Veil of Stars Page 5

  “I’ll be okay. I’ll let Angel sleep longer. Even with her increased life expectancy, she’s still human and she’ll still get tired more quickly than you or I do.” Raven stretched, wincing. “I feel like I pulled something, but it should be okay. I’ll do some stretching while you’re asleep.”

  I settled down next to Angel, who murmured something, turned over, and promptly began to snore. I closed my eyes, adjusting my head on the backpack, and promptly fell asleep.

  “Ember? Wake up.” Raven roused me when the sun had moved higher into the sky. I glanced at my phone. Still no signal, nor any clue of how much time had passed.

  Angel was sitting up, looking through her pack. She pulled out a bag of brownies.

  “You brought a bag of brownies to a dragon fight?” I asked, grinning.

  “Yes, and aren’t you glad for it now?” She handed us each one and then set the bag between us. “Do you have any food, Raven? We should figure out what we have in case we’re trapped here for a while. We might not find anything edible.”

  “I hope we can find water,” I said. “We need that more than food.” I glanced in my pack. “I have two water bottles, and I brought a bunch of protein bars and candy. And some cookies.” I set out six protein bars and four candy bars, along with the water and the cookies.

  “I have a dozen protein bars and two boxes of cookies,” Raven said. She emptied her pack, sorting the food out from the rest of her gear. “I also have two bottles of water.”

  Angel produced another three bottles of water, two apples, and five sandwiches. “I brought extra sandwiches just in case the battle lasted longer than a day. At least we have enough food to last for a few days, if we ration it, but the water may prove a problem.” She glanced around. “Where’s our best chance to find a drink?”

  “As far as I can tell, that looks like the same sun that’s in our sky. But last night, the number of stars seemed to be ten times what we’re used to, and brighter.” I shook my head. Wherever we were, it didn’t feel like home. The flora looked similar. The nearby forest looked very much like the forests in the Pacific Northwest, the grass was green and spotted with snow, the ground a solid dirt brown, but even with all the familiarity, I knew we were far away from Seattle. My gut told me so.

  “We have snow—we can at least melt that when we need to, if nothing else.” Angel bent over, examining a short mound of the white stuff. “It’s clean, or it looks it.”

  “Which direction should we go?” Raven glanced around. “Into the forest? That might be our best chance for finding water and better shelter. While we didn’t see anything last night, I’m not anxious to take the chance of staying out in the open again. Last night we were lucky and nothing bothered us. But we have no idea what—or who—might be around here.”

  “I hate to ask, but does anybody have any tissues or napkins?” Angel asked, glancing around. “I need to…use the facilities.”

  I pulled out a small box of tissue. “I’ve got these.”

  “I brought a roll of paper towels and some hand sanitizer. We can’t waste water for washing hands until we find more to drink, so be efficient on the tissues and use the sanitizer to clean your hands,” Raven said. “Also, if possible, hide your waste. That’s one way to cover our scent, so do what you can to bury it or cover it with leaves.”

  Angel stepped behind a nearby bush that reminded me of a small blackberry patch and I stood, shading my eyes as I turned toward the forest. “I don’t know why but that forest makes me nervous, but you’re probably right, that’s most likely our best chance to find fresh water. And the path leads there—”

  “It might lead from there, but the mountains look a lot farther away and it’s winter, so maybe we can find a cabin in the woods.” Raven stepped onto the worn trail that cut through the tall grass. All the way around, from the distant horizon on our left and right, the land stretched out in an unending series of grasslands, rolling like waves on the ocean.

  Behind us, toward the mountains that rose in a dusty silhouette, the grassland rippled along, unending. The movement was mesmerizing as the wind susurrated around us, stirring the grass like waves in a vast sea of green.

  The path dipped down, creating a steep gradient as it led to the forest.

