The Anialwch Connection
Chapter 16
When Donte and Kenyon met Celyn at Playa, she was excited that they were finally going to visit Nyumbani. Donte had a sense of foreboding that he couldn’t shake. He was glad that he and Celyn had spent the last year practicing, because in unfamiliar territory against an unknown force, they didn’t have time to learn.
Halisi had requested that he not see her or come near their son. If she didn’t want to see him, that was up to her, but she had no right to prevent him from seeing his son. All the same, he had agreed to her terms. This wasn’t about the three of them. There would be another time to protest the restraint against his son.
Shortly after they boarded the Nyumbani ship, it departed for home. Donte stood at the bow of the ship, watching the swell of the sea smash against the wooden hull. Rianne would enjoy this. He didn’t like leaving her behind. She had always wanted to visit Nyumbani. Maybe sometime…. It seemed like their life together had been full of maybes and sometimes. He had left her for three years to serve on the Moeder and since he had returned it seemed he was continually leaving her. Their one opportunity to travel had been ruined. Would it always be this way? Rianne was an understanding mate, but that wouldn’t last forever.
The trip across the sea was the shortest route to Nyumbani, taking less than a day to cross. The Nyumbani ships were fast, and the boatmen proficient in their trade. Donte walked the decks all day, impatient to get their mission started and completed so he could get back to Rianne and the children. Toward evening, he was at the bow again, waiting for sight of land when Celyn’s excited voice captured his attention.
“Donte! Look!”
Donte turned to see Celyn pointing a pod of pontoporiid traveling beside the boat. They occasionally leaped from the water and twisted before diving back in.
It was a sure sign that they were approaching land. Soon sea aves were flying over them. He was leaning on the rail when the vision caught him by surprise. He closed his eyes. Celyn could enjoy the vision with her eyes open, but he still experienced vertigo.
He was floating above the ship, looking down at the mast. The bow cut the water and made a V in the water behind the boat. He left the ship behind and headed for the harbor. For Celyn, it was all new, but to Donte, it brought painful memories. He left Celyn’s vision and opened his eyes to find Kenyon watching him.
“I wish I could share her visions.”
Donte nodded. “I wish you could too. Then I wouldn’t need to be here.”
Kenyon looked surprised. “I thought you wanted to come back.”
Donte grimaced. “Yes, with Rianne, and under more pleasant circumstances. I have a bad feeling about this trip.”
Kenyon watched him a moment. “It’s not too late to turn back.”
Donte shook his head. “They are depending on us.”
Together, they watched as the coastline became visible. Celyn joined them at the rail.
“I can hardly believe my eyes. I’m actually here…well, almost.”
Kenyon put an arm around her shoulders and leaned down to speak to her as he pointed at the mountains. “We’ll be riding to that area. They say it’s rough country. I haven’t seen it yet.”
They were finally getting along with each other. Kenyon seemed genuinely interested in her strange gift. Like Rianne, he wasn’t repulsed by it. In fact, it sounded like he would enjoy sharing it with her. Was it possible?
When they docked in Nyumbani, an escort waited for them with equines. Before they had the opportunity to adjust from the roll of the sea, they were feeling the sway of the equines underneath them. Donte was surprised and pleased to be greeted with enthusiasm by some of the men he had hunted with in the past. They grinned and patted him on the back as if he hadn’t been run out of the colony nearly naked six years ago. They followed the beach, avoiding the main colony to the south of them. He’d like to see how the colony looked now, but he wasn’t welcome there.
This was to be a fact-finding mission, not a search and destroy assignment. They were to establish the location and identity of the nomads. If the information on the terrain was accurate, a full militia would probably be needed to remove the raiders. The part that troubled Donte most was the idea that there could be innocent women and children in the group. They had to determine what they were facing.
The area they would be searching was about a day’s ride northeast of the main colony of Nyumbani. The majority of Nyumbani was tropical, but the vegetation changed quickly as they gained elevation. The scenery was stunning. Before them were rolling hills of grassland with occasional trees. Behind them were tropics and the sea. It was the perfect place to farm, and yet there was no indication that farms had ever been there. This was the area that the Nyumbani believed was haunted, but ghosts had not put arrows in Kafil’s men.
In the six years that Donte had lived in Nyumbani, he had lived southwest of the main colony. The area where they now traveled had been high enough that he had perceived it to be part of the mountain. He had not been allowed to go into the mountains – not until they exiled him.
They made camp the first night on a knoll. At night, the lights of Nyumbani were visible. It was comforting to know someone was out there.
