Sage Truth [Book 2 of the Teadai Prophecies]

by Dana Davis

  No. Don’t kill her. Point her out once I’m free. She had no more chance to think on that. Her binds came loose, causing pain to prick her hands and feet. Raw spots where the rags had cut into her skin needed attention. Instead, she leaned over Haranda and put lips to her ear. “I’m free. I’ll go with Dar and be back as soon as I’m able.”

  She smoothed Snowy’s white-streaked hair and kissed his upturned cheek. “I love you. I’ll be back for you.” A tear fled from her eye to land on his neck and she wiped it away.

  She shifted the bodies and blankets just enough to cover her place and hoped the women wouldn’t check the wagon too closely. They didn’t seem too concerned with feeding anyone. And tomorrow would be the fourth day with no food or water. The rest could die from lack of nutrition. No doubt some were already ill.

  Dar let her know when the area was clear and she stepped carefully onto the dirt ground. Cold bit into every part of her body. What surprised her was that her muscles were sore and stiff but not unusable. No permanent rigidity. Whatever spell had been used had preserved her body, thankfully. She crept behind Dar, trusting the wolf explicitly.

  As they passed the wagon behind the one she’d been captive in, the she-wolf’s silky voice came to her. The poisoner is in there.

  Taniras stayed hidden beside the wagon as she crept to the back and lifted the blanket covering. Several Bankari had been loaded onto this one, including Mistress Norine. Maesa also lay here. Taniras leaned to the girl’s ear. “Taniras is free. I’ll get help.” Hopefully, the youngling heard. Which one is the poisoner, Dar? The wolf climbed nimbly onto the wagon and it creaked under her weight. Taniras’s heart raced. She peeked around the other side of the wagon but no one came their direction. It’s all right.

  Dar leaned over a young woman. This one.

  When Taniras shifted the blanket to let in more light, she recognized one of Mistress Norine’s servant girls, a friend of LaWen’s, but she couldn’t remember the girl’s name. Why didn’t we catch her before? Why didn’t the dogs or the pack find her?

  She used magic to hide, Dar sent. Can’t use it now.

  Is she working with Croferituus?

  No. This one uses earth magic. With that, a faint scent of something woodsy mixed with lavender came to Taniras’s senses. Dar had no fear of this woman, only anger. Shall I kill her?

  No, Dar. The Elders or perhaps the Vedi would have to make that decision.

  They crept back to Taniras’s wagon. Croferituus and the other woman, along with two guards and three other men Taniras didn’t recognize, sat around a fire, eating and laughing. The smell reminded her that she needed to get food to the captives. She took a heartbeat to let Haranda and Wren know about the poisoner then followed Dar into some nearby trees.

  The evening air grew cold and she nearly forgot that it was summer. Can you help the others, Dar? Rid them of the magical poison like you did for me?

  War, was the only response. And battle howls beat against her mind.

  Chapter 26

  Run, singer! Run!

  Dar’s words kept slamming into Taniras’s mind. Her lungs burned from the exertion but she pumped her sore legs and kept Dar in sight as they dodged trees, jutting branches and massive roots. She had to get far enough away from the wagons, from the yellow-eyed woman, so that she wouldn’t be caught again. What if the woman sent those bloody insects after her?

  Don’t think. Run!

  She ran and tried her best to ignore the cramps in her legs and the fire in her lungs. The effort was almost too much after the toll of capture and Dar’s cleansing had put on her body. She followed blindly, using the link as her guide, and the pack led her to a nearby cave, where others had already taken cover. Taniras collapsed on the dirt floor as she tried to catch her breath. She rubbed at her thighs and calves to try and smooth away the pain.

  Her memory seemed jammed with images from every day of her life, and right now her mind raced with disconnected thoughts. Snowy. My husband, my love. I miss you. Sympathy waved through the link. Lombreeth. Where is that man? The Vedi had provided a sketch from Tsianina’s memory, hideous and pockmarked. Croferituus, yellow-eyes, dead-eyes. That one deserves great punishment. The pack paced silently inside the cave but howled in her mind. LaWen’s friend, the poisoner. How did we not find her? Oh, yes. Magic. Cholqhuin’s raising. How were they to raise the ancient god if no one had use of their bodies? The Vedi had ordered a raising. Can the Vedi do it alone? No. They would already have done it if they could. Death along the Tandiar River, magic storms everywhere, a void in the Energy. Hunger, exhaustion, aching muscles, pounding head. Taniras felt much older than her twenty-one years.

