Hunted

by Paul Eslinger

  “She knows about four female magicians who surround the king,” Ara said.

  “She doesn’t know much about the wolves,” Trey added.

  I glanced at the sky and then around the small canyon. Badra showed in the evening sky and Celina would come up soon. “We know another thing. We saw Sorcha coming from a long way off and we watched her leave. The Hunter might have seen her movements and decide to investigate. We need to get our packs, cover the fire, and start moving. We may need to walk most of the night.”

  “Ugh,” Ara said, but didn’t protest any further. Her disturbed look changed to one of pleasure when I took all three packs, tied them together and hoisted them magically to float behind us.

  “Where is the Hunter?” Trey asked as we started walking up the canyon.

  “He’s over by the small village, but he has started coming in this direction.” We walked a few dozen paces and then doubled back on a game trail that led through a thick grove of pine trees on a steep slope.

  Ara glanced behind us several times with a worried look. “Do you think he’ll find our camp?”

  The same question had been swirling through my mind and I didn’t like the answer I had already developed. “He will if he takes the time to walk up the canyon. He can probably smell fresh smoke if he gets very close to where we built the fire. He’ll see the tracks we left.”

  Ara seemed scared as she continued. “Will he follow us?”

  “He’ll try,” I muttered.

  Trey moved close enough to talk. “There are only two options. We can go back to Glendale, or we can try to pass him and go on toward Falkirk.”

  The sun was already below the distant mountain peaks, but we had at least another hour of good light. I did another magical scan. The Hunter was heading along the King’s Road toward where Sorcha had flown out of the mouth of the canyon. If we kept moving south, we might be able to pass him and travel quite a distance during the time it took him to find our tracks.

  I came to a quick decision. “We’ll keep going south.”

  An hour later, we passed the village. We were close enough to smell cooking fires and the odor of fresh cow dung, but far enough up the slope that we couldn’t see any buildings or hear people talking.

  A while later, after Celina came up, Ara paused at a switchback on a game trail to catch her breath. Her face was pale in the moonlight as she looked at me. “I’m new to this magic stuff. Where is the Hunter?”

  I had kept checking, so already knew the answer. “I think he found our camp. He’s been there for long enough that he may have decided to stay all night.”

  Ara gestured along the slope. Enough deer and elk had used the trail that it was relatively smooth walking, but the encroaching bush branches kept slapping our arms and faces in the dim light. “In that case, why don’t we go down and walk along the edge of the road? We’ll make a lot faster time that way.”

  “Right,” I agreed, wondering why I hadn’t thought of the same thing. The Hunter was a long way behind us.

  “Sounds good,” Trey added. “I’m tired of stumbling around on this hillside.”

  The walking was easier after we reached the road and we made much better time. Ara veered over close and walked beside me on the grass bordering the road. She clasped the front of her dress, holding the sapphire in her fingers and gave a snort. “I’ve been thinking.”

  “Of course,” I prompted after she went silent.

  She sounded thoughtful when she finally responded, “Sorcha didn’t tell us much about this sapphire, and if she is on our side, that seems odd. Why wouldn’t she tell us enough to help us stay safe? Is she afraid of us?”

  It was past the middle of the night and I was getting tired enough it was difficult to think clearly, so I offered an inane response. “We know more about it than when I gave it to you.”

  Ara’s brittle tone of voice didn’t match her next word, “Right.”

  There wasn’t room to walk three abreast on the grass, so Trey darted ahead a few steps to get away from the packs floating behind me. He looked over his shoulder and joined the conversation. “She told us things we might have learned if we visited a market in Falkirk.”

  Ara sounded doubtful. “Do you really think so?”

  “I do. I’m sure you learn a lot in the market when you stop and listen. It may be different later when I get as big as Reuben, but people don’t stop gossiping when a small boy comes close.”

  “What did you expect Sorcha to tell us?” I asked.

  “One thing is obvious,” Trey said.

  “Just tell me,” I said gruffly, feeling frustrated.

  Ara cut in with a quick comment, “She warned us about the Hunter.”

  “That’s good,” I said.

  “I was thinking the same thing,” Trey said with a glance at Ara and then he continued as if he already knew what Ara meant. “She apparently knew about the sapphire as soon as she touched your hand. Although she talked about it, she didn’t warn us about it.”

  “What warning?” I asked, still feeling muddle-headed.

  “The sapphire is a powerful magical object,” Ara said as her fingers clasped more tightly around it. “Sorcha did say it passed from a woman to one of her descendants.”

  “Right,” Trey said encouragingly.

  “So, you see,” Ara said to me as she flipped her hair back with a toss of her head, “the person who expected to inherit the sapphire will come looking for it when Talindra is late returning from her trip. Not in the next few days, of course, but within a couple of weeks or a month.”

  Trey reiterated something he had said previously, “She apparently knew about the sapphire as soon as she touched your hand. I looked, and it was tucked inside your shirt, so how would she know?”

  “Yes?” Ara prompted.

  “I can see magical objects from a distance,” I said to Ara. “Apparently, Sorcha didn’t see it before she touched your hand.”

