To augment the bond, p.16
To Augment the Bond, page 16
Lillith inspected me with a jaundiced eye.
I shot a sympathetic grin at Loffert, telling him how bored I'd been there. He shrugged and stoically flew off with Jaym, following Lillith and Joedon.
As predicted, Lillyon loved his visit with Jeannie and her two-year-old. Even though Joana was much more developed than the human child, she played with little Antonia, named after her father, entertaining Lillyon with their imaginative chatter. Joele, unwilling to be bothered with the girl, went off to be with his friends.
**
When we arrived at Tonk City, I found it to be just as boring as it had been when we'd been there with Lillyon. To my delight, Lillith assured me they were wrapping up the boundary language and we'd be leaving the next day. No one in Tonk felt the need to argue over what they considered the vast wasteland to the North.
Neither did anyone in Kann; after two days we started into new territory. Flying north, we soon entered the proposed new lands to be held by reeth and don. Sure enough, there was plenty of grazing and we stuffed ourselves as we turned and meandered toward the west, inspecting the area. Five days later, we began to see the mountains Quilyle had described rising out of the haze ahead. Still, the plains stretched before us.
I wondered how long he'd have to travel with our unconventional family before he got over his sense of servitude. It had been knocked out of me from the moment I'd melded. Joana insisted I think for myself. Everyone in the family felt that way. He'll succumb sooner or later.
The next day, we reeth received a garbled message from an unknown voice. Lillith told us to land so she could concentrate on the broken words while Joele and Joana linked to amplify the sound. Lillity, however, caught the gist first.
Once Lillity deciphered the first part, the rest was easier to understand. Lillair seemed to be testing a communication link for use as he and his team explored further to the east across the ocean. Worried about the distances involved, Joedon and Lillith responded with instructions to continue with Lillyon or connect with Moddolf in Fell until we returned from our tour of the north.
An almost tangible cloud of relief settled on my shoulders. Joana whispered into my mind,
As we flew into the evening, we saw an even higher range of mountains north of us, tinged purple with the distance. Clouds raced across their faces, hiding the peaks but once in awhile, I thought I saw a snow cap. As we landed for the night, I tried to visualize this land covered in snow so deep we couldn't walk through it. According to Quilyle's reports, that's what we'd face in three months. Shivering, I hoped to be back in Center before the first flake fell.
We detoured north for two days, following a deep gulch almost to the base of the mountains which rose abruptly with no softening foothills before them. I counted four snow-covered peaks on the front range, separated by deeper, steeper canyons than I'd ever seen before.
“Close enough,” Joedon said, as we landed on the edge of our guiding ravine and marveled at the stark, rugged beauty before us. “We don't want to get lost up there.”
President Marcus of Tonk had been right; isolated dwellings nestled in the shallower canyons with trails leading like spider webs through the brush between. What commerce these people deal in must be conducted on foot. We saw no signs of horses or mules. Nor of cattle or sheep. Hunters, he'd said.
Lillith kept us out of sight by leading us in wide arcs around any area that looked occupied. Smoke trails rose in the air making homesteads easy to spot and one time we skirted a larger campground of at least ten small houses. “Trading center,” Joedon guessed.
As we neared the western range, the terrain grew even more rugged. A faint trail zigzagging down the jagged face of a particularly deep canyon caught my eye and I tried to picture the humans I knew making their way to the bottom.
“I wouldn't want to try it,” Joedon said as he and Lillith landed next to Joana and me. “This appears to be a reasonable place to make camp for the night. I can hear water running somewhere in that direction.”
“I want to move away from this trail,” Jaym insisted as she peered at a craggy rock wall the trail crossed. “We can't have whoever uses this path stumbling across us during the night.” In agreement, we moved further south along the canyon rim to find a shallow stream dropping over the edge. It gave us good, clear water and plentiful grass. Joedon built a smokeless fire and Jaym cooked their supper while we winged folk filled our bellies.
I woke to a few raindrops and a vague sensation of animosity. Back when we lived in Palmyra and had to guard against Jaym's brother-in-law, I'd discovered the ability in myself to sense evil intent in humans. I couldn't read most emotions, like both Joedon and Lillith did, but that night I knew someone watched us with the intent to cause us harm.
Controlling my breathing, I hoped I maintained the semblance of deep sleep and touched Lillith with a thought.
She remained still.
I opened one eye.
Loffert relieved my watch; I couldn't sleep so I joined him. The heavy animosity didn't return that night but by the time we were ready to leave our campsite, it was back, stronger than before. I still couldn't pinpoint where it came from.
As we flew across the canyon, the malevolence ebbed and flowed as if the bearer were moving as rapidly as we were. I searched the sky and saw Loffert doing the same. Nothing was out there! No one could move this swiftly in that gorge, I thought, glancing down.
A flash of light caught my eye. I sent a warning and banked hard to the right. Something whizzed by my left wingtip. I dove; more objects sailed over our heads. The others were right with me, maintaining our formation.
Loffert screamed as something slammed high into his side just behind Jaym's leg, leaving a shaft sticking out. Jaym reached toward it when Lillith wailed,
I pointed my nose straight up and swept my wings as hard as I could. The objects followed us and I caught one in the belly. It burned like fire. Ignoring the pain, I struggled higher. Lillith was listing to one side, a shaft protruding from her shoulder; Joedon slumped over her neck gripping with his left hand, blood streaming from his right. I chanced a look at Lillity. An arrow quivered from a hip. Less interference to her flight. Joele balanced like a madman on her back, giving her as much freedom of movement as he could. Then, I noticed blood staining his thigh.