  Finally, her mind quieted, except for a low drone from the pack that sounded much like a cat purring, their version of a lullaby. She glanced at the wolves around her. Most had run with her but some were just pups, too young to venture out alone. In that quiet heartbeat another thought came to her. Is everything connected somehow? Hope filled her for the first time in two days. Think, Taniras. Think! But it was no use. The day’s efforts proved too much and she sank into a much-needed sleep.

  Snowy lay beside her in the Land of the Goddess. They lay alone in the darkness. Naked. Hot breath found her neck and soft kisses followed. Her body craved his attentions, his touch. She smelled him, musk and man sweat, the familiar scent she had grown to know through the wolves. The cabin door stood open and faint moonlight peeked in. A wolf paced silently outside, reassuring.

  “I love you.” Snowy ran hands over her most sensitive parts.

  “I love you too.” She closed her eyes to accept his offerings.

  “Taniras,” a female voice said from outside the cabin. “My apologies for intruding. Please come outside.”

  Annoyance filled her and when she looked to the door again, a tall woman with hair down to her waist stood in the shadows. “Go away.” She pulled Snowy closer. He didn’t seem to notice the woman or else didn’t care.

  “Taniras. We need to talk. Please don’t make me alter your dream. I’m weak.”

  The woman was obviously mad. Taniras thought the door closed and it did as she wished. She kissed Snowy, reveling in the feel of his lips against hers.

  “Taniras. You come with me, now.” The door stood open again.

  Suddenly, Snowy disappeared and Taniras leapt from the bed to search for him, her nakedness now covered in a peasant dress.

  “I sent him away,” the woman said.

  She thought she knew this woman. But how dare someone barge in on private affairs! “Bring my husband back.” With that, Snowy appeared in the bed just as he had been before, and she started toward him. Again, he disappeared.

  “I don’t have strength for games. You can dream about Snowy later. Right now we need to discuss some things.” The intruding woman came inside the cabin and took Taniras by the arm.

  “Haranda?”

  “Very good, singer.” Haranda led Taniras from the cabin to a bench beneath one of the large trees. “Do you remember what I told you the last time we met in the Netherworld?”

  “I’m dreaming.”

  “Yes, you are. And I’m slumbering. Please concentrate. Do you remember the mundane world? We were stung by insects and captured.”

  “Croferituus.” Taniras wouldn’t forget that woman even in her dream state. She studied Haranda again. Slumberers entered other dreams, changed dreams. “Do I slumber too?”

  “No. You don’t harness that Energy. You’re simply dreaming. You told me you escaped. Dar helped you, didn’t she?”

  “Yes.” She grabbed Haranda’s arm as memories flooded her sleeping mind. “Snowy and the others are still captive. I must save them.”

  Haranda gave her a sympathetic look. “I’m pleased that you’re free. Can the wolves help us?”

  “I don’t know.” What was it Dar said to answer that question? Oh, yes. “The wolves are talking war.”

  That got raised brows from her former clan mother. “What kind of w
ar?”

  “I haven’t had a chance to find out. I collapsed after they led me to safety. I must have fallen asleep. I’m asleep.” She glanced around at the Land of the Goddess. This place felt like home to her now.

  “Yes. You sleep now. But you’re the only one free. The rest of us are still in the wagons.”

  Hunger. “You need nourishment.”

  “Yes. We can’t hold out much longer.”

  “I remember. I’ll do what I can.”

  “That’s all we can ask. I must find Wren and the others, tell them the news while I still have strength.” She took Taniras’s face in her warm hands. “Elder Siri has the Azure Amulet tucked in her bosom. Croferituus didn’t discover that. Remember what I’ve told you.” The hands moved from Taniras’s cheeks. “Be well, singer. Rest now.” With that Haranda disappeared.

  Taniras crept back into Snowy’s cabin to find him waiting for her. Her clothes disappeared and she climbed into bed.

