Cloudbearer's Shadow by Ann Marston

Author:Ann Marston
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Scotland, fantasy
Publisher: Five Rivers Publishing [email protected]
Published: 2014-02-12T00:00:00+00:00

I awoke with a start to a fine drizzle sifting out of the sky, beading my plaid with moisture as I lay curled on the cushion of spruce boughs and last year’s bracken. Water dripped from the branches of the rowans, making the clusters of dead brown berries glisten in the wan light like the eyes of the birds that called half-heartedly from the depths of the copse.

Fearful of what I might find, I raised my hands and stared at them. But there was no trace of the powdery residue of magic in the lines and creases of the palms. I let out the breath I had been holding and rubbed my hands against my kilt, not sure whether I was relieved or disappointed.

I stretched to wring the kinks out of my back. My whole body ached as if I had spent the night on the practice field sparring with the weapons-master and coming out a poor second with the wooden swords. Or perhaps I had spent the night wrestling and being slammed onto the iron-hard beaten earth floor of the games arena. If just dreaming about practicing magic did this to a man, I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to make magic in earnest when I was awake. I might not survive it.

The drizzle turned to a fine, drifting mist as Lowra and Davigan rose from their blankets. Davigan made a sour face as he glanced up at the sky, then went off to search for dry wood to light the fire that had drowned overnight. Lowra dug among the supplies for the remnants of last night’s meal to warm for our fast breaking—provided Davigan could find enough dry wood. Hoping he could, I took the kettle and fetched water from the burn for kafe tea. The warmth of the tea would go a long way to dispel the damp chill of the rain.

Davigan returned with an armload of deadfall and managed to get a fire lit. The fire produced a lot more smoke than flame and heat, but eventually we got the water boiled for tea, and got the leftover rabbit warm enough to eat. I sat with both hands wrapped around my cup, breathing in the delectable vapors from the kafe tea. I felt myself slowly coming back to life. My joints didn’t creak quite so alarmingly when I moved and my muscles didn’t protest quite so violently as they had when I first woke.

Lowra came to sit beside me, her own cup held tightly. She looked almost as wan as I felt. I noticed she had eaten very little of the leftover rabbit. Of the three of us, only Davigan seemed to have any appetite.

She muttered a curse as she rubbed a shoulder, then took a sip of her tea.

“Dreams?” I asked.

She nodded. “I don’t know if they were Seeings or just dreams,” she said irritably. “Sometimes, it’s hard to tell.”

Intrigued, I looked at her over the rim of my cup. Davigan’s cup, actually, but he didn’t need it right yet—not nearly so much as I.

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