Fane: Chapter 1

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Nine Years After The Escape

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As the Pack crested the hill and Tobin saw the Perch, he felt tears rising to his eyes and blinked them back.

“This is home,” he said. “Kee-toe, check the area. I don’t know it well. Find out if there is anything we need to know.” He turned to the elondri, if that was even what Kee-toe was anymore, and for a moment didn’t expect him to obey the command.

Kee-toe’s wooden face stared back at him and the stone eyes blinked. He nodded and sank into the ground, his body vanishing, his vine hair disappearing into the stone. Kee-toe had died many years ago but Dervo, mother of nature, had brought him back as a Forest Elder. Over the last few months, Tobin had begun to understand what that meant. But he was still unaware of the true implications. He could do nothing now but rejoice that Kee-toe was on his side, and he turned back to the other members of the Pack and grinned.

“How long did you live here?” Knuk-nuk asked.

Tobin wondered what she saw when she looked up at the fortress before them. He smiled and walked for the door.

“I was here for the better part of three years. But didn’t stay here the entire time. This is where we brought her occasionally is all. For the most part, I stayed in the city of Scorch.”

“Still can’t get used to you living in a city,” Linden said. She was pretty, with auburn hair and a round face. She was hell with her short sword and she still looked at Tobin with softer eyes than he would prefer. She ruffled his hair and walked to the edge of the cliff the castle was set on.

“He hid well in that city,” Harpo said. “He knew I would not go in one unless I had to. Didn’t you, alpha?” the ranger said.

Tobin nodded and smiled an awkward smile. He had hidden from the Pack for six years while they searched for him. They did not speak of those years often, but when they did, the Pack held a great deal of pain in their eyes.

“Cities are…” Tobin began but he trailed off as the sky above the castle filled with a black cloud. Harpo immediately dropped to the ground to pray. Knuk-nuk opened her arms to the sky and Linden leapt off the cliff.

Tobin almost went after her, but thought better of it. It was best not to run. The cloud swirled in the air before turning and shooting directly for Tobin. He didn’t know what to expect, so he braced himself and lifted a prayer for Dervo.

There were thousands of them. The cloud, as it neared, became black with swathes of red, and Tobin did not know if he should run or hold his ground. He decided running would be insane. There was no way to escape them. Tobin closed his eyes as the swarm descended and he felt them drop down around him. The buzz of the swarm was deafening. They crawled his body, his face. They crawled into his ears and filled the spaces between his fingers. They filled all spaces, crawling and nestling their way into his armpits and his nose. They tickled every part of his body, and he opened his eyes to see the mass of hornets had blotted out all sight of the world beyond.

She was not here.

Knuk-nuk was shouting. “Tobin, do not move!” She sounded worried.

He realized then that he had not told them enough about his life in Syphere. He wanted badly to shout back to her, but he knew it a horrible idea, so he kept his mouth clamped shut and his eyes closed. When he decided he would lose his mind with the tickling and itching, the swarm lifted into the air. Tobin could still feel the random insect crawling the cracks of his body, but he could do nothing about it.

He opened his eyes to see the swarm high above his head. He saw Knuk-nuk and Harpo looking at him with confused stares, and he grinned sheepishly.

“Maybe you haven’t told us everything?” Harpo said.

“I may have left out a detail.”

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“You joined another order?” Knuk-nuk said. He could tell she was hurt and he wished he could nullify the emotion, but he could not. He was proud of his time as a Rambler and would not apologize for it.

“I did.” They still had not entered the castle. They sat the ground outside. The trees around them looked down, hopeless and weak. Here the brush and forest was weak from the lack of water. Here nature was stunted and wrong.

“You rode a hornet?” Linden said.

Tobin nodded.

“That is amazing,” she said.

“It was made huge by magicks of man?” Harpo said. “Alpha, that is not good.”

“It is not foul,” Tobin said. “I would have sensed it if it were. Do you doubt me?”

Knuk-nuk looked at him with a worried face but said nothing. They would not question him or doubt him. Tobin wondered if that was a good thing.

“Your father knew of the Ramblers,” Harpo said. “He spoke of them often.”

Tobin braced himself. He felt a dread crawl up on him as he thought of what it would mean if he had spent three years of his life riding an abomination.

“He did not like the size of the magicks being cast on a creature of nature. He did not like them being ridden. He did not like them being used by Xaxamire. The man is vile. But he was comforted by the fact that they maintained their kind.”

“What do you mean by that?” Tobin asked.

“I mean look at what happened just now. You were greeted by a swarm. That means the natural species does not shun the enlarged beast. They are drawn to it. Led by it.”

