‘You’re not the most sensitive person, are you?’ Ilgrin half-smiled, shaking his head as he made his way over to El-i-miir.
‘Whatever,’ Seteal grumbled, more concerned with the elf owl clambering out of her bag than anything else. ‘That was quite a spectacle back there, wasn’t it?’
‘Yes.’ Seeol bobbed his head. ‘I was very scared.’
‘You wouldn’t know why those men behaved so strangely, would you?’
‘I was very scared.’ The owl repeated himself, probably not having understood the question.
After a short while, the other two re-joined them, El-i-miir looking a little red around the eyes but otherwise none the worse for wear. ‘Let’s go,’ she said softly. ‘There’s a road to the south that bypasses Jenjol and leads to Garrishnell. We can travel that way if you occasionally project yourself to check for oncoming travellers.’
‘Seeol can do that,’ Seteal said impatiently as the group wove their way south. ‘It’ll be good for him to have something to do.’
‘Do you think it wise to trust a bird with so much responsibility?’ Ilgrin balked. ‘Our lives depend on us not being discovered.’
‘He’ll do fine,’ Seteal stated firmly. She had no intention of leaving her body while ever she was uncertain of her capacity to get back inside. As much as she loved being free, she still remembered Far-a-mael’s warnings that the soul could not exist without the body and she was well aware of the consequences of being away from it for too long. Fortunately, she was rescued from having to give further explanation by a yelp of surprise from Ilgrin as he tripped over a rock.
‘Clumsy.’ El-i-miir giggled as Ilgrin leapt about clutching his toe.
‘I’ve never done that before.’ He was visibly shaken.
‘You’ve never tripped over?' El-i-miir said incredulously. ‘Everybody trips over.’
‘Humans trip over.’ Ilgrin shook his head. ‘I never have.’
‘It’s okay, Ilgrin, you needn’t be embarrassed,’ Seteal reassured him with a wink and a condescending smile.
‘I’m not embarrassed. It’s just . . . oh, never mind,’ he shook his head irritably. ‘Who cares anyway?’
‘Are the men coming for us?’ Seeol asked worriedly.
‘No.’ Seteal shook her head. ‘We’re safe now.’
‘Yay!’ The owl flittered through the air victoriously.
With the sun almost set, it was decided that they should head south to the road where they would camp for the night. They would then move east to Garrishnell, as Gez-reil had directed.
CHAPTER THREE
THE CURSE
While he did not enjoy having his values diminished to the point of common thievery, Ilgrin had never been one to suffer hunger very patiently. He closed his eyes and took another bite out of the raspberry and apple pie that El-i-miir had stolen from a shop in the town they’d passed earlier. Using her powers for evil seemed to come a little too easily, but Ilgrin wasn’t about to let that stop him from enjoying the spoils of her labour.
The odd group of travellers had been on foot for a number of days and if Ilgrin had to guess, they were somewhere in the wilderness to the west of Setbrana. The road had become little more than an overgrown dirt track with scrub encroaching on either side. The temperature was cold, but not at all comparable with that of the Frozen Lands.
‘I need to rest,’ Seteal announced as they entered a clearing in which she plopped down atop a fallen tree, a hand resting on her belly. Perhaps she had a stitch. El-i-miir headed to the opposite side of the clearing. It was becoming increasingly evident that she was losing patience with Seteal’s abrasiveness.
Ilgrin glanced at Seteal to find her staring fixatedly at the ground. He dared not speak to her, instead deciding to follow after El-i-miir.
‘Are you all right?’ he called once he was within earshot.
‘I’m fine,’ El-i-miir grumbled.
‘You seem a little upset,’ Ilgrin pushed.
‘Oh, you know.’ She shrugged. ‘It’s everything, I suppose: knowing I can never go home, this thing between you and I, and spending so many hours with that.’ She nodded across the field at a rather sullen looking Seteal.
‘I don’t see why you insist on keeping her around.’ Ilgrin frowned. ‘She’s horrible at the best of times.’
‘You mustn’t blame her for the way she treated you before,’ El-i-miir reminded him sternly. ‘I already explained that she was under Far-a-mael’s influence.’
‘Well, if you ask me, she doesn’t seem that much different now she’s free.’ Ilgrin frowned.
