Orlind by Charlotte E. English Page A

Krays’s
activities. What she was sensing was the animal population of Iskyr
slowly going mad under the unprecedented flow of power moving
through the realm.
    Now she
understood Rikbeek’s odd behaviour. The effects on him began with
excitement and increased energy, then steadily eroded his serenity
and turned him into a bundle of nerves.
    The realm’s
energies would settle eventually and the animals along with them,
but Eva had no possible way to tell how long that might take. She
dampened her summoner senses, cutting off the agonising roar of the
animals’ distress, and turned back to Tren. He was standing quite
close, watching her with obvious trepidation.
    ‘ Bad
news?’ he said as she looked at him.
    ‘ We
need to get away from here,’ she said. ‘Quickly.’ She grabbed his
hand, sending an unquestionable, imperative order to Rikbeek to
return to her side. But a shriek split the air - one that they both
heard - and she knew she was too late.
    Behind them stood
a drauk. Or it looked like a drauk; it had shiny blue-black scales,
a long snout and even longer tail, and hideously sharp claws. Only
most drauks were barely two feet long in the body, and this one was
far larger. Much too large.
    If the unsettled
energies of Iskyr were enough to send even the gentlest, most
pacifistic creatures into a frenzy, the effect on creatures that
were naturally aggressive was alarming indeed. The oversized drauk
snarled and came at them, moving horribly fast in spite of its
bulk. Tren swore, grabbed hold of Eva and yanked her aside just as
the drauk’s jaws snapped.
    Eva blinked,
trying to focus. The din in her physical ears and in her
summoner-soul was incredible, despite her attempts to control it,
and she could barely think. If they had been in the Seven Realms
then the solution would have been simple: Tren would open a gate
through to the relevant Off-World and Eva would dominate the beast
long enough to send it through. Then Tren would close the gate
again, and all would be well.
    They couldn’t do
that now. If they banished it through a gate, it would emerge
somewhere in the Seven Realms Daylands, where it would cause havoc.
They had nothing to fight it with. The only option was for Eva to
take control of its mind and will, with her combination of summoner
powers and Lokant abilities. She was strong enough, but she’d never
had to do it with such a shrieking din disrupting her
concentration.
    All this passed
swiftly through her mind. Tren had dragged her well out of the
drauk’s reach and under the overhanging edge of a large boulder. He
was using his sorcerer’s abilities to hide them in the shadow cast
by the rock, working a miniature version of the vast Night Cloak
that kept the sun from the realm of Glour. It halted the drauk for
a while, but Eva feared it would scent them out even if it couldn’t
see them. She would have to deal with it. Swallowing her fear - not
merely fear of this drauk, but of any other violent beasts
that might pass at any time - Eva stepped out from under the
rock.
    Tren grabbed at
her arm. ‘What are you doing?’
    ‘ You
know what I’m doing. Stay there.’ Predictably, Tren ignored that
instruction, insisting on standing beside her. The movement was
enough to catch the drauk’s attention, and once alerted it could
probably smell them. It turned in their direction, its snout lifted
to test the air. Eva braced herself and gathered her
will.
    Then something
distracted the drauk’s attention from Tren and Eva and it turned
away from them. Eva was more alarmed than relieved by this; only an
instant ago the drauk had been intent on rending the two of them to
pieces and, suddenly, all its fervour had vanished. Only something
much more powerfully interesting could be responsible for
that.
    Then she felt it.
A gate was opening between Iskyr and the Seven Realms. The gate was
only ten feet or so from her position, so she judged. A wave of
nausea hit her as the portal ripped a passage between