The Mage Heir by Kathryn Sommerlot

Author:Kathryn Sommerlot [Sommerlot, Kathryn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-03-14T22:00:00+00:00

Thirteen

Alesh’s symptoms were significantly reduced the next morning, and the group left the Rist-walker camp before dawn had completely risen over the horizon. The only send-off they received were three stony-faced members of the camp watching them depart in silence before returning to the duties of preparing the dead for the death rites.

Tatsu had expected nothing more.

Jotin led them along the side of the basin where the ground crumbled and cracked beneath the thudding of their boots, on a path far enough away that none of them could accidentally fall, but still far too close. Tatsu could peer over the edge if he craned his neck, and even that was too much. He stuck to the right side as much as he could manage as they made their way across the dirt and sand.

After the events at the camp, none of them seemed inclined to chatting, even Alesh, who had gotten most of the events secondhand once her fever had broken. But Leil stuck close to Tatsu as they walked, and after a few glances at her over his bad shoulder, Tatsu finally said, “I’m sorry about my bluntness yesterday. I was rude to you.”

“You were anxious,” Leil replied, and her mouth twisted to the side. “We all were.”

“Still, I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”

“And I shouldn’t have questioned Yudai’s actions with such…” She trailed off and didn’t finish, but Tatsu thought he could probably fill in the blank: disgust, perhaps, or horror. He snuck a glance at Yudai, walking a few paces ahead, who didn’t appear to be listening to the conversation.

“Sometimes the right choices are also the worst ones,” Leil said, and at least she lowered her voice, as if she had followed Tatsu’s line of sight.

There was a lot of truth to that statement, and Tatsu thought back to his father’s cabin in the woods and the seclusion offered there, wondering if his father, too, would have thought his actions correct in the grand scheme of things.

“Maybe you’re right,” Tatsu said when the silence stretched too long and he felt he had to say something.

“Do you trust him?” Leil asked.

Tatsu stared at the back of Yudai’s head where his hair was long and unruly, the colorless ends brushing against his collar. “With my life.”

“I wish I had that kind of conviction.” Leil was twisting her hands again, and Tatsu tried not to stare at her fingers knotting together and apart. “I wish I could believe as you do that things will work themselves out.”

“You’re here, aren’t you?” Tatsu asked. “So you must believe in something.”

Leil’s expression darkened, but she said nothing further.

It was perhaps an hour before dusk that Ral broke out into a run towards the edge of the Dar-Itusk Basin, sending Tatsu’s heart plummeting down to his stomach. He shouted her name as a warning, though he needn’t have—she skidded to a stop at the side of the sheer brown cliffs and stared down at the gaping maw.

The others joined her at the edge and peered down into nothingness.

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.