The Blaze Ignites (40 page)

My eyes opened to a light gray day. It looked
like it might sprinkle some rain this morning. I started to
stretch, but something stopped me. I paused mid-stretch and noticed
an arm draped over my side. I looked down at my pillow and saw
another arm resting under it. I rolled over onto my back, wondering
who it could be, and saw Rabryn’s fair Salynn face asleep. I
smiled, then turned onto my opposite side so I was facing him.

I recalled the tidbit of information about
Rabryn’s father and mine not only knowing each other but also being
great companions.
Our
fathers. It was just too neat to think
about. Maybe Derweldo didn’t really hate me. Perhaps he’d wanted to
just keep a protective eye on his friend’s daughter. Rabryn loved
the idea that our fathers were good friends, and it made me feel
good too. My father’s Deralilya’s
son
was lying in front of
me right now. It was almost like having Derweldo here himself,
which was almost like having my father here.

I kissed the tip of my brother’s nose, only
to accidentally wake him up. He took in a deep breath and stirred.
He started to arch his back, preparing to stretch, when he stopped,
suddenly realizing that I was awake. “Hey,” he said in a groggy
voice and finished the stretch.

I smiled. “What are you doing over here?” His
body relaxed with a heavy sigh. “We stopped sharing a bed years
ago.”

I meant for that to be funny, but he sighed.
“I needed to be with you last night.”

My smile faded and I propped myself up onto
my elbow to look down at him. “You’re sad. What happened?”

He met my eyes, then propped himself up on
his elbow and leaned in to kiss my lips gently. “Azrel, you are a
wonderful person, do you know that?”

“What’s wrong?” I asked getting very
uneasy.

“You know that in your heart, don’t you?”

I paused. I’d never really considered myself
a good person. But at least compared to Hathum, I was. “I guess
so.”

He sighed as he pushed himself higher,
resting his weight on his palm. I pushed myself up to keep my face
level with his so as not to lose sight of his eyes. He looked at me
intensely. “Azrel, I don’t know how this whole
you-and-the-White-Warrior-being-two-separate-people thing works.”
His lips became a thin white line, “But if and when the time comes
that you two become one person…” He paused, worry flooding his
features as his fingertips touched my cheek. “Don’t be more like
the White Warrior. It would do her some good if she was more like
you.”

“You were all pulled into a meeting with
her?” Rabryn nodded. I looked at him,. “I wasn’t sure because I
didn’t pass out. Usually I need to sleep when she holds those
meetings.”

“The window separating you two must have
opened a little more. You both are becoming stronger together, and
you may not need to sleep anymore in order for her to conduct the
meetings.”

I sighed again and slumped in defeat. “I had
a feeling she wouldn’t keep her word. I wasn’t going to fret about
it, but if she’s got you upset, I
will.
”

“I didn’t stay very long,” he said bitterly
as he looked away and dropped down onto his elbow again. He
slightly turned his face towards me with his brows drawn. “What do
you mean you had a feeling she wouldn’t keep her word?”

“She’s talking to me now.” His brows went up
with interest. “That was one thing I was going to discuss with you
all last night if she hadn’t yanked you comatose.”

“Go ahead.”

“Well, in Rocksheloc while I was having my
breakdown, the White Warrior spoke to me for the first time. She
calmed me down and reasoned everything out for me. I think it still
takes a great amount of her energy because she doesn’t talk to me
that often. But she promised she wouldn’t do anything else behind
my back, like yanking you all into a meeting with her, as long as I
didn’t lose my head again like I did in Rocksheloc.

“It was keeping my promise to her that let me
hear your explanation about Cluna. I was about to lose my head when
I thought you murdered her in cold-blood.” I shrugged helplessly.
“But when I found out that my father sent me to The Pitt knowing
what was going to happen to me, I broke my promise. I guess she
figured that if I didn’t keep my word then she didn’t have to keep
hers.”

