Wind Rider (Return of the Dragons 2)

Woltan shook his head. “All night, no. But until we reach the mountains, yes. There we should find shelter in a cave, and rest a while. Our slumber was short and sweet under the protection of the tree mother, but we need more sleep if we are not to become stumbling bumblers in the two days walk ahead.”

Kara shook her head. “I am still a little lost here. Perhaps when we reach the mountains all will come clear to me. But I worry for the people you have left behind, Woltan. What if the dark lord attacks while we lie taking a nap on this mountain?”

“We lose time sleeping,” said Woltan. “Or we lose time with accidents and stupid mistakes. There is no other way, except wizardry, and we will go that way only if we are forced to choose it.”

We heard Elias’s thoughts then. I feel rested. The tree mother’s food has filled us up with energy, and the hours we rested there is equivalent to days of sleep outside her protection.

Ulrike agreed. I do not know much of your world, but I know that after sleeping in the shelter of the mother tree we can go days without sleep. And the food we ate will not only protect and hide us, but also nourish our minds and bodies more than ordinary plant or animal food.

“In that case, let

us walk until we can walk no more,” said Woltan finally. “And then rest and set watch.”

It was dark now. We walked quietly and the moss seemed to come up to meet our feet, the branches of trees seemed to sway away from our faces as we passed. Never had I felt so in tune with nature. I could smell and see the plants around me in the night, could taste the dirt in which they grew. I could feel where the soil was acidic, where it was alkaline — the ground itself was like some alchemist’s experimental laboratory, like I’d read about with my tutor. If I reached out with my mind I could hear the sing-song of the grass, the whispers of the shrubs, the low rumble of conversations of the trees.

I tried pushing my mind out as far as I could, to see how far I could feel. My feet kept walking methodically but my mind exploded: a blinding flash of green life energy and brown earth, a deafening symphony of living plant music that filled my head to bursting. I tried to relax and float in the middle of all of it, and the sound and the light calmed.

But I could still see and hear all of it.

I smiled and kept walking. I found I could keep walking and look where I was going and still see and hear everything. It was intoxicating. Then all of the sudden, I stopped.

Something was very wrong in the forest.

Kara was sniffing the wind. I could smell nothing, but my plant friends were in panic. They were being trampled, and there were torches. I could feel the fire, feel the feet upon me, but could not tell what they were.

We had all stopped now, in a circle, but it was Kara who gave the alarm, speaking and thinking it at the same time. Keiler! And soldiers!

There was a moment of panic in which we didn’t know whether to fight or flee. Woltan blasted into our minds then. Remember our invisibility. Press against the trees and wait for them to pass. If they are small in number, we shall ambush them.

We moved off the trail and took our positions. Cullen and I pushed against a large tree. I looked around and it was only with my third eye that I could see anyone, and even then, you needed to know what to look for — our auras had been changed by the food of the tree mother, and mine even more so by her sap. We blended into the trees as if we were all one and the same, plant and person. Even the mighty Arboris made his tree seem just a bit larger and more imposing.

I held my breath and let my mind wander. They were approaching rapidly, coming from the west. I could smell smoke now. They carried torches. There were many of them. They smelled of smoke and they smelled of hate.

Suddenly a keiler rushed past me, twirled around, and ran back to the road. It was sniffing around wildly. I remembered that they were stronger in scent than in eyes. I hoped that I smelled more of tree than of human, now.

Then three more ran forward to stop and wheel around at the road.

THE TREES HERE SMELL DIFFERENT!

Shut your mind you idiot! This is a magical forest!

MAGICAL OR NOT IT WILL BURN JUST AS WELL!

I said SHUT YOUR MINDS ALL OF YOU!

I saw with my third eye beams of energy move out and squeeze the auras of the keiler. They squealed, and stopped moving.

A man walked out onto the path. I did not dare breathe. I had seen this man before, and I had seen him again in my dreams. He was covered in a cloak and in one hand he held a staff, in the other a lit torch. Two men with swords and torches followed him.

They stopped in front of the keiler. The wizard was only about ten feet away from where I lay pressed against a tree. He spoke. “I’ll talk out loud, because we need to avoid anyone seeing our magical thoughts, and these two men can’t hear them anyhow. The dark lord needs you to be discreet for once, keiler. That means you keep your minds shut. Squeal at each other if you can’t shield your brains. He doesn’t need anyone to hear of his plans to burn that tree and her people. He doesn’t need you spilling his plans to attack the walled city when his troops are ready.”

One of the keiler started to think, I could feel its thoughts moving out, and then Gerard reached out and squeezed its aura, and it squealed again. “Speak!”

The keiler raised itself up on its hind legs and spoke. Its voice was squealing and rasping at the same time, a combination of guttural grunts and high-pitched squeaks. “How long, wizard? How long until we attack the city?”

Gerard grunted. “It won’t be long now. Maybe a week? Two weeks? Our job now is to destroy all their potential allies. First, that tree witch and her sappy children have to go.”

I reached out my mind tentatively. Listening, without touching anything. Besides the two soldiers, and Gerard, and the four keiler, we were alone. The problem was, Gerard was too powerful, and his link with the dark lord was too great.