  “How long do you think it will take us to reach the edge of the woodland?” I shaded my eyes, catching sight of a flock of birds flying near the forest. The forest made me uneasy, and I wanted to head for the mountains, but logically, we didn’t have enough food to make it there unless we found something to eat along the way. Even if we did, the chance of finding water was better in the woods. There had to be moisture, given the snow on the grass, and forests usually housed springs and creeks.

  “There’s death in the forest,” Raven said, biting her lip. “I can feel the spirits from here. But my guess is that the mountains are weeks away on foot. The forest—a day, if that? Whatever the case, it’s a lot closer than the mountains.”

  I took a deep breath. “Then I suggest we start off immediately. I’d rather not be traveling in the dark.”

  Angel returned, scrubbing her hands with hand sanitizer. “Which way are we going?”

  “Into the woods.” Raven opened her pack. “We need to eat. Half of a protein bar and a couple swallows of water each? Then we get a move on.”

  As we measured out the food and water, I wondered what was going on back home. And a little part of me, a part I wanted to ignore, wondered if we’d ever make it home at all.

  The sun rose higher in the sky, and even though it was bright, the day was cold. And with the cold came humidity, building in the air. By early afternoon, we were getting close to the forest.

  “Storm’s coming,” I said. “I can feel it. The hairs on my arms are standing up.” I glanced around, and caught sight of what looked like a mass of clouds behind us. They churned, roiling through the sky. “I don’t like the looks of that storm. Let’s pick up the pace.”

  We began to hurry, as the energy around us built. We were nearing the forest when Raven asked, “What’s the last thing you remember? Before we landed here?”

  “Echidna and Typhon running headlong into each other in the air—when they tangled together,” I said.

  Angel nodded. “Me too—there was a massive sound, like thunder ripping through the air, and then…next thing I knew we were here.”

  I closed my eyes, thinking back. “My guess is that their clash ripped open a portal directly where we were standing. The three of us were together there, apart from everyone else.”

  “Speaking of thunder,” Raven said, glancing over her shoulder. “The clouds are building and the wind’s picked up.”

  “Yeah, I noticed,” I said. “I don’t think those are snow clouds, unless we’re going to have thundersnow.”

  We turned around to face the oncoming storm. Rolling like gangbusters, an army of dark gray thunderheads raced through the sky, the wind whipping them our way. They had already blotted out the sun, and they stretched through the sky as far as I could see.

  “Thunderheads…can you smell it?” Angel said, her eyes widening. “Ozone. Lightning’s headed our way. We’d better get undercover in the forest. We’re the tallest things out here on the plain and that’s not a good position to be in.”

  The ozone crackled around us, humidity saturating the air. But the chill in the air made it clammy, and my shirt plastered to my chest in a cold sweat. Raven’s hair began to frizz out. Then, before we could turn again, in the far distance behind us, lightning rolled across the horizon, leaping from cloud to cloud, and the distant echo of thunder rumbled through the air. The bolts were brilliant neon against the clouds, and my stomach lurched.

  “Get to the forest. Now!” I shouted. I could call down the lightning when it was close enough, and right now I could feel the storm—a malicious force that was furious and fast. I could feel the crackling bolts down to my bones, as though it had a mind of its own. At that moment, a figure raced across the sky—large
and luminous. It streaked past us like a football player trying to score a touchdown.

  “Crap, a lightning elemental! Run!” I didn’t know much about them except that they weren’t friendly. I knew better than try to communicate with them. They’d fry my psychic sensors.

  We bolted along the trail, trying not to tumble down the steep grade. As we raced toward the shelter of the trees, I darted another glance over my shoulder. The storm was driving forward, the clouds chasing us. I estimated the distance to the forest. I wasn’t sure if we’d make it before the storm was directly overhead.

  Angel loped, her long legs leading the pack. I came next, and Raven was a few steps behind me. Even though the Ante-Fae had more resilience and stamina than the Fae, the fact was that I was in better shape than Raven, and I was used to running and fighting.

