by Kim Falconer
‘That is no way to wake a body up,’ she said to her black familiar, roughing his neck, ‘glaring like that.’
The storm has passed. We must reach the summit by noon.
‘Do you know why?’
Because that is when the meeting is.
‘What meeting? All this talk about a meeting and no-one tells me who—whom—we are going to meet.’
I don’t know that answer.
Getting her bearings, she stood up and headed for the glowing coals of the fire, the revelation of the night before flooding back.
‘Goddess of the Dark Forest, is it true?’
She thought of John’ra and Bethsay Matosh, of her older sisters and her little brother, D’ran. Everything she had recently learned made her feel distant, as if she were floating amongst the stars with no hope of coming in to land.
She mumbled under her breath, gathering her clothes that were spread out over the boulders near the makeshift hearth. She stepped into her leggings, warm and dry, and pulled her leather bodice over her head. She glanced back at the furs where An’ Lawrence had told her about her parentage. Why had Nell communicated to them both in such an elusive way? She did up her bodice laces, pulling on her sweaters and leather riding breeches. There’d better be a good explanation.
‘And now, Sword Master,’ she asked, though he was clearly not in the cave, ‘what of this secret journey that you and La Makee have cooked up? Where does this lead and why?’
I’ve asked, Drayco touched her mind, but Scylla says nothing.
‘I guess we’ll just have to see it played out.’
It seems so, Maudi. And the Sword Master’s your blood?
‘Apparently.’
How’s that for you?
‘I don’t know—but if we get off this mountain, Nellion Paree has some explaining to do.’
Drayco licked a paw and wiped the back of his ear. Everyone’s hungry.
‘Everyone?’
Me, Scylla, the horse beasts…
‘The horses! Where are they?’
At the back of the cave.
Rosette went to the horses and found them calm, resting quietly with their hind legs cocked and their heads down and drowsy. She tipped some grain from the pack onto the flat rocks and smiled at the rumbling sound their chewing made. She lugged water from the fire where ice had been set to melt and filled their leather trough before taking a long drink of her own.
We are very hungry, actually. There is nothing to hunt here. Drayco spoke for both familiars.
‘I am making a breakfast we can all enjoy, my lovely,’ she answered. She stoked the fire and filled a pot with chunks of dried meat and barley.
We should eat quickly.
‘What’s the rush now?’
We have to get out of here very soon. Scylla agrees. The Sword Master is returning. He’s anxious.
‘Well, we don’t want that, do we!’
Rosette looked towards the entrance as the covering flipped up and An’ Lawrence entered, ducking under the low, overhanging rock. Scylla, bobtail twitching, bounded to him, her thickly furred paws resting lightly on his chest as she jumped up.
‘Ouch!’ he shouted. It seemed her claws were not entirely sheathed. He tousled her head. ‘Okay! I’m back! What? What’s all the urgency?’
There was a moment’s silence before he said something under his breath. She turned back to the fire.
‘Good morning, Rosette. Feeling better?’
‘Good morning, Sword Master,’ she said formally. She didn’t turn around. ‘We need to be quick?’
‘We do.’
Very quick. Drayco pushed his head under Rosette’s hand.
‘All right, my famished one, breakfast is coming.’
‘I’m not really that hungry,’ he said.
‘I wasn’t talking to you.’
The flames jumped high as she spoke, the contents of the pot sizzling over.
An’ Lawrence began rolling up the furs and packing the saddlebags. ‘We have to get to the summit plateau by midday.’
‘So I’ve been told, though of course I have no idea why. In any case, the food is ready.’
‘Thanks. We can leave most of our supplies here.’
‘Leave them here?’
‘For the return. No sense lugging them up to the plateau and then back down again. They’ll be safe enough. I’ll saddle up.’
Rosette dished out two portions of the stew into the felines’ plates and added ice to take out the heat and give them more liquid. They didn’t waste any time lapping it up. She left the remainder beside the fire and followed An’ Lawrence to the horses. His back was to her as he saddled them.
