Wandering Lark by Laura J. Underwood

Author:Laura J. Underwood [Underwood, Laura J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Literature & Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Fantasy, Sword & Sorcery
Amazon: B00DZ260XQ
Publisher: Yard Dog Press
Published: 2013-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

THIRTY-SEVEN

The latter part of the day brought Alaric and Talena to a copse on a hill. He was ready for a break. Traveling across this desolate landscape was starting to play havoc with his mage senses. Bad enough that some of the spirit folk would flutter around him like ragged curtains in a window, but some of them would actually waft through him, and when they did, he felt cold. He was surprised to see that many of them looked as though they were no more than children, and that disturbed him. It took a great deal of effort not to exclaim his surprise aloud when one of them hovered just in front of him, pointing a finger at him in an accusatory fashion before it whisked away.

Worse still were the ones that did not look so human. One had a head like a stag. Another appeared reptilian in nature. They had the bodies of men and women, but their faces, and sometimes their hands looked as though someone had grafted parts of creatures to them. Most frightful were the spider-like things that had the torsos and faces of men and women attached to the bodies of arachnids. Some of these were nearly as big as horses. They carried spears and rushed in and out in a frenzied fashion. One of them dashed right through Alaric, and he smelled blood and carnage.

That one made him gasp aloud.

“What?” Talena asked.

“Nothing,” Alaric replied. “I was dozing and thought I was falling off my horse.”

Talena looked thoughtful. Then her gaze darted over to one side, and Alaric saw something shadowy and sinuous and long. A worm on legs scuttled around one of the black stones that looked like a pile of manure, then dove into the ground and disappeared. It was merely a spirit, he knew, but the look on Talena’s face was one of momentary fear.

“She sees,” Ronan whispered in Alaric’s head.

How? Alaric thought.

Talena turned back and realized Alaric was watching her. He saw her face flush before she quickly looked away again.

“We need to find a place to make camp,” she said. “It’ll be dark in another hour. They say these moors come alive with spirit folk once the darkness falls.”

“Good idea,” he agreed. “Where shall we stop?”

She glanced at the nearest copse and pointed. “Up there, in those trees. It’s not safe to be out in the open once darkness falls.”

That sounded good enough to him, especially since he did not see any stones, black or white, in that area. Just a heavy patch of trees. “All right,” he said.

They directed their horses towards the copse. It quickly proved too thick and low limbed to ride into, so they dismounted and walked around it until they found a path. Talena took the lead, snarling when Kessa balked at the track.

“Come on you stupid...” Talena growled at the mare.

Alaric held back enough to keep from getting backed into. It took more than one try to get the mare going, and he started to wonder what she could sense in there that would have her so upset.

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