Page 13 of Power of Five
I bite my lip. Coal speaks of the hog beasts as if they’re a few unwanted rats. “Are... are there a great many of those things in Lunos?” I ask, trying to keep my voice steady.
Coal doesn’t answer, our conversation apparently having stretched the limits of his tolerance for speaking with me. Turning to Shade, Coal gives the male a small nod. Anod.Some welcome back after a decade in wolf form. “Let’s move her out of here.”
Shade reaches for me, drawing me close quickly enough that, if I didn’t know better, I’d think he were staking his claim. Within a moment, I find myself lifted off the ground and held against the male’s chest, while Coal draws his blade and takes guard in the rear.
“I can walk,” I protest. At least, I think I can.
Coal snorts.
“We aren’t walking,” Shade says into my hair, his arms tightening around my body as he starts into a lope that a mortal could never keep up with.
With the male’s brutally efficient pace, we clear Mystwood quickly. Instead of setting course for the inn, however, Shade and Coal turn in the other direction, bringing us to a burbling creek about a mile south of our temporary residence. Wide, smooth stones form a basin of sorts, the water falling from above and filling the enclosure before leaving through a gap several paces wide. Shade settles me onto one of the broad stones but doesn’t release me fully, one large hand remaining casually on the curve of my hip.
“Why are we here?” I ask.
“To bathe,” says Shade, while Coal strips himself of bloody clothing, oblivious to both my presence and the cold. “We’ve caused enough of a commotion just lodging at the inn without showing up drenched in sclice blood. Plus, it’s doubtful they have a tub big enough to fit any of us.”
