Earth's Requiem(19)

In the cold stillness of the darkest part of the night, when dawn was still at least an hour away, he rolled over. She knew it was time to go. Darkness would help them, giving cover when they came out at the next place.



“Rune,” she said softly, “send me an image of places between here and the gateway.” She was hesitant to give voice to the word Taltos aloud.

A jumble of views filled her mind. She shook her head. “Send me the next place,” she clarified. “So I know where to tell the spell to take us.” Once she’d gotten it, she murmured, “It looks just like here.”

“Trust me, human. It may look the same, but it is farther west.”





The morning was mostly gone when they came out two jumps from where they’d spent the night. Aislinn looked around her. A thick pine forest stretched in all directions. Small animals rustled in the undergrowth. “Where are we?”



“I do not have the answer you seek. You want a place name. I do not know such things. We are closer to Taltos. That is all I can tell you.”



She did some internal calculations. The first jump in the cold pre-dawn had taken them to more desert. She’d assumed they were still somewhere in Nevada, since the entire state was desert, but this looked different. She wondered if they could possibly be in California already. Maybe somewhere around the Sierra Nevada Mountains that bisected the state.

The wolf seemed fully recovered. She’d asked him how he was so many times that he’d bared his teeth and growled at her. She didn’t see how all that damage could have mended so quickly—after all, she wasn’t a Healer—yet he appeared whole and strong, and she was grateful. Yeah, I’ll take all the miracles I can get here. “How many more jumps?”

The wolf looked at her. He opened his mouth in what looked like a grin. “I will tell you when we get there.”

She laughed—and then started, realizing how long it had been since she’d heard the sound of her own laughter. Real laughter, not the bitter chortlings she’d taken to indulging in. “Fair enough.” Her gaze lingered on the trees around them. She sent her Seeker magic zinging out, searching for threats. “We need more to eat. It feels safe enough here to hunt.”

Rune lifted his muzzle and scented the air. He cocked his head to one side, a quizzical expression on his face. “There is something here, but I do not recognize it. Look again, Seeker.”

When she did, the fine hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. The evil was ever so faint. It was possible she sensed only residue from one who had been there minutes, months, or years before. Rune, who’d snapped up a couple of unidentifiable rodents while she was scanning, threw her a knowing look. She ran the six dark gods through her mind: Perrikus, Majestron Zalia, Adva, D’Chel, Tokhots, and Slototh. She’d only come face to face with three: Perrikus, his mother Majestron, and D’Chel. So she had no idea what the others felt like. She wondered if the wolf might.





“Rune,” she whispered into his mind, “what do you know of the dark ones?”



He sidled over to her and dropped a still-twitching vole at her feet. Aislinn picked it up and brushed the dirt off. She was famished. Hungry enough to eat it raw. She wouldn’t have enough magic to get them out of there if she didn’t eat, and she didn’t dare risk a fire. Not until they could pin down whatever it was both of them had felt.

“You look as if it were poison,” he said, sidestepping her last question.

“Really?”

“Your face is all drawn up into the same expression I’d have if someone served me shit.”

Suppressing a giggle, she split the rodent down its belly line. The gut sack dropped into her hand, and she held it out for Rune. With a couple of decisive cuts, she loosened the skin. “You didn’t answer my question,” she pressed while she chewed the still-warm flesh. It wasn’t as bitter as she’d thought it would be.

“No, I didn’t.”



Two rodents later—one more for her and his third...or maybe his fourth, she hadn’t been paying terribly close attention—the faint miasma hadn’t gotten any worse. She relaxed fractionally. Surely, if something was there, it would have shown itself by now. Their enemy wasn’t known for restraint.

“Take us here.” The wolf shoved an image into her mind.

Her head snapped up. She’d been lost in thought, and his voice in her head startled her. “How far is it?”

“Not very. I know you are tired.”



Aislinn reached for her rucksack and then realized she hadn’t taken it off. Somehow, Rune knew things—like how close to exhaustion she was. She buried a hand in his ruff, and they were gone.