‘At least she doesn’t want to kill you anymore.’ El-i-miir brushed the hair out of her face. ‘Besides, you have to give her some time to adjust. Seteal doesn’t share my abilities and has to take it on good faith that you’re any different to what she was taught. Frankly, I’m surprised at the progress she’s made.’
‘I saved her life,’ Ilgrin snapped. ‘Twice.’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ El-i-miir said in astonishment. ‘You don’t know what it’s like.’
‘Yes, I do!’ Ilgrin said defensively. ‘I was raised by humans, just like you. Believe it or not, they preached the same nonsense to me as they did to you: silts are all evil, silts are descendants of Sa’Tan, silts eat small children. I’ve heard it all. I’m supposedly only any different because of the way my parents raised me.’
‘All right, all right.’ El-i-miir raised her hands. ‘At least give her some time, if for no other reason than because of what she’s been through. You can’t expect her to just snap out of it.’
‘I don’t.’ Ilgrin lowered his voice. ‘I just don’t see why she needs to be our responsibility.’
‘Don’t you?’ El-i-miir furrowed her brow. ‘Really?’
‘She’s horrible,’ Ilgrin reiterated.
‘I did this to her,’ El-i-miir hissed.
‘No.’ Ilgrin put a hand on her shoulder. ‘Far-a-mael did.’
‘Oh, cut it out, Ilgrin.’ El-i-miir turned away. ‘I’d be a coward and a liar if I denied my part in it. I knew enough of what he was up to to have known better.’
‘You can’t blame yourself.’ Ilgrin put a hand on El-i-miir’s shoulder and turned her around. ‘All you’ve ever known is the ways of the Elglair. You should be proud you managed to see through it all. From what I’ve heard, it’s not something Elglair often do.’
El-i-miir sighed. ‘Why are you so kind to me?’
‘Because you’re a good person,’ Ilgrin reassured her. ‘You were open-minded enough to believe in me and that’s something most Elglair can’t do regardless of their abilities.’
‘All the same,’ El-i-miir replied after a moment of thought, ‘I think I like her.’ She gazed across the field at Seteal, slumped over with her chin on her knees. ‘There’s something so pathetic about her and yet . . . she’s so tragic and at the same time so strong. She’s rather paradoxical, don’t you think?’
‘I guess.’ Ilgrin shrugged, far more interested in the woman in front of him than the one across the field.
‘Besides,’ El-i-miir said, ‘High Elder Gez-reil asked me to bring Seteal if I could manage it, so I’m going to do just that.’
‘I suppose she’s all right.’ Ilgrin glanced at Seteal. ‘Perhaps if she wasn’t so alone, she might feel a little better.’
‘What do you mean?’ El-i-miir frowned.
‘I don’t know.’ Ilgrin shrugged. ‘Perhaps we should find her a man.’
‘You’re not serious?’ El-i-miir blushed. ‘Seteal isn’t interested in men.’
‘You mean . . .’
‘Of course.’ El-i-miir chuckled. ‘We’d be wiser to keep our eyes out for the opposite.’
‘You really are a good person, you know.’ Ilgrin stepped forward after a long pause and slowly lowered his lips to El-i-miir’s.
‘Am I?’ the woman replied softly before she leaned in to the kiss.
‘Ouch.’ Ilgrin’s head snapped back and he clamped a h
and over the side of his head.
‘What is it?’ El-i-miir asked.
‘It’s Seeol.’ Ilgrin glared after the owl as he fluttered away. ‘He just bit me.’
*
The sun was warm against her flesh and Seteal had to shield her eyes as she looked up into the sky. The clouds swarmed a little faster than usual--a lot faster, actually. Soon they zipped about at unnatural speeds. Her companions disappeared from their place across the clearing and the seasons cycled by in reverse. Seteal was snatched away into a distant time and place.
A small boy screamed hysterically and flared his wings as he hovered over his mother’s corpse in the pouring rain. The child’s father tried to wrestle him away, but even at the tender age of six, Ilgrin’s strength was unsurpassable. The silt thrust his father into the night and his hands created a vacuum of darkness above his mother’s still form. The woman screamed as her lungs were filled with air and the putrid darkness spewed into the night.
Seteal followed the whisp as it plunged south. A portion of it tore away and disappeared from site. Seteal trailed after the demonic creation, screaming with horror upon realising its intention.
The piteously small town of Elmsville rippled into existence. ‘No!’ Seteal screamed. ‘Please, no!’
