She glanced over her shoulder. The helmeted soldier was still following, not even trying to stay hidden.
Her destination lay just ahead, and she walked along the avenue until she arrived at a single-storied house made of pale stone. She came to this place often; as a healer she bought her supplies from the apothecary who lived and worked here.
The eyes of the soldier followed her as she entered.
Shelves crowded the front room from floor to ceiling, arranged against every wall. A bewildering array of gourds, skins, jars, jugs, and bowls of all shapes and sizes filled the shelves. Sour and spicy aromas made her nose wrinkle. Bushels of dried plants sat beside mortars and pestles. Bright powders formed piles on round plates.
‘Balion?’ Chloe called out. She hoped he came quickly.
The apothecary appeared a moment later, entering through the arched opening at the back that divided his shop front and the workroom where he mixed his powders and potions from the quarters where he lived with his wife and two children. A curly-haired older man with smile lines around his eyes, his gait was more of a waddle than a walk: he had a heavy paunch. Chloe had known Balion and his family since she’d first started studying the healing arts; his wife made the best honey cakes she’d ever tasted.
‘Princess,’ he said, beckoning her forward. ‘Come. Everything is ready. This way.’
She followed the apothecary through the archway, continuing past the cooking and eating area until she came to the room where he and his family slept. Balion pulled aside a curtain to reveal another exit, this one leading to the house’s rear, and a moment later she was once more in the open air. Rows of herbs and vegetable plants made up a small garden. Each house in the row backed onto the same area, with a rough wall separating it from the street.
Chloe breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Balion head directly toward a horse tethered to a gnarled olive tree, saddlebags packed.
‘He’ll do well by you,’ Balion said, patting the horse’s flank affectionately. He pointed. ‘Head that way and you’ll be back onto the street.’
‘Thank you,’ Chloe said sincerely.
‘Anytime you need me,’ he said, handing her the reins. ‘You sure you’re not in trouble?’
‘More of an annoyance.’ She squeezed his shoulder. ‘If he asks about me just tell him the truth, say I left out the back.’
Chloe led her horse between the rows of houses until she was back out on the street. Pulling herself up onto her mount’s back, she leaned forward and dug in her heels. She headed directly for the city’s main gate, taking a route for the open road.
4
Dion blinked sweat out of his eyes. He ran wildly through a region of tall trees and thick undergrowth. Leaping over a wall of brush, he heard a beastly roar fill the forest, making his blood run cold. There was no way he could run any faster; he was already sprinting as fast as he could.
He looked over his shoulder, almost tripping in the process, and caught a flash of shaggy brown fur. The sight of his pursuer spurred him on. Thick branches behind him snapped like twigs, not slowing it down in the least.
Racing after him was the largest bear he’d ever seen. When he’d first seen it he’d been frozen into place, awed by its size: the massive creature stood easily twelve feet tall when it rose on its hind legs and challenged the trespassers in its territory. As the long snout parted it had revealed rows of sharp teeth, head tilted and jaws open wide as it emitted a groaning cry so loud it reverberated around the surrounding hills. The bear had then lowered its head and begun to run directly at the pale-faced young man who had been foolish enough to enter its domain.
And the bear wasn’t just quick. Its lumbering run was faster than Dion thought possible. This was its place, and it knew the terrain.
As Dion sprinted, another bellow made a shiver of fear travel up and down his spine. Forced to head left and then immediately right to get around a thicket of impenetrable trees, he tried not to think about a meaty paw raking down his back, shredding his skin with razor slices. He ducked under a horizontal branch and then tripped over a rock, stumbling forward until he righted himself. A moment later his heart went into his mouth; he was at the edge of a cliff, partly obscured by the foliage. He looked around, wondering which way to go.