‘That’s it?’ she asked, tapping his shoulder. ‘That’s all you have to say…we have to be quick? No comments about, let me see, anything else?’
He clamped his hand over hers to stop the tapping. He tried to hold it, but she pulled back. ‘Rosette, we have a task to perform and it must be successful. There is no time to talk about last night’s revelation.’
‘You tell me I’m your daughter and that my whole upbringing was a lie, that Nell and you were lovers and she’s my mother, then it’s, “Oh, sorry, there’s no time to talk about it. Break camp—important meeting—chop chop”?’
‘It’s a shock to me too, I assure you. I have more than a few questions for Nellion myself, when we next meet. But we can’t dwell on it right now.’ He caught her wrist and squeezed it tight. ‘Do you understand me? We have to stay focused. Things are going to get dangerous.’
‘Because, so far, it’s been a summer picnic?’
He growled. ‘Focus, Rosette. Do you understand?’
‘Perfectly,’ she replied.
No time for this! Drayco said. You two will have to sort out your bonding later.
Rosette huffed. I’ve no desire to bond with him. All I want is some clarity.
The meal disappeared in silence, An’ Lawrence eating in the back of the cave and Rosette by the fire. She could hear him speaking to the horses as he finished tacking up, but she didn’t look his way. She busied herself, rolling up the packets of food and tucking the crockery into the saddlebags that were to be left behind. She slipped on her sheepskin coat, ready to go. An’ Lawrence stood silently at the cave entrance, testing the wind.
‘Gale’s dropped completely,’ he said, staring out over the horizon.
‘Thank the goddess,’ Rosette said.
‘We’d best get to the top of this last ridge while we can.’
‘Again, why?’
‘We’re to meet a…a messenger.’
‘What kind of messenger?’
‘It could look like almost anything.’
‘Thing?’
‘Creature.’ He turned and stared her in the eyes. ‘There will be no time to debate. We will have to respond immediately and judiciously.’
‘Judiciously?’
‘It may seem evil to you, frightening, but it is older than that. From another world. Uncanny. It is not our place to judge or form an opinion. We must simply respond to instructions.’
‘Sounds to me like you have met such a thing before.’
‘I have.’
She waited for him to elaborate, but he didn’t. ‘Anything else you’d like to tell me about this creature, before we go? Any hint you might want to give your only daughter before she faces the unknown, completely baffled from lack of information?’ She looked at him questioningly. ‘Am I your only daughter, or are there sisters and brothers somewhere that I have yet to meet?’
‘Not that I’ve been told of, Rosette,’ a warning in his voice.
She ignored it. ‘So there could be?’ Her eyes went wide.
‘Stop thinking about the past, Rosette. It doesn’t exist.’
‘I can see that it doesn’t exist for you.’
The look he threw her made her mouth snap shut. ‘Last warning, Rosette. Let it go. All our lives are at stake. Stay focused on the messengers.’
; ‘Messengers? Now there’s more than one?’ She turned to Drayco. ‘It seems there’s more than one, a whole party of them, perhaps?’
‘There could be more than one, yes.’
Rosette studied the gravity in his eyes. ‘I’m listening,’ she said, schooling her features.
‘These messengers require special treatment. You must not be dazzled by them. You must not be impressed, neither must you startle. Most importantly, do not behave frivolously. They have no sense of humour, I promise you, and they will not tolerate your sharp tongue.’
He led his horse out of the cave. Rosette and the familiars followed.
‘Do you understand?’
‘Perfectly,’ she said, her hands shielding her eyes from the glare.
‘You’ll need these.’ An’ Lawrence gave her a pair of glasses, the lenses darkened with a sea-green tint. ‘The snow is blinding without them.’ He put on a pair himself and checked his daughter’s fit. ‘Let’s go.’
Leading the horses in single file, they headed up the icy slope. Rosette shivered from the cold shock. She also shivered from the Sword Master’s indifference. She had lost one family already, one father. John’ra was gone and now she had a second chance that also seemed to be slipping away before she could grasp it.
