Peddlers shopped their wares, and criers yelled for attention as they announced one shop or another among the spice, fruit, and fabric storefronts lining this district. Patrons visited the various steel and iron buildings in steady streams. Despite the variety of peoples around him, more than Ryne’s great size stood out. In one town, long ago, the children called him tapestry man. Ryne smiled.
Foghorns from Felan Mark’s vast docks broke Ryne from his thoughts, the stench from offloaded composts rising strong on the warm air. Neither the salty sea spray nor the many smells from the spice vendors could hide it. Unnoticed, gray twilight had crept in as he walked. He narrowed his eyes and turned his attention ahead.
Sakari’s link bloomed in Ryne’s mind. The man, who now looked like a typical Felani, tall and thin, eased his way through the shoppers and vendors alike. “You have company, and it is not her. From the markings they have disguised, they may be Alzari.”
“I see. Wait for me at the gates.”
Sakari melted into the crowds. Moments later, the link broke.
Ryne made purposeful stops at several vendors, haggling with them then storming off in a huff. Soon, he was able to tell who followed him. Their auras roiled with the same tainted shade he’d seen from the Alzari in the Fretian Woods. He counted ten in all. His brow furrowed. Could it really be them? Here in the city? How? He continued to walk as if he didn’t notice them.
From the corner of his eye, an aura fraught with light bloomed. It flared brighter than any other within his range. The aura followed those tracking him.
Irmina had returned.
Ryne hurried toward the stables. The last thing he needed was to draw more attention than he already commanded. If there was to be a fight, he couldn’t risk such a battle within the city. Especially if he lost control. There was no Entosis close by if he were to expend as much Mater as he did against the shadelings. He would need to give his power its due if he failed to restrain himself. He glanced behind him to see the Alzari split up. Two trailed him. Behind them, Irmina followed.
When he reached the large stables, one of the few stone buildings in Felan Mark, he paid the stable master and checked on Thumper while tracking his pursuers. Easing farther into the stall, Ryne waited for the two men who followed him to enter the stables. As he continued his inspection of Thumper’s chain bit and reins, he watched without drawing attention to himself as the Alzari hurried to their own dartans. Satisfied, Ryne mounted just as the Irmina entered.
Their gazes met for a brief moment. The woman’s brown eyes narrowed, but she made no move toward him. Instead, she rushed in the opposite direction toward another line of dartans.
Ryne shook Thumper’s reins, and the dartan mewled before plodding to the stable’s wide entrance and out. Without a backward glance, he headed toward Felan Mark’s gargantuan main gates along a road reserved for riding. This close to moonrise, few riders traveled the flagstoned streets in the direction of Felan Mark’s gates, so he made good time.
“Are you certain you want to leave at this time o’ night?” drawled a Dagodin guard at the gates. The man gave Ryne’s armor and sword a long look over.
“Yes. I’m sure I can get hired on with them.” Ryne motioned to a heavily guarded supply caravan the Dagodin were allowing to pass through a wider than normal sally gate.
“I guess. It’s your life.” The man shook his head, signaled, and let Ryne by.
A few hundred feet from the walls, Sakari waited. When Ryne reached him, his companion leaped onto Thumper’s back behind Ryne and shifted around for a moment before he settled down.
The caravan peeled off toward the east, following the Felan Road, while Ryne headed north toward the Barrier Mountains silhouetted in the distance. Thumper picked up speed until he flew by the sandy plain’s sparse grasses and shrubs. The first deep hollow that hid them from Felan Mark’s towers soon came upon them, and Ryne stopped. He stared back toward the city.
Behind him, the ten Alzari left the gates, riding hard. Soon after came Irmina’s aura.
A tingling sensation ran through Ryne’s body as battle energy filled him. He tilted his head back, a grin spreading across his face at the sensation. With a last look at the oncoming mercenaries, he wheeled Thumper and rode toward the mountainous foothills.
CHAPTER 41
Irmina followed the dust clouds from the men hunting Ryne toward the Barrier Mountains, flying by short, hardy grasses decorating the red and beige sands in faded browns and greens. Days had passed since the last of the areas common thunderstorms, and despite her light linen and cotton fabrics, sweat trickled down her temple. She pulled her scarf up to protect her from the flying dust. Misty sped across the undulating plains with such ease Irmina had to hold back so she wouldn’t catch up to the bandits.
Wreathed in shadow, rocky foothills appeared ahead of Irmina. Fool. Why would he come to such a remote location rather than stay in the city? Worse yet, why go into the bandit’s own territory? Even in her brief time in Ostania, she knew about the bandits who hid among the Barrier Mountains, raiding any caravans or traders who dared travel without a heavy guard contingent. She’d seen Ryne fight, but to take on ten men? The man must be insane. Jerem said he believed the man a descendant of the Eztezians, but they were supposed to be twenty feet tall. Even if it were true, surely he couldn’t hope to survive against ten men? Not even with his strange bodyguard. Battling animals was one thing, men, another. She shrugged the idea off as preposterous.
By the time she maneuvered Misty past old volcanic outcrops, the moons hung above the mountains, one chasing the other. Eerie shadows abounded, mixed with the many fissures within the rocks, and a brisk wind carried sulfur smells from the ancient volcanoes. Somewhere farther north, a grunting bark echoed. Misty issued several piercing whistles at the disconcerting bark.
Up ahead, dark silhouettes resolved into the bandit’s mounts. Irmina trilled twice to Misty-the sound coming as four, fluttering, shrill tones-swung her legs over to one side, and dismounted. The only movement ahead came from the bandit’s dartans twisting long necks to look at Irmina. The men had left them unguarded. Crossing the path she slipped by the creatures while Misty hung back close to the rocks, obeying Irmina’s command to stay.
Irmina crept among the shadowy rocks but saw no sign of the ten men. A slope jutted up ahead of her, and she darted across glassy volcanic stone until she crouched below the hill. After a few furtive glances, she crawled up the slope, careful not to slip on loose shale.
Below her, Ryne stood in a clearing at the center of a hollow, a mountain of flesh, sword, and tattoos. On the ground, a lightstone illuminated his features and the surrounding area, throwing long shadows from the skeletal trees scattered in patches around the clearing.
The dark-garbed bandits approached him from four different directions with swords out. Three stood behind one of the dead trees a few feet from the clearing’s edge. Another two squatted within the shadows provided by some tall bushes close to those three. Across the hollow’s far slope, the other five bandits slunk among the sparse vegetation. Despite the gravelly, uneven ground, the men moved in silence, their steps ghostly silent despite the slate and shale.
Irmina narrowed her eyes at the men’s unusual, noiseless movements. Brow furrowed, she engaged her Matersense.
Around her, the night bloomed with individual colors that represented Mater for her. Brown shades signified Forms. Streams hung colorless but sharp. Moonlight gave off a soft, perpetual white glow. Many other colors she couldn’t apply to an essence swirled around her. She focused on the bandits and gasped. Shade clung about them and their swords. These men possessed shaded divya.