The Dreaming Hunt (40 page)

“What do you know of these adventurers?” the tall paxan woman, Jewelin Palos, asked.

Marikeen shrugged. “I met two of them in the slave market. One, a human girl, called herself Raina. She fairly crackled with magic. If she's not an arch-mage, then I'm a goblin. She had with her a kindari bodyguard. Anton ranted about another, a human calling himself Will Cobb. Apparently, he is notable only for a strange piece of wood grown into his chest. A Tribe of the Moon–marked lizardman girl and a gypsy Heart member rounded out the party. And, of course, my brother, Eben, ran with them.”

“You've a brother?” That was Keegan Stonefist. He was a dwarf, and as his name indicated, in place of one of his hands he had a carved stone piece in the shape of a fist. “Is he a mage also?”

“Not Eben,” she answered with a touch of big-sister scorn.

“Has he got any special talents, then?” Stonefist pressed.

“Hard to tell. His stoneskin glitters a bit, which is unusual, and he can hold it for longer than most jann.” She'd long suspected there was more to her brother than met the eye, but she did not yet know this group well enough to share that with them. Perhaps if they proved trustworthy, she would find a way to draw Eben into this organization with her.

“Humph,” the dwarf grumbled in disappointment.

Richard Layheart spoke from over by the window. “An arch-mage could be interesting. I haven't seen one of those in a long while. What kinds of magic does she cast?”

“Anton was livid that she healed half of Dupree during the riots right before he was ousted. She's a spirit caster.”

There was a collective nose wrinkling throughout the chamber. Healing magic wasn't anywhere near as interesting as the more dangerous magics.

“Thank you for sharing with us, Marikeen. Welcome to our group, and I shall look forward to seeing where your talents develop in the coming years.”

Years? She had no interest in waiting
years
to develop her elemental magics further. She pasted on a smile nonetheless and nodded politely at the human. At least they'd taken that cursed slave mark off her face. She would find a way to convince them to teach her the rare and forbidden spells she craved knowing, and sooner rather than later.

The chamber's door opened with a crash, and a flamboyantly dressed human burst in carrying something large in his arms. The object was heavy based on how the man staggered a little under its weight.

“Look what we have found!” the man announced. “I told you taking over this place and searching it would yield treasure.”

“What have you got there, Bogatyr?” Layheart asked with interest.

“Carved nullstone. And there's magic upon it.” With a crash and a great puff of dust, the brightly dressed man dropped his load on the table.

Wedge shaped, it was made of some shiny black stone shot through with streaks of gold. Its face was dominated by a large runic symbol. Three arcs of odd, writing-like scribbles passed across its face, as well. Based on how the arcs went right to the edge of the piece and seemed to stop mid-etching, Marikeen surmised this was but part of a larger carving.

Based on the size and shape of this piece, and guessing the whole carving to be some kind of circle, the original piece would have been several feet across.

“Detect the magics upon it,” Bogatyr demanded. “I can practically taste the power of it.”

Layheart placed his hand over the rune-like shape on the stone, and magic leaped from his fingers. “Ritual magic,” he announced eagerly. “Ancient. Powerful.” The others crowded forward hungrily.

“What kind of magic?” Jewelin asked impatiently. She looked near ready to slap away her superior's hand and detect the magics for herself.

Layheart answered, “Too old to differentiate a specific path. The magic is fractured, like this stone. The original spell upon the original stone must have been a thing to behold.”

Stonefist piped up. “Since when do lizardmen cast the kind of magic you describe? They can barely read.” The dwarf stroked the stone lightly, and a look of ecstasy entered his eyes.

“Unless that is an ancient form of their writings upon the stone,” Jewelin commented. She ran a fingertip lightly over the carvings, and a shudder passed through her. Marikeen did not know whether to stare at the alien shapes on the rock or to be utterly fascinated by the greed with which these mages regarded the magics upon it. They seemed almost addicted to the magic.

Layheart declared, “Let us continue to excavate the tunnels under this place and see what else we may find. Mayhap more of those wedges are to be found.” An anticipatory sigh of pleasure passed through the assemblage.

