Bronze Magic (Book 1) Page 53

  Danton waited, not commenting.

  Tarkyn grimaced, “That, at least, is the rhetoric. In reality, I have been given the honour of being accepted into the woodfolk nation when my own people have rejected me. If legend is to be believed, I am also their forest guardian and am here to help them through difficult times ahead.” Tarkyn could see that Danton was still unhappy. “You know, last night when I was worrying about your fate, Waterstone said that he couldn’t see any circumstances under which they would need to kill you. He said that no matter what you did, all they had to do was knock you out and disappear. They are highly skilled hunters and could be killers, but they choose not to be. So, if necessary, I would fight against sorcerers to protect woodfolk.”

  Seeing Danton’s consternation, he added quickly, “Saying that, I could not see why good upstanding sorcerers would use wolves to hunt down woodfolk whose main defence is to disappear.”

  Danton’s eyes widened. “Is that what has been happening?”

  “It appears so,” Tarkyn leaned forward. “Danton, there will be a conference at lunchtime at which time they may ask for your assistance. You must hear their story and make your own choice. I give you the freedom to follow your own conscience. Now and in the future, I will not choose for you more than I have to.”

  When they emerged from the shelter, Sparrow was lying in wait to show Danton her completed map. As they walked down to the clearing, Sparrow monopolised Danton, leaving Tarkyn to walk with Waterstone.

  “So, what do you think of Danton?” asked Tarkyn quietly.

  Waterstine chuckled. “He’s a passionate character, isn’t he? I can’t help smiling at the way he acts around you.”

  Tarkyn’s eyes crinkled with laughter. “I thought you might find that amusing.” But he became more serious as he glanced over his shoulder to check that Danton’s attention was elsewhere before he continued, “But you know, with Danton’s arrival, I feel as though the outside world has come to sit in judgement on all my decisions. I find I have to justify them all over again.”

  “I can imagine you would... But Tarkyn, only you can decide what your role should be, now more than ever, when you have people from two cultures around you with vastly different views. Just be clear with yourself about what you want. Otherwise, you will follow someone else’s expectations instead of your own.”

  Something in the woodman’s tone made Tarkyn frown, “You’re worried about something, aren’t you?”

  Waterstone threw him an embarrassed glance then turned his gaze steadfastly to the path ahead. “You have no idea, Tarkyn, how glad I am that you did not force us to treat you as Danton is used to doing. For those of us who have not grown up with those traditions, it would have felt humiliating and embarrassing… Even more so, had we had to do it in front of the free woodfolk.”

  Tarkyn’s eyes had widened in consternation. “You have never told me that before, and I wouldn’t necessarily have realised it, you know.” He thought back to his conversation with Danton. “In fact, I chose not to impose court etiquette because I thought you would all feel you were humouring me and would respect me less.” Tarkyn smiled ruefully. “I was only thinking of my need, not yours. It never occurred to me that you might find it humiliating. Danton doesn’t, as far as I know.” He looked at his friend and said seriously, “Don’t ever let me humiliate you. Tell me what it means to you next time. Don’t assume I know.”

  Waterstone kept his eyes firmly on the path ahead. “I find nearly everything about the oath humiliating. The only way I can maintain my friendship with you is to try to put it out of my mind when I am with you.”

  Tarkyn shook his head slowly, “Ah my friend, you also have had a hard time of it, haven’t you? Waiting to see how and to what extent I was going to force you all into submission.”A puzzled frown appeared on Tarkyn’s face. “If you hate this oath so much, why did you stay and look after me in the first place?”

  “I told you at the time. I liked the way you handled yourself and you needed someone to pull you out of the morass.” Waterstone shrugged and smiled, “Maybe having worked with your father and having seen the better side of him, I was more able to look past the prejudice against you than others were.” He gave a short laugh. “Anyway, I refuse to let the injustice of the oath prevent me from following my principles and helping you. That’s why I try to act as though it isn’t there as much as I can; so that it doesn’t dictate my actions one way or the other.”