“Ishtay, is she still a Rambler?” Knuk-nuk asked.

“She is.”

“Her mount, Telknox, he is a lion, but in his home he commands a pride of lions. Sarc’s fire ant. He has a colony of ants that lives with him. They have a natural group that follows them and lives beside them. This means they are not shunned by the natural order, but lead it. This was proof enough that they were not abominations. If you ride a hornet, I believe we will be alright with that. You must talk to Kee-toe about it. He would know better how Dervo feels, but for me, I trust Gris’s judgment,” Knuk-nuk said.

She was nestled deep in Harpo’s arms and Tobin could not help but let his thoughts wander to Pocloa. He set them aside and turned to Linden. When he turned to her, she was staring at him.

“The real problem is that Xaxamire sees the Ramblers as a lifetime membership crew,” Harpo said. “He may think he can command you in all things. You must let him know that we will not follow him. And you will not commit atrocities for him. He is a dark man bound to a noble cause. He will try to impose his will upon you. You are a prince here. You cannot let him take over the power of the throne.”

“Or the power of the Pack,” Knuk-nuk said. “We cannot fall under his command. To allow it to be so would put us in a bad position. We are for your mind to wield, not the mind of a wizard. You must let him know early that you are not his.”

“I will,” Tobin said. He looked up into the sky, at the swarm waiting above his head, and looked down again confused.

“Tell them to leave if you want them to,” Knuk-nuk said.

“I have never been able to make them obey. They are led by the mount, not me,” Tobin said.

“That may have been the case before, but now you are the Alpha of the Pack. Your command of animals will be powerful. You must learn to do so,” Knuk-nuk said. “Try now.”

Tobin knew he could not disobey. Knuk-nuk was teaching him of his abilities as their leader. She was the Pack’s shaman and his guide into his new life as Alpha. He needed to succumb to her desires.

He stood, and the swarm bubbled out for a moment as if they could feel his presence extend.

“You must reach out for them. Imagine your hand extending from your chest. Let it drift above you and expand,” she said.

Tobin fought to picture the image but he could not make it a reality.

“It will get big enough to wrap around them. Let it grab them gently and ease them in the direction you want them to go. While you do this, speak to them. Ask them to obey. Do not demand it. Ask them to move as you say to. Ask them to go back to their hives.”

Tobin felt his chest expand. He fought to picture the limb reaching from his core and enlarging, but he found that it was impossible. He felt an energy born of him rise up jerkily, smack into the swarm, and they shuddered and pulled back. He felt their discontent and felt a thread of fear stitched into his spine at the thought of their displeasure. With little thought, they could kill him and he struggled to control his breathing.

“Settle your nerves,” Knuk-nuk said. “Let them feel your serenity. Let them know you are not afraid of them.”

But he was afraid of them. And he felt them swell and tremble uneasy. They were growing agitated. Tobin heard Linden start to stand up. Harpo grunted at her and she sat back down.

“Tobin,” Knuk-nuk said. Even she was growing scared. “Tobin, you must settle down.”

He was breathing heavy now. Fast and deep. He felt as if he were running. And his chest heaved.

Knuk-nuk shoved him to the ground and called out to the swarm in a language Tobin didn’t understand. He looked up at the swarm pulsing and growing agitated. They dropped down on her and Harpo stood.

“Come with me now,” he said. He motioned for them to follow.

“I can’t leave her,” Tobin said. He felt his heart hammering in his chest as Knuk-nuk was suddenly blacked out into nothing.

Harpo grabbed him by the wrist and jerked him away hard.

“Alpha, come with me now,” he stated. His voice allowed for no argument. Tobin let himself be pulled away and Harpo took them to a small alcove in the rock. He shoved Tobin and Linden into the cleft and stood before them. Tobin could smell the girl. She smelled of lavender and sandalwood. He felt her arms around him and felt her trembling. He could not shove her away, but he needed her to let go. She was speaking to herself in the same language Knuk-nuk had spoken, and he decided he needed to learn that language.

Tobin heard Knuk-nuk cry out and he pushed against Harpo. “Let me out of here. They are killing her!” Tobin yelled.

Harpo held fast. “Alpha, I want you to pray. I want you to ask for guidance. I want you to ask Dervo if I am right in holding you back.”

Tobin closed his eyes and held out hope that this time he would feel her close to him. Hoped against hope that he could summon up the presence of Dervo where he had failed so many times recently. He fought for the words to say but he could not feel her. He could not bring her forward. It had been too long since he had reached out for her. The last few months beside the Pack had been devoid of the kind of relationship with his goddess that he craved.

