She could barely remember what had happened at the farm that night. The death of her parents rarely caused her to feel depressed. She had risen above that. Dog had somehow managed to push the memories firmly into her past, so it now almost felt as if it was someone else’s memory. It was a dog’s nature, she came to realise. They care little for the past and think only of the now. Except for their noses, she laughed to herself. They can smell the past. She had learned to appreciate the wonder of how Dog could smell not only the passage of an animal, but also had a sense of how long it had been. He just knows it intuitively.
Katherine exited the stream and tried to shake herself dry before she stopped herself. I am not a dog, she chided herself. She pulled her clothes over her wet skin and kept drawing strength from Gaea to keep herself warm. She looked up at the overcast sky and was glad to see the clouds were not too dark. Snow is on the way, she thought. And soon, but not today. She filled the small pot and then trudged up the deer path back to her campsite.
Dog was snoring loudly, and his paws kept flicking like he was running. Katherine set her pot down carefully and then put the small tripod she had made out of branches over the fire. She hooked the pot on the tripod over the flames to heat the water and then started to dig through her backpack. The backpack had been Will Arbor’s. It was a work of art and held so much so effortlessly on her back when carried. She pushed her herbs to the side and pulled out her leather satchel that contained her dried tea leaves and set it down. She opened a side pouch and pulled out a small cloth sack and set it beside the tea leaves. She then opened the front pouch and drew out a small oiled cloth. She opened it up and the smell of her dried meat wafted clear. Dog’s nosed twitched and Katherine smothered a giggle. It twitched again and suddenly Dog was sitting up licking his chops.
His thoughts flooded hers and images and the emotions that went with him imagining swallowing great big pieces of delicious meat hit her. She laughed and pulled a stick of her meat free and fed Dog. He barely chewed it and had it swallowed in a moment. Dog loved the special treat. She pounded meat flat with fat mixed in and then added berries, nuts and herbs. She then pushed the mash flat and dried it in the sun in strips. It was delicious and gave Dog and her energy when they needed it. She had invented it one day after taking down an injured deer. She had had so much meat and grieved the loss of the animal. She then thought to preserve it and discovered how. Truthfully, her mother had mentioned something similar from her days as a highwayman. Highwayperson? she asked herself and chuffed. She now sold the meat strips in great quantities in the nearby city of Cala. The city market was openly copying her invention, but she didn’t mind. Her mixed herbs allowed hers to stand out from the rest. She gave away free samples and now had a steady supply of regulars that waited for word of her arrival in town. I’ve become like Will once was.
Katherine gave Dog one more piece before taking one for herself. She tore off a bite and caught Dog eyeing her piece and licking his chops. “Greedy-guts,” she admonished him. “You’ve had yours. Do you want oatmeal?”
Dog shook his head in a way that had startled her a month ago. He was becoming more human and she was becoming more dog. It worried her sometimes, then she forgot to worry and they just…were. It was easier to not resist, most times. She felt a stab of guilt at her morning breaks and sensed humour from Dog. “Shut up, doogie-doog. You don’t care, but I worry for both of us.”
Dog cocked his head to the side.
“You know what I mean,” she said. “I’m confused. You and I—we’re something special. One. I know we discussed this last night, but what if what Gaea does break us? I don’t think I could stand that.” Katherine hung her head. “It might kill me, I think.”
Dog stood up and leaned forward and licked her forehead.
Katherine reached up and pulled Dog’s head into her neck. As always, Dog was confused by the action. The dog part of him screamed run, thinking he was being attacked in some way, then he would relax when he realised it was just more strange human stuff. Katherine felt her strip of meat pulled sharply out of her hand and Dog broke free swallowing the stolen meat in glee. Katherine shrieked in mock anger and Dog bounded off into the trees to smell what new animals had passed during the night. He lifted a leg and marked his passing and disappeared into the thicket.