  Tarkyn glanced at his friend, “Waterstone, I am lucky, aren’t I, that you are so strong in your convictions. But you know, you can’t always expect me to guess what you’re feeling. I have grown up with a very different set of assumptions from you. Please tell me how you feel about decisions I make. I need your perspective to steer me through.” hen they arrived at the firesite, Tarkyn’s heart sank as he realised that once again, the woodfolk had congregated in their factions around the clearing. The four of them slipped quietly in and sat amongst the home guard. Then Tarkyn had a quiet word to Waterstone who, as a result, went out of focus for a short time. On the other side of the clearing, Raging Water also went out of focus. As Danton watched, all the home guard and many of the others went out of focus as a message was passed around. Then, casually, in twos and threes, Stormaway and woodfolk stood up and change their positions so that they intermingled with the other groups.

  “I thought you said you didn’t control things,” whispered Danton.

  “I don’t,” said Tarkyn, all wide-eyed innocence. “At least not directly. Waterstone orchestrated that little manoeuvre.”

  “Hmm. I begin to see what you meant about things changing, but staying the same!”

  Tarkyn and Danton were left sitting with Waterstone, Ancient Oak, Autumn Leaves, Lapping Water, Rainstorm and a slightly self-conscious North Wind. The rest of the home guard had spread themselves around. Tarkyn noticed Danton’s reaction to Lapping Water with some misgiving and determined to warn him off at some more convenient time.

  At this point, Raging Water stood up and said, “I believe Tarkyn, Stormaway and Danton will need to be filled in on the contents of our discussions so far. As we know from Tarkyn’s reconnaissance via the mouse…”

  Here Danton threw an amused look at Tarkyn, “A mouse?”

  Tarkyn said sotto voce, “You should have been there when it ate the horse dung.”

  Danton’s explosion of quickly suppressed laughter drew several glares from around the firesite.

  Raging Water sent a quelling glance in their direction before giving a brief resume of their knowledge of the encampment.When he had finished, he looked around. “Any comments?”

  Danton raised his hand. “Would you mind if I asked a question?”

  “No. Go right ahead.”

  “Do you know who these sorcerers are, why they are congregated like this in the forest and why they are hunting woodfolk?”

  Autumn Leaves raised laconic eyebrows, “Well, we just assumed all sorcerers were evil and were out to destroy everything that moved.”

  There was enough truth in this remark to create an uncomfortable pause. After a fraught moment, Danton managed to raise a smile, “I remember now. Two good sorcerers and thousands of wicked ones.” He scratched his head and grimaced in what Tarkyn recognised as a deliberately disarming gesture. “It would be easier if it were that simple. But unfortunately among sorcerers, just as I’ve noticed among woodfolk, there are factions. Even if you rescue these woodfolk, you still need to find out what they are doing here and why they are hunting you.” Looking around a ring of sceptical faces, he added, “I can assure you, this group will have a purpose and unlike your groups, someone will be running it. Even if three or four hundred sorcerers are involved in hunting you down, that still leaves the vast majority of sorcerers peaceably at home somewhere tending their crops, baking, breeding horses or whatever else they do.”

  Rainstorm spoke up. “Why do these sorcerer guards need weapons? Surely they can just use their power?”

/>   Tarkyn smiled wryly. “Contrary to popular belief, most sorcerers don’t have powers for fighting. Most sorcerers can just do a few useful spells like lifting objects, maybe creating shields, giving the yeast a bit of a hand in baking bread…that sort of thing. They can’t evoke ‘Shturrum’ or stun rays or anything very useful in a fight.”

  “Is that right?” asked Autumn Leaves slowly, eyebrows raised. “Do you know, if you were anyone else, I would think you were trying to lull us into a false sense of security.” At Tarkyn’s raised eyebrow, the big woodman conceded, “But as it is, I believe you implicitly,” he gave a slight smile, “although I must admit, it is a struggle.”

  “Can we get back to the point of this discussion?” demanded Ancient Elm in her withered old voice. “I am not concerned with who these sorcerers are. I just want our kin back safe and sound. It is my belief that we should rescue our friends first and investigate only once we have them safely back with us.”

