Magiere stopped short and her jaw clenched. "Oh, that's comforting."
She moved on with Wynn after Sgaile.
Leesil fell silent. They'd just placed their lives in the hands of the An-maglahk. He hoisted the pack Wynn left behind, retrieved the crossbow, and followed, his eyes on Sgaile's exposed back.
In a short time and distance, Magiere sat upon a toppled tree stump before a small fire. She settled Wynn on the ground in front of her and covered the sage with a blanket. Wynn leaned back to rest against Magiere's legs.
The four anmaglahk didn't appear to carry anything besides their bows and stilettos. She watched two of them disassemble the bows, unstringing first and then pulling the wood arms out of the metal grips. They stored the parts behind their backs beneath their tied-up cloaks. While Magiere was distracted by this, one of them had struck a fire, though she wasn't certain how this was accomplished so quickly.
Chap settled beside Wynn, his eyes always upon the elves, who moved off to gather by a far oak and argue in low voices. Leesil piled their packs and saddlebags with the chest of skulls and paced about the fire before crouching on Wynn's other side.
"Can you hear what they're saying?" he whispered.
Wynn nodded. "Bits and pieces-enough to catch the essence of contention. Their dialect is strange... older, I think, than the one I know."
Although no food had been provided yet, the chance to rest in warmth had revived the young sage a bit.
"I cannot quite determine their hierarchy," Wynn said with a shake of her head. "Sgaile is the leader, but perhaps only based on the mission he was given. They do not seem to use rank titles that I can pick out. The rough-skinned man is clearly the eldest, though I would guess Sgaile is perhaps fifty to sixty years old."
"Sixty years?" Magiere said too loudly, then lowered her voice. "He doesn't look more than thirty."
She knew most people would find Sgaile strikingly handsome-although she'd die before admitting that aloud. His white-blond hair was thicker than that of most elves, and he wore it neatly tied back. His face was narrow and smooth, with skin slightly darker than Leesil's.
"They live longer than we do," Wynn replied. "One hundred and fifty is a common age. Some live to be two hundred."
Magiere glanced sidelong at Leesil, who watched the conclave of assassins with fixed interest. By how many years would Leesil outlive her?
"The others are questioning Sgaile," Wynn continued. "Especially the angry woman."
"What about?" Magiere asked.
"They are unsettled by the task they were given, though the elder male supports Sgaile's adherence to the custom of guardianship. It seems safe passage for humans is unprecedented. None of them have even seen a human set foot in these lands."
Wynn cocked her head, still listening. "They are hesitant to question what this Most Aged Father has asked of them... but they are to take Leesil to him."
"I knew it," Magiere whispered. "Leesil, they're up to more than taking you to your mother."
He didn't answer. He didn't even look at her.
"I do not think Sgaile is lying to us," Wynn argued. "And this patriarch of their caste may have been the one to order Nein'a's imprisonment. If so, he is the one we need to see."
She tilted her head up to look at Magiere.
"The elder and the woman do not wish you or me to be taken farther. They do not want"-she stopped, eyes widening-"any 'weakbloods' in their homeland."
Wynn fell silent for a moment, listening.
"Sgaile refuses. He gave his word to Most Aged Father to offer guardianship to all with Leesil and deliver us to a place called Crijeaiche... 'Origin Heart'... I think." Then she sucked in a long breath of air. "Oh, Leesil, you are considered dangerous, even by Sgaile... a criminal."
Magiere tensed. They'd had more than one run-in with these murdering elves in gray, who always found some way to put Leesil under suspicion.
The elves' debate ended as Sgaile stood up. He and the younger male disappeared into the forest. Magiere watched the two who stayed behind. They remained at a distance, and the woman turned her back, leaving only the elder man gazing stoically at the invaders gathered about the fire.
Sgaile returned sooner than Magiere would've guessed. He was alone and carried a bunched cloth of lightweight tan fabric. He approached and opened the cloth for Leesil. Within were more bisselberries mixed with bits of strangely wrinkled gray lumps.
"This will keep you until Osha returns from the stream." He turned toward Chap. "He will bring fish to roast."
Sgaile neither spoke nor looked at Magiere or Wynn. Leesil didn't appear to notice and took the offered food. He poked suspiciously at one gray lump.
"Muhkgean," Sgaile explained, then paused thoughtfully. "The heads of flower-mushrooms."
With a grimace, Leesil took a few berries and held the rest out to Magiere and Wynn.
Wynn snatched one mushroom head, popped it in her mouth, and chewed quickly with a deep sigh of satisfaction. Magiere took only berries.
"Osha... is this the young man's name?" Wynn asked.
Sgaile didn't answer.
"It means... 'Sudden Breeze,' " Wynn explained with her mouth still full. "A good name."
She yawned and drooped so heavily that Magiere had to separate her knees so Wynn leaned against the stump.
Sgaile remained silent. Regardless of this guardianship oath he'd taken, it was clear to Magiere that he was no more comfortable with the arrangement than his comrades were. Magiere placed a hand on Wynn's soft hair, thinking the sage grew weary beyond good sense.
"Soon as you've had some fish, you're going to sleep."
"Mmm-hmm," was all that came from Wynn, and she popped a peeled berry and another mushroom together into her mouth.
"Where did you find these?" Leesil asked, picking up the cloth of the berries and mushrooms. "We saw nothing like them in the forest."
Sgaile's thin white eyebrows arched. "The forest provides."
Leesil again offered the cloth bundle to Magiere. She shook her head. She wasn't about to touch one of the wrinkled gray lumps, and peeling berries seemed like too much trouble. And she didn't feel hungry.
This made no sense, considering she'd gone without food for as long as the others. Strangely, she wasn't even tired.
