The Searchers (The Way to Freedom Series Book 6)

  The Searchers

  The Way to Freedom

  Book 6

  H.M. Clarke

  Sentinel Publishing

  Copyright © H. M. Clarke 2017

  All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner

  First published in The United States of America in 2018

  Sentinel Publishing LLC, Dayton, Ohio

  Cover design by Deranged Doctor Design

  The moral right of the author has been asserted

  Also by H.M.Clarke

  The Way to Freedom Series

  1: The Kalarthri

  1.1: The Cavern of Sethi

  2: The Dream Thief

  3. The Awakening

  4. The Enemy Within

  5. The Unknown Queen

  6. The Searchers

  The Complete Season One – Books 1-5

  Coming soon

  7. The Whisperer

  John McCall Mysteries

  1: Howling Vengeance

  The Verge

  1: The Enclave

  Coming Soon

  2: Citizen Erased

  The Order/Ravensdale

  1: Winter’s Magic

  Marion: An ‘Order’ Short Story

  DEDICATION

  As always, this book is dedicated to my two beautiful children, Keith and Ariadne.

  CONTENTS

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Others Books by H.M. Clarke

  About the Author

  “Whoever destroys a soul, it is considered as if he destroyed an entire world. And whosoever that saves a life, it is considered as if he’s saved an entire world.”

  -A Saying of the Pydarki

  CHAPTER ONE

  Waiting

  EVERYTHING WAS STILL.

  Everything was quiet.

  Not even the air moved through the branches of the close-packed conifers, firs and larches. The moon was full and glowed like pure white porcelain and slowly climbed above the horizon, gradually revealing the clear, midnight blue of the night sky above. The landscape was starkly silhouetted against the starlit night sky.

  Through the trees could be heard the snoring of men, the occasional snort of a horse, the clink of metal as the dog watch sentry moved about their patrol of the camp.

  Adhamhma’al’mearan moved his head carefully from under his black feathered wing and patiently surveyed the clearing around him. Both the Hatar’le’margarten slept a short way off from the main camp so that their presence would not frighten the Freemans horses.

  Across the clearing from him, Trar slept with her head tucked loosely under her wing and her tail curled tightly around her front claws. She hated camping out of doors and missed the comforts of her soft fluffy leather bed in the Hatar Barracks at Darkon.

  But at this moment Adhamh could sense that her consciousness was caught deep in sleep. He knew that she would not be waking in a hurry.

  He and Trar were the only Hatar resting in this clearing tonight as the other two Hatar’le’margarten had been sent back to Fort Foxtern by Kral Tayme to report to Wing Commander Harada and Colonel Jan Oded about what was happening out here in the ranges.

  Adhamh turned his gaze away from the sleeping Trar and focused his attention on the humans camped among the trees beyond them. After a few moments as the stillness reassured him that there would be no one coming to check on them, Adhamh slowly stood up and carefully folded his wings tightly to his body so that they would not catch on anything and make any undue noise.

  He could not sleep, even though he was bone tired. His growing anxiety about Kalena was consuming his mind.

  He hated this sitting and waiting.

  He hated having to trail along after Freeman who did not care one twit about his missing Wingmate.

  He hated that Kral Tayme keeping him here instead of letting him search the mountains for her.

  Adhamh’s Krytal Crystal felt like it was quickly vibrating behind his ear. It had started just before dusk and would not stop. That had Adhamh worried that Kalena was in danger; that her paired crystal was calling to him for help. He had to find her and staying with the humans was slowing his search for Kalena. It was time for Adhamh to leave and search for Kalena himself.

  His gaze swept the clearing one, final time before he moved as quietly as his large frame would allow over to the cliff edge.

  Taking a deep breath, Adhamh then spread his wings and walked off the precipice.

  Adhamh then slipped upward into view as he started long, slow wing beats to steadily climb up into the midnight dark sky.

  He was being called. And he could resist it no longer.

  The thermal loosened its hold and Adhamh began to drop through the air. He pumped his wings in a large down sweep and felt himself quickly lift up to altitude. Until he can find the next thermal he will have to use his own power to stay where he needed to be.

  Adhamh’s eyes carefully roamed the landscape below him, constantly looking for any sign of what he was seeking. But something was drawing him towards the mountains. Something within him was leading him to Kalena.

  Adhamh could feel the tickle of the Krytal crystal where it was embedded just behind his left ear. Maybe it was calling out to the matched crystal that was embedded behind Kalena’s ear. Maybe the Krytal was what had been leading him into the Northern Mountains. Towards the stronghold of the Ice Tigers, and beyond the mountains lay Arran, a country that was not on a friendly footing with the Suene Empire.

  Knowing my luck, Kalena is probably being held by the Arranians. Their Spellcrafters might have been able to knock me from the sky and take her...if they had enough of them to combine their power and focus it.