Hearing the swish of branches, Dion tensed as he prepared for the huge brown beast to emerge from the trees, but instead he let out a gasp of relief when he saw Zachary. Both men were bare-chested, wearing nothing but deerskin leggings, but the similarities ended there, for Dion resembled any Galean man, with a lean, athletic build, flaxen hair, and brown eyes. Zachary, in comparison, had silver, shoulder-length hair, with thin eyebrows arched over brown eyes flecked with gold. His face was narrow and his features were sharp, almost gaunt, with a crescent-shaped scar on his left cheek.
‘This way!’ Zachary cried.
The bear crashed through the undergrowth a moment later, lunging at the eldran, who narrowly missed the gnashing teeth. Bellowing again, the bear caught sight of Dion. It lowered its head and charged. Zachary dodged around the monster and grabbed Dion’s arm, hauling him out of the animal’s path. The bear crashed into a thicket as Zachary pointed to light between the trees. Once again they started running, heading for open ground.
Taller by far than a human but also lithe as a sapling, Zachary was panting lightly as he glanced at Dion, whose breath was running ragged.
‘This is madness!’ Dion gasped. Struggling to keep up the pace, he looked over his shoulder but saw only forest. The undergrowth in this part of the Wilds was thick; the bear could be on them in moments.
‘We are trying to feel as the bear does,’ Zachary called out. ‘We must forget for a time that we stand and talk. This is about feeling wild. Can you feel it? The desire to be an animal. To be strong. To roar. To devour.’
‘I feel fear.’
‘That is a start, but you must let yourself go.’
The trees finally thinned and gave way to rolling hillside, descending into the base of a wide valley. Crags loomed on both sides and white boulders littered the landscape. The air was warm and fresh; it had rained recently and the wet smell was still in the air. Freed of the forest, the two men ran now with a loping gait rather than a mad sprint and, glancing once more over his shoulder, Dion couldn’t see any sign of pursuit.
‘Wait.’ He coughed, slowing his run to a jog, and then stopping altogether. A searing pain clutched at his chest as he placed his hands on his hips, bending forward. Finally he swallowed and then coughed again, before he felt able to speak. ‘I think we’ve lost it.’
‘I know where the bear is,’ Zachary said, ‘and the direction of its travel.’ His gold-flecked eyes swept the valley, his vision taking in not just the forest they’d emerged from, but also the cliffs and distant groves of evergreens, before finally alighting on the gorge at the valley’s base. He then turned back to Dion. ‘I can feel it. Can you?’
Dion closed his eyes and tried to focus his mind on the bear.
‘I have told you, young Dion, closing your eyes does nothing,’ Zachary said; the tone of his voice was amused.
Dion opened his eyes again and tried to sense the bear, but he didn’t know exactly what it was he was supposed to be feeling. He reminded himself of the lessons he’d already received from Zachary, thinking about hunger and warmth and territorial pride. He was the bear, the bear was him. He had chased off the invaders and would now . . .
‘I think I can feel it,’ Dion said. ‘It’s heading . . .’ He pointed to the winding gorge. ‘There.’
‘It has given up the pursuit and now returns to its lair.’ Zachary nodded. ‘Go. Find it. I will wait here.’
‘But . . .’ Dion faltered. ‘What do I do when I find it?’
‘You will awaken the beast inside you,’ Zachary said.
‘And if I don’t?’
‘If you don’t, the bear will perhaps leave you alone. Or he will attack you and you will die.’ Zachary smiled. ‘Now go.�
�
Dion walked alone, heading farther down the valley as he descended toward the gorge that followed its base, carved long ago by the patient action of water. He tried again to sense the bear but he wasn’t sure that he’d even sensed it the last time. Perhaps he’d simply used logic – definitely a trait valued by his human heritage – to determine what the bear would do next and where a likely place for its lair might be. He had hunted with his father and older brother, back when he’d had a family and a home. Perhaps rather than employing the magical ability of an eldran to sense life beyond sight, he was simply using forest lore.
