***
“Olive.”
My whispered name awoke me. I opened my eyes, focusing on the tent overhead and on Kull crouched over me. Had I been asleep? I didn’t even remember drifting off.
The scent of roasted vegetables and seared meat filled the room. My stomach growled as I propped onto my elbows. My wounded shoulder ached in protest. I winced, hoping Kull hadn’t noticed.
Kull passed me a plate of sizzling food. A green root plant, hearts of palmetto, red florets, and a slab of some sort of meat that resembled pork filled the platter. I grabbed up one of the roots and popped it into my mouth.
The vegetables had been cooked with enough seasoning to give them a savory flavor. I had the insane urge to eat everything all at once but paced myself. How long had it been since I’d eaten an actual meal?
I looked up at Kull. “How do you feel?” I asked him.
“My mind feels like my own again,” Kull said as he watched me eat. “We are very fortunate to have found these nomads. Otherwise, I’m certain I would not have made it.”
“Yes, fortunate.”
He crossed his arms. “Yet I cannot help but wonder how we came across them when we did. What are they doing in these wilds? None travel here unless they mean to hide.”
“I wondered the same thing. So far, I haven’t been given a straight answer.” I took another bite, realizing I’d almost eaten it all. So much for pacing myself.
I glanced at Kull. The black gash was still visible on his neck. His paled skin and the thin sheen of sweat on his forehead worried me.
“You are still unwell,” I told him.
He crossed his arms. “As are you.”
I rubbed my shoulder. “Yes, a little.”
“A little? You should let the healer look at your shoulder.”
“Perhaps.”
A soft rustling came from the tent’s opening, interrupting our conversation. Arantha walked inside. She halted before entering farther, her eyes guarded as she peered at Kull.
“You are well?” she asked.
He straightened to his full height. Arantha shied away. “I am,” he answered.
She nodded. “I’ve come to deliver a summons from Geth, our leader. He desires your presence in his tent. If you’ll follow me.” She parted the tent’s opening.
Kull and I traded wary glances before following Arantha outside. A chill breeze gusted past as we crossed through the rows of tents. A few men and women remained outside, huddled around campfires or sharpening spears. I didn’t like the suspicious glances they gave me.
We stopped in front of a tent that stood taller than the rest. The dark red canvas looked thicker and sturdier than the material covering the other dwellings. Arantha led us inside.
The heavy scent of burning incense, accompanied by a fog of smoke, lingered in the air. Arantha pointed us toward a set of wooden stools near a bookshelf. I took a seat, though Kull remained standing.
A roughly hewn, wooden desk took up the back half of the room. Beyond it was another tent flap, which I again assumed led to a separate chamber.
“Geth will be with you shortly. Shall I fetch some tea while you wait?”
“No, thank you,” I answered.
“How long will this take?” Kull asked. “I am not in the habit of waiting. Does your leader know who I am?”
Arantha swallowed. “He only wishes to meet you. He will arrive as soon as he can.”
Kull crossed his arms. “For your sake, I hope he does.”
Arantha cleared her throat. “If you’ll excuse me.” She ducked into the room behind the desk.
Kull rubbed his neck as the curtain closed behind her. “They’d better be planning to return my sword. Otherwise, this meeting will be over very quickly.”
I focused on the bookshelf beside me. “And if they don’t?”
“Then they will regret it.”
“You plan to threaten them?”
“If that is what it takes.”
“Not everyone responds to threats, you know. Sometimes it is better to be polite.”
He laughed. “I believe I am the one who gave you that advice not long ago. Besides, I have no need of using such a tactic.”
“Spoken like a true Wult,” I mumbled as I scanned the books.
I pulled a book from the shelf, Science and Experimentation in the Realm of Magic, and flipped through the pages. It didn’t hold my interest. I scanned the others. Most were on politics or science, a few wartime strategy books. The aroma of the incense made my eyes feel heavy, my head foggy. I hated the cold, yet I felt tempted to step outside so I could take a breath of fresh air.
Kull paced the room until I felt he would wear a hole through the rug. “They are taking their time on purpose.”
“You’ve no proof of that.”
“They mean to challenge me. This is a show of their authority.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“You do not believe so?” he asked me.
“I think you’re taking it a little far.”
He worked his jaw back and forth. “I will not tolerate this. If their leader wishes to speak with me, inform him that he can find me inside the healer’s tent.” He left without another word.
I sat in silence, wishing Geth would appear. Perhaps I should have followed Kull back to the tent, but I was curious to meet Geth and see what he wanted from us—and to thank him for taking us in.
With nothing else to do, I once again scanned the books. Focusing on the bottom shelf, I noticed one I hadn’t seen before. When Dreams Cometh. LM Peerling.
I gasped.
I knew my stepfather didn’t own a copy of this book, which said something. As far as I knew, the book didn’t exist anymore. Yet here it was.
I snatched it off the shelf, leafed through the pages, and stopped on one that caught my eye.
