by Joe Jackson
There was little conversation: the women ate their fill of Danilynn’s divine sustenance, and then Se’sasha and Sonja went to sleep without delay. Danilynn took first watch again, but Kari had slept what could only have been a couple of hours before the priestess shook her to rouse her. Kari glanced at Danilynn, who was peeking through her fingers, no doubt to keep her glowing blue eyes from giving away her position. The priestess gestured down toward the farmhouse, and Kari’s breath caught in her throat.
There, illuminated by pale moonlight and a lantern hung outside the front door was the syrinthian farmer, speaking with another of the armored erestram. It could’ve been coincidence that the erestram had arrived at this farm, but Kari never put a lot of faith in coincidence. There were no gestures from either the farmer or the erestram toward the barn or its hay loft, and they also didn’t look in the direction of where the four women were hiding.
Kari’s mind raced through their options. They could try to run preemptively, but that might actually give their position away more noticeably, especially with geese nearby. They would also have little chance of outpacing an erestram while they were fully rested, let alone while they were tired. They could stay put and hope the entire incident was just a coincidence, but Kari had a hard time believing that was the case. The worst option, and yet the one that seemed like it might be the only one when the erestram made its intentions known, was to kill the giant wolf-creature, and hope the syrinthians neither interfered nor told anyone of the fight.
“We may have to kill it,” Kari whispered.
“I was thinking the same thing,” Danilynn answered. “We’re not going to get away from it, so if it comes this way, we’d better kill it. If not, we’d better be well away from this farm by the time dawn comes. We may need to head further west before we turn north again.”
Both women gasped in surprise when the erestram ducked and entered the farmhouse. If it was just asking for a place to stay for the night, then the coincidence theory would make a lot more sense. On the other hand, it made Kari thankful that the erestram had neither requested nor been referred to stay in the barn or hay loft. After waiting for nearly a quarter of an hour to see if the erestram came back out, Kari allowed herself to fall back asleep, and she was able to rest pretty well despite her tension. She was still tired when Danilynn woke her up for her watch, but at least she was going to have the luxury of laying down while she watched the farmhouse and the road beyond it.
Kari woke everyone up nearly an hour before dawn, and the women got underway again. Se’sasha was walking again, and her pace was a little better than it had been the day before. The divine food Danilynn was conjuring was clearly doing just as she said, reinvigorating even the malnourished syrinthian girl enough to lend her walking strength. The sun came up, bright and hot again, and Kari wondered when the farmlands saw rain. The companions pushed onward, but had to avoid another erestram patrol before midmorning: this one came from behind them, headed farther north. Kari understood they were getting pinched, and it would only be a matter of time before Sonja’s masking spell was discovered and pierced.
Kari’s hackles rose when they saw an overturned wagon on the road before lunch. A pair of draft horses stood indifferently while a syrinthian male tried to pull a female from under the overturned vehicle. Kari’s first instinct was to help, of course, but with the victims here being syrinthians, the fact that the wagon was covered, and the fact that Kari and her friends were being hunted, there was no reasonable way for Kari to do the right thing. She sternly ordered the others to stay on the far side of the road from the accident, and urged them to keep walking.
Danilynn was the first to stop, and while part of Kari was glad to see it, the rest of her still fought staunchly against foolish nobility. “Danilynn, we have to get away from here. If this smelled any more of a trap, we’d be able to taste it, too,” she whispered.
“I don’t want to go back home wondering if we left someone to die,” Danilynn said. “I’m sure you don’t, either. We’re getting slowly discovered by all these patrols now; they know we didn’t go south, and it’s becoming pretty certain we may have to fight our way out at some point. But they’re still not supposed to touch us for four more days, even if they find us. I’d rather do the right thing and take our chances now, than do the wrong thing and take our chances in a few days anyway.”