Rosette dispelled the thought and concentrated on their immediate situation. She still had no clear idea what they were rushing to meet. Messengers? A creature? Many creatures? If being an apprentice meant being kept out of the loop, she was doing just fine. She pushed her left hand deep into her pocket, gripping the reins with the other. Rosette was determined to get to the bottom of all these mysteries; if nothing else it was a suitable distraction from her dark mood. Clucking to her horse, she hurried to catch up.
There is good news here, Maudi.
What’s that?
You’ve made apprentice.
I know, but somehow I thought it would make me feel a whole lot better.
Jarrod leaned forward in the saddle as the mare lunged over a fallen log and scrambled up yet another slope. He stood in his stirrups, scanning the terrain ahead. Snowdrifts piled high to his left, but the howling wind had kept the trail frozen and manoeuvrable. He knew he was getting closer, gaining on them. He could feel it.
If the fair weather held he would be at the summit before nightfall. He stroked his horse’s neck as they crested the grade and skirted around an outcrop of boulders. Without her instincts and stamina, he doubted he’d find the way. The mare had been through this pass over many summers. She knew where they were headed and seemed to understand the urgency. It felt like the first bit of good luck since setting out on this journey.
A shrill whistle from above brought him out of his musing. He eased to a halt and searched the sky. It called again and he automatically answered in his goshawk whistle. A bird circled overhead and spiralled towards him. He urged his mare on. If this was Nell then she’d spotted him and would catch up in due time. If it was not, he’d take it as another good omen. The mare seemed unperturbed and they trotted steadily up another grade.
When they reached the top a hooded figure stood beside the trail, precariously close to the edge of a precipice. Three ravens perched in a dead pine branch behind her. Nell’s sudden presence was too much for the mare. She spooked like a green-broke filly, jumping upwards and sideways inside a second, bunching her hindquarters to bolt.
Jarrod shortened his reins and brought her under control as Nell pushed back her hood.
‘Steady, Wren. It’s only me.’ She held a hand out towards the horse’s flaring nostrils.
‘How do you do that?’ Jarrod asked, patting his horse’s neck.
‘Years of practice.’
He laughed. ‘I’ve yet to master it and I’ve had quite a few more years than you, Nell.’
‘Ah, but you are not a witch.’ She rubbed her hands together and slipped on her gloves. ‘You’ve done very well to get this far, this fast.’
‘It’s Wren. The mare’s amazing.’ He looked up at the sky and back to the cloaked woman. ‘Not as amazing as you, but damn fine anyway. What’s the news?’
‘They’re at the summit. I saw them crest the plateau.’
‘Rosette? Is she all right?’
‘She looked okay from where I was, but I didn’t get too close. I’m guessing they’re waiting up there for a messenger.’
‘Messenger?’
‘Wards of Kreshkali. They’re shape-shifters, after a fashion, very interesting. Dangerous, though.’
‘What does this mean?’
‘Makee must think that Rosette knows something about the lost spell. She’s fishing for information.’
‘In these waters? I thought you said Makee wouldn’t guess.’
‘I’m not certain of anything now.’
Jarrod looked at her and shook his head. Magic was such a complex art, as were those who wielded it.
‘Did you find out anything more?’
‘Very little. Makee’s suspicious of me and singleminded. All her intent is focused on this meeting, I know that much.’
‘Won’t An’ Lawrence protect her, being her blood?’
‘Yes, but he would have only just discovered that bit of truth and, if I know Rosette, she won’t make things easy for him.’
‘She never did with John’ra.’
‘So I heard.’ Nell sighed. ‘The Sword Master brought her here in the first place—hardly a protective act. His allegiance, it seems, is to Makee—always has been.’
‘I’ve got to get to her.’ Jarrod started forward. ‘Will I double you?’
‘The climb’s too steep, even for Wren. Ride up and I’ll meet you there.’ She gestured to the sky.
‘Of course.’ He moved off, heading up the trail.
