Sentinelspire - Mark Sehestedt [32]
Perch, rummaging inside the log, swallowed the last of a spiderling he'd happened across. Running through the wood, Berun had opened the link he and Perch shared, tearing it wide, opening himself to the mind of the little lizard. He could feel the lizard's metabolism quickening, already growing a new tail, needing nourishment, and his friend was hungry. The dozens of spiders hiding in the crevices of the old log were too much temptation to ignore. The incessant messages of fight-fight-fight that had whispered along the link Berun shared with the lizard had changed to hunt-hunt-hungry-hungry-SPIDER!
Berun closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and sent a feeling of urgency, of need, to Perch. Hunt spiders later. Time to fight. Now, Perch.
Fight-fight? Perch stopped in his attempt to chase a young spider out of a moist crevice where the log met the ground.
Fight, yes, Berun answered. Fight now. The tiger. Find the tiger.
Wariness and a tingle of fear wafted into Berun's mind. Fight… tiger?
Anger the tiger, said Berun. Make her growling-mad-then lead her away. Faraway. Understand?
Growling-mad tiger means eating scared-me. Perch emerged from the log. Berun could feel his little friend watching him, though it was too dark to see him.
You are fast, Berun told him. In-the-shadows in-the-tight-places fast. Get the tiger chasing-you-mad, then run-run-run.
Chasing-me-mad run-run-run. Perch hissed and chattered. Fun-fun fight-chase-run-fun!
Go, my friend.
Perch ran, unseen in the dark and unheard under the storm-swaying trees. In moments, he was gone. Berun relaxed his mind, seeking the rhythm of the storm, of the wood, of the world around him. In the gusts of wind, the wisps of spider web tickled his skin.
"Now," said Berun. "Now, Sauk. Here it comes. You should've stayed in your mountain."
He began his chant.
+++++
The tiger crouched a prudent distance from the camp. Her heart-brother had warned her about the lizards, biters and scratchers who hid in the trees. The little nuisance earlier today had angered her, but her coat was far too thick for such a creature's claws to be a real threat. No. The real threat was that the beasts would warn their masters below, and that would displease Taaki's heart-brother. So she kept to the thick brush, becoming a part of the darkness itself. She couldn't even see the distant twinkling of the campfire, but the smell of their fire was thick in her nostrils. She knew exactly where they were. At the signal from her heart-brother, she would roar to put fear in her prey then rush down the slope, making less sound than the wind in the trees.
Something rustled to her right, a furtive movement over the old leaves and twigs that littered the forest floor. Every part of the tiger went still as stone, save for her ears, which pivoted toward the sound.
The sky above the forest flashed, painting the wood in sharp contrasts of light and shadow, and thunder followed a moment later. The storm was close now, the scent of rain heavy on the wind. The last of the thunder faded, first from the ground, then the air as it rebounded off the mountain. Only the wind through the leaves and branches made any sound-
There.
Again, something skittered through the brush, but it was closer now. Very close.
A rumble gathered deep in the tiger's chest, and the skittering sound stopped.
The tiger waited.
A sharp patter joined the hissing of the leaves and creak of branches, but it was only the first drops of rain.
Soon… Her heart-brother, warning her.
Leaves rustled nearby, stopped, and the tiger heard a small hiss.
A lizard.
The tiger knew it, and the knowledge sang through the link she shared with her heart-brother. Kill it!
The tiger lunged.
+++++
Hama sat, his legs crossed under him and his back against a tree. He dared go no closer, not if the yaqubi had who-knew-how-many of those little lizards lurking in the trees. He was close enough