Master of Poisons by Andrea Hairston

Author:Andrea Hairston
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

7

Yari

The Wild Dog whimpers. Yari shoos him away. The Dog woofs and stands his ground. He must warn Yari. They tussle outside a clay cottage built over a stream of water from Ice Mountain’s glacier. Hezram’s cottage. It reeks of the witchdoctor, of blood and oil, void-smoke, and the power piss of a big predator.

The Dog jumps up and licks Yari’s face. Vie turns from his reassuring tongue and sets paws on the dirt. Vie smells of cinnamon, jasmine, and desert rose. Nut bread crumbles in a pocket and goat skin on vie’s talking drum tenses in the chill. Dry cocoons on swollen ankles smell of bugs long gone.

Yari should leave. The Dog sniffs fresh blood conjure on the wind. Hezram approaches, from a nearby waterfall. The temple stink clings to him despite a shower. It is still dim. The sun hides behind the mountain, lighting the sky, and not the bushes. They could run away. Hezram would not catch them. The Dog is strong. He jumps against Yari’s chest, knocking vie to the ground. He grips a sleeve and tugs vie toward an escape route.

“Stop,” Yari says. Vie glares at the pathway from the temple.

The Dog sits and sniffs. Yari is a jumble of feelings: anger, fear, frustration, and other scents the Dog can’t quite read.

“You’re a loyal friend.” Yari scratches the Dog’s head. The Dog puts a paw on vie’s shoulder. “I must persuade Hezram, trick him to his right mind.”

The Dog tilts his head, whining. Yari should prepare for a hunt, a fight to the death.

“If I can’t talk sense into this witchdoctor, go find our friends and get them far away from here. Survive!” Yari hugs the Dog’s neck, tears rolling down vie’s cheeks. The Dog whines too. “You don’t understand me, do you?”

The Dog wags his tail and growls. Hezram is close. The Dog turns his head into the scent. Too close. The Dog wants to rip Hezram’s throat out.

“He’s coming.” Yari grabs a handful of the Dog’s neck fur and drags him to the bushes. “Stay here, out of sight, even if something bad happens.” Yari shakes vie’s finger at the Dog’s nose. “Hezram would put a bolt in your heart.”

The Dog crouches in shadows, ready to pounce if Yari needs him. He knows this hunt, one out in the open, one downwind from the prey. Hezram is startled by Yari and halts at the edge of the clearing, uncertainty on his breath. Yari marches toward him.

Hezram has a hand on a knife. “Is this an ambush?”

“No.” Yari steps close. “You trusted me once. Trust me again.”

“I was young and you seduced me out of my right mind. I’m a grown man now.” Hezram pats Yari’s cheek. “I hear you made fools of Zamanzi war chiefs and escaped.”

Yari pulls Hezram’s hand away. “Your spies are wrong. Zamanzi are rebels now. Warrior-clown allies.”

“Forgiven?” Hezram wags his head. “How do you do that?” His voice is hollow.

“You talk your way into people’s minds too.” Yari’s face twists.

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.