Chapter Fourteen
~
The scent must have provoked me to open my eyes. Sixty feet away a goblin eased an arrow from the quiver hung on his back. Two companions farther up the mountain continued to hike silently toward their camp above. A stingy, early glow filtered through the canopy, through the cold mist hangin’ in the air. The gloom hid me well in the shadows, I hoped.
Run? Fight? Play possum?
Another five options visited my mind in an instant. The tingle of pre-sight from my staff decided for me. I moved my lips to an unspoken invocation as I visualized myself appearin’ as nothin’ more than a weathered log covered by lichen and pine needles. Stillness was key to makin’ the ward work, yet every muscle twitched, wishin’ to act.
The goblin’s arm stopped its upward motion, the arrow froze half-drawn. The glint of the goblin’s eyes faded three times as it blinked to focus. He stood more erect and pushed the arrow back into its quiver. He shook his head and turned to follow his companions.
I took a long breath when the three disappeared in the trees. Is a patrol like that what drove Lucas into the gully? I sniffed the morning air. The scent of the goblins faded. Older trace of deer, elk, and bear found their way to me—and the stronger aroma of burnin’ wood, of quick meals bein’ warmed, tea steeped.
No hint of a human. They do have a distinctive—aroma.
Pain spread throughout my body as I tried to rise. Only those parts that were numb, legs and buttocks, failed to hurt. Think the stinkin’ tree tried to grow into my back. I rolled over on my side ignorin’ the threat of slidin’ down the gorge to my death, and pushed up with my forearm as I gripped and relaxed my hands to get the blood goin’. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been this cold—at least since my last winter hunt. Elevations stink. Musta really hurt Lucas—if he’s still alive.
One last grunt got me to my knees, and another to my feet. It was decision time again. Wait about for Ike? Push forward and join him among the goblins? Or track the silly human?
A minute passed and another as I debated, hopin’ a wave of pre-sight would make the decision for me. I looked over my shoulder, into the dark chasm where Lucas’ scent failed.
“Why did ya go down there?”
“Where are ya?”
I don’t know why, but I found myself walkin’, more slidin’, slowly down the slope, along the crest leadin’ to the gully. Fifty feet below, I crossed a rugged patch strewn with boulders and the sky opened overhead. I looked up almost expectin’ to see the shape of a dragon slip across the sky.
Maybe I can reach Lucas through Iza.
I stopped and leaned against a chunk of granite, grasped my staff with both hands. But there was nothin’ to augment. No mind to empower with Lucas’ absence.
Like threadin’ a needle with a rope in the pitch black.
I groaned and pounded a rock at my feet with the butt of my staff. The thunk echoed. The cry of a hawk in the distance answered. Caws of black birds mimicked it.
“He’s gone off on his own. Not my duty to traipse after him.”
A crow floated down from the trees and landed on a crag fifteen feet away and glared at me. Head tilted one way, then the other, as though I might look different, perhaps tasty, if viewed from the other eye, or a different angle.
“What are ya lookin’ at? Ya think I should go after the human? I think not.”
Caaaaaaaa
“Ya don’t know what ya’re talkin’ about. The issue is the goblins. Up there.”
I twisted and shoved a finger in the air, toward the peak. The crow extended its wings and fluffed up its feathers makin’ it look twice as big. Head tipped back and forth quickly, but it didn’t fly away.
Cah caw cahhhhh
“He only looks fragile. He can take care of himself.”
Ca ca cahhh
“Why don’t ya mind yar own business?”
The bird jabbed its wings at the rock it rested on, and rotated its head about lookin’ to my left, before flittin’ away with a laughin’ ca ca ca cahhhhh.
“Was that an insightful conversation?”
The voice made me lunge. I struck my elbow hard against the boulder I leaned against and jammed my shin into another rock. Heavin’ my staff up for protection, I cracked it into my knee.
“Ahhhhh! Don’t sneak up on a soul like that!”
“Ya were so deep in conversation, it wouldn’t have mattered if I stomped along like a human.” Ike smiled, and his almost coal-black, green eyes seemed to glimmer with their own humor.
The instant-emergency over, the pain in my elbow, knee, and shin started to sink in. “Witches willow, that hurt,” I said, rubbin’ my aches.
I looked past Ike and for the first time saw the two giants standin’ thirty feet farther up the incline. The two goblins stood with their feet apart, knees slightly bent, prepared to react.
Ike shrugged his shoulders. “Ya learn anythin’ interestin’?”
“Whaa—?”
“From the crow.”
The ogre is constantly teasin’, but his expression seemed genuine. Perfect to really rope me into somethin’. I wasn’t goin’ to have any of it.
“Ya’re a wizard,” Ike said. “Can speak to our dragons. I recon ya can speak to a crow.”
No wizard. “Just a self-learned warlock. And I doubt wizards can talk to birds.”
“Oh,” Ike said. His face seemed younger that moment, as he looked down at the ground, lost in his own thoughts, maybe. “Where’s Lucas?”
“I’ve no idea. Couldn’t find him last night. I followed his tracks to the edge of that.”
I pointed at the dark chasm. As Ike stepped near the steep drop off and looked down, I explained I’d been tryin’ to decide whether to hunt for Lucas.
“Why would he head into that in the dark?”
The question irritated me. “I can’t read minds either,” I said. Not often, at least. Though I can nudge along ideas sometimes. And pre-sight wouldn’t count.
Ike placed his hands on his hips and studied the black crevasse a moment, before cuppin’ his hands around his mouth and shoutin’. The two syllables evaporated as though gobbled up by the bottomless gully.
Humph.
He reached out and took back his bow, slung it over his shoulder. He shouted again, lettin’ his voice linger. There was still no echo, no returnin’ call from our friend. I imagined the thoughts goin’ through Ike’s head. The human is an adult responsible for his own good, but he could be lyin’ down there with a broken leg. He might have found reason to go off on his own. Perhaps he found another emergency to follow after. All thoughts I already contemplated.
Ike turned to me. “Do we trail him, or get Bent Nose and Big Ears to the Hamlet?”
“Who? What?”
Ike motioned toward the two goblins. “Can’t pronounce their names.”
“Why ya—”
“They’re gonna address the elders.”
“Why? The Covenant forbids their presence here.”
Obvious anger flashed across the ogre’s face. He shuffled from foot to foot. The irritation seemed to ease as quickly as it rose. “Orcs were forbidden too. But I claim more than one as dear friends, and they’ve lived among us in the Hamlet for many seasons in peace. Hold their own, and contribute to our community.” After a pause, he said, “Besides, we signed a new accord.”
What? A new accord? I should visit civilization more often.
I thought of the respect the healer used when speakin’ to the orc hen, the colorful skirt the orc sent to Delia. Besides the marble, the witch wasn’t drawn more intently to any other gift. I shivered when I thought about the orc hen’s needle sharp teeth. I looked over at the goblins again. They have the same teeth and general appearance. Four foot taller, but the same disproportionate long arms and legs.
Bent Nose and Big Ears glared back, though they looked more relaxed now. Bent said somethin’ and motioned north. Ike answered, his words haltin’. The two goblins’ expressions showed confusion for a moment. They spoke among themselves in bursts that sounded more like a sledge poundin’ rocks. After noddin’ at each other, Bent Nose led his friend over the gully crest. They disappeared in seconds. I could hear cascadin’ gravel and leaned forward.
Don’t wanna go down there.
But Ike followed them.
~
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