Bronze Magic (Book 1) Page 26

  “No, I’m not,” said Tarkyn indignantly. He waved his cup of tea. “Well, actually I might be, but I don’t think so. I’m just relieved everyone’s not goggling at me as you and Stormaway did yesterday.” He gave a postconcoction shudder. “Strange, isn’t it? You two struggled more than anyone else did, coming to terms with me being a forest guardian.”

  “Not so strange.” Waterstone gave a little smile. “It is harder for those who know you well to accept that you are something as amazing as a forest guardian... But now, if you’re feeling up to it, we need to address the second aspect of the advent of the guardian of the forest.”

  Tarkyn looked at the three serious faces surrounding him and immediately sobered up. “We have to figure out what is threatening us, don’t we?” he said, unaware that he had used ‘us’ instead of ‘you’. It was not lost on the woodfolk, however. “Where do the wolves fit in? Anywhere?”

  Thunder Storm shook his head. “We don’t know. It seems likely that they are part of it in some way since their attack is so unusual, but we don’t know.”

  “What about the other woodfolk? Have they noticed anything unusual?” Waterstone and Thunder Storm glanced at each other uneasily, but Tarkyn forestalled them, “Don’t look so guilty. I’m assuming you’re gathering information. As long as you share it with me when it matters, that is what we agreed.”

  Thunder Storm rumbled, “They report an increased number of attacks on people travelling through the forest but other than that, nothing.”

  “Attacks on travellers do not affect us, do they?” asked the prince.

  “Not directly,” replied Summer Rain. “Although groups of stranded and injured people are inconvenient when we have to skirt around them.”

  No overdose of the milk of human kindness running through those veins, thought the prince.

  “And we have to be very wary of the marauders,” added Waterstone, “especially as they are sorcerers with powers we don’t possess.”

  “Hmm. So where do these wolves come from?” asked Tarkyn.

  “From the western pine forests near the foothills of the Ridgeback Mountains,” rumbled Thunder Storm. “Interestingly, not far from the greatest concentration of attacks on travellers.”

  Tarkyn looked around the group. “So what happens now? Does anyone else have any other ideas about the source of this danger?”

  A protracted mind conference, punctuated by conscientious liaison with the prince, yielded no new suggestions.

  Between updates, Tarkyn used the time to ponder the cause of the wolves’ attack. He thought back over his eagle’s view of the wolves. Eventually he offered the observation, “The second lot of wolves were following someone or something’s trail, you know.”

  When the woodfolk looked sceptical, he showed them the image again.

  Waterstone frowned. “He’s right. They are definitely following the trail of something. What? What else has been through near here that they might be interested in?”

  “The first two wolves,” answered Tarkyn slowly.

  The three woodfolk stared at him.

  “Can anyone control wolves?” he asked. “Can they send them out searching? Or even just in a particular direction?”

  “I don’t know,” answered Thunder Storm, “but if you could control the lead wolf, you could control a pack.”

  The prince frowned in thought. “Stormaway may know about this. Where is that lazy wizard?” He pictured Stormaway then sent out a wave of impatient summoning, making it strong so that the wizard would pick it up.

  A few minutes later, the grumbling wizard wandered into the clearing and sketched a half hearted bow. “Stars Above, Your Highness. Can’t a man get a little sleep?” He shook his head then looked up in surprise. “My headache’s gone.” His face broke into a smile. “Well done, young guardian. Your peremptory message has cleared my hangover.”

  Tarkyn flicked a smile at the healer. “Watch out, Summer Rain. I might be taking over your job, if you’re not careful.”

  “I think you are meant for more important tasks, my lord,” replied the woodwoman dispassionately.

  Oh stars! When will I remember that she doesn’t have a sense of humour? Tarkyn met Waterstone’s eyes and grimaced. The woodman’s eyes lit with amusement but he turned quickly to address the wizard before Summer Rain noticed, “Stormaway. Are there people who can control wolves?”

  The wizard huffed. “Don’t worry about me. I can snap straight from a deep sleep to full alert. I’ll get my own breakfast when I’ve finished answering your questions.”

