Kriki's Gift, Chapter XXIX, Reading 11

When the Valkea’s scouts had brought word of Carra’s presence on the road to her, she had known a surge of heady exhilaration for taking the woman and her servant would give her a supreme chance for vengeance.  What fools these idiots were to think it was safe to ride forth today.  Did they really think that they had closed the only entrance she had to her world?  Did they really believe that all her fighters had died defending the altar?  She snorted in contempt.  Today she would relieve the soldiers of such foolish arrogance!  When the woman and her escort came into range she knew her people would slaughter the soldiers and the two women would soon be within her hands.  Then she would celebrate her victory with a sacrificial offering to the Kwetwer.  She didn’t need an altar to carry out her sacrifice and again she snorted - the Rangers were fools to think they had neutralized her.  Today she would show them!  She licked her thin lips in anticipation of the gory revels that would follow the sacrifice.  The Kwetwer would be pleased.

The Valkea stood just inside a cave entrance high on the slope above the road.  This cave was one of her many sentry outposts and from here she had a commanding view of the area below.  Her eyes were not accustomed to the sunlight of the surface world so she wore a gray, gauzy veil over her face.  Some of her best fighters were standing next to her, awaiting her command to rush down to the road to join the battle.  She had already ordered her most skilled archers into position on the slope below the cave.  It was littered with talus and provided good cover for her people so they were unlikely to be spotted even without her shielding illusions.  With her powers protecting them, they were effectively invisible.  She always enjoyed casting forth her shields to hide things for it gave her a sense of superiority knowing the fools didn’t have a clue how to do this.  Woe to the soldiers and the witless women they were bringing within range of her grasp!

When she was satisfied with the state of her planned ambush, the Valkea turned her thoughts in the direction of the road and the Pass Gate.  Today the fools were going to learn that she was capable of doing far more than just shielding her fighters.  Projecting her dark thoughts into the minds of her enemies would distract them away from their duties and eventually drive them to the brink of madness.  She intended to weaken the men protecting the girl by destroying their ability to act.  They would ride helplessly into her ambush like so many cattle herded to the butcher’s axe.  They would be easy prey for her archers.

Projecting her thoughts westward, her mind eventually touched the presence of Carra and her people.  She couldn’t see them, but she felt them and started to slowly channel the power of the Kwetwer towards them.  It was important to be subtle for her control worked best when she kept her efforts below people’s perceptions.  Then, they wouldn’t realize what was happening and thus couldn’t defend against the lies poisoning their very thoughts.

Kriki's Gift, Chapter 29, Reading 10

His command spurred men into activity, but fear certainly added to the speed with which the men jumped to their tasks.  Minds and souls had been singed by the Valkea’s attack and no one wanted to linger here and chance a repeat of the experience.  Soon all those who had collapsed were loaded on to the wagons alongside the wounded.  The bodies of dead horses were pulled out of the way of the wagons and left on the side of the road.  There were several horses that had been wounded too severely to continue on – they would have to be left behind for others to care for once the battle was over.  Their riders joined the soldiers on the wagons.

As the men worked, Carra looked up the line to see if she could spot Darrine.  Since tall men surrounded her, it took her some effort to see around them to spot the watcher.  It was with a sense of relief that she finally saw Darrine mounted on Moonbeam.  Both appeared to have survived the attack unharmed.

Carra then glanced upward to the light on the ledge above.  The glow was steadily growing in intensity and was now painfully bright to gaze at.  Even so, she couldn’t keep her eyes from glancing at the light for just looking at it seemed to touch her soul in some mysterious fashion.  The dark and writhing horrors that had manifested in her thoughts were fading as if they were mere spots on the fabric of her soul and were being bleached by the intensity of the summer sun.  It was incredibly comforting to know that her beloved King and Queen were doing battle and apparently succeeding.

“My Lady, are you well?” Haxton asked again for he noted her expression was unfocused and distant.

“I am, Lieutenant,” she replied as she turned her eyes to him and gave him a small smile.

“We’ll be riding again shortly.  Are you ready?"

“I am,” she remarked and took a deep breath as she pulled her mind back into clear focus for she knew the danger of their position.  “It is well that we will be leaving as soon as possible for the Valkea’s fighters may be distracted at the moment, but that’s not going to last.  When the Valkea is destroyed they’re going to go insane with a thirst for revenge.  It would not do at all to be here when that happens.”

Haxton smiled and bowed his head to her.  “Well stated, my Lady.  You’ve summarized our position very clearly.”

She gave him a quick smile.

“Keep your wits about you, gentlemen for there are more fighters out there,” the captain shouted.

Although Carra and Haxton couldn’t really hear what Rodal was saying, it interrupted their low conversation.  They turned their attention to the front of the column.

“Move out – hand gallop,” the captain ordered.  The command was repeated several times as it was passed through the ranks so all heard it.

Carra was relieved they were leaving this horrid place at a gallop, even though part of her was curious to know what was going to happen.  Her common sense overrode her curiosity, however.  The ruse had worked and they’d successfully drawn out the Valkea so the King and Queen could destroy her.  She was proud that her suggestion had worked.  However, the Valkea’s soul searing assault had left her feeling shaken and a bit vulnerable and she wouldn’t feel safe until they were on the far side of Karlaz.

