Ikoria by Django Wexler

Author:Django Wexler [Wizards Of The Coast]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Publishing
Published: 2020-04-07T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Five

They camped for the evening in the lee of a massive boulder, sheltered from the wind.

Lukka camped, in any event. He was the only one who seemed to care about niceties like a tent and a campfire. Vivien just settled herself against the rock, drawing her cloak tighter around her, while the three bonders huddled up with their monsters for warmth and shelter from the elements.

Lukka eyed the winged cat, who was curled into a ball a little ways off. Her fur did look warm and inviting, but the thought of tucking himself into it still turned his stomach. He couldn’t help but see the fangs and claws, too, and remember the sound of tearing flesh as the cat had ripped out Gedra’s throat, the casual shake with which she had broken Nik’s neck. The Ozolith may have sent her toward Drannith, but she’s still a monster.

He stuck with his tent, a little island of humanity in the midst of the strangeness all around him. Even the trail rations he’d gotten from the outpost—so tough and flavorless there were a dozen marching songs about their awfulness—seemed like a reminder of home. He chewed, patiently, as the color slipped out of the sky and the stars came out, one by one.

I’ll make it back. There has to be a way. They were moving quickly, at least. By tomorrow, according to Brin, they’d reach the Ozolith. Lukka was increasingly certain he could feel the crystal formation, or at least sense it through his connection to the winged cat. It was like a voice at the back of his mind, too quiet to make out but never entirely silent.

Whether it was this supernatural distraction or simple nerves, he found it difficult to sleep. After an hour or so of fitfully tossing and turning in his tent, Lukka kicked off his blanket and pulled on his boots. Maybe a walk will quiet my mind.

The fire had long since burned to embers, and a river of stars wheeled overhead. The four monsters were mounds of shadow, sides rising and falling with their breath. They were quiet, but Lukka didn’t fool himself that he was unobserved. Ears twitched at his footsteps, and a huge, slit-pupil eye eased open a fraction.

More surprising was the fact that Vivien wasn’t in the rocky nook where he’d left her. Lukka glanced around and eventually spotted her slim silhouette atop the boulder, leaning back on her hands and staring up at the stars. He climbed up after her, boots scraping on the stone, and she turned to him as he shuffled over beside her.

“Couldn’t sleep?” she said.

“No.” Lukka looked up at the sky, the fine diamond dust of stars broken here and there by dark clouds. “Are they the same?”

“Hmm?”

“The stars. Are they the same on every plane?”

“Oh, no.” Vivien chuckled. “Sometimes they’re colored like a rainbow. Sometimes they move, every night, as though they were giant fireflies.”

“You’re making fun of me,” Lukka said.

“I’m not,” Vivien said, solemnly. She sat up and crossed her legs.

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