Sentinelspire - Mark Sehestedt [101]
Sauk? Berun asked. Names meant little to Perch. He recognized his own and a few beyond that, but Berun sent the knowledge of the half-orc in a way that the lizard could understand. Big two-legs with long hair.
Yes-yes-yes. Big-big two-legs smells like death. He has little two-legs brother! Has him! Has him!
Berun's eyes snapped open.
Where, Perch? Tell me where!
+++++
"You're certain he'll come here?" Talieth asked Sauk.
Talieth and Sauk stood just outside the open gateway of the courtyard of the Tower of the Sun, the vines and flowers on the wall dripping rain into puddles behind them. Still barefoot, cloakless, and thoroughly soaked, Lewan stood just in front of Sauk. He was shivering, and his feet felt cold as winter river stones.
Sauk didn't take his eyes off the shadows of the far buildings and gardens. In the pouring rain, and cool as it was, he still stood without cloak or coat. His canvas shirt had soaked up all the rain it could, and water poured off him in a steady stream. He didn't seem to mind. "Only two things he's coming for-the old druid and this young one. One way or the other, he'll make his way here."
Talieth turned and looked behind them. Under her long cloak and deep hood, Lewan could only see the tip of her chin. The wispy lights haunted the trees and wound their way around the tower. Something about the shadows in the trees seemed… watchful. "I don't like being this close," she said. "We're taking an awful risk."
"You really think that being farther from the tower would do any good if the Old Man wanted to stop us?"
Talieth turned her back on the tower. She was silent for a while, then said, "Taaki can't find him?"
"She could," said Sauk. "But we want him to talk, not fight. Yes?"
"Of course."
"Then Taaki stays where she is."
"Where is she?" asked Lewan, turning his head to look at the half-orc.
"Don't you worry about that." Sauk still had one hand firmly on the boy's shoulder. "You cold?" "Yes," said Lewan.
"Worse things than being cold." Sauk smiled, and when he saw Lewan blanch, his smile broadened. "Think warm thoughts. I'm sure Ulaan will be willing to-"
Sauk grunted-every last bit of air in his lungs exploding out at once-and pitched forward into Lewan.
+++++
The lights gave off neither heat nor cold and made no sound-and they made Berun nervous. He'd scaled the eastern courtyard wall of the Tower of the Sun-an easy task with all the thick vines and foliage encasing the wall-and dropped into the greenery beyond. To call the garden overgrown would have been to call the ocean wet. It was an uncontrolled mayhem of growth-trees, shrubs, untrimmed hedges, buds, early spring fruit, vines, and creepers of every sort. The lights played amongst them, shedding their unnatural light within the greenery.
They never came very close to Berun, and none seemed to linger for long. Still, the lights made his skin crawl. Worse was the deeper darkness of the shadows-especially up in the trees. Nine years in the wild had taught Berun to trust his instincts, and he knew from the first moment he set foot inside the courtyard that he was being watched. But there was no help for it. He knew for certain that Sauk, Taaki, and at least half a dozen men were spread around the main entrance to the courtyard. To have any chance of getting to Lewan before he was surrounded, Berun's only hope was to come at them from behind, charge fast, and hit hard.
Berun took his time, making his way through the foliage to the western side of the tower and the main gate. Although the trees and brush were thick enough to hold off the worst of the rain, the way before him seemed strangely clear of branches and vines. Even the wet grass and leaves beneath his feet were soft, so his footfalls made little noise. The only sound was the rain pattering on the canopy overhead, dripping down the leaves, and a steady stream of water than ran down the sides of the tower itself.
There.
About ten paces from where Berun crouched under the shadows of an oak bough, Sauk stood just outside the main gate, one