had told him in his journal and he shared that information with Elcarth, as well. There was no direct information about the temple described, but they had been able to confirm that there was such a place. When asked about it, Alberich had shrugged. It was possible they were there, but he had never been near that particular temple during his military service in Karse, and he knew little about the ways of the sun priests.

The interview lasted only a few minutes longer, and Elcarth released him to get some rest and perhaps catch up with the goings-on at the Collegium. Knowing the older Herald wasn't one for idle gossip, Jebel wondered if he meant that there was something he wanted Jebel to hear about, but didn't want to bring up the topic directly. It seemed a bit too indirect for the historian, so he dismissed the idea, mostly.

Elcarth knew that Jebel had little interest in gossip for the sake of gossip, so Jebel reasoned that there must be something fairly important going on. Curious, he sought out some of the younger Heralds and students that he knew. A fair-sized group was gathered in one of the open courtyards in the Collegium. Two were playing music as others talked and laughed. Jebel dismissed his musings for the moment. This group, at least, didn't have any weighty matters on their minds, and that suited him at the moment. He joined them.

It seemed an impromptu gathering, as the group was just lazing about and relaxing after classes and work were done for the day, so Jebel didn't hesitate over approaching them. Skif was there. He spotted Jebel almost immediately, and called him over.

"Ah, Jebel. Join us. I heard that you had a rough time on your internship, but details are sparse." Several heads turned in his direction, reminding him of forest animals that had scented particularly tasty prey.

"I wasn't ordered not to talk about it," Jebel allowed, shoving down his amusement at the mental image. "All right." He gathered an audience fairly quickly as he began to tell his story. Starting with the beginning of his internship and moving along quickly. He told the story of the merchant's son to some exasperation and headshaking on the part of his fellow Heralds. Arctus' handling of the young man got some laughs. Jebel already knew that his Companion was regarded as somewhat impulsive, and several of the Heralds joked about his rashness getting him into trouble one day.

Jebel thought that was a bit unfair. How, he asked, would any of them handle some thug about to hit a defenseless girl? They acknowledged that that was a fair point, and urged him to continue his story.

People paid rapt attention to his description of how he had searched for his family, repeatedly, using FarSight to the point of a reaction headache, and how it had led to the discovery of his brother and his new family. They all congratulated him for his good fortune. Several of his audience laughed when he told them of Trentes asking why Jebel was introducing his horse. Many of them had had similar experiences, and the Companion's indignation never stopped being funny. The information about Mijad and his involvement with an insurgent faction in Karse sparked debate over possibilities, but they all knew that it wasn't likely to come to anything.

He told his audience of Mijad's arrival and his request for aid, and the mood grew grave. They all knew Valdemar's history with Karse. The debate picked up again, and speculation about possible courses of action were bandied about until Jebel shook his head. "Let me finish."

They quieted and listened as he described the meeting between Mijad and Mirnen. When he had finished, they all nodded regretfully, reluctantly agreeing that Mirnen's choice was the only logical one. Jebel then described what had happened later that night. Mijad's actions and Arctus' frantic flight to find the mage responsible and the tragic results of that confrontation.

"Havens!" One of his audience breathed, shaking her head. "To have found your brother after all this time and… Jebel. I'm so sorry."

"What will the queen do?" Skif asked, cutting to the heart of the matter.

"Gather information. That's all that can be done," Jebel answered, allowing a bit of his frustration to show. He shared the queen's reasoning and what he knew of the general plans to learn more.

"I understand," Skif sighed, "but it's frustrating to have something like this happen and not be able to take any action."

"Mijad probably would have rushed off to rescue Enlee and Isleis," Jebel allowed a sad smile, "by himself, if necessary, but I can't afford to act rashly. As to revenge? No one knows whether that mage was acting on orders or by himself. Arctus said he ranted like a fanatic, so who knows? Since Karse and Valdemar aren't exactly on speaking terms, it hardly matters."

"True," Skif allowed, sourly. "There must be some way we can help, though."

"Alberich said he would reach out to his contacts, but that will take time." Jebel shook his head. "Everything that can realistically be done is being done." He was frustrated, but saw no point in going over the same topic again, doubting if they could think of anything that the queen and her advisors hadn't. Nevertheless, the conversation continued for a time. The most optimistic conclusion that could be drawn was that they needed more information before they could act. None doubted for a second, though, that they would act.