Fire Study (6 page)

“A large dark-skinned woman. You look like you could not survive a sandstorm

let alone find and release a soul.”

“It’s a good thing you’re not my Story Weaver. You’re easily distracted by the

pattern of the cloth and can’t see the quality of the threads.”

“Well done,” Moon Man said to me. “Reed, show us the camp.”

The Story Weaver led us to the trees. Through the spiky needles on the branches,

I saw the Daviian camp.

The air shimmered around the camp as if a bubble of heat had gotten trapped

near the ground. A large cook fire burned in the central area. Many people scurried

about either helping with breakfast or eating it. Tents fanned from the area, extending

out until they reached the edge of the plateau.

Squinting in the sunlight, I looked beyond the encampment’s border. Just the

tops of the trees in the Illiais Jungle were visible. They reminded me of a time when I

had stood on a platform built near the peak of the tallest tree in the jungle and had

seen the flat expanse of the plateau for the first time. The sheer rock drop-off into

the jungle had appeared to be an impossible climb. So why set up camp there? I

wondered.

Moon Man leaned next to me. “The camp is an illusion.”

“Do you have enough warriors to attack?” I asked, thinking the illusion hid many

more Vermin.

“Every one.”

“All—” The Sandseeds yelled a battle cry and dashed toward the camp.

Moon Man grabbed my arm, pulling me with him. “Stay with me.”

With Leif and Marrok right behind us, we followed the Sandseeds. When the first

warriors crossed into the illusion, they disappeared from sight for a moment. The

sound of rushing water reached my ears as the chimera dissipated.

I blinked a few times to adjust my vision to what the Daviians had concealed. The

central fire remained the same. But instead of many Vermin around the flames, there

stood only one man. The rest of the camp was empty.

WHEN THE ILLUSION disappeared, so did the expanse of tents and all the

Daviians. The lone man standing by the fire collapsed before the Sandseed warriors

could reach him.

Evidence that a large army had camped here was imprinted on the ground.

Although, by the time the Sandseed leaders restored order to the milling warriors,

many of the Daviian tracks had been ruined.

And the only witness had taken poison.

“One of their Warpers,” Moon Man said, nudging the corpse with his bare foot.

“He held the illusion and killed himself once it broke.”

“If you can clear the area, I might be able to tell you where they’ve gone,”

Marrok said.

The Sandseed warriors returned to the copse of spine trees. Moon Man and I

stayed by the fire as Marrok and Leif circled the camp. Marrok looked for physical

evidence while Leif used his magic to smell the intentions of the Daviians.

I projected my mental awareness as far as I could. If I sought a specific person,

then I could reach them from far away, but with a general search my magic could

only extend about ten miles. I reached no one in the plateau, and the bounty of life in

the jungle was too overwhelming to sort out.

When they had finished their circuit, Marrok and Leif returned. Their glum

expressions reflected bad news.

“They’ve been gone for days. The majority of the tracks head east and west,”

Marrok reported. “But I found some metal spikes with rope fibers in the ground near

the edge of the plateau. A few Vermin could have climbed down into the jungle.”

I touched Leif’s arm. “The Zaltanas?”

“If the Vermin can even find our homestead among the trees, they’re still well

protected,” he said.

“Even from one of the Warpers?” I asked.

Leif blanched.

“Are the ropes still there?” I asked Marrok.

“No. The others must have waited and either cut the rope or taken it along with

them,” Marrok said.

“Do you know how many went down?” Moon Man asked.

“No.”

Leif said, “There were so many scents and emotions mixed together. The need

for stealth and urgency predominated. They moved with a purpose and felt

confident. The eastern group, though, had the most men and they…” Leif closed his

eyes and sniffed the breeze. “I don’t know. I need to follow their trail for a while.”

Marrok led Leif to the eastern tracks. I asked Kiki and the other horses to come

to us. While waiting for them, Moon Man and the other Story Weavers split the

warriors into two groups, and sent two scouts, one to the west and the other to the

east.

But what about those that went down the rope to the jungle? What about Cahil

and Ferde? Were they even with the Daviians? And, if so, which way had they gone?

When the horses arrived, I grabbed my pack off Kiki’s saddle. Opening it, I

pulled my rope out and headed for the rim of the plateau. I found one of the metal

spikes Marrok had mentioned and tied the end of the rope to it. On my belly, I

inched closer to the edge until I could see down into the jungle.

The sides of the cliff appeared to be smooth, with no hand-holds in sight. I

tossed the rope over, but knew it wouldn’t reach the bottom far below. The end

stopped a quarter of the way down. Even with a longer rope, the climb looked

dangerous. Water sprayed out of fissures in the rock face about halfway down. The

stones below glistened.

I considered the descent. A desperate person might attempt it, but Leif’s

assessment of the Vermin hadn’t included desperation.

Moon Man waited for me by the horses.

“When the scouts return, we will set out,” he said.

A notion that had been bothering me finally clicked. “Your people have swept the

plateau and have been watching the camp. How could the Vermin slip away without

you knowing?”

“A few of their Warpers had been Story Weavers. They must have learned to

make a null shield.”

“That would only hide their presence from a magical search. What about seeing

them?”

Before Moon Man could answer, a shout rang out. Leif, Marrok and the scout

ran toward us.

“Found a trench,” Marrok panted.

“Heading east then north.” The scout gestured.

“Ill intent,” Leif said.

North toward the Avibian Plains. Toward the Sandseeds’ unprotected lands

because their warriors were here in the plateau. Every one.

