The Dragons of Bone and Dust (Tales from the New Earth Book 7) (6 page)

Unfortunately they were now trapped with nowhere
to go. The kravon, all fifty feet of it, had settled into a circling
pattern and showed no sign of losing interest in its potential meal.
And the time was ticking away.

“
Don't these things give
up eventually?” he asked Ethmira as he moved slightly on the
wide branch he was sitting on. His butt was numb.

“
Eventually, yes. In time
for us to make the rest of the trip before the portal opens? I don't
know.”

“
Great. So, any ideas?”

She didn't answer for a long moment and Simon
looked up from the patient monster to find her staring at him
speculatively.

“
What is it?” he
asked. “Do you have a plan?”

“
Perhaps. It's dangerous
and rather desperate, but we've waited long enough. If we don't get
moving soon, we won't be able to reach Dellis Varna in time.”

“
Okay, I'm game. What do
you have in mind?”

She waved at the trees around them.

“
You are light and agile.
I am an elf. Both of us can climb well. So, to get away from the
kravon, we need to climb higher; much higher. Once we are out of the
range of its eyes and nose, it will move on.”

Simon looked down at the glaring monster.

“
Are you sure? It looks
like its settled in for the long haul.”

She stood up on her branch and looked down as
well.

“
Fairly sure. The kravon
aren't clever, Simon. They are beasts, and like all beasts they will
only hunt prey if there is prey to be had. If it loses sight of us
and can't smell us, it will leave. Probably.”

He looked at her skeptically but nodded agreeably.

“
Well, let's try it then.
The clock is ticking.”

“
That it is. Very well
then, follow me. Remember to take your time and make sure of your
footing as you go.”

She began to climb and Simon followed carefully.

The old tree they were in was thick with branches
and leaves and they soon lost sight of the kravon. But as they
disappeared into the heights, the monster began hissing in rage, a
high-pitched whistling screech that made Simon shiver.

“
Are you sure that thing
can't climb after us?” he asked Ethmira, who was a dozen feet
above him.

“
I'm sure. It's much too
heavy and its rear legs are set too far back on its body. A young
kravon could climb after us, but we could shoot it long before it
reached us.”

“
That's reassuring,”
Simon said, not feeling all that reassured.

He adjusted his bow across his back and patted it
fondly. He hoped that he wouldn't have to put his skill with it to
the test.

They kept climbing, with the yowling of the kravon
still echoing up from below. Branch by branch they ascended the tree
until Simon lost track of how high they had gone. The big red and
green leaves of the tree blocked both his view of the ground below
and the sky above. If it hadn't been for the slowly fading sound of
the enraged monster, he couldn't have been sure that they were really
making any progress at all.

His arms and legs were aching and sweat stung his
eyes as Simon finally pushed through the canopy of leaves and was
blinded by bright sunlight. He raised an aching hand to shield his
eyes and squinted as he looked around.

“
Hey! We've reached the
top of the tree,” he exclaimed with delight.

Ethmira smiled at him and pointed at the tree
trunk that extended above them.

“
Not exactly. But the
high branches can't support our weight from this point upward.”

She scanned the forest and took a deep breath. Her
smile widened.

“
But we are as high as we
can be. It is lovely, is it not? Even my people rarely get to see the
forest stretched out beneath them like this.”

Simon nodded as he turned in a
slow, careful circle.

The tops of many of the trees still rose above
their heads, but even so it appeared that they were standing on an
undulating carpet of leaves that rippled and flowed with the wind
like a green ocean. The spicy scent of the foliage and the cool
breeze revived him and he could feel his fatigue draining away.

“
Gorgeous,” he
stated. “It was almost worth running into that kravon just so
we could get to see this.”

He snorted a laugh and looked at Ethmira.

“
Almost,” he
repeated.

She chuckled and then nodded at something behind
him.

“
Dellis Varna,” she
said in a more somber voice.

Simon turned carefully, holding on to a narrow
branch and checking his footing as he did so. When he saw what the
elf had staring at, he gasped in surprise.

“
Wow. It's huge.”

“
Huge and ancient, my
friend. The skills it would take to build something like that have
been lost to us. At best, we might be able to repair it. Then again,
perhaps not.”

Many miles to the north, a range of mountains
seemed to grow directly out of the forest. They stretched up and over
the trees, towering higher than anything that Simon had ever seen in
person. He imagined that the Himalayas must look like that to those
who had once traveled to Nepal to challenge them.

Thank God we don't have to climb those colossi, he
thought, feeling a little dazed.

At the base of the mountains, still looming over
the forest, was an immense structure that almost appeared to be
carved out of the ancient rock itself. Gray and faded, the towers and
walls of Dellis Varna looked like they were glowering at them from
miles away.

“
How far?” he asked
in a weak voice. He was awed by the fort.

“
On the ground? Four
hours. Up here? Too far.”

Simon looked at Ethmira, who returned his stare
grimly.

“
We have to descend again
and hope that the kravon has moved on. I can travel fairly quickly
through the treetops but even as agile as you are, my friend, you
cannot move as fast as I can. No offense intended.”

“
None taken,” he
replied with a rueful smile. “I'm well aware of my limitations,
believe me.”

“
Good. But we can take
some time to carefully move toward the fort up here, before we begin
the climb back down to the ground. It should help to lose the kravon,
in case it is more stubborn than we want it to be.”

Simon rotated his shoulders and settled his pack
more comfortably on his back. Then he pushed his bow back into
position and gave Ethmira a thumbs up.

