Moving Targets and Other Tales of Valdemar

“I brought food and some of our strongest healing ointment for you,” she said, unwrapping the raw meat and laying it on the ground before opening the jar. “It will only take a few minutes to apply, and you will be much the better for it.” While the kyree ate, Laeka used swift, gentle strokes to spread the sharp, clean-smelling salve over the barely healed cuts and gashes, kneading it into the muscles where she noticed swelling. Even as she worked, she could see the kyree lifting her head, becoming more alert as the pains eased.

“Now, can you stand and walk, even just a few steps?”

:Thank you, yes. The rest has been good.: The kyree shifted her legs beneath her, then pushed to her feet, swaying only slightly.

Laeka stood and walked over to the horses, pulling at the lead line on the chestnut gelding to bring him to where the kyree stood. He shied at first from the strange scent, then quieted, and Laeka noticed a look of concentration in the kyree’s eyes.

:It is only to get past their first fear.:

Laeka nodded her understanding of the kyree’s manipulation of her animals’ minds. “Speed is more important.” She gestured, and the gelding bent his knees and folded halfway to the ground. With Laeka’s guidance, the kyree walked over and climbed onto the gelding’s lowered back, settling herself on the pad that Meros and Laeka had rigged onto the gelding’s saddle. One hand on the kyree to steady her, Laeka tugged at the gelding’s bridle, and he rose back up.

Remounting her mare, Laeka turned to look into the kyree’s eyes. “Where?”

:West, and north after a bit. I will recognize the path I took.:

Laeka nodded and tightened her knees. The mare headed out at an easy jog, and the other two horses followed into the deeper forest.

For a long time, they rode in silence through the twisting deer paths, alternating periods of walking with a loping run. It would never match the ground-eating pace of purebred Shin’a’in horses, but she had bred the best of the mares she had acquired from Liha’irden to the strongest stallions she could find to replicate that trait. She noted landmarks as the horses moved deeper into the Pelagiris Forest, marking them in her mind just in case.

Each time the kyree Mindspoke to her to change their direction, her Mind-voice seemed stronger, but still tinged with anger and pain. Laeka ate waybread in the saddle, bringing the gelding up next to her mare to place some on the saddlepad for the kyree, who gulped it down whole.

Early in the afternoon, they came upon a small clearing where traces of recent occupation remained. New scorch marks blackened a long-disused fire-circle, and the grass was freshly cropped. Laeka dismounted to examine the area more closely, stretching her leg as her knee protested the long candlemarks in the saddle.

:The smell is still fresh.: The kyree’s nose wrinkled as she sifted the air. :My cubs were here, and not long since.:

“Perhaps they stopped for nooning.” She walked the perimeter of the clearing, her eyes following the patterns of crushed grass. Bending, she pushed some branches aside and found several clear hoofprints. “They’re heading almost due east, now. Definitely going toward Ruvan.”

She swung into the saddle on the other mare, a dark gray, absently rubbing her knee as she settled herself and turned the horses east. The kyree kept her head up, her nostrils flared in the breeze, seeking the scent of her cubs or the men who had taken them. As the afternoon wore on, traces of both became more frequent, and Laeka kept the pace slow, not wanting to either lose the trail or alert the bandits.

:Stop.: Laeka pulled up the gray and turned to her companion. :They are very close. I smell smoke, too.:

“They must be making camp for the night. We will wait until they are settled, then move in. We could not take them all, so we must be sure to act when few of them are able to respond. We need only a few moments to get to the cubs and then flee.” The kyree bared her teeth in a silent snarl, clearly unwilling to be so cautious, but Laeka held up her hand. “My abilities with the sword will not stand a true test, and you are still injured. Full revenge will gain us nothing, and could lose us much.”