Of Bone and Thunder (57 page)

He slid over the wall and dropped down the other side. Without pausing, he jumped the moat and moved into the saw grass, angling toward the slyt path. Once inside he changed course and looped away from the path before coming back around to it. If any slyts were out here, they'd be looking for him at the wrong spot.

Wraith crouched low, straining to hear movement on the path, but other than the slow rustle of the grass by a light breeze, it was quiet. With just his bow, quiver, and hunting knife, he wasn't looking for a battle. He'd left his helm and aketon in the barracks, opting instead to wear just his tunic, trousers, and boots. Silence and speed were his allies, not armor.

Confident he was alone, Wraith was reaching forward to part the woven saw grass when the sound of wood on wood reached his ears. He froze. A shadow moved past him on the path heading east. A second and then a third went by him. He counted to twenty and then pushed aside the grass and stepped onto the path. He held his bow in his hands, an arrow notched and ready. No slyts.

He looked up the path to Iron Fist, then turned and began following it down into the valley. He'd lost the slyts before when he reached the dosha swamp, but he was determined not to this time. As he got closer to the dosha swamp he slowed, his muscles tensing. By the time he could see the slight opening at the end of the saw grass he stopped. The slyts weren't there.

Wraith moved quickly to the opening and looked out. The valley appeared quiet. Then he saw them. Three small figures barely visible in the quarter moon. They were already across the berm and entering a patch of bamboo.

Bastards can move!
He waited until the last one disappeared into the bamboo, then raced after them.

The next eighth was a trying one as Wraith drew deeply from inside to keep the slyts in sight. He understood now why he'd lost them before—they were fast. Far faster than he'd imagined. They moved from cover to cover like deer.

Wraith was navigating another berm when he stumbled and went down to his hands and knees. He let himself down to his stomach and froze. The third slyt stopped by a stand of saw grass and looked back. Wraith cursed his luck and waited. After several flicks the slyt turned and vanished into the grass. Wraith stayed where he was. It hadn't been more than ten flicks when the slyt popped his head out of the grass, several yards away from where he'd entered.

Following them into that grass was too risky. Wraith looked past it and spotted another patch a hundred yards away. It was the next significant piece of cover. He waited until the slyt disappeared again, then got up and ran for a position where he could watch the second area of grass.

He slid down the side of a berm near the grass and waited. Sure enough, the slyts emerged from the distant patch of grass and made for the one near him. The trailing slyt turned a couple of times and looked back the way they'd come, but his concern seemed to lessen the farther they got. When they reached the river they slipped into the water and quickly paddled across, their bows slung on their backs. Wraith followed suit.

Wraith started anticipating their trail across the rest of the valley, able to keep them in sight without directly following them. Two more times the rear slyt hung back and waited to see if they were being followed, but his comrades seemed to grow impatient with this and a series of rude hand gestures got the third slyt moving.

As they approached the tree line Wraith began thinking about his plan and realized he didn't really have one. He'd been so bent on proving he could track the slyts he hadn't given thought to what he would do after.

The slyts broke the last bit of cover and loped into the tree line. Wraith took after them. He'd come up with a plan later. For now, he'd keep following.

Once in the jungle the slyts slowed, giving Wraith a chance to catch his breath. They obviously felt safe among the trees. The Kingdom only attacked in daylight, its patrols always scurrying back to the safety of Iron
Fist before nightfall. It was a predictability that worried Wraith, but for now, it was working in his favor.

The slyts climbed the mountain, winding their way among the trees on a path that Wraith wasn't sure he would have seen if he hadn't been following them. He lost track of time but figured they'd been climbing for a good eighth when the slyts came to a small clearing and stopped. Wraith moved off the path and swung around to the right. It was difficult to get a good look as there were a lot of plants blocking his view. He looked at the tree in front of him and made up his mind.

Slinging his bow, Wraith took off his boots and then knotted the laces and hung them around his neck. He grabbed a vine hanging down beside the trunk and pulled himself up until he reached the first branch. Slowly, with sweat dripping in his eyes, he scaled the tree until he sat on a branch twenty yards above the ground.

