Rise of the Catalyst by Raconteur Honor

Author:Raconteur, Honor
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fiction
Publisher: Raconteur House LLC
Published: 2022-05-31T00:00:00+00:00

Twelve

I went down to the inn’s dining room with Flo, and I admit I wasn’t paying much attention to my environment. Instead, I locked on to what Sani had said to me.

A catalyst?

I didn’t know what to make of that. Before I left, I’d asked him for clarification, but he’d just patted me on the shoulder and said time would reveal it, that it was clear in my lines what I was. I only sort of understood what he meant by that last part. The energy of a person could tell me something of what they did. A mage’s lines, for instance, were wildly different from a normal human’s; they had a different power threshold about them. Sani’s lines had looked similar to my own, which was why I’d recognized a kindred spirit.

I’d noticed, however, that he hadn’t called himself a catalyst. So it wasn’t my ability alone that made him say that. The more I thought about it, the more confused I became. A Hatáli wasn’t meant to predict the future, right? It wasn’t like he was prophesying to me. Something about me made him see potential, though. I just wish I knew what.

In my line of work, I often came across very strange things I had no ready explanation for. This might be one of those times where I’d have to lay it aside and focus on the here and now. Goodness knows I had more than enough on my plate already.

Everyone else caught up with us in short order, and we ordered food to be served. We sat down after dinner that night with a map to come up with a plan. I listened carefully to Mr. Law as he explained the area to us in his slow, careful drawl.

“Only one real road to get up to Chaco Canyon,” he told us, finger tracing some route on the map. “It’s just shy of a hundred miles, so this won’t be a quick trip.”

No, that was about two days in the truck. I tucked away that thought for consideration.

“For the most part, the land between here and there is peaceful. Dry, virtually no water anywhere, but it’s a well-traveled route, so not much trouble to be found. What will cause us trouble is when we get close to Chaco Canyon.”

“That’s quite the face you’re making, Mr. Law,” Flo observed. “Is it really that troublesome up there?”

“It’s like this, Ms. McGrath. This place is lawless in the worst way. What rules is the person who owns the land. Where we’re going, Wetherill owns most of the land.” Mr. Law scratched at his head, making an unhappy sound. “I’ve never met the man, but some say he’s the devil. Some say he’s the best man they know. Bit contradictory.”

To say the least. It could be he was generous to the ones he liked and ruthless to everyone else. I’ve known many a person who was two-faced like that.

“What I do know as fact is that Wetherill owns almost every trading post in this area.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.