Crown of Vengeance Read online

  Lynn half-heartedly moved to defend her friend at that moment, interrupting Ryan abruptly, “Take it easy on her now. She’s been that way for years. Not my thing either, but it’s what she wants to be. And we really do need to find some other food sources around here, eventually.”

  “And I will find something else,” Erin added obstinately. “We’ll find something soon enough.”

  Lee shrugged, but was not about to change his plans. “Have it your way then, but I’m going to eat now, and I’m eating what we manage to find. There’s no menus out here. Just reality.”

  “Makes two of us,” Ryan commented with a glare at Erin.

  “I can’t deny it either,” Lynn said, with a sideways grin to the two men, out of Erin’s line of sight, which showed that she understood their mystification at her friend’s obstinacy.

  They were able to satiate their hunger easily, for there was an overabundance of food for one meal with what Ryan and Lee had procured. Even with the crude manner that Lee had been forced to use to prepare it, the meat was surprisingly good. It had a tender, juicy quality that was not unlike well-prepared turkey, a quite pleasant surprise in the midst of the wilderness.

  Erin watched the others eating from a few feet away, with a series of disgusted, sullen looks parading upon her face. Her juvenile display was almost to the point of being obnoxious, as far as Lee was concerned.

  If she had intended to ruin Lee’s enjoyment of the meal, it was to no avail. With each and every bite, Lee felt stronger, and more revived, while he knew that she was left lightheaded with an expanding hunger, by her own stubborn choice.

  Finally, Erin got up with a curt exhale and stomped off into the forest. Lee was incredulous at the highly immature response of the young woman, especially from one whose life had hung by a precarious thread just mere moments after her entrance into this dangerous new world.

  “No time for philosophical debates,” Lee said. “We have to live. A starving lion wouldn’t have any problem making short work of her.”

  “Exactly,” Ryan said. “Neither would a shark.”

  “Which brings me to another point,” Lee said quickly. A scowl crossed his face as he stared off towards where Erin had disappeared. “After what I’ve seen, there’s no place for childish tantrums and stomping off into these woods alone.”

  He looked over to Ryan.

  “True enough, I’ll keep an eye on her, and try to talk her back here,” Ryan said, getting up, picking up his stake, and setting out after Erin.

  “Do it quickly,” Lee called after him.

  Ryan paused to pick up Erin’s own makeshift weapon, which she had left behind in her ire.

  “She gets impulsive,” explained Lynn with an apologetic air, watching Ryan heading onward after her friend.

  “Impulsive can mean getting killed here very quickly, I’m afraid. We don’t know much about our whereabouts,” Lee said. “I just learned a very good lesson, almost a very hard one.”

  He proceeded to tell Lynn more detail about their earlier encounter with the predatory birds, emphasizing the unpleasant surprises that had manifested. Lynn’s eyes widened as the full tale was told, as Lee quickly discovered that she had only heard the basic elements from Ryan upon their return.

  Erin appeared back at the campsite several minutes later. She was bearing a couple of branches loaded with berries, a petulant look fixed upon her face.

  Ryan emerged into sight behind her a few seconds later, shrugging his shoulders at Lee with a look of exasperation. He was still carrying her makeshift weapon.

  Erin looked towards Lee, and her face beamed with a look of triumph. Sitting down, she picked, chewed, and swallowed a mouthful of the berries. She then held out the branches towards Lee.

  “See, this is called persistence,” she declared acidly.

  She took off a few more berries and ate them.

  “She wouldn’t listen to me,” Ryan said. “I don’t know about those. You and I both were worried about whether or not those were safe to eat.”

  Lee grew concerned as he watched her, as she had already proceeded well past the point of caution. The berries that she was eating he had indeed seen on his recent foray, and he had deemed it best to avoid them entirely.

  His caution was affirmed a short time later, when Erin’s haughty smile swiftly faded, her face growing very pale. Dropping the remaining berries, she clutched at her stomach and started to heave.