Katherine cleared her thoughts and watched the water in the pot slowly come to a boil. She pulled out a tin cup and added tea leaves to it. When the water boiled she grabbed the handle and filled her cup. She drew on Gaea to keep her hands from burning. She returned the pot to the tripod and then poured in some oatmeal and stirred it with a wooden spoon she had carved one day. She returned her sack of oatmeal and satchel of tea to the backpack and pulled free a small bag. She opened it and pulled out a pinch of purple Life Salt. She added it to the pot and stirred it in. With her sight she watched the Life Salt sparkle and swirl in the oatmeal. Another gift from Will, she remembered. The last night on the farm had been full of fear and excitement. Will had settled her.
“You’ll be fine, Katherine,” soothed Will. They were in her room in the farmhouse at Rigby Farm. Will’s backpack lay on her bed and Dog was sniffing it all over. They were sitting beside each other on the edge of her bed.
Downstairs, Steve and Franky were arguing over some small issue. Katherine could sense the draoi throughout the farm and found Nadine in her room searching through her belongings for something of import.
“Are you sure?” she had asked then. She felt her chin tremble in betrayal and steeled herself. She knew it was useless to hide her emotions from Will. She was constantly exposed to him. The draoi bond left nothing to remain hidden.
“Yes,” he replied, and Katherine felt the mirth behind the words. “You’ll have a much easier go than I did, I suspect. You’ll have all my belongings from my time in the wild. This backpack is a work of wonder. And you’ll have my favourite tin cup. It makes the best cup of tea you’ve ever had!”
Katherine laughed a little and wiped her nose, now a little wet. Dog snuck his head in and licked it and Katherine swatted at his nose, but he was too quick.
“And you’ll have Dog. He and I had many days on the road together. He can sniff out any threats and keep you safe. Not that you need worry. You are a draoi. Nature knows what you are. You need fear nothing except people. Be wary and use your powers to determine friend from foe.”
“Yes, Freamhaigh, I will.” Katherine looked into Will’s face for a moment searching for something. “Why?” she asked after a moment.
Will looked surprised. “Why? Why what?”
“Why do you treat me so differently than everyone else? You understand me, I think. Why?”
Will nodded in understanding. “We are the same age you and I. But from different backgrounds except for one thing: you and I both lost our parents.” Katherine looked distressed at the words and Dog whined a little. “Relax, I won’t speak of it. But I understand. I truly do. We are the same, you and I. The road calls to you and Gaea is urging you to leave. Listen to her, follow her guidance, despite your feelings toward her.”
Katherine remembered crying at that moment and the feeling of shame returned with it. She hated weakness, especially in herself. Dog seemed to agree to that sentiment, but never allowed her to feel sorry for herself, especially about the loss of her parents. Back in the present, Katherine stirred the oatmeal and settled back to let it cook.
She felt Dog bounding after the fresh scent of rabbit and revelled in the feeling of wind rushing past his muzzle, the scent strong and enticing. She shook her head and pulled her mind back from his and looked around at her small campsite. All the belongings, save the clothes, were gifts from Will. She loved that they were his and now hers. It gave her comfort.
Her oatmeal finally finished cooking and she pulled the pot from the fire and took a spoonful. Steam rose heavy from the spoon and Katherine blew on it before tasting it. She was using her powers with a whim that bothered her. She healed injuries without
a thought and even allowed herself to be injured. I really need to stop, she thought. It’s not normal. Katherine spooned another small measure of oatmeal and blew on it. She felt Dog’s laugh and pushed his thoughts away.
An hour later, her cooking pot cleaned, and her tea finished, she cleaned up their camp and stowed everything in her backpack and tied her bedroll to the bottom. Dog came running back in and Katherine gave him more meat and watched him swallow the strips whole. Dog came over and sat beside Katherine on the ground and leaned up against her. His tongue lolled out his mouth and he looked around the clearing.
It was times like this that annoyed Katherine. Nothing truly bothered Dog. The butterflies in her stomach threatened to fly free of her mouth in swarms and yet Dog sat without a care in the world. Katherine frowned at him. Dog turned his head and licked her nose.
