Chapter List

unning again, deeper into the night. What confused Shannon more than anything else was the fact she felt like she knew exactly where she was going! She knew there was a small river nearby, and that the big cat was headed that way. She didn’t even need to follow the trail of bloody leaves and dirt, although she knew it was there. An owl sounded to her right. She didn’t look. She could gauge distance and direction without looking. It sounded again as she broke into a moonlit glen and froze.

At the opposite side of the grassy area was the big cat. It was laying on its side and breathing heavily. A great bloody wound covered almost the entire side of its hind leg. Shannon crept as slowly as she could around the edge of the trees. She wasn’t getting much closer to the animal. She wanted to be sure she could run if she had to.

Suddenly, the black mountain cat whirled to its feet and faced her. Shannon’s gaze locked with its blue eyes, and it lowered its head menacingly, ears flat.

Shannon’s heartbeat accelerated and she leaned back. The huge animal growled. It was a hollow rumbling sound that made Shannon’s throat tighten. Then its whiskers and mouth pulled back again as it screamed a challenge.

Shannon was breathing very fast by now, and she put her hands out as a show of truce. She saw the telltale glint of lustre from the sapphires of her Ring. The jewels were glowing softly. They brightened as Shannon spoke.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” she said. “I’m not like those men.”

The big cat’s ears rose as if it recognized something. Shannon felt herself getting dizzy as she stared into its eyes. In her mind, the pain and exhaustion and hunger were replaced by a single word.

Sister

Then those blue eyes clouded over in pain again just before the animal turned away from her. It walked a few steps and then collapsed on the ground, rolling on to its side.

Shannon moved closer. She could hear the cat’s breathing becoming strained, and the sound of wheezing. The urgent sensation of pain in her mind was almost unbearable. The wound on its leg looked ragged and very serious.

The river can’t be far, Shannon thought.

“Stay here,” Shannon still kept her distance, but she also kept holding her hands out to make herself look less threatening. The animal lay on the ground, its breath rattling each time it exhaled.

Shannon ran towards the river. She was doing her best to calm herself. She could feel tears nearing her eyes. But becoming emotional wasn’t going to help the situation, and she knew she might be the only chance this animal had to survive. She had no supplies to speak of, but at least she might be able to wash away some of the dirt from the cat’s wound.

I wish I knew where that stupid ship was, Shannon thought. There’s probably all kinds of supplies on it, and here I am out in the middle of nowhere. Shannon felt herself getting frustrated, but she stopped and calmed herself. She took a deep breath and exhaled. I have to find a way. She reached the river and ran up to the bank, looking in both directions.

What do I use to wash with?

Then she had an idea. She sat down quickly and took off her shoes and socks, tossed the socks to one side and put her shoes back on. As she was soaking the socks in the swift, bracing water of the river she saw a strange shape on a nearby rock. It was only a few yards away, but even in the dim moonlight Shannon could see it looked like a bowl of some kind.

Curious, she walked a few yards up the bank of the shallow river to get a better look. Sure enough, there was a dark-colored bowl sitting on a flat stone next to the water.

Why would there be a bowl out here in the middle of nowhere?

She crouched down and picked the bowl up. It was made of polished wood, and it was about half-filled with a coarse ground up substance that looked like some kind of cooking spices. Shannon held it up to her face to see what it smelled like. It had a tangy bitter aroma.

Maybe this is some kind of medicine?

She gathered a little water in the bowl from the river, gathered up her socks and ran back to where the big cat was laying on the ground. The blood from the gash on its leg was beginning to coat the leaves underneath its body.

She walked around behind the animal and knelt down. She dipped one sock in the bowl. The dark greenish flakes of whatever was in the bowl clung to the material of her sock. She reached out slowly and dabbed around the wound on the cat’s leg. She heard the animal groan, but it did not reach back and swipe at her.

Encouraged, Shannon began to clean as much of the blood away from the wound as she could. Her socks were thick enough to keep her hands clean. She managed to get at least four good doses of the greenish material in the bowl applied to the area around the animal’s injury. The cat did not get up. It just continued laying there, breathing heavily.

