Dawnsinger

by Janalyn Voigt

  “You do help me, Kai. Now, speak no more.” She did not say what filled her mind to distraction. They would leave tomorrow, whatever Kai’s condition. But she couldn’t imagine going on without him.

  “What’s this?” He caught a tear that fell to her cheek.

  Birdsong trilling from a thicket of wild roses pierced her heart. She pulled away but felt his gaze follow her to the pool’s edge, where she bathed her feet. She did not turn her head to meet it.

  ****

  Kai watched Shae wade into the bright waters, her hair, slipping from its plait, ablaze in the sunlight. Just now he’d seen something in her face—a recognition that frightened her. Fair enough. He shared her reticence. But he could not contain the rush of joy that lit him at the sight of her.

  Right or wrong, he couldn’t bring himself to let Shae go on into peril without him. At least a measure of strength returned with another night’s rest and Dorann’s continued efforts to cure his wound of its poisons. But Kai stayed astride Flecht more by his wingabeast’s skill than his own power. Letting Aerlic take the lead, he fell back to ride beside Shae.

  With dawn reddening the shoulders of the eastern canyons, they lifted out of the narrow side canyon and followed Weild Aenor as it coursed from Maegrad Ceid toward the great southern marshes of Weithein Faen.

  The mist thinned and shredded. Although the sun beat down, Kai shivered. He knew they journeyed in gentle stages for his sake. Tomorrow he would tell them not to spare him, but today he made no protest.

  ****

  Dorann waded into the shallows with a net. Aerlic joined him, and the two soon strode past Shae with a catch of rainbow-colored percken. She hummed while combing her hair in the fleeting warmth of the sun. Shielded in the canyon’s lea, she could forget for a time the terrible journey before her.

  She flicked a glance to Kai, who slept in the shade of nearby keirkens, his wound newly dressed with a poultice of aergenwoad. In the meadow behind her, the wingabeasts cropped green grass.

  A sun-warmed boulder countered the brisk wind that blew in from the water, and Shae settled against it with a sigh. The tang of keirken leaves, damp rock, and humus filled her senses. How small she felt as she gazed into the sky where high clouds scuttled. Her eyelids grew heavy. The rushing of the weild grew louder, and then faded….

  Spiders touched her face.

  Shae bolted upright and fought the arms that restrained her.

  Kai laughed. “It was but the petals of early flowers. I thought only to wake you.”

  She pushed him away with a glare. “Don’t ever do that again!”

  Her anger only made him laugh harder.

  She turned her back to him but could not prevent the smile that tugged at her mouth. She scooped up a a handful of the petals he’d dropped and threw them into the air. Some of them landed in his hair. She laughed now, too.

  Kai shook the petals from his hair, and then combed through hers. At the sensation of his fingers against her scalp, the laughter died in her throat. His expression bemused, he caressed her cheek with a feather-light touch. At the light in his eyes, her breath hitched and her pulse beat a wild rhythm.

  The corners of Kai’s mouth quirked upward. “May I have the pleasure of escorting so beautiful a raena to the hall?”

  She smiled at his nonsense but stood with him and rested her arm in the crook of his elbow. Together they walked toward the camp. The aroma of roasting fish mingled with the sweetness of burning Draetenn wood from the cooking fire to tantalize her. As the fire crackled and smoke curled to meet the gathering mists, she ate her fill.

  She curled up in her bedroll as the fire fell to embers and daylight softened into moonlight. The wind that seemed always to blow through the canyons came now as a cooling breeze, and the river sang a lullaby.

  Morning arrived, too soon.

  Once mounted, Shae leaned down to scratch behind Ruescht’s ear. “I wish we didn’t have to leave this place.” She straightened and took a last look at the green grasses swaying in the morning breeze.

  Kai reined in his wingabeast and tossed Shae a smile. “Perhaps, in happier times, we can return.”

  Aerlic flashed his rogue’s smile. “We’ll have to come back so Dorann and I can fish again.”

  Dorann laughed. “Still hoping to catch a bigger fish than mine?”

  Guaron smiled at the two, but then sobered. “I wonder how Elcon fares.”