  “She felt it when she touched me,” Ara agreed, “because the sapphire grew warmer for a moment. Can other people see it from a distance?”

  “Maybe. I don’t know,” I said lamely. I had spent a lot of effort as we walked trying to hide our presence from observers using magic, so I hadn’t tried to see the object using magic. I shifted my magical focus—and the glare from the sapphire was so strong my eyes watered.

  “What?” Ara barked, apparently reacting to my startled look.

  I took a deep breath and said, “The sapphire contains a lot more power now than when I gave it to you.” I added a private explanation to Trey using our magical connection. “The opals provide a means to reach the strong power, but the sapphire has already stored much more power than they do. It’s still storing power.”

  Ara looked over at me and tapped her ear. “Your comment sounded strange. How do opals reach the strong power?”

  Chapter 27 – Different Shield

  Surprised, I stopped so quickly that the floating packs bumped into my back. Both Ara and Trey took a couple more steps before they stopped and looked at me. I pointed a finger at Ara and made sure Trey could also hear my magic-sponsored words, “What did you just hear me say?”

  She squinted in the dim light, apparently trying to read my expression, so she probably noticed that my lips hadn’t moved when I spoke. “You said, ‘Opals provide a means to reach the strong power, but the sapphire has more power than they do. It’s still storing power.’ Why are you asking?”

  I shifted over to the normal mode of speaking. “Because I didn’t say those words with my voice. I said them magically, expecting only Trey to hear them, but not really trying to keep others from hearing them.”

  Ara didn’t seem to be as tired as I was, and she immediately understood the implications. “You can talk to Trey without anyone else hearing you, or knowing that you are talking?”

  �
�That’s right,” I said and took a step forward. “We can continue walking while we talk.”

  “Can you talk to everyone the same way?”

  I shook my head and looked down at Ara’s earnest face as I started the explanation. “I can talk to Zephyr that way, but not to Sorcha. Zephyr says it only works when both people can use magic. Apparently, it doesn’t always work even then.”

  She shook her head violently. “I can’t use magic. And we are not blood-related.”

  My mind started working again as I pulled in a little magical power and energized my muscles. “If you can hear magical speech, then you should be able to talk that way, also.”

  “How?” she demanded.

  Trey tapped his fingers on his pants pocket that contained his opal. “It took me most of a day to learn how to talk that way after I first heard Reuben and Zephyr talking. It’s easier now, but it only works for me if I am carrying a magical opal.”

  “I don’t have an opal,” Ara replied, sounding thoughtful.

  “No,” Trey agreed, “but you do have a sapphire that stores magical power.”

  “What do I do?” Ara asked.

  “Rueben told me to act like I was whispering words, but not to say them out loud.”

  Ara’s eyebrows bunched as she apparently tried to do what Trey had suggested. A few moments later, her shoulders slumped and she spoke normally, “Did that work?”

  “Nope,” Trey said, sounding more hopeful than discouraged.

  I couldn’t keep quiet. “What did Sorcha say about using magic?”

  “What?” Ara snapped, and then she nodded. “Oh, yes. She said magic works when it aligns with your wishes, but there is a fine line between success and failure. You have to let the magic take care of the details.”

  A sudden insight made me veer from the current topic for a moment. “Sorcha may have actually answered your question about how she is able to shift between human and dragon form.”

  “We’re talking about talking,” Ara said, sounding miffed.

  I raised both hands. “Okay, let’s got back to talking. I think you’re trying too hard. You used to whisper things to Mother when I was in the room and I couldn’t hear what you said. Pretend like you’re whispering, but keep your mouth closed.”

  “I can’t talk that way,” she insisted.

  Words she had recently spouted at me came to mind. “Can’t never did anything. You haven’t even tried.”

  “Oh,” she said with a sheepish look and then licked her lips. Moments later, she spoke again, “Like this?”

  “Like that,” I replied. Trey’s smile was so wide his teeth gleamed in the moonlight.

  “But I can’t do magic!” Ara protested.

  “You just did,” I replied, and then continued, feeling pleased that I had figured out something before she did. “I also know why.”

  “Why?” She turned and walked sideways so she could see my face. She tripped on a root and Trey made a quick movement and caught her before she hit the ground.

  “Thank you,” I said to Trey before giving Ara a clue about what I had deduced. “Father said magic runs in families.”

  Ara paid more attention to her walking and then her back straightened. “You aren’t part of my family, at least not in that way.”

  I relented and gave her another tidbit of information. “What did you tell Nathania about magic when we were at the farm today?”

  “I accused her of using magic…” Ara’s words trailed off. “She’s my aunt, Mother’s sister.”

  “That’s what I was thinking,” I added. “Also, given some things Father didn’t say, I think Mother, your birth mother, could do simple magic.”

  Ara shrugged and shook her head in protest. “I’ve never been able to do it before.”

  “Father said magical abilities don’t usually show up until the person approaches adulthood. It gets stronger for another ten or twenty years.”

  “How old were you when you started?” Ara asked quickly.

  “Four.” I took a quick swallow. “That’s what Father said. He could also do a limited amount of magic and he used it to keep me from using magic. It sounds funny, but that’s what he said.”

