Crown of Vengeance Read online

  There was small comfort to be had in such a short period of time where fortunes had changed so drastically, swinging so quickly between extremes. It was true that the Unifier’s armies would soon be swarming through the lands that Dragol now left behind him, but that was no solace at all to his embittered heart.

  He could only think of the undignified deaths that several of his warriors had met at the jaws of forest beasts, formidable though they were. The feral images of the unusual creatures were stamped indelibly into his mind. He promised himself to see to it that they would be hunted down mercilessly, and slain wherever they were found, once Saxany was held by the Unifier.

  His mind then settled upon the black-feathered arrow shaft embedded in the dead body of the beast he had slain, reminding him that he had already exacted the first fruits of vengeance. While only slight, the remembrance nonetheless brought him a little relief, to help endure the return journey back to their camp.

  LEE

  Lee saw nothing behind him, or anywhere around him, his eyes searching frantically among the trees for even one sign of any other being. Without a doubt, there was another archer very near to his group, one who had just intervened on their behalf. The irrefutable evidence lay not far away, in the form of the dead winged beast with the arrow shaft protruding from its neck.

  Despite the unexpected assistance, the notion of an unknown warrior lurking somewhere close by was still unsettling. The friend of the moment could well turn into the foe of the next.

  Lee turned his head to and fro, urgently looking for any indication of their unknown benefactor, while keeping his eyes open for the rise of other threats.

  Shadows crossing over him brought his head up in a flash. More of the winged creatures were flying at a low altitude just over the tops of the trees. Lee wanted to maneuver over to join Ryan and Lynn, if only so that they could all make a stand together.

  He knew that he was effectively trapped where he was. If he emerged from the trunk of the tree, he would come into the clear sight of the two hovering riders, one of whom had already come dangerously close to claiming one of his companions’ lives.

  Lee peered carefully around the tree that he was behind, looking up towards the two riders imminently besetting them. He then cast a glance across the short distance to where Ryan and Lynn were crouched. If it was only a matter of himself, he might have sprinted out from his position and attempted to join them. With Erin to think about, he gauged that it was too much of a risk to try to reach the others.

  Turning his focus back up to the riders, he concentrated on executing a solid attempt with the bow. He steadied his aim as he tilted the weapon upwards, sighting one of the riders as he began to pull the string back.

  He wondered if he would have enough range for the shot, as their attackers held the considerable advantage of firing downwards. To his eyes, the distance to the pair of attackers looked daunting to any hope of loosing an arrow that would have even a slim chance of striking one of them.

  It was in that moment of rising doubt that a furious commotion broke out somewhere to his left. Flinching, he almost let go of the partially-drawn arrow. His body tingled, and a chill raced over him as he listened to the raucous clamor breaking out just beyond his sight. The growling frenzy was guttural and vicious.

  Mixed within the tumult were cries like those of the warriors above, which rang out through the forest. In moments they transformed into unmistakable shrieks of agony, the sounds sending shards of ice into Lee’s heart. Very quickly, the forest fell quiet again.

  Lee’s chest constricted with the fear swelling inside of him, as if someone were pressing down upon it. More crashing sounds brought his attention snapping back to the area on the other side of the tree. He saw one of the two winged beasts that had been hovering plummet to the ground, breaking some branches and careening off of others as the creature dragged its rider down with it. A heavy thud and the sickening noise of cracking bones reached Lee’s ears.

  Though the body of the winged beast was a little farther off, Lee’s eyes spotted the vertical shaft of an arrow coming from the creature’s neck. To his guess, it was lodged at almost the exact place of the shaft that had dropped the first winged steed.

  Lee turned his head and saw that Ryan still had his arrow notched. He was shaking his head from side to side as Lee’s eyes met his, confirming Lee’s suspicions.

  Another commotion started to Lee’s right, and he broke his eyes away from Ryan to rivet upon the sight of two more of the winged steeds trying to land through the trees a short distance away. They were coming down through a small opening in the trees, barely wide enough for the expansive wingspan of the flying creatures.