The power of a dream, especially in the mind of a human child, is more potent than any other species. Human children have the ability to recollect past lives, reexamine the course of the present, and even peer into the future. Because humans underestimate the power of the imagination, they are limited in their ability to harness this force of nature.
History could be rewritten, the future explored, and the depths of space and of the undiscovered corners of the mind could be unlocked.
The greatest power of all, the ability to encounter new worlds of existence, could be discovered with this single ability to dream.
I heard footsteps outside and stuffed the book under my jacket. My mind swam with information. New worlds of existence? What had the author meant by that? It seemed an odd choice of words. I had to read more. The key to saving my godson could very well be in this book.
Kull stuck his head in the tent. “Would you ask if these people have seen my sister?”
“Why don’t you?”
“And demand the return of my weapon.”
“Kull—”
“Thank you, Olive.” He left without another word. I rubbed my throbbing shoulder, wishing I’d found someone else as my traveling companion.
The tent’s fabric rustled behind the desk, and a man entered the room. My heart rate spiked. I wished Kull would come back, even with his brainless remarks and cockiness. I wished I didn’t have to be alone with this man.
Geth, I assumed, strode toward me. He wore the same clothing as the rest of the nomads, his dark fur cloak covering a leather tunic and breeches, though I noticed his muscled frame made the clothing stretch tight. His skin looked tanned and careworn, although he appeared to be in his mid-thirties. Gold earrings shone from his nose and ears—the same pointed ears as the rest of the group. His hand rested casually on a bone-hilted knife at his waist.
Geth’s eyes were what made me fearful. They were hate filled. He looked as though he held a grudge against me, though I had no clue how I’d offended him.
He stopped inches away from me.
Should I stand? I felt as though he expected me to bow or kiss his knuckles o
r something. Instead I sat petrified.
“Where is the Wult?” he demanded.
“Gone,” I said, finding my voice. “He is still unwell and thought it best to return to the healer’s tent.”
“To rest?”
“Yes.”
Geth laughed. He moved back and leaned against his desk, arms folded. “I wasn’t aware that Wult warriors needed rest. He must be less of a fighter than I realized.”
I didn’t know how to respond.
“My healer tells me the Wult has been inflicted with a strange malady.”
“Yes.”
“A black wound that seems to move beneath his skin.”
I nodded.
“I have heard of such a thing. The illness is caused by a creature of dark magic. I encountered the being not long ago. Your friend is lucky to be alive.”
“Do you know what the creature is?”
“I’ve never heard its name, but I know this.” He leaned forward. “These lands are not safe. The dark creatures, though dangerous, are not the only threats to us. My men claim to have seen a Dreamwalker. They saw its true form—a woman, possibly elf or human, who used her spells to disguise her identity and capture her victims in their dreams.”
Until now, I’d assumed the Dreamthief to be a spirit, perhaps even a Regaymor. For the creature to be an actual person came as a surprise. “The Dreamwalker is a person?”
“Yes. The creatures that afflicted your Wult friend follow this person, this Dreamwalker, the spellcaster woman.”
“Where did they see the Dreamwalker?”
“Near the Wultland’s border.”
“Are they certain it was a mortal person?”
“Yes. And you,” he waved his hand at me, “are female. Human, or elf? Both, perhaps?” He leaned forward. “How is it that you discovered us?”
What should I tell him? I wasn’t sure who he was, and I certainly didn’t think it wise to trust him. I was certain he didn’t trust me. “I am a traveler from Earth Kingdom. I wished to tour Faythander and employed the Wult as my guide. I’d hoped to see the Wult Mountains, though my guide got us lost and we found our way here.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “He got you lost?”
I nodded.
Geth rubbed his chin. “I see. Then our meeting is merely a coincidence?”
“Yes.”
“We don’t get many visitors in these lands. You must understand that I find it quite odd to find you here, in these unforgiving lands, without food or shelter.”
He was toying with me, trying to find my real purpose for traveling to the goblin lands, but I refused to tell him more than necessary. It was time to turn the tables. “One could ask the same of you—why would a group of people choose the goblin lands as their home unless they needed somewhere to hide?”
He barked a laugh and then circled behind his desk. “We’ve got our reasons, ones I will not divulge to you. But tell me,” he leaned forward, knuckles pressed to the table, “have you seen this Dreamwalker?”
I crossed my arms. “I haven’t.”
“You are sure about this?”
I nodded.
His glare deepened. He didn’t believe me, but he didn’t press the issue further. “Will you stay long? Or can we expect you to leave shortly?”
I stood, meeting his gaze. “We will leave as soon as our injuries are healed.”
“Then, for your health, I hope you heal quickly.”
I couldn’t mistake the hostility in his voice. He turned and left the same way he’d entered. I watched him go, fear making my heart beat wildly. I took a step toward the opening and exited the tent, the book still tucked inside my coat.
Dreamthief Page 24