In the morning, they broke camp and started inland. As they traveled, the grass gave way to rocky outcroppings. They were steadily climbing and the landscape around them gradually became more rugged. They could no longer see the colony of Nyumbani or the sea. By the time they camped that night, they were in the vicinity of where the raiders were believed to be. Donte took the first watch and Kenyon relieved him after midnight so he could get some sleep. They both had the advantage of enhanced night vision. The first night was quiet. It was possible they had not been detected yet.
They maintained the camp as base and moved about during the day. They saw nothing until the third day and wouldn’t have seen that if it had not been for Celyn. Donte was studying what looked like it could be a cave when he began receiving Celyn’s vision.
He was flying over a canyon when he saw a flash of light. He flew in that direction and discovered a small lake. Soaring higher, he followed a creek flowing through a ravine that led back to where they waited with the Nyumbani escort.
Donte opened his eyes and looked at Celyn. When Donte turned to Kenyon, he was watching them. Donte indicated the entrance of the ravine. “Water enters the ravine from a spring and runs down to a small lake. That could be their water source.” He hesitated, not sure if he should mention what he had been feeling. It was the first time he had felt that way and he didn’t know what to make of it. Still, they should be made aware. “I feel as if we are being watched. I can feel a presence, but I can’t pin it down to one spot.” He shook his head. “I don’t know.”
A slow smile spread over Kenyon’s lips and into his eyes. “You two are absolutely amazing.”
Donte looked at Celyn as he spoke to Kenyon. “Thank you.” He nodded toward a cliff. “That looks like it might be a cave up there. If it appears to them that we have not discovered their water supply, they may simply stay hidden during the day.”
Kenyon frowned. “Are you proposing that we go down there?”
Donte shook his head. “No, I’m proposing I come out here tonight.”
Kenyon studied the cliff. “We.”
“Someone needs to stay with Celyn.”
Celyn gave Donte a rebellious stare. “I will be with both of you.”
Donte opened his mouth to object, but Kenyon interrupted. “It might be a good idea. Strigiformes see at night.”
“We would need to move quietly.”
Celyn’s brows lifted. “Are you trying to say I don’t know how to be quiet?”
Kenyon chuckled. “I’m interested to see how you’re going to get out of this one, brother.”
Donte turned his equine. “Let’s get back to camp.”
Behind him, Celyn spoke to Kenyon. “When in doubt, shut your mouth.”
Kenyon chuckled again.
As they rode, the feeling that they were being watched dissipated. At that point there were rock formations between them and the area where he thought he spotted a cave. It was possible that they were being watched from the cave. If so, the group had given no indication that they suspected the cave entrance existed. Hopefully the raiders would go about their business tonight as they always did.
At dusk, Donte, Kenyon and Celyn left the camp on their equines. When they were close to the ravine, they tied their equines to brush and continued on foot. Donte led the way, with Celyn following him and Kenyon last. Several times Kenyon caught Celyn before she stepped on a dry limb.
They traveled slower with Celyn along, but they still made reasonable progress. They made it to the lake and circled it, searching for tracks. Donte found a faint trail and they followed it to the base of the cliff where Donte had thought he saw a cave. It took a while, but they finally found the trail leading up the cliff. Donte whispered for them to wait for him and climbed the trail, careful not to loosen pebbles that might fall and give away their presence. He was near the top when he began to hear voices. There were two Nyumbani guards posted at the entrance of the cave. Their discussion didn’t indicate alarm, so hopefully they had not seen the three. Their conversation also indicated they were the raiders.
He started back down the trail. He had discovered what they needed to know. As he reached the bottom of the trail, a full Luna rose over the trees, flooding the valley with light. They could not return the way they had arrived or the guards would see them. He put a finger to his lips indicating for Kenyon to remain silent. He gently placed his hand over Celyn’s mouth for an instant. He led them through a series of shadows until they had put some rock formations between them and the guards. When they were far enough that he was certain the guards could not hear, he whispered to Kenyon and Celyn.
“It is a cave and there are two guards. This is where the raiders are staying. Hopefully they don’t know we are here. We need to find another way back.
Not being able to see Donte’s eyes, Celyn touched his hand to make contact. Instantly he was flying above the ravine. He saw the three of them crouched behind a rock. He flew across a stretch of rocks and trees, following a narrow trail across a sheer cliff wall. The trail made a steep climb and came out near the equines.
“It’s a dangerous trail,” he whispered to Celyn.
“We can do it.”
They would have to do it, or be trapped in the valley. He led the way and they found the trail through the trees. A couple of tall rock formations sheltered them from the guards as they crossed the cliff trail. At one point they had to inch along with their backs to the cliff in order to continue. Finally, they came to the steep trail.
“Wait,” Donte said. “Let me check the trail.
He went up the trail a little way. It was steep, but it was solid. He went back down. “Follow me.”
