The Huntsman of Adamos (Quartet)- draft

CH FINDING THEM

Yuli led his mother down the trail at a full run; her hand resting lightly on his shoulder. His mother might be blind, but she was still a warrior at heart, and Lord Shadz had told him that during the war they had all trained to fight in total darkness, so being blind did not hamper her skill. Yuli had seen her sparing with the other veterans in Soldiers Cove when she wasn’t teaching him and their children how to use swords or tutoring them in school. Aunt Meara had taught him sword katas from when he could first walk but learning to use a bow felt more natural. It seemed perfectly normal to Yuli to be running toward the brigands with his blind mother, their wolfhound, and their giant gray warrior cat.

They found the bandits had surrounded a man holding his throat with one hand, and a broken bow in the other. There were three dead bandits beyond where he was kneeling. Yuli let his arrows fly as his mother and their pets attacked the thieves. The six living bandits were shocked by a woman wielding two swords. She looked like a ghost with her glowing white eyes and pale gray cloak in the blowing snow and cloud-waned moonlight. Twirling and slashing, she forced them away from the wounded traveler as her wolfhound mauled one.

Another almost caught her from behind, but she dropped suddenly to one knee and a pair of arrows flew over her head taking the brigand off his feet, only his armor saved him, then her cat clawed his face, tearing out an eye. He staggered to his feet and fled after the others. To the four who ran away, it seemed as though the boy had shouted at her by none of them had heard it. They considered themselves lucky to have escaped with their lives as they fled from the pursuing war-trained animals. They were desperate to escape before a whistle called off the growling canine and yowling feline.

Yuli and his mother knelt over the wounded traveler, he was dying. The snow around them was swirling bitterly cold, but they both knew the worst was yet to come. The boy leaned over him and pushed down the bloody scarf. The traveler’s blood covered hand was all that was holding the wound.

“Mom, his throat’s half-cut!” He held the man’s hand in place.

“Yuli, I need to see what you see.”

“But Mom, your headaches...”

“Are a small price to pay to help someone in need. I need to see, or he will be lost.” She declared as she pushed back her hood. “Be at peace, stranger, all will be well.”

Before he died, the traveler saw the face of the one he had sought for decades, the one he had loved for thousands of years. The Huntsman Yurieth had found his Oracle Daisy and his son at the moment of his death and he wasn’t sure he would revive this time.

Yurieth revived warm and comfortable, but his throat hurt, and it felt like he was being strangled. He realized he had only partially healed due to the dark enchantments on the weapons of those who had attacked him. He did not regret that he had left five of them forever dead. Reaching to his throat, he noticed his beard had been cut and his throat wrapped firmly. A hand caught his.

“Easy, traveler, the bandages are uncomfortable, but they must stay in place for a few days. I know they are tight; they need to remain so.” A gentle voice carried to him, then a dim light illuminated the dark room. Outside, he could hear the storm raging. On his feet, Fishlover purred encouragement. Across his body, he felt more wounds stitched and wrapped.

He blinked and tried to speak, “Wh-where?”

She shushed him, “Shh, don’t speak. Your voicebox was cut almost in half, as was the right side of your throat. We had to stitch the vessel before we carried you back or you would not have revived. You are very lucky to have lived. Now rest, I sent for the healers.” She splashed him with a sleeping potion.

He looked at her and as he blacked out, he whispered, “I found you...”

Fleur shook her head, she didn’t know if the traveler would survive the night. She had never seen someone so gravely wounded revived that she could remember, but she didn’t try very hard. She couldn’t have a seizure tonight, not when a man’s life required her to be vigilant. She was amazed at the strength of his magic and had no doubt he was a pure blood or a high blood. Only the healing factors and redundant physiology of the pure Aetherians made revival possible. The more human, the less the chance of healing and reviving; for mixed bloods it was a matter of percentages. She wondered how she knew this but when her head started to hurt, she forced herself to focus on the blanket she was quilting and hummed. Music helped her headaches. After she finished the square, she went into the kitchen and made herself some tea.

As she passed her son’s room, she could feel Yuli was asleep across his bed. Touching him, she realized he was still clothed, so she pulled his shirt and damp trousers off, putting on his sleeping pants and shirt, then tucked the covers around him. He was exhausted from sharing his sight with her and the exertion of getting home. She had looked through his eyes to see how to repair the traveler’s wounds. The poor, thin man had eight stab wounds besides the slice through his neck. He was fortunate the cut that sliced his voicebox had only nicked one of the large vessels in his neck, and clever because he had stuck his smallest finger in the cut to keep from bleeding out completely and ending up forever dead. She sewed his neck wound, then they had made two large limbs and his sleeping bundle into a litter.

