“Gar, let’s go!” she shouted, whistling for them to move on, but they ignored her.
“What’s wrong with them?” She recognized the captain’s voice and glanced back to find him sitting right behind her. His eyes were uncomfortably intent.
“Father.” The word stuck in her throat.
Gar lumbered forward with a strange barking howl only to turn in a sweeping arc back in the direction of the Keep.
“No, Gar, no!” she yelled, yanking on the leather reins. As she fought for control of the team, the strain of the last two days engulfed her. Her mind reeled with visions of the man in chains begging for his life, Father’s threats, and the severed arm in the hall. It was too much. She missed the simplicity of her life before, and her courage faltered.
So easy, she thought. So easy to just give up. The serene limbo of her former existence beckoned, and her hand loosened on the reins.
“Cara?” There was concern in the captain’s voice. His arm brushed hers as he grabbed the upright next to her and stood behind her. The solid length of his body against her back warmed her tired bones and sent a soft energy whispering through her.
“Don’t quit now.” The words slid unwanted into her ear as the sledge began to pick up speed. She thought of the altar room and the forest. Her forest. In a memory of damp earth and rough leather, she found one last tiny bit of strength. Leaning against Khoury’s solid frame, she grabbed one rein in both hands and yanked it hard enough to turn Gar’s head, making him stumble and slow. Then she slipped under the captain’s arm and leapt from the sled, running along the rein to the lead bear.
“Gar, stop!” she cried, dragging herself close enough to lay her hand flat against his broad head. “Please stop.” A sharp static tingled up her arm and, in an instant, Gar calmed. He slid to a halt, forcing the other two to stop as well. He turned to her, breathing hard, and hid his face in her skirt trembling like a cub. The other two bears, confused and still yowling, crowded close.
“What’s wrong with you?” She reached out to pet Hahn and Tem while Gar’s head pressed against her belly. Touching them quieted their distress, but something was very wrong.
The captain approached, wary of the beasts. “What’s the matter with them?”
“I don’t know. It’s strange.” She put both hands on Gar’s cheeks and gazed deep into his bottomless black eyes. After a moment of dizziness, a heavy wave of emotion slammed into her. Images of Sidonius and flames and pain assailed her mind. It was overwhelming, and she cried out with the bears’ distress.
“Go home,” she wailed in chorus with the whining bears. “Or burn.”
Cara tore her hands from Gar’s head, shaking in terror. That had never happened before. Their beast minds had always been her haven. Though she no longer felt the need to scream, an echo of their terror lashed at her. Their massive bodies pressed closer, seeking contact.
“It can’t be,” she said, denying what her heart told her was true.
“What?” the captain asked.
“He’s calling them. And they’re afraid he’ll hurt them.”
“Can he?” Khoury asked, his hawkish eyes pressing on her.
“I don’t know.” She petted the furry head, fingering the torn ear. She lowered her forehead to Gar’s. “I won’t let Father hurt you. I promise.”
She looked up at the captain. “Maybe I can convince them to keep going.”
Suddenly, other cries rang through the cold air, growing louder as the other sledge team appeared racing back toward the Keep. For the first time, Cara noted stones set in the harnesses and they were glowing.
“Stop!” she yelled. Alone on the sledge, Archer sawed on the reins with all his strength. But the team was panicked. Heedless of her own safety, she ran in front of the other team and grabbed for Shona. Her arm jerked with the sudden speed, but she hung onto the harness, managing to touch Shona’s face. The bear quieted like Gar had, stopping so suddenly they tumbled, bears and sledge and snow ending up in a heap at Cara’s feet.
Archer was tossed from the sledge, and Cara was relieved when he stood up unharmed, dusting snow from his clothes.
“What the blazes happened?” he asked. “One minute, we’re running southward and the next we’re headed back.”
“I’m not sure yet,” she said. Now she had six sledge bears trying to find a place to lay a nose on her.
“Where are the others?” Khoury asked his lieutenant.