I’ve done my best, Shannon thought. All she could do now is hope the animal got better. She stood and looked around. I hope those men don’t come back.

The sound of crickets all around her was comforting in a way. The moon bathed the grass in a pleasing light. Shannon sat against a tree not far from where the cat was laying. It wasn’t cold, but Shannon wrapped her arms around herself anyway. She wanted to wait. At least until she was sure he was okay.

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Chapter List

uch tableware is expensive. I’m sure you understand. My glasses are my business, you see. Perhaps we can come to an agreement? Business is hit or miss these days. I have just the thing here. You’ll be right as rain.”

Reina waited for the multitude of words to subside, much as she might wait for the last glops of sludge to fall from an empty well bucket. Enken’s nose wrinkled as he wondered how anyone could hear the man over the sound of his moustache.

The proprietor held up a short, wide glass as if for auction. “My price for my finest glassware is one copper monarch.”

Unfortunately for the proprietor, naming a price in the presence of Reina of Kulnas was like dangling a canary before a starving alley cat. She approached negotiations like a mongoose. The outcome was never in question. Only the speed and direction of the decisive strike.

The end of the Vicereine’s staff punched the wooden floor of the tavern, making a hollow sound. The very moment those between the door and the proprietor realized she was coming their way, spilled drinks and at least one overturned chair marked their escape.

As Reina slowly walked from the door to the bar, the patrons gave her considerable deference. Her robes scathed the floor. The sound was both unpleasant and ominous. She used her staff as a mountain climber might use a pick.

As hard as he tried, the proprietor still couldn’t see more than Reina’s chin until she reached the bar and raised her head slightly.

“I am not in the habit of paying for simple reagents. Perhaps I can conjure what I need.”

The proprietor’s skin began to crawl.

“Now to the best of my recollection, conjuring a fine drinking glass is a rather complex spell. It requires a living component.”

Reina’s voice lingered over her words, as if she were savoring her advantage. Her eyes met his.

“To complete my work I will require five human teeth.”

The proprietor slammed the base of the glass down on the bar and held on to it as if he were trying to recover from a wave of nausea. A nervous tick was causing his right eye to flutter, and his upper lip curled involuntarily. He pulled his hand away as Reina reached for the glass.

Enken looked over the Vicereine’s shoulder, then moved a chair to make room next to her.

“I will be quick about my business,” she said, taking the glass in her pale hand. His eyes rose, and a fresh wave of sickness overcame him as looked into the face of the jawless skull atop Reina’s staff.

The Vicereine examined the glass carefully, then turned slowly to one side and tossed it lightly into the air. Several people in the room jumped at the shattering sound. The proprietor closed his eyes and muttered to himself.

Reina’s eyes focused on the shards scattered around her feet. She identified the largest piece of glass on the floor, then brought the full measure of her powers to bear, gathering the flickering light from the room and altering it. She reached beyond the physical realm with her mind and one by one, she adjusted each dim beam of light to pass through the broken shards of glass and reveal what was beyond her sight.

The glass shards darkened, and clouds passed through them. Reina was looking down on an ocean at night, with each shard showing a different region of the water. Enken frowned, and then his eyes widened in recognition. A three-masted wooden ship.

“They are underway,” Enken said.

Reina’s mind reached deeper into the darkness, and the ocean faded. When her vision re-focused, she could see six people standing on the deck of the ship. One held a colorful jeweled Lantern. It’s light glowed through the broken glass and brightened the wooden floor of the tavern.

“If we do not reach the Gray Coral Strand in time to greet them, they will not survive,” Reina said quietly.

The Vicereine reached into her coin purse and drew an object from it carefully. She placed a crown-emblazoned silver coin on the bar. A month’s wages for a tavern keeper.

“My apologies for the mess.”

The patrons watched with a combination of dread and curiosity as the dusty-robed woman made her way back to the door and waited for Enken to hold it open. The proprietor finally exhaled as the last of her robes passed the edge of the doorjamb. Enken followed her outside.

Nobody spoke.

Continue to Chapter Seven