The Druid and the Igniad Ch. 06

Gern mustered his faith and uttered a prayer, gesticulating with his hands in an upward, sweeping motion. Vines of tangled vetch sprang out of the ground and snagged around the nearest assassin's boots, tripping him. The warriors who had been telling erotic stories around a nearby campfire looked up.

"Take him!" Gern commanded as he and Lu leapt over the tripped man, who was further entangled with flowering herbaceous vines. The man tried to get up, then saw that the warriors around him were unsheathing their weapons.

Gern and Lu were gaining on the last remaining man, who was nearing the edge of the army camp. Cradling the child in one arm, he flitted a hand to his belt and yanked on a string attached to a firm leather satchel. Stinging alchemical smoke vented out of perforations in the satchel, and both Lu and Gern struggled to keep sight of him.

"Look out!" Gern exclaimed, and he jumped to one side, but Lu couldn't see what he was avoiding. Stabbing pain shot up from her foot, and she missed her next step. She crashed into the ground, and tumbled haphazardly to a sliding stop. Gern tore the grass with his feet as he halted his pursuit, looking back to Lu.

"Don't stop!" Lu protested desperately. She looked behind her, and saw sharp iron caltrops littering the ground. Lu started pulling the barbed saboteurs from her skin, and Gern resumed the chase. He made it another league, the kidnapper just within his sight, when, breathless, he stumbled to a stop. The kidnapper disappeared into the night behind advancing formations of black-tattooed warriors. He would surely die if he tried to fight his way through them, and Lu was in no condition to fight so many. Gern hesitated, choked down a sob as he realized his failure, then turned around and ran back the way he had come. He found Lu running towards him on a bloody foot.

"Where's Awen?!" She demanded, tears in her eyes.

"Evalyn is about to attack," Gern explained, his voice betraying his grief. "They are too many."

"Where's Awen?!" Lu repeated, continuing that direction. Gern stopped her, holding her from running headlong into the advancing army.

"We'll get her back," Gern affirmed, a new weight to his tone, "but we must prepare our warriors for battle. Quickly!"

"Awen!" Lu cried, reluctantly letting Gern throw her over his shoulder. "Gaia help me! Please!" She felt cold, and then noticed a sting in her blood. She knew then that the caltrops had been poisoned.

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Arkis caught up to them, and Gern informed him of the impending attack. They raised the alarm as they made their way back through the army camp outside the village, and together they carried Lu to the Great Hall, just as Opal arrived from the springs. Nualla and Ongus from the council of elders motioned for Lu to lay down on a table between them. She felt herself getting weaker by the minute, and she rolled onto the oaken table.

The moonlight shone down on them all, for the Great Hall was without a roof. Thousands of spears had been used to make the rafters, and it had all been disassembled and distributed to arm their coalition.

"Bloodthorn poison," Arkis stated, examining Lu's wounded foot. "It will not kill her, but it will destroy her mind. She will be rendered as helpless as her own child."

"Is there a cure?" Gern asked.

Arkis cast his eyes down and did not answer.

"There must be!" Gern blurted.

"Yes," Opal said, her voice soft and quiet. "She must drink my blood."

"Your blood?"

"The life-water of a naiad will cure any poison."

"Opal," Nualla, the blue-robed council woman addressed, "you have lost much of your blood already."

"If we hurry she will only need a little. Too much, and she may die from it, but it's her only chance. Please, help me."

Nualla and Arkis helped steady Opal her on her way to Lu.

"Thank you," Gern said, and presented his knife.

Opal sliced her finger with the blade, and pressed the fresh wound to Lu's lips. Delirious, Lu admitted Opal's finger into her mouth, and drank the shining liquid that flowed across her tongue. It was like drinking the purest water after being dehydrated for days. A relief washed over her like a cool gust of wind after she had bathed in lava for too long. She moaned at the multi-hued taste of it, a bright snap of willow sap followed by notes of pickled brine, finished with the sparkling freshness of rock-seeped waterfalls. She felt the slow creep of death recede, and warmth returned to her flesh.

Opal let out a sigh, then began to fall unconscious. Gern caught her, and Arkis helped lay her on the table next to Lu. Nualla bandaged Opal's cut, then gently elevated her head and gave her medicinal tea from a small wooden bowl.

"How do we know if she's had enough?" Nualla asked.

Lu jolted upright, suddenly fully awake, her heart pounding with energy from the life-water. Nualla jumped in surprise, but quickly regained her sagely composure.

"Lu, are you alright?" Gern asked, placing his hand on her shoulder. Lu nodded, breathing like she had when she was chasing after her daughter's captors.

"We could use some of that to cure Ongus' alcohol poisoning," Nualla commented quietly.

"Now is not the time to be making jokes, woman!" Ongus grumbled, and uncorked a clay flask under the cover of his pale grey cloak.

"Now is not the time to be drinking, you stale old cheese!"

"We are besieged by a bewitched army. Now is exactly the time to be drinking." He took a spiteful swig.

"Ongus," Gern turned to the white-haired elder. "Are our warriors ready?"

"They are taking up defensive positions, but we won't last long if Evalyn decides to wait us out. Our food stores cannot feed our numbers for more than a few days without resupply."

"We waited too long to attack," Gern muttered. "She has us penned, here. We must lift the siege and take the fight to Evalyn."

"You want to meet her army with a full frontal assault?" Nualla asked, aghast.

"I advise that we evacuate and win this war as we have won wars in the past," Ongus said, "with patience and tactics!"

The three of them argued, and Lu crossed her legs on the table, looking down at her naked body. She did not even have her crystal protector to cover her sex. Then, a thought kindled in her racing mind, driven by the raw power of Opal's life-water.

"Arkis?" Lu asked.

Arkis turned to her, sorrowful anticipation in his eyes.

"Is it true what your brother said?" She questioned. "Did you take crystals from my mountain?

"It is true," Arkis admitted, lowering his gaze in shame. "When you found me, I hoped to atone for my offense. I--"

"Do you still have them? The crystals?"

"Not all," he said after some hesitation, "but I kept the best ones. After my wife died, I could not bring myself to sell them."

"Bring them to me. We're going to fight fire with fire!"

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