Heirs of Prophecy - Lisa Smedman [78]
"Where we are travel?" Kith asked.
"I won't know that until Goldheart returns," Larajin said over her shoulder.
"Gold Heart?" Kith repeated. She thought about it a moment. "This be companion to you?"
"A companion, yes," Larajin answered with a smile. "One whose value I only recently realized." For the hundredth time that day, she glanced up at the sky through the trees, hoping to see the familiar flash of colorful wings. "I just hope nothing's happened to her."
* *
That evening they made camp in the woods-well away from the trail, since by dusk the enormous stone arches of the bridge at Archendale had come into sight. Larajin fed and brushed the horse first-remembering what her adoptive father had taught her about always caring for your animals before attending to your own comforts-then she shared with Kith a simple meal of dried fruit and soldier's biscuit. It seemed to matter little to Kith that the latter was stale. The elf consumed it ravenously, as if she hadn't eaten in days. Perhaps that was why she was so thin.
Darkness fell swiftly as the sun sank behind the southernmost tip of the Thunder Peaks, just west of Archendale. Exhausted after her flight from the soldiers, Kith sank into a curious squatting position, her arms curled around her knees, and seemed to fall into a deep trance-the Reverie. Larajin made sure the horse hadn't
slipped its hobbles-it was munching contentedly on some shoots of grass in the tiny clearing where she'd left it-then she lay down near Kith. She whispered her evening prayers, staring up through the branches at the bright pinpoints of the stars above, then she watched the moon slowly rise into view above the treetops. Its pale light flooded the forest.
Was Tal also staring up at the moon from his soldiers' camp? If her calculations were correct, in just a few more days his company would reach the forest of Cormanthor. She wondered if his last glance at the sky would be framed by the branches of trees, as was hers.
And what of Leifander-where was he? As to that, Larajin could not even hazard a guess. She whispered a prayer to Hanali Celanil, praising her for the beauty of the sky above and pleading with her to send word through her chosen messenger, as soon as she was able.
Larajin must have drifted off to sleep. She fell into a vivid dream in which she was soaring up through the air, rising toward the vivid stars above. All the world lay below her, a vast crazy-quilt of forest, lake, field, and town. Somewhere down below, there was something she was searching for, but when she tried to think of where it might be, her thoughts became hazy and confused. She realized she was not flying herself but was being carried by a giant eagle. Its wingtips brushed against her bare feet with each downstroke.
Larajin rolled over in her sleep, and the tickling against her foot stopped.
The dream resumed, but this time the eagle was gripping her in its feet. They completely enclosed her head. One of its talons was piercing the soft flesh of her-
With a start, Larajin awoke. Something was poking her cheek. It felt like the point of a dagger. Fumbling for her own dagger, she yanked it out of its scabbard.
"Illunathrosl" she shouted, scrambling to her feet.
The trees all around her were bathed in the brilliant blue light of her enchanted dagger.
Sitting at her feet, wincing at the sudden glare, was Goldheart. One paw was still raised. She had been kneading Larajin's cheek. Lowering her paw, she butted her head against Larajin's leg and began to purr.
A pace or two away, Kith sprang out of her crouch. She cried out as she spotted the tressym. A moment later, her alarm turned to a sigh of wonder as Goldheart unfolded her wings, shook them once delicately to smooth the feathers, then settled them against her back once more.
"This is Goldheart," Larajin explained. "The companion I mentioned earlier."
Kith fell to her knees in front of Goldheart and tentatively held out a hand.