CHAPTER NINE: GO THE DISTANCE
Kyle's party trudged through the thick ice throughout the day, maintaining a brisk, steady pace. Frozen terrain eventually gave way to a massive barricade of stone mountains, creating massive, cavernous valleys for Kyle and his friends to march through before once again giving way to a seemingly endless wasteland of snow and ice. At one point, they came across a herd of large, cattle-like animals apparently foraging for food in the snow. They were about nine feet long, probably as tall as a human, and coated with long white fur. Long sharp horns protruded from the sides of their heads. Sarek remarked that they reminded him of gushts, which were common in Aynek, and they might even be another species of them. How the creatures could survive in this wasteland was beyond them all.
Throughout their march, Sarek kept them all entertained with all sorts of stories and tales. He was a masterful storyteller, and he never seemed to run out of tales, or tire of telling them. Unfortunately, at one point, Sarek broke into some folk songs from Aynek, which Rayner sang along with, harmonizing with his father. Kyle and Jessica had to force polite smiles, as Sarek's voice was far from melodious, to put it mildly. Rayner's was far more pleasant, but he couldn't carry a tune to save his life. While hearing the two of them together wasn't quite as bad as the singing Kyle and Jessica had heard in Meryod, it was pretty damn close.
"How about another story?" Jessica asked as soon as Sarek had completed one of his ballads, desperate to make sure he couldn't start another. "You're a marvelous storyteller."
"I'm afraid I've run out of tales to tell for now," Sarek chuckled. "I'll pass the torch to someone else, if you don't mind."
"Perhaps, Kyle, you could tell us about one of your adventures with your father?" Rayner suggested.
Kyle hesitated for a second. Seeing Sarek and Rayner together had already brought back memories of his days on the road with Gryffin, and it had dragged him back into his gloomy mood. Rayner immediately realized he must have said something wrong, and hastily apologized. "I hope I wasn't out of line or anything. It's just that I'd like to get to know the man we've come on this voyage to honor a little bit better."
"Nah, it's all right," Kyle said with a shrug. "It's just not easy remembering stuff like that. But yeah, it would be a good way to pay tribute to the old man."
Kyle thought for a second, and then grinned. "Well, there was this one time..."
-x-x-x-
Six years ago…
A sinister silence hung over the Shakoretz Forest, disturbed only by a few nervous whispers and murmurs. Kyle shook his head in annoyance as he marched behind the cart carrying his father's latest clients, a group of wine merchants on their way to Barin. He needed the silence to try and detect any hidden threats that might be waiting for them in the trees, and they were making that difficult with their anxious chattering.
"Will you guys shut up?" Kyle heard Gryffin hiss from the front of the caravan, his patience obviously long gone. "I'm trying to concentrate!"
Kyle noticed the merchants glaring at Gryffin sullenly. "Who does he think he is, talking to me like that?" he heard one of them mutter. But other than that, they were finally quiet.
Meanwhile, the head merchant kept looking over his shoulder at Kyle, a disapproving scowl on his face. Kyle glared back at him. He knew perfectly well the merchants thought he was just a kid, too young to make an effective bodyguard. The guy had said so when he had hired Gryffin, but his father had insisted, and they weren't about to argue with Lunar's most dangerous swordsman. Still, Kyle was looking forward to showing these guys they were wrong about him. He couldn't let them think he was just along for the ride.
As the caravan slowly continued on its way, Kyle scanned the dense mass of trees surrounding them, trying to isolate the natural sounds of the forest from any danger that might be lurking within. He heard a soft rustling sound, and something scraping against wood. Someone - or something - was indeed stalking them.
His hand slowly went to the sword at his side. He was tempted to alert his father, but Gryffin had demanded absolute silence from everyone. Besides, Gryffin was also readying his weapons, so he was obviously aware they were being watched as well.
Secretly, Kyle was hoping whatever was out there would attack. The journey to Barin had been a boring one so far, and Kyle was hoping for some action. Besides, it would show those merchants what he was worth, and keep him from thinking about Jessica. Gryffin had been making frequent trips to Meribia, which was an opportunity for him to hang out with her, and he missed her a lot more than he was willing to admit. But he couldn't stay behind in Meribia and miss out on another adventure with his father.
The eerier silence was suddenly shattered by a savage howl as a pack of nychans sprang from the trees. They stood about six feet tall, and their scaly hides were a grotesque shade of green. Daggerlike talons protruded from their fingers, and they bared long sharp teeth as they hissed at the travelers, ready to pounce.
Gryffin hurled himself to the ground just as a nychan was springing at him, dodging the attack in the nick of time. The creature landed in the dust, and Gryffin's sword was drawn and slicing through the nychan's hide before it had a chance to regain its footing. The creature squealed in agony before Gryffin finished it off with a powerful stroke.
