The Dreamer's Curse (Book 2) (13 page)

“Ready, sweetling,” Master assured her calmly.

Taking a breath, and casting a fervent prayer up toward the
heavens that this would work, she leaned forward and placed the chisel in the
mortar between two stones. Raising her hammer, she hit the chisel squarely.

In the next second, a strong force threw her backward,
knocking her directly into the wolf. Her breath escaped her lungs in a
whoosh
but she didn’t go far. Hinun had braced himself and caught her body weight,
preventing her from doing anything more than losing her balance.

She blinked, shaking her head slightly to clear it, and
looked up. Master and Sarsen’s faces were strained with clenched jaws and brows
furrowed, the charms in their hands flaring and burning in white light as they
activated. Clearly, the fountain’s shield tested both of their magical
strength. But it didn’t last for more than a few moments. As quickly as it had
flared up, it died back down again, leaving no sign that anything had occurred.
Even her attempt to chisel at the mortar hadn’t left a single scratch behind.

Curse it.

With a pat of thanks to Hinun’s back, she pushed herself to
her feet. “That was a spectacular failure.”

Master let his arms relax to his sides. “But it does answer
our question. The shield protects from
all
interference, magical and
otherwise. We are going to have to do this the hard way.”

“Master,” Sarsen requested in weary resignation, “Why do you
grin like a delighted child when you say that?”

“I like scavenger hunts!” Master protested, smile becoming
outright impish.

Sevana looked at that expression and groaned. This would
turn out to be a long, long day.

Sevana landed roughly on her right side and skidded slightly
on the ground, sharp pointy things pricking her and scratching even through the
clothes. With a hiss of pain she finally fetched to a stop against a very wide
tree trunk that slammed into her back. It knocked the air right out of her
lungs and she gasped, eyes going dark for a moment.

For several long moments she just lay there gasping for
breath. Alive? She must be. She was in too much pain to be dead. As she got her
breath back, she took mental stock. Her skin sent up pain signals from the
scratches—for purely superficial wounds, they were putting up quite the
fuss—back aching right down to the bones from the trunk digging into her, her
whole right side complaining in general. But none of it seemed serious enough
to prevent her getting up and moving.

She’d been transported.
She’d been TRANSPORTED.
In
the dead of night, just like all the other villagers! Sweet mercy, even though she’d
taken precautions against something like this happening, she wasn’t remotely
happy about being dumped outside in the middle of the night!

Something wet and slightly smelly touched her face.
Flinching back from it instinctively, she looked up, forcing her eyes to focus.
Black. Black and…gold eyes. Eh?

“Hinun, did you come with me?” Granted, he’d been sleeping
with her, but—

Hinun let out a soft huff and nosed her again, this time
getting her cheek nice and wet with slobber.

“UGH, off!” Pushing him away, she wiped at her face and
struggled to sit up. It hurt more than expected, but not enough for it to be
from broken bones. She’d probably have quite the pattern of black and blue
bruises to show though. Sitting upright, she leaned her back against the trunk
and took a good look around.

Her heart abruptly sank. Not a single thing looked remotely
familiar.

Sevana traveled a great deal because of her profession and
she had been in and around the world more often than she could count. That
said, there were still areas that she’d never been to and this appeared to be
one of them. (She couldn’t see how the evil fountain would know that, but she
just knew it had somehow done this on purpose.) In every direction all she
could see were trees—large, thick, ancient trees that rose so high into the sky
that they obscured all sight of the sun. It felt like twilight in here because
of the dimness. Most of the ground had nothing but moss and boulders with a few
errant saplings here and there struggling to survive.

Where in the world had that thing sent her?

For that matter, why had she also been affected?

She turned back to the wolf that sat patiently next to her.
He didn’t seem injured in any way, as he just sat there and panted, not at all
distressed. “And how in sweet mercy’s name did you manage to follow me here?”

He leaned forward and bit her sleeve in a demonstrative
manner before pulling back.

“You grabbed me?” she repeated in shock. “Why? Trying to
prevent me from going?”

Hinun let out a soft huff.

Incredible. Just how sensitive was he to magic that he could
feel the spell building and react
that
quickly? Maybe she should look
into getting a wolf of her own—oh wait. She couldn’t. She had a cat. A useless
one at that.

