Illengond Read online

  SOME OTHER WORKS BY MATTHEW DICKERSON

  In the Daegmon War Series

  The Gifted (2015)

  The Betrayed (2016)

  Illengond (2017)

  Novels

  The Finnsburg Encounter

  The Rood and the Torc: the Song of Kristinge, Son of Finn

  Non-Fiction

  Following Gandalf: Epic Battles and Moral Victory in The Lord of the Rings

  (with David O’Hara) From Homer to Harry Potter: a Handbook of Myth and Fantasy

  (with Jonathan Evans) Ents, Elves, and Eriador: the Environmental Vision of J.R.R. Tolkien

  (with David O’Hara) Narnia and the Fields of Arbol: the Environmental Vision of C.S. Lewis

  The Mind and the Machine: What it Means to be Human and Why it Matters

  A Hobbit Journey: Discovering the Enchantment of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth

  (with David O’Hara) Downstream: Reflections on Brook Trout, Fly Fishing, and the Waters of Appalachia

  Trout in the Desert: on Fly Fishing, Human Habits, and the Cold Waters of the Arid Southwest

  ILLENGOND

  the

  DAEGMON

  WAR BOOK 3

  MATTHEW DICKERSON

  Copyright © 2017 Matthew Dickerson.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  Map of Gondisle: Mark Dickerson

  Archway Publishing books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

  Archway Publishing

  1663 Liberty Drive

  Bloomington, IN 47403

  www.archwaypublishing.com

  1 (888) 242-5904

  Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

  Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

  Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

  ISBN: 978-1-4808-4946-4 (sc)

  ISBN: 978-1-4808-4947-1 (e)

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2017910896

  Print information available on the last page.

  Archway Publishing rev. date: 07/28/2017

  For Deborah.

  Thank you for a wonderful thirty years.

  Thanks also for all of your help and encouragement on this book. Without your love, aid and support this series would not have happened.

  Contents

  1 Tienna

  2 Trust

  3 Dark Water

  4 Dhan

  5 Of Shaping And Speaking

  6 Lambsflower

  7 Open Air

  8 Until Help Comes

  9 Daegmon’s Threat

  10 Lake And Mountain

  11 Ambush

  12 Lieutenant Terrid

  13 Woodshaper

  14 Wind In The Night

  15 Lyn

  16 Storm Rocked

  17 Thimeon’s Choices

  18 Storm

  19 Uustgond

  20 Ascent

  21 Jhaban

  22 Toward Illengond

  23 Bandor’s Idea

  24 Even The Amanti Fail

  25 Illengond

  26 A Desperate Plan

  27 Escape

  28 The Trained And Untrained

  29 Rockshaper

  30 A Fool’s Hope

  31 The Heart Of The Mountain

  32 An Unexpected Reunion

  33 A Different Hope

  34 What Must Be Done

  35 Of Water, Wood, And Rock

  36 The Blood Of Illengond

  37 Out Of One Flood

  38 War On Illengond

  39 Terrid

  40 Huntress And Healer

  41 The Greater Danger

  42 The Might Of Cathros

  43 The Daegmon Lord

  44 After The Storm

  Gondisle (and the Surrounding Islands)

  1

  TIENNA

  Tienna sat alone in the near dark, leaning against a wall in some forsaken rock tunnel beneath the peaks of the Undeani highlands.

  Well, no, not alone. Somewhere further down the tunnel, out of sight, two Undeani warriors from Braga’s clan waited for her. But they would come no closer because of her other companion.

  Stretched out near Tienna’s feet lay one of the great snow tigers, the mightiest hunters of the Plains and perhaps of all Gondisle. Even without her gift of health sense, Tienna could have guessed from the creature’s labored breathing that it was not well. But her sense told her more. It was grievously wounded and near death. One leg was torn through the muscle all the way to the bone. It had been limping on three legs. Even in the faint torchlight, Tienna could see its beautiful white fur matted and caked with blood. And the internal injuries were worse. They were what Tienna felt.

  She did not know how it had survived as long as it had. She had entered the mountain an hour ago—she and all who were left of her company, those who had survived the attack. They had been betrayed and then ambushed by three Daegmons and the Gaergaen. Even with all of Cane’s new power, they never had a chance against four such enemies. Now Cane lay dead, and the stone that had given them the new power was destroyed.

  Elynna still led them. And Cathros was with her. Noab and Noaem, the Ceadani brothers, had survived. So five of the six gifted had somehow miraculously escaped, and some of the ungifted with them: Namha, the last of the Amanti; Tienna’s fellow Plainsfolk Nahoon, Beth, and Keet; Bandor and Theo; a few others. But so many had perished with Cane. Marti would never return to the Plains. He had been slain in front of his younger brother Keet. Hrevia had also watched her brother, Hruach, perish.