"Kyle! Give it everything you got!" Gryffin roared. "Their hides are like armor!"
His sword glowing with energy, Kyle charged towards a pair of nychans, killing one of them with a Slash to the neck. The other nychan hissed and slashed at Kyle with its claws, but Kyle parried with his dagger and drove his sword deep into the creature's stomach with a powerful lunge. He heard a stamping sound behind him, and he leapt out of the way of a third nychan's charge. But the monster was faster than he had expected it to be, and its talons ripped into his arm. It advanced towards Kyle, and advanced on him, its hideous jaws wide open. Ignoring the pain of his wound, Kyle leaped into the air and brought his sword and dagger down upon the nychan's head. There was a sickening crunching sound, and the nychan crumpled to the ground. Kyle sneered at his fallen foe before returning to the fray.
He then turned to look at his father. Gryffin was surrounded by nychans on all sides, and half a dozen of them lay dead at his feet. With savage fury, Gryffin struck down one nychan after another, but still they swarmed around him. Kyle released a Sonic Riser attack at the nychan horde, striking two of them dead. He then rushed towards his father, cutting down another nychan with his sword.
"Back to back!" Gryffin commanded as the surviving nychans circled them.
Kyle didn't respond as he followed his father's command, keeping his eyes focused on the monsters. Together, they executed a series of powerful and precise strikes, never stopping their attacks. No nychan was able to make a move against them without taking a fatal wound. They weren't smart enough to make a run for it when they saw their comrades fall, fighting to the last monster. The fight was hard, but it was brief, and it ended with most of the nychan pack lying dead on the ground and the rest fleeing into the safety of the trees.
Gryffin nodded approvingly as he surveyed the fallen nychans. "Nice work, Kyle."
Kyle sheathed his weapons and nodded to his father with a self-satisfied smile. "I need a drink."
Gryffin chuckled. "Well, we got plenty here," he said gesturing towards the merchants' barrels of wine.
"We're fine too, by the way," one of the merchants said haughtily.
"Of course you are," Gryffin said. "That's because my son and I kept you alive like we said we would. But if you're truly grateful, I wouldn't mind taking some of our payment in wine instead of cash. Unless you gentlemen object?"
The so-called gentlemen apparently did object, from their reactions, but weren't about to say anything about it, and they reluctantly passed Gryffin a small pewter cup from a crate.
"We'll need another one of those," Gryffin said.
"Kid's a little young to be drinking, isn't he?" one of the merchants ventured to say.
"I'm old enough to fight for you, so I'm old enough to drink," Kyle replied, snatching a cup of his own from the crate. "And don't call me 'kid.'"
Once again Gryffin laughed as he opened a barrel of wine, but he stopped when he noticed Kyle's wounded arm. "Better take an herb for that first," he said, trying to keep the concern out of his voice. "Drinking while wounded isn't a good idea."
Kyle shrugged. "It's nothing. Besides, now I'll have some scars I can show off to Jessica when we get back!"
"Yeah, but you don't want the wound to get infected," Gryffin pointed out. "Girls like their guys to have scars, not gangrene."
Kyle winced a bit at the thought. "Okay, fine," he said as he munched on the healing herb his father gave him. The wounds dissipated, although they did indeed leave a faint scar. He then filled his glass and took a nice, long drink.
As Kyle and Gryffin refreshed themselves, the head merchant eagerly approached Kyle and Gryffin, grinning broadly. "Gentlemen, that was amazing! Truly the finest spectacle of combat I have ever seen!"
"Glad you enjoyed yourself," Gryffin said sourly, prompting Kyle to roll his eyes. Despite the many battles he had fought in, Gryffin had often said that he'd seen too much combat and violence to consider it fun or entertainment. Fighting was something that he believed was necessary at times, and nothing more. Kyle couldn't understand why it couldn't be both necessary and fun at the same time.
The merchant was oblivious to Gryffin's critical tone as he turned his attention to Kyle. "I owe you an apology. When Gryffin told us you'd be joining us, I was skeptical. But after seeing you in action, I'm most impressed! Who taught you to fight like that?"
"Him," Kyle replied, grinning proudly as he pointed to Gryffin.
"Really? You're a remarkable teacher, Gryffin," the merchant said.
"Nah, he's a natural," Gryffin replied. "He's gonna be better than me one day, and he's gonna get there all on his own."
"Yes, well, your skills are certainly impressive, young man! Most impressive!" the merchant commented. "How old are you?"
"Thirteen."
"Thirteen? My my my…so skilled at such a young age. Anyways, how would you like to work for me one day when you're ready to strike out on your own? I'm a considerably wealthy man, and I could use someone like you in my employ someday. I'll pay you well, and you're sure to have plenty of chances to fight. Would you be willing to consider it?"
