Age of Myth (The Legends of the First Empire #1)

Suri had slept through the morning events, missing the well raid and the confrontation at the gate. Certain things could be done only by moonlight, and recently Suri had discovered many tasks to do. It wasn’t until late afternoon that she woke, unable to sleep through the screaming.

By the time she crawled out of Roan’s house, the noise had stopped. The man lying on the grass in front of the lodge was a twisted heap of blood-soaked rags—no longer breathing. Parts of him were missing. Most of him was missing. Suri had seen similar sights dozens of times in the forest: deer, wolves, foxes, and opossums left mauled and partially eaten by hunters who’d had their fill or whose meal had been interrupted. The bulk of the dahl gathered around to see the sight. Even the Fhrey looked on with interest.

Konniger was out of the lodge, standing on the raised porch and declaring, “This was the work of the bear that killed Reglan, Mahn, and Oswald. Krier had been cutting wood at the edge of the forest.” Konniger pointed up toward the tree-covered mountain. “He was bucking a log. The men he was with went to get the sled. They weren’t gone more than a few minutes. When they got back, Krier was gone. They followed a blood trail and found him where he’d been dragged to.”

Krier’s wife wailed in the crowd, held on her feet by others.

Suri reached into her pouch, pulled out the blackened leg bone of the chicken, and rubbed it thoughtfully with her thumb. “What do you think?” she asked Minna, who sat dutifully beside her and refused to engage in idle speculation. “You’re such a wise wolf.”

The marking on the bone had said a monster was coming, and it had given Suri its name. Rarely did a chicken render that level of detail, but Suri was certain she’d gotten it right. There wasn’t any doubt about Grin the Brown, but the bone had revealed that she was no mere bear. It had to be a demon.

It wasn’t uncommon for evil spirits to possess people and animals. Tura had fought a raow after they stumbled upon its bed of bones. She was certain the raow had once been an unfortunate woman lost in the woods. Starving, the woman had been taken over by a demon, which was how most raow came to be. Grin was no raow. Suri had narrowed the choices of demons down to three: a yakkus, morvyn, or bendigo. She was leaning toward a morvyn, since they were the result of an animal eating human flesh. The Brown seemed to have a fondness for the taste of people. Still, Suri had to be sure. As mystic, it was her responsibility to hunt and kill this demon for the good of the region, and an incorrect identification could prove disastrous.

Konniger returned inside the lodge.

Suri didn’t like the log building. Entering it felt like climbing inside the dead rotting body of old friends, but she had to find out more about what kind of demon she was dealing with, and this was as good a time as any. The mystic climbed the stone steps and ducked into the wooden cave.

The fire was still burning in the big room’s pit. She searched for Konniger but guessed he’d already headed up the stairs. She could hear creaks and shuffles overhead. Suri crept along the edge of the fire pit, inching toward the steps. Twelve pillars, four rows of three, held up the ceiling.

They line their halls with the dead bodies of noble beings.

The place stank of smoke and grease. On the walls hung square shields painted different colors and long spears with ribbons and feathers tied to the necks. The skins of animals lay on the floor: deer, bobcats, and two bears—one black, the other brown. Suri stepped around them, grimacing. As she looked back at the entrance, the bright light of day was being strangled by the doorway. The place was the lair of predators, murderers, and thieves.

Little wonder the demon assumed a bear’s shape.

A boy dropped a log on the fire and peeked at her and Minna. He offered a smile. Suri smiled back.

“I understand! I told you I understood. Now leave me alone!” Konniger’s voice boomed overhead, a sort of inferior thunder.

The mystic headed toward the stairs with Minna padding along behind.

Overhead, a door slammed.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Maeve appeared at the top of the steps, glaring down. Her face was flushed, and there was anger or perhaps fear in her eyes. Suri often had difficulty distinguishing between the two, at least with people.

“I need to speak to Chieftain Konniger.”

“About what?” Maeve remained on the steps with her hands on the rails, blocking the way up.

“I’ve done a reading from bones. Several now. The thing that murdered that man out there, Grin the Brown, isn’t a bear at all.”

“Of course not!” Maeve’s voice jumped in pitch and volume.

Suri took a step backward at the old woman’s outburst. Minna took two.

“So you know. Good. That’s why I need to speak with Konniger. It’s a powerful demon. He said so the day he brought back Reglan’s body. He’s fought it. If I can ask him some questions to learn the demon’s true nature, then I’ll be prepared. The demon is coming at the light of the full moon, but I don’t know exactly what kind of demon we’re talking about. If I could—”

“Get out!” Maeve snapped, and pointed to the door. The old woman was furious. “Konniger is too busy to see you. We have Fhrey camped just outside the hall and men being slaughtered on the eaves of the forest. He doesn’t have time for mystic nonsense.”

“It’s not nonsense.”

“Out!” she cried, coming down the stairs.

Suri and Minna retreated.

“You don’t understand.”

“Out, I say!”

Suri stood her ground at the bottom of the stairs. “But Konniger—”

“Konniger doesn’t know nothing about anything—nothing about the bear, especially.”

“Come the full moon, that bear will kill everyone, even the Fhrey, I think.”

“Shayla would never do such a thing. She’s a good girl.”

“Shayla?” Suri asked, puzzled. “You call Grin Shayla?”

“If you don’t leave, I’ll call Hegner. He’s Konniger’s Shield now. He’ll—”

“Shayla means ‘lost one.’?”

Maeve’s face hardened. “I want you gone. Not just out of this lodge but off the dahl. I’ll have Konniger banish you.” She looked around but only found Habet and scowled. “Hegner!”

“Why would you call Grin the Brown Lost One?”

Maeve came down from the stairs and rushed to the wall. She pulled one of the spears from the hooks and whirled at Suri.

“I wouldn’t do that,” the mystic said. “Minna doesn’t like it when people point sticks at us.”

To emphasize this, the wolf began to growl, fur rising.

Maeve stopped. “Hegner! Hegner!”

“Come on, Minna.”

The two left the lodge. Behind them, the doors slammed, hard.

The mystic glanced down at the wolf. “Well, what do you make of that?”

The wolf looked back at the closed door but again kept her own counsel.

“You are so smart, Minna. You must be the smartest of all wolves.”





CHAPTER SIXTEEN


Miralyith




To the Fhrey we were little more than dust, as unnoticeable as pebbles along a path. It gave us an advantage, but not for long.

—THE BOOK OF BRIN