Chapter 27

27

Within the mountains of Evardor, peril doth prowl beneath every bough.

~ "Spring Cowers" by Erazidar the Poet

Profound yawns sent tears down Kaylina's cheeks as the watchtower came into view.

The fires still burned around it but lower than before, not shedding as much light onto the highway and surrounding land. This time, as they approached, no taybarri greeted Levitke with a whuff .

Her neck fur bristled, and her tail swished in agitation. Could she sense that something was wrong?

"More Kar'ruk?" Kaylina whispered, glancing to either side of the highway and toward the looming peaks with trepidation. "If they're invisible, I'm depending on your nose to find them."

Levitke stopped at the base of the tower where the door stood ajar. It hadn't been that way before.

The taybarri sniffed, then pointed her snout into the shadows between fires. A dark lump lay unmoving on the ground.

"A body?" Grim, Kaylina slid to the ground.

After lighting her lantern, she went to investigate, afraid it was the ranger. To her surprise, the body belonged to a horned Kar'ruk male. His throat had been slit by a dagger or sword. Maybe the ranger was alive after all.

"Watch for trouble, please," Kaylina told Levitke, who was sniffing in the middle of the highway.

Trusting the taybarri would, Kaylina eased into the tower. A bedroom and small kitchen occupied the bottom floor. After finding them empty, she climbed stairs that followed the exterior wall, winding upward.

On the top floor, its slitted windows looking out in all directions, Kaylina found another body. The black-clad ranger lay dead beside a desk, a logbook open in which he'd been recording times and conditions in the mountains.

"Damn," she whispered.

The ranger had died with a sword in one hand and a torch in the other. She was surprised it had only charred the wooden floorboards where he'd fallen, not burned down the tower. It looked like he'd been trying to light a premade signal fire in an iron pit by the window facing the city, but he'd run out of time.

"Either you and the dead guy outside dealt each other fatal blows…" Kaylina picked up the torch. "Or there are more Kar'ruk around."

She pushed the torch into the nest of wood shavings and kindling. She would light the signal fire.

While she waited for it to catch, she picked up a pen on the desk and wrote a note on a blank page in the logbook. She explained the magical silver powder and the location of the press. She was about to add more about the Kar'ruk she'd battled there, but Levitke roared.

Kaylina dropped the pen.

The screeches of a large feline answered her from the woods nearby. Maybe several large felines.

"What now?" Kaylina grumbled.

Though she wanted to check on Levitke, she made herself return to the signal fire, prodding and blowing to ensure the flames caught fully. She had the uneasy feeling that the fate of the city might depend on this.

Levitke roared again, then shared a vision with Kaylina. It showed not only giant crag cougars attacking her—Kaylina had seen illustrations of the thousand-pound animals in the ranger handbook—but shadowy Kar'ruk striding out of the darkness.

Had they trained the powerful cats to obey their commands? Or simply uncaged them and trusted they would attack a taybarri?

The scuffs and growls of a battle engaged wafted up to the tower window. With the kindling burning, Kaylina backed away from the pit, hoping she'd done enough. She looked around for a weapon more deadly than her sling and spotted the ranger's sword.

Though she had no experience with such a blade, she grabbed it. She needed something that could hurt these enemies.

Kar'ruk roars now accompanied the feline screeches. Levitke grunted, then whined with pain.

Intent on helping her, Kaylina charged down the stairs and past the kitchen and bedroom without glancing into them.

A Kar'ruk stepped out of the shadows behind her. Before she could spin toward him, he wrapped a muscular arm around her and hefted her over his shoulder.

Kaylina swung the blade, but it clunked against the wall. She had no leverage in the awkward position, and the Kar'ruk knew it. He strode toward the door without concern.

Twisting and bucking, Kaylina managed to slam an elbow into her captor's ear, but the Kar'ruk might as well have been made from metal for all his kind yielded when struck. Her knee hit the warrior's chest, but his armor ensured that hurt her more than him.

He walked outside with her still captive. The roars and screeches continued, but Levitke had been driven back from the tower. One of the huge crag cougars lay dead in the road, its tan fur matted with blood, but numerous more harried her.