  Shae frowned. Faeraven’s loyal shraens might join the guardians and the town’s inhabitants to defend Torindan in the present crisis, but real deliverance would come only if she succeeded in releasing the DawnKing at Gilead Riann. “We must go on.” She eyed Kai. He looked stronger today, but pale.

  He answered her unspoken question. “I will endure. We should reach Krei Doreinn this day and, if we hurry, the ruins of Braeth in the Smallwood of Syllid Mueric on the morrow. Don’t spare me.”

  She stroked Ruescht’s mane to hide her sudden fear. “Must we sleep at Krei Doreinn?” The ancient battleground where three canyons met carried its share of specter tales. She had also heard stories of enchantment within the Smallwood of Syllid Mueric.

  Kai shrugged. “Syllid Mueric is too large to cross in a day, even on the back of wingabeasts, but we can make it with only one stop if we camp in the meadow at Krei Doreinn.”

  All eyes turned to him.

  “We will sleep in the Place of Blood?” Dorann asked in shocked tones.

  Kai shrugged. “I mislike Paiad Burein myself, but at least its trees offer cover.”

  Aerlic stilled Argalent’s prancing. “Trees cannot hide us from some things,”

  Kai gave a tight nod. “True enough, but do you prefer spending two nights rather than one in Syllid Mueric?”

  Shae said no more but she would rather not sleep in Paiad Burein. She preferred meeting flesh and blood adversaries over those who dwelt in shadow. But the weight of Maeven’s dagger, Leisht, in its sheath beneath her sleeve comforted her as she sent Ruescht into flight behind Argalent.

  At least the welke riders searched for them no more, although she thought she understood their disappearance. Why should Freaer search for her when Prophecy itself told him her destination, and he could find her anyway with the shil shael? She must learn to guard herself, even in sleep. She suspected Freaer would try to overcome Torindan first, then her. They must press on with speed, even if it meant sleeping among the restless dead.

  18

  Battleground

  “I don’t like this place.”

  Kai gave Aerlic no response. What could he say? He didn’t like it either. Prickles of awareness ran over his skin as the ruckus of battle pressed, just at the edge of hearing. It seemed the very air could not forget what had happened here.

  Flecht shifted beneath him, and Kai put a soothing hand on his wingabeast’s neck as he gazed across the turbulent waters of Krei Doreinn. A tributary of Weild Rivenn fed into Weild Aenor here, the two rivers colliding in a mad frenzy amid much roaring. Whirlpools and eddies worked through the waters. Submerged stones thumped. Floating logs spun, crashed, and went under only to surface further south. Beyond Krei Doreinn, the torrent spilled out of the canyons and fanned into estuaries where it merged with the salt waters of Maer Syldra to spread into the great marshland of Weithein Faen.

  In the fall, the rivers would recede, but now in the early spring they swelled to overflow their banks, running right to the edge of deep fern-encrusted canyons. No traveler could reach this place in safety by land or water when the rivers ran high. Even the air currents played tricks where the three canyons met, and it required resourcefulness to guide the wingabeasts through them.

  Kai led the way into a lush grassy area starred with gentians in shades of white and blue. Overgrown keirkens blended with draetenns along the edges of the meadow. They could hide here, if need be, beneath a leafy canopy and amid tangled undergrowth rife with sweetberries and wild roses.

  A sheer graystone face bruised with purple shadows reared ove
rhead. Mute, the canyon could not testify of the blood spilled in the peaceful meadow called Paiad Burein, the Place of Blood. Here Timraen, in times past, met garns invading from Triboan, their stronghold in the south. Here Seighardt, brother of Maeven, fell and died beside his father, Raemwold of Braeth.

  Kai dismounted. None of his companions followed his action. He turned away from the look of dismay on their faces. Would they now lose heart? Even Flecht seemed to reproach him, tossing his head and refusing to sample the long grass.

  All the wingabeasts needed a quieting hand. Fluttering wings, flaring nostrils, and stomping feet expressed their feelings with eloquence.

  Guaron gave them a command, and with obvious reluctance, the wingabeasts stilled.

  “Surely we should take the wingabeasts’ reaction as warning against this eldritch place.” Aerlic’s voice sounded small, as if swallowed by emptiness.