Kari sighed, but the corners of her mouth turned up in a smile anyway. She couldn’t have hoped for a better argument from Danilynn, and Sonja was clearly eager to follow the lead on this issue. Kari nodded to her sister-in-law, who let their masking spell fall after checking the road north and south, and they approached slowly and as non-threateningly as they could. Then, something fortuitous finally happened: Se’sasha found someone she could speak to.
There was a short and hasty discussion, and then Se’sasha turned wide eyes onto her companions. Before Kari could even ask what was wrong, the wagon suddenly righted itself, rising off of the prone form of the female syrinthian, who rose to her feet and dusted herself off. From around the other side of the wagon came the ten-foot form of an armored erestram. Kari blew out a sigh, drew both of her swords, and got ready for yet another fight-of-her-life. She was surprised, however, when the erestram didn’t pull forth the weapon on its back.
The erestram spoke quickly with Se’sasha, who shook her head. The wolf-creature then turned to Kari and her companions and addressed them in infernal. Danilynn and Sonja’s eyes went wide, and the priestess turned to Kari. “He wants us to follow him! He says he’ll lead us between the patrols and get us to the northern border without getting caught.”
“How long?” Kari asked, and after hesitating to figure out what she meant, Danilynn put the question to the erestram.
“He says a few days, but the king’s hunters won’t be able to track us,” the priestess relayed.
“But if they do, they’ll be free to capture or kill us,” Kari argued, hating to have to use an intermediary to have an argument.
After speaking with the erestram again, Danilynn told Kari, “He knows that. He says his people have been looking for us for two days, but we kept evading them along with the king’s hunters. There’s going to be a patrol coming down this road soon, and he says we don’t have much time to get out of sight. Apparently, they know we’re using a masking spell, and they’re getting close to shattering it.”
Kari looked at Sonja, who nodded. “We have to go to ground,” Sonja said. “I’m pretty sure it’s what Aeligos would do in this situation. We’re not going to lose anything by trusting him, at least not for four days.”
“What about these two?” Kari asked, gesturing toward the syrinthians, who watched the exchange curiously, but remained silent.
“They’re helping their high priestess’ daughter escape,” Danilynn answered. “That’s the only reason I believe a word any of them have said. It’s your decision, Kari, but I think this is the smart thing to do.”
“I think I’ll trust your instincts on that. All right, tell them to get us moving,” Kari said.
The erestram barked a command, and Sonja put her masking spell back up quickly. The wolf creature then began making his way west through the grazelands of another farm, and the women fell into step behind him. When Kari looked north, she saw what his concern was: two more armored erestram had appeared on the road, headed toward the wagon and the syrinthians. Their erestram guide strode purposefully as if following a lead, and Kari and her friends worked to keep pace with him, Se’sasha stumbling along as quickly as her weary legs would allow.
Once they were safely out of sight of the road, the erestram picked Se’sasha up as easily as if she was a blanket, and slung her over his shoulder to ride on his back. He held tightly to her thighs to give her more support, and he lengthened his strides to put more ground behind him. Kari, Sonja, and Danilynn had to jog to keep up with him, but they understood that his intent was fast distance, and not a prolonged marathon run. That intent became cleare
r a few minutes later when two screams came from back by the road. Kari paused, but the erestram barked an obvious order to keep running, and despite the way she felt, Kari did as they were told.
The erestram said something else over his shoulder once they were all running again, and Danilynn relayed, “He says they knew what would happen and chose to help anyway. They just gave their lives to get Se’sasha to freedom, so the best thing we can do for them is to see to that and not waste their sacrifice.”
“I swear I’m going to kill one of his sons for every person he hurts,” Kari growled. “And right now, I think I owe him another four dead children.”
“I’ll be more than happy to see to that with you,” Danilynn said.