As he approached the gorge he could see that it forked multiple times and then rejoined, before opening up in a part deeper and wider than the rest. He saw caves, and then in the distance a gentle slope rose and climbed to the area of the forest. The river that flowed along the gorge’s bottom had dried up long ago, leaving a bed of smooth round stones. Scanning the area, he saw a place where the cliff was broken and provided a steep slope of rubble all the way to the base. He knew he would need to be careful not to become muddled in the maze-like canyon.
He headed to the slope and began to inch his way down.
It took some time, but he reached the old riverbed and started to walk with caution. The first time the canyon split, he realized he was going to have to pick a direction, and then not long after he chose the left path it diverged again.
Forest lore was no use in navigating a maze. He wondered if Zachary had chosen this task in order to truly test his ability to sense the animal. Despite what the eldran had said, Dion closed his eyes at the next fork. He tried to become the bear in every way.
Left. He should head left.
He’d now been walking for long enough that he knew he should soon be coming to the section of caves. Wearing just deerskin leggings, with no bow or spear and Zachary far away, he approached warily. His heart hammered in his chest as he kicked a stone, the sound bouncing around the canyon. If the bear was ahead, it would hear him.
The cliffs on both sides now pressed together, close enough at some places that he had to turn his body to the side to shuffle through. The rays of the sun were blocked, darkening the area in shadow. He felt like an intruder in another’s domain, his heart pounding faster and faster, fearful at every turn, worried about what was around the next bend.
Zachary had said he should be able to sense the bear, but Zachary had never known a half-breed like Dion before. What if Zachary was wrong?
He came to another fork.
Dion didn’t dare close his eyes. He stood and waited, thinking of the two options. Should he go left or right?
He tensed when he heard a sound. Poised, ready for flight, he looked at the path that headed left. He could definitely hear panting, the hoarse breathing of a beast. Each inhalation was a long exercise, rumbling and throaty. Each exhale was a groan. Something big and bulky moved.
He swallowed.
The only safe route was back the way he’d come. But he had promised himself that he would follow Zachary’s guidance. He’d been cast out of the life he’d known and welcomed into Zachary’s fold: he had no other place to go. If this was a test of his bravery, he would not fail it.
He took two steps forward, and then three. The thin gully curved, and he followed the curve as the panting and groaning grew louder and louder. More stones kicked from his feet and bounced off the walls, making him wince.
Then he heard a rasping roar. It was different in nature to the bear’s roar in the forest. He bent down and picked up a stone the size of his fist. Summoning his courage, he continued along the path.
He rounded a knob, and saw that the passage came to an end. The gully terminated in a cul-de-sac, and Zachary stood waiting for him. He was in his normal form, but Dion knew that a moment ago he had been changed.
The eldran saw the rock in Dion’s hand and shook his head. ‘You were not listening to your abilities. You were too focused on your human senses. In the other direction the bear was waiting. You heard me, rather than sensing the bear. Couldn’t you feel it?’
Dion dropped the rock. ‘The truth is I can’t feel anything.’
‘You knew where to find the beast’s lair.’
‘I didn’t feel that, Zachary. I deduced it. I didn’t sense anything at all.’
Zachary shook his head. ‘Even now?’ His eyes drifted past Dion’s shoulder. ‘You can’t sense it now?’
Dion whirled.
The brown bear was a blur, bellowing as it lunged at him. Dion knew what he was supposed to do. He willed himself to become a giant. A mighty, strong, indomitable giant. Three times the height of a man, with arms the thickness of a man’s waist. Legs the size of tree trunks . . .
Nothing happened. Dion waited for the bear to knock him down, its jaws to close over his face.
A huge hand swatted him to the side as a tall giant with a crescent scar on its cheek loomed over the bear and roared, every element of posture threatening to the creature that was tiny in comparison. The bear quailed like a child cowering under his father’s fist. With a strange yelp it turned on its tail and ran.
Mist clouded the giant, shimmering and then clearing to reveal Zachary once again in his normal form.
The eldran sighed. ‘It will come. I thought the bear’s attack might prompt it, but it will come.’
Dion’s voice was bitter. ‘No. It won’t.’