“Grr,” she exclaimed and wiped the spit off her nose. “Stop that! Be serious for one moment, will you? Are we sure about this?”
Katherine sensed his approval.
“Okay, so we tell Gaea to go ahead. Do it. Separate us from the world. What exactly is that? She says our bond should keep us sane. Do you trust her, Dog?”
Dog nodded his head. Katherine’s frown deepened.
“I’m not so sure. I’m frightened. I need to know we will be the same afterwards. What if we can’t talk anymore? Huh? You think of that?”
Dog cocked his head. The future for Dog was an obscure concept. He was starting to get it a little bit. His knowledge of future events was limited to pleading for food, and sometime after that, getting food. Katherine wrapped an arm around Dog’s neck and pulled him close.
“You want this, don’t you, doogie-doog?”
Dog woofed gently.
“I wonder if you want it for the same reasons I do.”
Katherine sucked in a breath and images of Erebus on the farm advancing on Dog and her. She saw Seth again with that crossbow in his hand. She felt Dog react and leap and felt the ripping pain in his side as a bolt drove deep inside him. She saw the figure of Erebus in all his horror through the eyes of Dog. The intense feeling of hatred coming from Dog surprised her and the cold of it shocked her. She knew then Dog had reacted not to save Will as everyone thought but to save her.
“Oh Dog,” she cried and hugged him harder. “You really have no concept of aim, do you?”
The next images were clearly the imaginings of Dog. Her head was filled with images of Dog ripping into Erebus with his jaw and teeth. He imagined feeling his fangs driving deep and satisfying and tearing flesh from bone. Dog growled a little in his throat.
“You really do hate him, don’t you, Dog?” Katherine let him go, but he stayed pressed up against her. “Okay, we do this.” Katherine hesitated a moment and then called out softly. “Gaea? We’re ready.”
Katherine blinked, and Gaea was sitting on the ground in front of her. Dog whined a happy sound and Gaea reached out and ruffled the fur on his head. “Hi, Dog,” she said. She looked at Katherine. “Ready?”
“Is it going to hurt?”
“Probably, yes. Quite a bit, I think. It will take you time to control yourself. But keep your bond with Dog clear in your sight. Hold onto that. It will anchor you both.”
“Okay, do it.”
An expression of sorrow passed across the face of Gaea and for a moment Katherine was about to cry out to halt her. Gaea looked intently at Katherine and Dog and then a stream of her essence flew across the space between them and struck Katherine and Dog. Katherine felt a stab of fear as the essence flashed over them and covered them with a glowing light. As she watched the essence disappeared into her skin. She felt a tingle and then pinpricks covered her flesh. It built in intensity and Katherine rubbed at her arms. She heard Dog whine and looked at him. Dog was on his side rubbing himself against the ground. He wiped at his muzzle with his forepaws and his whine grew more intense. Katherine turned to Gaea and opened her mouth to speak when pain erupted everywhere in her body at once.
Katherine and Dog collapsed screaming and whining to the ground. Their limbs flung about with uncontrolled spasms. The pain they felt was not physical, but one of tremendous, sudden loss. The wonder of life and beauty of harmony around them was suddenly gone. The feeling was one of falling into nothingness. Katherine reeled in her mind and lost her sense of identity. She reached out, desperate for anything to anchor her to her mind. She felt her sanity fleeing from her with every spasm. Her throat was torn with screaming, but the pain was so removed from the intense feeling of loss, it was inconsequential. She reached out desperate for that connection to Gaea to reconnect her to the world, but she was surrounded by nothing. She was so utterly alone. Her eyes snapped open, and the world was revealed as cold, harsh, and no longer real. It repulsed her. She recognised the sky and clouds, and then the face of Gaea looking down at her. Behind Gaea’s face, stars blazed bright in the evening sky.
