He sounded, he thought ruefully, like an entire blacksmith's shop fall' ing downstairs.
Not that the noise he and Jermayan had made fighting had been any quieter.
Carefully, he approached Shalkan and the strange woman. He was thankful he'd had the foresight to leave the keystone on the unicorn's saddle this morning—if it hadn't gotten broken in the brawl in the hut, it certainly wouldn't have survived Jermayan's attack afterward.
"Uh… hello?" he said tentatively.
The woman raised her head from Shalkan's neck with a gasp, and cringed back. She was much younger than Kellen had originally thought— a girl, not a woman, someone close to his own age. And terrified.
"Don't worry," he said hastily. "I'm not going to hurt you. Nobody is. Not even Jermayan. Not now that Shalkan's proved that you aren't—what you look like."
Very tactful, Kellen.
"He's my unicorn," Kellen added, rather awkwardly.
"It would be more accurate to say," Shalkan drawled, "that you're my boy. But let it pass."
"Anyway," Kellen said, hurrying on, "we've got to get out of here before the bas—I mean, the fellow who was hurting you—wakes up and causes more trouble. Do you think maybe you could ride Shalkan if I helped you mount?" He crossed his fingers mentally as he said it, hoping that would be okay with Shalkan as well. But the unicorn had let her touch him…
She blinked up at him, doubtfully, as if she didn't quite believe what she was hearing. "I… yes," she said in a trembling voice.
Shalkan stood up and backed away so that she could stand, and she reluctantly held a hand out to Kellen. He took it without hesitation, drawing her to her feet.
She was limping badly, unable to put much weight upon her right foot at all, and after a few steps Kellen simply picked her up and set her on Shalkan's back. Shalkan made no objection.
"Free with my favors, aren't you?" Shalkan said in a voice so low that only Kellen could hear.
"Come on," Kellen said, pointing off to where Jermayan and the mule had gone.
NOW that the Obligation had left him, Kellen felt the mild disorientation he'd come to expect after the Wild Magic was satisfied, but that didn't stop him from thinking clearly as he walked along beside Shalkan. Yes, the strange girl looked the way he'd been told Demons looked—red skin, slitted pupils, claws, horns, and all. And Jermayan had certainly thought she was one.
But he'd also said that all Demons were evil, and could not bear the touch of a living unicorn's horn… and she'd certainly proven that she could.
And the Wild Magic had sent Kellen to rescue her as the price for Jermayan's healing. And Kellen knew he wasn't Tainted—confused, maybe, but not Tainted. Whatever might happen in the future, whatever his ancestors might have done, he'd so far paid every price the Wild Magic had asked of him willingly. And Shalkan… Shalkan was perfect.
In a way, it was a kind of problem in Maths… you couldn't end up with evil if there hadn't been evil in the equation to start with.
And he knew with a conviction too deep and certain to put into words, that she wasn't evil. But what was she, then? Could you look like a Demon, but not be one?
The answers to that would have to wait until they reached a safe stopping place.
The three of them caught up with Jermayan at the point where the goat track plunged over the edge of the hill. Jermayan untied the mule's lead-rope from Valdien's saddle and tossed it to Kellen without a word, then headed Valdien down the trail. He didn't look back, either at Kellen or at Shalkan and his new rider.
Apparently the truce that Shalkan had forced upon the Elven Knight was something Jermayan was finding very hard to bear.
"I'll wait till he's down, then follow him down with Lily. You wait till I've gotten down with her, so falling gravel doesn't spook her, okay?"
"I will," the girl said softly. She'd pulled the hood of her cloak up again as she rode, and her face was in shadow once more, as if she was ashamed to be seen.
Maybe she was. Or maybe it was just good sense. It stood to reason that just about anyone you encountered was going to try and kill you if you looked like a Demon, after all! Unless, of course, they were Demons.
Which, if you weren't a Demon, but only looked like one, might be even more dangerous…
Kellen glanced around. From the hilltop he had a good view of the surrounding countryside, and he could see that the right-hand fork of the trail looped around the hill and seemed to run parallel to it. They might as well take the left-hand fork if they wanted to get anywhere, and no Finding Spell needed. That was a relief.
The bruises he'd gotten from the fight at the cottage were starting to ache, and his skin was probably the color of Jermayan's pretty blue armor in places by now, between the shepherd's club and Jermayan's fists. If there'd been any additional price to be paid for his magic, Kellen was pretty sure he'd paid it—in full.
Valdien reached the bottom of the twisting track. To Kellen's relief, Jermayan didn't just ride on, but waited for the others to join him. Kellen started down, leading the reluctant mule. His metal boots slipped and skidded on the dusty trail, and the mule set her feet and grunted her displeasure, but they reached the bottom without mishap.
He'd hoped—now that the two of them had a little privacy—that they might talk things out, but Jermayan continued to ignore him utterly. Kellen set his jaw. Fine. Let him.
"I'm here," Shalkan said.
