The Dream Sifter (The Depths of Memory Book 1)
Page 27
Rai laughed at the absurdity. "What? You think I came here to consummate an affair? How ridiculous! Is that how you entertain yourself? Viewing illicit couplings here in the seclusion of the park?" Rai giggled at the thought of the big bad Guardian watching couples make out in the park late at night.
"Well, if you did, I'd say by now it's safe to assume you've been stood up." The corner of his lip lifted ever so slightly.
Rai bit her tongue, itching to slap the smirk off his face. "Why are you here again? I can't be that interesting to follow, alone and healthy as I am. Don't you have anything better to do?"
A breeze picked up behind her, blowing her hair into her face, and she wondered how long the Guardian had watched her. Had she talked aloud to herself at all? The possibility sent a chill down her spine.
"Not at the moment, no." He reached into his coat and pulled out a handheld device. Holding it up, he activated the med scanner and keyed the controls. He'd done this at the Waystation, right before he took Jesse off to the Temple healers. Light from the screen illuminated his face, casting his chiseled features in a harsh glow.
"It is unusual to find someone wandering about, alone, in the middle of the night. It makes me wonder if they're feeling well." His eyes looked up, challenging her. "How are you feeling, Rai Durmah?"
Rai wanted to snarl. What about this Guardian brought out her claws? She imagined the feel of her fist connecting with the hard line of his jaw and curled her fingers in anticipation. "I wanted some air, a quiet walk in the park." How did he know her name? Perhaps he read it off the scanner. "I'm well, I can assure you."
"So it appears." The Guardian turned off the device and slipped it back into his pocket. "Aren't you worried about being alone out here in the dark?"
"I'm not alone now. You're here after all." The Guardian frowned. "Besides, what do I have to fear in the middle of the city, protected by Guardians like you who go around imitating rocks? Ooh, scary rocks ..." Yeah, she wanted to punch that scowl right off his face, and then kick him hard in the ribs for good measure.
At that moment, the popping sound came again, but now off to the right of them both. It hadn't come from the Guardian after all.
"Well, you should be. You might want a better grip on that dagger." He turned and tracked the noise, moving silently away from her.
Rai was surprised he'd noticed the dagger in the dark. Perhaps he'd caught sight of it when she was gesturing or laughing. Taking his advice, she allowed the blade to slip down into her right hand, the comfortable grip of the hilt light in her palm. Rai followed, not wishing to be alone with whatever the Guardian deemed dangerous.
"Could it be another Guardian, or some couple wandering the park?" Rai whispered, scanning the park with her newly discovered night vision, but saw nothing.
"Quiet," he ordered, also at a whisper, moving slowly forward. Despite his authority, his tone offended her.
The Guardian approached an open area and stood still as the stone he'd imitated. Rai stopped a few feet behind him and scanned the small glen. A flicker of movement caught Rai's eye, bringing her attention to a lone breacat walking awkwardly across the open space. She'd seen a few of the animals around town. People kept them to kill off the undesirable vermin. Something about the stilted way it shambled across the grass made the hair on the back of Rai's neck stand on end in warning.
The breeze picked up again, coming now from across the glen toward them, and Rai wondered if the Guardian had chosen their position as it was downwind from the breacat. Somehow, she sensed a warrior of his caliber considered such things. The breeze grew stronger, and a sudden rank, putrid scent filled Rai's nostrils. She almost gagged from the shock. This was no longer a breacat. It continued to amble with its bizarre gait, and looking closer Rai counted three legs on the rear instead of the usual two.
"That isn't a breacat," Rai whispered, unsure of what he'd seen in the dark. The animal displayed no visible reaction to her voice. The breacats head wobbled loosely while it stumbled forward, reinforcing its unreal nature upon Rai.
The Guardian cast a glance back at her, and rolled his eyes. "Terrors never remain in their original forms for long."
Rai gaped for a moment, knowing that the breacat wasn't what it appeared, but also not believing such a creature of nightmares would look so inept and unintimidating. He turned his attention back to the now revealed Terror, and his body grew tense with anticipation of the inevitable confrontation.
