Midsummer Night (Aetherial Tales) by Warrington Freda

Author:Warrington, Freda [Warrington, Freda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates
Published: 2010-11-23T00:00:00+00:00

13

Lashtor

“Leith?” The low male voice spilled from the silhouette above her.

“I’m not him.” Gill felt a rock wall against her shoulder blades. She’d crept back as far as she could, but there was nowhere to go. She was trapped.

“No, I see that,” said the voice. “Where is he?”

She heard the leathery rustle of wings. “Not here.”

“But you know him?”

All she could see of the creature were hints of indigo; the proud wings upswept like a pair of harps, a bluish sheen on a high cheekbone. His eyes appeared to be lit from inside, changing from blue to gold with the slight movement of his head. She felt her clothes sticking to her clammy skin. Even through her terror, it struck her how absurd this was. Here she was, trapped in an unknown realm with some species of winged demon … What was the correct answer to its question? “I … I’ve met someone called Leith, yes, but …”

The creature reached out to her with a large, long-fingered hand. Poised on the edge of horror, she looked down at it as if it were a deadly scorpion alighting on her shoulder. The hand was human-shaped but thick-fingered and scaly, with long black claws for fingernails. Blue and green lights shifted on the scales, reflecting the star-bright sky above.

The hand fell away. “Human, like Leith,” he said.

“Yes.”

“Were you imprisoned by Ephenaestus?”

“Sorry, I don’t know what you mean. I wasn’t imprisoned, no.”

“How did you come to be here?”

The night was black crystal with stars spilled across it like blossoms, scents of damp rock and greenery rising around her. A tornado of amazement was working its silent way through her, terror mixed with delicious wonder.

“Really long story.” She was shaking so hard she could barely speak. “The short version is that I don’t know. I’m lost.”

The eyes expressed puzzlement, even contempt. She thought, Surely he wouldn’t have a conversation with me if he was going to kill me … would he?

“Who are you?” he asked calmly.

“Gill. You?”

“Theodorus.” He drew back a pace, as if to give her breathing room. “There’s no need to be afraid, unless you try to run from me. I can’t let you go until I know how you came here, you understand? You must come with me”

“Oh.” Gill folded her left hand to grip her opposite elbow, a reflexive gesture of shielding. Her right fist tightened on her unicorn staff, ready to use it as a weapon if necessary. “So you’re … arresting me? Look, if I’m trespassing on your domain, I’m sorry. I promise you, I can’t run anywhere.”

The dark face tilted. “You’re hurt?”

“It’s from an old accident, but it still aches. Right now I can barely hobble.”

“How did you come through the geatus from Boundry?” He indicated the dead end of the gorge. It appeared a seamless wall.

“Is that what you call it? Do you mean a portal?”

“Of a kind.”

She sensed she would get no clear answers. “I’m not sure. I didn’t even see it; I found myself tangled in a kind of fog, felt like I was drowning.

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