Their erestram guide led them to another of the sparse farmhouses. Before they reached the house, its syrinthian occupants came out and opened a hidden hatchway to the cellar. Kari, Danilynn, Sonja, and Se’sasha were ushered in without discussion or fanfare, and they could hear the hatchway being covered back up. The cellar was dark and cramped, and Kari slapped three spiders off her arms within the first minute. She tried not to dwell on it, instead keeping her ears open for any approach.
Another hatch opened further in, and a syrinthian woman handed down a hooded lantern, a pitcher of water, a few cups, and some soft, freshly-baked bread. Sonja, being the tallest, took the offered items from their silent host and thanked her in infernal before the hatchway closed and was covered up as well. Sonja set the lantern on a hook near the center of the square room, which looked to be a root cellar, but one that saw infrequent, if any, use. Se’sasha took the pitcher and sniffed its contents, and she said something in her sibilant language before pouring some of the contents into a glass.
Kari was surprised to see it was milk, and even more surprised at how quickly the snake-woman drank it down. Se’sasha helped herself to a second glass, and when no one else moved to have some, she gestured for them to do so. Kari had to admit it sounded good to be offered a drink with some fat and body to it instead of just water, and she helped herself to a glass. It wasn’t processed like the milk she had or Kyrie cooked with back home, but it was full-bodied and thick, and Kari sat down while she ate and drank to regain some strength. Only once she was seated did she recognize just how tired she was after several weeks of walking, and with the last several nights of sleep being broken and inadequate.
Voices outside got her attention before she could even begin to relax, but they were muffled, and speaking in syrinthian. The only person in the cellar who could understand what was being said had no way to relay it to the others. Just to be safer, Kari drew her weapons and stood near the hatchway from the outside, and she gestured for Danilynn to take up position near the hatchway from the inside. Se’sasha watched them curiously, but then she whispered in her sibilant language and gestured for the two women to put their weapons away.
The sound of wood hitting bone and a startled cry from outside overrode Se’sasha’s gestures, and Kari waited by the hatch, her heartbeat doubling up the long seconds while she waited for trouble to find its way in. She heard footsteps depart in opposite directions; three sets if her ears didn’t deceive her. Muffled as it was by the dirt that had been replaced over the hatch, Kari could hear the soothing words of a syrinthian female and the pained groans of a male. She stood by the hidden exit listening for several more minutes, but there was no sound to mark any return of the three erestram. Kari wondered where their guide ran off to or if he would return, either to keep his word or bring back more of his kin to harass them, or take them directly into custody in violation of the law.
The syrinthians entered their house, and soon the sound of light furnishings and a rug being moved preceded the reopening of the interior hatchway. The syrinthian woman looked down and asked something of Se’sasha. The young priestess said something in return and bowed her head in what seemed to be thanks, but Kari was surprised when Danilynn asked something of their syrinthian benefactor. The woman shook her head vigorously, but Danilynn repeated her question insistently. After a minute, the male syrinthian appeared and climbed slowly down the ladder into the root cellar.
“What’s going on?” Kari asked, maintaining her position near the outer hatch to listen for the return of possible trouble.
Danilynn didn’t even have to answer. As soon as the syrinthian man got near the lantern, Kari could see his face was a swollen mess. Blood was drying on his cheek, down to his jawline, sourced by an oozing tear in his finely-scaled skin up near the temple. The side of his head there was swollen and, Kari imagined, bruised, whether she could tell on a syrinthian or not. He turned his head to the side while Danilynn examined him, and he took the opportunity to say something to Se’sasha and make a welcoming gesture without moving his head too much.
Danilynn drew out a knife and made assurances that she wasn’t going to hurt him, though in infernal, they still didn’t sound very soothing. She sliced open the growing welt on the side of his head, letting some of the blood run, but she was soon issuing a low chant and running her finger over the wounds. Kari was pleased to see that the priestess could summon Garra Ktarra’s power here on Mehr’Durillia. Within minutes, Danilynn had sealed the wound. The pain apparently disappeared as surely as the wounds themselves, evidenced by the way the man touched the side of his head and beheld Danilynn with a mixture of gratitude and curiosity.