"I should go home," Rai whispered. The Guardian ignored her. Could she outrun a Terror? If she lived through the evening, taking up regular running stints would be an exercise for another day.
Being this close to the Guardian and with the air current, for once, blowing from him to her, Rai took in his scent. The previous physical distance and inopportune breezes had kept her from catching a glimpse into his psyche to date. Now, with his mind completely focused on the creature, what Rai sensed was clear and unambiguous. He wasn't afraid, he simply waited for some critical sign, some move from the Terror, before queuing his attack. The thrill of anticipation rolled through him, along with a yearning for the hunt.
There was something peculiar to the scent. Something that struck her as profoundly out of the ordinary--so she breathed it in more deeply. There was his palpable desire to kill--directed at the Terror, but also unexpectedly at Rai herself. Against her own will, a grisly sequence of images flashed across Rai's mind. An image of a stiletto blade sliced across her bared neck. Her blood flowing out while she stared emotionless back at him, color slowly draining out and paling her face as her eyes glazed over. Rai crumpled to the ground, an empty corpse.
Gasping for air, Rai recoiled from the visions that resounded with her nightmares, and knocked into a low branch on the tree behind her. Shaking her head, she tried to clear away the cold and calculating picture of her own death as her now empty hands gripped the tree trunk. In her disorientation, she'd dropped her dagger, and the Guardian had disappeared. Rai'd never had visions from reading people before. This was a cruel time to start.
The Terror let out a rasping whimper. Rai looked up and met its unfortunate gaze. This freak of nature hadn't overlooked her movement. Its head had ceased the previous bobbling and it took a tentative step in her direction. Briefly frozen against the tree, Rai wondered how much of a threat this two-foot tall, awkward monster was.
In answer to her question, the creature stretched and moaned. Its eyes never left Rai's, and its mouth widened impossibly into a caricature of a smile gone horribly wrong. The beast's teeth grew wider and longer. The impossibility of what she witnessed made Rai question reality. It gnashed and bit its teeth in her direction, and Rai wondered morbidly if it was attempting to open its maw large enough to swallow her whole. The breacats limbs lengthened and widened as it continued to march a slow but steady pace in Rai's direction. A deep and resonating growl issued from the Terror's throat. Although it appeared an impossible creature, it unquestionably held her attention.
Rai looked around, but even with her enhanced night vision, it was clear the Guardian hadn't returned. In his thoughts, he'd envisioned her corpse. Perhaps he'd left her to the Terror, a more grisly but just as sure death. Panicking, Rai fell to her knees and searched the ankle-high grass for her discarded dagger, unable to take her eyes off the approaching fiend.
Her fingers grazed metal and Rai clutched the dagger in her hand. Still on her knees and now armed, however inadequately, Rai raised her blade to defend herself. Standing slowly, Rai figured the monster was now within fifteen feet of her and at least three times her size. If it was steady enough to jump, Rai feared the weight alone should crush her. With her luck, such an impact wouldn't kill her quickly, giving the beast time to sink those glistening, sharp teeth into her flesh.
Unable to just stand and await the beast's arrival and knowing that she couldn't stand up to its assault, Rai found her feet and dashed under the trees behind her, hoping to elude the Terror for at least a few precious minutes. A ho
rrible wail answered her temporary escape, and soon she heard it crashing through the trees, furiously growling and mewling in pursuit.
Breaking out from the copse of trees, Rai ran into the open and toward a large rock formation. Just as she reached it, the Terror crashed beyond the last of the trees, howling triumphantly. An arm shot out from around the rocks and pulled Rai roughly around, pressing her back against the rock with a hard thud, knocking the wind out of her lungs. A female Guardian Rai hadn't noticed pressed a gloved hand over her mouth.
"Stay here and be quiet, and you'll most likely be safe."
Rai nodded. The Guardian moved confidently, released her grip, and ran toward the approaching noise of the wailing and yapping Terror. Panting for air, Rai checked to make sure she still held her dagger, and gripped it ever more tightly. It astonished Rai to see the female Guardian chase after such a dangerous beast. How could she alone defeat it?
