Well of the Damned

Chapter 32





To the south, the Flint River originated at the bottom of a series of waterfalls from high atop the mountain. During the spring, it ran fast and cold from the snow runoff. This time of year, the water level should have been fairly low and the current gentle, but the rain had swollen it to overfull. The roar of the river was deafening.

As Gavin and his companions traveled down the riverbank, they followed a pair of foot-sized puddles led downstream. Despite Gavin’s glowing light ball, the tracks became harder to discern as night fell, looking like every other puddle along the water’s edge.

“We’re all tired, and the horses need a rest,” he said. “Let’s stop here for the night.”

They camped on a stretch of flat ground close enough to the forest to put up his lean-to. While Brawna undressed the horses and Daia hunted for firewood, both with the aid of a light ball, Gavin set out with his dagger for some fresh meat. With the help of his magic, he killed four rabbits with four throws and returned to camp with their meal.

“It’s not much, but we don’t have time to dress the elk I saw.”

“Or a way to haul the uneaten meat,” Daia said. “We’ll be in Ambryce tomorrow. We can make do until then.”

“I’ll dry the wood and you can skin these.” He tossed the rabbit carcasses one after another to Daia, who tried to wrangle them into her arms.

“Daia Saberheart, Rabbit Juggler,” Brawna said, as she gathered the empty waterskins.

Gavin laughed. Despite the young battler’s shyness, she charmed him. She looked for things to do rather than sit idly, and he appreciated that about her.

Daia skinned and gutted the rabbits. By the time they had the rabbits ready to cook, Brawna had returned with the filled waterskins and had brought two more armloads of firewood. Gavin used his magic to dry it and set it ablaze, and they cooked and ate the meat.

“Can you use your eye thing to find Cirang?” Daia asked. “It’d help to know how far away she is or whether Calinor and Vandra have found her.”

“Yeh,” Gavin said. He linked his haze with Daia’s and sent his hidden eye high overhead. It sped along the river, where he spotted Calinor and Vandra below. They, too, had stopped for the night, but oddly, their hazes were one atop the other, rather than side by side. It almost looked like they were— Oh! Gavin thought. They were. Though he was intrigued by the way the two hazes blended with each other near the edges, he didn’t want to invade their privacy, and so he sent his hidden eye farther downstream. Some distance away, perhaps a couple hours’ ride from Calinor and Vandra, he came upon the unmistakably dark, turbulent haze of the kho-bent battler inside a building.

Judging from the way it hovered in one spot, he guessed Cirang was asleep in someone’s house. The hazes of two horses were in a nearby barn. Had she found a vacant house? People didn’t generally travel without their horses. He hoped to hell she hadn’t murdered the owners.

If only he had a way to communicate with Vandra and Calinor at this distance, he could tell them to stop at that house. Perhaps they would, if only to ask the residents if they’d seen their black-haired fugitive.

He pulled his hidden eye back to his body’s present location. “Yeh, I seen her.” He described what he’d seen to the others, leaving out the intimacy between the former Viragon Sister and his longtime friend. If their relationship extended beyond physical gratification, it would be up to them to announce it or not. Gavin found himself hoping Calinor was of a mind to settle down with one woman, whether it was Vandra or another. He deserved to find the happiness a family would bring.

They rolled out their bedrolls and lay down. It was a quiet night, and no one spoke much. Gavin suspected he knew where their thoughts were, and voicing the same questions over and over would do them no good. Only answers would satisfy them now.

He dozed for a few hours, though he never fell into a deep enough slumber to dream. He awoke with a worry he couldn’t explain: Vandra and Calinor were in danger.

“Daia,” he whispered.

Always on alert, she sat up with a start and looked around. “What’s wrong?” Her hand reached automatically for her sword.

“Nothing. I need your skill for a minute.”

“Oh,” she said quietly, lying back down. “You don’t have to ask every time. If you need it, take it. Consider it yours to use as you will.”

“I didn’t want to do it while you were asleep. That seems wrong.”

She smiled. “You might not be the most refined man I’ve ever met, but deep down, you’re still a gentleman. Go ahead. I’ll stay awake.”

Once connected with her power, he sent his hidden eye to where he’d seen Vandra and Calinor earlier, but they weren’t there. He found them making their way downstream, walking by the glow of the setting Moon towards the house where Cirang slept. An uneasy feeling twisted his gut. He tried to tell himself they would surprise her, but he couldn’t shake the notion something bad was about to happen.

“Oh, hell,” he said, climbing to his feet. “Let’s go. Vandra and Calinor are almost there.”