  Strong murmurs of agreement around the clearing supported this suggestion.

  “So, what have you decided?” asked Tarkyn.

  “We haven’t,” replied Tree Wind.

  Tarkyn frowned. “Why not? I thought you discussed it last night.”

  “It’s the chain. We don’t know how to get around the chain,” said Tree Wind calmly, “We were hoping one of you magic wielders might have some ideas to help us with it.”

  Tarkyn looked at Danton then across the clearing at Stormaway. “Any ideas?”

  Danton shook his head. Stormaway put up his hand to indicate that he was thinking and needed a moment to marshal his thoughts. Then he lifted his head and said, “I think a repeat of our hole digging exercise might do the trick.” He looked around the assembled woodfolk and explained, “When the home guard had to bury the wolf carcasses, Tarkyn and I used vibrations from our magic to loosen earth in a large area. If we did that around the stake, we could just pull the stake easily out of the ground and take stake, chain and woodfolk with us as a package.”

  “That sounds like a good idea. Does it need two of you?” asked Tree Wind.

  “Yes. You need the dissonance between two magics.”

  “And how long would it take and how noisy?” asked Raging Water.

  Stormaway shrugged, “Not long. Two or three minutes for a small area like that. Not noisy for such a small operation. If we could get in there, it would only take a minor distraction to cover up our activities. Then the rescue could be undertaken later in the evening.”

  “I think I can now perform two lots of magic at once. If I practised, I could possibly do it alone,” suggested Tarkyn.

  “No,” came a chorus of voices.

  “We can’t afford to risk you, if we don’t have to,” added Sun Shower.

  Far from being gratified by their protectiveness, the prince’s eyes narrowed and his mouth set in a thin mutinous line.

  Before he could protest, Stormaway overrode him. “Tarkyn, you can’t go into a camp full of sorcerers with a price on your head. Even if you were in disguise, your eyes would give you away…and the colour of your magic, if anyone spotted it.” He paused, “It is not just your welfare at stake if anything happens to you. Anyway, your own magic will not be dissonant with itself. The two beams would synchronise.”

  Tarkyn’s eyes glittered with anger and his mouth did not relax as he gave a short, sharp nod and dropped his gaze.

  Stormaway transferred his attention and he hoped, the attention of the woodfolk, to Danton, “If you are willing, the two of us could easily disguise ourselves and infiltrate the encampment.”

  Suddenly, the whole gathering, as one, realised what they were asking Danton to do. There was a hushed silence.

  Eventually, much to everyone’s surprise, it was Rainstorm who spoke up. He cleared his throat and said self-consciously, “Danton, I’m sorry I attacked you this morning. I should have realised you just didn’t understand how things work around here.” He scowled around at his audience, daring anyone to comment.

  Danton gave a nod of acknowledgement, “Thank you, Rainstorm. In return, I also apologise to you for forcing my views on you.” He waited, clearly aware that Rainstorm had more to say.

  After a moment, the young woodman continued, “Some of our ways of doing things are different. But from what I know of Tarkyn, I don’t think we are so different underneath.” Rainstorm shrugged, “I suppose you don’t have any real reason to champion our cause, especially against your fellow sorcerers. None of us can force you to help us, if you would rather not. I suspect Tarkyn could, but wouldn’t.” He raised an eyebrow in the prince’s direction and received a short, affirmative nod. “So it is entirely up to you. But on behalf of the woodfolk assembled here and the frightened family at the encampment, I would ask you to consider it.”

  Danton glanced sideways at Tarkyn before saying, “Rather than thinking of it as helping woodfolk against sorcerers, let us instead think of it as helping three victims against their persecutors and leave their origins out of it. On those terms, I believe I can support your cause.”

  An audible murmur of appreciation rolled around the clearing.

  Stormaway’s eyes lit up. “Good. That part of it is sorted then. And while we are there, we can do a bit of investigating.” Seeing Ancient Elm about to object, he added, “… after we have loosened the earth around the stake.”

  Falling Branch shook his head. “We still have the problem of the wolves. We can’t afford to be near the camp. If they pick up our scent they may be able to hunt us down, even in the trees, with the help of sorcerers and wizards.”

