Northern coast of Liqaria, 4th – 5th Eighthmoon 3045
The next day dawned cloudy but still, and they cleaned up any signs of their camp with care before setting off.
”We’d best get going,” Ren’i said. ”We’ve wasted too many days already huddling in the cave.”
”I seem to recall you saying yourself that we’re in no hurry. Seiye’s winter has barely reached its midway point,” Blueleaf remarked.
”Still. I’m the only one of us that the Liqaris can definitely recognise on sight, and I feel like there’s a target on my back.” Ren’i pursed his lips. ”I’ll breathe freely once we’re safely back on Daqan’s soil.”
”Well, I hope you’re prepared to wade the next forty leagues. Let us go, then.”
The air thinned as they ascended ever higher, keeping as close to the trees as they could. There was considerably less snow below the trees than on bare land, which eased their passage. They were still forced to wade through undisturbed drifts in many places; it was then that Ren’i, Linnee and Sava took the lead, stamping a path in the snow for the inexperienced akheris. The thin air had them out of breath faster than back at home, and they had to take several short breaks throughout the day. They spent the first night underneath spruces that grew very close to one another, changing guards every few hours, and none of them felt particularly well-rested the following day.
The rolling terrain took them over tall hills and down into small, snow-covered valleys, and Ren’i found himself pausing to stare at the landscape opening below them in wonder. Even in all its barren glory Liqaria was breath-taking, and he suddenly wished his father were with them. Oerei was no soldier, but he would have known to appreciate the foreign land’s pictoresque beauty in his own way, and Ren’i knew he would want to hear every detail of their journey once Ren’i got to return home.
A white mist veiled the valley waiting beneath the hill so well that only treetops and a gleaming black river could be seen through it. Ren’i paused at the very edge to catch his breath while Linnee and Sava set a fire in the shelter of a small copse of trees and started melting snow in a kettle.
”We need to start excercising care from now on,” Blueleaf said behind his back. ”We’re beginning to approach the area where the camp was last. That forest is right on the northern edge of the Mori steppe.”
Ren’i nodded. ”It’ll be best to camp in the woods come dark and sleep as much as we just can in preparation. We’ll only be moving under the cover of darkness from now on.”
Snow squeaked underneath his shoes as Hawk came to stand beside him. There was frost in his long, black braid, but he didn’t seem particularly tired despite the challenging terrain.
”You can see better than I do. What manner of journey awaits us?” Ren’i asked.
”It’s half a day’s journey through the woods, perhaps. The terrain looks flat. It’ll make advancing easier, but there are very few hiding places ahead.”
”Any movement to be seen? Patrols?”
Hawk squinted. Individual dark shapes were moving under the cover of trees, pausing to drink by the river bend. A small pack of deer or perhaps elks – they were too far away for him to make out the horns. They were moving peacefully, without hurrying, which told him they likely did not feel threatened.
”Nothing that points to military presence,” he said. ”There’s wild game in the woods.”
”See smoke anywhere?”
He shook his head. ”None so far.”
”In that case we’re still far away enough that we can set up a campfire tonight.”
”For the last time, probably,” Blueleaf warned. ”There are some trees on the plains, but not enough to provide proper shelter. Prepare for cold suppers in the coming days.”
”It’s too quiet here,” Denae said. She walked everywhere with her brows furrowed, as though expecting Liqaris to rush at them from behind every rock and tree.
”You needn’t worry,” Linnee assured her, sipping hot tea with apparent relish. ”The Liqaris are taivashi, just like us. Should they use their powers to even scout the area, we’ll feel their presence even at a distance.”
As twilight fell it started to snow slowly. They descended on the steppe and travelled beneath thick, low-growing spruces way past midnight. Hawk took the lead with Denae and Ren’i, bow constantly at the ready and ears straining for woodland noises. Snow muffled all sounds in ways he wasn’t used to, which unnerved him; if something were to charge at them from the darkness they wouldn’t hear it until it was too late.
”Easy,” Ren’i mumbled. He saw how tense Hawk was while gripping the bow, shoulders taut and mouth drawn into a tight line.
”I don’t like this,” Hawk said quietly. Next to him Ren’i moved almost soundlessly, his accustomed feet stepping so that snow did not crunch underneath his weight. Hawk tried to mimick him, to no avail. ”Do you feel anything?”
