Ho-law lingered a few minutes, watching as Dhal tried to staunch the worst of Screech’s wounds. Poco stared at Ho-law and silently willed her to go away.
Finally Ho-law signaled the seven derkat who attended her and together they left.
“Are they gone?” Dhal asked softly, not looking up.
“Yes,” Poco answered.
“All of them?”
Poco peered into the darkness. “Yes, I think so. Go ahead, go in. I’ll keep watch.”
Dhal put his bloody rag aside and placed his hands over Screech’s head, first dulling the pain centers in the brain. He then began to work on the deepest of the derkat’s wounds. The green aura of light which quickly surrounded Dhal’s hands indicated that his healing energy was at work deep inside the derkat’s body, mending broken blood vessels and reknitting layers of skin cell by cell.
Poco sat on the grass in the flickering light of her dying torch. Dhal and Screech lay asleep behind her. Dhal had fallen asleep shortly after finishing his work, exhausted by his efforts of healing. Before he dropped off, he told Poco that Screech would be weak for a while from the loss of blood, but that he was in no danger of dying.
She felt Taav move beside her. He and Gi-arobi had joined her in watching the derkat fire just a short distance away where Ho-law was burning Rhel’s body atop a small funeral pyre made of bomal hides.
Poco listened to the subdued growling rumble of derkat voices as they moved in matched steps around the fire. The sounds conveyed feelings of loss rather than of anger.
Eventually the fire died down and the derkat moved away from the ashes of their comrade.
Gi stirred in Poco’s lap. “Someone comes,” he said.
Poco sat a little straighter as five shadowed figures approached. Taav edged closer to her.
She slipped her knife from its sheath and waited quietly, her heart thumping heavily in her chest.
The derkat milled around for a few moments, then they moved away.
Gi-arobi left Poco’s lap.
“Where are you going, Gi?” Poco asked.
“Being back soon,” Gi answered.
True to his word, Gi returned a minute later and settled down beside Poco’s leg.
“What did they want, Gi?” Poco asked.
“Derkat leave packs, food, and water,” Gi said.
Poco dropped a hand on top of Gi’s head and stroked gently. “Are they leaving now?” she asked him.
“No,” Gi answered. “Ho-law comes.”
The female derkat approached alone. She stopped in front of Poco and crouched in the glow of the torchlight. “Graysides lives?” she signed.
“Yes” Poco answered.
“It is good. He is one worth ten.”
Ho-law rubbed at her nose, her glance moving to Taav, then back to Poco. “Your radg seeks the Green Ones, yes?”
“Yes.” Poco wondered what Ho-law intended.
“Go north over the mountains,” the derkat signed. “You will find a big freshwater lake. Go east from there. The Green Ones will be found if they wish to be.”
“Thank you,” Poco signed, surprised.
Ho-law gazed quietly at Poco then rose and turned away. A moment later she was lost to the darkness.
Although she was exhausted in both mind and body, Poco knew she should stay awake and keep watch—but she had reckoned without Gi-arobi.
Gi ducked out from under her hand, turned, and pushed against her side. “Poco sleeps now. Gi keep watch,” he said.
“No, Gi. I’ll stay awake. It will be safer if—”
Suddenly a pair of sharp teeth caught at Poco’s wrist, biting down gently but firmly. Before Poco could even think to pull away, Gi had released her.
“Poco sleeps now!” he said, his lisping speech acquiring an authoritative tone Poco had never heard him use before.
She was startled by Gi’s behavior, but she was too tired to argue. Trusting him to wake her if he needed help, she lay down between Dhal and Taav and quickly drifted off to sleep.
In the morning, Poco and Gi inspected the small mound of packs left by the derkat. She was pleased to see that most of their personal packs were still intact, along with their few cooking utensils.
She sorted through several of the hide wrappers that contained food. She found dried bomal meat, dried fruit, and five packets of a hard, flat, grayish substance stacked in layers separated by large, dried, green leaves.