Moon Man covered his face with his hands as if he needed to block out the

distractions and think.

The second scout arrived from the west. Puffs of sand from his passage reached

us before he did.

“Another trench?” Marrok asked.

“The trail ends. They doubled back.” The scout reported.

Moon Man dropped his hands and began shouting orders, sending the warriors

northeast at a run, ordering the Story Weavers to make contact with the people who

stayed behind on the plains.

“Come on,” he said, turning to join the others.

“No,” I said.

He stopped and looked back. “What?”

“Too obvious. I don’t think Cahil would go along with that.”

“Then where did he go?” Moon Man demanded.

“The bulk of the Daviians went east, but I think a smaller group either went west

or south.”

“My people are in trouble,” Moon Man said.

“And so are mine,” I replied. “You go with your warriors. If I’m wrong, we’ll

catch up with you.”

“And if you are right, then what?”

Then what, indeed. There were only three of us.

“I will go with you,” Moon Man said. He called one of the Story Weavers and a

touch of magic pricked my skin as they linked their minds.

Not wanting to intrude on their mental conversation, I focused on finding Cahil. I

examined the edge of the plateau. A branch from one of the tall jungle trees reached

toward the cliff. I could use my grapple and rope and hook it—

No, Leif said in my mind. Suicide.

I frowned at him. But I could swing—

No.

Nutty could do it. Our cousin climbed trees as if valmur blood coursed through

her veins.

You’re not Nutty.

I reluctantly abandoned that course of action. Even if I could swing to the tree, I

doubted anyone else would follow me. Then I would be alone. I berated myself for

being worried about being on my own: living in Sitia had made me soft.

It has made you smarter, Leif said. Then he added, not much smarter, but we can

still hope for improvement.

“Where to?” Tauno asked as he joined our group.

I looked at Moon Man.

He shrugged. “He is better at scouting than fighting. We will need him,” he said

with certainty.

I sighed at the implication. “West.”

Perhaps we would find a better way down into the jungle or, failing that, we

would follow the plateau’s edge west toward the Cowan Clan’s lands. Once in

Cowan land, we would turn south into the forest then loop east into the Illiais Jungle.

And hope we weren’t too late.

We mounted the horses. Tauno and Marrok once again led us. The point where

the Daviians had turned around was obvious even to me. The hard-packed sand had

been scuffed where they stopped, and only flat unblemished sand continued

westward.

Tauno halted the horses and waited for more instructions.

“A ruse. I can smell deceit and smugness,” Leif said.

“Why so smug?” I asked. “Laying a false trail is a basic strategy.”

“It could be Cahil,” Marrok said. “He tends to think he is smarter than everyone.

Perhaps he thought this would fool the Sandseeds into sending half their warriors in

the wrong direction.”

I projected my magical awareness over the smooth sand. A few mice skittered

into the open, searching for food. A snake curled on a warm rock, basking in the

afternoon sun. I encountered a strange dark mind.

I withdrew my awareness and scanned the plateau. Sure enough there was a small

area a few feet away where the sand looked pliant, as if it had been dug up and

packed back down. I slid off Kiki and walked over to the patch. The sand felt

spongy beneath my boots.

“A Vermin must have buried something there,” Marrok said.

Tauno snorted with disgust. “You have probably found one of their waste pits.”

With Moon Man still on her back, Kiki came closer. Smell damp, she said.

Bad damp or good damp? I asked.

Just damp.

Taking my grapple out of my pack, I started to dig. The others watched me with

various expressions of amusement, distaste and curiosity.

When I had dug down about a foot, my grapple struck something hard. “Help me

clear the sand.”

My reluctant audience joined me. But eventually we uncovered a flat piece of

wood.

Marrok rapped his knuckles on it and proclaimed it the top of a box. Working

faster to remove the sand, we sought the edges. The round lid was about two feet in

diameter.

While Tauno and Moon Man discussed why the Vermin would bury a circle box,

I found the lip and pried the top up. A gulp of air almost sucked the lid back down.

Everyone was stunned into silence. The lid covered a hole in the ground. And,

judging by the pull of air into its depths, a very deep hole.

THE SUNLIGHT ILLUMINATED a few feet of the hole. Below the lip a couple

rough steps had been cut into the sandstone.

“Can you sense anyone in there?” Leif asked.

Pulling a thread of power, I projected into the darkness. My awareness touched

many of those dark minds, but no people.

“Bats,” I said. “Lots of bats. You?”

“Just smug satisfaction.”

“Could this be another false trail?” Marrok asked.

“Or a trap?” Tauno asked. He glanced around with quick furtive movements as if

worried the sand would erupt with Vermin.

“One of us needs to go inside and report back,” Moon Man said, looking at

Tauno. “I knew we would need a scout.”

Tauno jerked as if he had stepped on a hot coal. Sweat ran down his face. He

swallowed. “I will need a light.”

Leif retrieved his saddlebags and removed one of his cooking sticks. “This won’t

burn long,” he said. He set the end on fire and handed the stick to Tauno.

With the flaming stick to lead the way, the Sandseed scout crawled into the

opening headfirst. Tempted to link my mind with his to see what he found, I forced

myself to focus instead on the ground beneath my feet, trying to discover a sign of

life that would indicate the end of the cave.

The jungle’s pulse throbbed in my soul, but I couldn’t tell if it came from an

opening below the ground or just from being so close to it on the plateau.

Waiting proved difficult. I imagined all types of hazards in Tauno’s way and was