  Lee, Ryan, and Lynn jumped up immediately and ran over to the stricken young woman, reaching Erin as she violently regurgitated her recent findings back onto the ground. After a few more heaves, when nothing more was coming out of her mouth, her breathing slowly settled back down.

  The others gently helped Erin lay on the ground, easing her down carefully. Once Erin was prone, Lynn darted off towards the creek. She returned shortly with a piece of cloth that had been torn off of her own shirt, dampened with water. Kneeling by her friend, she wiped Erin’s brow and patted the cloth lightly about her face.

  The next couple of hours were filled with tension. Lee silently stood by the others with Erin, a great apprehension taking hold of him regarding the nature of the berries that she had consumed. He felt both anger and concern as he peered down upon the young woman, knowing that her suffering was wholly unnecessary. Her breathing was short and rapid, and her face reflected considerable pain as she cradled her stomach in a fetal position. The most bothersome aspect of it all was that Lee had no idea as to the outcome of her folly.

  Only time would reveal the full answer.

  As the moments passed, Erin went through another couple bouts of dry heaving, her stomach already having been thoroughly emptied. Her pallor continued to be troubling. Yet just when Lee had begun to dread the worst, her physical signs appeared to stabilize, and then slowly began to improve. Her breathing became more regular, and her face slowly showed less strain.

  “Don’t ever do that again,” Lee remarked firmly, when it finally became abundantly clear that she was not mortally poisoned.

  Erin’s reaction to his words demonstrated that her constitution was returning in full. She did not give him the courtesy of a verbal reply, simply shooting Lee a hardened, annoyed look, as if to say that she absolutely refused to concede anything to him.

  “Pride isn’t going to get you very far under our circumstances!” Lee fumed with exasperation, throwing up his hands and tromping back towards the center of the camp.

  Ryan shook his head and trotted after Lee.

  Behind them, Lynn helped Erin back to a sitting position, and cautiously pulled her back up to her feet. She slowly guided Erin across the campsite, assisting her back under the shade of the shelter that they had fashioned.

  “She’ll rest better out of the open. So what now?” Lynn asked the other two, after she had emerged from the shelter and returned to join them. As if to answer their unspoken queries, she stated, “What she did was completely idiotic. I’m not supporting her stupid choice, but she’s my friend.”

  “And we’ll stand by her too, Lynn, as we’re in this mess together,” Lee replied without equivocation. “Even though I won’t hesitate to point out when she’s being a total fool.”

  “I’m with Lee, on both counts,” Ryan added.

  Lynn nodded to both of the males, “I appreciate all of that. She filters me out often enough, so it’s good that you two are blunt with her. Maybe something will eventually get through her thick head.”

  “So what do you suggest we do now?” Lee asked, changing the subject back to the decisions imminently facing them. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

  “Try and find somebody, or something,” Lynn answered. “It’s all we really can do, when we have no idea where in this world we are.”

  “If there even is somebody out there,” Ryan commented ruefully.

  “We’ve got to at least look,” Lynn replied.

  “Then let’s start doing it right now,” Ryan said impatiently. After an extended pause, hi
s next words took on a tinge of anger and desperation. “Let’s get on it!”

  Lee knew that the sharp edge just exhibited in the young man was stoked by the torrent of worries swirling within him. He could not blame Ryan for his great trepidation. Lee shared it too, and was simply a little better able to stifle his own worries, packing them deeper down inside.

  “After a minute or two,” Lynn stated firmly, steadily meeting Ryan’s heated gaze. “Whether her fault or not, let Erin get a little of her strength back.”

  Ryan sat down with a huff, rolling his eyes. “Then I’m sitting.”

  Lee replied gently, “We will wait, Lynn, but we need to learn everything we can about this world. And we need to learn very fast, if we are going to have a chance to make it very far. Now we know of those aggressive birds. Now we know about those berries. Two steps on that journey.”

  As if to accentuate his point, Lee walked over and picked up Lynn’s stake where she had set it down. Returning, he handed it over to her.