Curious, Poco nibbled at a corner of one of the gray cakes and gingerly chewed the grainy dough. In a few moments she began to detect a spicy flavor, and the longer she had the cake in her mouth, the softer and more chewy it became. She swallowed, satisifed that the cakes were edible, then re wrapped the packet.
She was in the process of planning who would carry what when she heard Dhal call her. She went to him, glad that he had wakened. He looked tired, as he always did after healing.
“What is happening?” he asked, as she sat down beside him.
“Nothing at the moment,” she replied. “I slept most of the night while Gi kept watch. It has been quiet since I woke. Taav is still asleep.”
“What about the derkat?”
“If you mean Ho-law and her radg, they are gone. After they burned Rhel’s body, they brought us our packs and left. Ho-law also gave me some instructions on where we might find some of the Green Ones.”
“What did she say?”
Poco repeated Ho-law’s directions word for word.
“She didn’t mention the Owri River?” Dhal asked.
“No.”
“Great!”
“It means that we have a choice to make.”
“Yes,” he said. “Either we go straight north over the mountains or we go east to the Owri and follow the river north.”
“I am not that fond of climbing,” Poco said, “but it sounds to me as if the route straight north would be shorter.”
“I agree.”
“Then we go north from here?”
“Yes. I don’t know that we will save any time, but it is worth a try.”
Poco glanced at Screech, who was lying on his side, facing them. His eyes were still closed in sleep. He looked the worse for wear and Poco realized that it would be some time before he could regrow the fur he had lost in his fight with Rhel.
“Will we try to do any traveling today?” Poco asked.
“Screech lost a lot of blood last night. He will be weak for days. It might be best if we stay here today and give him a chance to rest. If the other derkat are gone, we should be safe enough here.”
“How are you feeling?” Poco asked.
“Tired.”
“Would you like something to eat or drink?”
“Both, thanks.”
A little while later, Poco and Dhal shared their first meal together in seven days. After they ate, Dhal sat staring out across the open grasslands.
He was quiet for so long that Poco grew worried. “Something wrong, Dhal?”
“No. I was just thinking about Retath,” he responded.
“What about him?”
“Do you remember what he said about Singers and Sensitives?”
Poco shook her head. “To be truthful, all I remember about that day is being scared.”
“I have been thinking about him for days now.” He smiled. “That is, whenever I wasn’t thinking about escaping the derkat. I keep remembering him asking about the gate. Remember, he said, ‘Who holds the gate for you?’ and then he said that when the atich-ar first took the Tamorlee, they killed all of the Singers and Sensitives, those who could make and hold the world gate.”
Poco thought back, trying to recall the old Ni’s words.
Dhal continued. “When I spoke with the Ancients back in the old Val-hrodhur, they also mentioned Sensitives and the energy patterns that could create doors.”
He reached out and took Poco’s hand. “That song you sang, Poco—the one called ‘Green Draak Dreaming’— also tells about a Singer who walks the patterne
d way. Put it all together, Poco! A Singer to set the pattern! A Sensitive to hold the gate! You and Taav! You two are the keys to the world gate!”
“Taav and I?”
“Yes! Think about it, Poco! It makes sense! You sing and create a gate to another reality and somehow Taav can hold that gate open. It means that we can go back to that place whenever we want to.”
“Back?” Poco shook her head. “Oh, no! Not by ourselves! Promise me, Dhal, not by ourselves!”
“Easy, Poco, don’t get upset. I just said that we could go back. I promise, we will go on to Jjaan-bi and pass on Retath’s warning. The Ni will help us. I know they will.” If we can find them, Poco thought, and if they believe us.
Chapter 17
THEY WALKED FOR FIVE DAYS TO REACH THE HEAVILY forested slopes of the Chen-garry Mountains. Screech walked without a pack, but he continually lagged behind, causing the small band of travelers to stop often to let him catch up. The derkat knew he was slowing them down, but each time he told them to go on without him, promising that he would catch up, they refused to leave him.
