"Ten minutes? That doesn't sound too bad," Ponar replied.
"Hopefully it won't be," replied the Guardian. "Let's get moving. I'll ride out ahead and plant the smokescreen, then ride back in time to escort you through the troupe. Keep a steady pace for now, and then when I give the signal speed up to match my pace. Remember, don't stop." The Guardian waited for nods of understanding from the Durmah. "Then, once we've cleared the troupe, I'll want to keep up our pace for a good hour or so afterwards, just to get a good distance between us and the sclern. Any questions?"
"Won't that exhaust the horses?" Meik asked.
"Yes. That's why we'll stop early tonight, in order to give them a chance to rest up. There's a large river up ahead, Harper's Channel, which should serve as a natural barrier to the sclern. Once we're past that we should be safe," the Guardian explained.
"Harper's Channel? Would I be correct to assume that it's close to Harper's Sorrow?" Rai asked eagerly.
The Guardian raised an eyebrow. "Yes, it serves as the western boundary to that grove."
"So then we'll be setting up camp in Harper's Sorrow for the night?" Ponar asked.
"Yes, but I'd advise you to worry about where we'll camp later, after we've managed to navigate the sclern threat. Go ahead and put blinders on them and then head out at a normal pace. I'll be back within the hour," he advised. The Guardian then urged his mount forward into a gallop eastward. Soon the clouds of dust kicked up by his steed obscured his departure.
*
The Durmah followed the Guardian's directions, taking only a few extra moments to retrieve their lunches before continuing eastward along the Northern Road.
"How long has it been since he left?" Rai asked Ponar.
"Three-quarters of an hour?" Ponar guessed. "Sorry, I'm afraid I left my watch stored in the back."
"I suppose it doesn't matter anyway." Rai scanned the horizon, trying to see a hint of anything different or unusual. "Shouldn't we be able to see smoke by now?"
"Here I thought all you'd talk about would be your chance to see Harper's Sorrow tonight."
"Oh don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled we're going to camp in my nightmare forest tonight. I suppose I'm just a little concerned about this matter of thousands of little angry furballs with teeth," Rai replied.
"Technically, it's tens of thousands of little angry furballs with teeth," Ponar corrected.
"Thanks, that really helps." Rai rolled her eyes.
"I just think you might be taking all this too seriously. I mean, if it was too dangerous then the Guardian would have found an alternate route."
"Yeah, you have a point," Rai replied.
"And didn't Laan mention how this guy took on Iron Wolves during your escort from Raven's Call to Kiya's Grace? How can these furballs compare to a pack of those beasts?"
"I think we're about to find out," Rai replied, pointing to a plume of smoke rising from the road ahead. "That's odd; I don't I see any sclern yet."
"Well, isn't the smoke supposed to frighten them off?" Ponar replied. "Perhaps they've already cleared out?"
Just then, the Guardian rode out of the smoke at breakneck speed. He continued at a gallop until he passed them.
"Where's he going?" Rai asked.
"I'd guess he's giving Meik and Laan a head's up that we're about to encounter the troupe. Can you stow this in my bag?" he asked, handing her the remains of his sandwich and his water flask. "Somehow I doubt I'll have time to finish it."
Rai did as he asked, taking the opportunity to store away her own flask. A few seconds later, the Guardian reappeared. Rai noticed a sheen of sweat on his horse, indicating he'd been riding hard and fast.
"Follow my pace," he ordered, wiping sweat off his face with a gloved hand. "Stop for nothing." Then he was off, not waiting for their response.
The pace the Guardian set was a fast trot, which caused the wagon's seat to bounce uncomfortably. Rai watched the line of smoke fast approaching.
"Hold your cape up to your face, so that it covers your mouth and nose, and use it to breathe through. It'll make dealing with the smoke easier." Ponar advised, and then demonstrated with his own cape.
Obviously he'd had to do this on multiple occasions, thought Rai. She tried to copy his wrapping technique, which allowed him to keep both of his hands free for the reins, but couldn't quite get it right in time. Instead, she used a hand to keep the cape in place as they slipped into the smoky haze.