The whisp sank through the ceiling of a modest home as an Elglair woman made her way along the hallway to wish her daughter goodnight. It slithered along the ceiling, insidious and brimming with malice. It fused with Jil-e-an’s soul and crushed it.
Hazel eyes burst open only to be blinded by tears and light. The bright sun shone through a canopy alive with birds singing and flittering about their day. The clearing was filled with the eerie chirping of crickets and the hushed voices of Ilgrin and El-i-miir across its length. The knowing departed Seteal, leaving her more greatly burdened than she’d been before.
Grass crunched beneath her feet as she ran across the field. The wind whipped at her face. She couldn’t hear. She couldn’t think. Blood rushed in her ears. Seteal opened her mouth and screamed, red-faced and consumed by rage. She slammed bodily into Ilgrin, only to bounce off gasping as if she’d hit a solid wall. She screamed again and beat her fists against his chest.
‘I hate you.’ She collapsed at his feet, sobbing bitterly. ‘I hate you all. I hate you!’
‘What’ve I done now?’ Ilgrin backed up, looking from Seteal to El-i-miir in wide-eyed astonishment.
‘You killed her, you bastard!’ Seteal cried. ‘You killed my mother!’
‘I did no such thing,’ Ilgrin said defensively.
‘What the torrid is the matter with you?’ El-i-miir snatched at Seteal’s arm, only to be battered away as she climbed to her feet.
‘You killed her.’ Seteal pointed at the silt as she slowly backed away. ‘I will never forgive you. Never! You are evil and selfish. I hope Far-a-mael wipes out every last one of you.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about!’ Ilgrin shouted, having lost all patience.
‘Let me refresh your memory.’ Seteal gritted her teeth. ‘It was a stormy night. Your mother was killed.’
‘Who told you . . . ?’ The silt trailed off, his eyes filling with understanding.
‘There was a whisp.’ Seteal pursed her lips bitterly. ‘I hope you enjoyed having your mother--’ Her throat closed, making her sound like a hysterical child. ‘--because I never knew mine.’
‘I’m so sorry.’ Ilgrin’s face fell as Seteal began to march away, before turning back to face him again.
‘I believed you.’ She thrust out her arms, astonished by her own stupidity. ‘I actually believed you were different. Well, haven’t you made a fool out of me?’ The silt began to reply, but Seteal ignored him and continued on her way.
‘They was kissing.’ Seeol’s toes bit into Seteal’s arm as he landed with a flick of his tail. ‘They can’t do that.’
‘Oh, go away.’ Seteal shook her arm until the owl fell into the leaf litter. ‘What do you care?’
‘I found her first,’ Seeol replied as he hopped along beside Seteal. ‘Outside the cabin in the woods. I found her. She is mostly mine.’
‘You’re speaking nonsense,’ Seteal grumbled as she changed course abruptly, pacing with her mind elsewhere. ‘How can she possibly be yours? You’re just a silly little bird.’
Choosing to engage no further in conversation, Seeol disappeared into the treetops. Seteal was relieved. She needed time alone with her thoughts if she was to find any way of reconciling whether or not she could continue along with the silt. In the end, she decided she would, mostly because she had nowhere else to go, but also because she felt like this Gez-reil fellow might know something about Far-a-mael--a weakness, perhaps.
That night, the campfire was a solemn place. No one spoke. Not even Seeol--ordinarily rather chatty--seemed willing to break the silence. It began to rain and then pour in torrents. The group was forced to keep moving through the dark. Three hours later, the situation had not been alleviated. The rain continued to fall and Seteal noticed it rising steadily until eventually she found herself striding through ankle-deep water.
Seeol clung to the front of Seteal’s dress, his feathers having become waterlogged and his appearance matching that of a drowned rat. Having caught Seteal looking at him, Seeol called out to her, but unable to hear him over the noise, she chose to ignore him and focus her efforts on putting one foot in front of the other. Oddly enough, the downpour doubled its strength thereafter and the wind became united in its effort to drown them.
‘Maker, I miss home,’ Seteal muttered and although the words had been inaudible even to her, they somewhat remarkably didn’t go unheard.
‘Me, too,’ Seeol replied after scrambling up to her ear. ‘I slept in one tree that swished in breezes and made me happy.’
‘I remember a tree similar to yours,’ Seteal replied with a grim smile, ‘except mine was in the centre of town and I used to sit beneath it.’
