Word of Traitors_ Legacy of Dhakaan - Don Bassingthwaite [110]
“Neither have I. I wanted to talk to him, but I couldn’t find him. I have seen him with Tariic a lot though.” He hesitated for a moment, then added. “What if Tariic has the true rod? What if he’s found some way to dominate Geth?”
“He can’t. Wrath protects Geth.”
“Here’s the thing, though—whenever I’ve seen Geth, he’s not wearing Wrath.”
“I don’t think that matters,” Ashi said. “When we recovered the rod, he was disarmed, but the rod still couldn’t affect him.”
“Then why won’t he talk to us, and why isn’t he wearing Wrath? What’s going on?”
“I don’t know.” Uncertainty and fear stirred in Ashi’s gut—along with grim determination. “But we’re going to find out. We need to talk to Geth. Come see me tomorrow. We’ll decide what to do.”
Midian nodded, then said, “We should get into to the library. Vounn has probably missed you by now, and she’ll know something is up when we come in together.”
“That doesn’t bother me,” Ashi said. “She’s had me out tonight. She can’t confine me to our chambers now. Maybe we are in danger, but we need to get answers while we can.” She clenched her jaw. “And Geth is the only one who has them.”
“And Geth is the only one who has them.”
Stretched out on top of the thick outer wall, Makka hugged a clenched fist to his chest and bared his teeth. When I fight, I fight. When I stalk, I stalk. The first time he had confronted Ashi and Ekhaas, he’d made the mistake of fighting without properly stalking his prey. He’d been too hasty. He’d forgotten the lessons of the hunt. The Fury seemed to appreciate revenge well-savored, though. Patience and stalking—even with the pathetic caution of Deneith’s hobgoblin guards—had paid off.
His decision to scale the walls of the building Ashi visited had paid off, too. As had his accidental touch of the great screen an armslength above his head. Whirring metal springing to life had gouged the skin of his fingers and palms, but the instinct of freezing in the shadows rather than running had both saved him from discovery by guards and put him in exactly the place he needed to be.
Not just Ashi of Deneith but the gnome Midian too.
The door in the screened chamber closed. Makka offered a silent prayer of thanks to the Fury, rose to his feet, and moved with silent steps back to the deep shadows where he had climbed up.
Careful stalking was one of the lessons of the hunt. Choosing proper bait for the trap was another.
CHAPTER
NINETEEN
28 Sypheros
He’d had this dream before.
Adolan sat across the fire from him. The druid’s face was calm under his red-brown beard. His eyes were the same color as the fresh oak leaves tied to the heavy shaft of his spear, with pupils as black and shining as the collar of stones around his neck. “Are you just passing through?” he asked.
Geth could smell the stink from his own body. It had been a long time since he’d bathed. The rank odor blended with smoke from the fire, the sizzling juices of the chicken that charred on the rough spit above it, and the cool damp scent of the deep forests of the Eldeen Reaches. There was another smell, too, like hot copper. It seemed out of place, but Geth ignored it.
“Maybe,” he answered the druid. “Maybe not.”
Adolan’s eyes bored through him. “You should move on.”
Geth looked at him. That wasn’t right. He repeated the words he’d said to Adolan the night that the druid had confronted a wandering, chicken-stealing shifter. “Yes. Just passing through.”
“Good. Be on your way.” Adolan rose, supporting himself on his spear.
“What?” Geth dropped the chicken he’d been holding and jumped to his feet. “No!”
“Why not?” The face across the fire looked genuinely surprised. “You want to stay here?”
“I’m supposed to,” Geth said. “That’s what happens, Ado. You convince me to stay in Bull Hollow.”
“Not this time. This time you have to keep going.” Adolan turned away.
The pain of the rejection was a giant fist wrapped around Geth’s chest. He felt a piercing ache in his side, like broken