  A huge blur of movement froze Lee’s heart a second later. Some manner of creature leaped off of the ground, lunging towards the landing entities. Its momentum hurled its bulk into one of the winged creatures.

  Another flashing shape raced in from the other side, as yet another beast came into view, bounding across the forest floor at an incredible speed. Leaping at the last instant, it extended its body as it hurtled towards the second winged steed and slammed into it.

  The mass of winged steeds, riders, and their four-legged assailants tumbled in a whirlwind of desperate struggle to the ground. The first beast made quick work of one winged steed, clamping its wide jaws down upon the other’s throat, tearing it out with a powerful wrench of its muscular neck. Righting itself, jaws soaked in blood, the creature sprang at the slain steed’s rider, who had been badly injured in the fall.

  Lee winced. The rider did not have a chance to defend itself, before submerging under a torrent of slashing claws and long fangs driven by powerful jaws.

  Just a few feet to the right of the first melee, the rider of the second winged steed hurriedly freed itself from the saddle of its stricken mount. It raised a sword-like weapon up, and shouted out a spirited war cry. Shaking in rage, the non-human warrior charged the second of the attacking beasts, which had found the throat of the rider’s steed. The beast jerked its head free, spraying flesh and blood from the mortal wound that it had just delivered.

  The heavy blade whipped down with great force, lodging deep into the back of the creature, and eliciting a terrible howl of pain. With a powerful yank, the brawny fighter quickly freed the great blade.

  It was about to attempt a second blow, lifting the weapon upward when yet another of the attacking beasts enveloped the warrior from behind. The rider disappeared behind the body of its fallen steed, as the assailant’s momentum and size propelled the warrior to the ground.

  Lee saw the beast open its broad jaws wide to display a horrific array of large, sharp teeth, snarling balefully right before its head plunged down out of sight. The outcries of the warrior underneath the creature were abruptly silenced.

  Hearing a high-pitched whine, Lee turned his head and saw that the beast that had been wounded by the large blade was not dead. Pulling itself forward across the ground on its paws, it strove painstakingly towards a nearby tree, to get away from the unobstructed opening to the sky.

  As Lee watched, an arrow streaked down through the hole in the canopy, punching through the beast’s skull and instantaneously rendering it still. Just a moment later, an anguished, rage-filled cry filled the air, coming from above the area where the arrow had just sped through.

  Looking back, Lee then noticed that the other bow-equipped rider had vacated its position in the wake of its comrade’s slaying. Not hesitating a moment longer, he reached back for Erin, clutching her arm and yelling, “Come on! Now! Move it fast!”

  Erin appeared to be shocked out of her stupor, putting an effort into rising up as she responded to Lee’s directive. Springing forward, the two broke out from the base of the tree. They swiftly covered the short distance over to their other two companions. Ryan and Lynn rose up from their crouches as they reached them.

  “Get ready, I don’t know what’s down here with us now,” Lee said quickly. “Some kind of beast, and t
here’s more than one, and they are very close!”

  His heart could not have beaten faster, a thundering piston in his chest as a sweat started to break out. The fearsome creatures that had slain the riders and steeds were among the nearby trees. The concern over the unknown archer that had come to their help was swiftly forgotten in the aftermath of his dizzying fear of the beasts.

  They were huge, fast predators, and they were anything but solitary. Lee could not assume anything less than that they were a kind of pack hunter, able to work in concert with each other. The situation facing Lee and the others had become even more perilous, with threats both above and below.

  “Did you see them?” Lee asked, casting a glance at Ryan.

  Ryan nodded rapidly, almost shaking.

  “Keep your eyes out, and keep your bow up!” Lee said, his eyes sweeping the forest floor, expecting at any moment to see the long-legged, tall forms of the creatures. The visions in his mind centered upon their crushingly powerful, deadly jaws.