He wedged himself into a Y and then pulled some leaves and branches around him. From here he had a perfect view of the clearing and the path leading into it. The three slyts were now sitting in a small circle and talking softly among themselves.

Wraith leaned back in the tree and prepared himself for a long night. The leaves near him rustled. A moment later the furry head of a young marbled cat emerged, its amber eyes scanning the clearing. The small predator blinked, its ear tips leaning forward as it focused on the three slyts. It eased its body through the leaves but stopped short with the end of its long tail still shrouded in the shadows.

It lowered its body down onto the branch, settling down along the length of its chest and belly. The cat kept watch on the clearing, its eyes following the strange movements. Gradually, it brought its head down until it rested on its outstretched paws, its whiskers drooping to either side.

Wraith watched the cat with absolute fascination. Did the slyts do this every night? Was the cat waiting until they left to go check for scraps of food? Another movement caught Wraith's eye, and his fascination turned dark.

A foot and a half above the cat, a blood python lay strung out over several branches. Its reddish-brown splotches made it difficult to see. Only the python's flicking tongue tasting the air gave any indication it was there.

The python's obsidian orbs studied the cat. If the snake was aware of the slyts in the clearing it gave no sign of it.

For several moments, neither cat or snake moved, each absorbed in watching. Another breeze set the branches swaying. As the cat remained focused on the clearing, the python bunched itself, folding its body into a series of thick S's. It raised its head, its tongue testing the air one more time.

The python lunged, its jaws snapping open as its curved fangs sprang forward, ready to impale the cat. The cat looked up, its fur bristling and its eyes widening. It hissed, baring its own fangs, but it was already too late.

The fangs of the python had just brushed the tips of the cat's fur when an arrow sliced diagonally through the python's skull. The arrow continued its flight, burying its iron head into the branch just behind the cat's rear. The python's body continued its lunge, its heavy coils slamming into the much smaller marbled cat.

The cat wailed, jumping up in an attempt to grab another branch, but the weight of the python pushed it out into open space. The cat clawed wildly for purchase even as it fell toward the jungle floor. Wraith reached out, snagged its tail at the tip, and swung the cat in an arc, bringing it back toward the tree.

The cat landed claws-first on Wraith's tunic, its ears pinned back against its head, its amber eyes wide as it hissed its fear and fury.

“Shhhh, kit, shh,” Wraith whispered, releasing the cat's tail and quickly placing his hand over its back. He pressed it close to his chest while keeping his head up and away from the swinging paws that were trying to gouge out his eyes. The claws dug into his flesh, but he gritted his teeth and kept the pressure on.

The slyts were standing up, looking in Wraith's direction. He cursed himself, but what was done was done. He readied himself to make a run for it, but more slyts suddenly entered the clearing. There was a greeting, a few motions toward the tree, then laughter. The slyts sat down again. Wraith counted seven now.

The cat hissed and scratched at Wraith's tunic. Wraith took the abuse and continued whispering to the cat, slowly bringing his head down so that he was staring directly into its eyes.

“You need to get smarter,” Wraith said, his voice soft. “There are cold-blooded killers around here. They have no compassion and they can't be reasoned with.”

The cat continued to stare at Wraith, hissing its anger at being held.

“Anger's good,” Wraith continued, petting the cat with short, heavy strokes. “But you can't let anger control you. It's like wind in a sail, kit. If you let it, it will blow you onto the rocks. So you have to direct it, harness it and make it work for you.”

The cat blinked and closed its mouth, its last hiss dying away.

“Good. You're learning.”

The cat's racing heart and heaving lungs slowed down under his palm. Wraith lessened the pressure against it. The cat tensed its shoulders, pushing up against Wraith's hand. Wraith pushed down again, but gently. The cat relaxed once more and so Wraith lifted his hand.