Although the smoke had appeared thick and dense from the outside, Rai was surprised to find it easy to see through. She could see the Guardian up ahead and about twenty to thirty feet in each direction, depending on rolling nature of the smoke's obscuring thickness around them. The ground was slightly harder to see, the smoke seemed thicker closer to the ground. To Rai's sensitive ears the sounds of the horses hooves and the wagon wheels seemed to be somewhat amplified, as they were reflected back at them by walls of haze.
"Isn't it scary to travel this quickly when you can't see very far ahead?" Rai asked; her words muffled by the cape.
"It's a little daunting," he shrugged. "You really just have to trust your escort at times like these."
The minutes dragged by, and, unable to see the scenery passing by, Rai began to wonder if they were moving forward at all. She kept scanning the road for any sign of the sclern. Although she didn't see any, her nose began picking up a new scent. It reminded her of the time she'd found a breacat nest in the back of the storehouse at the Waystation in Kiya's Grace. The smell was musky with a trace of what could be urine.
After the scent had grown to almost overpowering, Rai began to hear them. The sounds of thousands of sharp claws, scratching their way across rocks and stones reached her ears. Shrill cries, although muted by the smoke, still held a sense of the creatures' irritation, whether at the intruders to their realm or at each other, Rai had no way of knowing. She could sense their movement, aware almost of a undulating mass just beyond the smoke's boundaries.
Rai found that she could see more clearly. "Is the smoke clearing?" she asked Ponar.
"No, it looks the same to me," he frowned. "Don't worry, I'm sure we'll be through it soon."
Confused, Rai looked around again, noticing how she could see the Guardian, his horse, the trees, bushes, and the road, all with greater clarity. It was as if they radiated a phosphorescent glow, which by some means was visible through the haze. How was this possible, Rai wondered? Could this be some newly rediscovered forgotten ability, like her ability to smell beyond the normal human range? Or rather was it just some trick her mind was playing with her, and she was imagining it?
Through the smoke, Rai saw something peculiar with the ground. A shimmering mass, which she hadn't noticed before, appeared to undulate and shift to their left. It reminded her of water rippling. Could it be they were near a lake or river? However, the wave of glowing movement was coming closer and closer to the road, which for some reason made Rai nervous.
"Can you see the water off to our left?" Rai asked.
"What are you talking about?" Ponar replied. "I still can't see anything."
"Well, it seems to be getting awful close to the road." In fact, from the movement of the shimmer, Rai could swear the water was now on the road up ahead, but that couldn't be right, could it?
Ponar looked at her as if she'd gone crazy. Perhaps she had. Rai saw the Guardian's horse trot through the shimmer, apparently without incident. Seconds later, their horses reached the glow, which Rai could now distinguish as separate, round ... things.
"Oh no," Rai said. She closed her eyes, wincing.
crunch ... crunch crunch crunch ...
Came the sounds as the horses' hooves landed upon the sclern. A mere second later the wagon wheels cut through their tiny bodies, creating a cacophony of breaking bones, squishing organs and shrill cries. The smell of blood and urine filled the air as spraying fluid painted the horses' legs and the wagon's underbelly.
"How did you know?" Ponar demanded, yelling o
ver the screeching, angry sclern.
Rai looked at him, meeting his gaze. She didn't want to lie to him; he had earned her trust, and thus warranted her confidence. "I can see them. They glow."
Rai could see the confusion and disbelief in his eyes. "I don't know why, and it's never happened before today."
"At least as far as you can remember," he countered.
He was right. For all she knew this could have been something she used to use on a daily basis, before her temple service and subsequent amnesia.
"Hey, can you also see how much farther before we're clear?" Ponar asked.
Rai watched the shimmering ripples of the sclern moving around them, and found the boundary where the glowing ceased up ahead. "Not far, perhaps another minute or two?"
"Good to hear," he answered.