  Bows in hand, Lee and Ryan faced in opposite directions, Lynn peering out warily out from between them. Erin, wide-eyed and beyond fright, trembled as she stared out from where she was pressed against the massive tree trunk.

  “Yell if you see anything, any movements at all,” Lee called out, taking a brief moment to look above him.

  Fortunately, it appeared that the riders and their winged steeds were long gone. Yet their absence gave him little comfort, as the causes for it were still lurking somewhere within the shadows beneath the surrounding trees.

  Lee, Ryan, Erin, and Lynn kept their places for several tense moments, not so much as moving a muscle. Sweaty hands clasped weapons, as they all anxiously awaited what Lee believed to be an inevitable, terrible fate. The sweat made his skin feel clammy, and an oppressive weight formed in the air. It felt as if the forest was encroaching in upon Lee, confining his group as the sense of threat coiled about them.

  The seconds passed as if they were hours, the cries of the sky riders long since faded into the distance. The day was ebbing, and it would not be all that much longer before night fell. It was overwhelming enough even being able to see far into the woods. Lee did not want to consider what it would be like with the woods shrouded in the black of night.

  Slowly, he began to take into account other elements, as his mind forced its way through the paralysis of his terror. Calling to mind the unknown being whose arrows had brought down two winged steeds, Lee kept an eye out for the archer, hoping that the individual was some kind of ally. The unknown benefactor was their only real chance at resolving their dilemma, likely being one who knew the immediate woods, and might know more about the nature of the beasts within them.

  Lee knew that he and his companions were all at the mercy of sheer chance. He needed no argument to realize that they stood little to no chance against creatures that had made such short work of large winged steeds and well-armed warriors alike.

  Lee spared a moment to look over to Erin. Now that she was removed from the necessity of moving positions, the fears were clearly gathering her into their consuming embrace once again. The young woman was shaking, frightened to a nearly hysterical level in the wake of the spectacle that had violently played out before all of their eyes.

  “Come on,” Lee said gently, mustering steadiness into his voice. He felt compassion for her raw terror, as he was far from immune to its touch himself. “You are going to need to stay focused, and hold a weapon. Where is your dagger?”

  Erin did not respond, her eyes staring off into the forest. Her eyes rotated to the left, looked down a little, and abruptly widened.

  Lee felt that his heart would stop, fearing that she had just sighted one of the menacing beasts. He followed her revealing glance with trepidation, steeling himself for the sight that would be unveiled to his eyes.

  His nerves relaxed slightly, and he let a breath loose as there was no beast to be found. Erin had indicated the dagger, which was lying on the ground several paces away.

  Lee was not about to chance another foray out into the open. He already felt a little foolish and reckless for having taken the risk of running with Erin over to join the others. He had taken full notice of the blinding speed that the forest creatures possessed, and knew that predators were often quite attuned to sudden movements.

  “Keep your bow ready, and shoot any damn thing that moves,” Lee muttered to Ryan.

  Ryan shot Lee a nervous grin. His voice was strained. “Like we have another plan?”

  Lee forced a smile, his nerves on the extreme edge as well. “No, I guess we don’t.”

  They both almost shot their arrows haphazardly, when a loud voice shattered the heavy stillness permeating the trees.

  “Strangers to this forest, hold your arrows!” called a deep voice, from just a short distance away.

  To Lee, the voice came from a hidden place that was uncomfortably close. None of the four could see the speaker of the words, though their eyes raced as they hurriedly cast looks all around the encompassing shadows and trees.

  At the very least, Lee knew that the voice came from no beast. Rather, it sounded like the voice of a man.

  “I am the one who felled the Harraks with arrows,” the speaker continued calmly. “I am not your enemy.”

  The mystery of the unseen archer revealed slightly, Lee suddenly feared for the man, especially if he was a stranger as well.

  “There are beasts out there! Beasts that killed some of the winged animals, and their riders,” Lee shouted into the forest, “It is dangerous! They are very close!”