  It would have been worse had not Braga and his small band of Undeani warriors come to their aid—and had it not been for the unexpected help of the animals, many of whom had also given their lives.

  The tiger would join that number if she did not do something. But would her healing gift work on such a beast? Would she have the strength? Yet after what it had done for them, she had no choice but to try. She had waited long enough, regaining what strength she could. She could wait no longer.

  Tienna leaned forward and spun her body around so that she sat near the creature’s neck. It lifted its head an inch and looked at her through eyes that glowed green in the faint torchlight. Green like my own eyes, she thought. Then the tiger’s powerful neck gave out and its head fell back down. The mysterious green orbs closed.

  Tienna leaned down on her side so that her head lay near one of its great paws, a paw that could have closed around her entire face. How many Plainsfolk over the years, hunting or gathering wild grains on the Plains, had lost their lives to a single swipe of one of these weapons? She would not think about that. She put her hand into the deep fur of one of its brawny shoulders. Its breathing grew even shallower. Tienna shut down her awarenes
s of her body, her location. She probed with her thoughts, letting her health sense reach deep into the animal until its breathing became hers, its heartbeat became hers.

  Until its wounds and pain were hers also. She could feel the bruised and bleeding organs—the nearly collapsed lungs, struggling to take in more air. She felt within herself the agony of torn muscle and exposed bone and nerves. She shuddered and cried out. This was worse than any person she had healed. Worse even than Falien whose broken back she healed. Even as the creature’s strength was much greater than a human’s, so were its wounds and pain. Or maybe it only felt worse because it was so strange. The tiger felt things in a different way. It experienced the world as no human did. The very texture of the agony was new.

  Yet at the very moment she thought she could not bear it, something happened—something Tienna had not experienced before. The tiger understood what she was doing. Even without Noaem and his gift of speaking with animals, she felt the creature’s thought. Not just its pain and wounds, but its instincts and self-awareness touched hers. At the very peak of her pain, Tienna felt a strength pouring back into her. The tiger was giving back to her something of its own feline strength.

  A minute later she was done. She lay her head back. The pain had been more intense than any healing before. But the wave of exhaustion she usually felt after a healing did not overcome her. She rose to her feet, feeling almost refreshed. She looked around in surprise. Where had the light come from? Had the others returned with more torches?

  No, there were no more torches. No additional light shone. Her senses told her that. She could simply see better. The same darkness had become less dark to her. She realized, with a rush of awe, that she was now seeing more like a tiger.

  A touch on her face startled her and she jumped. She turned to see the great tiger standing beside her, its head even with hers, gazing into her eyes. It leaned forward and with heavy cat breath and nuzzled her cheek with its nose. She probed with her senses, seeking any remaining wound. The animal stood healthy and whole. Even its torn leg was healed, though it now bore a long scar.

  “Come,” she said, “we have far to go and much to do.”

  The tiger chuffed.

  Tienna picked up her bow and slung it over her shoulder. Strands of her red-brown hair, now stringy with sweat and grime from days of travel, fell over her face. She had given up braiding it days ago. She pulled it back with two hands, tucked it into a band, and let it fall down her neck. She grabbed the torch from where it leaned against the wall, and started down the tunnel.

  A hundred yards ahead she came upon the two Undeani warriors. Braga’s men, standing in their heavy sheepskin garb, looked very much alike except one had a long and unkempt beard and the other still had the smooth face of a youth. They looked terrified to see the tiger again, and both backed up in the tunnel at Tienna’s approach.

  “Come,” the beardless one said in a thick Undeani accent. “We find others.”

  Tienna nodded. “I am ready.” She handed him the torch. He stepped forward, eyeing the cat nervously. He took the torch from her hand, and retreated. Both men then turned and headed off at a quick pace.

  Tienna, her right hand buried in the tiger’s fur, followed. As she walked, she mentally retraced her path over the past few hours. The ambush and battle had been followed by a wild chase through the wintry forests of the Undeani highlands, pursued by both the Gaergaen and the Daegmons. And though they didn’t know it at the time, by Golach and his company as well. Through a day and a nearly restless night they ran, forced now and then to turn and fight.

  First the animals came to their aid, saving the company from certain defeat. Then, little more than an hour ago, when they had been trapped and cornered at the abrupt end of a valley, Braga and his people had arrived to help. He had led them—the twenty or so members of his own company and all that were left of Elynna’s—through the secret door into the mountainside.

  They’d had only a few torches, and Tienna struggled at first. She was not used to being underground and had little sense of direction. She remembered only one turn of the many they had taken. They came to a major fork in the main passage. To the right, a steep stair wound its way upward into the mountain. To the left a narrower tunnel began a slow descent. There the Undeani had split up. The larger group, about fifteen of Braga’s tribesmen, turned to the right and started up the stairs.