"Nope," Kyle said. "My dad and I are a team. It's gonna be him and me forever."
Gryffin lifted his mug and smiled crookedly. "I'll drink to that."
-x-x-x-
"Him and me forever," Kyle repeated, almost to himself. "Kind of a stupid thing to hope for, huh?"
"Why is it stupid?" Rayner asked.
Kyle shrugged. "The dangerous lives we lived, it was ridiculous to think it would really last forever. Something was bound to happen to one of us, or even both of us, sooner or later. And it did."
"I still wouldn't call that stupid," Rayner replied. "Maybe it wasn't realistic, but people hope for a lot of things that aren't realistic, don't they? How else do they manage to keep going when times are tough?"
"And sometimes, it's not just some stupid hope," Jessica pointed out. "Remember Alex wanting to be a Dragonmaster, and Nash hoping to finally get Mia to fall in love with him? Look how they turned out."
Kyle chuckled. "Yeah, good point. If Nash can land a hot babe like Mia, there's hope for the rest of us."
Kyle immediately regretted his choice of words when he saw Jess's scowl, her arms folded the way they always were whenever he said something stupid. He grinned sheepishly, hoping to defuse the situation as quickly as possible. "So, Sarek...how about another song?"
Jessica's scowl turned even darker.
-x-x-x-
Far behind Kyle's company, Rathbone's grim procession of pirates was in pursuit across the frozen wilderness, crushing the snow under their heavy boots. Skai was in the lead, tracing Kyle's trail, obscured as it was by the snow: a minor inconvenience to one of the Prairie Tribe. A cold, harsh wind chilled them all to the bones, and the deep snow hampered their movements. Quentin was especially chilly, his thin lavender robes doing little to keep out the cold.
After several hours of marching, two pirates approached Skai, speaking to him in a low voice. Skai paused momentarily and then approached Rathbone. "The men are getting hungry, Captain," he said in a low voice. "We didn't bring enough supplies for this voyage, and making our way through the snow is making it more difficult for them to keep up their strength."
Rathbone scowled, realizing he'd made an error in not planning for this. He did not like his mistakes to be pointed out to him, but he nodded. "We'll need to keep an eye out for any possible sources of food, then. Watch for animals of some sort."
"Yes, Captain."
Some time later, there was a cry from one of the men. "Captain! Look over there! On our right!"
The band looked towards where the pirate was pointing towards, and in the distance, they saw a herd of gushts, the same herd that Kyle's party had seen in the distance earlier. The pirate who spotted them, weary as he was, ran eagerly to Rathbone and Skai. "Captain, sir! Can we stop for a bit and do some hunting?"
Rathbone turned to Skai. "Feel like leading a hunting party, Skai?"
"I can take care of it by myself, Captain," Skai replied with a grin. "I haven't hunted in years, and I've missed it."
"It's your call," Rathbone said. To the men, he announced, "Have a rest, boys! Skai's going to put on a little show for us!"
The pirates cheered Skai on as he slowly approached the herd, a throwing dagger in each hand. Quentin stared in astonishment. "Is he out of his mind? He's really going to try and kill those things by himself with just his knives?"
"Just watch," Rathbone replied with a smile.
Skai walked very slowly, careful not to make a sound. He didn't know what these things were, especially how well they could see, hear, or smell, so he had to make sure he wouldn't startle the animals before they were in range of his knives. Eventually, one of the gushts began sniffing the air, looking around curiously. Skai realized he wasn't going to be able to get any closer without alerting the animals, but he'd at least bring down two of them from a distance with his blades.
He readied his knives, aiming for the gushts' unprotected necks, and let fly. The blades found their marks, and two of the beasts fell dead. The rest of the herd looked up, startled by the sudden killings, and began frantically looking around for any sign of a predator. At that point, Skai suddenly charged towards the herd, screaming a Tribal war cry, further starting the animals into a panic.
"What does he think he's doing?" Quentin gasped.
"Having fun!" one of the pirates said, prompting a round of laughter.
"But he doesn't really think he'll be able to catch up to those things, does he?" Quentin spluttered.
But to Quentin's astonishment, Skai had indeed managed to catch up with the panicked herd. He grabbed the flank of one of the stampeding gushts by the hair, and hoisted himself onto its back. The gusht tried to throw him off, but Skai would not budge. He drew his special dagger and plunged it into the base of its skull, and leaped into the air as the creature collapsed beneath him. As another gusht threatened to trample over Skai, he side-stepped at the last possible moment, and struck out with his fist. The blow caught the creature on the jaw with enough force to snap its neck. He could hear the pirates roaring with applause.
