The Kinmar (Knights of Aerioch) Read online

  "The Threefold Twins?"

  "One tale among many. Since then, our hand has rested softly on the mortal world. Mortal agents, working for the good of others because of who they are and not because we drive them, that has been our best tool."

  Pireth's gaze met Kreg's, met and held it. "We need you. We need your companion." He leaned forward and pressed his finger on Kreg's chest. "And we need you not blinded by rage, however justified, so that you end up getting killed for no good reason. We do not command. That is not our way. We do advise, and our advice is to try to put aside the thoughts of a poor, mutilated corpse. Instead think that for all the sadness of a life cut short, now, at least, she is happy."

  Kreg stared down the stream seeing Meritha in the distance, picking flowers but inside he saw the butchered body. It would not be so easy to follow Pireth's advice.

  "Also," Pireth said.

  Kreg turned back to Pireth.

  "Treva gave me these words for you." Pireth leaned forward, hands on thighs. "The beasts of the field are her domain. The demon has corrupted that in creating the kinmar and she is...displeased. The demon's taint remains strong on them but it is not their nature. Do what you must but remember that all things have their place. Treva bends her effort in that direction, but her hand, too, must rest lightly on the world."

  Pireth rose to his feet. "We try. That's all we can do." His voice rose. "Come, Meritha. It's time to go. Your parents wait."

  Meritha laughed and ran toward them. Pireth reached for her but she evaded his arm and came to Kreg instead. She held out the flowers. "For you, Your Grace."

  "Thank you, Meritha," Kreg said. "I will remember your name, always."

  Meritha smiled up at him. "See you soon, Your Grace."

  Kreg froze. Pireth swept Meritha up in his arms. "No more delays," he said.

  As they started to walk away, Pireth turned his head. "No prophesy, Kreg. We no more prophesy than we command. That was merely the misguided well-wishing of a young child. But, still, you are in grave danger. And I think it is time for you...to...wake...up."

  #

  Kreg groaned. Kaila turned from where she was using a leafy branch to obscure the trail leading from their fight to this small hollow where she had set up camp. Kreg’s eyes opened. They remained unfocused for a moment before his gaze settled on her.

  Kaila gave thanks again for her own size and strength, more than most men. Kreg, though slender, stood tall indeed and had Kaila been of a size with others she could never have borne him hither.

  “Welcome back, Your Grace,” she said with a smile.

  “What happened?”

  “We were ambushed by...”

  “I know that,” Kreg said. “After.”

  “The kinmar hurt you sore,” Kaila said. “I did what I could, but you lost much blood.

  “And so my wounds are not mortal, not this time,” Kreg said, his voice half a sigh.

  Kreg’s choice of phrase troubled Kaila. “I think not,” she said, “although for a space I feared much. I have done what healing I could.” She gave the trail one final swipe with the branch, then returned to sit next to Kreg. “How do you feel?”

  Kreg’s head fell back to the ground as he looked at the trees above. “To be honest? I hurt.” He lifted his head again and looked around. "Where are the horses?"

  "Yours fled when the kinmar attacked.” Kaila smiled. “Keven will be displeased at the loss of that horse, methinks.” She pointed in the direction from which she had been covering their trail. “Mine is over there, where we fought." She spread her arms, indicating the small hollow. "This was the best I could do for concealment. I dared carry you no further. The magic has never come easy to my hands. I held your broken ribs together while I carried you hither and dared not carry you farther."

  Kreg pressed a hand gently against his side. "You did well enough. I think it hurts less."

  "It will hurt more if you move and those bones shift, so stay still." Kaila thought for a moment. “Can you call the Knightbond? You always wielded magic better than I.”

  Kreg licked his lips then his brow furrowed in concentration. After a moment, his face relaxed. “Can’t. Too tired. Too much pain. I grab the power and it just slips away.”

  “So I thought,” Kaila said. “Rest."

  "We can't rest," Kreg said. "They'll be back." He waved a hand. "You may have covered your trail, but some of them hunt by scent, the cat certainly."