And there were more Kar'ruk as well. Hulking males who weren't camouflaged in any way. Five of them. Six? Far too many to fight, especially with the powerful felines working with them.

But Kaylina couldn't give up. She couldn't let Levitke be killed. Again, she tried to squirm free, thinking that if they could escape, even for a little while, the signal fire would bring help.

Once more, she swung the sword, trying to find an angle that would cut into her captor. Another Kar'ruk stepped forward and caught her wrist, wrenching the blade free.

Kaylina screamed, hoping vainly that potential allies would hear the noise. But she doubted anyone else was within earshot, not in the mountains in the middle of the night.

One of the warriors strode into the tower and thumped up the stairs. She groaned. He would put out the signal fire before it grew large enough to be seen across the miles.

A Kar'ruk with an axe strode up to Kaylina's captor, pointed at her, and shook his blade. That gave her a more immediate problem to worry about. They'd killed everyone else. Surely, they would kill her too.

Levitke roared as she bit and slashed at her feline adversaries. One cougar sprang toward her head, claws extended.

The taybarri flashed to avoid the blow, reappearing on the other side of the highway. She took several running steps, trying to reach Kaylina, but the great cats were too fast. They streaked across the highway to block her again, their long sharp claws slashing for vital targets.

"Save yourself," Kaylina called to her, tears filling her eyes. She didn't want the taybarri to die trying to help her, not when there was no hope.

A defiant roar came in response as Levitke stood her ground.

"Okay, then get Vlerion and Crenoch, and come back to help me," Kaylina called.

Levitke couldn't make it to the city, find them, and return in time to save Kaylina's life. She knew that. But she didn't want them both to die. All she hoped was that the more reasonable plea would prompt Levitke to run instead of dying alongside her.

Levitke didn't roar defiantly this time, but she also didn't turn to run. Instead, she swept her tail at a cougar angling for her back side. The fast animal almost dodged, but the tail clipped it, and it tumbled away. It soon found its feet, however, while another lunged for Levitke's flank. She spun and met the attack with snapping jaws, but there were too many enemies even for her.

"Get help!" Kaylina tried again.

The brand on her hand warmed, reminding her that the plant might be lending her some vague power. She attempted to will her energy into the command, the same as she'd done with the pine tree. She envisioned Vlerion, Targon, Jankarr, and other rangers riding to rescue her. But first, Levitke had to tell them about the trouble. Only then would they know to come help.

If she managed to convey any of that with her mind, Kaylina didn't know, but Levitke flashed again. This time, she appeared farther down the highway and sprinted away from the battle. She glanced back once, meeting Kaylina's eyes, and then she ran full-out away from the tower.

Three of the crag cougars were down, two eviscerated, but four remained on their feet. Without hesitation, they took off after the taybarri.

Kaylina hoped that between Levitke's powerful legs and flash magic, she could evade them. Even if the rangers wouldn't make it here in time to help, the taybarri could at least warn those in Port Jirador about the threat. As if the city didn't have enough threats to deal with from within.

With that upsetting thought in mind, Kaylina turned her head to look at the Kar'ruk party. They were all staring at her, including the axe-wielder, but he hadn't come any closer with his blade. His eyes were closed to slits.

Thoughtful slits?

He regarded her, the direction Levitke had fled, and her again. Kaylina wasn't familiar enough with their people to guess thoughts from their broad gray faces, but the Kar'ruk's narrowed eyes reminded her of the expression Targon got when he was calculating how best to use her for his plans. One of the warriors stepped forward and pointed at her hand. At the star-shaped leaf brand.

They couldn't guess how she'd come by it or what it meant, could they? She didn't even know what all it meant. She only had inklings.

Another Kar'ruk grunted, said a few words, then pointed at Kaylina and deeper into the mountains. Others stepped forward to bind her ankles, her wrists, and stuff a gag in her mouth.

She tried to find it encouraging that they would keep her alive, at least for a while. Maybe there was a chance for Vlerion and the rangers to save her. But, as the Kar'ruk carried her away, Kaylina glimpsed the dark windows of the tower and lost hope.

The signal fire was out, Levitke might fall to the fearsome predators chasing her, and whatever these Kar'ruk wanted her for, it couldn't be anything good.