Fang and Yuli had carried the front, while Fluer had carried the back. Fishlover had yowled like a lost soul until they got back to their stone house. Yuli had bravely stared at the other terrible wounds as she had sewn them closed. He sent Fang with the note for Cassie to the Healer’s Clinic in Lumberton while Fluer had washed away the blood and wrapped the wounds. Their giant cat had stretched out on the man as if trying to warm him, purring as loudly as it could, only moving to the foot of the bed when the traveler took his first breath after reviving. As Fleur began working on another square, she wondered at Fishlover’s affinity for the stranger. Whomever he was, her animals seemed to like him.

Hours later, Fang scratched at the door and she let him in. The wind was blowing harder and the snow had crusted his fur. Fleur praised him as she toweled him dry in front of the fireplace. In the dog’s pack was a note, a dozen potions, and a package of numbing tea by the smell. She scanned the document with her reader, waited for the surface to change, and then felt the lilting lines and curves with practiced fingertips.

’Miss Fleur, Veterans Lighthouse Keeper, Soldiers Cove,

My mother is attending a pregnancy delivery in Westfalls and is caught there through the storm. My father was summoned offworld. I have sent you all the medicine we have extra to speed his healing, and some special tea to numb his throat while he heals. I will send more when they are made. Please, carefully monitor his breathing. No solid food for the first ten-day depending on his healing rate, only broth, water, and the tea, then very soft foods as tolerated. I will send my mother as soon as she returns after the storm breaks if the weather permits her to travel.

Callie, Apprentice Healer, Lumberton Clinic.′

Fleur wanted to cry, she had hoped to keep the man alive until morning when help would come, but now she was on her own for who knew how many days or ten-days. She hoped her stitches were good enough. She had felt that he had a good heart and that he was searching for something. He had known great loss, but he seemed to happy to meet her. It was odd. She wondered how he would feel about not being able to talk, repairing his voicebox would require surgery, real surgery and not a blind woman with a sewing needle. If he healed too quickly, the chance to repair it would be lost. She went back to her guestroom but stopped at her son’s door, she was so proud of him. It comforted her to feel him sleeping. Fang collapsed next to Yuli’s bed and she bent to pat his head.

“You did very well, Fang. I promise I’ll make you bacon in the morning.” Fang lifted his head and licked her hand before laying back down, soon he was snoring.

Fleur went back to her quilting, humming an old song as the Southeaster blew against the blond granite walls and red slate roof. Her head was pounding as hard as the storm, but she dared not take anything, she had to stay awake and make sure the man did not touch his neck wound. As the late dawn broke, the storm worsened. Once again, she was silently grateful to the unknown soul who had built her sturdy house and the lighthouse above.

She dosed the man again, made breakfast, then went to check the lighthouse. She decided to leave the light on because of the violence of the storm. When she got back to the house Yuli was sitting at the table and she could hear Fang licking his bowl.

“Did he chew it?”

Yuli laughed. “I gave it to him one strip at a time... Mom, Fish won’t come down.”

Fleur shrugged. “He seems to like the stranger.”

“When can we talk to him?” Yuli asked around a mouthful of eggs.

“He just revived and was badly injured. He needs to sleep today because reviving is painful plus his injuries. Tomorrow, we will let him wa-wake.” She yawned. “How dark is it?”

“I don’t think it will get very light today, my weather sense says the storm will last three or four more days at its worst.” He tipped his head at her. “Why don’t you get some sleep, Mom? I’ll make sure he doesn’t touch his wounds... And Mom? There’s something weird about the cuts. They... they feel cold, or bad, or wrong?” Yuli scratched his head as he tried to figure out what he meant. He had never felt anything like it.

His mother sighed, she hated having to explain this to her son who wasn’t yet eighty. “Yuli, during the war, there were those who used cursed weapons. Blades that made cuts that would not heal without water of light. That is why I rinsed the wounds with my eyedrops, the main ingredients are water of light and pain-sooth leaf. Remember, when you find a wound like that, it won’t completely heal without water of light and it will always leave a scar.”

She held out her arms to him and held him closely. “I don’t want you to go to the woods without Fang. Those brigands aren’t just thieves, they intend to murder someone. The stranger only revived because he is a pure blood Aetherian with strong magic. If you encounter them, flee.”

“Yes, Mom.” He held his mother, then put the dishes in the sink. “I’ll watch the traveler while you sleep. Good night, Mom.”