  We raced silently, accompanied by the echoes of the thunder behind us. The sky was lighting up all around, with jagged forks of lightning slamming into the ground behind us, ripping great crevasses through the soil as though razor claws were rending into the flesh of whatever world we were in.

  Feeling like I was breathing underwater, I tried to keep my breath steady but the humidity kept rising. We were almost to the edge of the forest when a solid wall of icy rain caught up to us, drenching us and turning the path we were on into one long, narrow mud puddle.

  Angel reached the threshold first and didn’t stop to look, but plunged beneath the cover of the trees. I followed, and Raven, a few steps after me. The moment we were inside the thicket, I motioned for them to follow me and darted off trail. The path was open to the sky for the most part, and we wanted to be beneath the cover of the trees. I found a shorter tree among the tall fir and hunkered down beside it. Angel and Raven joined me. We huddled together, trying to keep as free from the deluge as possible.

  “Should I get out my Mylar blankets?” Raven asked.

  I shook my head. “We don’t know if they’d attract the lightning and they’re better for keeping us warm at night. This tree’s shorter than the others and the branches are thick, so we should be fairly safe, even if we get wet.”

  Another flash of lightning overhead was so bright it almost blinded me. The rumble that followed shook the ground. I closed my eyes, resting my head on my knees. Where the hell were we? And how could we get home?

  Raven was crawling around the base of the tree. “There’s something odd about this tree,” she said. “I’m not sure what it is, but I recognize the feeling. I had it once, long ago, when I found my ferrets in the forest.”

  Looking puzzled, Angel scrawled over to her. “What are you looking for?”

  “I don’t know, but I’ll—well, well, lookie here.” Raven pointed to a hole slanting at an angle that led beneath the tree. It wasn’t big enough to fit into, but there was a shimmer across the surface that looked suspiciously like a portal. “You don’t think that’s what brought us here, do you?”

  I shook my head. “If it had, we’d have landed here in the forest. And it’s not big enough. But I agree, it looks like some sort of portal.” I eyed it suspiciously. “I wonder what’s on the other side?”

  “I’m not sticking my head through there to find out,” Raven said. “What about a stick? We poke a stick through and see what happens.”

  Angel snorted. “Are you sure you want to do that, either? What if there’s something on the other side that doesn’t like being prodded? I don’t want to be the mosquito that gets swatted.” She found a broken branch covered with needles still and was using it as a makeshift umbrella.

  “Angel has a point,” I said. “Let’s leave it alone until we can safely get out of here.”

  Overhead, the storm was tossing about on the wind like waves on the ocean. The lightning and thunder continued to ricochet through the sky, weaving a pattern of neon and sound. The rain thudded against the ground.

  “I’m cold and soaked through to the skin,” Angel said.

  “Come here, let’s huddle together for warmth.” I motioned for them to scoot closer and we crawled as far beneath the branches as possible. At first, we tried to keep the conversation going, but we were miserable, wet, hungry, and far from home. After a while, we all drifted into silence, punctuated only by the sounds of the storm.

  Chapter Five

  After what seemed like a long time, I jumped at a particularly loud roll of thunder. Forcing my eyes open, I realized that I was experiencing caffeine withdrawal. My head felt fuzzy and my thoughts were all jumbled.

  “Hell,” I said. If I was feeling it, Raven and Angel would be too. Which meant we’d all be off our game, and chances were we wouldn’t be prepared for anything we’d come up against. “You guys have a caffeine headache too? The adrenaline rush of running from the storm prevented it for a while, but it’s hitting me full on.”

  Raven nodded. “Yeah, which explains to me why I feel like I want to sleep.” She glanced up, and said, “Look—a sun break!”

  As I gazed up, I saw she was right. There was a break in the clouds, and the sun shone down into the forest. I motioned for them to stay put and slowly stood, wincing as I stretched before heading out to the path. There, I glanced up at the narrow slip of sky between the dense overgrowth on either side. There were still clouds, most of them dark, but they seemed to be a bit more distant, and the sun had broken through them. Maybe the worst of the storm was passing.

