A/N: Thanks to Cami of Queenscove for advertising my fanfiction! I actually did go through and tally votes and you people left me with a frickin' tie! Guess I'll have to make the decision on my own then. Either way this chapter is dedicated to Cami and everyone else who reviewed or even read my story. Arigato! Oh, sorry for the wait too.
Chapter Five
The Hunt
She shivered in the winter air.
It was nearly midwinter, maybe a month and a half or more away. It was still autumn technically, but winter was approaching quickly this year. She mounted Peachblossom and rode to the others who were mounting and getting ready to set out.
"It's unlikely we'll find any tracks," Neal muttered miserably. "And it's cold and looks like rain."
"Aren't you the bearer of sunshine?" Kel inquired and smiled ruthlessly.
He scowled, "With our luck it will be snow and we'll get stuck here and not be able to get back to Corus for Midwinter. Or we'll freeze to death, or…"
"Will you stop talking if you think we're not listening anymore?" Dom jested as he pulled his horse over to the two.
Neal turned his nose up at Dom and didn't respond. Dom grinned and jabbed Kel in the ribs. She laughed and nodded her approval.
Her eyes set on a small boy near the front of the line of horses. He was riding what looked to be a Clydesdale that was far too large for him.
"Where did he come from?" she asked and pointed. He looked hungry and not well fed. His clothes were gray and worn but clean, and his hair was combed but disheveled.
"He's the one who came from the village," Dom responded. "He heard we were near here, so he rode all night to find us. When he did, he was half freezing, and his horse was barely able to stand."
Kel shook her head and rode up to him, "Hello," she smiled at him, and he looked her over.
He lowered his eyes and bowed his head, staying silent.
"My name's Kel, what's yours?" she tried again.
"Mama says it's not proper to talk to Nobles," he mumbled, and she laughed.
"Well you can talk to me, I'm here to help you and your village. To do that though I'm going to need your help."
He nodded, and she put a hand on his shoulder.
"We're going to make everything better okay? But first I'm going to need someone to take a look at you and make sure you're not hurt. Have you ever had a healer before?"
He nodded, "Once when I broke me arm."
"Well this will be less painful than that by a lot," she promised. "And I know that because I broke my arm once when I was young too, playing in the forest."
"Me too!" he burst out, and then threw his head down, ashamed.
Kel laughed again and called Neal over. While Neal was busy checking him for injuries, old and new, Kel rode over to Dom who was looking over the rest of the men. "What do you think our chances are of finding these raiders tonight?"
"Slim to none," he answered. "The trail has been cold at least four hours; they might have even come back and cleaned up any tracks when they realized that we weren't coming anytime soon."
Kel sighed heavily, "It's like looking for needle in a haystack in the dark."
He nodded, and Kel went back to find that Neal was finished.
"Nothing severe, a few bruises and cuts," he told her, and she smiled and thanked him. "Kel," Neal pulled her aside, "I think his mother is dead."
Kel nodded again, and he walked back to his horse and remounted.
"Do you need help back up?" Kel asked the boy who had dismounted for Neal's inspection. He shook his head and threw himself up; Kel was amazed.
After her shock had passed she began again, "Now, I want you to explain to me, think very carefully and don't rush, what happened in your village."
He closed his eyes and gulped heavily, "I was playing by the fire and…" he wiped tears away viciously. Kel guessed he was only eight or nine, but a strong lad all the same. "Then men on horses came. Some had bows, but some looked only like farmers. They set our houses on fire with torches and-and did bad things to my mama and sister. Papa told me to run to the barn to find Captain Domitan, so I did. Papa got killed I think, and Mama, and my sister Elizabeth," by this time tears were cascading down his face uncontrollably.
"Sh…" Kel whispered and put a hand on his shoulder. "Sh…everything will be okay."
After he nodded, and the tears had ceased Kel smiled and ordered him an escort. Five men surrounded him in a tight circle and consoled him to the best of their abilities.
Kel rode back to Neal and Dom and looked him in the eye, "How did you know that boy's father?"
Dom shook his head sadly, "His father was leader of their village. We helped them out a couple times," he answered.
"So you could lead me to their village?" Kel persisted.
"Of course."
"Then do so, with as much speed as you can muster. The trail is getting cold, but we will start the hunt."
