Page 9 of Randall
Darvon grinned. “Soon,” he whispered. “Soon we shall meet, and then together we shall find our third.”
Chapter 6
Flynn
His paws hurt. He’d been running scared for hours already. Every time he slowed to catch his breath and give his legs and lungs a break, he’d hear the crack of a limb or feel an icy breeze brush through his fur, and he’d leap forward full-tilt.
He was going to die.Flynn Fisher, death by…Something. Evil. Fuck, he couldn’t even think; he was exhausted. All he knew was that he needed to keep moving, and though he didn’t have a final destination in mind, his instincts pointed him south and east toward Riverside.
Their clan’s shaman had seen it, but not one of them had believed him, except Flynn. As their shaman’s apprentice, he’d seen the horror etched across his master’s face as the vision engulfed him. Maybe if they had, Flynn wouldn’t be the only one left. He prayed that someone else had escaped the devastation, but he had little hope. The fires had burned bright against the inky dark sky; plumes of smoke billowed and curled, blowing inthe wind, lifting to the heavens and obscuring the stars that he could see whenever he chanced turning around.
The grasslands had offered few options for places to hide, so Flynn had headed due east toward the Wintervale Mountains before turning southward amid the thick forests at their base. A low rumble had started some time ago, the sound getting louder as he hurried on, putting him even more on edge.
Exhaustion pulled at his limbs. His eyelids drooped, causing him to stumble over rocks and downed tree branches sticking up in the deer path he’d found and now followed. He knew it was a risk to stay on the path, but he hoped he might spy a squirrel or rabbit; even a tiny chipmunk would do to sate some of the hunger he bore.
He needed water; with that thought, the low rumble he’d been hearing registered. A waterfall. Flynn tilted his head, pausing to locate it, and happily realized he’d been heading right toward it. He picked up his pace, and when the first drop of mist hit his whiskers, he lengthened his stride even more. He stopped abruptly at the edge of the drop-off, licking water droplets off his muzzle.
A raging wall of water crashed over an outcropping of rock, falling into a wide basin of swirling white foam before trailing off in a steady stream, miraculously still in the direction he wanted to go. Flynn picked his way down the steep incline to reach the bubbling river. He dropped to his belly on the embankment and lapped at the clear, fresh water. After drinking his full, he cautiously stepped into the fast-moving water, breath-stealing snowmelt-cold, letting the current wash the dust, dirt, and detritus from his fur and cool his aching paws.
He scanned beneath the surface, hoping to see a fish or something else he could catch and eat, but saw nothing except a loose log swishing back and forth, caught on tree roots. Checking the angle of the sun and spying the growing moss onnearby trees, Flynn determined the river was indeed flowing in the direction he wanted to go. If he followed the water, he would eventually reach Riverside. Swimming—or floating—would cover his need to keep moving while concealing his scent trail.
He paddled to the log, finding it much bigger than he thought, and pulled it free with his teeth. With his front paws looped over the top, and his chin resting on the wood, he let the current drag him downstream.
Chapter 7
Randall
The raven brought news the morning after the ball. With all the excitement, I’d foolishly let down my guard.
“Wait,” I said before reaching out for Kat.You should come.I received an impression of her leaping from her perch and running along the halls, and so I waited, offering the raven water and food in the meantime.
When she arrived, I had her sit on a stool where she could look into my mirror with me. From the raven, I plucked his memory…
Rolling black clouds, thunder, and lightning flashed across the mirror’s surface, but there wasn’t any rain. Low wood and grass homes typical of the Sprawlingforth Plains to the north of the city filled the view next.
Fisher Clan, Kat provided, startling me, for she rarely spoke in words to me. That she had meant whatever I was about to see was serious. I had to take her word for it being them because I’d never ventured far from my clan’s conclave in Haling Cove until I moved to Onamond and made it my new residence, my homefor these last seventeen years. Once settled, I’d only made a few trips outside the capital and those mainly to the neighboring cities east and west, never to the northern plains.
Though we couldn’t hear or see, what I saw scared me. Inky creatures slithered between the buildings, using the cover of the storm to hide their destruction. As we watched flames engulf one home after another, a feeling of sadness radiated from Kat.Distorted figures with mouths agape, the eyes of the clansmen rolling back in their heads, blood flowing in red rivulets, bodies toppling to the ground.An unseen evil had swept through the small village, destroying everything in its path.
I had to close my eyes against the abhorrent images, but I could still see them. My heart broke for all those lives lost.
You must find him.
I snapped my eyes open to stare at her, avoiding looking at my mirror. “Who?”
The one who fled. He who lives.
My breath caught, heart racing upon hearing there were survivors. “Where?”
Riverside, but— Ah. Here.
A gull screeched as it careened through the open window, landing on the floor of my room. A second raven flew in and landed beside its brethren. The moment they settled, I reached first into the mind of the gull and transferred its memory to the mirror.Fishing boats tossed about in high seas, long tentacles extended up out of the waves, sharp grey fins circled sinking ships, and men were drawn one by one beneath the swirling water.
I switched to the second raven then, plucking the information from him.As dawn lightened the early morning sky, hundreds of dead fish could be seen floating on the surface of the ocean, pushed slowly toward the shore by the rolling waves. The raven had thought to scoop one up for an easy meal, but aseagull below him had fallen dead the moment its beak had touched a single fish.
Letting go of the raven, I widened my focus out toward the docks where the first wave of dead fish and the gulls who’d tried to score an easy meal floated, their lifeless bodies knocking against the wood. The city guard kept the muttering townspeople away, calling for a runner to send word to the king.
Seeing the situation was handled for the moment, I withdrew my sight, pausing as I bumped against a powerful and unfamiliar presence. The warmth of the person’s magick drew me closer, calling to me… Someone was home within the Fae Ambassador’s residence, but Jarrah was here in the castle, so I didn’t know who it could be. I cursed my lack of knowledge regarding the Fae. I saw now that I had made a grave mistake, but the Fae were standoffish and unlikely to come to the capital, loving the open and green spaces versus the city’s dead wood and rock structures, thus I’d focused my studies elsewhere.