He knew when he reached out for her, and again she was not there, that they were all wrong. He was not supposed to be leading the Pack. He wondered how he was going to tell them. And what they would say back.

Knuk-nuk came back to them and Harpo rushed out to see her. He dropped to his knees before her and she wrapped him in a hug. They were nearly looking eye-to-eye, she was so short and he so tall. Tobin wanted to know what had happened. But he didn’t at the same time. He had failed and it almost cost her her life.

“I’m sorry,” Tobin finally managed when she was done whispering to Harpo. She looked up at him and shook her wild blonde hair.

“No reason to be, Alpha. You are still learning. You are still finding your feet. The power of the Alpha is vast. It will take time for you to master it. Do not fret. I will guide you there.” She said these things, but her eyes seemed to speak of a deep disappointment. He shoved the idea away and motioned to the castle.

“I need to enter and let them know I am here. I want you all beside me. I wanted Kee-toe to join us in there, but he is not back yet.”

“Do not make Kee-toe go into that building. He will be confined and cut off from nature. Leave him out here. Let him command the nature around us. It is what he does. He will not be able to go all of the places that we will.”

Tobin nodded reluctantly. Having the man close made Tobin feel safe. Kee-toe always had that effect on him. He decided he needed to get along without him, needed to feel comfortable on his own. Since rejoining the Pack, he had settled back into a childish state. They made him feel like a child, as they had when he was young. He was reverting back to when they led him. He needed to swallow that. Needed to bring out the man again. He stepped to the castle gate and waited to be hailed.

The men who held watch here looked over the side of the wall and stared for a long time. They watched Tobin for a while before a man called out cautiously.

“Deadshot? Is that you?”

“Deadshot?” Linden said with a giggle.

“It is me, Terver. Can you open the gate?”

“Never thought you would show up here again,” the man said. Tobin remembered asking for Xaxamire to transfer Terver here long ago. The man was dear to him.

“I knew you were coming back,” a young man said, sticking his head up over the wall. “Said Deadshot would never abandon us while Ambush sits the throne. Who are your friends?”

“It’s a long story,” Tobin said. Another head with a white shock of hair peered over the wall and his jaw dropped open.

“You haven’t aged a day,” the man said in wonder.

“Well,” Tobin said. “I have not been gone for much more than a year.”

“He is not talking to you, Tobin. He is talking to us,” Knuk-nuk said. Harpo nodded.

“Hello, Penve. I hope I find you well,” Harpo said. “Still wielding the great sword?”

The man laughed. “I haven’t been able to for years. Too old,” the man said. “Miss it, though. You were the greatest weapon teacher I ever had.”

“Weapons teacher? Harpo, you know this man?” Tobin said.

“I know many of the warriors of Syphere. This man was one of my favorites.”

The man on the wall beamed with happiness. And Tobin decided he had too many questions to ask them now.

“Open the gates to the master of the Perch and we will embrace and toast my return with a tankard of Lindal’s brew,” Tobin said.

“We can play a game of Been Gale,” Harpo said.

“Long time since I played that game,” the old man said. “Sorry, but I can’t do it.”

Tobin scowled. “This is my fortress, unless he has replaced me,” he said. “Open this gate now.”

“I’m sorry, but we were ordered not to let you in. Xaxamire is furious with you, says he will skin you alive when he sees you. Says the same of me if I let you back in.”

Tobin turned to Knuk-nuk, who smiled.

“There are many ways into a castle. The gate is not really my favorite anyway,” she said. She was smiling that mad smile of hers again and Tobin realized he was so glad to be back in her life.

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In the black of night, the wall grips he found were obvious. Harpo waited below and Knuk-nuk above. She had shimmied up the wall in a breath and Tobin had watched amazed as she did so.

Tobin threw his leg over the wall and he looked over to see Harpo grab on and climb. In a blink the man was halfway up. Tobin turned to the guards on one side lit by torches and the shadows patrolling on the other. He scooted over the other side of the wall and quickly dropped to the ground.

Harpo dropped silently beside him and soon Linden joined them. Knuk-nuk held her hands to the sky and the clouds drifted across the moon. In the nearly pitch black, they rushed across the courtyard, a step away from invisible. When they reached the wall of the castle, Tobin grabbed the wall and began scaling it. The rest of them joined, and soon they stood on the balcony of his room. Linden picked the lock and they were in.

“You guys stay here. Try to get some sleep,” Tobin said, once inside.

“What are you going to do?” Knuk-nuk asked.

“I’m gonna go kick a hornet’s nest.”

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