Soul Forge by Terry W. Ervin II

Author:Terry W. Ervin II
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gryphonwood Press
Published: 2018-07-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

Our trek northward was slow, but equal to what our pace southward had been. The daytime heat was more intense. And, despite the absence of the baking sun, the evenings and nights remained warm. This further sapped our strength and that of our mounts. But, since we knew the route and where Enchantress Thulease and Wizard Stok might access water, our path was more direct and less advance scouting by Lilly and Dastgir was needed.

Before striking out north, we’d moved away from the site of the Sleeping Sage’s collapsed mound. For three days, while Enchantress Thulease and I recovered our strength, Lilly, Flint, Dastgir, Storm Claw, Nura and Swigopp caught, cleaned and sundried fish, and gathered and bundled grasses for our return trip. Flint and Lilly even used my boar spear to kill a twelve-foot crocodile. They smoked most of it over a fire, but the rest we ate.

Lilly said the crocodile tasted like chicken. To me it was more like duck with a hint of snake, tougher and more gamey.

Two weeks into our return trip Enchantress Thulease called a meeting. I huddled in the narrow shade of a rock outcropping thirty yards from our main camp, along with Lilly, Dastgir and Flayzin, waiting for Enchantress Thulease and Earth Wizard Stok to join us. Nura was tending to the mounts and Storm Claw was on watch while Swigopp and Healer Ammond tried to get some sleep despite the rising heat.

Guard Captain Flayzin leaned his back against the rock face and asked, “How’s the arm, Flank Hawk?”

Lilly shot him an unfriendly sideways glance. I took a drink from my waterskin and handed it to her.

I bent my elbow and twisted my forearm. “Mostly. It’s still a little weak. Healer Ammond said there was some tissue damage that may take months to heal on its own. Or it may never.” I shrugged and looked back toward the camp. Enchantress Thulease and Wizard Stok had filled another bucket for Nura to water the mules. It looked like their last as they completed their spellcasting and began to withdraw the leather hose from the ground.

“Was it the wraith that got you?” Flayzin asked. “Like the healer said?”

With great effort I nodded once, in a jerky motion. Even that little caused me to see gray and feel light headed.

“I figured he was right,” Flayzin said. “He’s pretty smart for as young as he is.”

Dastgir nodded in agreement while Lilly scowled.

Flayzin ignored them both. He and I didn’t talk much, other than about the condition of the mounts, assigning watch duties and things like that. Enchantress Thulease was obviously trying to keep us away from each other as much as possible during the return trip. I wondered what she might do to accomplish our separation if we got stuck on a small vessel travelling back across the Mediterranean. Separate watches, sleep routines and places in the trek north would work well enough until then.

I guessed we both agreed with her efforts. Even though I didn’t

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.