They were trying to be quiet, but twenty-five horses running at full out gallop carrying a load of pots and pans is hard not to miss. The thundering of hooves could be heard miles around, but it wasn't stealth they were going for; it was speed.
Peachblossom slid to a stop when Kel and her squad entered the village. His nostrils were flaring violently, and his eyes were almost enraged with the destruction he saw before him. He neighed angrily, and his neigh was met with many other similar, high-pitched terrified neighs from village horses. The night was on fire it seemed as screams from horses and people echoed in everyone's minds to be engraved there permanently.
Kel's fists clenched together in sheer rage and bit deep into her flesh. She just stared in horror at the village in front of her and tried to contain emotion. Bodies were being piled into shallow graves and covered hurriedly to try and contain the stench of charred flesh. Women were screaming as a few remaining men tried to pull dead babies from their hands; children who had died because of weak lungs filling with smoke. Children who had died needlessly, to a man who was beyond the reaches of good. Anyone who deserved this deserved death and nothing anyone ever said to her would change her mind.
Peachblossom reared, feeling her anger and expressing his own. Kel calmed him gently, and he resorted to stamping his hooves in agitation.
Before she even ordered it, Neal and the other Mages were turning stones over and trying to heal the people who needed it most.
The boy dismounted his horse, and the escort Kel had ordered parted for him as he weakly walked to the place where a house once stood. Once there, he sat on the ground and began to weep. Kel dismounted Peachblossom and instructed him to be good as she walked over to try and comfort the boy. He sobbed and shuddered under her touch, and she was silent for him.
"Mama! Papa! Lizzy!" he shouted and clenched his small fists. "Where did you go?"
Kel hugged him gently, then stood and walked over to Dom who stood, enraged and trying to order men without screaming. "He's given us motivation," Kel smiled grimly, and Dom nodded, his hands shaking in anger.
"I'll say."
They spent the rest of the night and early into the morning working with the people, trying to help them as much as they could. They gave up as much food and provisions as they could spare, but it still wasn't enough. Before they trudged back to bed, weary and famished, Kel pulled Neal aside and told him to contact Lady Alanna for her. He sighed, wanting to sleep but with her eyes did as she said, knowing that it was urgent. He couldn't possibly need sleep more than she did; the bags under her eyes were growing as they spoke. He wanted to argue and send her to bed, but knew that she would hear no such thing and gave in, hoping for it to be over quickly so they could all get some well deserved and needed shut eye.
"Neal," he said in a soft voice, and Kel felt the magic around her surge up and swell; the spell had been connected.
"What?" she suddenly heard Alanna snap in Neal's ears. It was faint, but he jumped and she guessed it must have rung loud in his mind.
"Kel needs you."
"Well, put her on," Alanna snapped, a little softer then, so that Kel could barely hear it.
Neal grabbed Kel's arm, and she tried to rip away, but she felt magic engulf her and heard Alanna and Neal in her voice.
"Don't worry, it's just a spell," Alanna's harshness seemed to rub off on Neal as he instructed her briskly.
"Sorry," she muttered and began her plea to Alanna. "There's a village, and it's been burned to the ground just this night. There are orphaned children and people that have no food or shelter. Someone has to get up here."
Alanna sighed heavily and began, regret and sadness rang in her voice, "I know, but where isn't there a burned village or an orphaned child anymore Kel? I know that people need food and shelter, but everyone that we can spare is out, helping others. Everything we have has gone into helping these people. There's only so much we can do with no King or Queen now."
"How is Thayet?" Neal asked in a soft voice, and Kel winced with Alanna's response.
"Terrible, bedridden and getting worse by the day. She lies with Jon now, only because there's nothing more we can do to prevent it. The disease has manifested itself and will take them both."
"And still no word from Roald?" Kel shook her head at the thought.
"No," Alanna responded softly. "But don't let that get out, either of you," she added.
"No worries," Neal muttered dryly and turned his eyes toward Kel who blushed and yawned.
"Sounds like you two need some rest," Alanna informed them, and Kel tried one last time for supplies.
"We'll try as soon as we can. As for you, get some sleep, both of you, and depart in the morning. Don't linger in a village that's already been raided."
Kel and Neal agreed, and Neal shut the connection before both of them headed for bed.
