The Inner Circle: The Knowing

by Cael McIntosh

  *

  It hadn’t been long since nightfall, but already Emquin was finding it difficult to navigate the gloom. Seeol took it upon himself to guide her to the road into Sitnic. ‘Can you see better now?’

  ‘Yes, thank you, Seeol,’ Emquin murmured, reminding him of the importance of staying quiet.

  ‘I will keep my eyeballs out for carriages,’ Seeol hissed. He continued when Emquin failed to reply. ‘Where did we go to?’ he asked directly into the animal’s ear.

  ‘Wherever there are drunks,’ Emquin replied.

  The pair wove through the streets of Sitnic, Emquin making close acquaintance with the shadows while keeping the clapping of her hooves to a minimum. The outer districts were quiet, but the city centre was filled with the usual drunken merriment of a Saturday night.

  ‘Whoa, steady girl,’ Seeol cautioned.

  ‘Excuse me?’ Emquin choked out, apparently having taken offense to the way Seeol had addressed her.

  Seeol bobbed his head enthusiastically. ‘That makes horses stop.’

  ‘What is it?’ Emquin asked irritably, coming to a stop in the shadows.

  ‘Waiting here,’ Seeol ordered, having recognised the distant sound of human footfall. He flew up onto a street lantern which squeaked annoyingly on the breeze. A small group of men stumbled toward them from about a block away.

  ‘Seeol,’ Emquin hissed from below. ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘We have to go away,’ Seeol replied after alighting atop Emquin’s mane.

  ‘No, we don’t.’ Emquin tossed her head, the action almost causing Seeol to lose his grip. ‘There’s an inn just down the road.’

  ‘Peoples are coming,’ Seeol warned. ‘Ones dizzy from thirstiness.’

  ‘Oh.’ Emquin jolted in alarm. ‘Do you see another way around?’

  ‘Hide,’ Seeol warned as the men’s approach became increasingly loud to his ears. ‘This is not far. Get into this little street.’

  ‘Where?’

  ‘Turn right.’ Seeol bit Emquin’s ear, which prompted the reaction he’d hoped for.

  ‘Ouch,’ Emquin yelped, turning sharply into the safety of an alleyway. There was barely enough room for her to turn around, but somehow she managed to do so in time to watch the men stumble past.

  ‘I could’a had one more drink,’ one of the men stated before somehow managing to simultaneously burp and take a drag on his cigarette. This was followed by a doubled-over coughing fit.

  ‘All right, Den boy?’ Another man patted him on the back. ‘I think you’ve had about enough.’ The men filled Seeol’s vision for a second and then they were gone, leaving nothing behind but the stale smell of smoke and alcohol.

  ‘Here wait,’ Seeol ordered. He flew to the ground and popped his head around the corner. ‘Come on,’ he hissed, zipping back up onto Emquin’s head when he was certain the coast was clear.

  Emquin cautiously moved onto the street. ‘If you ever bite my ear again, I’ll be having owl stew for supper,’ she grumbled.

  ‘Hey!’ A young man grunted, struggling to do up his pants after urinating on a barber shop. ‘Someone lost a horse?’ He bellowed at nobody.

  ‘Not again,’ Emquin glowered.

  ‘Quickly,’ Seeol urged. ‘There’s an inn one little way down street. One man is wearing some lovely cloak that could hide wings from prying eyes whilst drinking his very favourite thirst-quencher.’

  ‘How could you possibly know that?’ Emquin picked up her pace to a hurried trot.

  ‘I see lots better than anyone.’ Seeol shrugged his wings, taking the opportunity to practice a human gesture. ‘You should hurry many times faster. They want to capture you,’ he said in alarm when he observed a group of men hurrying after them, the leader being the man who’d urinated on the barber shop. Emquin launched herself into a gallop.

  Seeol released his grip on Emquin’s mane and flew ahead. ‘Follow me.’

  ‘I can’t see you,’ Emquin wailed.

  ‘Get the cloak,’ Seeol shrieked as they tore past a crowded inn. Emquin spun around so quickly that for a moment Seeol feared she would topple over.

  ‘Sorry, but I need this,’ she said, snatching a long black cloak from the back of a red-faced man.

  ‘That’s mine,’ the man cried as Emquin continued on her way without a backward glance. The cloak billowed about her as she ran, occasionally flapping over her face as she clenched it between her teeth.

  Rope whipped through the air and a lasso snapped around Emquin’s neck to the victorious cries of men. The horse yelped as her body jarred sideways and her neck was craned uncomfortably. The cloak flew out of her mouth and landed in a bunch on the road.

  ‘Seeol!’ The word bubbled up, a panicked cry for help.

  With eyes on fire, Seeol banked toward his friend’s aggressor and dove. He raked his talons forward at the last possible moment to gouged deep red lines across the man’s face. He yelped and let the rope go.

  ‘Where’s the cloak?’ Emquin bellowed, shaking off the lasso.

  ‘Over here.’ Seeol landed atop the garment. Emquin hurried over and picked it up in her teeth before turning to find herself standing face to face with the friends of the man who’d attacked them.

  A gush of air escaped the horse’s nostrils as she took a menacing step forward and placed a hoof on the leader’s shoe. She glared into his eye.

  ‘Get out of my way,’ came the muffled warning through folds of cloak, ‘or I’ll crush every bone you have.’