  Kaila smiled and picked up the branch by her side. "Jasmine. It grows wild hereabouts. It will mask our scent."

  "Come on, Kaila," Kreg said. "That won't fool them for long."

  "No," Kaila said. She picked up a sack, filled with rocks, and slung it over her shoulder. The jasmine she picked up in her other hand. "It will not need to long deceive them."

  "Kaila, what are you talking about?"

  "I have left food and water by your side.”

  “Left? Kaila...”

  "We cannot fight them here, just we two," Kaila said. "Had we stalked them, struck at lone individuals, attacked from ambush, then mayhap, but now? No. We would die for nothing."

  "Kaila!"

  "It is you, Kreg, who taught me that victory can be won by giving way before an opponent. That you can draw your opponent to reach, and reach further until with but a touch, you overset him and fall upon him when he is on the ground."

  "Kaila."

  “The kinmar will be back, Kreg,” she set the branch down and shouldered her pack. “I only wounded him. He will be back and he will not be alone. Even were the trail to this place better disguised than I could accomplish they would soon stumble upon this hollow. They would fall upon us, and slay us, unless they had reason to be elsewhere."

  She took three steps toward the rim of the hollow then turned to face Kreg. "So I will give them reason. They will find the pack from my horse spilled upon the ground. They will find the tracks of my horse leading away, bearing the weight of two riders. They will follow that trail, seeking me. And they will continue until I fall upon them, and kill them."

  #

  Kaila disappeared over the edge of the hollow. Kreg forced himself to his elbows. Pain flared in his side and in his leg. A single, strangled cry escaped from his lips as he pushed himself to a sitting position. Again, he reached for the power of the Knightbond. The power gathered in him. He could feel it. He pushed the power to his ribs, willing it to bind the broken ends together, to strengthen the support Kaila had already put in place. The power shattered, dissipating back into the formless web that bound him to the other Knights. Again, he called the power. This time it refused to come at his command.

  Kreg’s head sagged forward. He hurt. He wished the pain could fade to memory like it had in his dream. Between the pain and weakness from blood loss, he did not have the strength to control the power.

  Kreg felt where Kaila had bound his ribs. Despite her protestations, what Kaila did, she did well. The binding she placed on his ribs was secure. With his own control over the power of the Knightbond gone, he dared not attempt again to touch it, even to reinforce it, but it should hold if he did not try anything too strenuous.

  Yet somehow, he had to keep Kaila from facing the kinmar alone. Somehow.

  He shifted his weight to one hand and swung the other across to rest against the bole of the tree. That small movement made his breath come in short pants. He waited for it to settle, then drew his left leg up close, dislodging the blanket that Kaila had placed over him. He leaned against the tree and swung his other hand up so that both rested against the tree.

  He almost fell back to the ground as that simple movement exhausted him.

  Kreg leaned forward against the tree. The rough bark felt cool against his cheek. He gathered his strength and shoved himself upright. His leg quivered with the effort, but leaning heavily against the tree, he was able to force himself up until he was standing on his good leg.

  A wave of dizziness washed through Kreg. His vision dimmed. He clutched th
e tree to remain upright. When the dizziness passed, he pushed himself away from the tree, balancing on his good leg yet keeping one hand on the tree for support. He swayed, but remained standing.

  "So far, so good," Kreg whispered. One leg supported his weight, one hand on the tree steadied him. Now if he could coax his injured leg to carry him. He shifted his weight a fraction.

  Kreg could not fully suppress a scream as pain lanced through his leg. He collapsed to the ground. The binding Kaila had placed on his ribs shattered and the bone ends ground against each other. Every breath sending daggers of agony through his chest.

  Kreg huddled on the ground, sobbing silently.

  #

  Kaila's horse nibbled at the brush where she'd left him. Kaila tossed the branch of jasmine that she had been using to obscure her trail far back into the woods. If her plan worked, the kinmar would never find it. If it did not, it would not matter.

  The horse whickered softly at her approach and Kaila gathered up its reins and led him to where Kreg had fallen when struck by the kinmar.

