Of Truth and Beasts

As the bartering began, Chane whispered to Wynn, “I have other errands. I will meet you later at the inn.”

She looked up, and the veneer of calm on her face did not hide the sadness in her eyes. He wavered again, longing to pull her aside, but she nodded and turned back to watching Ore-Locks.

“I pity that shopkeeper,” she said quietly. And then said softly, “Go.”

Chane flinched.

Fear of losing her, even before this journey ended, tortured him. He had one chance to procure something rare and important—a slim hope of finding another way to keep her alive, should the worst come. That was all that mattered. He silently backed away and ducked off the road between the widely spaced buildings.

Chane began running as soon as he slipped from Wynn’s sight.

* * *

Wynn sighed, tired of waiting on Ore-Locks’s stubborn bartering. The poor shopkeeper looked worn and exasperated. Wynn turned about, looking down the road at the few people still out for the evening. Chane was nowhere in sight, but she guessed where he’d gone.

He needed to mend himself—to feed. The thought only made her more aware that she’d chosen to keep company with an undead. She closed her eyes tightly, opening them again as a sudden worry struck her.

Hopefully, Chane had gone after wild game. He knew better than to touch anyone here after her warning—didn’t he? How he’d managed to feed on livestock so far without being seen, after moons of travel, was another question she’d pushed aside. He never talked about it, never would, but this populated place wouldn’t offer him many options for privacy.

Would he go after the local livestock? What if he was discovered?

Wynn took a step, peering between the buildings and great trees. She touched Shade’s head and a memory of Chane’s face passed between them.

“Find him—now!” she whispered.

Shade loped off, sniffing the ground, as Wynn hurried after.

Chane pushed himself too hard, and the pain in his side returned. Stolen life gathered by the brass cup had not mended him enough. He ignored the discomfort, but at least his fluids had stopped leaking from his side. Soon he passed through a grove, emerging near the stables where they had first arrived.

Wynn might keep at her preparations all day tomorrow while he was dormant, and then suddenly announce that they were leaving at dusk. She had sprung such things upon him before. These lands offered something he might never find elsewhere. He had to finish one task and return before she began wondering where he was.

He ignored the stables and jogged out of the city. Even as he passed settlements along the way, where a few elves stopped in the night to watch in puzzlement, he kept to the road as the fastest route.

Wynn was gasping when she broke out of the trees behind Shade and spotted the stable across the way. Had Chane gone there?

She couldn’t believe he’d be so foolish as to feed in the stable. They had to come here to get their horses and wagon. What if someone spotted him or found a wounded animal in the morning, let alone a dead one?

Wynn stumbled across the road, looking about in panic, and hoping no one appeared until she could retrieve Chane. Shade huffed sharply, and Wynn almost jumped as she spun around.

Shade stood midroad but no longer sniffed the earth; she sniffed the air instead. She lunged past the stable and a few paces up the road toward the city’s huge tree archway. Before Shade breached the arch, she stopped to look back.

Wynn looked down the road beyond the city to its first hard turn among the trees.

She didn’t doubt Shade, but what was Chane doing? Where was he going to hunt? Or was he just leaving? Had his memory of the night before come back, horrifying him? No, that wasn’t like Chane. He’d followed her across half the world. Even if she chose to be rid of him, it would take effort to shake him loose.

Shade lunged another three steps and barked. A memory of the open plain beyond the forest surfaced in Wynn’s mind. She stared into the dog’s eyes.

How could Shade know this? She couldn’t dip into Chane’s rising memories while he wore the ring. Had he headed beyond the forest? That was at least some relief. Out there he might be alone, unseen as he fed.

Relief vanished quickly—there were Shé’ith patrols out there.

The instant Wynn started running, Shade dashed ahead, leading the way.

Chane reached the forest’s edge in agony. The pain in his side would’ve taken his breath away—if he’d had to breathe. He leaned against a broad tree trunk and didn’t even care that the contact made his skin crawl. As he fully widened his senses, he peered out across the open plain.

He heard no hoofbeats nor smelled anything made of flesh in the low breeze. There was only the grass shifting softly in the dark, and hidden within it was what he sought. He crouched, looking again in all directions.