The cat remained against his chest, its claws gripping the fabric of his tunic. Wraith brought his hand back down and stroked the length of its back to its exceptionally long tail. “Now, if you want to learn how to survive out here, you need patience. I'll wager that python had been sitting there most of the day. See those slyts out there? I've been tracking them most of the night.” Wraith paused before speaking again. “Patience.”

Wraith turned and settled back into the crook of a large branch. He rested his bow across his lap. The cat looked around, realizing it was free to do what it wanted. Wraith looked away, surprised that he wanted the cat to stay.

The cat unhooked its claws from his tunic and stood on his thigh. Wraith grimaced as the cat tensed, its claws digging into his skin through the worn cloth, and then leaped. It landed gracefully on the branch below where the snake hung dead from the arrow in its skull. The cat looked up at Wraith once, then hunched down by the snake and began to gnaw at its flesh.

Wraith watched it for a while, studying the movement of its jaws as it pulled and tore at the carcass, delicately stripping away the scaly skin to get at the succulent meat underneath. He'd let the cat get its fill before carving up the rest. He'd grown to like the taste of snake since he'd been in the Lux.

With the sound of the cat chewing, Wraith returned his attention to
the clearing. More slyts arrived and joined the circle. They came in twos and threes, and it dawned on him that these were small scout patrols that had been in the valley and were now coming back with their reports.

A blur of fur and the cat was on his lap. It looked up at him as if to say,
The
snake's all yours
, then curled up in a ball and began licking its paws.

Wraith reached down and gently ruffled the cat's fur. The cat looked up at him, then went back to licking. A new group of slyts arrived, but this time coming down from the mountain. Wraith leaned forward.
I'll be damned. It's a shift change
. The first group of slyts rose from their circle and greeted the new group. The numbers appeared to be about the same. They talked briefly and then split, the original group heading up the mountain, the new arrivals heading back down into the valley.

Tracking the slyts farther up the mountain crossed his mind, but he quickly killed it. He'd found out a significant piece of information that the army should know about. His duty now was to get back to Iron Fist. He looked down at the cat and nudged it with his hand.

The cat hissed and buried its head in its paws. Wraith nudged it again. “Sorry, but I have to go.”

The cat dug its claws into Wraith's leg and got up, arching its back as it did so. It turned and looked Wraith in the eyes, and for a moment he thought it might pounce, but the cat hissed one more time and then bounded to another branch and disappeared into the shadows. Wraith watched it go, rubbing his thigh as he did. He forgot about the python and quickly shimmied down the tree, putting his boots back on at the bottom.

He stood up and stretched and the cat landed on his shoulder, hissing. Wraith spun around and reached for the cat but it was already bounding away. An arrow meant for Wraith's head hit the trunk of the tree in front of him. Wraith dove toward the shot, pulling his hunting knife from its sheath and slashing at the shadows. His knife hit something solid and warm liquid splashed his hand.

His momentum took him forward and he crashed into the slyt, and both fell to the ground. Wraith pulled his knife from its chest and drove it under the slyt's jaw, severing the large vein there. Blood gushed into Wraith's face and he leaned back, wiping at his eyes with his free hand.

The slyt made a gurgling sound, then lay still. Wraith gasped, his heart
pounding. He looked around, expecting dozens of slyts to come pouring out of the trees, but none did. Knowing that every flick he didn't move brought him one flick closer to being found, he sheathed his knife, retrieved his bow, and, grabbing the body by its tunic, lifted it up onto his shoulder and carried it into the jungle. He walked several hundred yards before finally setting it down.

In the little bit of light coming through the leaves, he studied the slyt. He was young, probably just a teen, but he'd heard they lived longer than men, so who knew. He wore a uniform—tunic and trousers—made of a dark green fabric that felt like cotton. A simple rope belt, a bow, a quiver, and a small hunting knife were his only items. It occurred to Wraith that this had to be the slyt who had almost seen him earlier. And like Wraith, he had decided to go out hunting alone.

Wraith sat on his haunches, staring at the body. He'd have to leave it here. He stood up and kicked some leaves over it and walked away.