Memories of Fire by Robert Stanek

Author:Robert Stanek [Stanek, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Reagent Press

Chapter 11

“Wake up,” Ærühn said, nudging Vilmos.

Vilmos opened his eyes and looked up at the iceman. It seemed he’d just barely put his head to the ground, but bright fires burning in the heavens indicated it was perhaps what passed for morning in this strange, dark land. He sat up, startled when he found the camp was empty.

“Where are the others?” he said. “Why didn’t they wake us? Why didn’t we hear them leave?”

Ærühn picked up the empty bottle at his feet and shook it. “I don’t know. The wine, maybe. Everyone was gone when I awoke.”

Vilmos reached for his pack and sword, which had been beside him when he went to sleep, only to find them missing. He jumped up. “My sword, gear. They’ve taken everything.” He paused, hung his head. “We’re never going to find my father or get our answers at this rate.”

“More than everything,” Ærühn said, pointing. He was about to throw the bottle away, but thought better of it and looped it through his belt. “Leria’s gone too, but they’ve left a trail heading out of the trees. We have to move quickly.”

Vilmos couldn’t discern a trail, but then he was no tracker. He reached out to Warbær and shook the bear awake. “Leria?” he said to the iceman. “What would they want with her? They wouldn’t hurt her, would they? You said there was no safer place.”

Although their saddles were stowed near the gate, that didn’t stop Ærühn with jumping onto Lilbær’s back. “I know what I said. I told you they were tricksters too. But if they wanted to harm us or her, we wouldn’t have awoken—ever.”

“What of the one Nash spoke of? Do you know who he was talking about?”

“If Nash and his serve anything, it’s nothing good.”

Vilmos swallowed hard, then pulled himself up onto Warbær’s back. Bear fur was much more slippery than he ever imagined and the only thing that saved him from slipping right back off were his hands wrapped around the bear’s neck.

“Not much different than with a saddle. Grip with your legs, steady yourself with a hand or two if necessary,” Ærühn said, before setting off.

Just before waking Vilmos had been dreaming, but now everything he envisioned had fallen so far away he couldn’t even remember what the dream was about. The only thing he was certain of was that it hadn’t been pleasant, for he vaguely recalled tossing and turning.

“Away,” he commanded. As Warbær sprang into action, he tried his best to maintain his position using his legs and hands.

The trail led the two deeper and deeper into the forest, with Ærühn using his keen sight to follow its every twist and turn while Vilmos rode alongside him. In the pale light, the strange black-barked trees and their blood red leaves looked more like brushstrokes from a bizarre painting than anything that was truly real.

At the first stream they came to, Ærühn filled the bottle with water and they paused just long enough to quench their thirst.

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