Much to Rai's surprise, the Terror soon let out a feral scream, as if in great pain. The beast continued to howl angrily and Rai inched around the rock, curious to watch the battle despite her fears. Peeking around, Rai saw the limping beast surrounded by five Guardians. The female who'd aided Rai joined her allies in their attack. The beast screeched and collapsed after one Guardian flitted quickly past the still strong rear leg, efficiently hamstringing and further disabling its ability to attack. From this relatively safe distance, the beast looked smaller than Rai remembered when it had chased after her.
Watching the Guardians adeptly dispatching the beast, Rai sheathed her dagger and let out a low whistle.
"Impressive, aren't they?" a familiar voice came from behind her. Spinning around, Rai faced the Guardian she'd been talking with earlier.
Rage flared within her belly. "You left me alone with that thing. It might have killed me!" If knew his name she would have cursed him by it. Multiple times.
"Oh, they'd never get a chance to learn if I handled everything myself. A newly-formed terror shouldn't give my trainees much of a challenge."
His flippant attitude did nothing to assuage Rai's anger. "Are you implying you used me as bait?" Rai realized the Guardians must have been present while the Terror had transformed and chased her down.
For once, he didn't snipe at her or otherwise respond. Rai found this lack of a reply even more infuriating. Without questioning the reasonableness of her action, Rai fluidly unsheathed her dagger and lunged at him in a single motion, aiming for his throat. He made no move to stop her attack.
Rai's arm crumpled, struck down hard from above by a third party. Spun around and pushed to her knees in a move that jarred her spine, her blade fell to the ground from her hand, her wrist twisted painfully from the position behind her back. After a few deep breaths to clear her head, Rai looked up and saw the female Guardian who'd previous pulled her out of harm's way now had her securely pinned.
The familiar male Guardian walked around in front of her, and he leaned down and spoke into her ear. "If I did use you 'as bait', it would have been completely within my rights. A word of caution. Don't ever attack me again. My patience with you wears thin. Much more stretching and the wire will snap."
He turned to the female Guardian. "Escort the girl to the Durmah Waystation. Make sure she enters and does not leave again until morning. Don't bother to wake the house. I'm sure she's learned her lesson." He walked off toward what was left of the melee. The beast no longer struggled to defend itself.
The female Guardian lifted Rai to her feet by her upper arms, then slid Rai's dagger back into its sheath. The message was clear to Rai: she was no threat to them, with or without the blade. Motioning in the direction of the Waystation, this Guardian left no room for debate. Not that Rai was arguing. She'd had plenty of air and walking about for the evening. Exploring her talents in the comfort and safety of the Waystation was suddenly much more attractive to Rai.
Rai picked up her pace, not looking back while the Terror uttered its final squeals in the distance. Back on cobbled streets signaling the edge of the park, Rai realized the female Guardian was laughing.
"What's so funny?" Rai asked, sure the joke was on her.
"You!" the Guardian replied, falling into step beside Rai. "I've never seen someone outside of my Sept attack a Guardian, let alone a Senior Trainer."
"He used me as bait, and I got angry about it," Rai replied. The Guardian's question drove home, however. When she'd gone for his throat with the blade, Rai hadn't even considered the fact that he was a trained fighter and she just a simple girl of a Trader Sept. Her attack had been an incredibly stupid thing to do.
"Bait? I can assure you, that's not possible. We got the call a couple of minutes ago that there was a Terror loose in the park," the Guardian replied. Rai wondered if, when the Guardian had pulled out his scanner to assess her health, he'd instead been signaling for aid. Still, if he'd known about the imminent danger of the Terror, he should have warned her about it.
"Besides, we Guardians protect--not try and get people killed." She shook her head again.
When they reached the Waystation, Rai debated which entrance might bring the least amount of notice to whoever was working the night shift. She bet on the locked side door that the staff seldom used. Hopefully, she'd sneak inside and get upstairs without attracting any notice.
The Guardian stepped in front of Rai and stopped her motion with a hand firmly placed on Rai's shoulder. It wasn't lost on Rai that the Guardian picked her right shoulder, the one still sore from their encounter earlier.