She focused on Gaea and gasped when she saw Gaea for what she truly was for the first time. She was so foreign to her that her screams renewed and doubled in intensity. She turned her eyes away and they fell on Dog. He was having seizures on the ground. His muzzle foamed, and his eyes were rolled back so far back that all that remained was startling white orbs shot with red veins. Our bond! she remembered. She closed her eyes and reached for it. She spied it right away and reached out for it. She clung to it and the feeling of relief was like gasping for air for a drowning man. She pulled on it and dragged Dog over to her in her mind. She could see the insanity that sparked across his thoughts. He was lost, so completely lost.
Katherine grew stronger knowing she had to save him. She pulled harder and felt Dog’s mind join with hers for a long moment. He clung to her mind in a panic and they merged, twisted, and then separated. Katherine knew she had been changed by the event. Something of her went with Dog and something of him remained with her. She felt her sanity return and felt the ground beneath her. Her limbs calmed, and she breathed slowly unsure if this was permanent.
She cleared her thoughts and gave Dog a moment to calm himself. His thoughts reached across the bond and they were strange and alien to her. She grunted with the effort to quell his fear. After a long time, she felt him slowly focus on his own thoughts. She cried in relief as Dog finally calmed and seemed to relax beside her. She held him gently in her thoughts, keeping a grip on their bond.
She saw her own image in his thoughts and opened her eyes to see him looking back at her. Tears of joy poured down her face and Dog whined once and licked them away. Yes, Dog, it’s me, Katherine. Stay with me. Hold on!
Katherine cried in relief and buried her face in the thick fur around his neck. That was close, doogie-doog, she thought to him.
Y-yes, he replied.
Katherine was stunned. Dog had spoken in her mind. Dog, did you just speak?
I-I think so, is this speaking?
Yes. Yes, it is. How?
I do not know. What happened to us? Are we okay?
I think so. That was terrible. What do you sense?
Other than you and I, nothing. I feel so lost!
Katherine felt Dog’s mind slip for a moment and he nearly took her with him. She tightened their bond and felt his mind sharpen in response.
How are you doing that? he asked.
I’m not sure, she replied. Being a draoi taught me how to use power, perhaps this is the same?
She felt Dog think about that for a bit. Let me try, he said.
For a second Katherine felt Dog’s love for her engulf her and calm her. It was such a feeling of warmth and acceptance that for a moment she felt like a child safe in her mother’s arms once more. When Dog pulled away she felt the loss.
How was that? he asked.
Tha-that was wonderful! Is that what it feels like when I do it?
I think so. You saved me. Thank you.
You’re welcome. Let’s get up off the ground. Be warned, Gaea does not look the same anymore. She’s horrible!
They both stoo
d with difficulty. Their joints and limbs were in agony. Muscles were torn and bruises covered them both.
It feels wrong to be on four feet, said Dog with surprise.
Katherine grunted. She wanted to drop onto her hands and feet. She felt so very tall and unbalanced. She looked around for Gaea, but she was gone. She reached out for her draoi powers and felt nothing. All around her was the sense of nothing but she could feel the wind on her skin and the ground beneath her feet. Then she noticed that she could smell the scents around her with an intensity she could never have imagined before. But she could no longer feel the world. She was cut off from it. All that existed in her world was her connection to Dog. She looked for their bond but even that could no longer be seen by her eyes.
“Dog, this is disturbing. I can’t feel anything but you!”
Same, I can smell but I feel I do not belong here. What is happening?
“Gaea said she would cut us off from the world. She’s done it. Our draoi powers are gone. I can sense nothing. Nothing at all.”
Why can I now talk? This is strange. I’m not sure I understand how I can.
“We joined for a moment. You and me, remember? We think we stole something from each other. I felt it happen. I can smell way better than I should be able to.”
Something moved at the edge of her vision. She turned and found Gaea standing nearby. The image of Gaea shifted and changed. She would appear younger and then older. At times she looked like other draoi, and sometimes as an animal. Katherine turned aside and looked away. “I’m sorry, I can’t look at you. You keep changing.”
“You are seeing through me to what I am and can be.”
Freamhaigh Page 2
