19

19

An entire army set out on the journey that was to lead the brothers to their father, consisting not only of Gurders, of whom there were about five hundred, but also a whole huge pack of Dogs and about a thousand Foresters armed with magicians and bows.

This entire motley crew of various species of intelligent beings was led by two brothers, who were shown the way by the chief magician of the Foresters. Lesion told them about the area they were passing, how their lands had once been larger, but they had had to retreat into the deeper forest to make room for the new exiles.

The area they passed was green, and everywhere they turned, towering trees grew. Sometimes they crossed a thin stream, sometimes through meadows strewn with colorful flowers. They no longer worried about food; the Foresters knew these forests intimately and assured them that before they emerged into the open fields, they would have time to replenish their supplies and still have plenty left. They spent their first evenings by small fires to avoid starting a fire, quickly devouring the food they had gathered along the way, and then went to bed. However, the weather worsened day by day, and the number of trees sheltering them from rain or sun diminished with each passing hour. They remained silent with their father, so as not to attract the Lord's undue attention, but they sensed that their destination was drawing ever closer. Finally, after a few days, they emerged into the bare field promised by Lesion.

The travelers saw bare ground, with occasional rocks or thorny bushes peeking out from beneath the ground. The rain that had been falling for several days now had deepened the grayness of the surroundings.

"Isn't it close enough?" Dero asked Drozden, who had just landed gracefully beside him.

"Yes, not far, a few more days' journey and we'll be in the Lord's capital.

" "Then we should rest and think about what to do next," Ker remarked. "We can't go to him unprepared.

" "Hide from us, Traitors!" They heard the shout of one of the Gurders patrolling the area overhead.

In an instant, the clearing was empty; everyone hid wherever they could, thankfully not yet leaving the remnants of the forest behind them.

Ker grabbed Ash's hand as he climbed up the tree behind him and pointed to the sky. There, the two Traitors and their shiny collars were clearly visible. Ash nodded, and they both began to hum, only Ash making a soft sound; Ker was silent. Dero and Zon, who were sitting in the same tree, noticed their friends' movement and also looked up. The two-beaked birds circled the bare field as if searching for prey. Both brothers prayed that Gundere would continue to fly like that for a while longer, for they guessed what Ker and Ash were up to.

After a while, they saw both birds stagger and fall to the ground. They quickly jumped down from the trees and ran to the black piles that stood out against the brown-gray ground. The head mage, Lesion, also ran after them.

"We need to remove these collars as quickly as possible," said the Golden-crested Thrush, who also stood beside them.

"I'll keep singing, and you try," Ker said.

Lesion knelt next to one and began running his fingers over the metal. Two more mages joined him, and three more knelt beside the second Traitor. The rain had stopped, and the sun began to shine with evening light as the collars fell from the necks of two enormous black birds.

"They need to be tied up; there's no telling how they'll react when they wake up. Ker, you can stop." Kukularz stood over one of the birds with a rope in his hand.

"Yes, absolutely, they'll sleep for a while longer; someone should watch over them during that time," ordered Goldcrest, sighing heavily.

Before the Traitors had even woken up, the camp was ready. Today they decided not to light a fire, feeding only on what they had in their backpacks. All the dogs they had behind them, the Whites and their friends, scattered in search of food for themselves. A Kukularz for those who also ate raw meat, every now and then one would return, clutching the flesh of some small creature in his teeth and offering it to one of the Gurders.

"Hey, they're waking up!" cried one of the Gurders guarding the Traitors.

"Let's go, Drozder will probably be interrogating them," Zon said, rising from the ground.

"Ker, come on, you'll translate."

They approached a group near one of the border trees.

"What's going on?" Ker explained the exchange between Drozder and the birds tied to the tree.

"Why did you tie ours?"

"Don't you remember anything, Purozer?

" "What are we supposed to remember? Yesterday we were on a scouting mission, which you sent us on, and now we're tied up.

" "What did you see?

" "At the foot of the Black Mountains, there's a valley strewn with strange nests made of planks and stones, and there are a few shaggy stags hanging around there, all wearing collars around their necks, just like our kidnapped brethren. The Lord lives in one of the caves carved into the mountain.

" "What else is there, Mederez?"

"Actually, that's all. Stags live in these nests, there are about twenty of them. The Lord isn't gathering more strength because he thinks he's strong enough himself.

" "And how do you know that? He's kidnapping our own?" Kukularz interjected.

"We overheard a conversation between those of us wearing collars. We didn't get too close, but that's all we managed to learn," Purozer said.

"Our species only kidnaps because we can fly and quickly deliver those who wield power," Mederez added.