She used the trunk behind her as a support as she pushed her
way to her feet. Her body sent signals of
don’t do that!
She ignored
them and kept moving. “Hinun, can you smell people anywhere nearby? Fire or
food being cooked, anything like that?” It would at least give them a
destination for now, and once she knew where they were, she could call for
help. Useless to do so now—the first question they’d ask would be “Where are
you?” and Sevana hated the words
I don’t know
with a passion.

Hinun lifted his nose in the air and started sniffing, his
head swiveling this way and that as he sought a scent. He did this for a good
minute before he stepped forward a few feet, sniffing harder.

“That way? You don’t look too sure of that. Too faint for
you to be certain, eh? Well, it’s as good a direction as any. Lead on.” She
fell into step behind him and they weaved their way around the massive trees.
Sevana felt about as tall and significant as an ant in this place. This
primitive, untouched forest must be at least two thousand years old. Very few
forests in Mander could boast such an age and it gave her some sort of clue on
their whereabouts.

Unfortunately, most of the forests that fit these
surroundings were in far western Kindin. It would be quite the task of fetching
her home again if she really was where she thought she was.

She couldn’t make it more than two steps before the bad
lighting forced her to light her wand with a quick spell. It hovered in front
of her forehead, lighting her path, letting her see her surroundings a bit
better. At least, it let her see where she put her feet down. The massive
trunks of the trees blocked her light from penetrating more than a short
distance in any direction. Sevana judged it to be pre-dawn, but she couldn’t
see anything more than smatterings of the sky above her and it didn’t give her
any solid clue to the time. The grayish-blue color could belong to twilight or
just before sunrise.

In a village with a transportation artifact acting up, she
had never dared to get completely undressed, and that was to her aid right now.
She did not have shoes on, so the odd sticks and pebbles on the ground dug into
her feet, making her wince and curse. But at least she had warm trousers and a
sweater instead of a flimsy nightgown. Although she firmly intended to buy
shoes the minute she reached a town. Or village. Or a random trading post, for
that matter.

With no clock, and the sky blocked overhead, Sevana had no
way of keeping track of the time. It felt like an endless eternity before she
stepped around the last massive tree and entered what seemed to be a more
normal forest. At least here, the trees didn’t loom overhead and she could
climb one if she felt inclined to do so. The lighting also improved, mellow
sunlight filtering in through the leaves. Alright, so it looked like dawn had
arrived while she wandered aimlessly through a pitch-black forest. First good
news she’d had all night.

“Hinun? Any signs of people?”

He huffed in agreement, his pace picking up slightly.
Obviously, he had a firmer line on a scent this time.

“Good.” She followed him on aching, cold feet, trying to
avoid the obvious sticks that waited to trip her up. She missed a few of the
ones buried under a thick carpet of dry leaves, unfortunately, and got
scratched for her efforts. “From now on,” she promised herself between clenched
teeth, “I will go to sleep with my boots tied to my wrist.”

They abruptly left the forest, stepping into a wide expanse
of rolling grassland. In the near distance, she saw a thriving port town that
sat right on the edge of the water, the docks busy with ships coming and going.
Blinking to let her eyes adjust to the brighter light, she lifted one hand to
her forehead and did a slow turn, taking in everything in front of her. The
coastline turned and twisted like a snake, making a rough crescent shape until
it faded off into the far distance. To her left, she had another shoreline with
the same sort of massive trees and primitive forest like the one she had just
left.

Her heart sank. She had never been in this part of the
world, but the way the land was shaped and the landmarks she saw were
unmistakable. That thrice-cursed, gormless artifact had transported her
completely across the world! She was on the far west coast of Kindin, near
Ocean Woods. It would, in fact, take the better part of four days to fetch her
back to Chastain.

Letting her head fall back, she let out a groan. “If it
wasn’t a priceless artifact, I’d take great delight in smashing it into little
tiny pieces for this.”

Hinun let out an inquiring whine.

“It’s alright,” she assured him with a long sigh. “I know
where we are.” Digging through her pouch, she lifted her Caller out and let it
rest on her open palm. “Master.”

