From Across the Clouded Range (39 page)

It didn’t make any sense, but they
were moving north, away from her, so she did not linger on it. With
a sigh of relief, she scanned the trees again. She could not
account for all the men now. They could be anywhere. Her best
protection would be to be above them. Slinking like a snake, she
crept to the top of the rock that had hidden her. From there, she
could climb into a tree and follow the branches away. As she
reached the top of the boulder, was reaching for the branch two
feet above, just before she came to her feet and made the leap, she
saw the shadows. The forest along the opposite bank was alive; men
swarmed through the forest and bubbled out of the trees in a
breathtaking multitude.

Teth rolled instantly off the rock
back into the cleft where she had been hidden. She watched
silently, head pressed into the bracken as the first column of
soldiers emerged from the trees, fell to their knees to drink, then
regrouped and marched in formation across the stream. They were
followed by more and more, a seemingly constant procession. When
she recovered sufficiently from her shock, she managed to count.
She estimated that nearly a thousand men crossed the stream before
her in row after row until she thought they would never end. She
tried to note everything she could about them, but the more she
watched the less sense she could make of them. They all wore the
same clothes, had the same style of hair, and the same general
height and build as the first men who crossed. They carried
long-bladed spears and stout shields that had been painted black.
Sagging packs hung from their backs. Along the sides and between
the units were men leading horses. Armor was conspicuously tied to
their mounts – large helmets, round breastplates, and tall black
shields – along with stout spears. They held curved swords above
their heads as they crossed to keep them from the water. Finally,
at the front of each column was a flag bearer with a round,
deep-red banner with a black dot in the middle – Teth had never
seen the crest but noted it for Dasen.

Countless fears flowed through Teth as
she watched the men cross. This was an army. Was it an invasion?
But from where? Or were these soldiers from the Kingdoms come to
rescue Ipid? That thought was so enticing that she even considered
showing herself, offering to guide them. But how could an army from
the Kingdoms have responded so soon? Why would they be on this side
of the river? Besides, these men looked nothing like any she had
ever seen, no trader, caravan, official, minstrel, anyone who had
visited Randor’s Pass. But where else could they be from? There was
nothing but mountains, impassible to all who had tried, to the
west.

Then it struck her and everything
suddenly fell into place. Everyone assumed that there was nothing
on the other side of the Clouded Range, but what if they were
wrong? What if there were whole countries over there? What if they
found a way across? What if they invaded the East? Local legends
said that the Exiles had traveled across the bridge in Randor’s
Pass when they were cast from the world. Could this be them
returning with an army?

The last was a step too far for Teth’s
mind. Even the Church taught that the Exiles were mere legends,
stories created to symbolize what happened when people turned from
the Order, of the chaos they could cause. No, it was much simpler
to believe that this was an army like any other. Men bent on
conquering other men, just like in the books she had read of the
times before the unification of the Kingdoms when the dukes had
fought their constant wars. Teth’s world had not known a war in the
eighty years since the original Chancellor Kavich had defeated the
last of those dukes and unified the country. Liandrin and The
Empire had fought wars since then against Pindarian secession, but
even the most recent of those had been before she was born and had
taken place a thousand miles away. The very thought of war was
foreign, terrifying, and incomprehensible. Teth spent the hour it
took the men to cross the stream considering it but could not get
her head around it.

When, finally, the last of the men, a
unit of about fifty soldiers leading tall horses – their
extravagant regalia suggested officers – disappear into the forest
to the east, she was numb with doubt and fear. The only thing she
could decide was that she and Dasen had to get out of there. If an
invasion was taking place, it was impossible to tell how many men
would come marching out of the forest and what path they would
take. Their only hope was to get ahead of the forces and find
safety as far from the battles as possible. She listened to the
last of the men fading to the south and watched. She doubted that
there would be stragglers given the discipline with which the men
had crossed, but she still waited a long time before she considered
leaving her hiding place.

Finally, Teth braced herself, slipped
back onto the rock, and, with a last scan of her surrounding,
pulled herself up into the tree. She retraced her path until she
arrived back at the spot where the deer trail ended at the stream.
She stood on a low branch watching, listening and was about to jump
down and run to the shelter when a wave of calm rushed over her.
She felt all her fear, anger, doubt pulled away. A smile crept onto
her lips. She wondered what it was that had made her so worried.
Then it all came back. And her fear doubled for the feeling of
having had it sucked away. Her eyes flew open and were drawn again
to the far side of the stream.

She looked just in time to see a man
emerge from the trees. But had he come from the trees? Behind him
was a black disk that blocked her view of those trees. Then it was
gone. Or had it ever existed? She blinked hard then focused on the
figure who stood where it had been. Shrouded in a heavy robe with
deep cowl, she could see nothing of him but she knew to fear him.
Her breath caught. Her heart skipped, and she prayed that he keep
staring at the water at his feet, that his eyes not creep up to
where she crouched on a branch thirty feet away.

Then something even more terrible
appeared. It fell from the sky, folding great bat-like wings, to
land in the middle of the flowing water. The creature, for there
was no other word for it, was black all over, hairless as far as
Teth could tell, built like a man, except that it had huge bat
wings and a head like a snake. It stood at least seven feet tall,
but its body was thin, legs and arms long, sinewy. Its feet were
obscured by the running water, but its arms ended in double-thumbed
claws. The creature’s head wove back and forth on a long neck that
rose from slumped shoulders. For a second, it looked like it would
strike the hooded man before it, then it dropped into an awkward
bow.