  That was the only scenario that Adhamh could come up with that logically explained how he and Kalena could have been struck from the sky that day. The Arranian Spellcrafters are one of the only people with the Talent to do that, and even though they are not as powerful as they once were, a group of them working as one could theoretically do this. Another Hatar’le’margarten could do this as well, but Adhamh would have known the instant he was hit if it was a fellow Hatar’le’margarten.

  No. It had to be the Arranians. That is why Adhamh was being lead north into the mountains. Because beyond those mountains lie the kingdom of Arran and hopefully Kalena.

  These were the thoughts running constantly through Adhamh’s mind since he awoke and found Kalena gone. Not just physically gone, but mentally as well. He had grown so used to their constant connection that when it was suddenly gone it felt as if he had been gutted. The ache of the emptiness throbbed deep down in Adhamh’s head and chest. Because of this, he had resolved to do anything to get her back. Anything.

  This is why he had crept away during the night and was now flying steadily north.

  Adhamh was up high. High enough that his blue feathered underbelly would merge into the blue expanse of the sky and would be missed by any causal glance. The sky ran blue before him as far as the eye could see, only marred by the sloppy remains of the cloud bank that had passed through yesterday and was now clinging stubbornly in the north.

  He took note of the Suenese troop movements, most of which were heading to Fort Foxtern, but there were two small groups that had broken away from the main force and were now moving north into the mountains. On the spur of the moment, Adhamh had decided to follow them as they were all going in the same direction. The Hatar was also curious about where they were heading. Maybe they were scouts or escorting one of the Emperor’s spies to the edge of Arranian territory.

  He drifted lazily, enjoying the feel of the warm sun against his back feathers. It was nice to be able to fly wherever you want without being under orders. It was also nice to be actually doing something constructive to find Kalena.

  If anything had happened to her...

  Adhamh turned his thoughts away from that direction. If he found Kalena with more than a scratch on her, he would not stop until he had hunted down and took his revenge on every last member of the party that captured her.

  He corrected his course to head a little more north as his instinct guided him and then let the steady beat of his wings lull him into boredom.

  It was early afternoon when he reached the foothills of the Bhaligier ranges. The thermals and air currents had begun to change as he approached the mountains and his wings began to have to work harder to get him where he needed to go.

  Adhamh began to keep an eye out for a safe and hidden place to spend the night. A hard thing to find when you are the size of a small house. The best he could hope for is a small clearing in the trees that covered the skirts of the mountains. Or if he was lucky, a cave.

  A cave would be ideal. He could stay hidden and warm and have the secure feeling of having something ‘heavy’ around him. A cave would also be easier to defend....or get trapped in...Adhamh thought on that a few moments more before deciding. Does not matter, I still prefer a cave. He began to skirt around the mountains, looking for promising rock outcrops and plateaus.

  The sun was
low in the west when the glint of stone flashed pink in the late afternoon light. Adhamh focused his attention on it and saw that it was a large stone plateau that jutted out over a stand of conifers. A perfect place to spend the night. The only things that could reach him there were other flying creatures or the mountain goats or bighorn sheep – and even they aren’t silly enough to get close to a Hatar’le’margarten that could swallow them in one bite.

  The thought of sheep made Adhamh’s stomach grumble. It was too late to hunt tonight, so he would have to keep his eye out tomorrow for game and maybe bag himself a couple of those sheep. That would keep him going for a couple more days.

  Adhamh circled slowly down towards the grassy plateau, keeping a lazy eye on the scatter of birds that high tailed it away as fast as they could. He caught no sight of any large mammals hurrying away, which put paid to any thought of a quick and easy meal before bed.

  He landed and made a quick inspection of the ground to make sure that all was safe and then went and curled up near the edge of the trees where they met the mountain face. Adhamh was utterly exhausted. Everything he had been though coupled with the days hard flying had drained him of what little energy reserves he had left in his body. He fell deeply asleep as the sky grew quickly into the midnight blue darkness of an early moonless night, knowing that his black, feathered form would just merge into the mountain in the darkness.

  ADHAMH ABRUPTLY AWOKE to complete silence.

  He tried to get up but found himself held down somehow by his legs and tail. Then silently out of the darkness came ropes and hooks being thrown over his back, securing his wings tightly against his body. Adhamh made another effort to free himself but found that each time he struggled the bonds that held him just got tighter and tighter. He relaxed and slumped to the ground, best to keep what energy he had left for when he really needed it.

  As soon as he relaxed, men started to appear out of the starlit darkness, holding the ends of the ropes and chains that now bound him. He curled his lip at them, baring his long teeth and had a smug feeling of satisfaction when a few of the men took an involuntary step backwards. Behind these men stood a small figure whose dark shape stood out from the midnight blue of the night. He was quickly moving his arms and then suddenly noise rushed back into the void around Adhamh.

  The man was a Spellcrafter. Adhamh had found the Arranians – or rather, the Arranians had found him.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Surprise!