  “And you keep this near you, at all times,” Lee said adamantly.

  Lynn set the end of the stake into the ground, gripped in both of her hands as she lowered her eyes to the ground before her. Lee said nothing more as he turned and stepped over to Ryan’s side. He lowered himself down, patting the youth reassuringly upon the shoulder as he took a place by him. Lynn sat down with them a few moments later.

  Few words passed between the trio, as time marched relentlessly onward.

  After about another hour had passed, Erin came out from the shelter and broke the impasse, indicating that she felt that she could handle some slow hiking. The group gathered its belongings together and left the campsite behind. Setting off at an easy pace, they halted sporadically, mainly to allow Erin to rest for a few moments.

  While clearly not feeling fully well, Erin proved to be capable of handling the rather leisurely rate of travel without major incident, or sign of undue strain. A few times Lee considered urging her to press herself a little harder, but he bit back his impulses, simply grateful that she was cooperating without an acerbic display of attitude.

  The landscape that they traveled through remained largely unchanged, as the litany of trees, hilly terrain, wide forest creeks, and narrow streams continued.

  Majestic oaks allowed considerable sunlight to reach the forest floor, resulting in the flourishing of ferns, violets, and other types of plants low to the ground. Tall beeches, with their smooth gray surfaces, heralded the presence of minimal undergrowth beneath their ample, thick-shading canopies. Beautiful hazel trees with their dangling, cylindrical flower clusters, hardwood ash trees, and great pines were just some of the other types of woodland sentinels populating the area that they walked through.

  The signs of animal life were minimal, confined primarily to a few more sightings of the strange, tree dwelling mammals that seemed to be prevalent to the region that they were traversing.

  There were also a number of rather ordinary birds, of kinds much more familiar to Lee’s eyes. The diminutive sparrows emitting their sustained chirping, the blackbirds with their eyes ringed in yellow, and a few warblers, grey-backed with reddish undersides, were all witnessed by Lee as they hiked through the woodlands.

  The birds were largely resting among the branches of the trees, sending their various calls out through the peaceful forest air. Lee passed the time by watching a few of them alighting upon, or taking off from, the living roosts. He watched them dart and glide amongst the trees, with some lifting out of sight on a climb skyward.

  The afternoon slowly dissolved as the shadows lengthened, announcing the approach of the early stages of evening. By that time, it seemed to Lee as if his body was being sapped of energy with every passing moment. He had begun to envy Ryan and the two girls, who possessed natural, extra reservoirs of youthful stamina.

  Yet despite the youth of the other three, all things were not equal in relation to their various conditions. Ryan and Lynn were holding up to the trek very well, while Erin now appeared to be toiling just to keep moving forward.

  Just as Lee was about to call for an extended halt, for both his sake and Erin’s, they finally came upon a break in the trees and brush. They had just skirted around the base of yet another one of the ubiquitous, forested hills that dominated the region that they were passing through. The denser foliage gave way fairly abruptly, as an entirely new, magnificent vision was unveiled before them.

  A series of very low, grassy hills undulated in what was essentially a broad, rolling plain, broken up only by pockets of brush strewn randomly about. The low waves in the sea of windswept grasses spread out to the farthest edges of their vision.

  “Progress, I hope,” Ryan remarked, as the four of them looked out over the markedly different terrain.

  “And maybe danger,” Lynn quickly returned, not looking very confident at the significant change in geography.

  Lee could not blame Lynn’s apparent misgivings, as the new territory offered its own set of daunting concerns. It was considerably more open and exposed, especially if they were to try to walk out into it.

  They would easily be visible for miles around, especially to any eyes watching from a higher vantage point. It was not lost on Lee that all four in the group had already witnessed formidable flying entities traversing the skies of this strange world.

  Yet there was no imminent threat in view, or even a remote sign of danger. A very large, heavy-bodied bird with a substantial wingspan, chestnut-breasted with a white underside, flew calmly over the grassy surface, showing no apparent urgency in its easygoing flight.