  The prince laughed, “Stormaway, I’m sorry we are being so brutal with you. Could someone get a cup of tea and some food for him while we interrogate him, please?”

  The wizard glowered at him. “Don’t think you can charm me, young man. I will answer your questions when I’m good and ready”

  A sudden heavy gust of wind blew dust and leaves across the clearing. The smile faded on the prince’s face. “I think not. We are not prepared to wait on your convenience.” The blow of anger that hit the wizard’s mind sent him staggering, as the prince’s voice continued calmly, “We must act with all speed to find out what threat is facing us.”

  Thunder Storm caught the wizard as he toppled sideways. “Are you all right?” he rumbled in some concern.

  Stormaway gave a short nod and allowed Thunder Storm to help him to a seat on a nearby log. He sent a fulminating stare in Tarkyn’s direction as he struggled to deal with the incongruence between the prince’s transmitted ire and his dispassionate voice. Realising that no one else was aware of the extent of Tarkyn’s displeasure, he said hurriedly, “Probably just the after-effects of the wine.” He took a deep breath to steady himself, accepted a cup of tea and addressed himself to answering Waterstone. “In answer to your question, yes. Of course people can control wolves. Not many do. They generally prefer domestic breeds of dog but wolves, if taken young enough, can be trained up. I suppose older wolves could be trained but I doubt that they would stay willingly. They would have to be forcibly confined when not under direct command.”

  “If someone has trained these wolves, what are they hoping to achieve? What command would send them deep into the forest away from their own territory?” pondered Thunder Storm as he sat down next to the wizard.

  “They would have to be searching for something,” said Tarkyn. “There are two possibilities that would concern us; if they are looking for woodfolk or for me. The second is much more likely since we know a lot of people are hunting me and no-one even knows woodfolk exist, do they?”

  Waterstone leaned forward, suddenly intense. “When the first wolves did not return, the second wave of wolves must have been sent to find the first pair of wolves….And now the second lot of wolves will not return.”

  The five of them exchange glances. “And if someone is sending wolves, that person will know that something or someone in the woods is killing their wolves and will follow the wolves’ trail to us,” said Summer Rain, voicing the thought in everyone’s minds.

  An urgent image of packing up and fleeing swept through the woodfolk’s minds.

  “Sorry,” said Tarkyn shortly, concentrating on a little ladybird running across his hand to hide his embarrassment. He raised his head and smiled ruefully. “I’m not trying to issue orders. That was my reaction, not my decree. It is up to all of us together to decide what we should do.”

  Stormaway glanced at him, correctly surmising the cause of his apology. “How long do we have?” he asked.

  Thunder Storm calculated, “The first wolves arrived here three nights ago. The second wave arrived late yesterday morning... That means it takes 36 hours for whoever it is to realise the wolves aren’t returning, to dispatch more and for them to travel the distance. He scratched his head thoughtfully, “I’d say we have 12 hours at the outside before the next lot arrives.”

  “We need to mind conference,” said Waterstone shortly. “I’ll get back to you two soon.”

&nbs
p; The three woodfolk went out of focus, leaving Tarkyn sitting with a resentful wizard.

  “You were pretty harsh with me back there, Sire,” Stormaway protested.

  The prince raised his eyebrows. “I will not have you gainsaying me, particularly in front of other people. Unlike the woodfolk, you have little respect for your oath to me or for the welfare of the forest. I am not going to risk the forest’s welfare to indulge your whims. So the lines need to be drawn. You may think that I do not demand enough respect from the woodfolk, but none of them has ever refused a request nor spoken to me as you just did. Therefore I have not needed to impose my will.” With the slight exception of Waterstone when he was upset, he added wryly to himself.

  The wizard didn’t say anything further but was obviously still disgruntled. Tarkyn picked up a green stick and focused on it for a minute. When the green shoots began to curl out from it, he handed it to the wizard.

  “There,” he said, with a gentle smile “Peace offering.”

  Stormaway accepted it reluctantly. “You’d do the same again though, wouldn’t you, Sire?”

