Ajiwiak: The Wildfire Cycle: Volume 3 by D. P. Woolliscroft

Author:D. P. Woolliscroft [Woolliscroft, D. P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Fantasy, Contemporary, Epic, Historical
ISBN: 9798985132014
Google: oq27zgEACAAJ
Publisher: David Woolliscroft
Published: 2021-12-15T19:37:33.241693+00:00

CHAPTER 32

THE MOTHER TREE

It was only early evening, the sun probably still up on the other side of the mountain, but it’s light had long since been lost behind the peak. Ajiwiak was cast in shadow, except for lanterns in the windows of homes.

Kyle led them from their borrowed home and Neenahwi was thankful that there had not been any guard posted. Janaab must have spoken true when she said that she trusted her. There was little remorse felt that Neenahwi was proving that feeling to be false. She’d been in two minds whether to follow this hunch or not; after all, it could end in them getting lost in the mountain, or trapped before their prize, or that the Treeminder wouldn’t listen to her. Those consequences could be dire. But then, she realized that there was no option. They were alone on the far side of Alfaria on their own. Her people needed help and the odds were stacked against Motega, no matter what he did to actually push Pyrfew from this land. Her back was against the wall, and that made her dangerous.

They dashed silently through the streets in spurts. From shadow to shadow, staying below windows and taking care when passing the doors to other homes that their feet did not sound suspicious. There were passageways into the mountain every few hundred yards and though she had no idea where they were going—every tunnel looked the same to her—she trusted Kyle explicitly in this regard. The tunnels were dark and Kyle immediately called a halt. He lined everyone up against the wall, and had them place their hand on the shoulder of the person in front.

“No lights. No blades. Trust my eyes,” he whispered. She nodded not knowing whether he could see. He positioned her at the back, probably in the hope that she could do something if they were followed, but that went unsaid.

They couldn’t go fast but Neenahwi still had no way of keeping track of where they went after the first couple of bends. There were twists and turns, ups and downs. Occasionally, they saw light at the end of a passage, sometimes it was someone passing by, other times she could only assume that people lurked around a corner. Their dwarf, and his eyes accustomed to the dark, avoided any sight of the citizens of Ajiwiak. Until they reached one tunnel, and, visible by the light of his lantern, there was a man gently chipping away at the wall with hammer and chisel, the dark of another tunnel apparent nearby. They stopped and moments later, Kyle was pulling at her sleeve to whisper in her ear.

“I know him. Good carver. Works late. Can you do anything?” he asked in a whisper.

She was grateful that he had the good sense to ask her and not Fin, who was right behind him. Neenahwi was sure the assassin could have taken care of the problem quite easily, but in a much more permanent way than she hoped to do.

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