Tales of the Amber Vipers Chapter 41
The song of the forest was everywhere, filling the universe with its timeless melody. It carried to the perfect blue sky and echoed in the depths below. The song was composed from the rustle of branches and the creaking of trunks, the skittering of insects and the chirping of birds and small creatures. He could feel it tussling his long hair and caressing his skin, touching his pale limbs with the cadence of life itself. It was the music of nature, the harmony of the cycles of life and death and bound within it were the voices of all his ancestors. To Elhyn it sounded beautiful.
Elhyn was clinging to the branches of a Wythlwood tree, the tallest type found in the Everforest. He could feel its ancient spirit thrum under his hands and feet, each passing of a season nothing but a heartbeat to the venerable tree. The coarse bark scratched his palms but not in an unpleasant way, it was a natural pain, honest and pure, grounding him in the world but not enticing him. He clung tightly as his eyes surveyed the horizon, taking in the world. In every direction stretched a sea of green leaves, his elevated position letting him peer over the territory of his kinband and beyond. His preternaturally sharp eyes picked out the hunting grounds of his people and their enclave, hidden so well none not of his race could have detected it. Further out could be seen the Sacred Glades, the Copses of the Dead and the Aries of the Drakes, the Laughing Woods and the dark smear of dead and warped trees that was the Vale of Midnight Tears. A gash in the canopy revealed the Glynsmere River, in its sharp canyon, and in the distance loomed the snow-capped Mountains of Silent Contemplation. He could see it all, even the border between his Kinband, the Wind-dancers, and their greatest rivals, the Kraken-riders kinband. He knew every inch of his people's territory; he had been everywhere and embraced it all as his own.
Elhyn was slim and wiry, his body hardened by life. His limbs were long and his fingers calloused but there was no hint of weakness in his grip and his eyes were clear. His face was narrow and pointed, with a sharp chin and hawkish eyebrows that gave him a predatory expression, yet his lip was quick to curl in joy. Laughter came easily to him as did joy and sorrow and rage. His attire was woven from cotton-leaves and sinew-twine and on his back was a spear with a thorn-tipped end. Woad markings ran under his eyes and upon his breast shone a spirit stone, bound to him by Drakeheart sinew, the strongest material known on Athelling.
Elhyn watched the forest below waiting for the sign, but a sharp shuffling beside him drew his eye away. Perched on the branch next to him was an impressive blue drake, some thirty hands long from the tip of his whip-like tail to the hard bone ridges of his snout. His two wings were sturdy membranes of skin, stretched over long bony fingers and his claws boasted long talons that dug into the branch hard enough to break a prey animal in half. A long neck ended in a sharp head, encased in a bone mask that sported stubby horns and a wide maw with filled with sharp fangs. This was Ilfavor, a Chshrss, or 'short-horn' drake and he had been Elhyn's partner for many a season.
Ilfavor was restless, fluttering his broad wings and clacking his snout repeatedly. Elhyn reached out his hand and placed it upon the drake's neck and opened his mind to their connection. Like all of his race he possessed innate psychic abilities and his kin had trained themselves to commune with the beasts of the forests and the spirits of the trees. Ilfavour's mind was like a flint arrowhead, hard, direct and focused the mind of a predator, and as such he and Elhyn suited each other perfectly.
Through the communion Ilfavour cawed, "Hunt. Hunt now."
"Patience brave friend," Elyhn said out loud, his speech helping his mind project the words, "The prey must be flushed out before we move."
Ilfavor was not pleased by the response and crowed, "More prey towards the sun."
Elhyn grinned as he sent, "Not the right kind of prey, we hunt rarer game this day."
Ilfavor was not placated as he replied, "Hunt now. Eat. Bring meat to roost."