It didn’t even take a full second before the Caller came
abruptly alive.
“Sevana! Where are you? You’re not doing anything reckless,
are you?”

What, did he think she got out of bed at some forsaken hour
of the morning to test out a theory? “Master, I’m not in Windamere.”

The Caller went abruptly still, Master’s expression on the
white porcelain becoming set, as if he had just braced himself for the worst. “
Then
where are you
?”

“Just outside of Boscareno, near Ocean Woods,” she responded
sourly. “That thrice-cursed gadgick transported me in my sleep.”

“IT DID WHAT?!”

“We obviously didn’t find enough stones yesterday to make
any real difference.” She made a face. “Unfortunately. It would make our lives
simpler if we had.”

“Never mind that right now. Are you alright, sweetling?”

“I’ve had better nights, but I’m fine. So’s Hinun.”

Master rubbed at the bridge of his nose.
“My wolf is with
you?”

“Well, he was sleeping with me.” She shrugged. “He said he
grabbed me when he felt me abruptly shift. So he tagged along on this
adventure.”

“I suppose I am relieved to hear that, in a way. Wait,
how are you able to call me?”

“
Fortunately for all, I’ve been wrapping the strap of
my magic pouch around my wrist and sleeping with it every night since I came to
Chastain. Just in case something like this happened.” And to think last night
she had nearly not done so because she thought the danger mostly passed. Who
said that paranoia didn’t pay off?

“Good thinking on your part. Alright. I shall come to get
you.”

After the night she just had, she had absolutely no desire
to come up with some way of transporting herself back. Her farsee glasses were
back in Chastain, laying on the table. The nearest clock she had was in
Tavaris, far south of here, and it would take the better part of two days to
get to it by conventional means of travel. (In other words, the foul beasts
known as horses.) And she didn’t even want to think about how troubling it
would be to go into a major city with a wolf in tow. “Fine. I’ll be here.”

The Caller went still in her hands. Blowing out a breath,
she looked down at Hinun and said, “Shoes first. And then let’s find breakfast,
shall we?”

~ ~ ~

They actually ended up eating breakfast first, as neither
she nor Hinun had the desire to shop on an empty stomach. Fortunately, food
stalls didn’t care if their patrons were shoed or not. But after that, they
went on a shopping spree of sorts based upon the funds in her wallet. Something
else she had prepared for, in the (un)likely event of her being transported,
was having the means necessary to return. She’d placed a goodly amount of
money, a spare wand, and a few charms into her magical pouch. From there, she
could finance her stay in the town and buy some necessary clothes. Her own were
rather wrecked after last night’s events.

She could always work a small, local job or fulfill some
task posted on the town’s job request board if she ran low on money, but it
proved unnecessary to worry. Boscareno didn’t have much size to it, as it
primarily served as a stop for sailors and traders after sailing around Kitra
Isle. The docks, in fact, made up most of the town, and taverns, bars,
restaurants and a few tradesmen shops made up the rest. In the course of
walking down the main street and finding a clothing store, she saw three bar
fights that tumbled out into the open road, one robbery, and one attempted
murder. To label this place as ‘lawless’ would be putting it mildly. Thank
mercy Hinun had come along with her. With a gigantic wolf trotting along at her
side, no one quite dared to mess with her.

Because of the town’s makeup, and its rough clientele, none
of the rooms at the inns proved to be very expensive. In fact, it only took her
three tries to find a decent inn with clean bedding and a good price. She could
stay here, eat well, and be comfortable while waiting on Master without even
being in danger of running through all her money. If she had to be transported
willy-nilly to some foreign place, Sevana guessed Boscareno wasn’t half-bad all
in all.

She took a quick bath and changed into her new clothes. By
that time, her stomach started rumbling for lunch, so she and Hinun went out
again. The inn might have decent beds, but judging from the slightly repulsive
smell emanating from the kitchen, she would need to find her meals elsewhere.

Hmm, now, where to eat? Another street vendor? That had
proven to be surprisingly good food this morning. She wouldn’t be averse to the
idea. She’d already explored down this street, so perhaps she should go up
instead. Sevana made it all of three feet.

“What the—?!”