Thoughts of the book I carried in my pack killed any negative response I might have made. I was carrying the book mostly because it reminded me of Mother.
We had finished arranging what I thought were the last items in Trey’s pack when he stopped and clapped his hand over his mouth. “What?” I asked. “There’s not much room left.”
He picked up the metal poker from beside the fireplace and said, “There’s room for this.”
“You don’t need the poker,” I said, not trying to keep the irritation out of my voice.
He held it up. “Not this,” he hissed. He stepped close to the fireplace and stuck the end of the poker between two rocks. One of them shifted when he pried with the poker. Moments later, I heard a clink as he pulled out four small silver coins and a bronze one. “Mother told me they had hidden money behind this stone.”
For a moment, I wondered if my parents had hidden any money in our house and then I dismissed the idea. Father would certainly have used it to buy a new bow when the mice ruined his. He had spent much of the next year unsuccessfully trying to make a bow strong enough to bring down deer and elk.
Zephyr appeared in the open doorway when Trey tucked the money in his pack. She gave a sigh, tapped on the floor with her claws and said, “We need to get going. It will be dark and dangerous to travel before long.”
It was darker than I expected when Trey blew out the lamp and we stepped outside. The sun was fully set, not just hiding behind a ridge, and twilight was deepening towards dark. However, the moon Celina was peeking over the horizon. She had just started the waning phase, so she cast enough light to make faint shadows at night.
Once outside, I remembered what I was supposed to do and spent a few moments magically scanning the nearby region for potential problems. The act was becoming routine. I didn’t sense anything dangerous close, so pointed down the trail. “Let’s go.”
Zephyr led the way when we started, but she walked at a steady pace with us rather than loping on ahead. I followed her and Trey brought up the rear. I heard him sniff several times and blow his nose, but he didn’t break down crying.
“I have another question,” I said to Zephyr when we neared the road leading from the mine to Glendale. The mine was only an hour and a half walk from our position, but it took a long day of walking to reach Glendale.
“Only one?” she asked.
“Can you talk?”
She snorted. “You’ve heard me talk many times, so you already know the answer.”
“Using your voice rather than magic,” I amended.
“Not in the way you can talk. I can growl and howl, and with enough effort, even bark, but true-talking is difficult and hurts my throat.”
Thoughts of talking with a wolf made me think of Trey and his ability to hear Zephyr and I asked, “Can I mind-talk to you without Trey hearing what I say?”
The wolf sounded amused and almost disgusted. “Of course, provided you don’t blurt the words for everyone to hear. Conversations can be private between two people if you want it that way.” She placed an interesting emphasis on the ‘want’ in her comment.
“Oh. Did Trey hear everything we said to each other using mind-speak?” The conversation topics were interesting, but a new idea caught my attention. I asked another question without waiting for her response or considering the implications. “Why did the Hunter run when you howled?”
“He must be afraid of wolves.”
“That doesn’t explain it very well, and you’re evading a direct answer, I think,” I said as I glanced both ways along the road. I hopped from a patch of grass to a clump of rock and then to another patch of grass. Beside me, Trey was doing the same thing. We crossed the road without leaving any footprints in the dirt and then headed deeper into the brush flanking the road.
Hoping Zephyr would provide a better explanation, I said, “He was armed and has been trained to fight. Why would he run from a distant wolf howl when wolves don’t interfere in the affairs of humans?”
Zephyr responded immediately, “I don’t know why he ran. I have never seen this Hunter before, but now I know his scent.”
The answer seemed reasonable to a degree, as had many other things Zephyr had said or implied. However, I was finally starting to understand one thing, and that was most people had hidden reasons for what they said or did. Something about Zephyr’s response didn’t ring true, or, at least, it was incomplete. The Hunter must know something about wolves that could use magic, and he seemed to be afraid of them. Why?
Chapter 3 – First Night
Zephyr’s white hair was easily visible in the moonlight, so I didn’t have to focus my attention on the game trail as I followed her toward the cabin where I grew up. A large knot on an oak tree reminded me of the black eyes of the dragon. Questions piled up in my mind like an avalanche of snow at the bottom of a steep hill in the winter. I spoke privately, or so I hoped, to Zephyr. “You didn’t say much about that dragon we just saw.”
I could tell by the flick of her ears that Zephyr heard me but she didn’t respond. She had told me the Council had taken her Guldur Stone–a stone that concentrated magical powers and also stored them for later use–and banished her from the Kingdom of Mitanni, which was where we were right now. I had never traveled more than a day’s journey from here and didn’t know anything about humans who might live elsewhere.
Zephyr had implied that the Council consisted of a few intelligent wolves and dragons, all of whom could use magic. People had died around me and I needed good information if I wanted to stay alive, so I pushed on with questions, determined to learn more. “Are there any humans on this Council?”
Zephyr gave a loud snort and slapped her tail from side to side before answering, “No. Humans are weak.”
The denial seemed straightforward, but the suspicious side of my personality grew stronger with every passing day. The Council had banished Zephyr, supposedly for helping me learn to use magic, but she was ignoring their proclamation. Unless she was lying, I now controlled stronger magic than she did, although she was vastly better trained in its use.