"That...that isn't humanly possible," Quentin gaped.
"It is for Skai," a nearby pirate chuckled, and again the pirates laughed.
Skai managed to dodge the rest of the herd, but one of the gushts stopped in its tracks and turned around, seeing Skai. Sensing him to be the enemy they were running from, the gusht bellowed before rocketing towards Skai with incredible speed for an animal its size. Skai stood perfectly still, taking a fighting stance, and when the beast was close enough, he unleashed a powerful kick that caught the animal on its lower jaw, powerful enough to flip it onto its back. As the gusht howled in pain and anger, its massive legs flailing, Skai finished it off with an efficient thrust of a knife.
"Dinner is served!" he called out to the pirates.
The marauders ran forward, cheering and chanting Skai's name, the first to arrive on the scene wringing his hands and clapping him on the back, and Skai returned their praise with a grin. Even Quentin was impressed, as much as he feared Skai.
"Let's get these things ready for cooking," Rathbone ordered. "They've got enough meat on them to last for a while. And make sure you save the hides. They'll be useful for keeping out the cold."
The pirates set to work skinning the carcasses of the animals and cutting off hunks of meat. Quentin was appalled to see Rathbone doing so as well, his sabre easily slicing through the gushts' thick hides. As the leader, Quentin would have assumed that Rathbone was above such menial tasks. Had he been in charge of this band, he would never...
"Quentin!" he heard Rathbone call to him. "We're done here. Set up some cooking fires."
Quentin blinked in confusion. "Excuse me?"
"You can use flame magic, can't you?" Rathbone said, folding his arms. "Conjure up some campfires and use them to cook the meat. You don't expect us to eat it raw, do you?"
"I've never used my magic to do that before. To generate a large number of fires and maintain them for more than a few minutes is quite a strain."
"You have to pull your weight around here, no matter how it may inconvenience you," Rathbone said coldly. "You didn't kill these beasts, and you didn't help prepare them for cooking. So you'll be the one to cook them. Unless, of course, you don't feel like eating during this mission."
Sighing, Quentin raised his hand and generated a magic flame. He carefully manipulated the fire to separate into numerous smaller flames that could be used for cooking fires. It took a great deal of concentration and focus to maintain that many flames as the meat slowly roasted over the magic flames.
Just when Quentin thought he was going to pass out, Rathbone clapped him on the shoulder. "All right, that's enough. The meal's ready. Go get something to eat."
Now cooked, the haunches of meat were passed around. Skai was served first, as he had been the one to make the kills. Quentin had not even realized how ravenous he was until he had been served, and he tore into the meat greedily. He felt self-conscious about eating with his hands, but this wasn't a crowd that was likely to give him any grief over it.
He noticed Skai was sitting near him, clearly enjoying his meal. Although Quentin thought of him as a murderous savage, he could not help admiring Skai's handiwork and physical skill. "Where'd you learn how to do all that?" he impulsively said to Skai.
"All what?" Skai asked.
"Your marksmanship, the unarmed combat, becoming an assassin. How does someone like you become what you are?"
"I've always had a talent for killing," Skai replied with a shrug, as if it was completely natural. "Even among my clan of the Prairie Tribe, I was the best at hunting and fighting."
"So why did you leave?"
"I had the misfortune to be born into one of the more peaceful Prairie Tribes," Skai said, frowning. "The kind that doesn't go out looking for battle. Oh, they fight well enough if necessary, but that didn't happen as often as I'd liked it to. So I hardly ever had the opportunity to use my killing skills.
"Luckily enough, our village was attacked by raiders about thirteen years ago. I don't really remember who they were, and it doesn't even matter. But they had some professional trained killers and hired assassins with them, and it was magnificent to see them in action. I was impressed by their efficiency and all the exotic ways they could come up with of killing a trained warrior, methods I couldn't even imagine. I was jealous of their skill and I wanted to be able to fight the way they did. So I followed them to their camp after the raid, and I joined up with them. I spent about seven years with them, learning everything I could about killing and the art of assassination, building my strength and speed, before heading out on my own and going into business for myself as a killer for hire."
"Did you say the art of assassination?" Quentin said, raising an eyebrow. "You really think killing is an art?"
"Assassination is," Skai explained. "Anybody can stab someone with a sword or cast a spell to kill a man. But assassination requires talent, stealth, ingenuity, and creativity, same as the arts do. The perfect murder, or the perfect killing strike, can be a thing of beauty if it's done right. So as far as I'm concerned, murder is an art form – except it pays better than singing ballads or writing poetry."
"And how'd you and Rathbone meet? When did that happen?"
