Victim of Fate Read online

  "Come no farther!" a voice called out, stopping him.

  Alto squinted in the shadows and saw the figure of a man standing in the room. As Alto's eyes adjusted, he saw the man held a spear in his hand. "We're here to help," Alto tried.

  The man stepped to the side and shifted his spear. "What was that stuff out there? Giant spiders, my wife said?"

  Alto saw how easy it would be to disarm the man. Not only was the spear wielder unfamiliar with the weapon, but he looked like he had no idea at all how to fight. Alto, on the other hand, had been training day in and out so he could learn better ways to handle himself in a battle. His experiences in the Northern Divide and Highpeak had taught him well that if he wanted to be a warrior who sought peace, then he needed to be ready and able to fight for it.

  "That was my friend. He's no spider; he's a wizard. His spell saved the baby from the wasp."

  "A wizard!"

  "Yes. His name is Kar. I'm Alto and the man beside me is Namitus. Tristam and Karthor are outside with the wizard. We're here to help; your man Baldwyn came to us."

  "You don't look like guards or soldiers?"

  "Evan?" Namitus asked.

  The man stiffened and raised the spear he'd been lowering back up. "How do you know my name?"

  "Baldwyn told us it was probably you with Geraldine," the rogue explained.

  Alto sheathed his sword before saying, "Please put that down. We're called the Blades of Leander. Your man came to us when he found the army was too busy with the troubles in the north."

  "We helped retake Highpeak in the spring," Namitus added.

  Tristam walked in behind them and looked around the room. "What's this then, just the three of you?"

  "We were telling him of what we've done and that we're here to help," Alto said.

  Tristam frowned. "Where's the girl?"

  Evan stiffened. "Hiding until I say otherwise."

  Tristam nodded. "You're a wise man. These boys will have you believe they've supped with the king himself if you let them. Mind you, we've been invited to dinner with the duke, but we were at a small table far from his."

  Evan let a chuckle slip. He picked his spear up and leaned it against the wall behind him. He called out over his shoulder, "Geraldine, it's okay."

  A moment later, a woman came out hugging her arms until she could stand behind Evan. "Where's Maxine?"

  "If Maxine is your baby, then Karthor and Kar are trying to get her down safely while your emissary clucks over them like a mother hen."

  "Your priest and your wizard?" Evan asked.

  Tristam glanced at Alto. "Yes, that'd be them. Care to tell us what happened here?"

  Evan and Geraldine looked at each other. Her eyes were pulled away by a shadow blocking the light at the door as Baldwyn entered, carrying the crying baby. She rushed over to her daughter, ignoring the possible threat of armed men. She grabbed Maxine up and smiled thankfully at Baldwyn.

  "You're all wet?" she asked, confused by the dripping infant.

  "It's just water they used to get her down. That spiderweb was sticky stuff!" Baldwyn answered.

  "Oh, well I'd best get her in something dry." Geraldine hurried deeper into the house, disappearing behind Evan.

  Baldwyn moved through their ranks in the increasingly crowded house so he could take Evan's hand and clap him on the shoulder. "Good to see you're okay! What of the others?"

  "Some were taken," Evan said in a hush. "Maybe all of them. It started with a few farms, but after you left, it grew worse. Those bees descended on us like a swarm! There must have been a hundred of them. Sent us running when we realized what they was. We locked ourselves up as best we could but they found ways in. We heard screaming and crying but as the days passed there was less of it. None of us went outside; that's why I think we're the only ones left."

  "Even..."

  Evan grimaced. "Farther out, away from the forest, they might not have had any problems. We've been trapped here."

  Baldwyn nodded. He turned as Kar and Karthor entered the room. "These men said they'd help. That man in the back, Karthor, he's a priest of Saint Leander. The lot of them fought in the battles to the north earlier this year."

  "How can five men hope to fight giant bees?"

  "Those weren't bees," Alto interrupted. "They were wasps."