  “That leaves us a bit stuck, doesn’t it?” objected Autumn Leaves. “Tarkyn can’t go because he’s too precious.” There was a slight smile but no derision in his voice. “We can’t go because we’re too vulnerable. Doesn’t leave any options but Stormaway and Danton and they already have a job.”

  Tarkyn flicked a glance at him and found the solid woodman smiling understandingly at him. He began to unbend a little.

  “But if we could neutralise or eliminate the wolves, any of us could be involved in the rescue,” said Rainstorm, voicing the thoughts of many.

  Tarkyn shrugged, still slightly belligerent. “Anyway, unless you neutralise the wolves, they will raise the alarm when the woodfolk family leaves.”

  “And the problem still remains of how to get the woodfolk family out into the woods, especially if they are still wearing the chains,” pointed out Raging Water.

  “Can Golden Toad’s family do the woodfolk disappearing act once they are out of the encampment?” asked Tarkyn, addressing his question to Autumn Leaves, the only person he was yet prepared to speak to.

  A short, out of focus discussion passed between woodfolk. Autumn Leaves spoke for them. “We don’t know what effect the chain will have on their ability to flick into hiding. And we also don’t know whether the virus they had has affected that ability as well as the mind talking.”

  “So we have to assume they can’t,” concluded Tarkyn shortly. He shrugged, “Now I think about it, if they could do the disappearing act, they would have by now, wouldn’t they?”

  “Not necessarily. Not through a tent wall,” replied Autumn Leaves. “We can flick around objects, but not through them.”

  “So, we need a distraction and a way to knock out or kill the wolves,” said Waterstone, determinedly ignoring Tarkyn’s ill humour and summing up the situation. “Once the wolves are out of the equation and the stake has been loosened, we should be able to sneak in during the night, knock out whoever is guarding the woodfolk, and carry Golden Toad and his family off, complete with chain and stake. Meanwhile, others of us will also need to neutralise the guards on one side of the encampment for as long as it takes to escape with them into the woods.”

  “That does sound like the beginnings of a workable plan,” conceded Tarkyn grudgingly. Suddenly a well of humour rose to overcame his chagrin and he glanced at Autumn Leaves, knowing that what he was about to say would annoy
the heavy woodman. “But I have a big problem with the fate of the wolves.” He grinned as Autumn Leaves rolled his eyes. “Have wolves traditionally been enemies of woodfolk?”

  “No,” replied Raging Water, not quite clear why the prince was smiling. “In the past, they have steered clear of us unless, for some reason, the season is very lean and they are desperate for food.”

  Tarkyn became serious again. “It just seems wrong to kill them all off when someone is using them as a tool for their own ends.” He shrugged, “Maybe it is being the forest guardian but I can’t help thinking that they, too, are creatures of the forest….”

  Ancient Elm spoke again, “It does you credit, young man, that you are concerned for the welfare of the forest creatures. However, the rescue of the woodfolk will tax us enough. If we undertake not to kill the wolves, we may be able to address their fate at another time. Will that satisfy your scruples?”

  Tarkyn bowed his head in acknowledgement. “Thank you, yes. It will.”

  “What about that ‘Shturrum’ word?” asked Thunder Storm suddenly. “Does your magic work on animals?”

  Stormaway considered the suggestion. “Possibly. It’s better than a stun ray, which only works on one target at a time. I know Tarkyn has used Shturrum on many people at once.”

  A ripple of constraint washed around the firesite as various woodfolk remembered the times Tarkyn had used it on them. Several sets of eyes flashed in his direction, loaded with expressions ranging from amusement to distaste. Danton cocked a surmising eyebrow at him, but said nothing.

  Aware of their responses, Tarkyn stared steadfastly at the ground with a little smile playing around his mouth. When he looked up, his eyes were brimming with laughter, “Oh well, I guess that’s the disadvantage of having a forest guardian.”

  The constraint melted, albeit some a little reluctantly. Raging Water gave a snort of derisive laughter. “I sometimes think you’re too powerful for your own good, young man.”