I tried to think, and immediately stubbed my toe on a rock. I stumbled, caught my balance, and walked on, lifting my feet higher with every step. Words Zephyr used three days ago flowed back into my memories, and to my amazement, I could remember them perfectly. I must have grown up a little in the last week—surviving violence and the death of your family has that kind of effect—because I started to understand a little of what she had described. Her words were engraved on my memory.
“Many years ago, ages ago, the world was without magic. More accurately, no one could use the existing magic in the world. Then, humans learned about magic. It took many lifetimes, and different civilizations rose and fell in the process, but a handful of humans became very powerful magicians and started to dominate everyone else.
“A few began experimenting on other humans who had little or no magic, forcing them to do their bidding. Others experimented on animals, intending to use them for their own purposes. As a result, they gave a few dragons and wolves the gift, or maybe it was the curse, of intelligence. The dragons and wolves fled when the humans turned on each other in a great war. The Vassago were victorious, but at great personal cost, for they were no longer human.
“Few humans remained alive when the war ended and most were changed in terrible ways. One woman used her remaining strength to give four of my kind and two dragons the ability to access the magic when focused through a special stone. The Guldur Stones are named after her. Those six set up a Council whose purpose was to prevent humans from regaining control of the strong magic.”
Suddenly, I saw what I had failed to understand earlier. The Council had banished Zephyr because she helped me, a human, start to control a little of the strong magic. I understood what Zephyr was saying, but their actions didn’t make a lot of sense. If Zephyr had do
ne something that could lead to another war, the Council would have done more than banish her, and then fail to keep her from returning. Also, the entire Council should be hunting me right now if I were that big of a threat.
Did that mean the Council didn’t really believe I could use the strong magic? Maybe they weren’t sure but sent a dragon to check on the rumors. I knew my mind would soon start spinning like a child’s toy top if I continued asking myself unanswerable questions. I decided to reiterate a question Zephyr had previously ignored. “Was the intelligent dragon we saw this afternoon sent by the Council?”
The wolf finally replied as she walked along the game trail, occasionally pausing to sniff the air. “That dragon is not on the Council.”
“How many dragons are on the Council?” I asked before I realized her answer didn’t match with my question.
“Two.”
“How many wolves?” I asked, thinking I already knew the answer.
“Four.”
I tried to think through what I knew about Zephyr and the first thing that came to mind was one past statement that she had visited the mine forty years ago. I wasn’t yet sixteen, and the idea of someone living forty or fifty years seemed impossible. However, I knew almost nothing about magic. Did magical creatures live longer than those without magic? “Are they the same six who initially formed the Council?”
“No.” Zephyr sounded like she was talking to a child. “Magical wolves and dragons are long-lived by human standards, but they are not immortal. There have been four complete changes in the Council since it formed. Most of the current members are young.”
“How young?” I asked, incredulous at the ages Zephyr was hinting at.
“None of them are a day over two hundred.”
“Mere babies,” I said sarcastically.
Zephyr bristled. “Don’t ever think of them that way. Council positions are earned through a competitive process. They are the most accomplished of any of our species.”
There was one question Ara would have asked, and I hesitated before asking it. Even though we had been apart only a couple of days, I missed her so much it hurt. I ignored the internal pain and blurted out the question, “Were you ever a Council member?”
Instead of answering, Zephyr bolted ahead on the trail and soon disappeared from view. I thought I heard a snarl from her magical voice, but it was so short I wasn’t positive. She was very sensitive to some—but not all—questions about the Council.
“What happened?” Trey whispered from behind me.
“She got mad about a question I asked,” I replied quietly, but louder than Trey’s whisper.
“Will she be back?” he asked.
“She’ll be back,” I replied. That much I knew for certain. The Council had taken Zephyr’s Guldur Stone, and the lack of a stone severely limited her ability to perform magic. She wanted another stone so badly she risked being killed by the Council members to get it. She had come to me, hoping I could help.
Trey sounded tired and frightened when he asked, “Are you sure?”
I responded quickly, “I’m sure. We’re getting close and we’ll sleep in the shed tonight because a tree smashed our cabin. You can stop there and I’ll run up the canyon to get my bow and backpack. It will only take five minutes each way.”
Zephyr wasn’t at the dig site and she wasn’t close by when I joined Trey in the shed. He was lying quietly, shrouded by a sleeping fur, but he wasn’t asleep. His dull eyes watched me. I whispered, “I’m back,” and pulled out a sleeping fur. The air was warm enough I didn’t really need it for sleeping, but it would keep the mosquitos off.
I folded one fur to use as a pillow, dropped to my knees, lay down, and wrapped the other fur around me. Now comfortable, I conducted another magical search. Even though there were a large number of animals close by, none of gave off any sense of danger. I looked farther away and soon located Zephyr near the mine site.
