*
No need for a candle or lamp. The terra indigene saw quite well in the dark.
“What do you want to do?” Vlad asked quietly.
“We’ve never concerned ourselves with the human ships that travel on the Great Lakes or what those ships bring to the port here,” Simon replied. “Our supplies from other regions are brought in on earth native or Intuit ships. Humans will notice if we start sniffing around their ships now.”
“A few of the Sanguinati who live in the Courtyard often hunt around the docks. They might know something they didn’t think would be of interest to Grandfather.”
“Ask them. But there’s one form of terra indigene who can find out more.”
“If they’re willing,” Henry said.
Simon nodded. “If they’re willing.” He stood. “I’m going to check on Meg. Then I’ll pay the girls at the lake a visit.”
“Tonight?” Tess asked.
“Yes.” He looked at the three of them. “Will you be here?”
Henry and Tess nodded. Vlad said, “I need to visit Grandfather Erebus, but I’ll wait until you get back.”
He went upstairs and found Meg on the sofa, sound asleep, despite the television being tuned to the show she watched every Earthday. Crouching, he ran a hand over her fuzz of hair. She couldn’t growl about it if she didn’t know.
Fairly sure she wouldn’t wake anytime soon, he stripped out of his clothes and shifted. Then he left her apartment and ran to the Elementals’ part of the Courtyard.
Except for Winter and Autumn, who slept during the warmer seasons, all the girls were around the lake. They watched him approach. Air rustled the leaves in the trees. Water lapped the bank, flowing over Earth’s toes. Fire, Spring, and Summer sat a little farther away from the lake’s edge.
“Is something wrong with our Meg?” Spring asked.
<No. She had fun today. She’s looking forward to planting more seeds and tending what grows.>
“No planting tomorrow,” Water said. “Rain is coming from our kin who live near Lake Superior.”
“Since our Meg is happy, what does the Wolfgard want?” Fire asked.
<I want your help. I think you and your kin can find answers to some questions.>
CHAPTER 33
The questions were the pebble dropped in a pond, and the ripples were whispered in the wind to the Elementals throughout the continent of Thaisia. They flowed through the Great Lakes and down the streams and rivers, and they were part of the rain. They became a scent in the earth that was picked up by more than the shifters and Sanguinati willing to reside near human settlements.
That scent did not please the earth natives who lived in the most primal, and pristine, parts of the wild country.
And when the ripples became surf, Ocean took the questions into herself and sent them far beyond Thaisia.