  Kai had seen Aerlic face down a welke, climb an impassable cliff, and leap from a bluff into the waters of Weild Aenor. He saw no trace of that Aerlic in this fidgeting youth who cast uneasy glances about him and jumped at shadows. “Eldritch or no, we must stop here,” he snapped “A trail leads from this meadow through a narrow fissure in the graystone and into a canyon. Syllid Mueric and the ruins of Braeth wait beyond. Even if we would continue, the light already fades. Only a fool would venture across such terrain without full light. And let’s not forget the benefit of stopping here.”

  “It’s hard to think of this stop as a benefit.” Shae slid to the ground and patted Ruescht’s neck. “But let us make the best of things.”

  Kai swept a hand to indicate the meadow’s edge, where spreading keirkens brooded. “We’ll camp there but make no fire. Even if welke riders no longer pursue, other threats lurk within these canyons.”

  Shae eyed him. “Other threats?”

  “Flames from even a small campfire would light the sky, and garns hunt within these canyons. There’s also the chance that some of the Feiann, the smallfolk of Syllid Mueric, might slip through Braegmet Dorien out of curiosity and find us.” He did not mention that, beyond these creatures of flesh and blood, he knew not what walked Krei Doreinn by night.

  Aerlic turned a white face toward him. “I have heard tales….”

  “Let’s not dwell on tales, but keep ourselves in vigilance.”

  Silence followed this pronouncement.

  Guaron dismounted and, with a nod to Kai, gathered the wingabeast reins.

  Aerlic followed. “I may not like where you bring me, but I will let you lead.”

  Kai inclined his head. “Well said. You and Guaron may keep Whyst beside you in your watches this night.”

  Guaron at last quieted the wingabeasts and even persuaded them to crop the green grass. He remained with them, for they lifted their heads and stirred whenever he tried to leave them.

  Dorann uprooted several gentians, broke off the blue and white trumpet-shaped flowers, and presented them to Shae with a shy glance. She thanked him with a smile that wrenched Kai’s heart, and he turned away. An unseen dagger cut him deeper than the wound in his flesh. If only he could steel himself against such foolishness!

  Dorann cut the gentian root into tiny pieces atop a flat stone, adding the fragments to a small vial of liquid he pulled from his pack. After it steeped, he removed Kai’s bandage and washed his wound, then applied the tingling mixture as a poultice beneath a fresh bandage.

  Light leeched from the sky, draining color from the landscape about them. Roiling clouds moved to seal the dome of sky overhead. The wind, ever-present in the canyons, stiffened. The wingabeasts grew more restless with the advent of night. Guaron made an effort to settle them and laid his bedroll beneath a spreading keirken nearby.

  Kai huddled with the others who shivered at the edge of Paiad Burein, jumping at small sounds as night devoured the last remnants of day.

  Shae pressed into his side. “What’s that?”

  He caught her in his embrace, and she twined her arms about his neck. His senses filled with the scent and feel of holding her. But he hesitated only briefly before setting her from him. “The wind moans, Shae. It’s only the wind.” He hoped he spoke truth.

  The hair on the back of his neck lifted, for it seemed the wind cried and the river muttered. Indeed, the tumble and thump of stones in the riverbeds became the “river voices” of legend. And even a stouthearted warrior might imagine moans in the wind. He was near enough to Shae to feel her tremble. He knew a desire to protect her—so fierce his voice strangled when he spoke. “We’re better served to try and sleep.”

  “We’ll need a light to find our way, but a small one.” Dorann rummaged in his bag. He bent and stone scraped. When he stood again, a small light wavered in a cup between his hands.

  Shae made a pleased sound. “I sometimes forget you are a tracker.”

  Dorann laughed. “I learned this trick at my mahm’s knee. Sometimes it comes in handy when I hunt. I should have thought to light it before, but darkness came on quick. ”

  Shae pulled away from Kai to look at the small light Dorann held. “How do you make it?”

  “You use oil and a bit of cloth tied around a button placed in a bowl or cup.”

  “Your grandmother - does she live with you at Torindan?”