My mind raced in circles as I tried to relax. Fragments of thoughts wove in and out, never collecting into a complete picture. Why had the dragon circled and studied us? Why was it here at all? There was plenty of game close by today, but there hadn’t been enough close by all spring for us to hunt enough to eat. What was different? Why was Zephyr up at the mine site? There was plenty of game for her to eat much closer. She had said a Guldur Stone could store magic. How did that happen? She also said I could set a magical watch to warn me when anyone approached. There was so much I didn’t understand.
Finally, my mind slowed. Sleep would come soon, but I wanted to do a few things before dozing off. I wasn’t sure how to set a magical alarm, but then thought of the antics of the squirrels when they sensed an intruder. I need the magical equivalent of a squirrel. I visualized an enchanted squirrel sitting by the door with beady eyes watching for the slightest hint of movement. It would hiss and chitter if anything disturbed it.
Next, the small fragment of magical stone in the pack beside me drew my attention. It didn’t have much power, but it made it easier for me to reach the strong magic running through the mountains. I laid my hand on the pack, reached out with magical fingers and pulled in magic. I needed to hide from people who could see magic used by others, but I only needed a small fraction of the available power to do that, or so I hoped. It was like taking a pinch of sand between my fingers while down beside the river.
How do you store magical power? I was clueless and then thought of the magic I had already used. I had healed Ara’s badly bruised leg simply by wanting it to heal and then ‘stepping aside’ while letting the magic do the work. I couldn’t… I forced myself to stop thinking negative thoughts. If a magical stone was anything like a bucket where you simply poured in the water, then maybe I could pour in the magic. I made a pretend pouring motion. Nothing happened.
Frustrated, and getting sleepy, I made a small movement with one hand as if I was tossing a piece of wood on the woodpile. I would come back to the idea of storing magic later. Maybe Zephyr would explain what I needed to do, although she either believed I should discover answers for myself or she was waiting until I was better versed. She was as ornery as an old hen.
The moon had moved far enough that the shadows shifted when I woke again. My enchanted squirrel was still on the job, but now it was jumping up and down and chittering, all the while looking toward the door direction.
Trey was sleeping and his breathing formed a slow, steady rhythm. I scanned the region again and was wide awake when Zephyr pushed open the shed door with her nose a couple of minutes later. “I knew you would be back,” I said. “Was the hunting good?”
“Quail are always a tasty treat,” she replied and lay down with her head against my pack. She switched to the tone my mother had used when she didn’t want to be bothered. “We can talk more in the morning.”
I woke at first light in a near panic. Who knows what happens when you sleep? I imagined all sorts of terrible things and did a quick magical survey, not finding anything of concern before relaxing. Trey followed me when I slipped outside. His face was drawn and his eyes were red, but he seemed alert. He pointed at the immense tree that had fallen across my house, smashing through the roof and flattening the walls. “I saw the tree and then found the axe marks on the trunk when I came looking for you.”
“Yeah,” I said, feeling the flush of anger move up my throat. I had given into it once before and was determined not to let that happen again. If I did, Zephyr would mockingly call me a pup. I gestured at the shed just as Zephyr pushed out through the door. “We think the man who came to your place cut it down.”
Trey blinked several times and ran his hands up and down the sides of his trousers. “Why?”
We had hunted together many times, so I used words Trey would understand. “I was hiding from him. He did it so I would run out in the open like a spooked turkey. He is a good shot with arrows.”
“That’s r
ight,” Trey said with a catch in his words. He passed his fingers over his skinny chest. “He hit me while I was running.”
A few minutes later, after washing my hands in the creek, I filled my water bottle and drank several cups of fresh water. Trey joined me on the bank when I pulled out a small piece of cheese and a piece of dried meat. He looked around. “Where is … the wolf?”
“Probably hunting breakfast,” I said and took a bite of cheese.
“Oh.” He shivered and hunched down before he opened his pack and pulled out a small pouch of dried apples. “What are we doing today?”
My mouth was full, so I replied using a magical approach. “We’re going to dig up a magical stone today.”
“Why?” Trey clapped his hand over his lower face and slowly pulled it away. “And before you say anything, I heard you say that without using your mouth.”
“You can do it, too,” I said, encouragingly. “Talk to me the same way.”
“How?”
I chewed the cheese and meat as I tried to think. I wasn’t used to being a teacher and I knew I had often been a poor student. Zephyr had told me the magical communication was possible and encouraged me to use it without giving me any specific instruction. Trey could learn to do it. I decided to give him a suggestion. “Act like you are whispering the words to me, but don’t say them out loud.”
Trey closed his eyes and puckered his brow. Moments later, he opened one eye and looked at me. “Did you hear that?”
I shook my head and spoke aloud, “No. I think you’re trying too hard. You already did it when you didn’t intend to, so it should be easy.”
We worked on magical talking until we finished our meager breakfast. Although Trey could hear me when I used magical speech, he still hadn’t learned how to speak using it. I pushed my hair back and tried to comb out some of the tangles with my fingers, and said, “That’s okay. I tried all afternoon before I learned one thing Zephyr was showing me. I tried hundreds of times before it worked.”
Hunted Page 3