Rise of Dachwald by Daniel Lawlis
Chapter 19
The bird that had been observing the meeting was a konulan, and it was now traveling north as fast as its tiny wings could possibly carry it. It knew all too well if it didn’t get this information to Tristan in a timely fashion, it would be Koksun’s next meal.
Tristan paced anxiously back and forth inside his cave. He was unusually tense. Everything had been going according to plan before he found out Dachwaldian emissaries were going to the City of Sodorf. In fact, the horrible devastation that he had wrought on the southern farms of Dachwald had exceeded his expectations. When he had received the report from one of his konulans that emissaries were crossing the border into Sodorf, he almost had a heart attack right on the spot. This wasn’t part of the plan. This was a deviation, and he did not like deviations. Unfortunately, he had almost no way of spying on the king and his senators when they were in Castle Dachwald, so he had no idea what had been decided. This left him completely in the dark. He had let the konulan know if it didn’t find out everything of import, it would find itself exploring the inside of Koksun’s stomach.
He had tried to take into account every contingency. His biggest fear had been General Sivingdon would simply say to hell with the rules and cross the border, or even get permission to do so. What he had hoped for was King Duchenwald would deny permission to cross at all.
Suddenly, just when he thought his head was going to explode from all the building tension, he heard the unmistakable sound of a konulan’s beating wings.
This better be THE konulan, he thought to himself.
Koksun licked his lips with anticipation of what he hoped would be a wonderful, feathery treat. As the konulan got closer, Tristan, having lost all patience, held out his hand and yanked the terrified bird towards him like an invisible chameleon tongue snatching an insect from thin air.
“Tell me—what have you found out?!” Tristan thundered to the bird he now held in front of him by the throat.
Koksun, overly excited by the prospect of eating the bird, jumped towards it. Tristan backhanded him hard, sending him flying across the room and crashing into several large books on Glisphin and poisons.
“You eat konulans when I feed them to you, and only when I feed them to you!! Do I make myself clear?!” Tristan shouted. Koksun meowed loudly and indignantly and then went and hid underneath several large books, embarrassed at having been handled so roughly in front of a lowly spy bird.
Turning back to the bird with fiery eyes, he repeated his question, “What have you found out?!”
“Master, the Sodorfians have agreed to assist the Dachwaldians! As we speak, five hundred Sodorfian regulars and twenty-five Sodorfian trackers are accompanying the two Dachwaldian emissaries and their ten bodyguards. I listened to their whole meeting. They’re going to check to see if the damage is as bad as the Dachwaldians say it is. They also want to see if the tracks truly go from Dachwald into Sodorf. In the event they do, they’ve agreed to work in tandem to hunt down those responsible. Master, there seems to be quite a bit of unity arising between the Dachwaldians and Sodorfians. It seems like—”
“SILENCE!!” shouted Tristan. “Bird, if you value your miserable little life, fly like the wind to Feiklen. Tell him I’ll be there shortly. Tell him to be ready to do battle!”
“Yes, Master.” Off it flew.
Tristan felt slightly bad for having struck Koksun; he was really one of his favorite possessions in the whole world.
“Here kitty, kitty, kitty.” He heard Koksun meow cautiously. “I have something I think you’ll like.”
Koksun shyly exited his hiding spot, tail low, ready to make an abrupt dash for safety at the first sign of danger. In Tristan’s hand was a konulan. The hapless thing was becoming incompetent in its old age; one of its fellow konulans had turned it in for sleeping when it was supposed to be spying.
“Please, master, don’t feed me to that horrible cat; I’ve worked hard for you for many years. Please I beg of you; I—”
As soon as Tristan set the konulan down on the table, Koksun leaped across the room, clearing four feet easily, maybe five. His eyes, previously innocent, grew large with a maniacal desire that went far beyond hunger. He tore into the poor bird, which died quickly—possibly from fright as much as being torn to pieces. No longer would it have to serve Tristan.