Kellen turned and regarded the unicorn, suddenly realizing they had another problem. He wasn't looking forward to spending the rest of the day on foot, and it would slow their speed enormously. On the other hand, he knew the girl couldn't walk, and there was absolutely no point in asking Jermayan to take her up behind him on Valdien. He could Heal her, but he wasn't sure he wanted to risk another spell—both because of adding another layer of obligation, and because of the possibility, which seemed much more real now, that the enemy might be watching.
"I can carry both of you. She doesn't weigh much," Shalkan said. "And I'm a great deal stronger than you think. She gets down, you mount, then she gets up again behind you. Simple."
Simple it might be, but it took a few minutes to accomplish, and when it was done, Shalkan's back felt rather… crowded. But as soon as they were both settled, Shalkan trotted off, leading the party down the left-hand trail and leaving Jermayan to bring the mule, quite as if he was in charge now, and not the Elven Knight.
Perhaps he was.
IT was only after they'd started off that Kellen realized he'd just assumed without asking that the girl was going to come along with them. It had been obvious he couldn't leave her where she was. Even though he and Jermayan were riding into danger, she'd been in danger when he'd found her.
"Um… I know this is a little late to ask, but… is there somewhere safe we could take you? Do you have any family?" Kellen asked.
"Safe? Me?" The girl laughed bitterly. "I have no family, or none that would not hate me on sight. You've seen my face, gentle Knight. Is there anyone in all the world who wouldn't slay me the moment they saw it?"
"Well," Kellen said after a moment's thought, "I didn't."
There was a moment of surprised silence from behind him.
"No," she agreed. "You didn't. And your companion does not love you for that, I think. But… tell me… if you don't mind, that is… what are two knights—one of them an Elven Knight—doing here in the mountains? Elves don't usually come here."
Kellen hesitated—not because he thought the girl was Tainted—he was certain she wasn't—but because he wasn't sure he ought to tell anyone what they were doing here. But Shalkan settled the matter in his usual pragmatic fashion.
"I don't suppose I need to tell you what Demons are, do I?" the unicorn said.
Kellen felt the girl shudder, even through his armor.
"I thought not," Shalkan said. "And as you probably also know, Demons hate Elves more than they hate any of the other races of the Bright World, and so they've set a nasty spell to destro
y the Elven lands, by making sure no rain falls there. Ever."
"Ever?" the girl said. "They—would make a desert of it? All of the Elven lands?"
"At least," Shalkan replied.
"Goddess bless—" she said, sounding shaken.
Kellen flicked a glance sideways at Jermayan, who was riding at Shalkan's flank. The Elven Knight's face was set in what was threatening to become a perpetual glower, but there was little Jermayan could do to stop Shalkan from saying whatever he wanted. Even among the Elves, Kellen was coming to realize, unicorns were a law unto themselves.
"So Kellen here, who's a Wildmage, like his sister Idalia, is taking the spell she made to the Barrier that Shadow Mountain has set up to keep the rain from falling. Once Kellen sets Idalia's spell against theirs, the Barrier will fall and the rains will come to Elven lands again. The only trouble is, nobody's quite sure where Shadow Mountain hid their spell. So that's what we're out here looking for. And hoping we find it before they find us, milady."
"But—if you're looking for Demon magic—I think I know where you want to go!" the girl exclaimed in surprise.
"I told you it was a trap," growled Jermayan, breaking his long silence.
Kellen clutched at the front of the saddle as Shalkan whirled, fleet as a cat, to block Valdien's path. Behind him, he felt the girl clutch at his belt.
"One—more—word—" the unicorn said through gritted teeth, "and I promise you, Child of Leaf and Star, that your sweet soprano voice will be the admiration of everyone you meet for the rest of your very long life."
Kellen stared at the unicorn's horn. It had taken on an odd pink flush he'd never seen before. He looked up at Jermayan. The Elf was staring at the horn as well, face pale and eyes wide.
There was a moment's tense silence, as the wind whistled among the rocks all around them, and at last Jermayan looked away, bowing his head in submission.
Still nobody said anything, and Shalkan didn't move.
"You can tell where we want to go? How?" Kellen said at last, to break the silence. He hated seeing Jermayan being put in such a humiliating position, even if it was almost entirely of Jermayan's making, and probably the politest thing to do, under the circumstances, was to pretend he hadn't noticed anything.
"You know—you can see—I have Demon blood," the girl said painfully.
Kellen waited for another outburst from Jermayan, but the Elven Knight had been thoroughly cowed by Shalkan. Shalkan stayed where he was, and Jermayan didn't even seem willing to move Valdien around the unicorn and continue on their way. It was clear he did not intend to move until Shalkan gave him permission.
"I will tell you the whole story soon, I promise, but I have been hiding from the Demons all my life, and the only way I was able to do it was because I can feel the presence of Demons as a kind of sickness that gets stronger the closer they come. As you can well believe, I've worked hard to hone this gift so that it will give me a sense of the direction from which the danger comes as well. I—if they ever find me"—her voice was shaking—"they will do worse to me than any human or Elf ever could."
