Forged in Fire, page 6
“Oh. Oh, that’s fantastic,” Owyn breathed.
“Mouse, before you get too excited over water signs, you have the map,” Memfis called. “I’m thinking we need to make camp near here?”
“Right. Right, let me check,” Owyn said. He dug into his saddlebag and pulled out the map, unrolling it between his hands. He studied it for a moment, then looked around. “We should be coming up on a fork. If we take the left fork, we’ll hit that village.”
“Then we’ll go to the fork and find a place to camp off the road,” Memfis said. “Aria, are you too tired to go scouting?”
“I’m fine,” Aria said. She reined in her horse and dismounted, handing the reins to Memfis before taking to the sky. Aven tipped his head back and watched her as she circled overhead.
“Had a thought,” Owyn called. “You’re not going to like it.”
“I already don’t like it,” Aven answered immediately. Owyn gaped at him, and he grinned. “Well, whenever you or Memfis say that I’m not going to like something, it ends up being something bad.”
Memfis chuckled. “What is it, Mouse?”
“Well, the question was why aren’t they chasing us, right?” Owyn asked. He reached up and scratched the back of his neck, then patted the shirt pocket where Trinket rode. “The only reason I can think that they wouldn’t be chasing us is that they don’t have to. They already know where we’re going.”
Memfis blinked, his face going slack. Aven swallowed and forced a laugh. “I told you. You say that I’m not going to like what you have to say, and it always ends up being something bad.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure bad sums it up,” Owyn agreed. “If they’re waiting for us at the healing center, we’re walking right into a trap.”
“So what do we do?” Aven asked. “We can’t not go there, can we?”
Memfis growled softly, then shook his head. “Right now? We’re reprovisioning. We can’t do anything until we do that. Then... we’ll figure it out.” He looked up. “Aria’s waving. I think she found a place for us. Let’s go.”
AVEN LOOKED UP, STUDYING the sky. “She’s not up there. Where is she?”
“She landed, somewhere up there,” Owyn said. He pointed. “Over that way. I saw her.”
Memfis said nothing, leading them in the same direction that Owyn had pointed. He was scowling, and his entire demeanor reminded Aven of heavy storm clouds on the horizon. He glanced at Owyn, then urged Cloud forward until she was walking alongside Memfis’ horse.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. Memfis shook his head.
“Trying to think of what we do next,” Memfis answered. “Because Owyn is right. If they’re waiting for us at the healing center, we’re walking into a trap.”
“Where else can we go?” Aven looked for Aria again, then back at Memfis. “My parents said there were villages on the coast that were part Earth, part Water. Maybe we can get to one of those?”
Memfis sighed. “We’ll look at the map. That might be a better choice, at least until we know more.” He frowned. “Where is she?”
Aven studied the landscape, then pointed. “There. By those rocks. See her?”
“She found a good place, if it’s that hard for us to find her,” Owyn said, riding up next to Aven. “Mem, we can’t all go into the village. We’ll stand out. Who’s going in?”
Memfis glanced at him. “I was thinking that you and I would go, Mouse.”
Aven coughed. “And leave the two people who don’t know anything about living in this part of the world alone? What if you don’t come back?”
“He’s got a good point, Mem,” Owyn said. “Let’s get to where we’re going to camp, then go over what we’re going to do.”
Memfis scowled again, and this time, Aven saw lightning in the storm clouds. He knew what it meant now — Memfis was worried. Worried and angry. At himself, Aven guessed, but any of them might bear the brunt of that storm when it broke. He just wasn’t sure what shelter they might find before that happened. He looked ahead, saw Aria wave.
“I did not think you would see this from the road,” she called as they came closer. “I almost missed it from the air.”
“What did you find?” Memfis asked. She smiled and led them around the rocks, making a sharp turn into what turned out to be a large grassy semi-circle, hidden from view by tumbled rocks and a fallen tree. Memfis nodded slowly.
“This is good,” he said. “This is very good.”