Bogatyr nodded briskly. “I will put my men to work on it right away.”

Marikeen stared down at the stone, intrigued herself by the magic resonating from it. Stone magic was not her specialty, but even she could tell the magics before her did not originate within the stone itself. Some other being had imbued the stone with power so strong and deep that it had lasted far beyond the usual life span of such energy. It resonated deeply, drawing her to it.

Yes, she had made the right decision to cast her lot in with this group. Lust for more knowledge of magic like this pulsed through her. She was sick and tired of playing the dutiful good girl. It was high time and more that she finally stretched her wings and tested the limits of her talent for magic.

*   *   *

Rynn had informally been elected to take point as the party traveled into the wilds, which was fine with him. He was skilled enough at tracking to follow the trail that had been laid for them. Sha'Li was the best countertracker by far in the party, and she needed to bring up the rear, checking to make sure that they left no obvious trail for anyone else to follow.

Not that he expected to be followed out here. They had truly walked into the wilderness. Once the Circle Road and Shepard's Rest had disappeared behind them, so did all vestiges of the Kothite Empire. He hadn't felt this free, this safe, in a very long time. In celebration, he removed his headband with relish and stuffed it in his belt pouch.

As his sight normalized, the colors and energies that lay outside the range of his two-eyed vision leaped into view, and the world came alive around him in vivid clarity, tone, and depth. His stride lengthened and he breathed more deeply, finally able to be fully himself once more.

He topped a rise in the terrain just as a copse of trees thinned and opened up before him without warning. He stopped to take in the vast panorama at his feet. Undulating, golden grassland led into a broad swath of dark green velvet in the distance as forest resumed across the wide valley.

“Stars, that's pretty,” Raina commented from beside him.

He smiled down at her, and she blinked back owlishly as if something had temporarily blinded her.

Will halted on his other side. “Sun will be going down soon. It's going to be right in our eyes if we try to cross that valley now. Not to mention, that's a pretty steep drop in front of us, and the stone looks loose. We'll need to find an easier way down. Maybe we should call it a day and make camp here for the night. We did trek a good portion of last night, after all. And Rosana looks like she's wilting.”

Interesting pair, Will Cobb and the gypsy girl. Sometimes, when they were together and he wasn't quite looking straight at them, Rynn fancied that he saw a faint glow between them. Tinged with a hint of green, he attributed it to that strange disk affixed to Will's chest.

The young man was clearly smitten with Rosana, and she was just as besotted with Will. He wished them luck finding happiness, although he expected fireworks aplenty awaited the pair before they found any measure of peace. Both of them were passionate souls, and he sensed that Will was prone to darker fits of temper than he let on. Maybe one day he could convince Will to try meditating with him. It would benefit the hotheaded youth.

Rynn had long counted himself lucky that his studies took so much of his time and energy, leaving him none free to pursue personal, intimate love in all its messy forms and complications. He chose, rather, to observe and appreciate everyone and everything, to seek and find beauty wherever he found it. To be in the world, but not of it.

“I think we should keep moving,” Eben declared. “Kendrick is close by and waiting for us to find him.”

“Certain of this we are not,” Sha'Li replied. “Far away he may lie this night. Only hope we can that in the right direction we travel.” Her tone was surprisingly gentle.

The lizardman girl was an interesting soul, although she'd seemed troubled of late. More withdrawn than usual if that was possible. Unfortunately, he didn't know her well enough to ask her about what was bothering her. Still, she was a good sort. Far kinder and more generous than most humans believed her kind capable of.

That white Tribe of the Moon mark was a dead giveaway to her true nature. He would lay odds it had to do with healing or spiritual connection—maybe something to do with repairing the Urth and restoring balance to living things.

Mayhap sometime he could ask Sha'Li for more information about the Tribe. What little he knew of its patron and founder, Lunimar, was that he was a greater being associated with the Moon's energies. Said to be the brother of the Green Lady, he was described as an avid protector of nature and creator of were-creatures.