Elhyn's grin faded as a guilty impulse arose. He was tasked with leading the hunt for his kinband, bringing them sustenance and patrolling their realm from raiders and poachers. Technically he should not be here, he should be seeking out easier game but he had scented an opportunity too good to ignore. A grand prize waiting for a bold soul to claim it. Plus the thrill of the chase was something he had never been able to pass up, no matter that some lectured him on his responsibilities. Suddenly there arose a tremendous ruckus in the canopy below, the sea of green swaying as if a great wave was passing through it, accompanied by a sibilant hissing and the clicking of mandibles. Instantly Elhyn was moving, leaping onto Ilfavour's broad back and clinging to his ridged shoulders. Not for them a crude saddle or harness, Elhyn held on with the sure grip of one who had flown the skies for a hundred cycles of the seasons.
His sharp eyes saw the wave was almost upon them and he fixed his gaze upon the spot he had chosen, then when the moment was right he urged Ilfavour to spread his wings and dive from their perch. The wind smote his face with icy daggers and a sense of weightlessness came over him as they dove for the canopy and Elhyn grinned at the rushing sensations overcoming him. The green sea of furlwood trees and weeping boughs rushed up at them, promising death from a thousand cuts, but at the last second Ilfavour pulled in his wings and bowed his head, placing his bony crest to the fore. Elhyn tucked in tight and held on as they crashed into the branches, only to smash straight through. The pair had aimed their dive to perfection, breaking through at the furthest gap between trees, where the green leaves were little more than a thin veil betwixt the sky and the ground. Elhyn felt a jolt as his drake's crest broke through the thin twigs and leaves, then they emerged into a world of dappled light and air.
Below the canopy was a soaring cathedral of greenery, held up by thick trunks each a hundred metres in width and a vertical kilometre in height. They were widely spaced, with far-spreading branches that forced their rivals to stand far away and cast the sunlight into slatted bars of gold amid a gloomy world of greenery. Far, far below the forest floor was thick with brush, teeming with the small lives of insects and those who preyed upon them. It was an enclosed universe, trapped between the canopy above and the tangled brush below. Ilfavour pulled out of his dive, having more than enough room to soar on his broad wings while the trees were far enough apart for him to fly between with little impediment.
Elhyn was entranced by the dappled light and the strong scents of sap and mulch that permeated this world. He felt dew clinging to his face and arms while his ears heard the trilling of a million lifeforms going about their lives. He was no longer listening to the song of Athelling, he was a part of it. Yet his eyes spied something far more interesting, a wave of white rushing along the underside of the canopy. They came in a scurrying mass, each with eight long limbs fighting for space, and swollen abdomens ten hands long and clicking mandibles. Dizzying patterns shone upon their hides, which were hardened like a shell and they had many eyes that did not blink. Their chatter was part clacking and part telepathic whispering, a hypnotic miasma that could attract prey into the webs. Crystal spiders: fleeing across the canopy.
Behind them came their pursuers, figures who like Elhyn rode drakes under the canopy. First came a tall warrior with a mighty bronzebark bow, the stout material storing immense strength in its form, beyond most of the kinband's ability to wield. It was held by a warrior of unusually broad shoulders and thick arms, Panthiro, strongest of the kinband. He rode Gafyor, a fierce drake of bronzed hue and long fangs, a Ypyrps or 'Copperhead' breed famed for their mighty pinions. To his left rode M'sgith, a lithe and sinuous warrior with woad dash-markings over her arms and legs. She swung a lash of drake's tail in one hand and laughed as she drove the crystal spiders before her. To the right rode E'raye, her black-haired twin sister, identical in every way save her woad described swirls upon her body. She was throwing Bartani pine nuts at the spiders, charged by her mind's touch to shatter and spray razor-sharp shards everywhere and her keen eye let her pick the right spots every time. The twins rode grey-marked drakes, V'lor and B'lor, a pair of Chyshrt or 'Shadowtails', famed for their agility and quietness.
Elhyn could see his packmates had driven the spiders from their den and sent them scurrying, yet his eyes fell upon the largest and most ferocious of the spider-kind. A single beast loomed over the rest, bigger than any Drake, with fangs as long as his arm. The mother of the nest, their wellspring and leader: Drachindar. Elhyn saw the crystal spider racing upside-down on the canopy, driven from her maze of webs by the swooping hunters, but far from defeated.
