Chapter 113

Shadows in the Forest

“It’s the one,” Daegan confirmed.

The full party were standing on the shore next to the two icerafts. Baroc was helping himself to a meal after scouting for the morning.

“Baroc saw the captives,” Daegan went on. Tanlor felt his shoulders knot together. He felt jittery. He needed to know that Rowan was still alive.

“How many prisoners?” Tanlor asked.

“He reckons ten,” Daegan replied. He had his journal open with a very detailled map of the region that he had been working on. Tanlor was always surprised how much of an area he managed to devise simply by asking people. Puck, Yaref and Tar had been the biggest sources for this one.

“So we’ve lost two already,” Yaref tutted, “we must hurry to save the rest, my friends, yes?”

“It’s time,” Daegan nodded, looking around at the anxious group.

For nearly two weeks, they’d trudged through the underbrush, taking out smaller camps of rakmen, all of which Daegan noted on his map. There was a synergy building to their group that was adding to their confidence, but this camp was far larger than any they’d attempted before. Baroc had reported at least three masked runewielder amongst the rak. The party looked worried, they were tired from days of searching and fighting. Tanlor had thought that the news that the camp had been found would give them all a surge of morale but instead, he saw only trepidation.

“What’s the plan then?” Ardy sneered, lounging on his iceraft like a bored lord. “You all go marching off into the woods again? Me and the old man twiddle our thumbs on the docks? How long do we wait, eh? Before we figure you’ve all been fed to the rak?”

“I’m going with them,” Yaref said, voice firm.

“And that ‘old man’ is less than half your age,” Daegan chimed in, lips curled in a smirk.

“Damn right,” Yaref shot back, his face set in hard lines. “Some of the men captured are my friends—Cru, Grest, Olin. Good lads, all of them. I won’t sit around while they get butchered out there.”

“Yaref’s right,” Daegan put in, “picture their faces. Etch them into your minds. These are our companions. We cannot let them die. I won’t have Rowan’s death on my conscience, not while I can do something about it. He came back for us,” Daegan locked his gaze on Tanlor, “when we needed him most. Rowan came back for us. I will never forget that.”

“Aye,” Puck spoke up, “Cru saved my life more times than I can remember. I ain’t never gon’ forget that.”

“This is more than repaying our debts to them,” Daegan continued, “this is about what’s doing what’s right. It’s about being good men, about not letting those fuckers win!”

Doing what’s right… being a good man. Rowan would’ve said that. Tanlor had watched Daegan and Rowan become friends, but he hadn’t realised just how much his brother had rubbed off on the man. They were an unlikely pairing but then again, there was a lot about Daegan that was unexpected.

“For Rowan,” Tanlor nodded.

“We can do this,” Daegan grabbed Tanlor’s shoulder and held his gaze, “you’re the hero here Tanlor. We’re all depending on you.” It had become clear over the previous days that Tanlor was the most skilled among them. He would be the vanguard of the battle they were facing. Tanlor would not shy away from the fight.

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“Baroc spotted three rakmen bearing masks in the camp,” Daegan revealed, “those are the runewielders, correct?”

“We’ll have to assume they’re as formidable as the ones we faced at Twin Garde,” Tanlor noted.

“Hopefully the dagger can help us there.”

“You’ve figured out it works then?”

“I think so,” but Daegan shook his head as he spoke, “but I can’t be sure, not until I test it.”

Tanlor felt that there was something highly unsettling about the bloodstone dagger. So far, none of the group—other than Daegan—were willing to even touch it, let alone wield it. Tanlor had only felt its effects for a second and that was more than he’d ever like to again.

“Same strategy as before?” Puck asked Daegan.

“Tried and tested,” Daegan grinned, “let’s get our friends back.”

The group dispersed and began making their own preparations for the battle ahead. Baroc’s report indicated that the rak camp was less than a half day’s trek into the forest. It was currently early morning so they would want to leave soon so that they could strike at the heart of midday when most of the rakmen would be resting.

“This will be a much bigger fight than we’ve faced before,” Tanlor said to Daegan. “I won’t sugar-coat this—the odds are not good on everyone surviving. There’s only six of us and over thirty of them, if Baroc’s count is accurate.”

“I hear you, what do you think of the plan?”

“We’re playing to our strengths, this tactic has served us well the past few days. Baroc and I will circle the camp, take out any scouts. Once we know the sentry positions we can make a coordinated attack.”

“Is it just me, or are we getting better?” Daegan asked.

“Surprisingly, we all make a good team,” Tanlor acknowledged, “Puck and Tar are far more skilled than I thought. Baroc is… well, a beast.”

“He is at that,” Daegan chuckled, “and you wanted to kill him.”

“I’m glad that we didn’t,” Tanlor conceded. Above all, Tanlor was most impressed by the change in Daegan. Something had snapped inside the man and he’d changed through and through. It was most noticeable after the attack on Twin Garde but now that Tanlor thought about it, it had been building for weeks before.

“Anything else?” Daegan asked.

“Nah, you just make sure to hang back with that revolver of yours, it’s taken the rakmen by surprise, given us a serious edge. Don’t try to enter the fray unless you absolutely have to.”

“I won’t,” Daegan agreed.

It was a strange dynamic that evolved between them. Somehow, Daegan had been positioned as the leader of the group, his decisiveness and motivation for finding the rak camp driving the group forward. Yet, Tanlor and Daegan had spent the past few months together with Tanlor leading them. Daegan had a lot more inherent authority in him due to his upbringing as a prince but the situation he’d found himself in had left him shaken and lost, Tanlor had needed to guide him. But now the man was coming into his own.

“Freeing the captives sooner will bulk our numbers too,” Tanlor considered, “I reckon they may need some immediate healing so I’ll forge a direct path for Yaref. I know you’ve never experienced a healing rush but it’s powerful, and could give the captives a good push of adrenaline to fight.”

“They won’t have long before they crash though, right?”

“It varies, depends on the level of healing done, yes? For some it might be an hour, others a few minutes, it is impossible to know.” Yaref called over from where he was strapping on his leather armour. “This is all assuming the patient is still conscious… they will experience a surge.”

“Will they be able to fight?” Daegan asked.

“They will feel like they can… but they shouldn’t. Bloodstone works by infusing healing power into one’s own edir. While their edir does this, the body is tricked into thinking it is fine, when it really is not… however…” Yaref seemed very reluctant to continue, “we will need all the fighters we can get in this battle, yes?”

“We will,” Tanlor responded.

“Then they may have little choice,” Yaref conceded, “and we will deal with the crash when it happens. You yourself were unconscious for—what was it? four days? After your healing crash back at Twin Garde?”

“Ah,” Daegan waved it off, “he was only out for three days. We can carry any that pass out after the fight, right? Anything that can give us the advantage in this battle, I’ll take.”