Strange Attractors - Kim Falconer [5]
‘Are you sure An’ Lawrence was ever here?’ Jarrod asked, scanning the fields. He had to shout to be heard over the crows.
Kali covered her nose when the wind shifted. She pointed with one finger. ‘What do you see out there?’ she asked, her voice muffled by her hand.
‘Murder? Death? Decay? Way too many black birds?’
‘What else?’
‘Stench. It’s revolting.’
‘You can’t see stench.’
‘I can.’
‘Fair enough, but look deeper.’
Jarrod frowned. ‘I know you can’t recognise his footprints from this far away. Even I can’t do that.’
‘Look at the dead.’
‘I’d rather not.’
‘Jarrod, this is no ordinary battle scene.’
The late afternoon sun emerged from behind the clouds, illuminating the field with a rosy glow. The dead were rotting where they’d fallen; from their uniforms, it was clear they were Corsanon warriors. It was a field of red cloaks, broken limbs and horse-trampled dirt.
‘How so, exactly?’ Jarrod asked.
‘The ground’s littered with the fallen but can you see who they were fighting?’
Jarrod’s eyebrows went up. ‘Now that you mention it, I can’t.’
‘This was a one-sided skirmish, Jarrod, and there is only one…or two…’ She frowned, thinking of alternatives before going on. ‘Only one or two Sword Masters who would take on a legion single-handed. The signature of magic is all over this place. There’s been a colossal spell unleashed here. More than one.’ She felt the air with her fingertips.
‘I get that too. You think it was him?’
‘I do, and not long ago.’
‘Long enough for a moderate level of decomposition.’
‘In this heat, it could be less than twenty-four hours.’
‘It’ll get worse.’
Kali narrowed her eyes. ‘I wonder why the dead haven’t been buried? We’re only a stone’s throw from the city.’
‘Maybe the battle’s still going on? A pursuit?’
‘Maybe. In any case, we need to get wind of which way he headed.’
‘He’d want to run fast with the forces of Corsanon after him. They couldn’t have been happy.’
‘What was he thinking? This isn’t even his fight any more, unless…’ Kreshkali whispered the words to herself, rubbing her hands together. The Three Sisters, perched behind her on the escarpment, cawed, their pale blue eyes glistening. See what you can discover, my lovelies. You know who we seek?
They took to the sky. The big man? The Sword Man? they answered her in unison.
That’s the one. Off you go, and mind the crows. No tussles.
No need. We would out-tussle them all.
Sweethearts, there are hundreds of black birds out there and you’re trespassing in their territory. Please don’t start anything.
They cawed out a cheeky retort as they flapped hard to gain altitude. They were larger than the other birds and their progress went unchallenged. For once there was plenty of food to go around.
‘Let’s check that hill.’ Jarrod pointed to the east. ‘The energy signature emanates from there.’
The macabre landscape assaulted them from every side. Bodies, and body parts, were everywhere, twisted at unnatural angles and covered with crows that took flight when they came near then resettled after they passed. Kali swallowed the bile in her throat as she examined the tracks around the small hill. She waved Jarrod closer, pointing at the ground. ‘What do you make of these?’
Jarrod studied the impressions and frowned. ‘Very large wolf tracks,’ he said. ‘Could it be Lupin?’
‘Possible. And see how they cross here and there?’
‘Two of them at least.’ He sketched another print with a thin stick. ‘This isn’t wolf, though, is it?’
‘Feline,’ Kreshkali said.
‘Scylla?’
‘Too big.’
They exchanged looks but said no more.
‘There were dozens of horses here, all shod. The tracks are too distorted to read.’ Kreshkali swatted a mosquito against her neck. ‘Can you see anything more?’
‘It’s been trampled, crossed and re-crossed. There’s one set of hoof prints that stands out, though.’
Kreshkali smiled. Leave it to a farrier to spot something like that. ‘Which one?’
‘Here. The size gives it away. They