“
Let's go then. We're
burning daylight.”

She looked at him quizzically.

“
Interesting phrase. Very
descriptive. Off we go then. Mind your footing.”

It was fairly easy to step or jump from one large
branch to the next and the pair made decent time as they moved
directly toward Dellis Varna. The sun was still high and Simon
guessed that they still had four or five hours of daylight left
before it became too dark to travel.

Every once in a while, Ethmira looked back to
check on his progress and finally, after an hour or so, stopped and
waited for Simon to catch up to her.

He hopped across a large gap and grabbed on to a
small branch to steady himself. He was breathing heavily and sweating
but the steady breeze cooled him down quickly and he felt exhilarated
by the journey. Something about leaping from tree to tree kept his
adrenaline level high and he had never felt more alive.

Probably because one misstep means a long fall to
your death, his inner voice said dryly. He ignored it.

“
How are you doing?”
Ethmira asked him. She still looked fresh and energetic, and balanced
on her branch easily.

“
Good, actually. Really
good. I'm not even tired yet.”

Simon noticed that he was speaking more quickly
than usual and the elf narrowed her eyes as she regarded him.

“
Are you sure? You
sound...strange.”

“
Sure? Sure I'm sure. I'm
as sure as I've ever been. Shouldn't I be sure? I assure you I'm
sure.”

He realized as he said it that he was speaking
gibberish and closed his mouth with a snap.

Ethmira nodded wisely.

“
As I suspected. The
collista is affecting you adversely. Blast it, I'd rather hoped you'd
have become adjusted to it by now, considering how long you've been
with us.”

Simon leaned back against the trunk of the tree he
was standing in and breathed slowly, trying to calm his mind and
think clearly.

“
Collista? What's that?
I've never heard of it.”

“
Not surprising. My
people take it for granted. We're long used to it. It is a chemical
that many of our trees exude to attract birds that then help by
feeding on insects that are attacking the trees. It has a mild
euphoric affect on us, but as I've said, we are used to it and mostly
immune to its influence. You obviously are not. Unfortunately that
means that we are going to have to descend to the ground, monsters or
no monsters. One of the side-effects of collista is confusion of the
senses. It affects depth-perception. Now, let's start heading
downward while the chemical reaction is still light.”

Damn it, Simon thought angrily. Leave it to me to
screw things up.

He crouched down, slipped a leg over the branch he
was on and slowly climbed down to another branch below it. This was
going to take a very long time.

The forest around them was getting
dark and shadows were choking the undergrowth by the time Simon and
Ethmira reached the ground. They stopped about fifteen feet up and
the elf joined Simon on the thick branch he was squatting on.

“
We'd best
make camp up here tonight,” she whispered as her eyes darting
from one tree to the next. “Even if that kravon isn't following
us, there could be others around, or other predators. The ground is
the last place we want to be caught in the darkness.”

Simon was looking around as well and
also straining his ears to pick up the slightest suspicious sound.
But the forest was quiet, with only a few distant bird calls breaking
the silence. Even the wind had disappeared.

“
What about
hunters that can climb? You've mentioned a few nasty creatures that
can do that.”

Ethmira nodded, still scanning the
area.

“
That is
true, but such animals are rare in this part of the forest. Keep an
eye open for large spiders; some of them have a mildly poisonous
bite, but other than that it is the ground-based monsters that
concern me.”

She nimbly hopped to another nearby
branch and sat down with a tired sigh. She moved so that her back was
against the large trunk of the tree, extended her legs straight out
along the branch and smiled at Simon.

“
Relax,”
she told him quietly. “It could be a long night.”

The wizard copied her and settled
onto his branch. It was surprisingly comfortable and the bark was
softer than he had assumed it would be. He shifted his pack until he
could rest against it and hung his bow from a leather tie on his
belt, next to his quiver.

The pair had stopped on the way down
to eat a quick meal of dried fruit and meat and drink some water.
Simon had noted that his euphoria had faded the lower he'd climbed
and now he was tired but his head was clear again. It was a huge
relief.

“
I may fall
off of this branch if I sleep,” he said worriedly.

Ethmira was quick to reassure him.

“
We will
take turns standing watch, if that is acceptable. You go ahead and
rest now and I will wake you in a few hours. And have no fear; I
won't allow you to fall.”

Simon thanked her and she answered
him with a wink. Then the elf settled back and began scanning the
forest from her perch.

The wizard sat back and closed his
eyes. Nervous or not, he trusted Ethmira completely. If she said that
she wouldn't let him fall, then she would not, and he allowed himself
to drift off to sleep with one less thing to worry about.

Simon woke up with someone's hand
over his mouth. Before he had a chance to struggle or make a sound,
Ethmira spoke softly into his ear.

“
Be easy, my
friend. It's me. Wake up and try to be quiet. Something is moving
beneath us.”

He nodded silently and she removed
her hand and stepped silently back to the branch she'd been standing
on when he had fallen asleep.

The wizard rubbed the sleep out of
his eyes and looked around blearily. The forest was gray in the
pre-dawn light and Simon realized guiltily that Ethmira had let him
sleep most of the night while she stood watch. He sighed and, when
she looked over at him, made a gesture upward at the lightening sky.

She seemed to understand what he
meant and just smiled and shrugged in return. Then she pointed
downward and touched her ear and he nodded and focused his attention
on the forest floor.

Something was moving in the gloom
below; something heavy that made the tree shiver slightly at each
footfall. It stopped and a low rumble of sound made goosebumps rise
on Simon's arms. It was the growl of a massive predator.