  The prince looked quizzically at the wizard, “Yes, but I hope it won’t come up again... Stormaway, I value your counsel and your stiff, oldfashioned ideas. In some ways it gives me an anchor to hold me as I am swept along by new circumstances. But I told you when we first met that I would not be dictated to by anyone and that holds for you as much as for anyone.” He watched the wizard appraisingly and after a moment, added, “Don’t go away.”

  Stormaway looked at Tarkyn in some surprise. “How did you know I was thinking of it?”

  “Because you have operated alone for years now. You seem to come and go at will, with no ties to anyone. So, I would imagine that if things became uncomfortable for you, the simplest thing would be for you to leave.”

  The wizard scowled, “And will you forbid me to leave, or force me to stay?”

  “No, but I will ask you to stay. And I will ask you to come to me if you are thinking of leaving, to see if we can sort things out so you can stay.” The prince stood up awkwardly, still not fully recovered from his fall through the branches of the oak, and took his cup over to the fire to refill it from the large kettle that was hanging there. He looked over his shoulder and asked, “Would you like a refill?”

  This drew a grudging smile from the wizard. He accepted the offer as the conciliatory gesture it was.

  Tarkyn filled both cups, handed one to the wizard and sat back down. “Stormaway, do you realise I have had almost no formal training in using my powers?”

  The wizard, in the middle of taking a sip of hot tea, choked. After several slaps on the back, his coughing subsided enough for him to exclaim, “What? You, a prince of the realm, uneducated in the ways of magic? That is scandalous!”

  “For years, everyone talked about organising a tutor for me but noone actually took the time from scandal-mongering to do it.” The prince watched the horror reflected on Stormaway’s face with some amusement. “I learnt everything I know by playing with my brothers and friends or by watching other people. Sometimes I went to the library myself and browsed through books on magic, but that’s about it.”

  “Your Highness! I had no idea.” The wizard looked at Tarkyn in some awe. “Then that was an amazing feat, winning that tournament.”

  Tarkyn shrugged deprecatingly, “Thank you again, but tournament magic is reasonably straight forward. Actually, attempting the resummoning spell was much harder.” He leaned forward. “But Stormaway, do you see why I want you to stay? I would love to learn from you. I need to learn from you to protect myself and to protect the woodfolk. You have so much knowledge that none of us has.”

  “Hmm. I don’t suppose I could make it a condition of my staying that you don’t hit me with another of those waves of anger, could I?”

  The prince shook his head regretfully. “I’m sure we can agree not to ride roughshod over each other. If you treat me with respect, I will do the same for you. But I’m afraid there are times, unlike this morning when it was controlled, that my anger bursts forth unexpectedly and I could not guarantee you any immunity from that.”

  “I think I can live with that. I put up with a lot worse from your father, after all.” The wizard transferred his attention to the woodfolk. “What is keeping them? They should have reached some decision by now.” He leant over and gave Waterstone a firm jab in the ribs.

  “Ow.” The woodman flicked back into focus.“You could have just asked. I’m not oblivious to my surroundings, you know.”

  “Sorry,” said Stormaway, but Tarkyn suspected he was passing on a bit of the pain he had suffered himself. “Don’t know much about mind talking, you know.”

  “Let me demonstrate,” offered Waterstone dryly. In a normal conversational voice, he addressed the two woodfolk, “Thunder Storm, Summer Rain. Leave them for now. Let’s discuss it with Tarkyn and Stormaway.” As soon as the woodfolk’s attention was back with them, he began, “Getting away is not the problem. We can be ready to leave within an hour, although we will have to travel through the treetops so that our scent can’t be followed.”

  “The problem is making sure that we keep our existence secret,” rumbled Thunder Storm. “We need to cover up the fact that we have killed the wolves. So we have to create another explanation for the wolves’ deaths.”

  “And we can’t leave the corpses and simulate any sort of a fight,” said Summer Rain, as she added more water to the kettle from a hessian bag, “because we have cleaned, skinned and dismembered the wolves. So we’ll have to conceal the skeletons and innards that we haven’t used. And we can’t just bury them at the site, because any wolves following will sniff them out.”