I looked up at him and saw him gazing out
over the clearing in thought. I wanted to ask him why the White
Warrior had him so upset, and what the big emergency was for which
she’d pulled everyone unconscious, but I had something more
pressing I needed to talk to him about.

“There was something more important I wanted
to discuss with everyone last night though. Maybe you can help me
with it.”

He shifted his eyes to me, his lips pursed
and his brows raised with interest. I sat up fully with my legs
crossed and arranged the blanket more snugly around us. I thought
about how to put this without confusing him. “Okay, Welptacks,” I
began, “those monsters don’t
talk
to their prey. They hunt
just like any wild animal hunts; they stalk and then ambush. I
heard Ortheldo talking to them as I was running through the woods
to get to you all.”

Rabryn’s brows dropped. “Ortheldo was also
baffled as to why they were having any kind of a conversation with
us.”

“Tell me everything that happened before I
got there.”

Rabryn went into the whole tale. What struck
my interest was how Imbrul had looked frightened when Ortheldo had
refused to give up the Anarran Gem. Why would that scare him? With
the size of that pack he could have just taken it. I recalled
Imbrul hiding in the woods as his entire pack committed suicide on
Addredoc’s shield. Then he ran away with his tail between his
legs?

“It doesn’t make any sense,” I said after
voicing my concerns to Rabryn. “First of all, Welptacks hunt. They
don’t talk, and then watch, and then run. Second of all, they have
a good deal of common sense. They all saw how the pack fell to
Addredoc’s magic shield, so why stop their attack once the shield
was closed then suddenly jump on it a moment later, committing mass
suicide?”

It was quiet for a moment. “Well, they only
jumped at the shield after Ortheldo pulled the necklace out of his
pocket to give it to you.”

I sat in thought a moment. “So seeing the
necklace made them commit suicide?”

“Or they just couldn’t help but jump for the
necklace, no matter what was in their way.”

“Okay, but why?”

He shrugged. “There might be more to this
necklace than we’re aware of.”

I nodded. “Probably. Okay, a second thing has
been bothering me. This one’s also pretty confusing.”

“I’m listening,” he said confidently.

I shook my head, wondering where this
confidence came from. It wasn’t like him. “Alright.” I clasped my
hands together and looked down. “When Reese and I set out after
you, we came across an unnatural darkness on the second night that
defeated even Reese’s Salynn eyes. It was the night we were
attacked by the Gibirs. Did you encounter it?”

Rabryn shook his head. “We didn’t come across
anything like that.”

I sighed. “I didn’t think so. Reese said he
thought some evil magic was at work blinding us while the Gibirs
attacked.” I tried to push away the distress of what that could
mean; did Hathum know who I was? If not, where did the evil magic
come from? If so, why hadn’t he attacked me openly yet? “I think
Reese was right, because our battle with the Gibirs went very sour.
The Gleo’gwyns had to come rescue us.”

Suddenly Rabryn’s brows dropped. “Wait, you
were
with
the Gleo’gwyns recently, right?”

I nodded, confused by his confusion. “Yes,
six days ago. I thought I told you all. I may have been too tired
and just—”

“No you did,” he said, then looked out over
the clearing thoughtfully. “Keep going.”

I wanted him to explain, but I needed to get
these pressing thoughts out of my head first and have someone else
ponder them. “Well, as strange as the black night was, the more
disturbing thing was the next day with the Gorkor battle.” My
brother’s eyes shifted to my face again. “Beldorn said that all
evil would be drawn to the necklace, but the Gorkors we encountered
were heading north, the exact
opposite
direction of where
the necklace was.” My brother’s eyes got intense. “The necklace was
heading south with you all and Ortheldo. What could have caused the
Gorkors to head north?”

Again I had to push away the fear that Hathum
had found me. What was he waiting for? If he knew who I was, what a
perfect time to strike me down! I was incredibly vulnerable right
now.