"You do realize he could have killed you for attacking him? A simple report citing your 'unstable mental state' is all it would have taken to him to have you locked up." Rai wondered if all Guardians talked this much, and decided that the lady's curiosity must be getting the better of her. She withdrew her hand, crossing both arms in front of her chest. "You're such a young thing. Did you honestly think you could injure him?"
Clearly, the Guardian was unwilling to let Rai enter the Waystation until she was satisfied.
"No. I'd kill him," Rai answered. By the look in the lady's eyes and her scent, Rai knew she found her answer neither repellent nor humorous. Instead, Rai could tell that the Guardian was fascinated. Rai pulled out her keys and elbowed the Guardian aside.
"I'll be sure to give him your regards." The Guardian disappeared into the shadows across the street.
"Please do so," Rai replied. Certain she'd repeat every word, verbatim.
Rai entered the Waystation without further incident, locking the door behind her. Heading up the back stairway to her quarters, Rai wondered how she'd been so convinced she'd be able to kill the Guardian. She mused it must have been the product of her temper at the time. There couldn't be any other feasible possibility.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Ponar walked behind Laan, lugging a now full water sack back to camp under the shady canopy of the forest. Both he and Laan had taken quick dips in the stream after filling their water sacks. Baths were rare on the road, so they'd jumped at the opportunity--regardless of the icy nature of the water. Now water dripped from his hair onto his shoulders and back, dampening his shirt and cooling him from the day's earlier heat.
Ponar hoped Meik would have dinner ready for them once they got back. He was starving. They were still too far from camp to smell Meik's stew in the air, but that didn't stop Ponar from taking a couple deep, anticipatory breaths. Suddenly, Laan stopped short, motioning for Ponar to be quiet. Startled out of his reverie, Ponar shot a questioning look at Laan and stopped beside him. Laan pointed into the forest, back toward the stream, with an amused look on his face.
Ponar looked where Laan directed and saw their female escort greeted by a new male Guardian, and knew at once that another traveler must have joined their camp. For a moment Ponar thought this was all Laan found of interest, but as he watched the two Guardians interact, he realized there was more to the situation than just two Septmates sharing information from the road. The new Guardian stood rigidly in front
of their escort, hands clasped behind his back and head bent forward--his eyes focused on the ground.
"You ever see them do that?" Laan asked him. "Is the new guy is saluting or bowing to our escort?"
"Yeah, he must be. I guess it makes sense they have some system of rank--I mean they are a large Sept."
"Leave it to the Guardians to keep their internal ranking secret from everyone," Laan said.
Their Guardian made a dismissive gesture at the newcomer, and then he relaxed and began talking. Soon the two were in deep conversation, and Ponar got the impression that the newcomer was now reporting to their Guardian.
"I supposed I'm happy we've got the senior ranking escort. That's never a bad thing, right?" Ponar asked.
"One hopes," Laan replied. "Let's get back to camp before one of them notices us."
Ponar nodded his agreement, and they walked quietly away from the escorts. Within a few minutes, they returned to camp, finding Meik and Tinker Somnu sharing a bottle of wine. Ponar was glad to see the Tinker, if a bit surprised at the coincidence of running into him on the road.
"Well, isn't this fortuitous!" Ponar said. "Greetings to you, Tinker Somnu."
"It's truly good to meet up with you again, old friend," Laan said earnestly, reaching out and heartily clasping the Tinker's outstretched hand.
The Tinker's sharp gaze lingered on the new arrivals, at odds with his relaxed posture. "And greetings to you as well, friend Durmahs!" Somnu replied.
Ponar and Laan hefted their water sacks into their respective wagons, and pulled up chairs around the small campfire Meik had setup for cooking.
"I hear from Meik you're finally going to settle down and make the family proud, young Ponar," Somnu said. "My congratulations on your pending engagement! Who's the lucky girl?"
Ponar shot Meik an irritated glance, not happy over the announcement when he hadn't yet settled on the bride to be. "I'm afraid that hasn't been finalized yet."