‘Maybe some one day we can go back homely.’ Seeol rubbed his beak against Seteal’s shoulder as the rain slowed to a drizzle. ‘I would be happy.’
‘Me, too,’ Seteal replied, once again able to hear her own voice.
*
Despite the cold weather, the sun beat down unforgivingly and El-i-miir’s ordinarily pale skin soon turned pink and started to burn. A glance at Ilgrin told her that he was suffering equally, the white flesh of his arms having become rather blue. She almost wished for the return of yesterday’s bad weather, even if only for the cloud-cover.
‘I’m going to beg your high elder to buy us horses,’ Ilgrin grumbled under his breath as he trudged along beside El-i-miir. He had to be feeling the endless walking more than the others, his small feet and three toes not having been designed for long treks. El-i-miir admired Ilgrin’s resilience. He could’ve more easily flown the distance to Setbrana and met the rest of them there. El-i-miir paused, struck by an idea.
‘Why don’t you fly to the city?’ El-i-miir turned to Ilgrin. ‘Take one of us with you and fly back for the other.’
‘I thought about that.’ Ilgrin kept his voice little above a whisper. ‘But I doubt she’ll let me anywhere near her.’ He nodded at Seteal’s back as she walked farther ahead of them up the road.
‘I guess,’ El-i-miir replied dejectedly as she reached for Ilgrin’s hand and squeezed it. ‘I hate the way he stares like that.’
‘Who?’
‘Seeol.’ El-i-miir frowned at the bird atop Seteal’s shoulder, watching them with unwavering, piercing golden eyes.
‘He’s a funny little critter.’ Ilgrin shrugged.
‘I don’t like him,’ El-i-miir grumbled. ‘I never have, really. It was Seteal’s idea to smuggle him along in the first place.’
‘Oh, he’s all right.’ Ilgrin chuckled, struggling out of his shirt and putting it over his head to prevent it burning. In doing so, he revealed an eyeful of lean muscle that sent El-i-miir’s heart racing. ‘He thinks he’s like us.’
&n
bsp; Seeol switched around to face the direction in which they were travelling, before ruffling out his feathers and flicking his tail irritably. El-i-miir then remembered his extraordinary hearing and realised that he’d probably been listening. Still, it was doubtful whether he had understood much of what was said. He was only an elf owl, after all.
A piercing howl echoed through the woods and momentarily stunned the surrounding birdlife into silence. ‘What was that?’ El-i-miir cringed at the foreign sound. Ilgrin and Seteal exchanged fearful glances.
‘Wolves.’ Seteal shook her head disbelievingly.
‘I read about those once.’ El-i-miir squinted as she tried to recall the childhood memory. ‘Aren’t they just dogs?’
‘Not quite.’ Ilgrin swallowed nervously as another howl erupted about their surroundings. The sound had been much closer this time, but it was hard to determine from which direction it’d come.
‘They wouldn’t be hunting by day, would they?’ Seteal shook her head disbelievingly.
‘Is that unusual?’ El-i-miir swallowed nervously at her first glimpse of yellow eyes peering through the scrub.
‘Very.’ Ilgrin clutched her hand. ‘Let’s just keep moving,’ he urged, ushering Seteal forward.
Soon enough, heavy footfall padded through the surrounding trees on either side. ‘Are they surrounding us?’ El-i-miir’s eyes widened in horror.
‘It wouldn’t surprise me,’ Seteal replied nervously. ‘They’re pack animals.’
‘I don’t know how many there are,’ Ilgrin whispered to the others. ‘I’m not sure I can take all of them. I’ll have to try something else, but it won’t be easy. Wait here.’ He launched himself into the sky.
‘Coward,’ Seteal hissed furiously.
A long, low growl sounded behind one of the bushes. The wolves had noticed the decrease in number and recognised their prey had become more vulnerable. One by one, the grizzled creatures began emerging from the woods snarling and snapping. The largest animal leapt at El-i-miir, its jaws wide open. She squeezed her eyes shut and the wind was knocked out of her as the ground disappeared.
‘Ilgrin!’ El-i-miir gasped as the silt’s wings beat the air and his face contorted as he struggled to gain distance from the ground. Both women dangled precariously, the silt having wrapped his iron-like grip around their forearms. El-i-miir’s eyes met Seteal’s and she imagined that they were sharing very similar thoughts. Ilgrin was carrying both of them. Such strength was a grim reminder of the company they were keeping.