“As soon as the bears turned, they jumped off. I guess they’d rather walk.”
Khoury chuckled. “I’m starting to think walking’s a good plan.”
Archer edged up behind the bears. “Cara,” he called, “are you okay?”
“I’ve never seen them so afraid. They say they must go back or else.”
“Or else what?” Khoury asked.
“Fire,” she said. A heavy silence fell over the men.
“But Sidonius isn’t here,” Khoury said, scanning the tundra.
“No,” Cara said. “I didn’t leave him a sledge. But their harnesses are glowing. Father isn’t just a master of fire but stone, too.”
“Like your protection amulet,” Archer said.
Cara nodded.
And then, all the harness stones blazed red. A bonfire glow ignited in the center of the pack. Whining turned to shrieks as the animals thrashed in pain.
Cara screamed at the sudden pain of fire washing over her body.
“Cara!” Archer cried from beyond the circle of howling bears. “Cara, what’s wrong?”
“The fire! Get it off!” Her eyes were shut against the pain, but she could feel tongues of heat crawling over her. The odor of burning flesh seared her nose and stung her eyes.
“What fire?” Archer’s voice was barely audible over the squalling bears.
“Help!” she screamed and beat at her body, trying to put out the fire. “Help me!”
“Cara, listen to me,” Khoury said. “It’s not real. There’s no fire.” His voice cut through her panic. “You’re not burning.”
How could he not see it? The pain forced her to her knees, heedless of the thrashing beasts around her.
“Cara!” Khoury’s voice was insistent. “Open your eyes.” His words were sibilant and thick like honey. They dripped into her ears, and she felt compelled to do as he said. Unable to resist, she opened one eye and saw nothing but panicked bears and snow on her clothes. There was no fire. Confused between what she felt and what she saw, her mind reeled. Khoury was still talking to her, his voice strangely powerful. The words crawled down her neck like warm rain. She clung to that voice, trying to ignore the feeling of her skin peeling from her body.
“The stones,” Cara said, panting. “He’s burning them through the stones. Get them off.” She reached out her mind to the beasts and instructed them to stand still and let the men help them, but they were crazed with fear and pain. She grabbed Gar’s head and held him still, staring into his black eyes as the fire burned them both. He whined and cried but waited.
The men approached warily and tried to remove the glowing crystal from Gar’s harness. But it was set deep in the hardened leather, and they had no tools. The bear grew agitated, snapping and snarling, and Cara knew she was losing him.
“Hurry,” she urged.
“The stones are set too deep,” Archer said.
“Take off the harnesses!” she snapped at him, her control of the beast and herself slipping.
“Let them go back to the Keep, Cara,” Archer suggested, fear in his voice. “We can walk.”
“No!” Desperate tears streamed down her face at the thought of what Sidonius might do to them. “Please, no. Don’t let him have my bears! You have to free us.”
“Archer, take off the harnesses,” Khoury said sharply.
“But Captain, one bite—”
“Do it!” the captain commanded. Cara gratefully redoubled her efforts to keep Gar calm, pushing him back away from the other bears.
“Hold on to him
, Cara,” Khoury said. “I won’t give up.” His voice was soft as velvet, soothing her raw nerves. “Just one more minute.”
They quickly unbuckled the harness. Archer tossed it in the snow. Like a burning ember, it emitted a hiss and a trail of smoke.
Gar sighed and butted Cara’s hip with an apologetic whine.
“It’s okay, boy,” she crooned. “He can’t get you now.” Feeling stronger, she turned back to the others and held out her hands to them. She called them close in her mind. She pushed images of cool water running over their fur to them. With her mind, she showed them that they were going to be okay, but they had to let the men help. The whines began to quiet as the bears waited to be freed. Soon, all six bears lay in the snow around Cara, exhausted but safe. She slumped against Gar’s comforting bulk, sliding to the ground at his feet.
Khoury came over and squatted down. “Good job.”