  Various gouges, scuff marks and prints marred the ground where she had tended Kreg. Even knowing what had happened, she could not make sense of them. She walked back and forth over the area, scuffing her feet in the dirt. The result produced clear evidence that someone had deliberately obscured the sign but that did not matter. Only the most skilled of trackers would be able to beagle out more than that and the kinmar would not have skilled trackers. They would rely instead on those of their kind with a strong sense of smell: cats and wolves and bears. Maybe boars.

  She paused for a moment. Please, she thought, not boars.

  The sound of Kreg’s cry in the distance, even muffled by the forest, cut through her. She winced. She did not need to see to know what had happened. Kreg, no doubt, had tried to follow her. “I’m sorry, Kreg,” she said to herself. “It’s better this way.” She prayed that he would remain silent and hidden until the kinmar had picked up her trail and passed. He would know, surely, that he would serve no purpose in drawing their attention.

  She released the pack from her horse's hindquarters and let it fall to the ground. The pack burst open, scattering the gear within. Kaila ignored that and set the sack of rocks she had gathered across the horse's hindquarters. The sack weighed less then Kreg, but enough to give the impression of one horse carrying double.

  Her gaze swept the trees to either side as she lashed the sack into place. So far, they had been lucky. The cat-form kinmar either had far to go to return to his mates, or she had wounded it more sorely than she had believed. She could not count further on luck. She must be well away, with a clear trail behind her, before the kinmar returned to this spot.

  She reined the horse around. Back the way they came, she thought. Two people, one sore injured, what could be more natural than simple retreat?

  She twisted in her saddle and looked back at her handiwork. A hasty attempt to cover up what had befallen her companion, but with the scent of blood still in the ground. The pack spilled in panic as she rushed to get her companion on horseback. And then the flight away.

  A trot, she thought. Slower would not match the scene of flight. Faster would wind the horse too soon. A brisk trot, trying to reach help before the kinmar catch up and slaughter the pair.

  Now if only the kinmar agreed with her and did not look farther than the obvious.

  #

  Time passed. Somehow, Kreg had managed to pull himself back onto the bedding Kaila had spread for him. Once there, he could do more than curl under the blanket, his body shuddering with every breath.

  Eventually, the sound of voices raised in excitement cut through the woods. Kreg uncurled a bit to lift his head. The voices were still distant and unclear but they did not sound like either the Shendi tongue or Old Aeriochnon. Biting his lip to keep from shouting he slowly rolled onto his back. The broken ends of his ribs ground together, spiking him with pain. He lifted a hand and held it in front of his face, turning it from palm to back and then to palm again. Was it imagination, wishful thinking, or could he move a fraction more easily? Did he have just a little less pain with each breath?

  Once more he reached for the Knightbond. There it was, the power. A tiny spark only but he was holding it. Slowly, oh so slowly, lest he lose control of even that spark, he directed the power inward, toward his broken ribs. He gathered the threads of the binding he had broken in his attempt to walk and knit them together again. The spark dimmed as he spent power on that task. But it did not go out. With his ribs bound together once more, the pain of his breathing eased. A little, a very little, fragment of power remained in his grasp. He directed it at his leg, reinforcing the healing Kaila had placed there.

  Healing magic did not work like he had thought from the stories of his youth. He could not cast a spell and be restored to wholeness. No, he had to bind the broken pieces together like magical sutures, then support his body’s own healing, speeding it and bypassing the formation of scars.

  The process took time, time that he feared he did not have, not if he were going to be of any aid to Kaila.

  The voices faded as those speaking moved further into the distance. Kaila had succeeded, then, in drawing them off. They would follow her trail until...until what? He did not know what Kaila planned, if indeed she had a plan other than lead the kinmar away from Kreg.

  Kreg reached to the side. His hand fell on the waterskin Kaila had left behind. He drew it to him and raised it to his mouth, taking a long drink. He then stoppered it and reached for the sack of food.