“This is better,” Aria added. She gestured, and Aven saw two small, furry bodies on the ground. It took him a moment to remember what they were called. Rabbits. Owyn had told him what they were when they’d seen some in the forest.
“You hunted?” Memfis asked. “Where? I didn’t think there was any game.”
“I was lucky,” Aria answered. “When I found this place, I landed up there—” She pointed at a high ridge of rock. “There is a colony of rabbits on the far side. They did not see my shadow, so I caught two before they hid. If we stay here overnight, I will lay snares. For now, this is half a rabbit for each of us.”
“And there’s grazing for the horses,” Owyn added. “We’re camping here?”
“We’re camping here,” Memfis confirmed. “If you’ll start unloading the horses, I want to walk around. I need to see where we are.”
He walked away, and Owyn called after him, “We have a map for that!” Memfis just waved, and Owyn shook his head. “He’s in a better mood, at least,” he said, his voice lower. “I haven’t seen him this tangled up... well, the week before you showed up, he was bad. Not this bad, though.”
“He’s worried,” Aria said. She crouched and drew her knife. “If one of you will build a fire, I will clean these and get them ready to cook.”
“Owyn, you’re better at that than I am,” Aven said. “I’ll take care of the horses.”
“They like you,” Owyn said. He started walking around their campsite, looking for wood. “They behave better for you than for anyone.”
“Except you,” Aven pointed out.
Owyn laughed. “Except me. I’m going to have to go hunting for wood. Back in a few minutes.” He walked off in the same direction that Memfis had gone.
Aven busied himself with the horses. He’d taken over most of these chores early, when he’d realized that he wasn’t much help with setting up the camp. And the horses did seem to behave better for him than for anyone else, excepting only Owyn. He hobbled the horses, then took off saddles, replaced bridles with softer halters, and unloaded the packhorse. He poured a measure of grain into each of the feedbags, then carried them to each of the horses, laughing as they nudged and pushed, trying to get at what they could smell. Once that was done, he started grooming Anvil, the big packhorse. He glanced up between strokes, watching Owyn as he came back with an armload of wood. By the time he was finished with Anvil, Owyn had a fire burning, and the rabbits were cleaned and spitted, waiting for the flames to die down. Owyn saw him looking and got up, wiping his hands on his trousers as he came over.
“What still needs to be done?” he asked.
“I’ve only gotten Anvil, and I haven’t checked his feet. You know he won’t let me do that,” Aven asked, moving on to start grooming Cloud. “And they need water. Did you see any place where we can take them to drink?”
“Yeah, there’s a stream,” Owyn answered. He went to Anvil and rested one hand on the horse’s shoulder. “All right, old man. Let’s check for rocks,” he said as he ran his hand down Anvil’s leg. Anvil obligingly picked his foot up, letting Owyn examine his hoof. “Good man,” Owyn crooned. “Good Anvil. Yeah, you’ve got one. That can’t feel good, can it? You should let Aven do this, then you wouldn’t have to wait for me.” He put down Anvil’s foot and went to the packs, rummaging through until he found something he’d identified to Aven as a hoof pick. He went back to Anvil and started working, keeping up a steady patter of what seemed to be complete nonsense, until he’d finished checking all four feet. Without asking, he moved on to Memfis’ horse, Dasher, keeping up the same constant nonsensical one-sided conversation. The horses seemed to appreciate it, letting him work on their feet while Aven brushed them down. By the time they were done, Aven could smell the rabbits cooking, and Memfis had wandered back from wherever he’d gone.
“I have something to show you, Aven,” he said as he came closer. “You and Aria. I hadn’t realized that we were at the right place on the coast.”
“For what?” Aria asked. “I need to wash, and I want to bury the offal away from the fire. We have no way to tan these skins, I’m afraid. A waste.”
“Save them. We can use them for trade. And I’ll show you now,” Memfis said. “Owyn, will you stay here?”
“Sure,” Owyn answered. He looked puzzled, but settled down next to the fire. “I’ll go wash when you get back. I’m all over dirt.”
