David Wells - Cursed Bones

Lucky nodded thoughtfully. “I assume she was injured rescuing Abigail.”

“Yes. I’m sorry, Lucky. You must have been worried sick about her. She and Anatoly are with Magda, along with a dragon named Ixabrax. They’re safe and well hidden but they don’t know what to do for her.”

“Is there any foliage around?”

Alexander nodded. “They’re in an evergreen forest just below the timberline.”

“Old Man’s Beard should be growing on some of the nearby trees,” Lucky said, looking around at the disorder of his workroom. “I’m afraid I don’t have a sample but perhaps Mason does. He’d like to see you, anyway.”

Lucky led him next door to Mason’s workroom. The wizard was sitting in front of the fire reading an ancient book.

He stood with a smile when Alexander and Lucky entered.

“Hello Alexander, or should I call you Lord Reishi?”

“Alexander, please. It’s good to see you, Mason.”

“You, as well. How can I be of service?”

“Do you happen to have a sample of Old Man’s Beard?” Lucky asked.

Mason nodded thoughtfully, looking this way and that for a moment before smiling and winding his way through the tables scattered haphazardly around his workroom and selecting a jar from one of his many shelves.

Alexander examined the strange-looking lichen. It was light green and stringy, almost like thick strands of hair.

“What do you do with it?”

“Crush it slightly, preserving the strands, then place it directly on the wound,” Lucky said. “Wrap a loose bandage around it and change the dressing morning and night, replacing the Old Man’s Beard with each changing.”

“How long before she starts to show signs of improvement?”

“That depends on the degree of infection, but probably just a few days,” Lucky said.

“Good, how’re you settling in here?”

“Well enough. Mason has provided me with ample space to work and the rest of the wizards are converting a nearby manor house for use as the guild house. Kelvin is there now.”

“I feel better knowing you’re both safely out of Phane’s reach.”

“I wish I could say the same about you and your sister,” Lucky said.

“We’ll manage. Is this place secure from prying eyes?”

“Quite,” Mason said. “In addition to the magic circles surrounding the valley and castle, this level is spelled to prevent scrying.”

“Yet I’m able to enter.”

“Yes, but you bear the Mark of Cedric,” Mason said. “This place exists to assist you, so you’re always welcome here.”

“I hope you’re right, Mason. Phane can see just as far as I can.”

“I assure you, he can’t see anywhere within this valley.”

“I was hoping that would be the case,” Alexander said. “It’s been good to see you both.” Alexander vanished from sight but followed Lucky back to his workshop, reappearing once his old mentor was alone.

“It’s time you started on your next project, Lucky.”

“Yes, of course,” Lucky said, closing the door and dropping the bar in place.

“Start by procuring the necessary ingredients to make a quart of aqua regia.”

“Aqua regia is a very potent acid and difficult to make,” Lucky said. “It will take some time to produce such a quantity.”

“I know, but it’s a necessary first step,” Alexander said. “I’ll check back when you’re ready to make it and let you know the next step.”

“Give my love to Abigail and Isabel.”

“I will,” Alexander said, fading from sight.

***

Abigail was pacing when Alexander reappeared.

“Any luck?”

“There’s a type of lichen growing near here that will help with the infection,” he said. “It’s not far … I can guide you to it.”

Abigail tossed her heavy, fur-lined cloak over her shoulders and picked up her bow.

“Don’t you think I should go instead?” Anatoly said.

“I’ll be fine,” Abigail said. “Besides, I need to get out of this cave or I’m going to go crazy and one of us should say with Magda.”

“Suit yourself, but don’t be too long.”

Abigail trudged through the deep snow in the general direction Alexander had shown her. The air was crisp and clean. The sun fell through the trees, creating a dazzling display of light and shadow on the forest floor. Alexander appeared again after a few minutes of walking.

“It’s up in that tree,” he said pointing, then fading from sight once again.

The snow was deep enough that reaching the ladder-like branches of the fir tree was easy, and climbing to the place where the stringy green lichen grew took only a minute or so. After gathering all she could find, Abigail straddled two branches and took in the scene through the fir boughs. The sparse forest stretched out below her like a patchwork quilt, small groves of trees interrupting the untrammeled snow for as far as she could see.

Movement in the distance caught her eye. Five, maybe six men were headed straight for the cave. Glancing back to the cave mouth, she saw a thin streamer of smoke escaping from the entrance and rising like a beacon into the sky.

“Are you still here, Alex?”

When he didn’t appear, Abigail climbed out of the tree and headed back to the cave as quickly as she could through the deep snow. Alexander reappeared a moment after she entered the cave.

“We have company,” she said.

“Six men, scouts from a larger force farther away,” Alexander said.

“How much larger?” Anatoly asked.

“Company-sized, but I didn’t see anything except soldiers … no drakini, no priests.”

“At least there’s that,” Abigail said, going to the fire and starting to prepare the Old Man’s Beard.

“How soon will they get here?” Anatoly asked.

“Probably an hour. The smoke from your fire gave you away,” Alexander said.

“We can take the six, especially if they don’t know what they’re up against,” Anatoly said, “but a company is something else altogether. Magda is still delirious. Even if this stuff works, it’ll be days before she can travel.”

Ixabrax sleepily opened one eye. “Let them come, I was starting to get hungry anyway.”

“I thought you didn’t want to help fight this war,” Alexander said.

“I don’t, but your sister and her sword remain the only way I know of to free my family. I’m not about to let a few hundred of Zuhl’s soldiers come between me and their freedom.”

“That evens the odds,” Anatoly said.

Ixabrax snorted. “More than even I would say. Dispatch the scouts and wake me when the rest of the enemy forces draw near.” With that he closed his eye and went back to sleep.

Abigail finished dressing Magda’s wound and then strapped on her quiver. “How do you want to do this?”

“Let them get close enough so none can escape,” Anatoly said.

“All right, let’s go find a good spot for an ambush.”

“They’re following the draw created by the hot spring’s runoff,” Alexander said.

“Good, more vegetation to hide behind,” Anatoly said.

They moved down the draw several hundred feet until they found a place with a boulder just to the side of the tiny little stream.

“I’ll wait behind the rock,” Anatoly said. “The draw is narrow enough right here to prevent them from surrounding me. You take a position on the far side, behind those bushes and target the last man in the squad. Attack when they reach the boulder.”

Abigail nodded and doubled back along the draw so she could circle around to her position on the high ground without leaving any footprints in the snow that might give her away.

The soldiers approached with less caution than was wise, given their quarry. They walked as if they felt no fear, as if the world was their hunting ground and no enemy or predator was their match. Abigail shook her head with disdain. Zuhl’s men were as arrogant as they were brutish, placing more stock in strength and size than prowess and strategy. She nocked an arrow and waited until the point man in the single file of soldiers was a step from the boulder where Anatoly waited, axe held high.