Kellen heard the terror there, and he wanted to offer comfort, but couldn't imagine how. Surely Jermayan heard it too! How could he hear it and not be moved?
Because maybe he isn't thinking?
"For the past few days—and now, in the direction we're riding—I have been feeling that same unease," she continued. "Or—would sickness be the right word? That something is wrong, Tainted—no, not Tainted, merely, but polluted. Not a Demon, but something that tells me that Demonic magic is near, and growing stronger. If we ride toward that, surely you'll find what you're seeking?" she finished in a rush.
It was up to him, Kellen realized in dismay. Jermayan was too caught up in his own anger and fear to think clearly, and Shalkan couldn't—or wouldn't—make these kind of decisions. Like it or not, Kellen was the leader.
He'd always known that, but somehow it had never been quite so important before. For the first time, Kellen realized how much was riding on the decisions he had to make, and that only he could make them. It was up to him not only to decide to trust this chance-met stranger, but to trust her instincts and judgment as well. To guess, and guess rightly (he hoped), that she was not only a good person, but had the wisdom to use her gifts in the best way they could be used in this situation.
That was what made this a hard choice. It wasn't as simple as deciding whether or not she was good. She was good—both he and Shalkan knew that much, even if Jermayan was still unconvinced. What Kellen had to decide now was whether she was smart, and clever, and levelheaded enough to lead them close to trouble but not into it.
The Wild Magic led me to her. But had that been for her sake only, or for all of them? Was she a key to this, or only incidental?
"What's your name?" Kellen asked almost irrelevantly, still sitting on Shalkan's back in the middle of the trail as if they had all the time in the world to figure things out.
"Vestakia," she said, sounding surprised.
"Vestakia," he said. He was playing for time, he knew, hoping the Powers behind the Wild Magic would send him certainty, knowing all the while that the decision was going to be his alone, without any outside help. "Have you lived up here all your life?"
"All eighteen years of it," she said. She sounded puzzled now, probably wondering why they hadn't started down the trail again. "I've been alone since my aunt died, and that was four years ago."
"Can you… can you tell how far away the Demon-magic is, as well as what direction?" he asked, thinking hard.
"I can tell how far away one of Them is, right enough," she answered promptly. "But what you're looking for… I don't know. All I know is that it must be bad, if I can feel it at all. As bad as the Demons themselves."
His last hope was gone. If she was able to tell them how far away from the Barrier she was at any given time, that would make following her gift less of a danger. But since she couldn't, Vestakia might, even with the best of intentions, lead them right into it without warning.
But the Wild Magic sent you to her for a reason. She has the power to take you to the Barrier. Use it.
"Show us the way," Kellen said, making his decision.
As if his words had been a signal, Shalkan turned back along the trail.
FOR the rest of the day they followed Vestakia's halting directions as she led them deeper into the Lost Lands. Even the sparse wiry mountain grass was gone from the rocky hillsides now, and the only vegetation was a thick, dry, mosslike growth, or tough lichens. Vestakia said that no one, even outlaws, came this far into the mountains, and those that did never came back.
Kellen could tell that though Jermayan said nothing (his silent frustration and anger were nearly palpable), he ached to accuse her of leading them in circles, but Kellen didn't think she was. She'd said that the presence of Demons—or Demon-magic—made her ill, and she seemed to grow weaker and more uncomfortable as the day wore on and the sun sank westward. Soon they'd have to find a place to stop, even though there didn't seem to be any good ones.
The thought of stopping—of sleeping—anywhere in these mountains made Kellen profoundly uncomfortable, but what choice did they have? He had no idea how close they were to the Barrier, and Vestakia didn't seem to be sure either.
What he did know was that he'd been right to trust her to show them the way. There'd been no further signs to indicate their path—not very surprising, as there was nothing living to be warped out of its natural pattern. Kellen knew he could never have found this route without spells, and he was more and more unwilling to cast another spell for any reason.
"Vestakia?" he said when she hadn't spoken for a while.
There was no answer, and suddenly he realized that all her weight was leaning against his back, and that she was starting to slide sideways.
Shalkan stopped as Kellen wriggled free of the saddle, just in time to catch the girl as she slumped to the ground. He lowered her gently and turned back the hood
of her cloak. She was gasping for air, and her eyes were half-closed.
"Vestakia? Vestakia, can you hear me?"
"I… oh, it hurts so much!" She rolled to her knees and retched weakly.
Kellen hated to badger her, but he had no choice. "Vestakia, is it near? Which way?"
"There." Still on her hands and knees, she pointed up between two boulders, at a nearly sheer half-dome of rock. "Near. It must be."
"We can do it," Shalkan said, looking the way she had pointed. "But not in the dark. And the animals can't do it at all. We'd have to leave them here."
"Stay here tonight?" Kellen said incredulously, gazing down at Vestakia. "She can't!"
"There are some medicines in your packs that will help her. So I suggest you get them," the unicorn said impassively.
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