Hyden Hawk Skyler finally got hold of himself. He jogged down from the hill he was on and reached out to shake Lord Gregory’s hand. He gave Oarly and Phen big hugs in turn.
“Sorry, Phen,” he said, holding back a laugh. “But it is funny.”
“I didn’t laugh at you when Oarly had you shitting fire,” Phen shot back harshly, but the way he hugged Hyden gave little room to doubt the love he felt for him.
“Aye,” Hyden said, losing his grin for an instant. “Who is she?”
“This is the Lady Telgra,” Phen said, feeling rude for not making the introduction already. “Lady Telgra, this is Sir Hyden Hawk Skyler.”
“Just Hyden, lady,” he replied, with a slightly strained look on his hawkish face. He was about to ask why she was here. His people had no love for the elves. He personally had no problem with them. One of the bravest beings he'd ever known was an elf. Phen saved him from asking the awkward question, though.
“Telgra has lost her memory.” Phen took her hand as he spoke. “She needs the Leif Repline fountain as badly as Talon and I do.”
Hyden immediately noticed the way Phen spoke of her. After a glance at Lord Gregory, and a quick seeing spell that no one noticed, he bowed to her with a smile.
“You may have to suffer my people’s dislike of your race,” he said honestly. “But you are safe here among us. We won't harm you.”
She batted her wild yellow eyes at him nervously and forced a smile. “Thank you.”
“You could have gotten that boy killed, Sir Hyden Hawk,” Lieutenant Welch said nervously.
“Oh, I doubt it,” Hyden grinned. “You and the boy reacted quickly enough, but not that quickly. A real attack on this group at that moment would have ended all of you, save for Phen and Oarly.” Hyden glanced again at Telgra then added, “The lady, and the Lion, would have probably made it, too.”
“What?” the lieutenant snapped, looking at Lord Gregory for support.
The Lion Lord just shrugged.
“My blade could have easily been in that boy’s flesh. It would have, had I not seen it was a boy and not some wild creature.”
“I’m not trying to offend you…” Hyden looked at the man’s collar to see what rank he held. “…Lieutenant. I’m just telling you the facts. Your whole party was surrounded by my clansfolk. If we had meant you harm, you would have been porcupined before your sword came free.”
Lieutenant Welch’s face turned red, but he gave a curt nod. “Point taken,” he said. “Still, even with arrows in me, your man could have felt my blade, had I not seen two horsehide boots sticking out of that hairy thing.”
Hyden extended the man's sword to him hilt first, as if he were reaching to shake the lieutenant’s hand. “Hyden Skyler,” he introduced himself.
“Lieutenant Buxter Welch,” the lieutenant replied. He reached his hand toward Hyden and saw that his sword was being handed back to him. Lieutenant Welch froze in dismay. It was clear he didn’t understand why he didn’t have his own sword anymore.
“I assure you, Lieutenant Welch, my cousin was safe from your blade.”
“Wow!” Phen said. “How did you do that, Hyden?”
“It’s a variation of that spell that sent Oarly’s boot off into the Nethers,” he said. “You’ll be surprised at what I’ve learned. Watch this.”
A cloud of roiling smoke and a shower of sparks enveloped Hyden. The display was accompanied by a loud, crackling pop. When the smoke cleared, the space where Hyden had been was empty.
Two of the horses whinnied in surprise. Phen turned at the tap on his shoulder and found Hyden Hawk standing behind him, grinning ear to ear.
“You’ve got to teach me that,” Phen said excitedly. After a moment he blurted out proudly, “Me and Oarly went back into the Serpent’s Eye. We got the emerald out of the sea cave, but Oarly lost it in the marshes.”
Hyden glared at Oarly. “By the Goddess, Phen, why would you let Oarly carry the Earth Stone?”
Oarly looked at the two of them and waved them off. “Bah!” he grunted, and stalked over to where Lord Gregory was speaking to one of Hyden’s cousins.
“No pockets,” Phen said, patting the stony robe that covered his body. “I mapped where he left it, at least.”
“You still have my medallion, I see,” Hyden said.
“Do you want it back?”
“Not yet,” Hyden answered seriously. “I think that, since you had it on when you were petrified, you should wear it until you go into the fountain pool.” He gave Phen a pat on the shoulder and stepped away.
“Shaloo, Little Con,” Hyden called out. “Round everybody up. There are three wagons to unload back at the edge of the basin.”
Hyden turned to Lieutenant Welch. “All they need is one of your men to lead them to the wagons. They’ll pack the stuff back.”
“They’ll need some horses too,” Lieutenant Welch said. “The dwarf has kegs, and Phen has trunks full of books.”
“There are several trunks full of gifts, as well,” Lord Gregory called from where he and Tylen were standing. “Tell the boys not to peek.”