Ren’i was silent for a moment. He sent out a careful thought, feeling their surroundings only in passing. The night resembled the one he’d spent hunting wild boars with captain Hamr and his Guards, when he’d nearly lost his life. The old-growth forests of the Hol Saro highlands were enormous, their centenarian spruces reaching towards the sky like giants, much taller than the trees now surrounding them. The silence of the old-growth forest had been absolute, as though the woodlands had slumbered, and he hadn’t felt the boar’s presence until it had come trampling through the undergrowth towards him. The forest of Mori was not asleep, not even in winter. Ren’i sighed with relief as he felt the presence of birds at rest, a hunting fox, and a pack of deer moving a league from them. No soldiers, and definitely no boars. He pulled back his thoughts.
”Just animals. Nothing I’d be concerned about.”
Hawk nodded. He relaxed the bow, but didn’t put it away entirely.
The camp they made in the early hours of the morning was by the black, flowing river that they’d spied on the hill. They had found a clearing surrounded by thick, silver-needled spruces and gnarled leaf trees that Hawk did not recognise. One glance had been enough to tell them all that the place was much too unprotected – all but Moonstone, who whined when the others set off following the river.
”We can’t stay on barren land. You saw yourself how easily the spot can be seen from above. All we need is one Liqari patrol stopping on some nearby hill and our whereabouts will be discovered,” Denae said unusually sternly, which had Ren’i and Hawk exchange a confused look. The representatives of Om-Var and Verem had thus far supported one another in nearly every matter, just as firmly as their chiefs had in the meeting.
”There’s fog,” Moonstone protested.
”I doubt it’ll remain that way for long. The wind is rising.”
”But we have to rest at some point! We’ve been at it since morning.”
They continued quarreling in hushed voices, trailing behind the others. Blueleaf took the lead. They walked a few leagues downstream, putting some distance between themselves and the clearing. The stream was strong enough that the river hadn’t frozen entirely, and they stepped carefully as close to the waterline as they could without wetting their shoes, trying to leave as few footprints as possible for potential Liqari patrols.
”You’re moaning constantly,” Denae’s voice came out as a hiss.
”Moaning?” Moonstone shrieked in tones that startled a squirrel that had been napping in a nearby, sending it climbing higher up chirping as it went.
”Oi! Keep it down back there before every Liqari within a hundred leagues hears you,” Linnee interrupted their squabbling, which forced the battling duo to finish the rest of their spat in angry whispers.
”To think those two had opinions of their own after all,” Hawk said so quietly that only Ren’i could hear him. ”I thought their elders might have forbidden it.”
Ren’i snorted and could only just prevent himself from laughing out loud.
”Your sense of humour is awful, you know that?” he pointed out.
Even at the corner of his eye he could see that Hawk was smiling.
”Glad to hear you’ve noticed,” Hawk said.
The woods grew thicker downstream, the tents they set up beneath the trees nearly unnoticeable when they covered them with spruce boughs. Moonstone and Denae had erected theirs without saying a word to each other or anyone else, and Denae announced her willingness to take the first guard duty with some defiance. Moonstone tossed her long, pale ponytail over her shoulder and disappeared in her tent with an arrogant little headtilt. Denae didn’t so much as look after her, just took her bow and picked a fallen tree some fifty meters away from the camp as her outpost.
Ren’i only just managed to strip before keeling over in his tent and burying his face in the cloak serving as a makeshift pillow. The tension of the day had kept him alert, and it was only then that he realised just how tired he truly was. His legs ached and head buzzed. He emptied his waterskin with a couple of gulps, rolled on his side and closed his eyes. He’d expected to pass out in no time at all, but restless thoughts kept him tossing and turning late into the small hours, when the first morning birds started making noise.
A couple of tents away Hawk was tossing this way and that in his own sleeping bag, just as sleepless. He felt weary, but the silence of the snowy woodlands kept his nerves tensed to a breaking point, despite knowing their camp was being guarded.
When he finally drifted off it didn’t feel like a dream, and he couldn’t even say when he’d closed his eyes. Silence turned seamlessly into the whistling of wind, and he noticed he was standing in the middle of the forest, the moss hardened from the cold freezing beneath his bare feet. The air was misty despite the breeze, thick flakes falling from the sky in a flurry. Hawk shuddered as he felt something warm against his face.
He reached out, staring at the flakes falling on his palm. Ash. It was raining ash.
He felt a familiar tug inside of him, the same old pressing need to get going and find… What? Whom?
Hawk took a step, then another. He didn’t know where the north was, didn’t recognise any landmarks in the strange woods, but he knew he was going the right way. The trees grew shorter, the growth thinner, there was sand mixed in with the moss and the undergrowth. The ash that had rained on the tufts of moss softened his steps, and when the forest ended, he wasn’t entirely astonished to find himself in a wasteland.
