Heirs of Prophecy - Lisa Smedman [91]
Larajin bit her lip, wondering how long the towers would remain above the lake. That part of the legend, Diurgo hadn't known. They might remain until the moon set again-or they might sink back under the surface after just a few brief moments.
' Leifander might know the answer-but Leifander wasn't there.
Perhaps Larajin should just set out on her own for the crystalline towers. She could instruct Goldheart to wait for Leifander and guide him to the towers, once he finally arrived.
Yes. That seemed like the best idea. But first, to see if she could actually cast the necessary spell.
She glanced up at Goldheart, who once again was sniffing the breeze. The tressym stared down at Larajin, an intense expression on her face. She growled once, low in her throat, and glanced back at the forest. Briefly, Larajin considered asking the goddess to bless her with the spell that would allow her to ask Gold-heart what she'd scented, then decided against it. Even if there was something threatening back in the woods, she would, if the goddesses were willing, soon be well beyond its reach.
Climbing down lower on the outcropping of rock on which the lightning-struck oak stood, Larajin kneeled and dipped her fingers in the lake. The water was deep along that section of the shore and as cool as a night breeze. To Larajin's surprise, her touch stirred ripples that glowed a faint red, like phosphorescence in the sea.
She glanced around, and noticed that the fish breaking the surface weren't producing any such effect. The places where they leaped and landed rippled, but the water there remained a cool, dark blue. Sune was with her.
She heard a flutter of wings behind her as Goldheart flew away. Nervous, she hstened for movement in the forest but heard nothing.
With the reahzation that she was out in the open where she might be spotted by an elf patrol, Larajin decided not to tarry any longer. Touching the locket that hung at her wrist with fingers that were still wet from the lake, she began to pray. First a prayer to Sune, to make her footsteps as light as a lover's sigh, then a prayer to Hanali Celanil, asking her to make the waters of the lake as firm as a marriage bed.
A nearby splash startled her, but when she looked up, she saw it had only been a fish breaking the surface near where she squatted. The smell of Hanali's Heart rose from the ripples. Encouraged by the thought that the elf goddess was also listening to her prayers, Larajin quickly pulled off her boots. She stood, and placed her bare foot tentatively on the surface of the lake, testing its resistance.
Before she could step out onto the surface, however, a tickling in her nose and throat made her cough. It felt as if Sune's warm glow was drying her throat and as if Hanali Celanil's fragrance was cloying her nostrils to the point where it made her eyes water. Frightened, Larajin found her breathing becoming fast and shallow. That definitely wasn't part of the spell she'd been trying to cast- what were the goddesses doing?
Telling herself to have faith-the signs of the goddesses' blessings were all around her-Larajin took a step out onto the lake, but instead of finding solid footing, her foot plunged beneath the surface. Unbalanced, she tumbled into the water.
The fall saved her life. In the same moment that she tumbled forward, an arrow whistled overhead, so close
that it plucked at her hair, giving it a painful yank. Had her spell worked, allowing her to step out onto the water's surface, the arrow would have buried itself in her back. As it was, it cut into the water next to her with a vicious splash.
Breaking the surface, Larajin saw an elf standing next to the forked oak tree-a forest elf, his face shadowed with tattoos, with a powerful short bow in his hand. It must have been his scent that Goldheart had caught just before she growled and flew away.
All of these thoughts flashed through Larajin's mind in a heartbeat. Meanwhile the elf, in