A Gathering Of Stones

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Danny got to his feet, brushing bits of feather off his vest. The pallet was a sodden mess. Simms had rolled over onto Felsrawg and was snoring heavily. Felsrawg lay with limbs sprawling, head rolled back, breathing through her mouth; she was alive but not lovely. Slimy with rain and mud, the silk cord had slipped off several of the pouches; they’d tumbled over the two thieves and spilled into the ditch at the side of the road. Elegant and immaculate, silver slippers unsmutched by the mud and the gelid dew coating every surface, Trithil Esmoon was standing on the gravel, sniffing fastidiously at the unsavory scene.

The sky was heavily overcast, but the rain had stopped-for the moment at least. The east was bloody with sunrise and there was enough light to see for some distance around.

A GATHERING OF STONES 271 Low brush grew in mangy patches on the far side of the ditch. A scatter of wild plum trees with naked branches poked from the brush. There were other patches of trees dotted about the rolling grasslands, dull trees with a few mudbrown leaves still clinging to their branches. Across the road there was a low stone wall, a field of withered yellow-brown grass with a herd of dun cattle grazing in the distance. There were no houses or other buildings anywhere in sight, though the Waystop should be less than half a mile south along the road.

Danny rubbed the back of his neck as he looked round at the dreary land. Empty land. “Stay here. I’ll bring the horses back.”

“No. I don’t think so.”

“What?”

“You understand me. Where the talisman goes, I go.”

“You think I wouldn’t come back?”

“Lazul, ah Laz.”

“Hmm.” He squatted beside the pallet, opened one of the pouches, looked inside, dropped that one and picked up another. When he found his own, he began pulling things out, transferring and discarding until he had what he wanted in one pouch. He tied on a blanket roll, frowned. He undid the straps on another roll and shook out the blankets. He started to drop them over Felsrawg and Simms, changed his mind and got to his feet. “Help me shift them onto the pallet, straighten them out some.” 44w_hyr,

“Do it.”

“Needn’t be so prickly, Laz, I was just asking what you intended for them.” She waited while he dumped the gear off the pallet and spread out the blankets in its place; wrinkling her nose with distaste, she grasped Felsrawg’s ankles and helped move her onto the blankets, then straightened and watched with avid curiosity as Danny fussed with the thief’s clothing, opening her shirt at the neck, pulling loose awkward twists and catches. He folded her hands over her ribs, put a wadded shirt under her head. “You’re laying her out like a corpse, you expect her to be one?”

“Sooner or later, we’re all corpses.”

“Speak for yourself, mortal man.”

He grunted. “Help me move Simms.”

When Danny had Simms straightened out and positioned, he covered them both, shoulder to feet, with more blankets, tucked the edges under them. He collected their gear and piled it around them.

“This is a waste of time, you know,” Trithil said. “They’ll be after us as soon as they wake.”

“Take a walk, I’ll catch up with you.”

“Haven’t you something to do first?”

“What?”

“Klukesharna. The poison.”

“Klukeshama stays where she is as long as I’m in Lewinkob lands. The moment I take her from the shielding, Coquoquin will be here. You want that?”

She shuddered. “No indeed.” She collected her own gear, slid the pouch strap over her shoulder. “No, that would be a very bad thing.” She looked down at the sleepers. “You said mid-morning.”

“Take a walk. Now.”

“It’s stupid not to kill them now.”

“You want to join them?”

“You think you could handle me like that?”

“You want to find out?”

“Don’t be a fool, I’m on your side, man.”

“Nice to know. You’ve got two seconds to start walking or I drop you.”

She shrugged. “You could try, but that’d likely bring Coquoquin and I’d lose a lot more. All right. Be sure you do come. I can get very unpleasant when I’m disappointed.”

He watched her walk away. I bet you can, he thought. He looked down at Felsrawg and Simms. She’s right, you’ll be after me, you’ve got no choice, but I’m not a murderer and I don’t plan to become one. I’ll play the game my own way and take my chances. However, there’s no point being a total fool. He shut his eyes, thought a moment, then began weaving a stasis web about them, once again melding the experience of his two half-sires, crafting a dome over them that would hold them unmoving and untouchable for the next several days. He wasn’t all that sure exactly how long the stasis would last, two days or a week, it didn’t matter, he was buying himself time to get out of Lewinkob lands and free the talisman to his uses. After that, let them try.

The sun had cleared the peaks of the Dhia Asatas, the wind was shredding the clouds and exposing patches of sky; the day wasn’t brightening so much as pushing the horizon back. The land around him was brown and gray and blanched, even the naked sky looked dingy. Danny shouldered his gear, breathed in that chill air and felt suddenly lighter than those vanishing clouds. Klukesharna was his and in a day or so the poison would be out of him, he was free, finally free of the Chained God’s hook and on the way to reclaiming his Talent. Whistling a tune from one of Daniel’s more ancient memories, he started after Trithil.