"It was shortly after Rathbone had…left Nanza. He was re-establishing himself in Mohtag, which was controlled by a crimelord named Hawke at the time. Rathbone wanted Hawke out of the way, and somehow Rathbone's agents found me and hired me to kill him. I found him and eliminated Hawke's security forces easily enough, and just before I was about to kill him, Hawke offered me ten times what Rathbone was paying me to kill Rathbone instead. I laughed in his face and slit his throat. Rathbone had been keeping an eye on me and heard about the offer Hawke made. He was so impressed with the way I did the job and for turning down Hawke's generous offer that he hired me full time."
Quentin sneered. "So you're content to spend your life working for someone else?"
"Why not? He pays me well to do what I love to do, and gives me plenty of chances to do it. And being the right-hand man to Lunar's most dangerous outlaw certainly does wonders for my reputation. So I have wealth, status, willing women whenever I want them, and a job that makes the most of my skills and passions. What more could I ask for out of life?"
"You've never thought of killing Rathbone and taking over his operation? Most men in your position would."
"I'm content to stay what I am," Skai said. "Rathbone likes to command and control, but I consider it to be too much of a bother. I don't mind following someone else, as long as they know what they're doing and they treat me well for my services. Rathbone does both."
Skai returned to his meal, apparently no longer interested in talking. Rayner also ate in silence, shaking his head in amazement that someone with so much talent would have so little ambition.
-x-x-x-
Kyle and his companions continued to march, moving at a brisk pace. They took very few breaks, not even stopping to eat, instead munching on the rations they'd packed as they walked. All of them wanted to cover as much ground as possible before nightfall, as none of them liked the idea of traveling at night.
They soon found their way to a vast wall of snow-covered mountains, with numerous passes and valleys running through it. Sarek looked carefully at Damon's map before directing them through one of the passes. "That's the one we want. It goes on for a little while, but it will bring us the closest to where we need to be."
Following Sarek, they made their way to the valley he indicated, which was approximately forty feet wide. The mountains on both sides of them cast long shadows over them, and the effect was somehow sinister. Kyle involuntarily felt a shudder run down his spine. "Reminds me of the Nanza barrier when winter sets in," he said, telling himself silently that he was only shivering slightly because of the cold. He wished he'd brought a jacket or something, but he didn't want to sound like he was wimping out.
"Get used to the view," Sarek said as he consulted his map. "We'll have one more of these to get through before we reach our destination, after some more flat terrain."
Rayner glanced at his father, clearly unhappy at the news. Although the mountain pass was quite wide, he still found it uncomfortably confining. He'd never seen mountains up close before, and while he found them grand and majestic from a distance, he found them intimidating when they were towering over him.
For several long moments they walked along the pass, and Kyle was growing increasingly tense. His battle instincts were warning him that there was danger nearby. But what danger could there be in a deserted wasteland like this one?
The eerie silence was suddenly shattered by a long, hideous shrieking sound, followed by several similar noises. "Anyone hear that?" Kyle said, looking about him cautiously as he drew his sword and dagger.
"Sounded like the wind," Rayner suggested.
"Nah, that ain't wind. It sounded like some kinda bird...a bunch of them."
"Yeah, I hear it too," Jessica said, wincing from the shrillness of the noise. "What kind of bird could survive in this kind of climate?"
"If those gushts we passed earlier can, birds can as well," Sarek murmured. "The question is, what kind are they?"
Sarek's question was soon answered as the flock of razor hunters - large, hideously skeletal birds - came tearing out of the sky from behind one of the mountains. The monstrous creatures shrieked horribly as they dove right towards the group, wings outstretched. Their feathered bodies were either covered with a bony exo-skeleton, and their long jagged beaks were full of short but sharp teeth. What concerned the party the most was the jagged sharp bone edges on their wings, which were about eight feet long.
Rayner raised his hands and cried out "Magen haverim!" just as it seemed that the birds' wings were about to slice them all to ribbons, casting a shielding spell over all of them just in time. Several of the hunters rebounded off of the magic barriers while one smashed directly into it. The rest, however, flew around the shields and circled around for another dive, their cries sounding more shrill than before.
"Barad hagibor!" Sarek intoned as he raised his staff, summoning a Hail Storm spell. Chunks of ice fell from the sky onto the razor hunter flock, but they bounced harmlessly off their bone shells.
"Looks like they've got shields of their own!" Kyle said, weapons at the ready. He slashed at one with his sword, almost splitting it in half, while skewering a second with his dagger. Jessica used her iron claw to trap and turn aside the bladed wing of one of the carrion hunters, then delivered a smashing blow to its unprotected belly with her bare fist. As the hideous bird hit the ground, Jessica delivered the coup de grace with her claw. Sarek and Rayner both resorted to using Flameria spells, and the magical flames engulfed some of the monstrous birds' feathers. A number of the razor hunters plummeted from the sky leaving long blazing trails, wailing as they fell.
