Bronze Magic (Book 1) Page 46

  He found his nose quivering with the smell of men, horses and wolves. He shuddered with fear but then began to scurry nervously from one bit of shelter to the next, towards the source of the smells. It took a long while to cross the open ground outside on tiny little legs, especially stopping every few seconds to sniff the air and quiver. Finally, he reached the edge of the encampment and ducked down behind someone’s discarded shoe to look about. After a quick detour to sample some horse’s dung, the little mouse scuttled into the nearest tent.

  Tarkyn resisted a strong desire to spit out the mouse’s snack.

  There was no one in there but there were some tasty crumbs of mouldy bread and cheese in the corner. The mouse had another quick nibble before moving on. Suddenly he heard voices approaching. He flattened himself out and pushed his way under the back wall of the tent. A crunchy little black beetle was quickly dispatched before he squeezed himself through a small hole in the wall of the next tent. There were gigantic people in here. He scuttled into a corner to hide behind a pile of clothing. After a while, when he had gauged where everyone was, he peeped out around a piece of light brown cloth to see what was happening. Three people were sitting against the opposite wall. Two adults and a child. All three had light brown hair and green eyes. They looked frightened and dishevelled. The little mouse nipped out and snuck around into the tiny space between them and the tent wall. A long metal chain looped around the waist of each of them and disappeared under the tent wall. The mouse followed it out and found the end of the chain attached to a large metal stake that had been hammered into the ground. Then all thought of the people inside the tent vanished as the mouse saw another lovely pile of horse dung close by.

  The forest guardian thanked it hurriedly and disconnected. He opened his eyes to find Running Feet staring into his face with some concern. “Are you okay? You look very pasty.”

  Tarkyn twisted and spat on the ground. “It is probably just that the horse dung and beetle I’ve just eaten don’t agree with me,” he answered d.

  “Ooh yuk,” exclaimed the woodman. “That’s a bit above and beyond, isn’t it?”

  Tarkyn wiped his mouth. “It certainly is. But what could I do? I had to go along for the ride, when the mouse was being so brave and helpful.”

  “So, did you find out anything?”

  The forest guardian became instantly serious. “Yes. We have a big problem. They have three woodfolk chained up inside the second tent along from the forest edge.”

  Running Feet went white. “Oh, no. That is our worst nightmare realised. The outside world finding out about us.”

  Tarkyn raised an eyebrow. “Not to mention the suffering of the imprisoned woodfolk”

  The woodman waved a dismissive hand. “That goes without saying.”

  “So I see.” Tarkyn stood up. “Come on, then. Back we go and tell the others.”

  Just as they emerged from the shadow of the trees, the sorcerer paused and looked back. He said nothing but shook his head as if to clear it.

  “Lookouts report no unusual sightings. They will redouble their vigilance.”

  “Thanks Running Feet. I wasn’t going to ask again but I did want to know.”

  “What should I do first?” mused Tarkyn. “Talk to the harvesters and gatherers or show everyone the mouse’s image?”

  “Are you asking me?” said Running Feet, unsure whether the prince was talking to him or to himself.

  “You can give me your opinion, if you like.”

  “I think you should show the image first,” responded the woodman. “Then they will understand the urgency of the situation.”

  Tarkyn smiled. “I agree. It’s vital those poor people are rescued as quickly as possible. And if I don’t have time to talk to the harvesters and gatherers alone tonight, I can talk to them tomorrow.”

  When they re-entered the firelight, a hush fell on the crowd. Running Feet, unused to being at the centre of attention, made his way quickly to sit down near Thunder Storm again. The guardian of the forest was left standing alone at the edge of the firelight.

  “Rather than tell you what we have discovered, I will simply transmit the images I received from a small, very brave, helpful…mouse.” There was a smattering of laughter around the firesite. Tarkyn smiled in response. “Running Feet and I chose a mouse because we needed a creature small enough to be unobtrusive that could get inside the tents at the encampment. There were some disadvantages to this choice, as you will find out.” He looked around. “I will be kinder this time and make sure everyone is seated. Are Ancient Elm and Dry Berry still here? Comfortable? Good.”

