84. At The Story's Beginning.
Everything went smoothly for Windflight at first – she intercepted Captain Saltwhisker and his raiders on their way back to the camp, killed him before anybeast made a move to interfere, and took over his command, corsairs quick as usual to obey a stronger and more vicious leader. With about sixscore of beasts now under her, she camped on the other side of the lake. Returning to the siege camp would have taken half the night at least, and Windflight was not completely reckless – she knew that driving one's crew too hard right after murderous usurpation was a good way to shorten a captain's life, or at the very least cause desertion.
So when faint sounds of battle reached the ears of sentries from across the lake, Windflight and her troop were far from being able to provide timely help. In fact, by the time the couple of beasts posted at the lakeshore decided that the sounds they're hearing must be produced by a battle and mustered enough courage to wake Windflight up, everything was nearly over already.
With the coming of morning Windfight needed only one look across the lake to see that the siege camp had been taken. Windflight entertained the thought that Rugger, perhaps with some of the army, may have cut his way through the ranks of prey creatures and escaped. For about a second. However strong her attraction to the black fox was, her attraction to her own hide was so much stronger, and every minute wasted reduced her chances of leaving Southsward alive, with a crew significant enough to start a career as a rowing, plundering warlady.
"On your paws, bullies!" she shouted, as she turned to the dejected mob of corsairs. "Throw away all the loot you don't absolutely need! We march north, fast and hard! If you want to live, march as if forest fire was hot on your heels! There will be no waiting for those falling behind!"
"And slaves?" asked a searat. Saltwhisker and his corsairs rounded up quite a number of prey creatures during their raid, and the need to keep all those slaves under proper guard was another reason why Windflight decided against the night march.
The vixen pondered the question for a moment. She felt a mighty urge to take bloody revenge on southswarders who conveniently were in her power. But the corsairs looked as if fear and uncertainty gripped the crowd now. Most all of them probably were already considering the suddenly all-too-real possibility of falling into the paws of the enemy and hesitant to do anything that decreased their chances of being spared. Windflight was not in haste to test the extent of their obedience to her. "Just leave them, with everything else that may slow us down!"
The bird came as if from nowhere when Windflight and her vermin reached a broad stream cutting through the forest east to west and were searching for a ford. Windflight herself walked at the van, and she almost fell, as the raven flew so close, that the great beating wings nearly hit her in the face. Windflight drew her curved sword by reflex, but the raven propelled himself higher, out of the reach of swords and spears, and turned in the air over the small clearing. Before the vixen could think what in the Hellgates this was or shout any command to her corsairs, she heard a familiar voice.
"Do not be afraid, Windflight. This bird will not harm you."
This time Windflight could swear that the creature before her appeared out of thin air the moment she got distracted. Ubel certainly looked so horrible that she wondered how he is able to even walk, much less sneak around skillfully enough to surprise her and all the rats. There was a pattern covering his head, neck and shoulders that made the white ferret look demonic even when it was traced by black paint, instead of burned, inflamed, furless skin and blisters. His left eye was gone, just a bloody pit where it was. And a wide gash split his muzzle right in the middle, from his nose to his temple. The foxhide cloak, which always served as a symbol of his status, was lost. Yet the sorcerer stood tall, paws crossed on his chest, as if the terrible injuries meant nothing to him. Everybeast went silent and still, even Windflight, and flapping of the raven's wings was heard very clearly, as he landed on a thick branch above Ubel's head.
"What in the Hellgates happened to you, ferret?" Windflight was the first to recover the power of speech. Rage quickly started replacing her initial fear. "And how you escaped from the battle?!"
"A strange question to ask. My magic saved me. At the hour of doom, I paid a great price, and obtained a great power. The power that saved me from the encirclement by prey creatures, which only a few other beasts in the camp escaped by sheer luck, the power that can save you all. Does anybeast here really hope to get far? None of you know the paths of this land, and none of you know dangers of the lands that lie beyond this kingdom either. I assure you, without my advice, or without this bird of omens, Gale, the ruler of the winds, who can scout for you from the air, none of those who stand before me now will live to see the next spring!"
Windflight heard murmurs of agreement from the crowd of corsairs behind her. Her fur bristled, and her ears flattened against her head, as she stepped forward. Up close Ubel looked even more horrible and smelled worse than he looked – burned fur and sour sweat, with undercurrent of sickness and decay, and the more normal but still unpleasant smell of a wet ferret, for recently he clearly have walked through deep water. "Neither will you escape to anywhere in this state, ferret! Blood and sharks, for how long you'd even be able to walk on your own?"
"For longer than you think," Ubel was unruffled by her words. "But I do not deny that we need each other's help. That is why I am here."
Windflight paws itched to split the sorcerer in half on the spot and see if his magic was real enough to keep him from dying then. How this white worm dared to survive, when Rugger was almost certainly dead? But… what if his magic was real enough? And upon second thought, Ubel was talking sense. Deep down Windflight was not as confident in her pathfinding ability as she pretended to be. She also knew, that though her corsairs had scouts and trackers among their number, few if any of them had experience with surviving long overland treks through unfamiliar country, particularly in autumn and winter, which were coming.
She leaned forward and hissed into Ubel's ear, so that others could not hear her. The back of her head itched too, for she knew that the raven is looking upon her from above, but she ignored the feeling. "I know your tricks from my family craft, you snake. There are potions that can banish pain and give vigor for a few hours. A bird ally is just an ally. I'll use you, and I'll even let you keep these buffoons fooled, but if I catch as much as a whiff of double-dealing from you, if you forget who's in charge for one bloody moment, I'd pull out your guts and strangle you with them, you understand?!"
"Of course," Ubel whispered as quietly, and then spoke in his normal voice. "And just to show you that I can be of use – you were going searching for a ford upstream now, but there is a shallow place in a few minutes' walk downstream, where I left my boat."
As Windflight led the rest of the vermin in that direction, she wondered if she's making a mistake. Her mother and grandmother always believed that magic is real, and so did her sister… her probably now-late sister. Of course they all were cowardly wimps, good only at lying. And then again, if Ubel really had mystical powers, in addition to the powerful bird who now guarded him, confronting him head-on could be a disastrous idea…
Windflight shook her head. If sorcery was real and powerful, why warlords, not sorcerers, ruled the world? She was not a superstitious fool, like common corsair rabble. Ubel was probably going to rot alive from all his injuries he suffered, and even if not, there would be time to deal with him after leaving behind all the more immediate threats. A sudden dagger strike without warning, when the raven is not watching her, perhaps?
Though there were plenty of worries on Windflight's mind, and tension begging for a violent relief in her nerves, she decided to look at the situation optimistically. Sure, some of her hopes got squashed, but just in just a couple of seasons she went from being a mere bodyguard to commanding a decently-sized crew. She was still young and full of vigor. Rugger was gone, but so what – if he got killed, then she must have overrated his strength and viciousness anyway. His story and lots of other stories ended the last night, but hers was only beginning.
Author's note: No, sorry, but Ubel is alive. Of course, he would have died, had I decided to wrap up the overall story in one fic, that's one of the reasons why his previous scene ended in an unintentional fakeout death.