“We are in no hurry, Screech,” Poco told him. “A few hours here or there, or even a few days, are not going to make any difference to us. We are lucky to have gotten this far without losing someone, and I intend to see that our luck holds—meaning we stay together, no matter what! Right, Gi?”
Gi pulled his head out of the food sack in which he had been rummaging. “Staying together, yes, Big Fur,” he said. “No needing to hurry. Jjaan-bi waits for us.”
Screech growled.
Poco shook her head. She knew his growl was directed not at Gi but himself; the derkat was not used to being weak or ill, and was impatient with his slow recovery.
Poco got up and went to see what Gi was poking his nose into.
“Find anything in there, Gi?” she asked, smiling.
“Gray cakes,” Gi answered, moving back so Poco could look.
Screech had explained that the flat, gray cakes were a staple for the wandering radgs of derkat. The dried roots of the optra were ground down and cooked along with water, tree sap, and the leaves of the emlar bush. The resultant grayish mixture was then baked for five days in the sun on large flat stones. The spicy flavor came from the leaves, the chewiness from the sap.
Poco pulled out the last of the gray cakes and gave one to Screech. She broke another one in half for herself and Gi, and the last one she saved for Dhal and Taav, who were out foraging.
She glanced around the narrow hollow where they had stopped to camp. The cold passage was almost over, but the foliage looked much as it would in the warm months ahead. Some trees and bushes lost their leaves during the cold passage, but most of the green plants merely stopped growing, their leaves remaining unchanged until the warm spring rains provided the needed moisture to start a new life cycle. The giant aban trees were of the latter variety, their large, spreading branches shading the forest floor and preventing all but the most sturdy and persistent of plants to grow.
Poco had never before seen a forest where the aban trees were so dense. She was reminded of the park in Port Bhalvar, except where the park was filled with patterns of dappled shade and sunlight, the mountain wood was all half-light and mysterious shadows.
Poco heard the sound of water running off to her left. She stood and slung the three hide flagons to her shoulder.
“I am going for some water,” she told Screech and Gi. “While I am gone, why don’t you two gather some sticks for a fire. If any gens volf come skulking around after dark, we will want plenty of wood for our fire.”
Screech growled to catch Poco’s attention. “Draak like water places,” he signed. “Be careful.”
Poco nodded. “I will, Screech.”
“Want Gi to come, Poco?” Gi piped up.
“No, Gi, I won’t be gone long. Stay and help Screech gather some wood, will you?”
“Will,” Gi replied.
Poco left their temporary camp and climbed the steep, mossy slope to the west of the hollow. When she reached the top of the rise, she could see the small stream down on the other side of the ridge.
She filled the flagons in the stream and turned to go back the way she had come, but out of the corner of her eye she saw a large patch of sunlight through the trees. Giving in to the desire to feel the warmth of the sun after days in the chilly shadows under the giant abans, she followed the stream to a small, open field where the water dropped over a series of shallow, shale steps leading to a natural rock basin.
Poco stepped out into the sunshine and stood looking down at the water. No more than three times her height either in length or width, the small basin did not appear to be very deep. She smiled at the thought of a much needed bath and took a careful look around the glen, quickly walking the circumference of the basin to check for animal prints.
She set the water flagons down and quickly stripped. The water was cold but she discovered that on one side of the rock basin the water was shallow and sun-warmed. She stretched out on a rock shelf that was partly submerged, and closed her eyes.
Time slipped by until Poco finally decided that she had lingered long enough. She got out of the water and sat on the rim of the basin, feeling clean and refreshed. She was humming softly to herself when suddenly she heard something behind her.
“That is the first time I have heard you sing since that night on the plains.”
Poco jumped at the sound of Dhal’s voice. He stood on the ledge of rock above the basin.
“Are you alone?” she asked, searching for Taav. “Anything wrong?”