“Wake me in four hours, and good morning, Yuli.”

She went to check on the man once more. She could feel him sleeping. Gently, her fingertips prodded his bandages. She could feel blood seeping into the cotton but there was nothing she could do to further his healing. Tomorrow, she would replace the bandages and use another bottle of her precious eyedrops. Her fingers ran over his face, remembering how he had looked through Yuli’s eyes, she wondered if she had known him before. There were so many she had forgotten. Going to her room, she took her medicine and fell into a dreamless sleep.

After keeping him asleep for the first day, Fleur only allowed him to wake enough to have some simple broth or numbing tea for the pain for three days. On the fifth day since he was attacked, he sat very still as she removed the stitches from his new scars. She had done an excellent job of stitching his wounds, and except for the ones on his neck and leg, most of the scars would be nearly invisible. Outside the storm still raged, but buried deep in his soul, the turmoil was worse.

She truly did not know him. She looked very different and yet the same as the last time he saw her; her eyes were still clouded white but more gray than lavender, her hair was pale and cut to shoulder length, but her skin had a healthy glow and her scars were almost invisible. She was completely blind, but she used her other senses and her magic to make up for it. He flinched as the last stitch came out of his neck.

“There. All done. Now for the formal introductions. As I told you, I’m Fleur, what I haven’t told I am Vinterfleur of the House of Valant, the keeper of Veterans’ Lighthouse in Soldiers Cove, but I also run a small free school and the Cat’s Soup, a fair weather café. This is my son, Yuli. Our cat, Fishlover, has been keeping your feet warm. Our dog, Fang, is in the other room so he doesn’t drool on you. Our pets seem to like you more than anyone they’ve met.”

“Yeah, they do.” Yuli laughed, “While you were asleep, Fang kept sneaking in to put his head on the bed and lick your hand.”

Rieth smiled, he swallowed painfully then croaked raspily, “I... am... Rieth... son of... Riles.” He started coughing violently.

“Easy, Reese. Just whisper, don’t try to use your voice.” Fleur mispronounced his name.

Rieth shook his head and immediately regretted the motion. “Not Reese, Rieth.”

“Reef?” Yuli asked.

Rieth pointed at his pack. Yuli handed it to him and he opened a hidden pocket, pulling out his identity paperwork. Yuli read the documents aloud. “Rieth, son of Riles, a master woodsmith... he’s a Relic Refugee, Mom, from Ancient Aetheria. Did you really escape the Cataclysm with the War Oracle?” Yuli sounded excited to meet someone who had survived such a dramatic event.

“You... know?” Rieth wheezed out.

Fluer nodded her head, revealing, “Every school child has learned about the dramatic event of the War Oracle returning from the ancient past with over a thousand Aetherians and Xelusians. No one knew why she went back to the ancient disaster, and she had died less than a year later from the overuse of her magic before she could tell the King. Every year there is a day of remembering on the anniversary of the arrival event on Aetheria . It must have been terrible. Did... did your family survive too?”

“On... only... me and... brother” He began to choke violently.

“No more trying to talk. We need to find a better way to communicate.” Fleur scowled as she held the cooled cup of numbing tea to his lips. He sipped then pressed her hand against his cheek and nodded.

Yuli snapped his fingers, “I know.” He ran down the hall and came back with tablet that was unlike any Rieth had seen. “Write here, then push this button and the surface will become raised so Mom can feel the letters. Or if you just write, I can read it, so it doesn’t use up the battery.”

‘I am a survivor of the Relic Escape. I came to the islands in search of red wood for a commission and to work the hardwood harvests. I was traveling to Lumberton but got lost in snow, then was attacked. I saw the light and ran this way. Your town is not on my map.’ Yuli read as Rieth wrote.

The boy grinned as his mother revealed, “Many of the smallest towns aren’t on the maps. Storms come and wipe them out, then they get moved. Westfalls has been moved twice since it was founded three hundred years ago. We are lucky that our cove is sheltered from the waves and that the founders built the jetties to protect it further when they built the lighthouse a century before the last war. We don’t even have comm towers in Soldiers Cove. Our town has only been here since the end of the last war, placed here so the lighthouse wouldn’t be the only thing here. It’s mostly disabled veterans and their families. We farm and fish but really, it is more for survivors to recover from the trauma of the war. Some get better and leave, some like me, choose to stay. We work together, take care of each other, we are like a big family. Soldiers Cove is a wonderful place to live, it’s peaceful here. I think you’ll like it.”

Rieth penned, ‘I am sure I will.’