  The men fell back, their expressions revealing disbelief. Seeol took the opportunity to support Emquin’s threat. ‘And I will bite you so hard.’

  ‘Let’s get out of here.’ Emquin said, taking advantage of the men’s confusion to hurry back through the city without slowing down until they reached the woods. From there they moved slowly, Seeol having to guide every step.

  ‘Forward the steppings,’ he encouraged Emquin as she moved through the dark.

  ‘I think I can see it now,’ she replied, peering anxiously toward firelight glowing in the cave mouth. Seeol wondered not for the first time how such enormous eyes could be so utterly useless.

  ‘There you are.’ Ilgrin stood up as Emquin approached the cave. ‘You got it,’ he observed. ‘How?’

  Emquin dropped the cloak. ‘Drunk people never take proper care of their cloaks.’

  ‘She stole it,’ Seeol added bluntly.

  ‘Our need is greater than his,’ Emquin replied defensively.

  ‘He’s probably gotten so cold by now.’

  ‘Look, do you want to stop becoming big and scary or whatever it is you think you are, or not?’ Emquin stomped in frustration. ‘Because I need to be human again.’

  ‘Well,’ Ilgrin said when Seeol refused to say anything further, ‘we should get some sleep.’

  ‘Sleeping again,’ Seeol snapped. ‘You practice sleeping every night.’

  Ilgrin rubbed his forehead. ‘We sleep at night. It’s what we do.’

  ‘I’m not comfortable with that.’ Seeol puffed out his feathers, tipped his wings toward the ground, and started swaying from side to side.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Emquin cocked her head.

  ‘I’m looking big and scary for intimidation.’

  ‘It’s not working.’ Ilgrin raised his eyebrows. ‘You’re tiny.’

  ‘Fine!’ Seeol shrieked and vanished to his roost at the back of the cave. He’d decorated the small ledge with grass and feathers to ensure a comfortable rest. ‘Shleepy times now!’

  ‘He gets cranky, doesn’t he?’ Emquin chuckled.

  ‘Seems like it.’ Ilgrin crouched on his haunches.

  Emquin lowered herself with a heavy thud, folding her legs at the knee. ‘Goodnight.’

  ‘Night.’ Ilgrin wrapped himself in his wings and closed his eyes, allowing his head to hang against his chest.

  Unable to sleep, Seeol perched in silence for many hours stewing in irritation. Travelling by day was stupid. Predators could too
easily eat you. These animals thought they were invulnerable just because they were big and fat, but they were just being silly. Seeol retracted his leg into his feathers and tucked his head behind a wing in the hope of finding sleep.

  When Seeol awoke to find the cave awash with bright sunlight, he was astonished that he’d managed to drift off. He flew over the others and landed on the grass outside. What was there to eat at this time of day? Seeol took cautious steps, keeping an eye on the sky for fear of birds of prey.

  Something glistening in the periphery of Seeol’s vision caught his attention. He immediately knew what it was and hopped toward the unmistakable sheen of a green lizard’s tail where it poked up out of the earth. He snatched it in his talons and pulled. But something was wrong. The lizard was dead and had been for some time. To make matters worse, the whole collection Seeol had gathered for Ilgrin came up with it. Why had he rejected all that food? Seeol felt hurt, but chewed idly on the lizard’s tail nevertheless as Ilgrin exited the cave with a yawn and a stretch.

  His eyes widened in surprise. ‘Oh . . . Seeol.’ An awkward silence followed before the silt burst out laughing. ‘I’m being ridiculous. It’s just an owl.’ He chuckled. ‘Guess you caught me, huh?’ He smiled as though Seeol’s labour meant nothing.

  ‘It took me ages to get these ones.’ Seeol flicked his tail in distress. ‘You didn’t even eat the green lizard,’ he said, squeezing the mangled reptile between his toes.

  ‘I didn’t.’ Ilgrin raised his hands arbitrarily. ‘I don’t eat that kind of food,’ he said, without bothering to suppress his mocking smile. Clearly it was all a big joke to him.

  ‘The green ones are especially delicious!’ Seeol threw the lizard into the dirt and scurried to hide behind a tree. He could hear Ilgrin laughing. He’d thought they were friends, but had clearly been mistaken. Seeol wanted to find El-i-miir and Seteal more than ever. They were his real friends, not this stupid silt and stupid horse. They’d taught him to talk and stroked his head. He couldn’t wait to tell them all about how mean Ilgrin was. They would have cups of tea and laugh. They would all laugh at Ilgrin together and see how much he liked it. Seeol had a feeling he wouldn’t like it at all.

  It didn’t take long before thoughts of El-i-miir and Seteal caused Seeol’s mood to further degrade. After what he’d done in Sitnic, how could he expect them to even want to be his friends anymore? They probably hated him now. So much blood . . . Seeol cringed inwardly. Why couldn’t he stop it? There had to be a way to resist it. He didn’t want to hurt anyone. He loved humans.

  No . . . finding El-i-miir and Seteal could not become his priority. He needed to remain focused on what was important, getting to the Frozen Lands so the gils could fix him.

  When Seeol emerged from his hiding place, he did so to find Ilgrin chewing on some kind of orange root. So he’d eat bits of trees, but not proper food? Ilgrin sure was a confusing animal.

  ‘Hurry up,’ Seeol ordered. ‘We have to hurry about our way.’

  ‘He’s right,’ Emquin agreed as she exited the cave. ‘You should try on your new cloak.’