  The forest guardian found himself a log to sit on and transmitted the images from the mouse. Although he smiled hard, Tarkyn managed to keep up the flow of images amid the cries of disgust, when the mouse indulged in its various snacks. But when the sequence was complete, he opened his eyes to a sea of white, stricken faces. The silence was deafening. After a few moments’ hesitation, the prince decided to say nothing at all. Everything he needed to say, had already been said. He stood up quietly and wandered back out into the gloom.

  abBA

  arkyn found somewhere relatively dry to sit where he let his mind wander up among the trees until he found an owl. It was not the tawny owl that he had met before. This one was a huge eagle owl.

  Tarkyn sent a query about the uneasiness he had felt earlier when he had been there with Running Feet. In answer, the owl took off and winged through the surrounding trees searching for the source of the feeling. As one with the owl, Tarkyn could see the forest passing below. He flew over a herd of grazing deer, and startled rabbits back into their burrows. He watched a fox jump out of its skin as he swooped low over it. Tarkyn realised with a jolt that the eagle owl had a sense of humour. It flew tirelessly through the forest searching. Finally, a black shadow detached itself from beneath the overhang of a large beech. The eagle owl landed on a nearby branch and shook out its feathers, its eyes never leaving its quarry below. The sorcerer strained his eyes to make out what he was seeing. The black shape moved furtively into the shelter of another beech tree.

  “Oh no!” breathed Tarkyn, “That’s one of the elite guards from the palace.” He sent a message to the owl asking just where the intruder was. When he felt reasonably sure he understood, he asked the owl to keep an eye on the guardsman and set off in search of Stormaway.

  Tarkyn skirted around the edge of the firelight until he was directly behind the wizard. The woodfolk were fully occupied, discussing the images he had shown them, and planning the rescue. The prince found that he wasn’t particularly interested at the moment. He knew they would speak to him about it when they needed to and right now he had more pressing matters to think about.

  Tarkyn leaned forward into the firelight and whispered in Stormaway’s ear. “Could I have a private word with you please?” The prince nodded briefly to the woodfolk sitting with Stormaway and retreated back into the darkness.

  The wizard made his excuses and followed him away between the moonlit bushes beyond the firelight. Tarkyn waited until they were well out of earshot before he turned to Stormaway.

  “We have some serious trouble on our hands,” he began.

  “I know we have,” said Stormaway. “It will be catastrophic for the woodfolk if their presence becomes known.”

  Tarkyn waved an impatient hand. “No. We have other serious trouble.” He waited while Stormaway dragged his mind away from the woodfolk issue. “There is an elite palace guard skulking in the woods.”

  Stormaway’s eyes widened. “Has he seen you?” he demanded. “Has he seen any of the woodfolk?”

  “No. I don’t think so.” Tarkyn thought about it. “Actually I don’t know for sure. I felt a strange uneasiness when Running Feet and I came out into the woods. We checked with the lookouts, both before and afterwards but they had seen nothing.”He ran his hand through his hair. “I don’t know; maybe he was somewhere there, watching us. He is certainly out there now and the loo
kouts have not reported it.”

  Before Stormaway could ask his next question, the forest guardian answered it for him. “Eagle owl. We searched the forest until we found the source of the feeling. The owl is keeping watch over him, as we speak. He is less than half a mile away, downstream of the shelters and the other direction from where we dealt with the storm today.”

  Stormaway looked at Tarkyn. “We have to tell the woodfolk. They may need to disappear. Can you summon Waterstone? While you do that, I’ll just get a few things ready.”

  Tarkyn sent a clear, strong image of himself summoning Waterstone. He hoped Waterstone didn’t turn up as annoyed as Autumn Leaves had, the last time he had tried it. As it turned out, Autumn Leaves, Waterstone and Thunder Storm all arrived together at a flat run. They were panicstricken rather than annoyed.