The wind came in gusts and left the sand swirling in large curtains that hid the sky from view. Hawk felt his heart hammering. Between the curtains of sand a gap opened momentarily, and Hawk started sprinting towards it. The sandstorm whirled around him, but a path seemed to open up in front of him, as though the storm itself wanted him to find his destination. He didn’t question it, just allowed the feeling pulling him like a magnet guide him, feet barely brushing the ground. The hot ash left his skin tingling, the air growing hotter with every step, and Hawk flew forwards much like the bird whose name he’d chosen for himself.
The wind sighed and sighed on and on, and in its whispers he heard the same name repeating over and over.
Khaeron, Khaeron, Khaeron.
The voice sent cold shivers travelling down his spine. Sometimes it was just the howling of wind; sometimes he thought he heard someone’s voice in it, a voice that was distantly familiar, but he couldn’t place it, though he knew he should have.
The dune beneath him gave and crumbled, but not fast enough to stop Hawk. The storm was pushing out of the Pass of Mists at full force. In front of the pass stood a misty figure, a figure around whom the winds quelled and parted.
”Khaeron,” whispered the wind’s voice, and the wind was so hot that he could feel its burn on his skin.
Hawk halted in front of the figure and reached out towards it just as the figure reached out for him. He knew what was coming even before their hands approached one another: a whirlpool of sand closed them within its embrace, the air radiating heat. The sea of flames grew and entangled in a spiral around Hawk and the other figure, scorching the heavens, the earth, everything in its path. All he saw was a flash of red, and then the image shattered as a loud yell cleaved the air.
Hawk stood up, heart drumming in his chest as if about to burst, and he already had the bow and quiver in his hands before he’d gotten out of the tent.
The stench of burning stung his nose and made him cough. He’d expected to see Liqaris, perhaps wolves, but he lowered the bow upon realising what the cause for the yelling was.
One of the tents was on fire.
”Your highness!” Linnee and Sava shouted in unison.
Hawk’s insides squirmed. He tossed the bow and the quiver away and rushed to the soldiers’ aid as they started throwing snow on the flames. A split-second later Ren’i somehow managed to back out of his burning tent. His face was pale as death and Hawk saw sparks in his hair. Ren’i seemed to notice the same, for he swore loudly and tried to slap the sparks away.
Hawk didn’t pause to think. He pushed Linnee and Sava out of his way and was beside Ren’i in an instant. Hawk grabbed snow in both hands and rubbed it in Ren’i’s hair until he was sure he’d smothered the fire.
”Thank you,” Ren’i gasped. His voice was hoarse, and Hawk saw that he was shaking all over. Little wonder: he was only wearing a thin undershirt and the same long pants that he wore under his furs.
Snow crunched beneath running footfalls as Blueleaf hurried to them.
”What happened?” they asked, sounding horrified. ”For a moment I thought we were under attack.”
Sava and Linnee had finally managed to put out the flames and were staring at their prince with stunned looks on their faces. Ren’i couldn’t get a word out. He stared at Hawk with his eyes wide and mouth open, but though his lips were moving he didn’t manage to find his voice.
”I don’t know,” Denae replied. ”I was sitting on guard when I heard someone shouting. I turned around and the tent was on fire.”
”Did either of you use your powers?” Blueleaf asked, turning to look at Linnee and Sava. They both shook their heads.
”Linnee was sleeping and I was standing guard by that rock,” Sava said and pointed upstream, towards the river that they’d followed to their camping spot. A large boulder stood perhaps twenty, thirty meters from the tents.
”What about Ren’i?” Blueleaf turned to look at him.
The soldiers glanced at each other.
”Um… That’s probably not possible,” Linnee said uncertainly.
”How come?”
”Well… How should I say this…”
”She’s trying to say that I don’t have any powers whatsoever,” Ren’i said.
His words were followed by an awkward silence. Neither soldier so much as glanced at him. Ren’i took Hawk’s extended hand and allowed him to pull himself up.
”Your highness exaggerates,” Sava protested.
Ren’i shrugged, saying, ”it’s not exactly a secret. No point in hiding it.”
Blueleaf’s expression was restless. ”But then what set it on fire? We haven’t made a campfire since afternoon, and I doubt something could have been smouldering in our things for this many hours.”
”A spark might have travelled with the wind if there’s a camp nearby,” Ren’i said. Hawk could tell from his tone that he didn’t believe the words himself.
Denae nodded, expression dark. ”I suppose we can’t rule out the possibility entirely. We’d best inspect the area just in case.”
”I’m coming with you,” Sava said. They fetched the sword from their tent, attached it to their belt and vanished in the darkness of the woods with Denae.
Ren’i sighed. ”Well, the tent’s definitely unusable. I wonder if there’s anything left of the rest of my things?”