“It’s not over yet,” she whispered, her throat tight and her body trembling. “When this doesn’t work, he’ll just try something else.” She looked up expecting more anger, but his face was soft with an emotion she couldn’t place.
“We’ll get moving soon enough,” was all he said.
AS KHOURY RUMMAGED through the supplies on the sledges, his thoughts tumbled chaotically. They had saved the bears but only barely. He didn’t know if she was a sorceress, or something else entirely, but he was certain the girl had power and plenty of it. But she didn’t know how to harness it. Without Khoury’s push, they’d be walking now.
And he had pushed her. His gut knotted at the thought of using his talent to Command her, but it had strengthened whatever connected her to the beasts. The Voice, as his father called it, ran strong in their family. But Khoury swore he’d never use it.
Yet standing there in the snow, he could think of no better solution to her desperate cries. Her fierce loyalty to the beasts tugged at him. And she had refused to give up on strangers she didn’t even know in the hall. He was impressed, but that didn’t make her an ally. The captain didn’t trust anyone with power. Not even himself.
When he finally found some rope, he took it to Archer who was reorienting the sledge back south.
“Think this will work?” the captain asked.
Archer tested the rope with a tug. “It should do.” He started making knots. “Looks like the rest of our company decided to walk, too.”
Khoury hadn’t even noticed the men leave. Looking around now, he saw six bears, two sledges, Archer, the girl, and snow. It might be selfish but he was glad they’d gone. He didn’t want to be responsible for their fates. Or the girl’s either, if he had a choice.
“I did say that once we were out, it was every man for himself,” Khoury said casually.
Archer stopped mid-knot and eyed the captain with suspicion.
“That is what we agreed,” Khoury repeated, pretending to scan the horizon.
“You better not be thinking what I think you are.” Archer lowered his voice so it wouldn’t carry.
Khoury’s gaze drifted to the small huddle of gray fabric leaning against the largest bear. As admirable as her actions were, she was not his task. He was no savior. He simply survived and that was enough for him. He liked his life simple.
Archer shoved Khoury’s shoulder, bringing the captain’s focus back to him. “Oh, no you don’t.”
“What?” Khoury scowled. “Splitting up might be for the best. She can handle her own sled.”
“Captain, she saved us.”
“And now she’s free to go.”
Archer leaned close and growled. “He’d find her and you know it.”
The burning men on the stairs flashed through the captain’s mind bringing guilt with it as he watched her sleep, her head pillowed against her bear. Dark circles were painfully obvious on her pale face. “I don’t know that,” he hedged.
Taking her with them would be asking for trouble. Trouble they didn’t need.
“I’m not leaving her.” Archer crossed his brawny arms over his wide chest with a stubborn look.
“And are you captain now?” Khoury challenged, holding the Northerner’s eyes with a stern glare until Archer looked away.
“You know it’s not right.”
Self-preservation warred with pity, and for a moment Khoury thought it might go the other way, but finally he said, “Fine, but let’s get moving.”
In silence, they fashioned six makeshift harnesses. Khoury loaded all the supplies from both sledges onto the one. Stowing the last sack, he watched as Archer cautiously sidled past the hulking animals to Cara.
“Cara.” Archer touched her shoulder gently, keeping his eyes on Gar. The girl startled awake and was on her feet before her eyes were focused. “What?”
“We need to get moving. Can you help me get three bears harnessed? We’ll lead the extra team.”
The pale girl nodded and shakily dusted snow from her clothes. Then she went about the business of harnessing the bears. Khoury watched in fascination as the giant beasts followed her touch, calm as oxen. She had them harnessed in no time as Archer stood shaking his head in disbelief.
A strong arctic breeze nipped at Khoury’s cheeks, drawing his attention to the darkening sky. The air smelled like snow. The girl was right about one thing. Something was coming. He looked to where Cara and Archer stood by the uprights. The wind picked up her hair, streaming it sideways like a white flag. Catching his eye, her unguarded face told the captain all he needed to know.