  “After the discussion you had with Autumn Leaves about your signals, we knew this one was urgent,” explained Waterstone. “What’s up?”

  “There’s an elite palace guard in the woods out there. Elite means he’s fast, strong, trained in disguise, camouflage, tracking; he’s wearing black and he’s very hard to spot. He made it past the lookouts without attracting their attention.” Tarkyn waved a hand in the general direction of the stream. “He’s hiding in the patch of beech trees downstream of the shelters. I have an eagle owl watching him and he hasn’t moved for the last ten minutes.”

  “Has he seen anyone?”

  Tarkyn shook his head, “I’m not sure. He may have seen me with Running Feet. That’s when I first felt his presence. But I don’t know.”

  Autumn Leaves looked thoughtful. “It is over a week since the last foray by the sorcerers and their wolf. Perhaps they have decided to use more stealthful means in their attempts to track us down.”

  “He has certainly got closer to us than the men on horseback did,” Thunder Storm rumbled quietly. “If Tarkyn hadn’t come out here with Running Feet, we would still be unaware of his presence.”

  “Or maybe he is simply hunting Tarkyn for the bounty or, if he is the king’s man, for the glory of the capture.” Waterstone kept his voice matter-of-fact and avoided Tarkyn’s eyes as he turned to Stormaway who was now carrying a haversack. “You are the only one who can safely meet him and try to turn him away. If we all cover you, would you be willing to confront him and find out what he’s up to?”

  “He may kill and ask questions afterwards,” interrupted Tarkyn. “They are trained to be ruthless. We will have to disarm him and tie his arms behind his back before Stormaway can talk to him safely.”

  “Right. We’ll do that then,” replied Waterstone without hesitation. “How are we going to knock him out? Slingshot or one of your power rays?”

  “Slingshot. You will be able to get much closer to him undetected than either of us could. I will come with you as far as is safe and will create a link between the eagle owl and you, so you know what the guard is doing. Wait. I’ll use the eagle owl’s directions to show you exactly where he is. Do we need anyone else?”

  “No,” replied Thunder Storm. “But I think everyone must disappear. He’s too close. If he comes any closer, he’ll hear voices. We’ll alert the lookouts, too.”

  Tarkyn frowned, “It seems a shame to disturb everyone when they’re all deep in discussion.”

  Thunder Storm gave him the smile he would have given one of his children when they were being naïve, “My lord, that is what we do. It is second nature to us. They can continue the discussion mind talking.”

  The other two woodmen agreed and all three went out of focus briefly.

  “Right, let’s go.”

  Waterstone led the way past the shelters and followed the stream along until they reached the edge of the beech wood. He signalled for the sorcerer and the wizard to remain.

  Suddenly the three woodmen were gone. The forest guardian checked with his owl. The elite guard was still pressed, motionless, into the deep shadow beneath the tree’s branches. Tarkyn couldn’t see any movement. Perhaps he was sleeping. Abruptly, the guard reared up then crashed to the ground.

  Tarkyn turned to the wizard. “Mission accomplished, I think.” He tuned back into the owl to thank him for his night’s work. The owl, however, was finding the whole affair most entertaining and had no intention of leaving, so Tarkyn retained his contact. Below on the forest floor through the owl’s eyes, he could see three woodmen firmly tying the guard’s hands behind his back. His knives were in neat pile a few yards away. Tarkyn sent an image of knives up sleeves, in boots and up trouser legs. As a result, two more knives appeared and were added to the pile. Then the woodfolk were gone.

  Tarkyn filled Stormaway in on the owl’s image. “He’s all yours. Do you feel able to do this?”

  “I will be fine, my boy. Intrigue is the spice of my life. Let me at him.” Stormaway smiled broadly and headed off into the woods.

  The eagle owl turned its head and Tarkyn found himself looking directly at Thunder Storm who was sharing the tree with the owl. As the owl stared at him, Thunder Storm gave a small wave and a grin.

  “Very funny,” said Tarkyn to himself, with a smile. “And I used to think he was pompous.”