Kriki's Gift, Chapter 29, Reading 9

Just when she felt she couldn’t take any more of the punishing assault on her senses, the madness abruptly ended and she was suddenly freed of the nightmare.  It was like a door had slammed shut in her mind to keep the darkness out.  She gasped for air almost as if she’d been saved from drowning by being pulled from a dark and muddy quagmire.  She breathed heavily and tried her best not to even think about what had just happened to her.

“My Lady?” Haxton finally queried and he grasped her arm gently.  “Are you well?”  His voice was concerned, but strained as well for he was still battling the effects of the Valkea’s attack on his own sanity.

She pushed up and was glad for his supportive hold for she felt dizzy and disoriented.  When she turned to look at him, her attention was instead drawn to a blazing light far up on the slope.

“Look up there,” she called in astonished wonder.  “That has to be the Valkea.  I think the King and Queen must be attacking.  That’s why the horrible madness stopped.”

Haxton turned to look, as did the men around them.  High above the road was a rock ledge and perched on the ledge was an intensely bright circle of light.  It shimmered with such intensity that no one could look at it for long.  The lieutenant’s eyes drifted down and he suddenly saw what the Valkea had been shielding from them before with her dark deceptions.

The rocky slope below the ledge was filled with fighters.  Many were dead - having been killed by the storm of arrows the Rangers had sent their way.  The survivors stared up in stunned shock at the ledge above them for the Valkea had disappeared from sight behind the curtain of blazing light.  After a moment’s pause, they charged upward forgetting their attack on the Guardsmen below.  They had to go to the aid of their matriarch for she was the meaning behind their existence and must be saved at all cost.  As soon as they moved into the open, the Rangers shot them down with deadly accuracy for they now had a clear view of their foes.  Heedless of the fact that they were being massacred, the horde struggled upward with singular focus.  They had to save the Valkea.

The captain could see that the Valkea’s fighters were no longer concerned with his people and knew that this was their chance to get away.  They had done their job of drawing out the Valkea.  Now he needed to get Carra to safety.  “Let’s get out of here, fast,” he bellowed.  “Load up the wounded.  Push the dead horses out of the way so the wagons can pass.”

Rodal looked down the ranks to assess the damage done to his people.  Far down the line, he spotted Lieutenant Haxton for he was nearly a head taller than the men around him.  In the crush of riders, he glimpsed Carra and was pleased she was still astride the chestnut gelding.  She was safe for the moment, but that could change in an instant.  They needed to get away.  To remain in the vicinity of the Valkea and her horde was insanity.

Kriki's Gift, Chapter 29, Reading 8

Suddenly, a flight of arrows sliced through the air above them to blanket the landscape to the right of the road.  Rangers had taken up position on the steep and wooded slope north of the river and were plying the positions of the attackers with a steady rain of arrows.  They were using long bows so they had the carry to easily make their shots land on the slope across the river from their positions.  Rodal and his men still couldn’t see any of the Valkea’s people, but the pace of the attack slowed – presumably because the enemy was taking shelter from the Rangers’ ferocious counterattack.

Captain Rodal turned his horse out of the line of defenders to look at his men.  He could see that at least two of his men were down and he counted seven dead horses, not including Darrine and Kulm’s.  There were both men and horses numbering among the wounded.  “Those on the south side of the road - hold your positions,” he commanded.  He looked at several of the men perched on the wagons.  “Get our casualties loaded on the wagons.  We leave no one behind,” he yelled.

All of the men knew that the Valkea’s minions were cannibals and no man would leave a fellow Guardsmen behind to be so defiled.  Men started to jump from the wagons to help their wounded comrades and to load the bodies of the two men who had been killed.

The Rangers kept up an uninterrupted stream of arrows from their positions on the north side of the river.  Rodal continued to gaze up at the slope to see if he could spot what was happening.  It was obvious at this point that the Valkea was shielding her fighters from view.  Surely, some of the Rangers’ arrows were finding targets, but there were no cries of pain or other sounds coming from the Valkea’s people.  Perhaps she could disguise sounds as easily as she could sights.

The air was suddenly rent with an unearthly screech of outrage.  The scream was immediately followed by a roaring sound akin to a wind rushing towards them.  When the blast of energy reached them a vision of darkness exploded into everyone’s thoughts.  There was no hiding from this overwhelming sense of doom.  Some men staggered against the crushing will filling their minds with madness and held their hands to their ears in an ineffectual attempt to block out the insanity being forced into their thoughts.  Others became unmoving statues for they were powerless to do anything for their minds were so weighed down by the torment.  Eventually, several of the men were utterly overwhelmed by the Valkea’s mental assault and they lost consciousness and collapsed, falling off the wagons or from their saddles.

Carra leaned against Badger’s neck, buried her face in his mane, and hid beneath her shield.  Her thoughts were filled with writhing and twisted shadows of evil, things of darkness beyond the knowledge of human beings.  She couldn’t escape from this nightmare and wished she could faint or even die to escape this horror.