Eben made a low sound of protest as the others chimed in with votes to stop for the night. The pain in the jann youth's voice struck Rynn sharply. Such agony was hard for anyone to bear without breaking. Perhaps Eben would benefit from a dream walk. If he were to lay down a few of his cares in the dream realm and leave them behind for a space of time, the young man might regain enough strength to bear the burden of his losses with more equanimity.

And then there was Raina, who'd confessed to him a few days ago that she was hearing voices inside her head and that they were starting to bother her. He'd promised to take a look with his special mental powers, but they hadn't had a calm enough moment since then for him to do so. He wondered if the murmurs in her mind were some sort of side effect of the massive amounts of magic she was capable of drawing to herself.

There was so much more he could do for all of them if they would only trust him. But he understood that things such as trust and friendship could not be forged instantly. He had to let them unfold naturally. Tomorrow morning, he would meditate on patience as he performed his martial exercises.

Eben's objections overruled, the party set about preparing camp with impressive efficiency. They had obviously done this many times together. He was relegated to hunting for small game to add a bit of meat to their evening meal. Sunset became twilight, and twilight became the gloaming before he returned to camp with two fat rabbits, skinned and dressed out, ready for roasting.

“There you are, Rynn,” Raina commented. “I was getting ready to send the Imperial Army out after you.”

It was nice to know they missed him when he was gone overlong. He handed over the rabbits and helped Eben rig a pair of forked sticks on each side of the fire. They placed his rabbits, threaded onto stout, green sticks, across the hot coals. The evening grew cool, stars began to twinkle in the gaps in the leaves overhead, and the savory scent of roasting hare filled the air. The moment was just about perfect.

With only a single crash of breaking branches as a warning, a great beast burst out of the trees and was practically on top of the fire before Rynn could gain his feet. The others fell backward off their logs and scrambled to draw weapons as the giant hound set up an earsplitting howl of rage. Another bound and the beast was crouching, preparing to leap over the fire directly at him.

It was a dog, but unlike any Rynn had ever seen. It was huge, and massive jaws displayed great rows of teeth. The beast had to weigh at three times what a grown man would and stood chest high to Rynn, who was not a small man himself. The beast's coat was light brown, short, and coarse, his hide flecked with foam from his huge jowls.

The beast's face was black, but it was the creature's eyes that Rynn could not tear his gaze away from. They glowed from within with preternatural intelligence. And the beast's stare was locked directly on his third eye, never wavering for an instant as the giant dog eyed him ferociously.

“That's an Imperial hound!” Raina cried.

Frantically, Raina cast a spell at Rynn that slammed into his skin, burning as it raced across his body. He flinched as the beast sprang into arcing flight and
passed right through him
. What on Urth? Rynn looked down in shock only to see that his body had lost its solid, corporeal form. Ahh. Quick thinking, that. She'd cast a spirit form spell on him.

More crashing erupted around them, and three more similar beasts burst into the clearing. As one, they leaped for Eben, backing the jann against a tree, surrounding him in a mass of snarling, snapping jaws.

Frowning, Raina cast a spirit form over the waist-high backs of the beasts at the jann. His change from corporeal to non-corporeal had no effect on the vicious creatures, however. The beasts seemed completely uninterested in the rest of the humanoids in the clearing, all their ferocity directed at Eben.

“If psionic hounds those be, why do they go not after Rynn?” Sha'Li called out.

“Those are not psionic hounds,” Rynn replied. “Trust me. I have good reason to know what those beasts act like. Were they psi-hounds, they would already be tearing me limb from limb and consuming my flesh for their supper.”

“What are they, then?” Will demanded.

“Elemental hounds,” Raina answered abruptly. “One of the soldiers back at the inn mentioned them. Where is their hunter?”

As if on cue, a man emerged from the trees. Rynn and the others whirled to face him. He wore a black tabard with a red torch insignia embroidered in fancy threads over his heart. The man's eyeballs were covered in a milky film where irises and pupils should be.