The syrinthian woman, who didn’t come down into the cellar, brought blankets and pillows to pass down to their guests. She began speaking to Danilynn and Sonja, and after only a short conversation, she turned to Se’sasha and spoke to her as well. The male syrinthian returned up the ladder, and the hatchway was closed and covered over once more. Sonja handed blankets and pillows out to everyone, and they tried to find relatively spider-free spots to set up some bedding. Kari was surprised when Sonja and Se’sasha bedded down right away.
“Our hosts said to get some sleep now, and that our erestram guide will return for us after nightfall,” Danilynn said. “We’re going to have to start traveling by night. Apparently, the patrols are going to figure that out after a day or two, but our guide seems to think the masking spell is going to get pierced very soon, so we should stop using it.”
“I really hate not being able to talk to or understand these people,” Kari grumbled, but she made her way over and tried to get comfortable on her own bedding.
“Ah, be patient,” Danilynn said with a slightly apologetic gesture. “You’ll probably be able to speak infernal and syrinthian by the end of the year.”
Se’sasha looked over when she heard the word syrinthian, but she said nothing. Kari didn’t know how she was going to fall asleep during the day when surrounded with so much uncertainty, but her body figured out what her mind couldn’t. She was exhausted, running on only hours of sleep while her body was giving up its energy to the magical process of growing a child in her womb. Her body shut down and took her mind with it, and she felt like she actually managed to get nearly a whole night’s worth of sleep by the time their hosts awakened them after dusk.
They were helped from the outer hatchway by the erestram; their syrinthian hosts didn’t show themselves, probably in case anyone else was watching. Sonja set up her masking spell but was quickly scolded by their erestram guide, and she let it dissipate. He spoke with Danilynn and Sonja for a minute, then picked Se’sasha up to carry on his back again, and set off to the northwest. His pace was slow for an erestram, but still brisk to the shorter women, who made an effort to keep up with him. Hunger prodded Kari in her gut, but she ignored it, desperate to put as many miles behind them as she could before she worried about breakfast.
Their erestram escort was silent for hours after they left, guiding them unerringly across the moon-draped farms and forested hills of Sorelizar. He seemed confident that there would be little in the way of pursuit or casual observers in the deepening night, and made no effort to try to conceal their path. He paused after nearly three hours by Kari’s estimation, and
allowed the women to take a short rest for food and tending to their other needs. He partook of breakfast as well, eating some salted jerky quickly before he went and marked a nearby stand of trees with his scent. Kari found that troubling.
“Ask him what the hell he’s doing,” she grumbled while he relieved himself. Danilynn put the question to him when he returned, and the erestram seemed surprised to be questioned. Kari’s concern dawned on him after a minute, and he explained hastily to the sorceress and priestess.
“He says if he doesn’t leave a trail, the others will get suspicious,” Danilynn explained. “He’s supposed to be tracking us down for the king, so he has to keep up appearances. He says that’s why he leaves during the day: he’s throwing the others off our trail by ‘aiding’ them in the hunt, but at the same time, he says he’s not getting any sleep.”
“How long is he going to be able to keep that up?” Kari pressed. An exhausted guide would be of little use to them.
There was a short exchange, and then Danilynn answered, “Long enough to get us to the border, he reckons.”
“If he says so,” Kari muttered, unconvinced. “Where are we headed tonight?”
Danilynn had no time to relay the question before their erestram guide suddenly turned and grabbed a handful of Sonja’s long, crimson hair and yanked hard. Sonja squealed, and Kari dropped her hands to her weapons, but the erestram began scolding the sorceress in a low growl, and Kari waited to see what was said. Sonja made an apologetic gesture and the erestram let her go. After the exchange, Danilynn asked the erestram Kari’s question, and he answered shortly before beckoning to Se’sasha and then hoisting her up onto his back again in preparation to run.