Sgaile walked back out into the forest, only to return moments later carrying six sharpened and forked sticks. He stuck three into the earth around the fire, so their forked ends slanted upward above the low flames.
Osha melted out of the trees. He carried three large trout hooked by their gills upon his fingers. He half-smiled at Sgaile and dropped to his knees by the fire.
The two elves' flurry of busy preparation was almost more than Magiere could follow. Three more sticks appeared, pointed on both ends. Osha skewered each fish from mouth to tail, then balanced the ends in the forked sticks Sgaile had planted. Soon, the trout began to sizzle above the flames.
Wynn murmured sleepily, closing her eyes, '"Am'alhtahk ar tu, Osha. "
Osha jerked his head up to look at her, studying Wynn's round face and wispy brown hair, but his expression held no malice. He went back to fanning the fire, then he sprinkled some powdered spice over the fish and a savory smell filled the air.
Chap sat up and whined. Magiere hoped he'd wait until the fish finished cooking before helping himself.
The other two elves finally approached, carrying large leaves, which they handed to Osha. All was quiet but for the crackling fire, and then Wynn's eyes popped open.
"Do all Anmaglahk speak Belaskian?" she blurted out.
Leesil looked to Sgaile. "Well, do they?"
Sgaile frowned. "Some... Osha is learning at present."
Groggy and exhausted, Wynn still seemed unaware that Sgaile avoided speaking to her.
"Wynn," the sage said to Osha, pointing to herself, and then to the others in turn. "Magiere... Leesil... Chap."
Osha blinked, glancing tentatively at Sgaile, then bowed his head briefly to Wynn.
"You placed a name upon a majay-h?" Sgaile asked.
All the elves appeared unsettled by this. The woman hissed something Magiere didn't catch and turned away.
"Wynn, that's enough," Magiere warned.
"Should we not be introduced," Wynn asked, "if we are to travel together?"
Sgaile stood up in discomfort. Again, Osha glanced at him, clearly uncertain if he should speak. Then he pointed to the elven woman off among the trees with her back turned.
"en'nish," he said.
"en'nish..." Wynn repeated sleepily, "the wild, open field."
Osha pointed to the elder man. "Urhkarasiferin."
"Shot or cast... truly?" Wynn tried to translate.
Osha scrunched one eye and looked up to Sgaile, who nodded.
"And Sgaile," "Wynn added.
"Sgailsheilleache," he corrected, the first words he'd spoken to any but Leesil since their earlier standoff.
"Willow... shade..." Wynn murmured.
"Sgaile it is, then," muttered Leesil.
Magiere tried to retain the names. Hopefully, shortened ones wouldn't cause offense, not that she cared much if they did. To her relief, Osha finally lifted one trout off the fire, and all attention was diverted as he deftly slid it onto a large leaf.
He boned the fish, cut the fillets into pieces, and, using smaller leaves as plates, passed them around in no particular order. Sgaile worked on the next trout. He fanned a full fillet to cool it before placing it on a leaf for Chap. Urhkar picked up two servings and joined en'nish off in the trees.
Magiere took small bites. She still wasn't hungry, even after three mouth-fuls that smelled and tasted better than any fish she could remember. She continued to nibble rather than have Leesil or even Wynn make a fuss about her not eating. Once her own companions finished, she put a hand on Wynn's shoulder.
"Lie down and sleep."
The sage didn't argue. She scooted over to lie on the ground, but she stopped halfway.
"Oh, Sgaile, whoever keeps watch should take care. We encountered a tashgalh tashgalh this morning. I have not seen it again, but you would know what they are like." this morning. I have not seen it again, but you would know what they are like."
To Magiere's surprise, Sgaile spoke directly to Wynn with concern.
"A tashgalh tashgalh? Where?"
"That little rodent?" Leesil asked. "We found it in a cave on the mountain. It didn't seem dangerous."
"But troublesome," Sgaile answered carefully, and gestured out into the dark. "The majay-h should warn us, and Osha will stand first watch."
Magiere looked where he pointed. Here and there a shadow moved. She saw the shapes of the dogs among the far trees, some near enough that their eyes glimmered from the firelight.
Wynn lay down and pulled her blanket up, and Chap curled in next to her as always.
Both Sgaile and Osha stared with differing degrees of astonishment. Osha's mouth opened slightly as Leesil spread his cloak out on the ground and reached for Magiere. She lay down on her side.
Osha turned quickly and walked away. Sgaile followed without a word.
Magiere put her back against Leesil's chest. He pulled the blanket up and placed his palm on her temple, slowly stroking her head and hair.
"This isn't what I expected," he whispered.
What had he expected?
"We'll find Nein'a," she whispered back.
"I know. Go to sleep."
Magiere heard his breathing grow steady and deep. Once certain he'd drifted off, she reached over him for her falchion left leaning against the stump. She tucked it under the blanket next to herself with her hand on its hilt.
She lay awake for a long time, not tired enough to sleep, strange as that was. She listened but couldn't hear the elves above the forest's soft sounds.
Magiere finally closed her eyes and tried to drift off...
She suddenly found herself walking the forest in darkness, alone, wondering how she had gotten so far from the camp.
Pieces of the night moved around her between the trees.
Here and there, half-seen shapes shadowed her. Their colorless and glittering eyes watched her, as if waiting for her to do something.
These were not majay-h. They walked on two legs. And in her belly she felt their hunger. She smelled it, like blood on the damp breeze, and her own hunger rose up in answer.
The forest began to wither around her, until the stench of rot made her choke.
Magiere snapped her eyes open with every muscle ridged from the nightmare. It felt disturbingly familiar, as if she'd seen such a vision before. Lifting her head, she found the fire was now little more than glowing embers.
She didn't sleep for the rest of the night.