  * * * *

  When she awoke, the strong scent of wolf and rain filled her nostrils and she opened her eyes. She lay in the cave, just where she had collapsed. Dar’s yearling, the one too young for a name, lay huddled against her left side and Dar against her right, closest to the open air. Outside was dark and cold and wet. Night. It had rained while she slept. The wolves gave her warmth, for which she was grateful. As she sat, Dar and the youngling lifted their heads. She could see them even in the dark. Like a wolf.

  Yes, came Dar’s silky voice. The yearling placed her head on Taniras’s lap and she absently caressed between the ears. Dar sat on her hind quarters and studied her. Are you rested, singer?

  Her muscles felt weak and she was hungry but the sleep had done her good. “Yes.”

  Then you must eat.

  Within heartbeats, several from the pack deposited tubers and raw rabbit near her. She began with the juicy tubers, chewing slowly, then scavenged for some flint to get a fire going. She could find none. Even if she got lucky enough to start a spark, everything was too wet to catch fire. The leaves in the pups’ beds weren’t enough to burn long and she wouldn’t take them anyway. She sat back on her heels and stared at the rabbit. The wolves watched.

  Hunger prompted her to pull tough meat from the bones with her teeth. They had left her the flank. She chewed the sinewy meat and tried not to gag. Suddenly, the link with the wolves strengthened and she felt them all, the memories, the lives, back and back through history. She tore at the raw meat, chewed and swallowed, careful not to take too much with each mouthful. It wasn’t long before her stomach felt full and she stopped eating. She didn’t want to get ill.

  The yearling whined. Taniras tossed the remains to her in thanks for keeping her warm. Dar and the other adults had already eaten their fill and many of the pups still got nourishment from their mother’s teats.

  You spoil her, singer.

  She’s hungry.

  She must learn to hunt. Laziness will get her killed.

  Taniras thought on that. Wolves seemed cruel to outsiders, forcing the young to wait and scavenge whatever kill was left, but there were reasons. I’m finished. That seemed to satisfy Dar. I have to figure out how to save my kin. You mentioned war.

  War! War! The chant was as old as the stars. Many growled low in their throats and pups cowered behind their mothers. Dar quieted the pack.

  What war do you speak of, Dar?

  The oldest type of war, singer. Good and evil. Two-legs have brought evil among us.

  Croferituus.

  Dar cocked her head much like a street mutt. She is but one part.

  Before Taniras could ask more, Snowy and the others came to mind.

  Your mate worries. I smell him. Dar’s mate stepped close to her flank.

  Taniras caught the scent too. The familiar man musk mixed with something acrid, fear. Yes. Snowy feared for her. But how can we sense him at this distance? Dar didn’t answer so she said aloud, “I must save my kin. I must free them. Please, help me.”

  Sympathy waved through the link and Dar put her muzzle close to Taniras’s cheek. She sniffed. The Great Moon Mother sent you to us. We will help.

  War! War!

  Thank you, Dar.

  Your mate is awake but the rest of your kin sleep now. She sleeps. We must teach you the cleansing.

  Taniras’s heart raced and her guts quivered. They could wait no longer.

  * * * *

  She crouched with Dar and the she-wolf’s mate at the edge of the forest that looked out onto the road. The camp was just the other side near the river. The only movement came from two shadows that separated at one end of the camp and met up again at the other. Guards. We’ll have to take them individually, she sent. Once they took out the guards, she planned to link with Dar and awaken Siri first. The Elder had the strongest binding Energy and the Azure Amulet hidden beneath her tunic. Haranda had revealed that tasty little tidbit in Taniras’s last dream.

  She harnessed the Energy and crept across the road, careful to stay behind the safety of the wagons. One of the guards made an unexpected turn and came her direction. She even felt the movement through the Energy. Blazes! She threw herself into the nearest wagon bed, right on top of someone, and held the blanket closed. Luckily the wagon didn’t creak too loudly. Night insects were louder. The horses tethered nearby started to make noise but she sent the urging to them along with calming images. They quieted and the guard didn’t seem to notice anything, or else he waited for the other to join him. Taniras peeked out of the wagon to see him squat several paces from her, breeches pulled down. He had his back to her. The other guard was nowhere that she could see and the awareness told her there was movement at the other end of the camp.