  Erin slumped down to the ground at the edge of the trees, breathing heavily as the others hesitated. Her body had been taxed to a much greater extent than the others had been. She looked to be genuinely grateful for the stop, rather than for any notable change in geography.

  Lee stood silently, peering off towards the distant horizon, looking carefully to both sky and ground. He slowly dropped to one knee, and placed his hand upon the ground.

  He had intended to simply brace himself, resting a little as he stared out over the open expanse. Yet something tugged at his instincts almost instantly, as his palm connected with the land.

  He felt that there was something faint under his hand, like a barely perceptible tremor, though it was not strong enough for surety. A frown crossed his face, his expression swiftly growing pensive. There was not enough in the feeling coming from beneath his palm to convince him, but the foreboding sense prevented him from dismissing it outright.

  “Let’s go!” Ryan said from behind Lee, taking a couple of steps forward.

  Lee shook his head curtly, snapping his hand up to get Ryan to halt when the youth had reached his side. The young man was just a couple of steps away from leaving the cover of the trees.

  Lee said emphatically, “There’s something here. Let’s pull back behind the trees for now … at least while we rest.”

  Ryan groaned in frustration, as the others walked back a few strides, deeper into the cover of the trees. They waited in silence, hungry and tired, for nearly an hour.

  Even if Lee could not say exactly what it was, he was increasingly certain that something was amiss. All of his instincts screamed out to him to heed his caution and stay away from the open ground.

  Lee continued to feel the vibrations in the earth beneath, soon perceiving that they were growing stronger. It was clear from their moods that Lynn and Ryan were becoming quite restless, although Erin was still weary enough to value the extended respite. Lee had just begun to ponder whether his mind was playing tricks on him in his fatigued state, when their eyes were all suddenly drawn towards one of the low, grass-blanketed hills off to the right.

  A light thumping sound, in a conspicuously galloping rhythm, filled their ears and grew steadily louder. Lee gestured urgently for all of them to get down and press their bodies to the ground.

  There was no argument from any of the others as they hurriedly lay down flat upon t
he hard earth. Lee’s heart leaped and pounded, and he doubted that any of the others had a slow heartbeat in the sharply heightened anxiety of the moment. The rumbling beats swelled, the vibrations under Lee becoming ever more prominent. His eyes remained locked on the plains before them.

  About a minute later, a number of mounted riders burst into full view.

  Lee drank in the startling sight, spellbound at what he saw. Stunned, Lee stared at the throng of figures, taking in their strange appearances.

  The riders were sitting in wood-framed saddles, astride horses of a strong, muscular build. Most of the riders were armed with long lances, the spear-blades featuring iron lugs at their bases that jutted straight out to the sides.

  Near to the lead of the group was a rider bearing a special lance, to which a wedge-shaped pennon was affixed. The pennon was of alternating blue and gold stripes, with a fringe of red tassels lining the curving outer edge. It flapped vigorously as it cut through the air above the galloping riders.

  All of the riders wore long cloaks, pinned at the right shoulder. Round shields of various colors were slung over their backs, suspended from leather straps. Iron bosses glinted in the daylight where they protruded from the middle of the large shields.

  The riders’ heads were protected in a variety of half-helms. Some were of a rounded type, with chain mail aventails affixed to extend the wearer added neck protection. Others were of a more crested profile, protruding slightly in the rear. A few were crafted of segmented iron plates, with descending nasal guards in front.

  The riders’ upper bodies were clad in coats of mail, and a few wore chain mail chausses, providing additional protection on their thighs down to the tops of their knees.

  A bearded rider just ahead of the pennon-bearer suddenly raised his sword high, drawing Lee’s attention. Sunlight gleamed off the golden inlay on the hazelnut-shaped pommel and short, straight quillons. Long locks of dark hair whipped around from where they flowed out from the base of his half-helm, as the sword-wielder cried out loudly to the others, eliciting a spirited shout in response.