  Everyone's attention shifted to the former farm boy. He cleared his throat and continued. "Small difference, I suppose, but a bee would sting once and die. Wasps can sting over and over again, plus they've got a nasty poison in their stinger. Giant-sized, I don't know what it would do. I once saw a boy stung a dozen times by normal wasps and it left him so sluggish and swollen he nearly died."

  "You're not making me feel any better about this," Namitus pointed out.

  "Sorry, just trying to help."

  "Stop helping," Tristam advised. "You say these things came from the west? From an enchanted forest?"

  Both men nodded.

  "All right, stay put then. We'll search the rest of your village and go from there. Take up that spear to protect that baby and your pretty wife, Evan."

  Evan nodded and grabbed the spear from where it rested against the wall.

  "I'm going to head to my farm," Baldwyn said. "It's to the east. I need to know if my family is safe."

  "Wait until we've secured the town," Tristam suggested. "Then I wish you the speed of the saints."

  Baldwyn offered a smile and then nodded acceptance of the delay. Tristam turned to the Blades and tilted his head back to the door. "Let's earn our keep."

  They filed out and gathered in the road away from the residue of Kar's spell. Tristam looked up and down the street at the handful of buildings. "There's not enough of us to split up so we'll go at it one place at a time. One thing, though," Tristam paused and turned to stare at Alto and Namitus. "This is not the time or place to be boasting about what we done. These people are a simple lot; they're scared and grieving. They're not children you can impress. They need to be reassured we can do what needs to be done, not that we've lain with nymphs or fought off an army of trolls and walked away to tell the tale."

  "We weren't—"

  Tristam held up a finger to stop Alto's protest. "Think before you talk, lad. You've good intentions but there's a lesson to learn here. It's not just making them feel good about themselves. I could care less about that; I'm talking about spreading good word about us. It'll come back to us one day if they share word of what a good job we done and how we were nice to boot. It'll get you more than just jobs down the road." He flashed a grin and added, "It brings the ladies in, too."

  "Alto hardly needs help with that." Namitus pointedly stared at the ribbon wrapped around Alto's arm.

  Alto glared at his friend. Aleena had seen them off, giving Alto the favor to tie about his arm for good luck and adding a kiss that still sent warmth to his cheeks days later.

  "Neither do you, from what I hear," Tristam added. He turned and gestured. "Let's get started then; not much to the lumber mill here so a quick check and then on from there."

  Alto and Tristam led the way into the mill. It was little more than a barn open at both ends. In the middle, a large saw was hooked up to a watermill for splitting and cutting logs. They found more evidence of wasps chewing on wood, but there was nothing beyond that of interest.

  It wasn't until they'd cleared two houses and the smithy that they saw any sign of the wasps. Namitus had been the first to come out of the smithy and glanced up when a shadow passed over him. He glanced up and threw himself back, but not before the five-inch stinger of the flying wasp jammed into the right side of his back.

  Namitus fell away and rolled back to his feet. He grabbed for his scimitar and pulled it free, only to send it flying as his fingers cramped up. Namitus stumbled, surprised by the agony spreading down his arm, and then had to throw himself back farther when the wasp tried to land on him and sting him again.

  Alto smashed it aside with his sword, hewing through the body of the wasp
and sending it into a twitching spiral on the ground. It spun in circles, legs reaching for something to right itself while its pincers sought out something to bite. Alto waited for the right moment and then kicked it into the wall of the smithy and hacked its head off while it lay stunned.

  Karthor had emerged from the blacksmith's shop and was stopping Namitus from trying to climb back to his feet. He rolled the part elven man over and frowned at the sight of blood on the back of his shirt.

  "You all right?" Alto asked his friend.

  "You ever been stung by a bee the size of your leg?" Namitus snapped at him.

  Alto grimaced at the rebuke. "Sorry," he muttered before turning to watch Karthor examine the wound.

  "Not much blood," Karthor admitted. "The poison swelled it shut."

  "That's good," Namitus said through teeth gritted against the pain.

  "Not really; bleeding would have forced more of the poison out."