"Mederez finds these himself thanks to his abilities.

" "And ordinary kidnappers know such things? Something about your stories stinks," said Goldcrest, shaking his head.

"I admit we obtained this information by kidnapping one of the Stags and torturing him, Sir. We didn't want to talk about it because we felt embarrassed that we obtained the information that way."

"Yes, unfortunately, the other one died before we could get anything more out of him. We only know that they know all this, because the Lord doesn't hide his plans from anyone; he likes to be admired for his wisdom.

" "Are there any among them who serve without collars?

" "There are only two of them, his bodyguard and his most trusted, they come from the Stags and are supposedly bloodthirsty.

" "Where is Cerderek? He was with us on reconnaissance," Mederez asked.

"We don't know that. We'll untie you for now, but you're not allowed to stray far from Paragon and Zokon. You must be under strict supervision. You were also wearing collars, we only just managed to free you, and we don't know if there will be any side effects.

" "How did we end up in captivity?"

"I don't know, brother, but I'm glad you're back with us. Now come and eat something. The Dogs have taken care of us." – One of the Gurders came out from the circle listening to the conversation and started cutting the bonds as a sign of permission from Golden-crested Drozden.

The brothers and Ziemon left the group to discuss what they had just heard in peace. They hadn't gone far when Drozder, Lesion, and White Fang, who, while not speaking, listened and understood, joined them.

"And what do we do?" Zon asked.

"The best thing would be to catch everyone and remove their collars," they heard Ker's voice in their heads.

"Yes, but there are only two of you who can induce sleep," Drozder said.

"Unless we catch them two at a time," said Lesion, who had just approached them with a bowl full of live bugs. He was taking them out one at a time and placing them in Bibi's beak, which he held in his arms.

"The Lord will figure it out soon, and it has to be done quickly.

" "It's a pity you can't carry them long distances, because then you could go and get my compatriots, and they would help us." Ker scratched his nose with one of his four hands and stroked Bibi's head with the other.

"Unfortunately, maybe it could still be done, but we'd have to wait for them to come back, and that's an additional waste of time," said Kukularz, who had also joined the debate.

Ash shook his head:

"We waited and waited, and a few more days wouldn't have made much difference."

"Ker, but your countrymen would have hidden from us, of course.

" "Not necessarily, but you would have had to take either me or Dog with you in that direction.

" "And how long would that take?" asked Dero, who had only listened to the exchange until then.

"How long did it take you to get here on foot?" asked Drozder.

"One full moon with several sunrises," replied Zon.

"So, flying nonstop, only stopping for a short rest, it'll be about half a lunar cycle. It's hard to say exactly, because it'll be slower both ways, because of the luggage, so there and back, one full moon cycle," Kukularz calculated.

"That's a long time indeed, but what are we supposed to do?

" "I can't think of anything else either, but maybe it'll be faster if more birds fly and they take turns carrying them. How many of you do it take to lull as many creatures as there are?

" "Not many, about ten, maybe fifteen. Once we start lulling them to sleep, the others will fall one by one.

" "But you said you can kill with song," Zon remembered.

"Yes, but since all but two are serving under duress, why kill? Wouldn't it be better to just free them?

" "True, but it will take longer.

" "So what are we going to do?" Dero asked.

"I think we can't wait. Time is ticking, and our father is there, and we don't know if anyone else possesses the power the Lord is hunting. If so, he'll amplify his magic, and what then? We don't wait, we go straight to the Lord, we'll lull and save whoever we can, and whoever doesn't, we'll kill; there's no other way. The Foresters have bows. I know a recipe for a sleeping draught. We'll soak arrowheads in it and lull whoever we can. The mages will go around with their assistants, removing their collars and binding the Traitors. By killing the Lord—he must be killed—and his two assistants, we'll free everyone. While Ker and Lesion sing and lull, the Foresters will shoot, and the Gerdere will fly over the valley, searching for the Lord. Choose the strongest and go in whatever group you deem necessary. You will remove the Lord and his assistants from this world. I don't think we can think of anything better." Tomorrow we'll move on, now goodnight, we need to get some sleep, we still have a long way to go, according to Drozden's assurances." Dero withdrew, and everyone looked at him in admiration. He had devised a plan, ignoring that he was standing before clan chiefs who were higher in the hierarchy than he was, and what's more, he spoke as

if he were speaking to his subjects. "Well," said Oak, who had also been here during the meeting, "the boy's right, it's the best plan. He has a good head on his shoulders, he would be a good chief if he were a Forester.

" "Now I see that my brother is fit to be chief, and I think he will succeed our father.