  Yes, the pain had definitely retreated a fraction, Kreg thought as he chewed on a small wedge of cheese. The kinmar were hunting Kaila. If he could get back on his feet, then he would be hunting them, although not so recklessly as he had been before.

  #

  The kinmar were following her. Kaila looked back and tried to sort out the sounds of their cries. The kinmar possessed the power of human speech but often also retained their animal voices. She heard the lowing of cattle, the cry of a cat and...there. Was that the howl of a wolf? NO, not wolf. Coyote.

  She kicked the horse into a faster trot. Too many followed for her to fight alone and that only counted the ones with cries loud enough for her to hear over the distance.

  The sound of running water reached her ears. She turned the horse in its direction. A shallow, rapid brook cut through the forest floor. She directed the horse into it, letting it slow to a walk. Water splashed around the horse's hooves. Kaila urged the horse downstream, still at a walk. She hoped the water would disguise her trail for a time, slow down the pursuit, but not too much. She still needed the kinmar to follow her, but not too closely. She did not want to get caught; neither did she want to lose them. Finding the balance, that was the key.

  The horse reached a break in the foliage lining the stream. She guided the horse into it. As the horse passed through, Kaila slipped her left foot out of the stirrup and kicked at the shrubbery, tearing several of the leaves. She urged the horse back to a trot, bending its path back toward Three Oaks.

  A sudden rustle in the treetops drew Kaila's attention. She turned. With a loud rustle, a large branch in a nearby cork oak dipped, then lifted. Kaila spun, peering intently into the foliage.

  A creature clung to the branch, different from the cat form that had attacked Kreg. Vaguely man-shaped, the arms and legs were much shorter than human. The rear legs splayed out in a way that a human could not match. Smooth gray fur covered the creature. Its nose and jaw pulled forward and blended into a short, rounded snout. A belt and baldric combination held a short sword at its left hip. Kaila slowly reached for her bow. The creature pulled itself to a crouch. Kaila slid the bow out of its saddle scabbard and drew an arrow from he quiver.

  The creature looked from Kaila, to the sack of rocks fastened to her horse's hindquarters, then back to Kaila. "So," it hissed in the Shendi tongue.

  Kaila raised the bow, fitting arrow to string. The creature gathered itself. Kaila dre
w. The creature leaped, the branch bending under its weight then rebounding. Kaila's arrow went wide. She drew another as the creature landed in a juniper. Another arrow followed Kaila's first, this one nicking the creature in the shoulder. Kaila kicked her horse forward, guiding it with her knees as she drew another arrow.

  The creature leaped for an oak. Kaila let fly again, this time catching the creature through the upper arm. The creature ran along the branches of the oak then leaped for the next tree. Kaila let fly another arrow. Missed.

  The creature was gone. "No," Kaila said. It was gone and it knew that she was traveling alone, not with a wounded companion. If it reached the others of its kind, they too would know. And they could send some of their number back to search. And they would find Kreg. And Kreg, with his wounds, would be unable to fend them off. And he would die.

  #

  Over the course of several hours Kreg gathered power from the Knightbond in dribs and drabs, using it to reinforce the bindings on leg and ribs. In between surges of effort he sipped at the water and nibbled at the food. He finished both with surprising speed.

  In the end, he believed that the binding on both leg and ribs would hold against the effort he would have to expend. He could do nothing about the pain. That, he would just need to endure.

  Once again, leaning on the tree for support, he rose to his feet. With exaggerated care he shifted his weight to his injured leg. It held...just.

  Shifting his weight back, he extended his injured leg to the side. He bent his good leg to stoop and pick up his sword where Kaila had left it beside the bedding she had spread for him. He looked at the bedding itself. It would simply have to remain here. He needed every bit of energy he could retain, all of it.

  One leather boot still encased his left leg. His right was bare. He could do nothing about that.

  Bidding goodbye to the bedding, Kreg took a step. Pain flared through his leg but it held. He took another. Was it just wishful thinking or was the pain less? Another step.

  One step at a time, he reached the rise that marked the edge of the hollow in which Kaila had secreted him. His one attempt to breath deeply halted as pain stabbed into his side.