Chapter 51
It was raining.
Raining was perhaps not the right word.
Aerlid was singing softly. As soon as he had left Astar he had changed and returned to the shining moonlight and night-dark eyes of long ago, when they were alone in the forest. Above them the shield was visible where the rain hit it. That was to say, it was always visible. It was white and sparkly. Rain rolled off it to either side.
Despite the shield Riley was as wet as if she’d been dumped in the ocean.
The world was dark.
The rain gave the darkness a particular thickness that made it impenetrable. But then thunder would boom and roll and lightning would strike. And for an instant the world would be lit by blinding white light.
And then in an instant it would be gone.
And somehow it was darker than before.
Riley wrapped her arms around herself. She was shivering. She was soaking.
Wet grass came up higher than her waist. It clung to her. Mud came up to her ankles. That was clinging to her too.
They stood on a hill. When lightning hit she could see an ocean of grass all around.
And right now it was an ocean.
An ocean that just happened to be filled with grass.
‘I-is it l-like t-t-this oft-often?’ she managed through chattering teeth.
Aerlid glanced at her. Even this close he was just a greyish shadow. He shook his head.
Gripped by a sudden energy, Riley started wading down the hill.
Startled, Aerlid followed. He managed to stay close enough to keep her under the shield.
Despite it not preventing them from getting wet, it was slightly more comfortable than actually feeling the pelting torrent pounding into her.
But gemengs lived on the plains. They had to have shelter.
She was going to find it.
And no matter how violent and grumpy they were, they couldn’t be as violent and grumpy as her.
Off the hill it was dangerous.
Water was rushing and rising. Grass was everywhere. And under the water, sticky, sucking mud.
Aerlid’s hand gripped hers.
Lightning flashed. All she could see was grass.
The noise of the rain filled her ears. The smell of rain and wet grass was overpowering.
She strove onwards, Aerlid behind her. All she knew was that she had his hand.
Her dark, patchwork outfit was sticking to her skin. She was soaked.
She didn’t want to think what this was doing to her weapons or their supplies.
Later.
Later.
The rain went on and on.
Cold.
Then, out of the darkness a light. Red, like fire. It flickered and shuddered. But it kept burning.
It was so small, no larger than a candle.
They headed towards it.
For the light to survive this night there must be shelter.
And then another light.
And another, another.
A whole line of them.
The ground began rising.
It became suddenly much harder going. The water was rushing down towards them.
They kept going. Aerlid was beside her. Now, he was the one pulling her up.
She couldn’t see the fire anymore. There was just grass and water.
And then the lights were back. The pressure from the water against her chest eased. Riley realised they were at the top. The water was flowing away from them, down the hill.
Riley observed the lights carefully.
They were not a line but a ring. The fires cast strange, fitful light over the gathering. There was a blowing sound, like giant bellows.
Above the noise of rain and grass there was the noise of rain hitting something that resisted it.
Like a roof.
But there were no poles or anything with which to hold a roof.
Riley approached carefully. Aerlid was close by, she still had his hand.
The white sparkles of the shield were suddenly gone. Rain was no longer hitting it. Startled, Riley looked up. A fall of water showered her. There was a flare of sparkly light as the water hit the shield. Then the rain was gone again. She moved forward quickly.
Something was moving above them, like a sheet in the wind.
Her eyes were adjusting to the smoky light of the fires. It was like a sheet. And near the edges the cover was not so certain, it protected, and then the collected rain would spill from it. The fires were set a safe distance in from the edge.
And Riley could see a pink mound lying in the middle. Above it the sheet, or whatever it was, was rushing in, as if sucked, and then blown out.
Her attention was drawn to the shapes gathered around. A few stood between them and the fires.
Aerlid began speaking in one of the many languages he knew. It was one Riley knew as well, though not the same as that spoken in Astar.
This language was rougher.
‘We don’t come to fight. We only want to get out of the storm. May we stay here?’
A tall shape strode over to them. In the dark Riley could not make out much about it, except that it was taller than her and Aerlid.
He made a move as if to push them from the tent.
Riley moved out of the way, bringing Aerlid with her. ‘If we have to fight to get some shelter we will.’ Riley threatened. ‘We’ll stay on this side of the fires if it bothers you so much.’
‘You’ll probably have to fight it.’ Aerlid spoke to her in the Astarian’s version of Seiaan. He let go of her hand and stepped back.
‘You may not use our shelter!’ the creature growled. ‘Get out or become our dinner. Your choice.’
Riley drew her sword. It sung as it arced from her scabbard. ‘We choose neither.’
As they were sitting by the fires drying themselves, Riley pondered that she had basically forced herself into someone’s home. At that moment, she didn’t really care.
She realized once they settled by the fire that the mound was a big, fat gemeng. It was blowing out air to keep the sheet aloft. She was surprised it didn’t blow away, or that he had enough air to do that.
Still, it kept them from getting wetter. The ground underneath the tent was only damp and the grass was flattened down.
At that moment, it was very pleasant with the storm raging mere meters away.
She glanced over at the wounded man on the other side of the fire. The other creatures were bandaging him. They watched her with dangerous scowls.
They were not safe here.
She and Aerlid would have to take turns sleeping.
The Lord of the Plains Page 54