We marched all night, stopping only for pee breaks and Vialle insisted we not leave her to give her privacy as she was certain there were animals waiting from the brush. I didn’t second guess her, in my dragon form I could have both seen and smelled them. As a human, my senses were not the equal of hers or the dragon. My feet broke down on the rocks and branches of the forest floor. I kept it from them but Vialle could tell I was bleeding.
Near dawn, she made us stop and had Rinlon tear strips from my cloak and bind them after washing in a nearby stream. Neither of us had thought to pack a bag with medicines or provisions. We had to use what we had with us or our hands. Vialle laughed and said we could drink out of her slippers but doubted we’d enjoy the taste.
“Vialle,” Rinlon whispered as I let my head fall on my chest. “He seems very warm to my touch.”
She put her hand on my forehead, it seemed ice cold. “Milady, are you warm enough?” I returned alarmed at how cold she felt to me.
“No, Raven. You are chilled. How do you feel?”
“Tired. Hungry. My feet hurt,” I complained and stood up. Would have fallen over if Rinlon hadn’t grabbed me. I looked up at the lightening sky. “Dawn’s coming. I wish we were in Chessaria, the dawn there is spectacular.” I helped Vialle to her feet and followed Rinlon. He found a game trail and the going was easier. We encountered little glades in the woods with wild apple trees and berry bushes with prickly thorns overloaded with ripe fruit. The thorns caught at our clothing and added to the general frayed look of fugitives. The footing here was easier on my feet, pine needles and sandy loam. It even smelled different.
The sun came up. Huge, golden and shot off rays of dazzling color. I saw thousands of butterflies follow the rays and descend to the feathery leaves of gingokomellan trees. The sky darkened to a turquoise blue with a flash of green, like marbled cat’s eye. Rinlon gaped and turned in a circle to see Vialle smile. “Where are we?”
“Are you lost, Rinlon?” I worried taking the opportunity to sit under the apple tree. Reached up and plucked one, took a bite of sweet/tart Mac. Ate the whole thing, core and all.
“This isn’t Whichgren. We should be smack dab dead center in the Fens. The sky’s all wrong and the trees,” he said.
“Yes, we’re someplace else,”Vialle agreed. “Raven has changed a few things and brought us here. I knew Corwin could Hell Ride, I only suspected you might be able to, Raven.”
“Hell Ride? The Master asked me that, once.” We both asked her what that meant. She explained.
“When you are running for your life, you can change the surroundings little by little towards the goal of Amber. Like a Trump. Too large a change is dangerous, it brings you to a shadow where you don’t want to go. Describe what you see, Raven.” I did and she nodded. “It sounds familiar. Find a road next.”
We shared the apples and berries, he laughed at the sight of us stained with berry juice. We walked on, Vialle’s hand reached for mine as if she was afraid to let go of me.
Pine trees with lacy branches guarded larger meadows. We trod on sand between banks of laurel and sage. The path became a wider trail intersecting with water holes and streams that became rivers. We saw red deer, marmots, chipmunks the size of rabbits and something that resembled a teddy bear in size as well as color.
Grass appeared, each tiny tip glistened with dew and as we swept through the waist high sea, were both dampened and enchanted as it made a melody of faint chimes. I felt the change under my feet before I saw it. Smooth marble slabs so white they seemed to catch the sun and glow. Along the sides were flowers with pansy faces in a riotous jewel of color that turned to face us. When the sky marbled and the silvery deer-like creatures came out of the forest to stare and point at us with their hands, I knew where we were.
“Chessaria,” I said. “I dreamed I was here when I was a child. A long time ago.”
“Memories, Raven. Your memories are returning,” she said calmly. “I suspected it was where we were earlier when you mentioned the butterflies.”
“Is it safe to rest? Both of you are near dropping with exhaustion and his feet are in terrible shape. You need to eat and rest,” Rinlon advised. Vialle deferred to me.
