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Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be any in the immediate vicinity.
"Here and there I found those who were attempting to resurrect the art, but they were like children who have
found their father's bow and a quiver of arrows. They have some idea how the device should work, but they lack the
strength to string the darn thing, much less knowledge as to how to fit the arrow and make it fly."
"And you set out to teach archery," Truth said, "to Dantarahma, and to this Melina and this Valora of whom the
others tell, and to these twins."
"Well, yes."
"And me? How do I fit in this?" Truth felt the prickle of her hackles rising, her tail lashing, and wondered if she
did this in body as well as spirit "As we know, two of your students were willing to commit murder. We'll never know
what Valora would have done - and you've been very cautious about your intention for the twins."
"Well, they ..."
"No!" Truth roared. "No evasions. What did you intend for me?"
"Why the same as for the others, good Truth. I saw the potential in your situation."
"For sorcery?"
"Not quite. For untapped potential. I also saw something else."
"What?"
"Remember that window I mentioned?"
"Yes."
"When your friends opened the door for you, they finished opening the window for me. My range is still limited I
have a lot of learning to do, but I am managing much better. How do you think I can talk with you so easily now, with
your body and soul together and you so dreadfully saner
Truth lashed out, why and at what, later she was not sure, but the violence of the motion brought her to full
wakefulness. Upon awakening, she noticed immediately that her body no longer lay where she had gone to sleep. She
hadn't moved far, but was outside of the camp, and could hear Eshinarvash stamping his awareness that something was
new in his surroundings.
Truth called to the horse, "It's just me. I had a nightmare, and am going to run it off."
The Wise Horse settled. "Bad things, nightmares. Good hunting, then."
Truth's paws remained sore, so instead of hunting, she found herself a tree and hung over a branch, trying to make
sense of what had happened. The Voice had seemed honest, but the more he told her, the more she feared him. The
more she feared him, the more she hated him for making her his tool.
So unsettled was Truth that the stars had moved visibly in their nightly dance before she realized that whatever it
was the Meddler had intended to tell her regarding their missing companions had been forgotten by them both.
Or had that merely been bait to make her listen to him?
Truth shook her head so hard that her small round ears rattled like leaves on a gale shaken tree.
Bait. That's what it had been. Bait. Bait to make her go and do what she didn't wish to do. Bait to make her take
up his challenge. She wouldn't take it.
Truth shook her head again, seeking to dislodge an uncomfortable feeling, as if with mere motion she could assure
herself that the secure join of body and spirit would never be threatened again.
***
THEY HAD RETREATED norm and east, Firekeeper cradling Bitter in her arms, Lovable riding on Blind Seer's
back. Beneath the dense forest foliage, color was giving way to shadow with the coming of evening.
"We must warn the others about these creeping briars," Blind Seer said.
"Yes," Firekeeper agreed, "but the ravens cannot be moved quickly. Bitter is gravely wounded."
"My nose tells me you are not merely trying to save yourself what will be a hard run," Blind Seer said, but the
cant of his ears and tail failed to transmit the humor of his words. "Let us find you someplace secure. Then I will run
as fast as these four feet can carry me. If the others have kept the trail, with Plik there to translate my message for me
(you really should have learned to write, Firekeeper), I should be back to you before the next sunset"
Firekeeper nodded. She didn't question why Blind Seer wanted to find her some sort of lair. He would not be the
only hunter with a nose sharp enough to scent injury and pain. No predator hunted what would fight when that which
would not was easily found.
Lovable might not be able to do more than glide, but her alert memory recalled what she and Bitter had noted
during their earlier passage. She directed them toward the ruins of a one-roomed stone structure standing alone in a
small clearing that showed ample sign of grazers and browsers both. The stone of the house was thick with
honeysuckle vine, but there was no trace of the hook-thomed briar. The few trees were slim saplings that might be
eaten by the deer this coming winter.
The walls are thick and high," Blind Seer said with satisfaction as he sniffed about the structure for sign that any
other laired within it. "You can guard the hole where the door once was."
Firekeeper nodded. "And what there is of a roof looks stable enough not to fall - at least not tonight - and nothing
larger than a squirrel would trust itself to that shaky bridge. I can block the window holes with dead wood. They were
never large to begin with."
"And don't forget fire," Blind Seer said. "Fire will do you more good than all the rest together."
1 won't forget," Firekeeper promised. "I could as soon forget my name."
Lovable hopped from Blind Seer's back and walked
stiffly to where Firekeeper had set Bitter on the duff-covered floor of the stone house. Blind Seer looked at
Firekeeper.
"Would you have me stay until your fire is kindled?"
Firekeeper knelt so she might embrace him around his neck. Holding him tightly, she spoke into the thickness of
his fur.
**I kindled fires before you were born, Blue-Eyes. Go. I'll be fine, but hurry back. Harjeedian may be able to
send something to help Bitter - and I will miss you."
Blind Seer licked the side of her face, then he shook himself free from her hold. He stood for a moment, staring at
her. Then he turned away. Swift and silent as the approaching night, he was gone.
***
FIREKEEPER PREPARED THE FIRE FIRST, building it within the shelter of the stone house. She considered
building another outside, but the light would ruin her night vision, so she decided to do without.
As the fire was catching, Firekeeper alternated between feeding the growing flame and dripping water into Bitter's
beak. The raven swallowed, which she took as a good sign. His wounds no longer bled freely, and though she longed
to wash them she did not Doc had taught her a clean wound healed best but Firekeeper feared that even gentle tending
would start fresh bleeding.
Lovable watched these tendings with anxious alertness. In the firelight, Firekeeper could see anew how battered
Lovable was. She had thought to ask the raven to sit watch above the lintel, but now she knew the raven needed sleep
as desperately as did her mate.
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