Etchings of Power (Aegis of the Gods) by Terry C. Simpson, D Kai Wilson-Viola, Gonzalo Ordonez Arias Page A

wince. Droppings from the lapra indicated the creature had used this particular area for some time. Bits of bone and carrion from the beast’s previous feasts littered the ground. Besides their footprints and the Alzari’s, there were no other human tracks. Ryne’s brow furrowed. If the creature dragged Kahkon here, why not kill the boy once it reached its lair? For that matter, why didn’t the assassins finish the job? He still pondered the question when Keevo and Dren returned.
    “There be a blood trail and the animal’s tracks from the direction you came.” Keevo pointed south to an area with disturbed undergrowth. He shook his head, clearly baffled. “Why not return to the Rot or go farther north toward Alzari territory?”
    “I think something worse must have forced the lapra out here. The assassins were trying to fight back.” Ryne lifted his chin toward broken branches and brush dragged across the stand’s easternmost side. “There’s wards carved into those tree trunks to hide a path there. I’ve only ever seen those symbols used by the Alzari clans when protecting their territory. Whatever it was, they didn’t want it to follow, and the lapra was too afraid to return to its home.”
    “Burning shades,” Keevo hissed. “Do you think it could be Amuni’s Children—”
    “No,” Ryne snapped.”Things are worrisome enough without you dredging them up. There’s enough fear in Carnas already. Besides, none of the wards I placed in the Rotted Forest have been disturbed. Even the Children aren’t strong enough to bypass those.”
    “If not them, then what else?” Keevo’s face relaxed visibly, but he still glanced out toward the blockage to the east.
    “I don’t know yet, but it’s best not to start any rumors. Extra scouts will need to be posted when we return,” Ryne said.
    Footsteps behind them announced Sakari’s arrival with the other men in tow. The wounded hunters both chewed on kinai. Paste from the fruit dyed their bandages a brighter red, but the mixture appeared to be doing its work. Denton no longer gasped, although he did wince with each breath, and his color appeared close to its normal tan. Lenka, his leg now wrapped in bandages, moved with a less pronounced limp. For Ryne, his cuts had subsided to a dull ache.
    “What about this person with golden hair?” Dren asked.
    “None of you saw her?” Ryne asked in disbelief.
    The hunters gave him blank looks.
    “I did,” Sakari said. He tilted his head to the hunters. His green pupils expanded ever so slightly while the silver flecks crowding his eyeballs flickered.
    The men looked away from Sakari’s stare. Ryne wasn’t surprised by his companion’s answer, but the villagers’ response troubled him. They were all experienced hunters. It would take a person with considerable skill to avoid detection from every one of them.
    “Master Waldron, no offense, but you sure it wasn’t Mariel again? Maybe the light in the woods played tricks with her hair.” Lenka peered out into the woods.
    “Or maybe an Alzari woman?” Dren added.
    “No,” Ryne said, “this person is taller than Mariel with a more muscled build. And an Alzari with golden hair? Listen, you five head home. Lenka and especially Denton need to be seen by the menders. Me and Sakari will find Kahkon.”
    The men protested, but Ryne shushed them with a wave. They gave in with curt nods.
    After a few moments of preparation, they parted ways. Malka and Dren assisted the two wounded while Keevo scouted ahead. Ryne watched the men leave before he and Sakari headed south to follow Kahkon’s bloody trail.
    “Why not send one of them to help Lenka and Denton and have the other two come with us?”
    “Whoever was in the forest,” Ryne said, “She managed to elude their tracking ability. And she escaped me even after I read her aura. In the seventy years since I’ve woken, that’s never happened. One moment she was there, and the next she didn’t exist. My ability to