Albrek's Tomb - Forman Mark L - Страница 50

• Предыдущая
• 50/90
• Следующая

As they made camp for the night, the rain stopped and the clouds slowly broke apart and drifted away. Alex glanced up at the thousands of stars in the sky, letting his mind wander freely. It was a pleasant evening, yet something in Alex’s mind made him nervous. He glanced around the campsite, wondering if something was watching them, but he could see nothing.

“You felt something,” Kat said, moving up beside him; it was not a question.

“A nervous feeling, nothing more,” said Alex.

“I felt it too,” said Kat, a look of concentration on her face. “There is nothing there now, only the empty land.”

“Perhaps that is why I’m nervous,” said Alex, laughing softly.

“Too many dangers,” said Kat.

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve faced too many dangers for one so young. Now you feel nervous when there are no dangers to face.”

“Perhaps,” Alex agreed. “Though I’m not in any rush to look for danger.”

“Danger seems to find you,” Kat answered with a smile. “I find that strange, but I am at a loss to explain it.”

“Don’t be troubled by it,” said Alex, turning back to the campfire.

Kat remained at the edge of the camp for a few minutes and then returned to the campfire as well.

The days passed and the weather seemed to change with each new day. Some days were warm and dry, others wet, and still others windy. Alex and his friends were not troubled by the weather, but they were starting to feel strangely nervous as they moved south. Nellus and Barnabus both tried to lighten the mood with jokes and songs, but were not always successful. Alex felt watchful, and he noticed that both Kat and Arconn would often stand and stare into the darkness around their camp at night.

On the eighth day away from Kazad-Syn, they camped beside a small stream, eating in silence as rain poured down on them. The campfire popped and sizzled in the rain, but because Alex had conjured it up with magic, it would not go out.

“Winter is moving south fast,” Thrang said, looking at the dark sky. “But we should still reach shelter in the Lost Mountains before the weather gets too bad.”

They finished their meals and hurried off to their dry tents. Alex let the conjured fire burn, though he had some misgivings about such a bright light on such a dark night. Arconn remained at the fire during Alex’s watch, and Alex had the feeling that the elf was listening for something, something that he could not hear over the noise of the falling rain.

The next morning, the rain had stopped, but the uneasy feelings had grown stronger. They were darker than the uneasy feelings they had experienced on the Isle of Bones. As they were eating their breakfast, Arconn wandered down to the stream, and then quickly returned with a troubled look on his face.

“What is it?” Kat questioned, setting aside her plate.

Alex jumped to his feet, looking around the campsite as if expecting a sudden attack.

“Just tracks in the mud,” said Arconn, trying to sound calm.

“Tracks?” Thrang questioned. “What kind of tracks?”

“They are difficult to read,” said Arconn. “I have never seen anything like them before, though they look something like wolf tracks.”

“Wolf tracks?” Thrang questioned. “There aren’t any wolves this far south in Thraxon.”

“Show me the tracks,” said Nellus as he got to his feet. “I’ve tracked many creatures in the past, and may be able to make some sense of them.”

Arconn led Nellus and the rest of the company back to the stream and pointed out the large tracks. They were all on the far bank, though none of them had come within five feet of the water.

“They do look a little like a wolf’s tracks, but they are too large,” Nellus said.

“That’s what I thought,” said Arconn, looking quickly at Thrang and then back to the tracks.

“Hellerash,” Thrang whispered. “Those are hellerash tracks.”

“What?” Barnabus asked, turning to look at Thrang.

“I thought the hellerash were vicious,” said Thrain softly. “If they’re as vicious as the stories say—and I heard a lot of stories in Kazad-Syn—then why didn’t it cross the stream and attack our camp?”

“Who can say?” answered Thrang, looking a little pale. “Perhaps this is the boundary to their territory, or perhaps they were afraid of the light from Alex’s conjured fire.”

“Or perhaps it was a single hellerash, and it has gone to get others,” Kat said darkly.

“Perhaps,” Thrang allowed. “Whatever the reason, we should all remain extra alert from now on. We should also have a double watch at night, just in case.”

“A wise precaution,” said Arconn. “And I think we should keep the horses closer to our tents as well.”

“Yes, that is a good idea,” Thrang agreed quickly, leading the company back toward the camp.

The journey that day was slow, and everyone kept glancing around them as they traveled, looking for any sign of movement. They saw nothing that day, and by the time they made camp for the night, Alex’s troubled feelings were beginning to subside. Thrang, however, seemed more nervous than ever, and he asked Alex to conjure up a fire that would burn brightly all night.

When they started off again the next morning, most of their fears had slipped away. They had heard nothing during the night, and there were no signs of tracks anywhere near their camp. Arconn and Alex had both walked a wide circle around the camp just to make sure. Thrang seemed relieved, but he still made sure that Arconn and Kat had their bows ready and that Thrain had his crossbow loaded.

“Better safe than sorry,” said Thrang with a weak smile as they started off.

Alex thought it unlikely that they would see anything along the road, but he kept his staff ready. They continued riding south, and the afternoon sun and the warm, damp air made Alex feel slightly sleepy. He was jolted awake by the sound of Arconn’s and Kat’s bowstrings snapping at the same moment, followed quickly by the high-pitched spring of Thrain’s crossbow. Neither of those sounds shook him as much as the terrible cry that followed. It was an almost-human cry of agony and despair, a cry that forced his eyes toward the creature that made it.

Thirty yards to the right of the road, a huge, black, wolflike creature crouched with arrows sticking out of its shiny black hide. Alex could see the bones of the creature’s ribcage. It bit madly at the shaft of Arconn’s arrow. Kat’s arrow had hit the creature higher in the neck, but it couldn’t get its head around to bite at that one. Then it turned and ran, darting between some large rocks, the shaft of Arconn’s arrow snapping off as it ran.

The hellerash was fast, vanishing from view before Arconn could fit a second arrow to his bow.

“That shot should have killed it,” Arconn said, turning his horse toward the hellerash’s trail. “If not mine, then Kat’s for sure.”

“I’m sure my bolt hit it as well,” said Thrain, following quickly.

“I saw no wound from the bolt,” said Thrang gruffly.

“It seemed pained, but uninjured from the arrows,” Nellus added.

Arconn dismounted and bent to pick up the broken shaft of his arrow. Thrain moved about the rocks, looking for the bolt he had let fly. As Arconn walked back toward the group he looked troubled, almost afraid.

“No blood,” Arconn said, holding the broken arrow out for Thrang. “There is no blood on the shaft.”

“Well, it broke away from the wound,” said Thrang, glancing at the arrow.

“There is no blood on the rocks or grass either,” Arconn added.

“And there’s no blood on my bolt,” Thrain said, coming up beside Arconn and holding out the bolt he’d recovered.

“You may have missed it completely,” said Thrang in a dismissive tone.

“I didn’t miss,” Thrain insisted defiantly.

“Thrain is correct,” Arconn broke in. “I saw the bolt pass through what should have been the creature’s stomach. I would not have expected it to pass clear through, but it seems to have done so.”

• Предыдущая
• 50/90
• Следующая