"At this rate, we'll be rid of these things in no time!" Jessica said as she dispatched another of the hunters. But another razor hunter dove towards her and cut a deep gash in her arm. She winced from the pain, but the creature was coming at her again and there was no time for a healing litany. As the hunter came within range, her iron claw sliced through its exoskeleton, and it crashed dead to the ground.
The fight had been brief, and there were now only a few razor hunters left. But these did not attack as the others had done. They circled above the party, wings stretched out all the way, and they suddenly began to shriek again. It was much louder than it had been before, and the adventurers were all grimacing from the pain. Sarek fired a couple of magical bolts at them from his staff, but the noise threw off his concentration, and the bolts missed the hunters by a mile.
"What are they trying to do, make us deaf?" Rayner cried over the noise.
Kyle was about to answer when over the cries of the razor hunters, he could hear a low rumbling sound on both sides of him, he could feel the ground trembling beneath him. His eyes opened wide in horror as he realized what was about to happen. "Aw hell," he groaned. "It's worse than that, Rayner! They're trying to cause an avalanche! Run for it!"
No sooner had Kyle spoken when the razor hunters' cries were suddenly accompanied by the rolling thunder of tons of snow slowly dislodging itself from the mountains on both sides of them. "Run! Run like hell!" Kyle shouted at the top of his lungs as the four of them raced across the mountain pass. The twin cascades of snow from the mountains smashed into each other with incredible force.
The razor hunters kept up their pursuit, shrieking all the while. One after another, like toppling dominoes, snow and ice dislodged themselves from the mountains alongside them, thundering down on them. Kyle's breath burned in his lungs as he tore across the pass, hoping to outrun the seemingly never-ending series of avalanches, his head feeling like it was about to explode from the noise of the razor hunters. Rayner momentarily lost his footing, and Jessica helped him to his feet in the nick of time just before one of the tons of snow crashed down on where they had been standing.
"We're almost at the end!" Kyle could hear Sarek call, over the sound of his own ragged breathing. "Keep going for just a bit longer!"
Kyle's legs felt like they were about to give out from under him, but he forced himself to keep going charging past the last two mountains, diving as he did so just as the two opposing avalanches slammed into each other. Now safe from being smashed into pulp by tons of snow, he looked around for Jessica and the mages, and he was relieved to see that they were okay. It was eerily quiet now, except for the echoing thunder of the colliding tons of snow that still rumbled over the plains. Even the razor hunters were now silent, and Kyle wondered if they'd been caught up in the avalanche. He didn't dare ask it out loud, though. That would be an invitation for them to show up.
Nevertheless, no sooner had he asked himself the question when the last five razor hunters, seeing that their prey had escaped from the avalanches, shrieked and spread their wings to their full width before diving town at the weary travelers.
Too tired to come up with an appropriate wisecrack, Kyle let them come before unleashing a Power Sweep with his sword. The heavy blade cut through bone, hide, and flesh, eradicating two of the hunters with one stroke. The remaining three soared past Kyle, slicing both of his flanks as they went by. Kyle grunted with pain, but remained on his feet. As the monstrous birds prepared one last flight, Jessica cast a Fear Litany, a spell she rarely used, but one she felt might give the advantage in this case, considering how fast these things were. As the spell took effect, the razor hunters squealed, circling wildly, and Sarek and Rayner finished them off with Flameria spells.
With the danger passed, the four of them sank to their knees, in need of a rest. They sat on the ground, panting and gasping for air, and it took Jessica a while to catch her breath before she could manage to cast any healing spells. When they were all recovered, Kyle looked behind him at the now-blocked mountain pass, and smiled crookedly. "Just when I was beginning to think this was gonna be a boring trip," he said wryly.
-x-x-x-
Skai was kneeling at the entrance to the mountain pass Kyle and his friends had passed through before, now sealed by thousands of tons of snow. It was clear that the party had gone this way, and Skai swore harshly as he realized the trail had been cut off.
"They came this way," Skai said as they came to the valley entrance. "About an hour ago, from the looks of it."
Rathbone scowled. "What happened here, an avalanche?"
"Looks like it," Skai muttered. "Either they were buried in it, or they set it off themselves to throw off pursuit."
"I doubt they did this themselves, especially if they wanted to find their way back," Rathbone said impatiently, wondering if Kyle had made it through the avalanche or not. He had dearly looked forward to making Kyle suffer before killing him. "No way to tell if they survived?"
"None," Skai said with a shake of his head. "Not unless Quentin melts through all this snow."
"I'm not going to waste his energy like that," Rathbone said. "We might need him at his peak, especially if Kyle and his friends aren't alive anymore to clear the path to the Graveyard. We'll just have to find another way around."