They rode on in relative silence, with the sound of angry, broken, and dying sclern filling their ears.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
They emerged from the smoke, with only the blood on the horses and wagons as evidence of their encounter with the sclern. The Guardian slowed their pace, checking to make sure all was well with them before riding back to check on Meik and Laan.
Rai looked around to see if she could see any sclern in the distance, and observed no evidence of the troupe. The road ahead sloped downwards, leading to a bridge over a wide and placid river. On the far side of the river, the woods appeared denser, seeming to swallow the road beneath its dark, thick canopy.
Rai felt a chill go down her spine. Was this the place of her nightmares? What ghosts from her past might linger there, ready to pounce?
"I can't get over what you did back there," Ponar said. He unwrapped his cape and then laid it on the seat between them. "Do you still see a glow around anything?"
Rai placed her cloak over his. "The shimmers disappeared along with the smoke."
"I wonder why?" Ponar asked.
"Perhaps because I can see more than a few feet in front of my face again?" Rai replied.
"That would make sense. Do you think this is something you can just turn off and on as you might need it?" Ponar suggested.
"That'd be nice, wouldn't it?" Rai replied. "But shouldn't I have noticed it happening at night, like when I needed to use the bathroom and didn't want to stub my toe on that stupid chair leg, like I've done dozens of times?"
"Why not move the chair?" Ponar asked, the glimmer of curiosity unmistakable in his gaze.
Rai shrugged. "Guess I figured I should know the room better than that."
"Have you had anything else like this happen before?"
"Well, there's my strong sense of smell," Rai replied.
"Did that come on slowly, increasing over time?" Ponar asked.
The Durmah knew she could smell the poison on the luna berries, but she'd never told them about her ability to notice emotions and occasional thoughts, which Rai felt stemmed from that faculty.
"It has, yes," Rai replied, honest but unwilling to go into further detail.
"Then perhaps this will do the same, whatever 'this' is," Ponar said. "You know, it's as if instead of your memories coming back from the amnesia, it's your abilities returning, bit by bit as you are in need of them."
"What a clever idea," Rai replied. "But wouldn't it be easier for me to get my memories back, and thus remember how to use my abilities, and what they mean?"
"Last time I checked, life is rarely easy," Ponar replied. "Still, it's progress."
"It's only progress if it can keep me from bumping into things at night," Rai said, and they both laughed.
They reached the bridge without further incident. They reached a large bridge, wide enough to accommodate wagons passing in opposite directions with room to spare. The horses' hooves rung against the broad wooden planks as they crossed, announcing their arrival.
"I wonder why they built such a big bridge here, on a road no one uses," Rai asked.
"Not sure. It's of the older, colonization-period style too. Perhaps the founding colonists thought this road would get more travelers than it does?" Ponar replied.
"That's funny, I never figured you were a history buff."
"I'm not, but with all the traveling I do, you see a lot of roads and a lot of bridges."
The Guardian reappeared, slowing his mount to match their speed. "After we enter the grove, the road winds down through a series of switchbacks, and you'll need to take it slowly with the wagons. We'll set up camp about two miles in, after the road levels off. I'll ride ahead and scope out the territory." Without waiting for a response, he urged his mount into a gallop toward the forest.
"Such a chatter, that one," Ponar said. Rai chuckled.
They continued along the road, and Rai watched the forest line near with an increasing sense of apprehension. Within minutes, they entered the forest. The smells and sounds of the grove embraced her with familiarity. The trees looked similar to those of her dreams, with broad, flat, needle-like leaves and black-tinged bark, but they weren't the behemoths she expected. She recognized the ferns dotting the landscape. They were similar to the boulder-sized ferns she'd dreamed of, but these were much, much smaller. Surely, this wasn't the place.
"Well, here we go." Ponar pointed ahead to the first turn in the road.
Rai nodded, mesmerized by the smells of the grove. The scent of the rich, earthy soil overlaid with a hint of musky vanilla Rai immediately associated with the trees themselves. A wet, almost moldy odor inferred hidden pockets of stagnant, standing water laden with algae. The fragrance combination was potent, and matched her dream forest. Rai was convinced she actually remembered the smell.
