The Realm of the Deathless by Greg Keyes

Author:Greg Keyes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: The Realm of the Deathless
Publisher: Night Shade Books
Published: 2022-09-27T00:00:00+00:00

FOUR

THE TWINS

Errol had assumed their long, slow fall from the palace had been a dream, but now that they were on the ground, it was gradually becoming less dreamlike. The air was heavy and wet, and sweat began to bead on his forehead. A mosquito or gnat bit his bare arm, and then another.

“Well, that was interesting,” he heard Veronica say. “Nice work, Delia.”

Everyone turned to stare at Ms. Fincher.

“How did you do that?” Aster demanded.

“Is this not a dream?” Delia said. “It felt like a dream.”

“Yeah,” Errol said. “It did. But it doesn’t anymore. Where are we?”

“Higher,” Aster whispered. “And much further away.”

Errol heard something weird in Aster’s voice. Then he saw it wasn’t just her voice that had gone strange. Aster was starting to glow. Her eyes gleamed a bright coral color; her hair was yellow shot through with streaks of rose, and even her skin looked like amber, with lights shifting inside of it.

“What’s happening?” Errol said.

“No,” Aster whispered. She took a step forward, mumbling under her breath, but then she screamed, flaring briefly so bright it left spots in Errol’s eyes. Then she went dark and crumpled into the tall grass.

Billy was at her side before she even hit the ground, and Errol an instant behind. Frantically he put his finger to her neck, and to his relief felt the artery pulsing.

“She’s alive,” he said.

“Wake her up or pick her up,” Veronica said. “She might as well have sent up a flare. The Itch knows, now. It’s coming. We need to get out of here. Delia, are you still in charge of this?”

Delia looked confused, but after a breath or two she nodded. “That way,” she said, pointing down along the valley. “That’s where we have to go.”

Billy started to lift Aster up, but she gasped and opened her eyes.

“Billy?” she said.

“You’re okay,” he breathed.

“I think I am,” Aster replied. “There’s no need to carry me. I can walk.”

“I think running, not walking,” Veronica said.

***

Run they did, through the grass, beneath the bright crescent moon, occasionally splashing through streams and over low hummocks. Off to their right, the land first sloped up and then became cliffs. To their left, Errol caught glimpses of what was either a river or a lake, mostly hidden by a screen of trees and bushes.

Behind them he heard nothing, but he didn’t doubt Veronica in the slightest. He felt a sort of tingle at his back, the breath of a wolf he could not see or hear.

They had to slow to a walk sooner than Errol would have liked. Ms. Fincher, in particular was having difficulty keeping the pace, and Aster—despite her protestations—was pretty shaky as well.

“I don’t like this,” Errol said. “Veronica, can you tell? Can we outrun it?”

“No,” Veronica said. “He’s getting pretty close.”

“Can you —there’s a river or something over there. Can you—you know—do your thing?”

“I could,” she said. “But I might get ... lost.”

“What do you mean?” Errol asked.

“You saw what happened to Aster,” Veronica said. “She almost—went.

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