  DEAREN TUGGED HER HAT low over her face and crawled backwards from the edge of the cliff to join Hauga and the others hidden in the undergrowth.

  ‘They are encamped just below us. Does everyone know what they have to do?’

  Dearen looked at each furry face as the five Dymarki with her gave their reply.

  ‘Yes, Cearc.’

  Dearen tried not to frown at the title. She had only been Cearc for a week and she was already getting too used to hearing Cearc attached to her name.

  ‘Remember, surprise is the key to making this work.’

  ‘We know Dearen. No need to tell us for the hundredth time. We are no longer cubs playing around our mother’s feet.’

  Dearen tired to hold back a smile.

  ‘I don’t know Hauga, sometimes you make me wonder if you are as old as you say you are.’

  Suddenly Dearen’s mind was filled with the mental sniggering of four of the Dymarki while Hauga gave a mental humph and turned his back to her.

  ‘If you’re finished trying to be funny, shall we begin?’

  ‘Yes. Okay, everyone. Once we get into position, I’ll give the signal and then we drop.’

  ‘Yes, Cearc.’

  ‘Very good,’ Dearen thought as she looped her arms around Hauga’s white furred neck and wrapped her legs around the Dymarki’s waist as he stood.

  Dearen looked at the scene below. It was evening twilight. The sun had just dipped behind the mountains, the people below had just finished making camp and were now busy preparing their evening meals with a single guard set at the mouth of the natural enclosure.

  No one down below was looking for an attack from above.

  Targets had been picked by her and her Dymarki and Dearen sent a quick mental note to the five Dymarki to make sure they attack their marked target.

  ‘Are we ready to go?’ Hauga asked, impatience thick in his mental voice.

  Dearen started to nod and then remembered that not everyone could see her.

  ‘Yes. On the count of three we go.’

  ‘Yes, Cearc.’

  Dearen glanced once more along the line of the cliff face at the Dymarki concealed in the trees and undergrowth.

  ‘One...two...’ Dearen took one final breath and gripped tighter around Hauga’s neck and shoulder. ‘...three.’

  Dearen felt a lurch in her stomach as Hauga leaned forward and stepped off the edge of the cliff. Her stomach was then left behind as they both hurtled straight down to the clearing below.

  Directly beneath them was a warrior standing by his bedroll, looking towards the campfire. He was not expecting to be attacked from above.

  At the last instant, something must have warned him as the solider suddenly looked up in time to feel the weight of Hauga’s body bound into him.

  Dearen automatically released her hold and rolled away, letting Hauga dispatch the warrior with a mock slash of his claws.

  She quickly looked around and saw that the other five had done their jobs and four more warriors were down. Dearen drew her wooden training blade and headed straight toward the command tent.

  It was not really a tent, just a lean-to with a cloth thrown over it to protect its occupants from the wind and weather.

  Dearen was coming up around the back of the tent when the head of one of its occupants poked itself around the corner. She immediately shoved the point of her wooden blade deep into the thick fur of the enemies neck. He let out a slow hiss and then turned ice blue eyes on Dearen.

  Behind her, Dearen could hear excessive grunting and assumed that Hauga was dealing with the tent’s other occupant.

  Dearen kept the point of her wooden blade buried in the thick fur.

  Flattened ears slowly twitched and the ice blue eyes began to twinkle.

  ‘Good evening Cearc. I see that you got me again. Your timing is perfect as dinner is ready.’

  Dearen could not help the grin that spread across her face as she pulled the practice sword away from the Dymarki’s neck.

  ‘How did you get us this time?’ the patrol leader asked, rubbing a clawed hand on his neck.

  “We got you from above.” Dearen turned and pointed behind her. “We came down off of the cliff face.”

  ‘Do you really think the Arranians will fight the same way?’

  “Do you want to take the chance?” Dearen countered. “We have not seen the Arranians in hundreds of years. Who can say how they will fight? You need to remember that they have Spellcrafters so we have to practice our guerilla tactics. A Spellcrafter taken by surprise has no chance to craft a spell against us have they?”

  ‘No. I guess you’re right.’

  “We have to make sure that we are never caught by surprise ever again. We are not going to lose any more of our people without a fight, and we have to prepare ourselves if we want to fight well.”

  ‘Yes Cearc’

  “Let’s all go have dinner and we’ll talk more about this afterwards. Tactics, strategy and repetition are what will help us win our mountains back.”

  ‘Enough with the grandstanding Dearen, and come and eat!’

  Hauga’s voice cut through into her conversation and she turned to the campfire to see the Dymarki already seated on a tree stump with a trencher of meat already in his hands.

  “It’s only the quick and the dead around you isn’t it Hauga.”

  ‘Only the quick get the best cuts of meat.’

  “What is it with you and food?”

  ‘I’m a growing cub and I need my sustenance, is what my mother always told me.’