  I turned back to Angel and Raven. “Why don’t we try to make some time while this break holds. Maybe we can dry off a little. I can’t tell whether the storm is on the way out or not.”

  They joined me on the path. We were soaked through, despite the cover of the trees. It occurred to me that unless we got dried off, we could all freeze to death come night. “Don’t work up a sweat, walk at an even pace. We need our clothes to dry as fast as they can. I’m thinking we might want to find a place to start a fire. We can scout for wood along the way.”

  “That might be a good idea—” Raven paused. “Wait. I hear something.” She cocked her head, listening.

  I closed my eyes, trying to focus on the noises around us. The wind whistled along but beneath that, I could make out a different noise as well. It sounded like some great beast shuffling along. The steps didn’t shake the ground, but there was a tremor in the air, a reverberation that fluxed at a steady pace, coming from the entrance of the forest.

  “What the hell?” I glanced along the path behind us. There was nothing unusual to be seen, nothing that seemed out of the ordinary. But the noise increased and I had the feeling that we were standing in the road as a massive bulldozer bore down on us.

  “Come on.” I led them back into the trees until we were a couple yards off the path.

  A few minutes later, a ghostly image appeared on the path, looking like some massive holographic elephant. The golden creature strode on six massive legs. While its body reminded me of an elephant, its neck stretched out like a horse’s neck, and though it had a trunk and massive tusks, it had no tail. The ears reminded me of giant butterfly wings and its eyes were brilliant blue. There was something about it that settled my fear, calming me. My pulse began to slow. Behind the creature were two more just like it—though one was a lot smaller and had that babyish look all baby animals do.

  “What’s that?” Angel asked, her eyes wide.

  “I don’t know, but it’s beautiful,” Raven said. “I am fighting an urge to go give it a hug.”

  “You and me both,” I said.

  The energy of the translucent creatures was so gentle, so peaceful that it was all I could do to prevent myself from running out to greet them. As they passed by, flickers of what looked like lightning bolts darted around inside their massive bodies. They were headed into the depths of the forest.

  The rajamahs, sister of the Water. The whisper came from near my feet, in images rather than words. Startled, I glanced down. I was standing near a puddle of water. I knelt and placed my fingers in the water, reaching out. Sure enough, a very tiny water ele
mental looped around my fingers, and the playful energy ricocheted through me.

  Hello, my friend. Can you tell me about the rajamahs?

  They come with the lightning, and wander until the energy of the storm moves on. They follow the storms. The storm is passing quickly, and so they will follow it until it dissipates.

  Are they dangerous?

  If you touch them, they will kill you, but through no malice. They are lightning encapsulated in form.

  I paused. Are they elementals themselves?

  No, but they are bound to the lightning just like lightning elementals are.

  While I had the chance, I decided to find out what I could about where we were. Do you know where we are? This is not our home, we’re here by mistake, and we’re lost. Where are we?

  The forest. You’re within the forest. That is all that I know. But I will tell you, beware the Star Hounds. They’re dangerous to all who walk the land. They’re ravenous. And now, I must sleep, sister of the Water. May you find your home safely.

  The water elemental fell silent. Elementals didn’t actually sleep, but they could shut down into a meditative state that was very much like sleep.

  “I found a little water elemental.” I stood up, wiping my fingers and putting my glove back on. “Those creatures are called rajamahs and they’re formed out of the lighting. If we try to touch them, we’d be touching a live wire that would jolt us into crispy critters. But they aren’t deliberately harmful.”

  “Did you ask where we are?” Raven said.

  “I did, but the elemental didn’t know. However, it did warn me to watch out for the Star Hounds, whatever they are. Apparently they’re ravenous.” I glanced up at the sky. The sun break was growing larger. “I think the storm’s mostly passed, given what the elemental told me about the rajamahs. We should head out. And now that we know that there’s at least one dangerous predator around, keep up your guard.”