Whisperings of Magic (13 page)

The night that followed was worse by far than any Catryn had ever known. They repaired to the woods on the outskirts of the village and made camp, but she refused the stew that Bruhn made, refused to speak even to Dahl. Instead, she sat hunched against a tree, lost within herself. She was barely aware of the others as they ate and settled down for the night, but they, too, made their preparations in silence—as chilled as she with what they had seen. There was some force at work here beyond all understanding.

She watched the moons rise, then watched them wane. Slivered crescents now, not the full orbs they had been when she and the others had set out from Daunus. Finally, while everyone slept, she rose, stiff
and cold through to the marrow of her bones. She needed an escape. She shifted. A sleek, sinewy silver cat this time, as ethereal as the moons themselves. She shut her eyes and drew the blackness of the night into herself deeply. The world that was closed to her in human form unfolded itself to her senses. Welcomed her. She let herself sink into it until almost every semblance of humanity was banished from her mind, then she loped off into the darkness.

All night, she roamed. Through the forest, up hills and down into valleys. Avoiding always the habitations of humans. She could not bear the sight or smell of humans right now.

With the dawn she returned. Reluctantly, she shifted back into her own form, but something within her had been assuaged. The horror was not gone, but it was under control.

She was suddenly aware of a raging hunger, but even greater than that was the need to return to the village, to see again those husks that walked like people. She gulped down a handful of raw grain from the saddlebags of the Sele, then prepared to leave. She would not wait for the others. She would be back before they awoke. In any case, if Dahl did waken before her return, he would know she had only gone to investigate further and would soon be back. But, as she crept out of the camp and set her feet on the path to the village, a slight noise startled her. She whirled to find Sele the Plump at her heels.

“I will go with you,” it said.

She met its eyes and knew that it understood the feelings that were driving her. The need that would not let her wait.

“Shall we ride?” it asked.

“No,” she answered. “Not this time.” She beckoned it to follow and they made their way out of the camp.

As soon as they were out of sight of the camp, Catryn stopped and laid her hand on the Sele’s arm. “I know the people in the village seem not to see us,” she said, “but I would go more inconspicuously anyway. Pause a moment.” She twitched, shook herself and became a cat again. A small gray cat, almost as unsubstantial as a ghost.

The Sele stared for a moment, then a smile spread slowly over its face, surprisingly sly for a Sele. “Wonderful,” it breathed. “And I, too, can disguise myself, although it is not a thing that we would ever let any other human see us do.” He dropped to all fours. Face turned down to Catryn, his ears, normally held flat to his head, pricked up. A tail uncurled itself from where it had been hidden underneath the smooth fur.

The gray cat looked up at a gray image of itself, only bigger.

Wonderful indeed! Catryn thought.

Shall we be off, then?
To her surprise, the Sele had heard her thought. And she had heard its unspoken reply!

So they, too, could communicate without voiced
words, at least in these forms. Good. That might be useful. She gave a quick nod and side by side, like two gray wraiths, they slipped along the trail to the village.

The villagers were just beginning to stir as Catryn and the Sele padded softly into the square. At first, Catryn kept to the shelter of some bushes, but soon did not bother—no one noticed either the small cat or the larger one. Carts were coming in from the fields, heavily laden with produce. The villagers began to line up beside the well at the center of the square. Catryn and the Sele settled themselves down to watch.

The carts pulled up. One by one the villagers went and received a small bag of vegetables and fruit. When they were finished, one cart was still more than half full of food. The man in charge of it spurred his horses on and started back out of the village.

Where does this food go?
Catryn mused. Somehow she was certain that if she could find out, she might be closer to solving this puzzle.

Are you going to follow it?
the Sele asked, glancing skyward with a worried look.

Yes, definitely,
Catryn answered, but she looked up, as well. The sun was rising; it was getting late. She sent her mind back to their camp and sensed Dahl
awakening, but she
had to
find out more here. As if pulled by a magnet, she began to lope along behind. After a moment’s hesitation and another anxious glance at the sun, the Sele followed.

The cart rumbled slowly on. It lumbered around a bend in the path and was momentarily lost to sight. Catryn and the Sele sped up to follow it; then, as they also rounded the bend, they both stopped.

The man had pulled the cart up in the middle of the path. He sat in it, not moving, staring straight ahead. The horse lowered its head and began to graze on a patch of stubbly grass.

He is waiting for something,
Sele the Plump whispered into Catryn’s mind.

Or someone,
Catryn responded. A strange sensation was beginning to stir deep inside her. A pulling. As if some force were acting upon her, drawing her to it. She left her place of concealment and slipped closer to the cart.

I like this not
… the Sele began.

Catryn could feel the power drawing her on more and more strongly—it was almost impossible to resist. She reached the cart. At that moment the air in front of it began to shimmer and shift. An opening began to appear.

A portal!

There was no time to think. Catryn leaped into the cart.

Catryn! No!

The Sele’s warning came too late. Nor could she
have heeded it. The cart moved forward, almost as if it, too, were being drawn through the quivering opening. At the last possible moment, Catryn felt a thump as Sele the Plump landed beside her.