Memfis led them out of the campsite, and down an incline toward the stream that Owyn mentioned. Aria went off a little ways, then flew down to meet them at the stream, washing her hands clean. Aven splashed water on his face, then followed Memfis across the stream and toward the edge of what turned out to be a fairly steep cliff.
“Careful,” Memfis warned. He pointed. “It’s a long way off, but we can see it from here.”
Aven blinked, squinting into the distance. The coast curved around, far to the north, and he saw something gleaming in the late afternoon sun. A building? No...
“Is that the Palace?” Aria asked.
“That’s the Palace,” Memfis confirmed. “I wasn’t sure we were far enough north to see it. But that’s the Palace. That’s the place that should have been your home, the both of you. You were both supposed to have been born there.”
“How far is it?” Aven asked. “By horse, I mean. That’s maybe a day’s sailing, in a good wind.”
“We’re four or five days from the Palace by horse,” Memfis said.
“The healing center is three to four days, you said. It’s that close to the Palace?” Aven looked back out over the water. “Owyn was right. Mannon didn’t have to chase us. He’s already there. He got on his ship and he’s been waiting for us to come to him. And probably sleeping in his own bed while doing it.” Aria moved to his side, slid her arm around his back. He draped his arm over her shoulders and hugged her to his side.
“What do we do now?” she asked. “If he is waiting for us, where can we go?”
“For right now, we’re going back to camp and we’re going to eat,” Memfis answered. “Then we’re going to sit down with the map and make some plans. Real ones, not the dreams of an arrogant old fool who should have known better, and who should have listened to the people telling him not to rely on visions.”
“Memfis, it’s not your fault,” Aria said gently.
“It is. Meris told me more than once I couldn’t just live my life from vision to vision. That I had to plan, and look at the real world. If I’d been paying attention, or even actually looked at that map, we’d be in a better state now than we are,” Memfis replied. “So now, I’m listening. Once we have real plans, and have an idea of how long we’ll be on the road, then we’ll reprovision.”
They walked back to the campsite, where Owyn was waiting for them. He’d pulled the leather buckets out of the packs, and announced as they came closer, “I need to wash. The horses need water. We do, too.”
“Are the rabbits finished?” Aria asked.
“I’m not sure,” Owyn answered. “Almost, I think, but I’ve never cooked rabbit over an open fire before. It’s different.”
“I’ll check,” Aria said. She stretched to kiss Aven, then kissed Owyn in passing.
Aven went over and picked up one of the buckets. “I’ll help you with the water. Horses or people first?”
“People first,” Owyn said. “Then we can take the horses down to drink.”
“Mouse, where’s the map?” Memfis asked.
“My saddlebag,” Owyn answered. “You want it? I’ll get it for you.”
“Please. I want to study it. The way I should have from the start,” Memfis said. He sat down near the fire, rested his elbows on his knees, and stared into the fire. Owyn frowned. He went and got the map, handed it to Memfis, then grabbed the other bucket.
“What happened while you were out?” Owyn whispered as he and Aven headed for the stream.
“I think it really settled in him that he didn’t think things through all the way,” Aven answered. “He didn’t know how things were out here. He didn’t look at the map. And he didn’t realize that Mannon had to have known where we’d be going, and is probably waiting for us there.” He took a deep breath. “He needs to think. We all do, before Mannon draws us in like a hunterfish.”
“A what?”
“Hunterfish?” Aven grinned. “It’s something from down deep. It’s got a... well, a growth, on the top of its skull. And the end glows.”
Owyn narrowed his eyes. “You know, I can tell when you’re screwing with me.”
“I am not!” Aven protested, laughing. “It lives down deep enough that not a lot of light gets there. So when there is light, fish are attracted to it. The glowing draws the prey in.”
“And Mannon is drawing us in, just like that?” Owyn nodded. “On land, we’d say moths to a flame. At night, did you notice? Little flying things?”
“There are a lot of little flying things at night here, Mouse,” Aven said. They reached the banks of the stream, and he lowered his bucket into the water upstream from where Owyn went to wash off the dirt. “Some of them make me itch.”