  “Throw them in the river?” suggested Tarkyn.

  Waterstone grimaced. “That would prevent them from being sniffed out but if I lost a trail, first place I’d look would be in the river. Can’t hide them in the trees either, because the scent would be carried downwind.”

  “We’ll have to take them with us then,” said Stormaway decisively. Seeing the sceptical looks on the woodfolk’s faces, he added, “At least some of the way. So there’s a break in the trail.”

  “He’s got a point,” Summer Rain conceded. “But the carcasses are so heavy and there are so many of them. We would have to carry several loads each, over a considerable distance, to break the trail.”

  “But the scent of their deaths will still be all around the riverbanks, won’t they?” asked Tarkyn. “Perhaps we could set it up to look as though travellers or bandits had killed them?” He tried to remember the details of the heron’s flight but failed. “Is there a road anywhere nearby that travellers could have come from?”

  Thunder Storm frowned. “Yes. That’s a possibility. There is a road about four miles to the south. But travellers wouldn’t neatly dissect a wolf ’s carcass for future use. So we would still have to conceal their remains and account for their disappearance.” He smiled at the prince, “Travellers don’t seem to eat wolf unless they’re starving.”

  “Oh really?” said Tarkyn, trying to sound surprised.

  Stormaway huffed thoughtfully, “A small switch from each carcass would need to be dragged to lay a false trail to the road. The switches could then be levitated straight upwards from a position close to cart tracks and carried through the treetops to be buried them somewhere else. Then if the trail to the road is followed, the trackers will think that the wolves’ bodies were carried away in a cart out of the forest.”

  “We will also have to create evidence of sorcerers being at the river and travelling between the road and the river,” Waterstone added, as he pulled a branch from the woodpile and fed it into the fire, “No one will believe that the wolves all died, then dragged themselves off to the road to load themselves onto the back of a cart.”

  “Very droll,” said Stormaway dryly. Suddenly, his eyes gleamed as he began to scheme. “What oddments does anyone have that come from villagers or travellers? We need
some scraps of cloth or buttons. Anything really... except the remnants of the prince’s clothing, obviously. Then we can salt the ground near the river with evidence of a fight between travellers and the wolves. Combine that with our trail to the road and we should create a convincing story.”

  Waterstone considered it from all angles before replying, “Yes. I think that might work. And we can hide the bulk of the carcasses nearer to hand.” He finished placing another piece of wood on the fire and settling the kettle more firmly in the coals. Then he brushed his hands and stood up, before going into a short mind conference. Once he had re-focussed, he nodded briskly, “Agreed. It’s not perfect. It will require a lot of work to cart the carcasses through the trees and to bury them. And it’s going to be hard to cover up such a large excavation, but it will have to do.”

  “I think I can help with disguising the burial site,” said Tarkyn diffidently. “I could plant a stand of saplings over it.”

  “And we can both add our fire power to the excavation,” put in Stormaway. “And of course, levitate the wolf switches at the road.” He rolled his eyes at Tarkyn. “You realise what this means, Sire? You and I will have to walk to the road laying the false trail. We are the only ones who have the right type of scent, big enough feet and the right sort of boots to make the tracks. Blast it! I don’t want to have to walk all the way to the road but I can’t see any alternative.”

  Thunder Storm raised an objection. “But mightn’t they recognise Tarkyn’s scent?”

  “If they do, they will already know he is here somewhere from the scent around the river.” said the wizard. “It will be better, in that case, to lay his trail to the road and out of the forest anyway.”

  The prince leant forward and adjusted a branch that was threatening to roll out of the fire, “Besides, it is much more important to conceal woodfolk’s presence.”

  “Not if the cost is your safety. Then we wouldn’t have a forest to hide in anyway.” Waterstone felt a flicker of hurt wander past his mind. He reached across and patted the prince on the knee. “Don’t get confused. I can care about you and the forest all at once, you know.”