Skai selected the nearest mountain pass to follow, a long cavernous valley, the walls honeycombed with caves. When they were about halfway through the valley, Skai suddenly tensed, and he drew a pair of throwing knives. "Be careful," he said quietly. "We're not alone here."
Cautiously, Rathbone looked around, but he couldn't see anyone. Nevertheless, he trusted Skai and his instincts. "Is it Kyle?"
Skai shook his head. "Someone else. Lots of someone else's. And they're trying to stay hidden."
Rathbone nodded, and cautioned his men to be silent. "Draw your weapons, and keep your voices down," he whispered loud enough for them all to hear. "And stay on the alert. There may be trouble up ahead." The men frowned to themselves, unable to detect any danger, but they weren't about to argue with their captain.
Suddenly, there was a flurry of movement, and hundreds of figures emerged from the snow-covered walls of the surrounding valley while more rushed out of the caves. They were all human, wearing white and gray in order to camouflage themselves, and all of them were armed with a wide array of weapons. They glared at Rathbone and his crew, screaming taunts and challenges, but the pirates drew their own weapons and merely returned their stares defiantly.
The horde parted, and a burly figure strode towards Rathbone's party, evidently the leader. He was well over six feet, and his muscles and heavy leather-armor added to his bulk. His lanky brown hair hung from his head, and he bore several days worth of stubble on his thuggish, weather-beaten face. A serrated claymore was slung over his back, and his gloves had heavy steel studs fastened to the knuckles.
"I heard we had visitors," the leader said. His voice was coarse and gravelly, and bore an unusual, thick accent that Rathbone couldn't place. "But I wasn't expecting this many. And who might you be?"
"Captain Rathbone, of the Katarina Zone," Rathbone replied stiffly, offering neither a bow or salute. "And you are?"
The big man grinned, revealing dirty yellow teeth, and Rathbone could smell the traces of alcohol on his breath. "The name's Wolfe. The most wanted bandit on the Nisab Continent."
"Are you, now?" Rathbone replied with a sarcastic tone. "I suggest you study your geography more carefully. From my calculations, we're days of sailing away from Nisab."
Wolfe snorted. "This is just a place for us to keep our loot – and to lay low for a while if things get too hot for us with the local authorities."
"To lay low? How disappointing," Rathbone said mockingly. "I finally get a chance to meet one of my competitors, and he turns out to be a coward, hiding with his tail between his legs far away from the law!"
Wolfe scowled, and he instantly drew his claymore, obviously relishing the opportunity to kill someone. "I'd lose the attitude if I were you," he snarled menacingly. "You may be some kind of big shot where you come from, but you're in my territory now. Here, I'm the boss. Here, I'm the king."
Wolfe turned back to his men. "Boys! Teach Captain Rathbone here a little something about respect!"
A trio of bandits made their way towards Rathbone, but the pirate captain easily dispatched them with two lethal slashes and an efficient thrust with his sabre. A fourth and fifth readied their crossbows, but Skai beat them to the draw, planting one of his knives in each of the bandits' hearts.
"Not a very good host, are you?" Rathbone chided. "Perhaps you're the one that needs a lesson in hospitality."
Rathbone gestured to four of his men, and they charged towards Wolfe. The bandit leader roared savagely as he swung his claymore in a wide arc, nearly cutting two of the men in half with a single stroke. He then tossed aside his sword and seized a third man by the neck, lifted him high into the air, and snapped his neck like a twig. The fourth man approached carefully, but Wolfe tackled the man to the ground and started battering the pirate with his fists, the metal studs on Wolfe's gloves quickly bashing his victim to a pulp. He raised his arm to deliver one last punch, only to find the tip of Rathbone's sword suddenly pressing against his throat.
"I have to say, I really am impressed," Rathbone said. "A magnificent combination of strength, speed, and skill. But I have the longer reach, and you've foolishly cast aside your weapon."
"I don't need a weapon to kill you," Wolfe hissed, snarling like an animal. "And I'm faster than I look."
"But the question is, are you faster than my sword? It would only take a flick of the wrist, and your men would be leaderless. Or, you can yield, and we can end this amicably."
Wolfe glared at Rathbone silently for a long, tense moment. Then he broke out into a peal of laughter. "All right, pal, I know when I'm beat! Boys! C'mon over and say 'hi' to our new friends!"
Rathbone's eyes narrowed in suspicion, but it was soon clear that Wolfe wasn't interested in risking his luck - or his life - against Rathbone. He sheathed his sword and gestured for his men to do the same. "So tell me more about this island. How did you happen to come by it?"
"Came across it by accident seven years ago during an escape," Wolfe replied with a shrug. "The caves and the fog 'round here give us plenty of space to hide our ships and our plunder – and we've got plenty of that, lemme tell ya!"
