The Namer of Spirits by Todd Mitchell

Author:Todd Mitchell [Mitchell, Todd]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781945654831
Publisher: Owl Hollow Press, LLC

They traveled for most of the morning, until Ipé told them to stop. The mistcats were panting, and the two Ipé and Jerrah rode looked skinnier. Balance Keeper wasn’t as big anymore, either.

“There’s too much sunlight for the mistcats,” said Ipé.

Ash slid off Balance Keeper’s back and studied the trees overhead. Ipé was right—more light filtered down in this area, burning off the morning mist. The trees weren’t as thick or as tall as they’d been, and less moss grew between the upper branches.

When she’d first entered the cloud forest, she’d thought it was all the same—just trees, moss, and ferns. Now she saw that the plants growing here were different from the ones in more shaded parts of the forest. And the trees, though still large, were smaller than the ones the dao fora lived in. Because the trees held less moss, they collected less moisture from the clouds, and less water rained down. Some of the trees had turned brown and were losing leaves.

The forest here seemed sick. Ash hadn’t realized it before because she’d never seen what a healthy forest looked like. Now that she knew how big and lush the trees deeper in the forest could be, she could see how much the trees here suffered from the drought.

She turned back to Balance Keeper. The mistcat had moved into a patch of shade. Jerrah and Ipé had already dismissed their mistcats.

Ash put her hand on Balance Keeper’s forehead. She pictured the trees around her becoming lush and healthy again, like the trees deeper in the forest.

The mistcat lowered her head, seeming to understand her vision. Then she crouched, and leapt into a nearby tree, fading as she returned to the depths of the forest.

“We’ll have to walk the rest of the way,” said Jerrah.

Puppy was already running ahead, sniffing leaves and chasing after squirrels. I smell fish! This way!

Ash situated Wayfarer firmly on her shoulders and hurried after Puppy. They walked down a ravine and followed the stream back to the riverbank.

Puppy spotted Tavan first. He ran up to him, tail wagging. Obviously, he’d decided that Tavan was okay.

“Fen!” Tavan dropped the hide he’d been stitching and ran to his son. “Thank the stars, you’re alive!” He scooped Fen up and hugged him tightly.

For several seconds Fen dangled like a rag doll. Gradually, he lifted his arms and hugged Tavan back.

“I thought I’d lost you,” said Tavan.

Ash marveled at all the emotions that crossed Tavan’s face. There was anger that Fen had gone away, and joy that he’d come back, coupled with a fierce protectiveness. But most of all, there was love. She’d never seen so much love, plainly expressed. He alternated between hugging his son, kissing his head, and scolding him for running off. The more Tavan hugged his son, the more Fen appeared to become himself again.

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