Urus realized why he had been able to read the gray man's lips. Murin had shouted in perfectly lip-readable Kestian.
As the guards regained control of their prisoner, Aegaz told Urus, "Find out what he knows about the stone. If Kebetir is in league with these blood mages, and they're after the stone, then we have to stop them no matter what."
Urus nodded.
"I'm counting on you," Aegaz signed.
That's what scared him most. More than the blood mages, more than Kebetir, Urus feared disappointing his uncle.
6
"Where are we going?" Cailix asked, trudging through the fresh coating of snow on the road, hugging her heavy wool cloak tight to keep warm. She couldn't help but stare at Anderis's sandaled feet, which despite walking for several hours in snow hadn't succumbed to frostbite. He seemed immune to the cold.
"What does it matter so long as we continue to move away from that blight of a city?" Anderis replied with a wave back at the barren, white landscape dotted with dwarf willows and tundra pine that separated the travelers from Naredis. Anderis's companion had gone ahead hours ago, though Cailix didn't know why. It bothered her that she didn't know where the man was or why he had gone.
"I just like to know where we're going," Cailix said. She looked back the way they came, up at the distant peak of Mount Kebel, its steady plume of foul-smelling smoke ever rising into the clouds. "I want to know what's coming next."
"I'll bet you do," said Anderis with a smile, puffs of steamy breath escaping from his nose. "Keep up, I have important business to attend."
With the sun unable to penetrate the thick clouds and fog at the top of the world, telling direction by the rising or setting sun was impossible. Cailix knew they were headed south by their slow, winding descent out of the mountain range. Jagged, rising peaks and impassable glaciers blocked all other directions.
They plodded on through the cold and harsh wind for another several hours until at last Anderis stopped short, holding up a closed fist. Several times she tried to make conversation, asking him questions about his power and, more specifically, why his bones seemed to snap like dry kindling at one moment and then be strong as steel the next. Anderis answered none of her questions.
"Don't move," he whispered after a long, silent period of slogging down the road.
"Why not?" Cailix replied, not bothering to whisper.
Teacher or jailor, no matter what he is I won't let him control me. Not completely, she thought.
Anderis flashed her a big smile. It seemed forced and artificial, like all of his emotions.
"Because it is time for your first lesson," he said, still grinning.
They stood in the center of a shallow depression in the snow, the faint tracks of wagon wheels the only hint that the road even existed. The permafrost spread out in all directions, interrupted only by short, fat evergreens and tiny shrubs.
"I know you felt the call of the blood," he began. "Back in the monastery I saw it take hold of you. I saw the hunger for it in your eyes. You are as much a blood mage as I am, girl."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Cailix blurted, though she knew the man was right. She had felt it. The smell of freshly spilled blood had called to her like water to a dying man in a desert.
Anderis lunged, punching her in the face. He swung hard, the blow lifting her up out of the snow and throwing her back. She landed in a heap on a prickly bush. Thankfully her skin was so numb from the cold that she didn't notice the pain from the thorns.
"I am the teacher now, girl. That is the first and only lie which I will allow you. Lie to me again and I will flense you right here and leave your innards to feed the white wolves."
"I," she stammered. "I'm sorry. You're right. I wanted the blood. It was all I wanted. Nothing else mattered."
Anderis took a step back and clapped lightly. "Now we are making progress," he said.
She touched her eye and winced. It
As the guards regained control of their prisoner, Aegaz told Urus, "Find out what he knows about the stone. If Kebetir is in league with these blood mages, and they're after the stone, then we have to stop them no matter what."
Urus nodded.
"I'm counting on you," Aegaz signed.
That's what scared him most. More than the blood mages, more than Kebetir, Urus feared disappointing his uncle.
6
"Where are we going?" Cailix asked, trudging through the fresh coating of snow on the road, hugging her heavy wool cloak tight to keep warm. She couldn't help but stare at Anderis's sandaled feet, which despite walking for several hours in snow hadn't succumbed to frostbite. He seemed immune to the cold.
"What does it matter so long as we continue to move away from that blight of a city?" Anderis replied with a wave back at the barren, white landscape dotted with dwarf willows and tundra pine that separated the travelers from Naredis. Anderis's companion had gone ahead hours ago, though Cailix didn't know why. It bothered her that she didn't know where the man was or why he had gone.
"I just like to know where we're going," Cailix said. She looked back the way they came, up at the distant peak of Mount Kebel, its steady plume of foul-smelling smoke ever rising into the clouds. "I want to know what's coming next."
"I'll bet you do," said Anderis with a smile, puffs of steamy breath escaping from his nose. "Keep up, I have important business to attend."
With the sun unable to penetrate the thick clouds and fog at the top of the world, telling direction by the rising or setting sun was impossible. Cailix knew they were headed south by their slow, winding descent out of the mountain range. Jagged, rising peaks and impassable glaciers blocked all other directions.
They plodded on through the cold and harsh wind for another several hours until at last Anderis stopped short, holding up a closed fist. Several times she tried to make conversation, asking him questions about his power and, more specifically, why his bones seemed to snap like dry kindling at one moment and then be strong as steel the next. Anderis answered none of her questions.
"Don't move," he whispered after a long, silent period of slogging down the road.
"Why not?" Cailix replied, not bothering to whisper.
Teacher or jailor, no matter what he is I won't let him control me. Not completely, she thought.
Anderis flashed her a big smile. It seemed forced and artificial, like all of his emotions.
"Because it is time for your first lesson," he said, still grinning.
They stood in the center of a shallow depression in the snow, the faint tracks of wagon wheels the only hint that the road even existed. The permafrost spread out in all directions, interrupted only by short, fat evergreens and tiny shrubs.
"I know you felt the call of the blood," he began. "Back in the monastery I saw it take hold of you. I saw the hunger for it in your eyes. You are as much a blood mage as I am, girl."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Cailix blurted, though she knew the man was right. She had felt it. The smell of freshly spilled blood had called to her like water to a dying man in a desert.
Anderis lunged, punching her in the face. He swung hard, the blow lifting her up out of the snow and throwing her back. She landed in a heap on a prickly bush. Thankfully her skin was so numb from the cold that she didn't notice the pain from the thorns.
"I am the teacher now, girl. That is the first and only lie which I will allow you. Lie to me again and I will flense you right here and leave your innards to feed the white wolves."
"I," she stammered. "I'm sorry. You're right. I wanted the blood. It was all I wanted. Nothing else mattered."
Anderis took a step back and clapped lightly. "Now we are making progress," he said.
She touched her eye and winced. It
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