  Dar?

  Quiet him and we’ll do the rest.

  Taniras stepped from the wagon and pulled a rag from her belt, one that had bound her wrists. Years of scrapping filled her mind. She was strong, especially with the Energy inside. She had to be strong. The man was at a disadvantage in his position too. Much to her relief. She stepped quietly to the squatting figure, careful not to disturb any twigs or stones. Thank the Goddess for a wet night. Heat from the pack found her senses. They were so close she could reach out and touch them, yet her eyes saw no wolf anywhere, even with her linked vision.

  In one swift movement, she had the rag over the guard’s head and between his teeth. She yanked as hard as she could. He started to fall backwards and reached for the sword on the ground. Instead he let out a grunt as two wolves went for the life vein in his neck. He grabbed Taniras’s arm and made a gurgling noise that was muffled by the rag, thankfully. A crack of bone and he fell dead to the ground. She dragged him as far as she could without much noise and hid him behind some bushes. She looked down on him and fought the urge to retch. Fighting and scrapping, those she had done on many occasions. And as a healer’s apprentice, she’d seen many injuries, some fatal, but she’d never killed.

  The link with the Energy and the wolves strengthened her and she kept her stomach under control. The other guard came her direction as she started for the wagons, and she crouched the way the dead man had done, ignoring the stench of his previous occupation. She pulled her hair in front of her body and her skirts between her legs. She should appear as a mere shadow even to a night guard’s vision. And she was as tall as the dead man, just not as muscular. Quiet footfalls, along with middling heat against her senses, retreated and her heart pounded inside her head.

  He is gone, Dar sent.

  Taniras hurried behind the wagons, keeping the rag in her hand. This guard would prove more difficult. He was bigger and upright. He was also armed. No doubt, he would have his sword at her throat before she could get her rag into his mouth. But he didn’t seem to expect trouble out here. No one had passed on this road, at least, not when Taniras was awake. An overconfident guard might give her another advantage. She stooped and plucked up a good sized rock, one that could knock a man out with enough force, and gripped it in her right hand. The camp
fire, now just a simmering pile of ash, was near the wagon she’d been captive in. If she got the perfect aim, she should be able to down the man before he could alert anyone. The rest of his group slept around the fire. Heat pulses from their bodies lay still, calm.

  Taniras’s legs trembled as she waited for the guard to return but she didn’t have to wait long. As he passed the last wagon, she drew her arm back. But he started to turn. She froze. Dar stepped in front of him and his focus changed. He stared at the she-wolf.

  Do it! came Dar’s order.

  Taniras had remained absolutely still, frozen with fright. She shook off her fear and slammed the rock into the back of the man’s skull, the soft spot just beneath the bone at his neck. His eyes widened briefly and his head lolled before he fell, face forward, right into Dar’s reach. She and her mate quietly took the man’s life. Taniras dragged him beneath the wagon where no one would see him until sunup. But someone near the campfire had awakened. There was movement.

  Quickly, she dashed around the other wagons and climbed into the one that held Siri. She went slowly so as not to make too much motion or creak the bloody thing. Then she held the blanket open for Dar as the she-wolf’s mate took off into the shadows. Someone walked outside now, coming closer, someone who harnessed the Energy.

  Elder Siri lay facedown in unadorned tunic and breeches. Taniras carefully gathered the Elder’s gold-bangled braids and tucked them into the back of her tunic to keep them from tinkling. With a bit of a struggle, she turned the limp woman onto her back and tied the rag into her mouth as she leaned close.

  “This will hurt, Elder. Please keep quiet.”

  With instinct and from Dar’s former instruction, Taniras placed one hand on the she-wolf’s scruff and the other on Siri’s neck vein as she allowed the pack to use her as a channel. Instantly, fire built up in her body but it was brief as it traveled quickly through her arm and chest and down her other arm to Siri. She knew the fire sensation shot into the Elder’s body when Siri twitched against the rough blanket and a soft moan made its way through the gag. The Elder quieted and opened her eyes. It happened so quickly, not at all the eternity Taniras had felt when the fire pulsed through her own body. Or perhaps that was only her perception.