The robed figure gestured the thing
up. It rose from the water dripping and brought its head close to
the hood. “. . . strong indeed . . . dangerous . . . used the power
nearby . . . searching . . . not returned,” the man said. He spoke
softly so that Teth could not make out every word. Still, she had
heard enough to recognize that his words were like none that she
had ever heard. She could understand them, but she did not know
them. Dasen had said something similar about the creature from the
forest. She had dismissed it as part of his obvious shock, but it
had been true. She did not know how, but it was true.

The creature in the water seemed to
answer, but its words were a series of hisses and growls that made
no sense to Teth. Apparently the hooded man knew them. His voice
became harsh, commanding. “I don’t care what you have to do! I want
him! You have more than enough tal’ ladorim. By the time the sun is
up tomorrow, I want him brought to me. Do you understand? He is too
dangerous to be left uncontrolled!”

A short reply from the creature
followed. It bowed again, even lower this time. Teth watched it
stretch its body prostrate in the water, studied the unbelievable
thing, and wondered again if the Exiles really had returned. A
second later, the creature rose from the water and leapt into the
sky. With two powerful stokes of its wings that buffeted Teth with
rank musk, the thing was aloft, flying west toward the mountains.
At the same time, she felt another wave of calm claim her. Her
worries bled away, and she watched the creature fly off without
concern. A second later, she clenched her teeth as emotions swept
over her, leaving her paralyzed with fear, doubt, and anger. When
she regained her balance, she brought her eyes back to the hooded
man. He was gone.

Teth cursed. She had not seen which
way he had gone. He could be anywhere, and she had no way of
knowing. What she did know was that that man was searching for
Dasen, that he had creatures like the one she had killed and that
thing in the river to help. And that meant they were in trouble,
that they needed to be gone before that thing returned. Still, she
could not make herself leave her haven without some assurance that
the hooded man had gone.

Minutes passed like hours
until Teth’s impatience finally overcame her fear.
He wouldn’t be waiting for me
, she told herself.
If he knew that
I was here, he would take me.
She had to
risk it.

Bracing herself for the worst, she
slipped down from the tree and landed on the trail. She held her
knife in her hand and crouched to fight, but nothing happened. She
searched the trees with eyes and ears. Nothing. Finally, with a
sigh of relief, she ran toward the shelter.

#

Teth ran to the camp, watching every
shadow for robed men, soldiers, or monsters, but none appeared.
Somehow, the trees were already casting long shadows, and the
warmth of the day was beginning to fade. They had precious little
time before the night was upon them and maybe even less until the
pursuit began, until the creatures came, whatever they were. It was
no time at all given what had to be done.

When the shelter came into view
between the trees, Teth slowed her pace, slinking through the trees
until she could see the entire clearing. She hoped that Dasen had
heard the army and was already packed to go, but the scene in the
clearing dashed that hope. The area was starkly empty. Not a single
thing had changed since they had left. The fire pit was dead and
lifeless. The flaps of the shelter were thrown back as she had left
them. The water skin was nowhere to be found, and there was no sign
of Dasen or the fact that he had ever returned to the
camp.

Teth groaned. She could only imagine
the trouble he had gotten himself into. He could be hurt or lost.
The scouts could have found him, or he might have gone looking for
her and found them instead, or maybe he had simply had enough of
her; maybe she had finally driven him away. Teth thought through
the possibilities, but to her surprise, the last was the most
painful by far. She could not say why, but she dreaded the prospect
of driving him away and almost hoped for one of the other, more
dreadful answers.

Wracked with worry, she
struggled for a solution. The reasonable answer was to leave him.
She would be faster, more elusive, without him. She could get to a
village and warn them of the invaders, could get herself to safety.
But thinking back over the past few days – it felt like a lifetime
– she could not bear the idea. Biting her lip, she made one last
scan of the trees.
Perhaps I can spare a
few minutes to track him.
She started
looking for signs of his arrival or departure but pulled up short
at the sound of a low rumble from very nearby.

Heart suddenly pounding, Teth dropped
to a crouch and clutched her knife in front of her. There was a
smacking then another roar. This time she recognized it.

Her worry for Dasen transformed into
anger as she peered around a nearby tree and found him propped up
fast asleep. Cursing under her breath, she reached her knife around
the tree toward his throat. He still did not wake, so she gently,
then not so gently, shook him. After a few seconds to gather his
wits, he felt the arm holding him against the tree, saw the knife
at his throat, and jumped before tensing back from the
blade.

“
You’re dead,” Teth
whispered in his ear.

She pulled the knife away and stepped
out from behind the tree. She was enraged but could not decide if
it was at his stupidity or the way he had made her feel about the
prospect of losing him. “What the Order’s holy name were you doing?
You were sleeping so deeply that an entire army could have snuck up
on you and very nearly did. Besides, did you do anything I asked
you to? Where is the fire, the water, the Order-cursed
birds?”

“
Hello to you
too
.” Dasen's voice was as biting as hers.
“You're one to talk. That must have been the longest bath in
history. I thought about coming to look for you, but I remembered
what you said and was afraid that I might actually find you.” Teth
growled, but he held up a finger to silence her. “As for your
birds, they are right over there, cooking nicely, thank you very
much.” Teth looked to where he was pointing and saw a glowing pile
of coals in a small pit near the base of a pine. Inside the coals
was her cast-iron pot buried so deep that it was barely visible. “I
moved the fire into the trees so that someone looking for us
wouldn’t see the smoke.”

Teth was astonished. She almost forgot
about what she had seen at the river. Dasen had done something
right, the world really was coming unhinged. Eventually, she shook
off the disbelief and cast him the stern look he deserved. “That is
all fine and good, but we have to get out of here. I just watched
an army cross the stream and then overheard a conversation that
leads me to believe that we are going to have some unwelcome
company very soon.”