“Let’s go,” he barked, climbing onto the sledge planks near the supplies. The girl stepped up to the runners, gesturing to Archer to get on.
“Maybe we can outrun it.” Her heavy voice belied her doubt.
Once Archer was settled, she whistled sharply to the beasts and drove them south at a run. But the weather caught them. A full-blown blizzard roared across the tundra, limiting vision to a few feet. The horizon disappeared in featureless white as the storm swallowed them up. The puffy flakes turned to sharp ice, and the angry wind pushed against the sledge like a living thing. Their progress slowed to a crawl as the road led directly into the wind. The bears voiced their displeasure with yowls and grunts. Khoury sensed an impending mutiny. The beasts were tired, and the wind fierce.
It was no natural storm. The girl had mentioned powers of fire and stone, but Khoury wondered if he should add weather to the list. Perhaps Sidonius had sent the storm to slow them down, keep them from heading south.
“Cara,” he shouted to be heard over the storm, “is this your Father’s doing?”
She looked back at the men, her hair obscuring her face. “There is always a storm when he brings guests.”
“He controls it?” Khoury pressed.
“I don’t know,” she shouted back.
“What’re you thinking, Captain?” Archer asked.
“I think he’s trying to keep us from going south.”
“Slow us down?”
“Yes, but we don’t have to go south anymore. The others have already gone.”
“Where would we go?”
“West?”
Archer’s frowned in thought, and then he smiled. “Bear Clan!”
Khoury nodded. “How far do you think it is?”
“Two days, maybe? Certainly worth a try. We could be leagues away before he realizes we’ve changed direction.”
“That’s what I thought,” Khoury agreed.
“Cara!” Archer yelled. “Go west.”
“West? Which way is west?” Her tone was as sharp as the ice. She was spent.
“Let Archer drive. You’re exhausted,” Khoury said.
She shook her head with determination. “My bears. Where’s west?”
“Keep the wind over your left shoulder,” Archer explained.
She nodded and stepped off the runners. The bears were struggling so hard, she could walk to Gar where he led the team. His head was down to his toes as he fought the gale wind. She grabbed a handful of his fur and pulled him to the right. As he t
ook a few steps and found the going easier, he picked up speed, dragging the other bears and sledge in line behind. Khoury watched as the girl leaned into the bear’s bulk, using it to shield her from the worst of the storm. Archer got up and went to the extra team of bears, using the lead line to pull them west. Khoury got up and guided the sledge behind the beasts, pushing it when the drifts got deep.
Time ceased to have any meaning as they trudged through the storm, hungry and frozen. It could have been ten minutes or ten hours. Eventually, the sky began to lighten. The clouds thinned. Khoury could make out a brighter spot above the horizon that should be the setting sun. They had walked all day. Finally, the winds lost their intensity, dropping as suddenly as they started. The snow stopped. They had reached the edge of the storm and not a moment too soon.
As if the storm had been keeping her upright, the white-haired girl collapsed. Gar stopped to nose her gently, bringing the caravan to a halt. Khoury grabbed a rough blanket from the sledge and went to where the girl lay facedown in the snow. Rolling her over, he noted how raw and red her face and hands were. Her knuckles had patches of white among fresh scabs, and her nose had some concerning traces of white-blue skin. He wrapped her in the blankets and lifted her easily. Archer waited by the sledge as Khoury approached with the girl.
“You were right,” Archer said, looking at the sky. “We’re out. How is she?”
“She’ll be fine. Can you drive?”
“The team is exhausted, Captain.”
“I know, but we need to push.”
“I’ll trade them out and maybe we could get another mile or so. After that, we need to rest.”
“Fine. I want as much distance between us and this sorcerer as I can get.”
“Me too,” Archer agreed. He touched the girl’s white hair with concern. “Poor thing.”
“Just a touch of frostbite,” Khoury said. “We’re lucky to get away with our lives.”
“Get her warmed up while I trade the teams.”
Quest of the Dreamwalker (The Corthan Legacy Book 1) Page 7
