3 When Darkness Falls.8 by 3 When Darkness Falls.8 Page A
Authors: 3 When Darkness Falls.8
Ads: Link
her tent at the new camp — she'd be staying here, well-guarded, for the immediate future. Until matters changed — or until she managed to figure out what the cryptic pictures the Crystal Spiders were putting into her mind meant.
He sent the rest of his troop on ahead, saying he'd follow shortly. He suspected that Shalkan was out here somewhere, and if the unicorn wanted to scold him for his near-miss, he'd prefer it was done with as much privacy as possible.
There were only a couple of hours of light left by the time Kellen left the camp, having spoken at length to Ercanirnei, the Elven Knight who commanded Vestakia's camp. Ercanirnei was from Lerkalpoldara, one of the two northern-most of the Nine Cities — where, he assured Kellen, the winters were nearly as long and as harsh as they were in the High Reaches, so there was little he did not know of the ways of snow and ice. Kellen need have no feat that Ercanirnei would fail in any attention to the safety and well-being of the Army's Treasure.
Kellen supposed he would have to take as much comfort from that as he could. Because he was going to have to make very sure that his path and Vestakia's didn't cross for a very long time.
At last he turned Firareth's head in the direction of what, for lack of a better word, had to be called home. The only sounds were the crunch of the war-stallion's hooves through the icy crust of the fresh snow, the creak and jingle of Firareth's harness and Kellen's armor, and the sound of the wind. The winter twilight seemed to reverse the natural colors of the world: The sky and the clouds were dun with flashes of gold where the slanting winter sun managed to peek through; the trees, the ground, and the shadows were all in shades of blue; even the snow looked blue, even if a very pale blue.
If it had been a picture, Kellen would have thought it was very pretty. While he was riding through it, all he could think about was how cold it was. His breath froze in his nostrils as he inhaled, and each exhalation made a cloud of steam, quickly whipped away by the wind. That had picked up, so even if it wasn't snowing any harder, there was a lot more snow in the air. It was going to be a long cold ride back.
But not really a lonely one. As Kellen left the cavern-camp, he felt his Knight-Mage senses spread out across the landscape. There behind him was the cavern-camp, all quiet. Ahead, a larger presence, was the main camp outside Ysterialpoerin. Everything was quiet there as well. Around it, like spokes spread out from a wheel, were the pickets and the sentries, and beyond them, the scout parties. Farther ahead, he could sense Ysterialpoerin itself.
No immediate danger.
"You managed to stay out of trouble today," Shalkan said, coming up beside him.
"Just barely," Kellen answered. Since he'd been expecting Shalkan, he managed not to jump out of his skin at the abrupt arrival, but it took a bit of effort. No matter how finely-tuned his Knight-Mage senses were, a unicorn was as stealthy as the falling snow itself. "I should have seen it coming, though."
The unicorn dipped his head in acknowledgement. While Firareth forged through the drifted snow, Shalkan trotted along daintily atop it, barely leaving a trace of his passage.
"You can't foresee everything," the unicorn said.
Kellen bit back the immediate — and obvious — reply. The fact that Shalkan was right didn't make it any easier to heat. If I can't manage something as fundamental as figuring out how to keep from breaking a simple vow, how am I ever going to manage to figure out something really hard — like what it will take to save Armethalieh and defeat the Demons?
"Don't be so hard on yourself," Shalkan said. "Just because you can manage to drag yourself into the saddle and ride around the landscape doesn't mean you're completely recovered. You're tired. It's affecting your judgment."
"Just what I needed to hear," Kellen muttered under his breath.
"I suppose you'd rather go on
He sent the rest of his troop on ahead, saying he'd follow shortly. He suspected that Shalkan was out here somewhere, and if the unicorn wanted to scold him for his near-miss, he'd prefer it was done with as much privacy as possible.
There were only a couple of hours of light left by the time Kellen left the camp, having spoken at length to Ercanirnei, the Elven Knight who commanded Vestakia's camp. Ercanirnei was from Lerkalpoldara, one of the two northern-most of the Nine Cities — where, he assured Kellen, the winters were nearly as long and as harsh as they were in the High Reaches, so there was little he did not know of the ways of snow and ice. Kellen need have no feat that Ercanirnei would fail in any attention to the safety and well-being of the Army's Treasure.
Kellen supposed he would have to take as much comfort from that as he could. Because he was going to have to make very sure that his path and Vestakia's didn't cross for a very long time.
At last he turned Firareth's head in the direction of what, for lack of a better word, had to be called home. The only sounds were the crunch of the war-stallion's hooves through the icy crust of the fresh snow, the creak and jingle of Firareth's harness and Kellen's armor, and the sound of the wind. The winter twilight seemed to reverse the natural colors of the world: The sky and the clouds were dun with flashes of gold where the slanting winter sun managed to peek through; the trees, the ground, and the shadows were all in shades of blue; even the snow looked blue, even if a very pale blue.
If it had been a picture, Kellen would have thought it was very pretty. While he was riding through it, all he could think about was how cold it was. His breath froze in his nostrils as he inhaled, and each exhalation made a cloud of steam, quickly whipped away by the wind. That had picked up, so even if it wasn't snowing any harder, there was a lot more snow in the air. It was going to be a long cold ride back.
But not really a lonely one. As Kellen left the cavern-camp, he felt his Knight-Mage senses spread out across the landscape. There behind him was the cavern-camp, all quiet. Ahead, a larger presence, was the main camp outside Ysterialpoerin. Everything was quiet there as well. Around it, like spokes spread out from a wheel, were the pickets and the sentries, and beyond them, the scout parties. Farther ahead, he could sense Ysterialpoerin itself.
No immediate danger.
"You managed to stay out of trouble today," Shalkan said, coming up beside him.
"Just barely," Kellen answered. Since he'd been expecting Shalkan, he managed not to jump out of his skin at the abrupt arrival, but it took a bit of effort. No matter how finely-tuned his Knight-Mage senses were, a unicorn was as stealthy as the falling snow itself. "I should have seen it coming, though."
The unicorn dipped his head in acknowledgement. While Firareth forged through the drifted snow, Shalkan trotted along daintily atop it, barely leaving a trace of his passage.
"You can't foresee everything," the unicorn said.
Kellen bit back the immediate — and obvious — reply. The fact that Shalkan was right didn't make it any easier to heat. If I can't manage something as fundamental as figuring out how to keep from breaking a simple vow, how am I ever going to manage to figure out something really hard — like what it will take to save Armethalieh and defeat the Demons?
"Don't be so hard on yourself," Shalkan said. "Just because you can manage to drag yourself into the saddle and ride around the landscape doesn't mean you're completely recovered. You're tired. It's affecting your judgment."
"Just what I needed to hear," Kellen muttered under his breath.
"I suppose you'd rather go on