  The eagle owl was not quite so amused and returned his attention to the forest floor. Stormaway had arrived and was seating himself comfortably. He waved a hand and murmured a spell to produce a soft light, ready for the guard’s return to consciousness.

  Only a few minutes later, the elite guard began to come round. The woodmen had been very accurate with the strength of their slingshot. A black scarf obscured the man’s face leaving only his eyes visible. Stormaway leant forward and removed the scarf to make sure the guard could breathe properly. The prince drew in a sharp breath as the man’s features were revealed.

  The guardsman was no older than early twenties. His blonde, wavy hair was shoulder length and his eyes, when he opened them, were a vibrant purple. He lay still for a few minutes, taking in the fact that his hands were bound. When he saw Stormaway watching, he struggled into a sitting position. He shook his head to clear it and groaned.

  “Ow. That wasn’t a good idea,” he said. He blinked a couple of times then focused his eyes on the wizard. “Who are you? And more importantly, do you have anything to drink?”

  “As it happens,” replied Stormaway imperturbably, “I have water and wine. Which would you prefer?”

  The young man frowned, “Water first. Then wine.” He gave the ghost of a smile. “I may need some assistance in drinking them.”

  “I will be happy to oblige.” Stormaway produced two earthenware cups from his haversack and a stoppered earthenware bottle. “Before I come any closer, may I suggest you stop thinking of your feet as weapons or we will end up in a serious argument that I will win. If you find you cannot do that, please let me know and I will tie them also.”

  The guard’s eyes narrowed. After a moment, he said, “I think I can manage that.”

  The wizard carefully assisted him to take a drink then moved back out of range. “My name, sir, is Stormaway Treemaster…and yours?”

  The guard’s eyes had widened. “I have heard of you. I seem to remember the king speaking of you. You were his father’s personal wizard, weren’t you?”

  “Indeed I was. I am gratified to have been mentioned,” said the wizard with a touch of sarcasm, “Your name, sir? Or do you not wish to give it?”

  The young man put his head on one side. “If I were on the king’s official business, I would not give it to you, but I am travelling on my own affairs. And so I will tell you. My name is Danton Patronell.”

  “So, Danton, if you are not on the king’s business, what brings you to these parts of the woods?”

  “Before I answer that, I would ask what business is it of yours?” The guard shifted his weight to make himself more comfortable. “I would also ask why I awake from a thump on the head to find myself with my hands bound?” A note of contempt entered his voice. “Perhaps you are a brigand these days?”

&
nbsp; Despite himself, Stormaway took offence. “Good heavens, man! Of course I’m not. How dare you suggest such a thing.”

  Danton shrugged, “One would have to say the evidence points to it from where I’m sitting.”

  “Young man, I have been conducting some small commercial enterprises near here. I discovered you were hiding in the woods, no matter how. I recognise an elite guard when I see one. As I would rather live to ask questions, I made sure you were unable to attack me while I find out why you are skulking in these woods.” Stormaway had himself back in hand. “Some wine now?” he asked urbanely.

  The young man nodded and waited for the wizard to feed it to him. The whole time, the guard studied Stormaway through narrowed eyes. When he still did not offer any information, Stormaway asked, “Do you, by any chance, know a young man who keeps wolves?”

  “Not personally, no. I have heard that there is such a man. Rumours such as this make a long night on guard duty bearable.”

  “I see. And do these rumours suggest who this man is or why he keeps wolves?”

  The young man scowled impatiently. “I do not see the relevance of these questions.”

  “Humour me.”

  Danton eyed Stormaway belligerently for a few moments. “No. I do not know who he is and I have no idea of his intentions. Obviously, wolves would be useful for hunting or protection.” Suddenly a faint smile appeared on his face. “But actually, we thought that the man must be some sort of an idiot to use wild wolves when domestic hounds would be nearly as good and a lot easier to train.”

  “Perhaps the wolves could pass more easily unremarked through the woodlands?”

  The guardsman shrugged, patently uninterested, “Perhaps. But I can’t see why that would matter.”