  "Oh." Namitus bowed his head and tried to flex and relax his right hand. It remained twisted and contorted in spite of his efforts. Sweat broke out on his brow in spite of the cool weather.

  "Use your magic," Kar snapped.

  Karthor glanced up at him. "I can't heal what I don't understand," he badgered back. He returned to studying Namitus's injury and then admitted, "I don't have much experience dealing with poison."

  "Funny, me either," Namitus hissed back.

  "All right, let me see what I can do." Karthor placed his holy symbol against the puffy hole in Namitus's back and began to chant. The amulet began to glow and then the light faded from the pendant and merged into Namitus's wound.

  The rogue gasped and stiffened, and then began to shake. He grabbed his right arm with his left and pulled it tightly against his belly. Several seconds passed where the only sounds were Karthor's chanting and Namitus's labored gasps. They knew it was over when Namitus slumped forward and let out a moan. From the wound in his back, a mixture of blood and a clear fluid seeped out and ran down his back.

  "Hold still," Kar said as he swooped in and held a steel vial under the wound. He scooped up as much of the clear poison as he could and then pressed a wax stopper into the end of it. He rose and looked at the others. "What? This could prove to be valuable stuff! I've never seen a wasp this size, might be potent venom. Useful for potions or other magical spells."

  "I think I deserve a cut," Namitus breathed.

  "Nonsense, you already had a poke," Kar cackled. Namitus groaned.

  "Enough fooling around. Can you walk?" Tristam asked.

  "Yeah, my arm feels funny, though." Namitus stood slowly and waited until a bout of nausea passed. He brushed Karthor's supporting hand off and then picked up his sword.

  "Your arm will be weak for some time, I expect," Karthor said.

  Namitus grunted.

  "Should he wait here?" Alto asked, turning to Tristam.

  "I'll be fine," Namitus insisted.

  "Let's hurry up and finish this," Tristam said after nodding to Namitus. "And keep your wits about you. They can fly and that's probably where they'll come from when they do."

  "A hundred of them," Alto whispered, remembering what Evan had said.

  "A hundred seems like a lot," Kar reasoned. "Considering the size of these bugs, even that one seemed fearsome. Filling the sky would only take a dozen or two if they were close enough to you."

  Alto nodded, but still the man had claimed there were more.

  "Exaggeration is the tool man uses to justify their fears," Kar went on. "It's easier to accept a decision when we know it's inevitable. A hundred of those bugs would be unstoppable. Ten or twenty? Daunting and fearsome, but we've shown they can be killed. I expect we'll do better each time now that we know what to look for."

  "I just hope we don't have to do it a hundred more times," Tristam growled. "Now stop gabbing and let's search the next house."

  Kar thumbed his nose at Tristam when the man turned his back. Alto shook his head, trying not to smile, and hurried ahead to catch up with Tristam so they could enter the house first. They both wore chain mail and stood the best chance of surviving an attack, let alone fighting back against it.

  "Hey, what did one wasp say when another wasp asked him what he was doing?" Namitus asked.

  "What?" Karthor asked him, not understanding the question.

  "Buzz off!" Namitus said with a one-handed flourish.

  "I hope you get stung again," Kar muttered.

  Tristam silenced them all with a glare as they reached the house. He motioned to Alto. Alto nodded and threw the door open so Tristam could rush in to the building. Alto was hot on his heels, sword drawn in case another insect lay in wait for them. Instead, they found the house deserted.

  "A few more and then we'll set off for this forest," Tristam said when they'd finished searching.

  "We should probably leave it alone," Namitus suggested. "After all, it's really none of our beeswax."

  "I see the poison has damaged your sense of humor," Karthor said.

  Namitus grinned and followed them as they made their way to the general store. Bad jokes and poor timing were nothing new for his friend, but he worried that the rogue might be hurt worse than he let on. These jokes were even worse than usual!