‘It will. You changed before. You can change again. Remember, Dion. The magic of an eldran is in the mist. The mist claims us, clothing and all. Fears and all. We must become wild to become something more, and then we must fight becoming wild with everything we have.’
‘I don’t sense anything, and I don’t feel the things you’re saying I should.’ Dion looked down at his bare chest and deerskin leggings; the clothing still didn’t feel right on him. ‘I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but maybe my place isn’t in the Village. The others aren’t as accepting as you are.’
‘You just need to embrace who you are, rather than fight it. You changed before. You felt another’s need and you brought out the ability in yourself.’
‘But I’ve never changed again.’ Dion was staring at the ground as he spoke. He felt lost. In the land of the humans, in Xanthos, the city of his birth, he’d been rejected for changing his form. In the Wilds, living with a strange race, he was different because he couldn’t repeat the feat.
‘You will,’ Zachary said. ‘You just need to understand yourself, to embrace who you are. You need to love yourself, as much as you love her.’
Dion’s head shot up. ‘What did you just say?’
‘I speak of Chloe, of course. For you to sense her need so strongly, to change your very shape to save her life, your love for her must be strong. It is like this between Aella and me. The bonds of love are felt more keenly by eldren than by humans, at least in my experience. Perhaps that is the wrong way to say it,’ Zachary mused.
Dion’s eyes narrowed. ‘Zachary. Listen to me. Chloe is marrying Nikolas. Where I come from you can’t say these things.’
Zachary shrugged. ‘She does not love your brother.’
‘Listen to me!’ Dion drew in a deep breath. It still hurt to think of his older brother marrying Chloe. Something had grown between them when they’d traveled together from Lamara, but he knew he now needed to forget they’d ever met. ‘I don’t need to be spoken to like one of the younglings in the Village. I am a man. I use arrows with iron heads. I grew up in a palace made of stone. I don’t have feelings for another man’s betrothed.’
Zachary’s ancient face curled in puzzlement. ‘I think I understand,’ he said. ‘It is true, I am not familiar with human ways. I apologize for any offense.’
‘There’s no need to apologize,’ Dion said wearily. ‘I just don’t want to hear any more about Chloe.’
Zachary nodded. ‘I think we have done all we can today. There are matters I must attend to in the Village. It will be well, young Dion. You will see.’
5
Feeling a sudden lifting of her spirits at the sensation of being in the Wilds, far from the bustling city that was her home, Chloe dismounted and tied her horse at the bottom of a thin trail. Inhaling, breathing in deep lungfuls of the fragrant air, she followed the trail as it entered sparse woodlands. The sounds and sights of the region filled her senses: distant waterfalls gurgled; bright butterflies fluttered among the swaying evergreens.
She continued along the path as it wound over hills and entered thick forest before the trees began to thin. Finally exiting the forest, emerging onto a grassy knoll, she paused to get her bearings.
The woodland trail had been easy to follow but there were few travelers between the Wilds and the Galean nations, which meant that the field of lush grass ahead didn’t show any worn patches at all. A distant river curled back and forth like an endless snake, girded by green banks on both sides. The hill on which Chloe stood undulated like bunched carpet, descending slowly as it rippled, before finally dropping all the way to the water.
She nodded to herself. It had been a while since she’d last visited, but the Village was somewhere ahead, farther upstream on the river’s other side. No doubt an eldran would challenge her when she neared.
Resuming her journey, she descended the grassy hill, reaching the flowing water, and began to follow the bank. As she walked, the bank grew higher and the water slower and deeper, and then, as she glanced ahead and to her right, she saw an island in the middle of the river.
The grassy island, a hundred paces long, was only accessible across a fallen log that stretched from the crumbling riverbank, forming a kind of bridge. Closer to Chloe, the island had a steep, graveled bank, while at the far end the water lapped against the gentle shore near a large, solitary tree.
Silver Road (The Shifting Tides Book 2) Page 4
