Into the North by Annie Bellet

Author:Annie Bellet
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Doomed Muse Press
Published: 2017-06-23T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

After all my travels and worrying, the settlement of Greypoint was easy to find from the water. Torchlight, yellow and warm, blazed out from docks set into the black sand, guiding me in. As I rowed near, I saw both the ships my companions and I had traveled on docked at the farthest out pier and felt relief spur my aching muscles. If the ships had made it to Greypoint, so must have my companions.

Two people ran out onto the dock as I rowed in and let the boat bump the thick reed pads buffering the boats from the wood of the dock. The people were strangers to me, both winter orcs with blue skin and white hair tucked into their fur-lined cloaks. The woman started asking me questions about the boat and where two men whose names I did not recognize were. I had a sinking feeling I knew what had happened to the men, who I guessed were the original fishermen in the boat.

Fade crouched beside me with a growl, not liking the rising anger in the woman’s voice. I had no words to tell her that her people were slain on a beach to the south of the village. I wasn’t sure how I would have formed such terrible news even if I had been able to speak.

Makha and Azyrin, drawn by the loud questions, came running down the dock, calling out my name.

“She can’t speak,” Makha told the two. “She’s with us.”

“Killer,” Azyrin said, looking me over as he gently put his hands on my sore shoulders. “Thought we lost you.”

“Don’t be a numb-brain, love,” Makha said as she maneuvered around Fade’s bulk to clap my shoulder. “Would take more than a dunk in the sea to stop our Killer.”

I smiled at her as I sagged against Azyrin’s hands, relief to be among my friends draining what was left of my energy. Recognizing I was tired, my companions guided me to a huge meeting hall at the center of the village.

The warmth inside nearly bowled me over, and then Rahiel’s tiny form slammed into me.

“Killer! Thank the many gods,” she said, pulling back as she realized I was barely through the door.

“Hey you,” Drake said with a grin that didn’t quite touch his worried eyes.

They were all safe. I collapsed into one of the large wooden chairs near the central hearth and accepted a warm bowl of steaming broth. It smelled of fish and root vegetables and safety.

The hall was a giant circular room with a huge stone hearth at the center. Above it descended a copper chimney, which funneled the smoke from the blazing fire out of the building. Small lamps burned in sconces around the walls, their light glinting off two or three dozen pairs of eyes. The people of Greypoint were gathered in the hall, young and old, all watching me sip my soup.

“That boat belongs to Samov and Hibrin. How did she come by it?” the woman who had been on the dock asked, addressing Azyrin.

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