  * * * *

  "What hope do they have?" Therion asked his captive. "One has been stung already and they've only faced two wasps. Hundreds remain! The season is nearly over but the new queen larva are beginning to hatch. The drones will be anxious to bring in fresh meat to feed the larvae."

  Rosalyn said nothing. She watched the mirror, hoping that the man with the bejeweled sword would find her and shut Therion up. If he couldn't do it, then she'd be forced to do whatever she had to in order to survive. Her town was all but destroyed. She hoped her family was all right still, but their farm was near the forest. The wasps would have found them first. They had a cellar; maybe they'd taken refuge there?

  "A pity the wasps will die off soon. The queen will die and they'll run out of food. Then the new queens being hatched now won't find other wasps to mate with. That's the problem of trying to improve nature; it's a balanced system and nothing we can create will be able to perpetuate itself." Therion turned to stare at her, his eyes dropping to admire her body. Rosalyn had long stopped caring about the indecency his eyes promised. "This is why we must make the most of our time while we are here, don't you think?"

  She knew he didn't expect Rosalyn to answer his question. Or maybe he did and she wasn't ready to answer it. Maybe that's what he was looking for, her to answer one of his questions that justified his cruelties and his existence. Maybe if she did, he'd accept her. Or he'd punish her. Rosalyn shivered in spite of herself. She hadn't been punished since she'd forgotten to address him properly. She didn't want to ruin the streak.

  "No? Pity. Perhaps you'll realize otherwise soon," Therion said. He turned away. "I must tend to some affairs. Enjoy the show. I'll want to know if I miss anything exciting."

  She stared at him as he walked away, wishing she knew just enough magic to send a dagger into his spine with her eyes. Maybe being a witch wouldn't be such a bad thing after all.

  Chapter 6

  "That peasant might have been better at counting than we thought," Tristam grumbled. He wiped the wasp gore off his sword and sheathed it. This was the fourth wasp that had attacked them as they followed the stream to the west, where it flowed through the forest the villagers feared so much. To their credit, each of the wasps had been headed east, towards them.

  "Evan," Alto said. "His name was Evan."

  "What?" Tristam asked, turning to glance at him.

  "That's his name, Evan."

  "I don't care," he pointed out.

  Alto furrowed his brow at the gruff attitude.

  "He's worried," Kar offered in a hushed voice to the young warrior.

  "No, you're right," Tristam said. "Details such as that will endear you to people. It spreads goodwill and good word for us. Out here it doesn't much matter;
they're little better than the crops they tend. Their gold will feed us as well as those same crops will."

  Alto scowled. "Why not just kill them and steal their goods?" All of the others turned to look at him in surprise in spite of his sarcastic tone.

  "A good question," Tristam admitted. "First, if you were like that I wouldn't have you as one of my men. Second, it does us no good to butcher the innocent. I'll take the chance of being paid time and again versus a single purse any time. Then there's the reputation and the threat of having a price on our heads. No, lad, we play the role of the good guys. It's both the safe and the smart way to get by."

  "I don't suppose these demonic wasps care much whether we're good or bad," Namitus muttered. He pointed with his good arm into the sky to the west. "Here comes another one."

  Tristam cursed and drew his sword. "We're making no progress with these damned wasps and the way this stream winds back and forth. Can't you do something, wizard?"

  "Smoke!" Alto said.

  "Where?" Tristam spoke but they all turned and looked about.

  "No, I mean I remember my father using smoke to pacify a bee's nest so he could move it away from our barn one year."

  "You're going to need to burn the entire forest," Namitus quipped.

  "Following this river does us no good. The hills are low but there are too many; we can't see very far," Kar mused. "Let's deal with this and climb a hill to see the lay of the land."

  Alto hopped off Sebas and readied his bow. The wasp had seen them and was closing fast. He drew back and let the arrow fly, missing the body but tearing through one of its wings. The wasp spiraled to the ground and thrashed about.

  "Fascinating," Kar observed. "Think about it: a normal wasp can fall quite a distance and not be harmed. These large variants fall harder and don't recover as well. I wonder why that is?"