“Those are bloodflies. No one likes bloodflies,” Owyn said, shaking water off his hands. “Moths are like butterflies. It’s hard to tell them apart, actually. But moths like bright light, so if there’s a torch, or a fire, they’ll fly right in.”
Aven frowned. “Why?”
“Why do the fish go to the light?” Owyn asked in response. “Because it’s probably the same reason.”
“I don’t know,” Aven admitted. He shifted his full bucket to his other hand and sighed. “Mouse, I’m sorry about pushing you about learning to swim.”
“That’s all right,” Owyn said. He filled his bucket and looked up to smile at Aven. “You didn’t know. No way you could have known. Only person who knew was Mem. Nah, I’m just... not ever going out into the ocean, is all.” His smile faded. “Sorry. I mean... that means I’m never going to see where you’re from.”
“I’d rather have you alive than out on my canoe,” Aven said. He held his hand out. “Come on. Let’s go back. We have to bring the horses down.”
They started back up the slight slope. Owyn tipped his head back to look up. “The sky is huge. I never realized it until we got out from under the trees.”
Aven looked at him. “You can see the sky from Forge.”
“Not this much of it. There are buildings in the way. Makes it look smaller. And when you’re in the vents, you can’t see the sky at all.” He snorted. “I never saw so many stars, either. Not in all my life.” He squeezed Aven’s hand. “I understand a little, I think. What it’s like for you. Out here, I don’t have any idea of what I’m doing. I’m just doing the best I can.”
Aven nodded. “That’s all we can do. That, and learn as much as we can, as fast as we can.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
AVEN AND OWYN MADE several trips back and forth, taking the horses to the stream for water, then went back down one last time to wash. When they returned to the fire, they found Aria unpacking the wooden bowls and cups that they used for meals. Memfis sat away from the fire, hunched over the map that he’d spread on the ground. Owyn looked at him, wondering if he should go and help, or at least offer a sounding board. Then Memfis scowled, and Owyn decided that elsewhere was a better place to be.
“Is it time to eat, or can I take Aven for a walk?” he asked. Aven looked startled, but said nothing.
“You have time,” Aria answered. “The rabbits are done, but they will need time to cool.”
Owyn glanced back at Memfis, then lowered his voice so he could feed his curiosity without getting his head handed to him by a certain moody smith. “Can you tell me what it was that he wanted you for?” he asked Aven.
Aven answered in the same low tones, “He wanted us to see the Palace. We can just see it from the cliffs. It’s a good day’s sailing away, but we can still see it.”
Owyn looked up at him. “You know I have no idea how far a good day’s sailing is?” he asked. Aven grinned.
“Memfis said four or five days by horse,” he added.
“And we can see it?” Owyn asked, and whistled, impressed. “That’s a long way to be able to see.”
“The coast curves. And a straight line is shorter than a winding one,” Aria said. “Sailing, or flying, is a straight line. We do not need to worry about roads that may not be straight, or land that may not be passable.”
“Well, that’s all fine and good if you have wings or a canoe,” Owyn said. “But some of us have to use roads. Speaking of which, walk with me, Fishie.”
Aria giggled. “Go. I’ll cut the rabbits and have them ready when you get back.”
Owyn took Aven’s hand, leading him out of the clearing. Behind them, he heard Memfis’ raised voice. “Don’t be long!”
Owyn waved to show that he’d heard, and led Aven down the slope to the stream. They followed it for a while, until they got closer to the cliffs.
“Do you want to see the Palace?” Aven asked. “Mother willing, we’ll all end up there eventually.”
Owyn shrugged. “I’ll see it when we get there,” he answered. “I just... when Memfis is in a mood, I like being elsewhere. He makes me nervous when he gets like this. Closing me out, and then getting all twisted up because he’s gone off in the wrong direction? It’s... I don’t like it. And since I can’t close myself in my room with a book, I’m being elsewhere with you.”