  “Beasts?” The voice seemed to carry amusement, much to the abject surprise of Lee. There was not a trace of worry at Lee’s pronouncement within the tone of the other. “Oh, those beasts. Nothing to fear from them. They are not your enemies either. They were your defenders. You already know they fought to help you.”

  A stunned expression crossed the faces of Lee, Lynn, and Ryan, and even Erin’s eyes widened at the words of the concealed speaker.

  “Come out in the open, then, if you are a friend” Lee addressed the possessor of the voice, not willing to believe how casual the individual was about the ferocious creatures that were prowling somewhere nearby.

  Slowly, out from behind the trunk of another large tree, a broad form emerged. Lee knew in his heart that the man walking into view was native to the strange world, or at least someone who had lived within it for a notably long time.

  A thick, shaggy beard, and long, unkempt dark locks covered most of the man’s head and face, and the brown tunic and trousers that he wore blended in smoothly with the hues of the trees. The man’s shoulders were of substantial width, and his thick legs and stout torso indicated great physical strength.

  His piercing blue eyes regarded them intently, alert and studious at once. A long bow was gripped in his left hand, and the hilt of a sword, sheathed and suspended from a baldric, poked up from his left side.

  “I am Gunther,” the man said in the way of introduction. “I am here with my Jaghuns … those creatures that you call … the beasts. You saw them destroy the Trogen warriors and their Harraks, who were out to slay you. Perhaps you will come to understand that my Jaghuns are your friends as well.”

  The man suddenly cupped his hands to his mouth and made a bird-like call, the sounds uncannily familiar to Lee as a realization dawned on him. He remembered hearing the distinctive calls more than once during their trek through the forest, discounting the sounds at the time as coming from simple denizens of the forest.

  He now understood that the man before him had been following them for quite some time. The notion was sobering, as Lee grasped that their own existence had depended on the woodsman’s judgement of them.

  Lee had witnessed the skill that the man had with the longbow. The woodsman could have picked off Lee and his companions one by one, with absolutely no difficulty, from the shadows of the forest.

  Four large forms suddenly came into view, as if manifesting out o
f shadow and brush. They trotted forward, continuing up to the man’s side. Lee and his companions were mesmerized at the sight of the beasts padding out of the foliage and into the open. The ease of Gunther’s posture with the beasts only slightly took the edge off of Lee’s renewed stress at watching the creatures emerge, their broad muzzles glistening with dark, crimson stains.

  Gunther seemed to sense their fascination with the Jaghuns, as well as their great apprehension. “The Jaghuns are my companions and friends. I have raised each of them from when they were cubs. They will do no harm to you, as long as I will it.”

  The implied warning was not lost on Lee.

  As he looked upon the huge woodsman, a look of concern then started to creep across Gunther’s face. His eyebrows narrowing together, the woodsman’s eyes cast about the woods, looking past Lee and his companions.

  “Mianta!” Gunther called out in a loud voice. His voice held a very noticeable anxiety, as he repeated the name once again. “Mianta!”

  A worrisome look encompassed the woodsman’s face, as he waited for some kind of response. Lee then remembered the fallen Jaghun that he had witnessed, the one that had suffered the back wound, and had subsequently been impaled with the arrow.

  The Jaghuns around the woodsman seemed to become distraught themselves at the woodsman’s escalating agitation, whining and slumping their heads, as their tails were tucked in. It was then that Lee fully discerned the nature of the situation, and he held his tongue.

  He did not want to be the one to bear the dire news, but his expression must have betrayed his misgivings. Gunther’s eyes bored into Lee, and he was unable to meet the woodsman’s troubled look, as his own gaze fell to the ground.

  “Where is Mianta? My other Jaghun?” Gunther asked, almost pleadingly, taking a couple of slow steps forward. He then queried Lee more pointedly, “Tell me now … what do you know?”