“I’ll go with them, Hyden,” Tylen said. Tylen was on the council of elders now, and the boys would obey him with no question. Hyden smiled. “Don’t you be peeking, either, Tylen,” he joked.
After they'd gone, Lord Gregory led his horse over to the others. “Lady Telgra,” he said, “you should probably stay close to me when we get to the village. The clansfolk know me and will accept your presence more easily if you are seen with someone they trust.”
“Yes, Lord Lion,” she answered, looking nervous.
“How could you know that we brought three wagons?” Lieutenant Welch asked Hyden.
“I’ve watched your approach since you stopped at the Summer’s Day Spire,” he replied.
From above, Talon gave out a loud, shrieking call of explanation. The sound of his familiar reminded Hyden of something and he began searching the ground all around them. With alarm in his voice he asked, “Phen, where is Spike?”
“He’s in an aerated trunk on one of the wagons,” Phen sighed. “Oarly killed a wildcat on the road and Spike still wants to exact feline revenge or something. I didn’t have a choice.”
“You should have put Oarly in the trunk,” Hyden said with a shake of his head.
“Phen and that fargin lad Jicks toted me off into the hills while I was sleeping, then they set a wildcat on me,” Oarly said.
“Was he snoring?” Hyden grinned at Phen and the boy laughed.
“It’s not funny, Hyden.” Oarly strode up and pointed at the sky accusingly. “That fargin wildcat nearly killed me.”
Hyden laughed at his friends as he spun away. “Come on,” he called back over his shoulder. “We’re still a good ways off.”
He led them through a series of shallow valleys, then over a rocky ridge that was high enough for them to see the vast expanse of gray and white that was the Giant Mountains. A blast of icy wind whipped at them as they started down the other side. No one said a word. The sharpness and cloud-shrouded emptiness of the mountain range they would be crossing in the spring left them awestruck. All of them found that they were intimidated.
“Bah!” Oarly grumbled as he scurried deftly around a large pile of broken rock. “It’s fargin cold as a witch’s nipples.”
“You sound like Mikahl,” Hyden laughed. “Excuse me… I mean High King Mikahl. He whined like a hungry coyote about how cold it was the whole way on our journey to meet King Aldar.”
“That’s why he’s the king and you’re not,” Oarly barked. “He’s got enough sense to know when it’s cold outside.”
“You’ll live, Oarly,” Hyden said. “I’ve got shagmar cloaks waiting for all of you at the village. There should be a big kettle of stew on, as well.”
“A flask of stout and a bowl of steamy stew.” Oarly gazed dreamily at the sky as he spoke. “What more could a dwarf ask for?”
“You could ask for a hot, scented bath,” Phen said with a chuckle. “Or maybe clothes that don’t smell like goat piss, or a trim of that shrub on your head. There are still scales from the serpent tangled in your hair and probably more than one of those fruit bees.”
Oarly stared at Phen while he hurried up to Hyden’s side. “I cut that blasted serpent in half,” Oarly said. “You should have seen the front end slither down into its hole.”
“He cut off the tip of its tail,” Phen laughed.
Oarly stopped and turned, his face red with anger. “Now listen here, lad, I’ll not be the butt of all your jokes on this fargin journey. I cut right through that serpent with me axe. You seen it. I’m getting tired of… of…” Oarly stopped. There was a loud buzzing in his hair. “Don’t do it, lad!” he warned, but it was too late. Already a cloud of angry bees were swarming out and stinging the dwarf.
“Ah… Phen… stop it, lad…” Oarly yelped as he skipped around and batted at the angry insects. “Help me, Hyden, it fargin stings.”
“After the tricks you played on all of us?” Hyden laughed hysterically as Oarly spun and whirled his arms around. “How could you dare complain or ask me for help?”
Phen stopped laughing long enough to end the spell.
“Bah!” Oarly growled when the bees disappeared. He went stalking away from them.
“Are they always like little boys?” Telgra asked Lord Gregory.
“Aye, they are,” he answered through his grin.
“I see I’m in for a long journey,” Lieutenant Welch commented. “I’ll have to learn to ignore them so I can stay alert.”
“I promise you, Lieutenant,” the Lion Lord said with a look that showed he meant it, “when there are teeth and steel clashing around you, and the blood is flying, there is no better company to be in. From what the High King has told me, they will be jesting in the heat of it.”
The lieutenant looked at the imposing mountain range ahead of them. “Out there, in all of that, I don’t think there will be much to laugh about.” He spoke more to himself than anybody else. “Fools of the highest order, that’s what King Mikahl called them.”
“Exactly,” Lord Gregory said.
“Did you bring my bow, Phen?” Hyden asked.