He raised his spear in one hand and cried, "Drachindar! She comes!"
Panthiro shot an arrow into her hide but it merely bounced off her thick carapace as he yelled, "We can't wound her!"
"Leave that to me," Elhyn shouted, "Keep her young at bay."
With a mental impulse he compelled Ilfavor to fly higher and the drake complied, beating his wings to fly faster. The crystal spiders saw them coming and reared up, spraying strands of sticky webs from their maws. Should they catch the drake in flight then they would tangle his wings and cause him to crash down to the forest floor a mile below but Ilfavor was a cunning beast. He snatched his wings in and plummeted below the strands, causing them to miss entirely. Elhyn's stomach rose into his throat as they fell but a moment later Ilfavor spread his wings, the increased speed causing them to soar upwards once more at an even greater velocity. A moment later a flurry of arrows, shards and whiplashes caused the spiders to resume their flight, fleeing in all directions.
Elhyn was left alone, heading straight at Drachindar, who shrieked defiance at him. Her many eyes fixed upon him and he felt a wave of her hypnotic power wash over him, her alien psyche touching his. Yet he was born of high-blood and his mind was proof against such attacks. He grinned as they flew straight at the giant spider and bellowed, "Faster! Faster my friend!" The drake beat his wings and they flew at the monster like an arrow sprung from the bow. Drachindar realised her attack was failing and opened her maw to spray webbing at the closing pair but it too late. Elhyn saw his opening and his arm struck, casting his spear straight into her maw. The strike was pure and true, flying into the open maw and striking deep within her throat. Drachindar convulsed as her throat was torn, she wailed and thrashed in agony and in doing so lost her grip on the canopy. The giant crystal spider fell from the heavens, plummeting downwards as her eight legs thrashed and her wails grew thin and reedy. Elhyn followed her down, looping lazily upon his drake. It took a long time to fall the whole kilometre, Athelling's gravity was marginal, but the outcome of the drop was still inevitable. Elhyn saw Drachindar smash into the forest floor, her carapace shattering upon an exposed root. Maybe the spear cast killed her or maybe the impact did but she quickly went still as her legs drew up in a death curl.
Ilfavor set down on the mulchy ground as Elhyn leapt free and raced to the corpse of the spider. Already teeming insects were racing to feast on the corpse and he knew in minutes far more dangerous predators would scent the kill. His heart thrummed with urgency but respects to the fallen had to be offered, as was his people's way. As Drachindar's black eyes went milky white he knelt before her and whispered, "Honours to you, mother of the brood. Your life I claim for the kinband, in return I offer our thanks and praise. May your essence return to the World Spirit, to be reborn in the next cycle of time."
There was soft thump as the other drakes settled down and their riders joined him. M'sgith was the first to speak, "A fine cast and a swift kill."
Elhyn nodded in thanks, "A good hunt indeed."
Yet Panthiro snorted, "Not the right one, we should be bringing back meat and furs, not chasing glory."
E'raye glared at him and said, "What game would be left if we did not meet this threat head-on? The crystal spiders already drove much of our herds away; they disrupt the harmony of the Everforest."
Panthiro frowned as he said, "Which is why the whole kinband should have come. You know our Dynast forbade us to chase Drachindar without her leave."
Elhyn grinned as he replied, "You let me worry about my mother, she won't punish me for this. Not when we bring back our prizes."
With that he stood up and marched up to the spider's corpse. He stepped past a curling leg and reached into her dead maw. His hand found what he sought and with a yank he pulled free a crystal fang, as long as his forearm, flecked with green veins and razor-sharp. It shimmered like a living thing, still growing and renewing itself and he held it up to the light as he proclaimed, "With these we shall forge weapons like no other, when they see our prizes the Wind-Dancers shall dance the Dance of Joy!"