Hide yourself!
Catryn sent to the Sele.

They burrowed down amongst the fruit and vegetables, dirt and leaves, until they were completely hidden. There was a moment of silence—breathlessness—then the cart clattered over what felt like cobblestones and came to a halt. Catryn heard someone giving orders. It had been so long since she had heard voices that it startled her.

“Wait here,” a man ordered, presumably to the driver of the cart. “We will unload later.”

Silence descended again. Nothing moved. There was a noise that sounded like boots scuffling off. Catryn could not see the Sele but she could sense its presence near her. She sent a thought to it.

The guards are not mindless slaves. And the villagers obey their commands—we must take care!

She waited another few moments.

I think it is safe to get out now
, she sent finally. She squirmed up through the vegetables, then sneezed. For a moment she froze. The Sele, who had emerged beside her, froze as well. The broad back of the villager who drove the cart was almost beside them, but he did not stir. Catryn sneezed again. She couldn’t help it. Her nose was full of dirt, and bits of vegetation were tormenting her whiskers. She gathered herself together and leaped up over the side of
the cart, trusting that there would be something more or less soft on the other side.

She landed lightly on grass. The Sele was not far behind, but the roundness of its substantial body made its landing much less graceful.

“Whoof!” it puffed aloud.

Again, they froze, but there was still no indication from the villager that he had heard them. He, obviously, was one of the silent ones. She sent out a cautious thought to determine if the guard was still around, but as far as she could tell there was no sentient human being near them at all.

Only then did she raise her head to see what lay before them.

The forest on this side of the portal was dark and looming. Mosses dripped from the trees like ropes of tears. The very air around them seemed heavy with despair. Catryn felt as if a shroud had been thrown over her mind. There was something … something warning her. Something she needed to remember … Instinctively, she cast out to Dahl, but the seeking tendril was brought up short, as if it had encountered a barrier.

The portal. She could not see through the portal with her mind. For a moment she was overwhelmed. A loneliness such as she had never felt before enveloped her. She was cut off from the Elders—and now cut off from Dahl.

The Sele must have sensed her feelings. This is not good, Catryn. We must return to Dahl.

Its thought came strongly through to her, more perturbed than she had ever known a Sele to be. But she could not heed its warning. The same force that had compelled her to cross through the portal was compelling her still. She peered through the trees. The outline of a building—a palace—loomed darkly through the low-lying mist. Dimly, she could make out stone walls and dark towers. Why was that so familiar to her? She tried to make sense of what she was seeing, but her mind was clouded, slow and heavy. She could not think.

She began to move toward the palace. Quickly, before the guard returned.

No, Catryn!
There was an urgency now in the Sele’s thought.
We must return to Dahl!

Catryn heeded him not. She hardly heard him. Stronger, much stronger, than his plea was a silent voice calling to her from that grim citadel. She quickened her pace. She knew that voice. She
must
go to it.

She thrust the Sele out of her mind.

She broke through the trees into a cleared patch of land just in front of the looming walls. A massive door at the top of a stone staircase was flanked by two windows, which didn’t show the slightest hint of light behind them. As Catryn looked, the door swung open.

She had to go in.

She did not hear the Sele’s cry of warning as she padded up the stairs and through the door. She was in a long, narrow hallway. A guttering candle gave a
scant, flickering light. In its glow she saw the bent figure of a man coming toward her. A man in a flowing cape. Not hooded now, but in the pall of this narrow vestibule all she could see of his face were two glittering eyes.

The door thudded shut behind her.

“Welcome, Catryn, Seer of Taun. I have been expecting you.”

With those words Catryn’s mind cleared as if swept by a wind. It was the voice of her vision. These were the walls she had seen. And she was within them. She had let herself be trapped! She tensed to spring, but before she could move, a hand swept down and scooped her up. She struggled with every ounce of energy she had. She spat and hissed and unsheathed tiny daggers of claws. She heard the man draw in his breath with an oath. Fierce joy filled her as she realized she had drawn blood. She redoubled her efforts, turning herself into a small, writhing fury. Still to no avail. For a second she thought of returning to her own form, then just as quickly decided against it. She would have a better chance of escape as a cat, she was certain of it, but then she heard the man shout, “The sack! Throw me that sack!”

The next moment Catryn was enveloped in a foul-smelling, rough-textured bag. It was small—so small she would never fit in it if she shifted back to her own body now. It was too late. Frantically, she sent her mind streaking out to the Sele.

I’ve been captured, she screamed silently. Go for help!

But could the Sele hear her? Before she could call again she felt the sack thrown down hard onto the stones. The world dissolved into blackness.

The first thing Catryn realized when she regained consciousness was that her head hurt. Instinctively, she went to rub it with her hand, then remembered she was still in cat form. She must have made some small movement, though.

“So, you are awake, are you?” It sounded as if the man were speaking from across the room. Catryn could picture him sitting there, staring at the bag in which she was trapped, waiting for her to revive.