Bloom of Blood and Bone by R J Hanson

Bloom of Blood and Bone by R J Hanson

Author:R J Hanson [Hanson, R J]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9798632630801
Publisher: Hanson Publishing
Published: 2020-04-26T16:00:00+00:00


Chapter VIII

Visions in Moonlight

Dunewell stirred from his sleep and looked across the dying campfire to find Jonas reading a letter during his watch. Dunewell tested the spring air with his nose and discovered what had caused him to wake. The odor of teleportation was heavy in the ether around him. The smell was imperceptible by humans, of course, but Whitburn could detect it as easy as Dunewell’s own nose could smell a wet dog.

Dunewell scanned their surroundings carefully.

“Relax,” Jonas said. “It is just a letter.”

“If it teleported here, it is not just a letter,” Dunewell countered.

Dunewell rolled up on his elbow and stared across the embers at his traveling companion. It felt good to roll up from the ground without a groan or the wound in his back aching. They were three weeks out from Ivantis, and Dunewell had enjoyed the slow pace and quiet of the wild and unpopulated lands. His wounds, at least those of the flesh, had healed completely. They had diverted from the road south entirely and had, instead, traveled southeast toward great a swamp where the Vessen River bled out into numerous canyons, washes, and gullies.

He had purchased a new rider’s pike in Ivantis along with a new shortsword to accompany his war hammer and now, out in the wild and far from cities or towns, wore them openly. The weight of the weapons felt good on his belt.

“It’s from an informant in Split Town,” Jonas said without looking up from the letter. “I gave him several of these pages so we might stay informed of activities there.”

“Several of those pages?” Dunewell asked. “I hope your informant is trustworthy. A single slip of that enchanted paper would bring enough gold for a simple man to retire and live a comfortable life.”

“Did you notice anything unusual in Ivantis?” Jonas asked.

It was a habit of Jonas’s to answer a question with a question or ignore a question altogether and continue on an entirely different train of thought. It was a habit that was beginning to irritate Dunewell.

“I’ve never been to Ivantis before so, how would I know if anything was unusual about it?” Dunewell said as much as asked.

“That paladin you traveled with; did she say anything about how many templars were massing at the churches there?” Jonas asked.

“No, she didn’t,” Dunewell said flatly. “It didn’t come up in conversation. I thought you said we would leave the churches’ suspicious behavior for others to investigate?”

Jonas grunted, turned back to his letter, and continued to read. Dunewell saw that Jonas seemed to have no intention of elaborating.

“So, we are bound for Split Town instead?” Dunewell asked. “What in Split Town requires our attention?”

“No,” Jonas said absently. “The swamps south of here first. There was a skinshifter killed there not long ago.”

“If the creature was killed, why do we continue to the swamps?” Dunewell asked, beginning to get even more irritated with Jonas’s lack of attention to the conversation.

“It wasn’t the only one,” Jonas said, finally looking up from the letter again.



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