“Aye. King Mikahl went after it himself. It’s in the hard case along with the texts you requested.”
“Did you find the ones I wanted?”
“And then some.” Phen replied.
Hyden waited until Lord Gregory was talking to Lady Telgra, then asked Phen softly, “Do her people know where she is?”
“No. She wrote a message and I sent riders to leave it in Vaegon’s Glade. It said that she was well.” Phen shrugged. “She doesn’t know who she is, Hyden. She didn’t even know who to send the message to.”
“To the Queen Mother, I’d guess,” Hyden mused aloud.
“How would you know?”
“Who else would you send a message to, if you were an elf and you didn’t know who you were?”
“Aye,” Phen agreed.
“Thank the goddess that Old Condlin took the place of Eldest,” Hyden said. “If my father had been chosen, then Telgra would be in for a long winter.” After a moment, Hyden changed the subject.
“Lord Gregory,” he called back over his shoulder. He had stopped on another ridge. This one was smoother and covered with clumps of green grass still fighting to survive, despite the coming season. Beyond them lay a shallow, rounded valley where more patches of the persistent foliage defied winter. When Lord Gregory, Lady Telgra, and the lieutenant caught up, Hyden pointed down into the valley. “Lord Lion, do you remember this place?”
“Is it where the hellcat set upon us and took Vaegon’s eye?”
“No,” Hyden forced a smile. “That valley is half a mile away.” He looked at the Lion Lord and then the others. “This is where you landed when you fell from its claws, after it carried you off.”
“By Doon,” Oarly said from behind them. “Set a hellcat on me and see what happens to it.”
“Aye.” Lord Gregory smiled down at the dwarf. “I wish you’d been there, Master Oarly. Vaegon lost an eye, and I nearly lost my life.”
“You did lose your life, to hear my mother speak of it,” said Hyden. “She told me you were a swollen lump until midwinter.”
The Lion Lord nodded. “I owe your family much.”
“They are excited to see you again,” Hyden said. “My grandfather thought highly of you. My father, too. They say that the heart of a true lion beats in your chest.”
“Enough already,” Oarly cut in. “Enough reminiscing. Let’s get some of that stew.”
For once, no one argued with him.
Another blast of wind hit them. This time it didn’t seem to pass. For a long while, as Hyden led them in and around the foothills, it pushed at their faces and hissed across the roughening terrain.
“Look, Phen,” Telgra yipped with delight. “It’s snowing.”
Phen looked up to see that it was. Tiny flakes were blowing at them on the wind.
“Just what we need,” Oarly grumbled.
“You haven’t seen anything yet, Oarly,” Hyden laughed. “We’ll see ten feet of it before winter is over.”
“TEN FEET!” the dwarf exclaimed. He looked from face to face to see if Hyden was teasing him or not. It was clear that he wished he was being jested with again. “I’ll be riding on Phen’s shoulders if we’re going to be out in that kind of mess.”
“That’s too close to the surface, Oarly,” said Phen. “That’s where the snow worms will be hunting.”
“Bah!” Oarly said, still waiting for someone to crack a smile and reveal the joke. No one did.
“I’ll be in one of them rabbit holes your folk live in, Hyden,” Oarly said. “I’ll not be roaming around in the snow.”
“When the snow is ten feet deep, we tunnel through it to get from burrow to burrow. You’ll see.”
“What about the snow worms?”
“You cut a giant sea serpent in half, Oarly. What is so scary about some snow worms?”
Oarly didn’t answer, but his scowl was priceless.
They rounded another set of hills, topped a rise, and then started down into a deep, bowl-shaped valley. They were halfway through it when Lieutenant Welch realized they were already in the well-hidden village of the Skyler Clan. Phen saw it plainly on the man’s face.
Only a tiny gray trickle of smoke spiraling up into the sky from a hilltop, and a concealed tunnel-way, could be detected.
Everyone was startled when a man and woman, both near to Lord Gregory’s age, came right out of a hillside and started toward them. After that, dozens of faces began to peer out from hidden shafts and crannies. Phen was surprised to see so many dozens of people there, and all of them with the same long, dark hair and tan skin as Hyden Hawk. Even the girls looked the same.
“An elf?” Harrap Skyler scowled as he took Lord Gregory’s hand.
“Be kind, father,” Hyden said, showing a little unease.
“Yes, Harrap, be kind,” Hyden’s mother told her mate. “If you act like an old goat, I’ll have Hyden turn you into one.”
The tense moment passed. “So far so good,” Hyden muttered to Phen.
Phen realized that he had never once seen Hyden show such open uncertainty until that moment. He pondered the idea as the snow falling around them changed from a light dust into fat fluffy flakes. In just a matter of minutes the entire valley was covered in a thick blanket of white.