Dark Wings by Arthur Slade

Author:Arthur Slade [Slade, Arthur]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dava Enterprises
Published: 2019-03-11T16:00:00+00:00

19

Words by the Hearth

“By Belaz, what happened?” Thord said the moment the door opened.

I explained what I could, but was shivering too much to make proper sense.

“We must build you a fire,” he said, pulling me toward the hearth.

“It might show off our position,” I said.

“Not if there isn’t smoke,” Brax said. “I can make a fire that will warm you without wood.”

He went over to the hearth and made a gargling noise like he was bringing up a horrible collection of phlegm, even working his shoulders and chest, and then he spat whatever it was into the hearth. He snorted a funnel of fire toward the liquid. It burst into flames and kept burning.

Brax could spit some liquid that would later burn. My slow, cold mind made measure of that and added it to my list of weapons.

I almost crawled over to the fire and Thord, despite his own wound, helped me. I got as close as I could to the flames and shivered. I stripped off my cloak but was too decorous to go any further. The heat would dry me soon enough.

“So Gregum is dead?” he said.

“He’s at the bottom of the Ursa Sea,” Brax said. “Maybe an eel is using him as a home.”

“We had better hope that he was on a longer mission,” Thord said. “If they expected him back later tonight, the palace will be a beehive of intrigue and accusations. I wish there was a way to warn Megan.”

“There just isn’t,” I whispered.

Warmth worked its way through my skin, reaching for my bones. My throat and nose hurt, burned by the salt water. And my eyes were red. I was certain I looked like, well, like someone who had nearly drowned. But I didn’t care. Slowly I stopped shivering. Then, not just out of vanity, I combed out my hair, finding seaweed and some other green bits. But it, too, grew dry. The flame still burned strongly.

Then the pain started—my body hadn’t liked fighting Gregum and slamming into the water from such a great height. But mostly my shoulders ached, and I pulled back my tunic enough to see gouges left by the swan’s talons.

“Oh, it really got you,” Thord said. “Does it hurt?”

It was perhaps the stupidest question he’d ever asked. I searched for a quip, but failed. “Yes,” I said. “Yes. A lot.”

“It’s a flesh wound,” Brax added. “Get over it.”

I shot him a glare and searched for biting remark, but suddenly shuddered in surprise. Thord had placed his hand on my shoulder and was already rubbing lotion over the wound. “This will soothe it,” he said.

I stood stock still and even held my breath. His touch was gentle and, within moments, he had applied bandages to both shoulders. “That should do it,” Thord said.

“Thanks,” I said, covering my shoulders again.

“Hey, if we couldn’t patch each other's wounds up what kind of team would we be?”

“That's right,” I said. “What kind of team would we be?” The pain had been soothed but my shoulders tingled.

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.