“Don’t hunt anything that is gold or silver, Rinlon,” I said picking out a spot off the road. The grass flattened under me as I made a nest. “There are water sources near the yellow barked trees. All of the mushrooms are edible, there are beetles that live on the underside of the orange ferns. They taste like fruit.” My voice trailed off as I sank deep into exhausted slumber.
I woke because a particular itching started on the back of my neck. It was too annoying to sleep through and as I sat up, I noticed that both of them were asleep. There was an impressive pile of foodstuffs next to Rinlon stuffed inside his tunic. The itching grew to a pain that translated as foreboding. I was afraid and stood up on feet that had swollen to twice their size and my toes looked like buttons on a hog’s butt. My skin twitched, my back flared as the scars pulled at muscles no longer used to free movement or the way I’d lain these last few hours. I woke them, my face grim. When they asked for explanations, all I said was, “the Master. He’s coming.”
We ran. I shifted the scenery as many times as I could and still the sense of being followed stayed with me. “He is following us?” Vialle gasped as we ran down the side of a road as paved as any citiscape. We dodged vehicles that looked vaguely familiar until you got a glimpse of the orange skinned hairless three eyed drivers. They merely stared at us as if half naked humans running was no big deal. I noticed sardonically, that none of them stopped to give us a ride. They used the universal middle finger at us, too.
“He can change the scenery same as me,” I huffed finally. “He must have the same abilities as Merlin.”
“Why?” she asked.
“Because the Master is his brother,” I furrowed my brow. In all the time I’d been his slave, I never thought of him except as the Master, not Webster or even Jurt. I realized I had forgotten that little detail, that he was Merlin’s half brother. “He told me his name was Jurt.”
“Jurt. I’ve heard mention of him. A bad apple,” Rinlon mused. I stifled a noise between a snort and a sob.
“I will kill him when I have the chance.”
“No, Raven,” he said. “I will.”
“He’s a better swordsman than Random. Are you in his class?”
“I’ve seen Webster fight. I can take him,” he said confidently. “Can we head for Amber?”
“I’ve been trying,” I returned. “Something is blocking me. I don’t know if it’s me or the Master or even something that Merlin put up.”
“So where are we headed?”
“Cabra.” I tensed as the sky darkened to a pewter gray and harpies dive-bombed us, scattering the vehicles on the road into a massive multi-car pile-up. Horns added to the cacophony of rending metal, shrieks and foreign curses. The orange people oozed out of their cars and stood on the middle of the lanes shooting spit balls at the flying hags. When one gob connected, the harpies screamed and fell out of the sky, holes eaten right through.
“WHOA! Toxic spitballs!” I said and darted for the nearest sedan to stop abruptly as a bird woman lifted it off the road by her claws only to deposit it nearly on our heads.
“Raven, I suggest we run and hide!” Rinlon yelled as he grabbed for the Queen’s hands.
Up ahead was a bridge abutment with a road under it and another atop providing some coverage. We ran as more of the harpies fell out of the sky. Rinlon took two more with his sword thrusts after an impressive leap before we reached the underpass.
My body ached all over, my feet burned so bad that I wasn’t sure I could take another step. I shivered as chills ran down my back and made my limbs shake. My stomach clenched in fear and urine dribbled down my legs.
“Vialle!” Rinlon said urgently. “Catch him!”
I collapsed and turned my head to the soil under my face. “Master,” I said in defeat knowing he was nearby.
“Raven, fight. Don’t let him take you. Don’t let him win!” Rinlon urged, holding me. “Boy, your father loves you. The Queen loves you as a son. If you go to him, you go to our deaths.”
“I am already dead,” I said hollowly. “The Master killed me two years ago.”
“No, Raven,” Vialle said and held me tight. “You are Raven, the living bond between the King of Chaos and the Unicorn of Amber. In you is both the power of the Pattern and the Logus. Seek your destiny and your freedom.”
I was the dragon and as the Master called for me, I answered.