Lillity swung north and I followed, maintaining close proximity to Lillith in case she needed help. Loffert came up on her other side and we fled as fast as we could. Before long, we'd out distanced whatever they were shooting at us.
Lillity led again, taking us into another canyon, the sides covered in greenery with no paths visible. I became lightheaded and woozy; Joana gave me confidence and strength. Somehow, Lillity found a glade for us to land in with a small creek rushing through the middle. We ducked under the trees and I stumbled to my knees. Lillith was already down flat; Jaym had flung herself off to cushion Joedon's fall.
Loffert staggered but held himself upright with obvious concentration. Willing myself to stay awake, I felt Joana slip off my side and run to help Joele dismount his shivering mount. As soon as he was safely on the ground, Lillity collapsed, hitting hard, unconscious.
“Poisoned missiles of some sort,” Jaym said breathing hard. “Joana says they're not dead.” Her voice rose in a screech on the last word. Tears streaming, she stood, steadied herself, then looked around. My knees gave way and I knew no more.
Chapter 28
Lillair
We tossed around ideas late into the night, then set a night watch schedule and I finally got to sleep. The next morning dawned drizzly and wet. Good for growing grass, bad for my comfort, I groused to myself. Belle shook off the water pooling on her back and jumped up enthused for making deals with the merlyn.
Ddu appeared with her three…helpers? Advisors? Co-leaders? No one explained what function the other three served if Ddu was the lead mare. She asked Pildon if we could retrieve Coch from the cave landing and we set off on our mission, leaving the others to keep a close eye on the merlyn surrounding Belle. To my consternation, the four representatives seemed charged with nervous energy and I worried what that meant for my mare.
Coch was happy to see us and kept up a running chatter to Pildon as we returned to the conference site. Boi and Ebol flew to either side of my head, sputtering sunbeams into my eyes with their rapidly flashing wings. Feeling almost dizzy from the babble I didn't understand and the flickering light, I stumbled on landing; Pildon shot forward onto my neck and Coch fell off. Dropping my nose to check her out, I humbly apologized for hurting her.
She peeled back her upper lip, laughing in my face.
Yesterday's confab continued in the same manner this morning. I'd thought we'd been ordered to leave but evidently Ddu and her friends were seriously considering the offer we'd decided to make. But they put a condition on it that I didn't like at all. We'd agreed to fly to the nearest boat and have them bring the hay they had on board to Ffelt. Ddu and two of her companions were coming with us in hopes of discovering something they could trade with the Carnians manning the boats. We all hoped a future successful business arrangement with the city-states along the coast would temper the hatred merlyn held for don and reeth from the past. They knew nothing of humans and were willing to venture forward with talks. However, they demanded that Belle and Kera stay behind as hostages to ensure our good behavior.
I argued with Pildon, with Belle, with Kera. Everyone was adamant that our mare and fem would be perfectly safe while the rest of us were gone. Belle trotted toward me, sending assurances and nuzzling me behind the ear as she blocked her voice from the others.
As we flew toward the distant boat, Ddu chose to stay close to me so she could converse with Pildon through me. Surprisingly, I'd picked up more of her language than I'd thought and was able to adequately help discuss what talents Ddu would be able to offer the Carnians. We didn't come up with much and soon she fell silent.
The day was calm and so was the ocean, unlike the two days we'd spent flying through overcast skies above rolling, gray water as far as I could see in any direction. Today, it looked like a sheet of blue glass stretching to the horizon. In a way, I found it more disturbing than before, almost monotonous enough to lull me into inattention. Then I spotted an odd patch from the corner of my left eye, the seeming glass broken, boiling, with white spray surging into the air.
I turned my head to look fully just as Ddu said,
“I don't understand her,” Pildon said as he shifted to stare at the turmoil ahead. Then he exclaimed, “Fish! Thousands of them.”
An idea flashed.
“Ie!” She nodded vigorously, evidently sensing my sudden excitement.
Controlling my recoil, I smiled back. How does she eat with teeth like that? I doubt she caught my thought although scenes she sent me of past battles involving her and other merlyn made me realize just how she'd won, and kept, her position as head mare.
By the time we'd reached the fishing boat, Pildon, Ddu, and I had formed a presentation for its captain. Within an hour of our landing, Ddu and her companions found four huge schools of fish for the boat's nets to scoop up. The captain also came up with the idea of having direct communication between boats by carrying merlyn along on all boats; they were, after all, much smaller than reeth and easier to take care of. When Pildon asked if they didn't have radios to keep track of each other, the captain explained that radios weren't very reliable, especially during storms and over long distances.
He asked if he could try Ddu's range. She relayed his question to Belle, who answered to me. Two and a half hours distance as reeth fly, however, wasn't terribly remarkable so Pildon gave her a message to send verbatim to the communicator reeth on the next ship back toward shore, a good ten hours away. When she heard his reply, she relayed it to Pildon who spoke it aloud. All of us burst into laughter, to Ddu's consternation. The reeth on the forward boat had sent Pildon a complaint about being so long on the water.
Pildon translated for Ddu. She and her cohorts glanced around. Then, she declared they didn't think living on a boat like this would form a hardship for them as long as there was food, water, and a place to sleep.
We left with an agreement firmly in place, at least with this boat captain and his company. For six months, merlyn would travel with the boats, leading them to schools of fish, in exchange for hay delivered to Ffelt. After that time, they would meet to renegotiate. And each group would work on learning the other's language.
I gave the boat's communication reeth the directions for reaching Ffelt and we left. The flight back to Ffelt seemed like it took forever as I worried about Belle and how long we'd been gone. When we landed, I saw with relief that she was perfectly all right. She rushed toward me, rubbed herself along my side, and shouted congratulations on my marvelous success of attaching merlyn to fishermen.
