The Northern Approach by Jim Galford

Author:Jim Galford [Galford, Jim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, Fiction, Furry
Published: 2014-07-17T00:00:00+00:00

*

Estin woke late in the morning, when the sun had come up enough that it shone through the trees’ boughs on his face. Groaning at the intrusion on his dreams, he reached out to his side, trying to pull Feanne close again. When his hands found nothing but dirt, he opened his eyes and knew there would be no more sleep for some time. He half-expected to find her bones beside him, but there was nothing. There was little more than a matted section of ground where she had been lying.

Sitting up, Estin saw Yoska had prepared a small fire he was tending to, trying to warm a tin of tea. The gypsy was watching it intently, staring at the lip of the tin, lost in thought until he noticed Estin was awake.

Smiling consolingly, he gestured for Estin to join him. “Ah, you wake finally, yes?” the man said, poking the tin with his finger and wincing. He sucked his finger and sighed, giving Estin a little smirk. It was a welcome change from the night before, when Estin had thought Yoska would have stabbed him. “Green man is sulking in woods and complaining about his many-centuries plan, while others are out hunting for breakfast. I have gone too many days dry and thought some gypsy tea might help make headache go away.”

Estin thanked Yoska and got up, trying not to wince as his legs—and specifically, his hip—throbbed. Too many years of fighting and running were starting to take their toll on him, as were the injuries that had never fully healed. He was only ten and feeling like thirty years old. The effort of using so much magic during the evening made it far worse, and despite the last spell he had attempted, his chest burned painfully where thin lines from Feanne’s claws still bled. Touching them, he found the skin hot with infection.

“You look like I feel,” Yoska noted, tapping the tin with a cup. “Water refuses to boil. I blame this on the magic you used last night. Is gypsy legend that making zombies causes plague and seven years bad luck. I am not saying I am superstitious, but is good enough reason to blame my headache on you, yes?”

Sitting down hard, Estin could not make himself meet Yoska’s eyes. “Please don’t keep bringing it up. On’esquin will have more than enough to yell at me about. She was not a zombie…though I know she wasn’t herself. I’m sorry if it bothered you.”

“Yes, yes, the green man gets very grumpy about this. I think you need good news to have good day, yes? Would it be enough to know that angry dead woman did not find us?”

“Would that be enough if one of your wives came back for only one night and didn’t know who you were? Would you be in any condition to be happy after seeing your memories of her destroyed by your own arrogance?” asked Estin, joining Yoska in staring at the water that had begun to steam lazily.

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.