"See anything you remember yet?" Ponar asked.
Rai shrugged. "Frankly, it smells more familiar than it looks."
"I guess that makes sense, with your nose."
While they descended, Rai realized the canopy above remained level at the same height, and the trees grew taller and thicker to reach it. With each switchback the road dropped another thirty to forty feet, and it wasn't long before it was difficult to make out the tops of the trees. There was no longer any direct sunlight on the canopy floor. Instead, the grove captured all of it so effectively that the remaining light at this depth remained muted and diffuse.
Time passed, soon they had finished their descent and the road leveled off, revealing the grove in all its glory from the forest floor. Their Guardian escort awaited them at the base as promised. Without a word, he led them deeper into the forest.
This grove was exactly as it had been in her dreams. Exactly. The ancient trees were impossibly tall and wide, their crowns lost within the canopy far above. A thin mist clung to the forest floor, winding its way around boulder-sized ferns and through sections of fallen trees and branches. Over the sounds of the horses and wagons, Rai made out the occasional trill of a bird echoing down from above and the melodious trickle of a nearby stream.
A wind ran through the tall trees high above, and they shuddered and shifted. Rogue flickers of light escaped through the net of leaves, dancing on the tree trunks and valley floor. A muted creaking echoed while their trunks pulled and twisted, reminding Rai of a whispered conversation passing amongst the stand. Rai had the oddest impression that they were now in the belly of some giant creature, witnessing its breath, digestion, and circulation.
A turn in the road revealed a small, relatively flat clearing, dotted with ferns and bounded by a brook at the far side.
The Guardian stopped and dismounted. Ponar reined in their horses, bringing the wagon to a slow stop. Laan and Meik brought their wagons alongside Ponar's, as there was plenty of space available. The Durmah climbed down off their wagons, in quiet awe of their surroundings.
"We'll camp here tonight," announced the Guardian.
"We have the afternoon to take a look around?" Rai asked.
"Only with me as your guide, and only after you clean the blood off of the wagons and horses." The Guardian pointed to the underbelly of Ponar's wagon.
B
lood spatter covered the underside of all three wagons, a gruesome token of their encounter with the sclern. Rai spied bits of brown fur and white bone sticking to a nearby wheel, but decided not to investigate further.
"Ugh, what a mess!" Meik wailed. "Wait, will this draw any ... predators?"
"No, we're safe here at the moment, but I wouldn't want us to travel any further with the wagon's in this condition," the Guardian replied.
"Oh, right." Meik replied. "We'll get this cleaned up."
"The water from the brook is fresh and will aid your efforts," the Guardian advised. He then led his horse over to the water and began his own cleaning efforts.
The Durmah assessed the damages. "This might make me sick," Laan warned.
"You're not the only one," Ponar replied, obviously disgusted. "We should have brought Markel along."
"Why, just because he's a Septless stable hand?" Rai asked, offended.
"Oh no, it's not that. It's just he's got an iron constitution. Nothing, and I mean nothing, makes him retch." Ponar explained.
Everyone laughed, and then they all got down to work.
*
Three hours later they'd washed, curried, watered, and fed the horses and then cleaned the wagons. Numerous items of soiled clothing hung to dry from impromptu clotheslines strung between the wagons. An early dinner and tending to the tack and gear occupied the travelers.
After consuming a late lunch, everyone appeared exhausted from the day's events even though the sun had yet to set. The Guardian approached the Durmah, who all sat in a circle on their travel-chairs. From the concerned expressions of the others, Rai knew she wasn't the only one wondering what was up.
"You did a good job," he announced. "You've just missed one thing."
"What are you talking about?" Meik replied.
The Guardian's lip curled, surly as always. "You four stink of a midden heap." Was it Rai's imagination, or did he like getting a rise out of Meik?
The Dream Sifter (The Depths of Memory Book 1) Page 34