  “Oh,” Ara said. After a long pause, she continued. “I need to think about this.”

  The Hunter wasn’t moving, so I was tempted to stop and find a place for us to sleep. However, he could make up a lot of the intervening distance if he rose at first light while we were still sleeping.

  I glanced back when the moonlight dimmed. A bank of clouds had covered Lunetta. Storms usually came from that direction. I shivered in response. The night air was cool and the rain would soak our clothes and chill us to the bone if we didn’t find a place out of the weather.

  Trey also glanced back and then gestured at the sky. “It’s going to rain soon. Do you know any good places to camp on this section of road?”

  “Not me,” I grumped and then quickened my pace. “Even a grove of big cedar trees would probably keep us dry.”

  The clouds chased us across the dark sky and the closest edge was straight overhead when we came to a small brook flowing across the road. I motioned uphill along the brook. “Let’s get off the road.”

  Jagged streaks of lightning flashed across the sky and thunder boomed close by as we jumped from rock to rock along the bank of the stream. “Forget trying to stay on the rocks,” I shouted. “The rain will wipe out any footprints we leave.”

  Trey led the way, Ara followed him, and I walked in the rear with the packs bobbing behind me as we scurried along a wide game trail, looking for a place out of the rain. Often the basalt hills had small caves or tunnels, but the granite around us loomed solid.

  The wind picked up, whistling through the trees, as Trey pointed toward a small cliff with a slight overhang of rock. The clouds covered the remaining moon and we slowed to a snail’s pace just to keep from falling. A few drops of rain splattered on the plants and trees around us and one of them hit me on the neck, wetting nearly half of the back of my shirt.

  Ara grabbed my arm and leaned over with her upturned face close to mine when we reached the cliff. The overhang would help but it wasn’t deep enough to keep off all the rain. The wind half smothered her words, “You pushed Nathania away when she tried to hit me. Can you push these raindrops away?”

  “What?” I grunted and then understood the question. “I don’t…” I clamped my lips together as I tried to think of a way to do what she asked. The desired shield only had to turn aside raindrops, and the wind, but it should still let in a little air. It didn’t have to be strong enough to turn aside an arrow or spear. Also, I didn’t like being caged in small spaces, so it should let me run out through it if I wanted.

  “You can do it,” Trey said encouragingly from my other side.

  I exhaled, took a deep breath, held my breath and reached for the strong magic. Holding my breath didn’t make it any easier, but I still did it when I tried to focus. Maybe it was because Trey and I were carrying opals, or maybe it was because Ara was carrying the sapphire, but it was easy to pull in magic from the roots of the hill we were standing on. My protective shield sprang into place.

  “Thank you,” Ara squealed as the wind died away and raindrops splattered on the shield above our heads.

  “This isn’t right,” I muttered. Oh, the shield was working, but it was the same shield I used to turn away rocks. I concentrated on reducing the amount of magic I was using and the wind noise increased.

  “What are you doing?” Ara asked when a series of water drops oozed through the shield.

  “Trying to use less magic,” I replied. Only then did I remember that a steep roof shed water better than a flat one. I tilted up the inner edge of the shield and hooked it to the rocks above. The water ran off so fast that none of it came through. I curved the shield out over us and lowe
red it so the bottom rested on the ground.

  “That’s nice,” Ara said, looking out at the rain. It was falling so hard the water made it easy to see the shield.

  Trey reached one finger toward the shield but stopped before he touched it. “How long can you hold this?”

  “All night,” I said with a shrug. “It isn’t taking much power, now that I weakened it.”

  Ara leaned back against the cliff with her hands behind her bottom. “This is great, but you didn’t give us much room for sleeping.”

  Another flash of lightning and a boom of thunder kept me from trying to answer. Instead, I adjusted the shield slightly to keep the lightning from blinding us and mute the thunder. I shook my head without trying to look at her. “This is the first time I’ve done this. It might collapse if I change it too much.”

  “I’ll be fine,” Ara said, reaching for the pack that now sat by her feet. “Thanks for carrying this all night.”

  Another flash of lightning illuminated the sky. It was still bright, but unlike the last one, it didn’t make my eyes hurt.

  Trey reached one hand toward the shield. He slowed when his fingers touched the shield, but his hand moved through up to the wrist. He pulled his hand back and flipped off the water coating it. “I can reach through it from this side, but I got wet.”

  “I didn’t want to get trapped,” I said around a big yawn. “I’m ready to get some sleep.”

  There were enough dry leaves blown against the edge of the rocks to smooth out the ground. Heavy rain cascaded off of the protective screen as all three of us wrapped ourselves in sleeping furs and found a place to settle down. Lightning bounced from cloud to cloud and occasionally slashed at the ground with jagged fingers. I thought about strengthening the shield enough to ward off lightning and then dismissed the thought.

  I didn’t expect anyone to be out in the storm, but I finally understood there was a lot I didn’t know, especially about magic. Zephyr had chided me more than once for not setting magical guards, and it was like I could hear her voice whispering in my mind.