Strange Attractors - Kim Falconer [45]
‘The city’s in turmoil. The fire has started in the lower level of the citadel,’ Kreshkali said.
‘You mean the dungeon.’
She nodded. ‘One and the same, but they don’t like to use that word.’ She frowned. ‘It’s starting to jump from roof to turret. Spreading fast.’
‘With this wind, it will consume everything to the river before long. I don’t remember that in the history books.’
‘Me neither, but I’m guessing the Sword Master is no longer a guest of the Corsanon guards,’ she said.
‘Do you think he needs help?’
‘If he does, he’s not calling me.’ She looked over her shoulder at Teg. He was sound asleep in the hollow, curled tight in his Lupin form, his breathing finally coming in long, steady streams.
‘Reluctant to leave him behind?’ Jarrod asked.
‘I am.’ She turned back to the glowing city, shading her eyes, searching for clouds. ‘We need to raise a storm, fast.’
I can do that, Mistress.
Hairs prickled on her arms and she turned to Teg. Not so deep asleep after all.
I’m fit to travel, Mistress, and to conjure. Teg sent the mental message before appearing at her side. He hadn’t made a sound, though she saw he still favoured his hind leg, even in wolf form.
‘Are you certain? We can’t have you leaving a trail of blood wherever we go. Too easy to track.’
Jarrod stifled a laugh. ‘Gentle, Kali. He was wounded trying to protect them, remember?’
She clicked her tongue. ‘Trying is the operant word.’
Teg didn’t cringe but faced his mentor. His tongue lolled out and he licked his chops. What is your pleasure, Mistress?
She crossed her arms. ‘I want you to stay put. I know you still have a shocking headache. It would only be worse bipedal. Besides, we’re planning on riding at the gallop. You wouldn’t keep up in either form.’
I will keep up, Mistress.
‘And I will that you stay.’
Jarrod led the horses forward, the black mare placid as a lamb, the gelding snorting at Teg but otherwise controllable. They mounted and Kreshkali shortened her reins as the mare bunched her muscles. The horse was on familiar ground, excited and ready to run.
‘Teg, you’re not going anywhere and if you can’t follow my directive this time—staying here until we return—you’ll not find another apprenticeship on Earth or Gaela until you’re an old grey wolf. Do those instructions confuse you in any way?’
Teg sat on his haunches. No, Mistress. No confusion.
‘I do have a task for you, though,’ she said, smiling as he sprang up, wagging his tail. ‘Two really. Bring in those clouds from the east. Pray rain. I want a downpour inside the hour.’
‘You don’t ask for much, Kreshkali,’ Jarrod said, holding the palomino back.
She ignored the comment. ‘And keep an eye on the temple. If you see a strange energy signature, one you think does not belong, I want to hear about it immediately.’
Yes, Mistress. I will.
‘And I mean hear about it, Teg, that’s all. You’re to tell me. Nothing else. We won’t be long.’ She turned to Jarrod. ‘We’ll skirt the city and enter through the quarry road.’
‘There’s a road through the rocks?’ he asked.
‘It’s more like a goat track, but it’ll get us in the back way. Teg, stay occult, and if you get a stitch, I want to know about that too.’
If I’m spotted?
‘Best you morph without being seen. Otherwise, you’d be very hard to explain.’
I would?
‘I have a feeling this is a Gaela before the first Lupin ever showed his lovely face to the temple priestesses of Corsanon. You may be nothing but a myth here, and if the history is right, it didn’t portray you in a very pleasant light. Let’s not put it to the test.’ A cloud passed over the moon and she urged her mare into a canter, heading towards the burning city.
Shaea waited by the entrance, partly in the shadows to keep from being approached yet close enough to the light so Rall could spot her easily. What was keeping that old woman? Shaea frowned. Old woman? Rall wasn’t the toothless old skeleton any more, and it made Shaea wonder if she ever had been. There was so much to think about this day, she hadn’t had time to sort