Shadow Dance by Anne Logston

Author:Anne Logston
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Fantasy - General, Epic, American Science Fiction And Fantasy, Fiction - Fantasy, Fiction, Fantasy, Fantastic fiction, General
ISBN: 9780441759903
Publisher: Ace Books
Published: 1992-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

SIX

"It already stinks," Shadow said glumly.

"Oh, Shady, it's not that bad," Donya said almost merrily, and Shadow gave her a sour look.

"Admit it, Doe," Shadow said. "You're just glad to be out of the city, taking your chances on the road again."

"Oh, really, Shadow," Donya said, scowling. "With a plague in the city and war threatening-" She stopped, shrugged, and grinned. "All right, I admit it, I'm glad to be out of the city, taking my chances. But there's no road, just this pitiful little trail."

"This is the road," Argent said, looking at the map, "such as it is. And as it's a long, smelly distance to the first shelter marked hereon, I suggest we make all haste in following it."

"All right, Shady, you're in the lead," Donya said.

"Me?" Shadow pulled her pony to a halt. "Why me?"

"Because you've been here before," Donya said patiently.

"I think I'm going to get awfully tired of hearing that," Shadow mumbled irritably. "I suppose I should be the first to disappear down a fell-beast's maw, because I've nearly been there before."

"What?" Donya said.

"Nothing," Shadow sighed. "All right, you're the leader and I'm in the lead."

"The swamp is low for this time of year," Mist said encouragingly.

"Only until it rains," Shadow said sourly. "Then the level of the swamp will rise five feet above the level of our camp, bet on it."

"Are you going to be this cheerful all the way through the swamp?" Argent asked impatiently.

"No, because we aren't going to make it that far," Shadow grumbled.

"Argent, you don't want her more cheerful," Donya warned. "When she's cheerful, she sings."

"Where should we look for this plant, this moonwort?" Mist asked, diplomatically changing the subject.

"It grows around the edges of pools, rooted in the water," Argent said. "This mud isn't wet enough. Only the young plants, before they flower, are at full potency."

"Well, this mud is wet enough to send your horse sliding," Shadow warned. "Stay on the trail, in a single line behind my horse, and for Fortune's sake don't let your horse drink out of any of the pools we pass. Some of them are deeper than they look, and sometimes they have things living in them. Big, hungry things that have a taste for elves."

"They obviously share that with the insects," Mist said unhappily, swatting at midges.

"Rub this on your skin," Argent said, tossing Mist a jar. "The smell is unpleasant, but fortunately the insects don't like it, either."

Mist opened the jar and sniffed the contents, wrinkling his nose dubiously. Several midges later, however, he surrendered and rubbed the cream over his exposed skin. The jar quickly circulated through the group.

"I see why my kinfolk abandoned this place," Farryn muttered darkly as he anointed his bronze skin with the cream. "How can one fight an enemy too small to strike with a sword?"

"With a smell that's even deadlier," Shadow chuckled. "Don't worry. There's few enough places here I'd dare to bathe, so we'd all smell this bad soon enough anyway. I already miss those bathing pools.

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