“No, nothing wrong.” Dhal walked down the steps to the edge of the basin. “But you were gone longer than you promised and Screech was getting worried. I came back just as he was about to go looking for you. I told him I would.”
Dhal squatted down beside her and put his hand into the water. “How is the water?”
“Wonderful,” she answered, reaching for her clothes.
“It looks good. I would not mind a bath myself.”
Poco smiled. “No one is stopping you.”
As Dhal stripped and stepped into the pool, Poco asked him what, if anything, he had found for their supper.
“It is a surprise,” he said, lowering himself into the water.
“I’ll bet!” Poco laughed.
Dhal went under the water to wet his hair, which was getting longer every week. Soon, Poco realized, he could begin braiding it as was the Ni custom.
He returned to the surface and blew water from his mouth; then he lay back, floating as free as a leaf in the water.
Poco watched him for a little while then turned to sort out her clothing. Everything was dirty. She hated the very thought of putting her clothes back on the way they were.
“Dhal, is there any reason why we cannot stay here a few days? We could all use the rest, and it would give me a chance to do some washing. My clothes are terrible and yours could not be much better.”
There was no answer to her question.
She turned to find Dhal swimming toward her, a smile on his face. “You are beautiful,” he said.
Poco arched her eyebrows in question. “Just getting around to noticing that, are you?”
Dhal closed the distance between them and rested on the rock ledge below the water. “Oh, I have noticed,” he said. “It’s just that seeing you sitting there in the sunshine, naked, your hair wet, you just seem different. It’s almost as if I’m seeing you for the first time. You are beautiful, Poco.”
“One doesn’t get a compliment like that every day.”
Dhal’s smile widened. “Do I get a reward?”
Poco smiled and leaned down to hit the water with her hand, splashing it into his face.
Laughing, he lunged forward just as Poco started to her hands and knees. He caught her by one ankle and pulled her into the water. Poco floundered a moment or two until he let go of her leg, then she righted herself and splashed him again.
Dhal chased Poco
to the rock ledge and caught her around the waist. He laughed and demanded his reward. Poco offered only token resistance as he drew her close.
Their surroundings, and the knowledge of the dangers through which they had passed during the last few weeks, had made both Dhal and Poco realize how much they loved each other, and how easily that love could be lost.
Later, they lay together on the grass, their bodies warm against each other, and for a while they talked, forgetting that their friends might be worried about them. Finally the shadows from the trees reached them. Poco sat up and tried to comb her hair with her fingers, an impossible task.
Suddenly she sat a bit straighter and looked quickly around the glen.
“Something wrong?” Dhal asked.
“I suddenly had the feeling that we are being watched.”
Dhal’s glance swept the circle of trees surrounding them. “We are being watched, Poco,” he said softly. “Over there, at the edge of the trees. Look.”
Poco looked but all she saw were shadows, then suddenly one of the shadows moved.
Dhal whistled, a sharp up and down warble that ended with a trill on the end. “It’s just Gi,” he explained. “I told him to come down.”
Poco’s heartbeat returned to normal when she saw Gi leave the shadows and amble down toward them, following the stream. When he reached the small waterfall, he stopped and peered over the edge.
Poco cast a quick glance at her clothes, then realized that it was much too late for modesty.
She stood, stepped into the water and waded over to the ledge of rock. From that position Gi was almost at eye level with her.
“Would you like to join us, Gi?” she asked. “We were just having a bath.”
Gi looked down at Dhal, who was sitting near the edge of the basin, then his glance returned to Poco. Gi’s thrumming laughter was a warm and happy sound.
“Gi thinks Poco making under-stay-mint, yes?”
Dhal and Poco exchanged glances, then burst out laughing.
Chapter 18
THE DAYS PASSED QUICKLY AS DHAL, POCO, AND THEIR small band climbed higher and deeper into the Chen-garry Mountains. Screech regained most of his strength and again took a position in the lead, his superior eyesight and keen sense of smell helping them avoid direct confrontations with draak, which they began to sight more and more often.
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