”I think so,” Linnee replied. She was staring at Ren’i’s soot-covered appearance with concern. ”Are you sure you’re all right, your highness? Were you injured? Perhaps we ought to—”
”I’ll take care of him,” Hawk said before Ren’i had the chance to respond. ”I’ve got something in my backpack that should work on burns. The rest of you, check if there’s anything salvageable in his belongings.”
He pulled Ren’i aside while the others ripped the partially burned canvas off the hooks. Hawk glanced behind him, ensuring that they weren’t being watched, and said quietly, ”you had that same dream again, didn’t you?”
Ren’i nodded? ”You too?”
”Yeah.”
”I had somehow hoped that I’d stop seeing them once we were past the canyon.” He moved restlessly, shifting his weight from one foot to another. The pulse on his neck was still racing as hard as Hawk’s. ”It felt different this time in some way. More real.”
Hawk eyed him from head to toe and frowned. Ren’i’s left arm was blackened by soot all the way from his fingertips to the shoulder. Though there were scrapes and dirt stains here and there elsewhere on his skin, it was only the arm that was entirely black, as though he’d rubbed it against coals. Hawk grabbed Ren’i’s hand between his own, ignoring how Ren’i started at the sudden touch, and stared. It was soot, no question about it. It caught on to Hawk’s skin and dirtied his hands.
”Odd,” he muttered. ”Does your arm hurt?”
”I guess not.”
”Guess?”
Ren’i’s voice trembled as he said, ”I’m not sure.” He shook his head. ”I suppose it itches a little. I don’t know. Everything feels strange right now.”
Hawk looked him straight in the eye. He must be in shock, Hawk assumed. He couldn’t blame Ren’i for it – the fire had scared the wits out of them all. Hawk let go of his hand.
”Stay here. Don’t touch anything.”
He crawled back in his tent. When he returned he was carrying a wet rag and glass vial of healing salve. Ren’i stood staring at his own bare feet, looking lost, still exactly in the same spot where Hawk had left him. He didn’t seem to know what to do with himself. Hawk cleared his throat and handed the rag to Ren’i.
”Thanks,” Ren’i mumbled again.
”Has this happened before?”
”Has what happened? Me waking up to a fire?” he asked, wiping his arm clean with the wet cloth.
”Something like that.”
Ren’i sighed wearily. ”I wasn’t lying when I said I can’t do magic like that. It’s practically a public secret in Hol Saro. Everyone knows it, but no one dares to say it out loud. I’ve practiced and practiced, but I don’t have enough power to even light a candle.”
”Is it absolutely certain?”
”What does it matter? Using ashay requires concentration. You can’t do it on accident, not even if I showed any signs of having the gift someday.” His hand balled into a fist. ”Let us either talk about something else or be quiet.”
The first time the dream had woken him was still fresh in Ren’i’s memory, only a few days after they’d started marching. Even then he’d woken with his mouth dry and heart racing, and his fingers had stained the nightshirt with soot. He felt Hawk’s expectant gaze on him, but couldn’t get anything out; his voice seemed to catch in his throat whenever he tried to form words. He averted his eyes to spare himself the trouble of speaking.
His skin itched unbearably as he wiped his upper arm and Ren’i uttered a curse when the cloth brushed against a sore spot.
Hawk was there at once. ”Let me see.”
Ren’i shivered when Hawk touched him again. There was a reddened burn adorning his upper arm. The skin around the flame tattoo was swollen and irritated.
”Burned,” Hawk mused. ”Hold still.”
He uncorked the glass vial and scooped some thick, sweet-smelling salve in his fingers. Ren’i groaned despite himself as Hawk started spreading the salve on his sore skin. It cooled the burning within seconds and eased the worst of the throbbing.
I hope Linnee’s not looking, Ren’i thought.
He felt heat creeping up his face. Hawk was so close that Ren’i could hear him breathing. His warm hands were rough with calluses from handling the bow, his grip firm and sure, and Ren’i felt his skin tingling again from his touch. Hawk was merely a few centimetres taller than him, but Ren’i still felt small by his side.
Something in their uncertain companionship unnerved Ren’i, he had to admit that much. He was used to being yelled and raged at, and wasn’t swayed easily by people not liking him. It had been easy to be around Hawk when he’d hated him – at least Ren’i had known what to expect from him.
Even in the dark Hawk’s eyes could tell that Ren’i had turned red all the way to his hairline. He must have started recovering from his shock, at least, if he had the time to worry about conventional nonsense.
Hawk pushed the vial in his hands. ”Here. I’m sure you can apply more yourself when it starts hurting again.”
”What do you mean when?”
”The salve’s effect lasts some hours. Figure out the rest yourself.”