Earth's Requiem(47)

All three spoke at once, trying to persuade her to stay. Not for long, just for a little while. They needed more time to match her energies to a charm. They needed to tend to her wound. She was hungry, tired… Compulsion in the words had her half believing them before Rune slid into her mind.

“I will help you.” He sent her an image of the area outside the cave where they’d spent most of the previous night.

She shook her head, hard. Christ, they’d almost seduced her. They definitely had her number. She was weak—and stupid. Latching onto Rune’s sending like a dying man who sees all his possibilities vanishing into a fine mist, she reached for her magic. Fire. Where was fire? Thank God. Tapping into a rich vein, she pulled as much as she could, not bothering to be elegant. Fingers buried in the wolf’s ruff, she felt her spell take hold.

“We cannot let her leave.” Though it was clicks and clacks, Aislinn realized with a start that she understood them. What had the dragon thing done to her?

Fingers seized her. She fought to hang onto her spell.

“We cannot hold her against her will. She would contaminate our magic in no time.” Metae’s voice was stern.

“Orione has the taste of her blood. It will be simple enough to get her back.”

“Yes, we can retrieve her whenever we want.”

The fingers clutching her arm hard enough to draw blood loosened. Aislinn considered kicking the Old One in the crotch, but didn’t want to spare the energy. Besides, it wasn’t like he had balls, and she figured it would take everything she had to get out of Taltos.

Aislinn didn’t know if she could have done it without Rune. The wolf in her mind steadied her. Kept her on course when she was so weary that she let go of their destination. It was dark when they tumbled out onto the packed earth in front of the cave. Aislinn fell on her face in the dirt, so tired she couldn’t keep her eyes open.

Something sharp closed on her upper arm. “No.” Rune’s voice was harsh. “Not here.”

Knowing he was right, that this place wasn’t safe, Aislinn staggered down the mountainside after him. She sprawled on her ass because she couldn’t see and then tried to raise her mage light, but it wouldn’t come. Not so much as a flicker. Tapped out. Got to eat and sleep. Every time she fell, thinking she didn’t have enough starch to lurch back to her feet, the wolf was there. Sometimes licking, sometimes biting, he urged her along. Finally, she recognized the willows and understood he’d herded her toward the crystal cave. Her last thought before blackness took her was how wretchedly uncomfortable the cave floor was pressed against her butt and legs.





Pain from hundreds of sharp spines poking into her chivied her awake. Light spilled into the cave’s entrance. Rune wasn’t there. Groaning, she flipped over, pulled herself along on her belly and crawled out onto the dirt. She scuttled along until the willows eased enough for her to stand upright.

Her wolf sat next to a couple of freshly killed rabbits. He must have stood guard over her while she was passed out. Now he’d gotten her food. A wave of appreciation so profound that it brought tears washed through her. “Thank you.”

“You would have done the same for me,” he said gruffly. “Eat. The quicker we are away from here, the better.” Shucking her pack, she pulled a water bottle out and drank deeply. Her hands shook as she gutted and skinned the rabbits, hungrily sucking raw meat off the tiny bones.

She was midway through the second rabbit when she looked up guiltily. “Was one of these supposed to be yours?”

“I ate while you slept.”

She wanted to talk with Rune, but knew how dangerous that could be. And she didn’t want to waste time retreating to the crystal cave to have a conversation. Once she’d eaten, she reached for her magic to see if she had enough to jump them out of there. If possible, she wanted to be much farther away than Castle Crags. Maybe, if she planned well, she could get close enough to Fionn for him to come meet them.

Pushing to her feet, she put her things in her pack. “Ready?”

Rune moved to her side. Aislinn waited until she felt the magic build inside her. Her reserves were still dangerously low. It would take more than half a single night’s sleep and one meal to bring her back to full strength. Weightlessness took her. Rune claimed what was starting to feel like his place in her mind. For once, this jump was easy. They came out on the banks of a fast-running creek. A deserted building nearby sported a faded sign announcing, Welcome to the McCloud Fishing Lodge.





Aislinn felt dirty from her time in Taltos. She glanced at the winter sun. It was high in the sky, so her clothes might have time to dry if she washed them. Hastily stripping, she walked into the creek, enjoying the feel of the sand against her bare feet. A deeper pool gave her what she needed. She sank into the icy waters and let them close over her head. Aislinn surfaced, gasping a bit from the cold, and grabbed handfuls of sand from the bottom to scrub her hair and herself. The gash on her face ached, but at least it was clean. She wondered if she could Heal herself, then discarded the idea. She’d need a mirror to do a good job. More importantly, she didn’t want to spare the magic. In another life, she would have gone to an Emergency Room for stitches. “Ha.” She snorted. “Another life indeed.”