  “Nay, Mahm’s passed on, but not before she taught me the old ways.”

  “Did she teach you of herbs, then?”

  “Aye.”

  The small light moved away toward camp and their voices faded. Kai followed their retreating figures, fighting his discomfort at sight of Dorann bending toward Shae in solicitude.

  He slept badly, but lay as still as possible so as not to disturb the others. He caught the glow of Dorann’s cup flame lighting the blackness and was glad he had relented enough to allow the night watch a small light. He wished, yet again, that he and Dorann could lighten the load for the other two, but they must first recover their strength. With that thought, Kai forced his mind to quiet and gave himself to sleep.

  Aerlic’s cry dragged him awake.

  ****

  A shriek wrenched Shae from the mists of sleep to the thud of running feet. With heart pounding, she opened her eyes to blackness.

  Someone wept nearby.

  The hair on Shae’s arms stood on end. She struggled to rise but her bedroll tangled in her legs. Fighting free, she lurched to her feet. “Kai?”

  He did not respond.

  “Dorann?”

  No response. Where could they be? Surely, if her companions were near, they would answer.

  A blue light flared in the meadow. The dark figures gathered around it must belong to her companions.

  Grass wet the bottom of her tunics as she stumbled toward them. Not certain she wished to reach the source of the weeping, she was even more loath to remain alone in the darkness.

  The sobbing grew louder as she approached the light, which resolved into Whyst, its blade aflame in the hand of Aerlic, who stood with bent head.

  A dry wind lifted her hair as something brushed past her. The weeping sounded close to her ear, and then ceased. She strained, but could see nothing in the darkness. Chills ran up her spine. What had just touched her?

  She stumbled forward to reach the others, grouped around Aerlic. His head jerked up at her approach, his eyes wild until recognition dawned. Who—or what had he thought approached?

  “Are you well?” She joined her question to those of her companions.

  “I saw myself—” Aerlic heaved a breath. “I saw myself in death. A specter came to me—my own.”

  “How can that be?” Her light voice carried above the deeper masculine tones. “You live.”

  “I wish I knew.” He shook his head. “Perhaps I saw only what may be rather than what will be, but the specter had my face.”

  “I hope you will not take harm from a deceiving spirit.” Dorann’s voice came out of the darkness.

  “I should not have made you stop here,” Kai said. “I should not have a
sked it.”

  “I’ll take the watch now.” Guaron pried Whyst’s hilt from Aerlic’s fingers. “You’ve done enough.”

  “I-I dropped the button light,” Aerlic said.

  “Never mind; it’s here.” Dorann’s voice came at the edge of the circle of light.

  Kai put an arm around Aerlic’s shoulders. “Look, Whyst’s light dims. Whatever spirit troubled the night leaves us now. Come and take your rest.”

  “Who can rest after such a sight? And in such a place?” Aerlic’s voice sounded raw.

  “At least try.” Kai offered Shae his arm and led her back toward camp. “Are you well?”

  She shrugged, not sure how to answer. “Something happened to me as I crossed the meadow. I heard weeping, and then felt —" A shiver crawled up her spine. “Something uncanny touched me.”

  He pulled her into his arms. “I should not have left you alone in camp, even for so short a time. I will not do so again.”

  She placed a hand on his chest. “My welfare is just one of the many burdens you carry now.”

  He put a hand over hers. “I don’t think of you as a burden, Shae.”

  She stepped out of his embrace. “I’ll be glad when we are quit of this place. It brings confusion to us.”

  “Well spoken. Tomorrow we enter Braegmet Doreinn—the Chasm of Confusion.”

  19

  Ruins of Braeth

  Rock walls rose about Shae, shutting her in with the musty odor of dampness. The narrowness of the twisting canyon precluded flying, and tumbled stones underfoot made riding treacherous. They might have flown above the canyons altogether but for the risk of being sighted by welke riders following Freaer’s armies in the east. She led Ruescht with care through narrow places so close as to appear impassable, pausing often as Aerlic, Dorann, and Kai cleared the way of fallen rocks. When they emerged at midday, relief at passing from the canyon’s bright heat into the green shadow of Syllid Mueric left her a little light-headed.