Read The Hungering Flame Online

Authors: Andrew Hunter

The Hungering Flame (26 page)

BOOK: The Hungering Flame
9.27Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Scupp grinned.

I wonder how long their air will last?


Not long enough for ‘em to grow any diggin’ claws,

Diggs snickered.

Lady Ymowyn wrinkled her snout in disgust, and Garrett felt his stomach twist inside him.


That’s enough!

Bargas said,

That tunnel came down, and dead’s dead. No call t’ dwell on it now.


Yeah,

Warren said, his eyes falling,

dead’s dead.

Chunnley hastily changed the subject.

Baked this for you, special, Master Garrett,

he said. The brown-furred ghoul held out a round bun, glazed with honey.


Thanks,

Garrett said, taking it. Something in the scent of it caught in his throat. He looked up at Chunnley.

The old ghoul smiled.

I know your folks would want to be here… and I thought, maybe this would sorta be like they were.

Garrett took a bite. He closed his eyes and breathed in the memory of his father’s bakery. For one fleeting moment, he was standing in the hallway outside the kitchen. He could almost hear them talking. The memory of his parents flickered like shadows in his mind’s eye, and then they were gone.


Thank you,

Garrett said, opening his eyes again.

Chunnley nodded.


I think I want to sit down for a bit,

Garrett said,

I’m still kinda tired.

The others smiled and wished him well. He walked away as they returned to their conversations. He choked back a terrible homesickness that wrung his heart like the grip of a cold fist.

He found a spot in the shadows at the far end of the hall and sat down on a crate to watch the party from a distance. He slowly picked apart the remains of the honey bread, finding no more joy in the taste of it.

He looked up at the approach of Cenick who held out a cup to him.


No, thank you,

Garrett said,

I don’t really like wine.


It’s only water, Garrett,

Cenick said.


Oh... thanks,

Garrett said, taking the wooden cup and sipping from it.

Cenick sat down beside him on the crate. After a moment, he spoke,

You’ve always felt like an outsider among us, Garrett, but you’re not.


I know,

Garrett said,

I mean, I know it shouldn’t matter, being different, but it does, doesn’t it?

Cenick nodded.

Sometimes it matters.


I wish I could be stronger... I wish...


You wish you were someone else,

Cenick said with a shrug,

Then be someone else, if you want, but he will still be you inside… I doubt my ancestors would recognize me now. The great river has forgotten my name, but I still hear her song in my heart sometimes.

Cenick lowered his face.

Do you remember your parents?

he said.


I can’t remember their faces anymore,

Garrett said, wiping his eyes with the back of his sleeve.


Don’t be afraid, Garrett,

he said,

Our ancestors wait for us in our dreams. They just can’t see into the shadows where we now walk.


I’m sick of living in the shadows!

Garrett said.


Then you’ve found no beauty in the darkness?

Cenick said, looking sideways at Garrett.

Garrett looked across the room to where Marla still sat, watching Max and Serepheni dance. He hung his head.


We can never go back to what we had before Garrett.


Then what do we have to look forward to?


Whatever comes next, and whatever is now,

Cenick said,

That is all any man ever has... this moment, nothing more.

Garrett wiped his eyes dry, wincing as he rubbed against a half-healed bruise. He watched the way that Marla twisted a strand of dark hair around her finger as she talked. He watched the way her lips cur
v
ed when she smiled at something Claude said. He watched the way the light shimmered in her eyes.


Ask her, Garrett,

Cenick said.


What if she says no?

Garrett asked, looking at his friend.

Cenick flashed a crooked grin.

It will hurt… a great deal,

he said,

but what if she says yes?

Garrett smiled. He stood up, straightening his robe.

I’ve had worse,

he whispered.

He strode, stiff-legged, straight across the room to where Marla sat. Her eyes lifted to meet him, her beauty eclipsing the warning in Claude’s dark look.


Marla,

Garrett said, extending his hand,

would you like to dance?

Her smile burned away the shadows in his heart.


I’d love to, Garrett.

End of Book
Two
of The
Songreaver's Tale

Garrett’s adventures will continue in Book T
hree
.

####

Discover other works by Andrew Hunter at
Freemancer.com

BOOK: The Hungering Flame
9.27Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

Herald of Death by Kingsbury, Kate
Trace of Innocence by Erica Orloff
Men in the Making by Bruce Machart
3 Loosey Goosey by Rae Davies
Antiques Disposal by Barbara Allan
Into the Blue by Robert Goddard
The Rose of Sarifal by Paulina Claiborne
The Adept Book 2 The Lodge Of The Lynx by Katherine Kurtz, Deborah Turner Harris