"But surely you don't use it for too long a period of time," Rathbone speculated. "How can so many of you thrive in a wasteland like this?"
"Hunting's always good, though Althena knows how so many animals can survive in this," Wolfe said. "The hides of the animals we kill for food protect us from the cold, and make for good camouflage, as you can see. And it's isolated, so nobody bothers us - except the soldiers of Shadia."
"Shadia?"
"A village-fortress of some kind, a couple days' march from here," Wolfe explained. "The fort blocks passage to the valley that leads to the Dragon's Graveyard."
At this, an excited murmur swept through the pirates, and Quentin darted forward. "The Dragon's Graveyard? Is it really here? Have you seen it?"
"Yeah, it's here all right," Wolfe said. "But if that's what you've come for, forget trying to get in. The men of Shadia are dedicated to protecting the secret of the Graveyard, and we've been fighting with them for years. They don't like anybody on their bloody island, y'see. And don't even think about a raid – you ain't got enough men to do the job. They've walled off the city, and it's impossible to break through the gates. I tried it once, and the bastards killed most of my men, and I was lucky to make outta there in one piece. So if that's why you're here, you'd better pack up and go back home. They've sworn to kill anyone who comes here, especially would-be treasure hunters, that sets foot on this island." He laughed unpleasantly. "At least the ones we don't get to first. Some of them lot makes for good pickings."
"The Dragon's Graveyard was indeed one of our goals," Rathbone said, pondering this new information. "But I'm also here on another matter...of a personal nature."
Wolfe raised an eyebrow. "A vendetta?"
"Possibly."
"Not very professional of you," Wolfe smirked. "No money in personal grudges and payback killing, and they're often more trouble than they're worth."
"Some thing are more important than profit," Rathbone retorted. "And this particular vendetta is worth any degree of trouble, assuming my prey is still alive."
"You're not sure?" Wolfe snickered. "What, don't tell me you left him for dead without seein' the body?"
"The body might be buried under an avalanche, for all I know," Rathbone said, flaring at being treated like a rank amateur. His anger faded as an idea suddenly popped into his mind. "However, if it's profit you're interested in, I have an offer for you."
Wolfe folded his arms. "I'm listening."
"Help us win the treasure of the Dragon's Graveyard and assist me in hunting down the men I've come to kill, if they're still alive. In exchange, I will split the Graveyard's treasure with you. An even fifty-fifty split from my own ninety-percent share."
"And why would I want to do that?" Wolfe said. "I'm not interested in the Graveyard, or whatever curses are waiting for anyone out for a little plunder. If I want money, there are plenty of other capers I can try. And I'm certainly not about to get mixed up in someone else's blood feud."
Rathbone's eyes narrowed. "Well, I did spare your life. You owe me."
"So you could get me and my boys killed as part of your schemes? Yeah, no thanks. Anyway, you'll never be able to get to the Graveyard with that fortress in the way. It's impossible."
Rathbone smiled. "My dear Wolfe, my friends and I live to make the impossible reality. Skai here is a master of assassination and infiltration, not to mention a warrior of the Prairie Tribe. Quentin is a magician of Vane, and is likely to be a pretty formidable one, once he's been seasoned a bit and cured of his squeamishness."
Wolfe's eyes lit up. "A magician, you say."
"I do say," Rathbone replied, his smile widening.
"Well, you've got quite a bargaining chip, don't you?" Wolfe mused. "And I've already seen your Tribal friend in action. I've never seen anyone faster with a knife."
"Neither do my targets," Skai said proudly. "Not until it's too late, anyway."
Wolfe laughed. "I like your style. Speaking of targets, who are we to be watchin' for?"
"A mongrel from Nanza, a beast-woman, and two magicians."
"Two magicians?" Wolfe frowned. "And you only have one?"
"Relax," Quentin said. "Sarek's an old man - powerful, but still an old man. Even he can't stand against all of us together. As for his son, he mostly knows Defense magic, and he's inexperienced."
"Huh," Wolfe mumbled as he began pacing, stroking his chin as he did so. "Well, I have huntin' and scoutin' parties up ahead I can notify, tell 'em to keep their eyes open in case your victims-to-be made it past. But I ain't said I was definitely gonna help you."
"Come now, Wolfe," Rathbone said silkily as he held out his hand. "With our forces combined, we will have an army at our disposal. And now I know where my quarry will be headed, if he's alive. Our combined strength can overthrow Shadia, seize the treasure of the Dragon's Graveyard for ourselves, and allow me to take my revenge. Perhaps the two of us can succeed where we have failed individually. Agreed?"
Wolfe thought it over for a moment, and smiled. "Agreed."