The others followed him up the trail until they were in the trees. There they stopped for a rest. When they started out again, Celyn tripped over a rock and sent it plunging off the side of the cliff. Donte and Kenyon grabbed her so that she wouldn’t fall. From where they stood, they could see the guards. They were standing, looking their way. The guards wouldn’t be able to see anything, though, because they were in the shadow of the trees.
When the guards looked away, they continued the rest of the way up the cliff to their equines.
Kenyon let out a long sigh. “If I never travel another trail like that, it will be too soon.”
Donte laughed. “It was worse than I thought it would be.”
They mounted their equines and rode back to camp. It had been a hair-raising experience, but it had been a successful mission. They still didn’t know how many raiders there were, or if there were women and children, but they knew the location of their camp.
When they got back to camp, they discussed what they had found with the Nyumbani. The consensus was that the raiders would have to be drawn out. How that would be done was up to them. Donte, Kenyon and Celyn were going back in the morning. There was no point in staying.
Donte and Kenyon slept while the Nyumbani kept watch the rest of the night. In the morning they planned to leave after eating.
In the morning, Donte and Kenyon finished eating and got their equines ready. While they waited for the others to finish eating, they relaxed and enjoyed a hot drink. Celyn walked a short distance from them and sat on the ground, gazing at the rock structures around them.
Kenyon placed one foot on a rock, his elbow on one knee while he drank from his cup. His gaze drifted to Celyn. It was obvious that he was fascinated with her. They were getting along now and Celyn seemed to enjoy his company. She had wanted to travel for years. In spite of the problems, she seemed to enjoy the trips.
“I wish I could do what she does – or connect with her the way you do.”
“Maybe she’ll learn to transfer her visions to others the way she does me.”
Kenyon looked at him. “Do you think that’s possible?”
Donte grinned. “It doesn’t seem possible that she could control the visions, but she does. I didn’t think she could transfer them to me, but she did. Who knows what she is capable of?”
Kenyon nodded, his gaze going back to Celyn. “Maybe if I keep trying….”
Donte gradually became aware of a presence that had nothing to do with the men in the camp. He lowered his cup and studied the rock structures around them. Once again, he couldn’t get a fix on exactly where the men were. He had assumed the cave had obstructed his ability, but maybe the rock structures were the cause.
Kenyon straightened and looked at Donte, apparently alerted by his actions.
Donte had an intense feeling of alarm and turned. A whisper of movement was followed by a searing pain in his side. He glanced down to see something pushing his shirt out. In that area, a red stain began to grow. He looked up at Kenyon, a cold feeling flowing over his body. “This isn’t good,” he said in a voice too calm to be his.
A musket fired and the camp became a battleground. Kenyon grabbed Donte and called to Celyn. He half lifted, half dragged Donte behind some rocks and set him on the ground.
The battle ended as suddenly as it had begun and the Nyumbani escort began to gather around them. Kenyon began giving orders in a methodical way.
“Celyn, get some bandages.” He began unbuttoning Donte’s shirt. “Help me get your shirt off, Donte. Can you sit up?”
Donte tried to sit up, but he felt weak and cold. “I’ll try.” His tongue felt like it was too big for his mouth.
Kenyon began ripping his shirt. “Take it easy, brother.” He looked at one of the men. “Can you give me a hand here?”
Hands leaned Donte forward and back as Kenyon removed his shirt. Kenyon’s voice was controlled. “Heat this knife blade. I’ll need to cut the skin so we can get the arrow all the way through.”
Donte groaned. “I’m going to be sick.” They leaned him to the side and he lost his morning meal. Someone wiped his mouth and when he looked up, Celyn was standing over him. Her face was pale and her eyes were open wide.
“Hold him like that,” Kenyon said and leaned over Donte.
Something snapped behind him and pain shot through his back and side.
“Where’s that knife?” Someone handed something to Kenyon and he turned to Donte. “Lean him back.”
Donte watched as Kenyon sliced the skin across an object protruding from his stomach. Blood sprayed out, revealing a gray arrow head.
“This is going to hurt, Donte. But it has to come out of there.”
Kenyon gripped the gray arrow head and jerked hard once. A long bloody shaft followed the gray tip. Donte gasped as agonizing pain gripped his entire side. Little black spots impaired his vision.
“Hand me that rag,” Kenyon’s voice was grim as he put a ball of cloth on the entrance and exit wounds. He bound them to Donte’s chest with a long scrap of material, ripped and tied it on. He looked at the others. “When I get on my equine, I want some of you to hand him up to me. I’ve got to get him to your hospital as fast as I can.”
Donte was not fully conscious when the men handed him up to Kenyon, but that was the last thing he knew before he passed out.
Soft Science Fiction