  “I and some of my men will stay with you to guide you, but the rest must give what aid they can to those still above the ground,” Braga had explained. “I fear for my people who stayed outside to hide our disappearance. The soldiers from the lowlands we can handle. They know nothing of these hills. But Creagon will be trouble. He is sure to bring war against my clan for the aid we have given you. We must go into hiding.”

  Shortly after that, Tienna realized the tiger could go no farther. Braga feared stopping, in case their pursuers found the way into the mountains. So Tienna told them to go ahead; she would stay with the tiger. Braga left two men behind with her.

  Now it was time to catch up with the others.

  Tienna marched on, keeping up the quick pace of her Undeani guides. She felt strangely fresh and full of energy, and her senses were more attuned to her surroundings. She heard echoes in the darkness and knew without thinking where there were side passages, or higher roofs, or larger chambers. She had always prided herself on her ability to move noiselessly. It was part of her training as a huntress, and she was good at it. Now even that had improved. She could hear the distinct footfalls of her guides, walking several strides ahead of her. She could count the number of feet without trying. She even smelled them. Smelled the odor of humans mixed with the smell of tanned sheepskin. One of them had recently eaten fish.

  All of this was so new and different it occupied her thoughts. Time passed quickly. At one point her guides paused briefly to rest. When they resumed, Tienna took the lead with the tiger still padding along soundlessly at her side. More time passed. A dozen or more yards behind her, the torch flickered and went out. She heard what she guessed was cursing in the Undeani tongue. She waited, but no new light appeared. To her amazement, however, Tienna found she could still see. She noticed tiny glowworms hanging from the ceiling, and patches of luminescent moss in the damp cracks. They were things she would not before have seen, with or without the dim light of a torch. But they provided enough light to guide her way. “Come,” she said. She continued on with the Undeani stumbling along behind her.

  The tunnel went relatively straight now with no branches or side passages. She did not need directions. Onward she walked, aware of the occasional sounds of her followers stumbling behind her in the darkness. Some four or five hours after the healing, she became aware of something new. More smells. Human smells. The faintest echoes of whispers. She knew she was catching up with the rest of her company.

  Then the thoughts that came unconsciously to her instincts gave way to more noticeable signs. Soft voices echoed through the rock. The light of torches grew slowly.

  “Where are we?” a voice asked in the darkness. Tienna recognized Elynna’s voice.

  “I do not know,” came the answer, spoken with an Undeani accent. “I have never been here.” Tienna recognized the voice of Braga, the leader of the Undeani. She stopped briefly to listen. “I did not expect so many choices,” the voice continued.

  She started walking again. She came around a sharp left bend in the tunnel and stepped into a large circular cavern about thirty feet high and a hundred feet across. Light from six torches reflected off the damp walls leaving a few distant corners and niches flickering in and out of shadows. But crowded in the center of the cavern, holding the torches, were the remainder of her companions along with their Undeani guides. They did not see her at first, coming silently and without a torch.

  “What do we do?” The new voice drew Tienna’s attention to a figure standing behind Elynna. He had lon
g red hair braided in the Anghare style, but his rounded facial features were Andani. It was Bandor. “Do we turn back?”

  “No,” Braga replied. Tienna looked at the speaker whose answer seemed so sure and confident. Like the other Undeani, he wore a heavy sheepskin vest, and sheepskin leggings and boots, but his arms were bare below the elbows. A hefty double-edged ax hung on his back. He also had braided hair, but unlike the clean-faced Anghare he had a long, thick and wild beard. His most striking feature though—one Tienna was still not used to—were the strange blue and red patterns painted on his forehead and arms. Even seen from thirty yards across the cavern in the torchlight, the contrast of rough white sheepskin and painted face made him look fierce. “We will rest here for a time. I will find a way.”

  Tienna still walked slowly toward the others, but now she glanced again around the walls of the chamber. Passages led off in several directions, some through elaborately carved arches and others through nothing more than low rough holes that were difficult to distinguish from shadows. So this was not a natural cave. She looked behind her at the tunnel through which she had come. Her two Undeani companion were just entering the cavern, one still holding the extinguished torch.

  “Are we safe here?” Elynna asked. Tienna turned back toward the crowd and continued forward. Several other murmurs suggested that Elynna was not the only one with the concern.

  Braga nodded. “Even if the enemy finds the entrance into the mountain, they will find it difficult to—” His voice stopped short and he gave a startled shout. He had apparently just seen Tienna and the tiger.

  She strode the last few yards into the midst of the group. Though the Undeani and a few of Tienna’s own companions kept their distance from the tiger, the others gathered around her. The tiger yawned, then turned and walked away. The others then gathered closer as well. They spent several minutes welcoming her back and listening as she told them about the healing, and about her newfound instincts. “I don’t know how to explain that any more than I can explain the healing,” Tienna answered. “All I can say is—well. My hearing. My sight. It’s all been expanded. Even in the dark I could see better than ever.” She paused, then said, “something of the tiger has been given to me.”