‘One note of caution, Jarrod.’
He looked back, pulling Wren to a halt.
‘If the messengers are on the summit when you arrive, don’t let them see you. Don’t let them smell you. It’ll mean your death if they do.’
‘Just like that?’
‘They kill first and ask questions later.’
‘I’m fairly resilient.’
‘You think you’ve got the time to conjure up a whole new Tulpa-body?’
He rubbed his chin. ‘I’ll be careful.’
GAELA
CHAPTER 13
By midday, she heard the howls. At first Rosette thought it was the wind telling of some deep crevice ahead. She always listened to the wind. It had saved her life on more than a few occasions and it might be doing so again today. She frowned, listening harder, straining to catch the nuances embedded in the whirl of sound. Holding her breath, she realised it was not the wind that spoke. It was something else, and it was getting closer.
The horses’ heads tossed, eyes rolling, showing the whites. The beasts tried to look behind and to either side of the ridge all at once, taking small, prancing steps, tails held high. An’ Lawrence dismounted and Rosette did the same, holding the reins firm as her horse alternately pawed the snow and minced back and forth.
Something’s ahead. It climbs from the other side. I don’t recognise the scent. The warning cut sharply into her thoughts, alarming her even more than the horses’ behaviour. Drayco was apprehensive. She had seldom sensed that in him, not since the day they had met.
Human?
Not quite, more canine, or wolf.
Rosette went to An’ Lawrence and yanked on his long coat until he turned around.
‘Drayco says something is up ahead, on the other side of the summit.’ She leaned into him, pressing her face next to his. ‘He says it’s not quite human. Care to explain?’ She pulled her face back from his ice-encrusted hood.
‘We’re expecting a messenger, remember?’
Rosette pursed her cracked lips. ‘It’s not difficult to recall the things you tell me, Sword Master, considering how few and far between they are.’ She glared at him, fishing out Nell’s tin of ointment. Fumbling with the lid and still holding her
reins, she managed to dab some on her lips.
‘So this messenger isn’t human?’ she asked, the small gesture of shoving the ointment back into her pocket without offering him any giving her a sense of satisfaction.
‘That’s correct,’ he said.
‘And I’m guessing it’s the thing making the howling noises, terrifying the horses?’
‘It is.’
‘So, it’s like, what…a wolf?’
‘A wolf, but not a wolf.’ He raised his voice over the wind. ‘Several by the sound of it.’
‘How many?’
‘We’ll find out soon enough.’
‘We can trust them?’
‘They’re terribly dangerous, and not to be trusted. They are more dangerous at night, of course, but the important thing is to keep your mind-shield up. Don’t ever let them hear your thoughts, especially fearful ones. They will use them against you.’
‘These pointers might have been more useful if discussed earlier, Sword Master.’
‘When would that have been? While struggling in the blizzard perhaps, or in the training ring, making sure you could defend yourself?’
‘There were times in between.’ She crossed her arms. ‘You could have been a lot more forthcoming.’
‘I didn’t know for certain what today would bring—who she would send. Just remember, whatever you do, don’t let your mind-shield slip…’ He looked past her. ‘Heads up! See to your horse.’
Rosette spun as her mount backed away, the leather reins slipping fast through her gloved hand. She could scarcely clench her numb fingers against the leather as her arm snapped to its full length. The horse’s forelegs were braced against the tension, nostrils flaring.
‘Whoa now,’ she soothed, stepping forward to stroke the rigid neck. ‘They’re more dangerous at night, it seems, so we have hours to go before we’re dog food.’
‘This is not a joking matter, Rosette.’
‘Isn’t it?’ She looked wildly around as the horse backed further towards the edge of the trail. ‘We’re scaling a mountain, ice and snowdrifts hiding sudden drops into oblivion. The trail’s so narrow we couldn’t turn around and go back, even if we wanted to. And we don’t want to.’ She shook her head. ‘We want to go on, straight towards the howling that has me, and the horses, feeling like glass about to break!’