between trees and paused in front of a giant trunk, hollowed out as he had said. A huge storm would eventually bring this mammoth down but for now it was sound.
“Nice find,” she said as he ducked inside with her and set her down on a cushion of leaves and grasses. There was some scat in the corner, indicating he wasn’t the only one to make use of this great shelter. It was old, though, and with a fire right outside, they shouldn’t have any unwelcome visitors.
“Not that I’m ungrateful, but why are you here?” Shanti asked. She shivered as she stripped out of her shirt and breast binding to assess the damage to her shoulder and back. Blood dripped from her gashes, but the wounds themselves weren’t terribly deep. The deep, painful scores in her legs would take a little longer to heal, even with her Gift speeding up her rate of healing.
The problem wouldn’t be the loss of blood with these wounds, it was the risk of infection.
She felt his shields lock into place with her question, drawing her eyes out of the opening. She couldn’t see his body.
“I decided I couldn’t let you have all the fun,” he said.
“What’s the real reason?” she asked in a firm tone.
He hesitated before answering, “Someone cut a hole through the hedge. People are dying in the Trespasser Village. Word is, someone was taken out of the trials.”
Tingles crept up Shanti’s spine. “Do the Shadow people know?”
“If they do, they’re keeping their mouths shut.”
“They must.” Shanti paused in thought, working through the implications. “They must know he’s gone. They use this as training for their own people. They have their Gift, they track… they must know. Did they kill him?”
“We would’ve heard if they had.”
Shanti bit her lip, a frown working at her features. “Then someone is sheltering him, because they wouldn’t just let him go. There are only a few who have the ability to shelter someone on the Shadow people’s homeland.”
“I think those people are in the Village,” Cayan said before explaining what Leilius had heard the night before.
Shanti listened with growing concern, making Cayan repeat some of the details about the group Leilius had seen, of the man they surrounded, and of the man who walked in mud in silence. By the end, her stomach was in knots.
“It’s him,” she breathed, sweat beading her brow despite the cold. “It has to be. There is no other power like him—no one else who would be guarded by men like that.”
“Surely there could be.” Cayan’s voice remained neutral.
“Yes, okay—there could be another man out there matching Xandre’s description with guards matching the descriptions of Xandre’s Inner Circle. Yes, that could happen. However, why would that person set up camp in a place he would never be noticed while an Inkna is entered into, and then rescued from, the trials…”
“That is why I’m in here with you. The Graygual aren’t playing by the rules, so there’s no reason you should, either.”
Shanti ducked out of the tree to find Cayan setting out materials with which to make a fire. The way he laid everything out, slowly and methodically, before picking up the fire-starting rock and analyzing it, meant he hadn’t much experience.
“Do you need help?” she asked with a grin working at her mouth.
He glanced up at her with a furrowed brow. He shook his head and looked back down. “I haven’t done this since I was fifteen or something, and even then I used slightly more… advanced methods of starting a fire. But it can’t be that difficult.”
“Yes it can.”
“I’ll figure it out,” he said with determination as he struck the rock to see its effects.
The grin turned into a smile as she watched him try to best the rock. A moment later, though, their situation withered her humor. “Xandre must know his Chosen would never make it.”
“Then why go through the charade of putting him through just to raise eyebrows by
“Nice find,” she said as he ducked inside with her and set her down on a cushion of leaves and grasses. There was some scat in the corner, indicating he wasn’t the only one to make use of this great shelter. It was old, though, and with a fire right outside, they shouldn’t have any unwelcome visitors.
“Not that I’m ungrateful, but why are you here?” Shanti asked. She shivered as she stripped out of her shirt and breast binding to assess the damage to her shoulder and back. Blood dripped from her gashes, but the wounds themselves weren’t terribly deep. The deep, painful scores in her legs would take a little longer to heal, even with her Gift speeding up her rate of healing.
The problem wouldn’t be the loss of blood with these wounds, it was the risk of infection.
She felt his shields lock into place with her question, drawing her eyes out of the opening. She couldn’t see his body.
“I decided I couldn’t let you have all the fun,” he said.
“What’s the real reason?” she asked in a firm tone.
He hesitated before answering, “Someone cut a hole through the hedge. People are dying in the Trespasser Village. Word is, someone was taken out of the trials.”
Tingles crept up Shanti’s spine. “Do the Shadow people know?”
“If they do, they’re keeping their mouths shut.”
“They must.” Shanti paused in thought, working through the implications. “They must know he’s gone. They use this as training for their own people. They have their Gift, they track… they must know. Did they kill him?”
“We would’ve heard if they had.”
Shanti bit her lip, a frown working at her features. “Then someone is sheltering him, because they wouldn’t just let him go. There are only a few who have the ability to shelter someone on the Shadow people’s homeland.”
“I think those people are in the Village,” Cayan said before explaining what Leilius had heard the night before.
Shanti listened with growing concern, making Cayan repeat some of the details about the group Leilius had seen, of the man they surrounded, and of the man who walked in mud in silence. By the end, her stomach was in knots.
“It’s him,” she breathed, sweat beading her brow despite the cold. “It has to be. There is no other power like him—no one else who would be guarded by men like that.”
“Surely there could be.” Cayan’s voice remained neutral.
“Yes, okay—there could be another man out there matching Xandre’s description with guards matching the descriptions of Xandre’s Inner Circle. Yes, that could happen. However, why would that person set up camp in a place he would never be noticed while an Inkna is entered into, and then rescued from, the trials…”
“That is why I’m in here with you. The Graygual aren’t playing by the rules, so there’s no reason you should, either.”
Shanti ducked out of the tree to find Cayan setting out materials with which to make a fire. The way he laid everything out, slowly and methodically, before picking up the fire-starting rock and analyzing it, meant he hadn’t much experience.
“Do you need help?” she asked with a grin working at her mouth.
He glanced up at her with a furrowed brow. He shook his head and looked back down. “I haven’t done this since I was fifteen or something, and even then I used slightly more… advanced methods of starting a fire. But it can’t be that difficult.”
“Yes it can.”
“I’ll figure it out,” he said with determination as he struck the rock to see its effects.
The grin turned into a smile as she watched him try to best the rock. A moment later, though, their situation withered her humor. “Xandre must know his Chosen would never make it.”
“Then why go through the charade of putting him through just to raise eyebrows by
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