“Also,” I finished, “Yarin said that his
Riders were accustomed to traveling days without rest, and I
believe him because I know what they do for a living. Yet as the
Gorkors attacked, his Riders were absolutely dead on their feet
after only a day of riding. They were about in the same condition
that Reese and I were when we met back up with you all.”

It was quiet for a few moments, Rabryn
chewing on his bottom lip in thought. He got to his knees suddenly
at the edge of my bed roll and started to pack it up, “That is
certainly a lot of information to process. Let me think it over. I
have”—he sighed then his lip curled—“some other issues I need to
ponder as well.”

I nodded, still curious as to what had gotten
him so upset with the White Warrior last night. He’d wanted to
dismiss the subject too quickly. He’d always been a terrible liar
and he couldn’t hide anything from me worth a flip.

“Would you mind waking the others?” he said.
“I think I’ll vomit if I set sight on any one of them.”

“What?” Now he wasn’t just upset with The
White Warrior, but was upset with everyone? I placed my hands on
top of his to stop his packing of my bed. He didn’t even look up at
me. “What happened last night, Rabryn?”

He held still for a moment and I thought he
might answer me, but he quickly resumed packing my things. “Just
remember what I told you when we first awoke.”

I watched him for a second and sighed. I knew
better than to push my brother when he was in this kind of mood. It
rarely ever happened, but when it did, he could be more stubborn
than I was. I decided not to push him. He was already mad at
everyone and I didn’t want to be added to that list.

I went around the camp and shook each person
awake. “Time to go. Galad Kas is only a couple days away.”

As everyone started waking up, I wondered if
they would be as unhappy as my brother. Sure enough, as each person
awoke, there was a definite air of awkwardness. Rabryn wouldn’t
look at anyone, but everyone stole a glance at Rabryn. The silence
was deafening as everyone packed to leave.

Finally it was broken by my little buddy.
“Good morning, Azrel!”

I smiled and got on my knees to hug him.
“Good morning, sweetie.” I pulled away and looked into his face.
“You excited about going home?”

His smile wilted. “I guess so, but it will
feel funny without Mama.”

“I’m so sorry, honey.” I hugged him again.
“You’ll be okay though.”

“I know I will, but I’m worried about leaving
you. I love you.”

Here was another little boy who was able to
say those words to me. “I love you too. But hey”—I pulled away and
looked in his face—“we’re not saying bye yet. We still have a
couple of days together before we get to Galad Kas.”

He grinned. “We do, don’t we?”

I smiled. “Come on. Let’s pack up. Grab your
stuff and I’ll grab Rabryn’s.”

“Okay!” He happily got to work packing up his
things as I packed Rabryn’s.

As I worked, I saw Ortheldo heading quickly
over to my brother, who was putting my saddle on Forfirith. I
pretended not to notice as I continued packing Rabryn’s things, but
I did magically enhance my hearing.

“Thanks a lot for leaving me there!” Ortheldo
whispered harshly.

Rabryn glanced at Ortheldo but kept his jaw
set. “What happened after I left?” he asked bitterly, clearly not
really caring what the answer was.

“Nothing, but everyone was shocked to hell
that you were even able to leave.”

“Why?”

“I think the White Warrior’s protectors only
leave when she lets them.”

“Well, I wasn’t about to stand there and
listen to that crap another minute.”

“I gathered that, but I didn’t want to stay
either.”

“Neither did I,” Reese suddenly said.

“Nor I,” Addredoc piped in as well.

“What?” Rabryn asked dumbfounded.

What in the world could have happened to get
all four of them this upset? I chanced a glance up and saw all of
them huddled over near Rabryn. Acalith and Lisswilla were
meandering around, pointedly avoiding the rest of them, but being
sure to cast angry glances in their direction.

“Rabryn look,” Addredoc began, “the White
Warrior has been saying rotten things like that since she started
calling these meetings.” He sighed, “It was only after we got to
know Azrel that we stopped laughing.”

“Even the tiniest hint of bitterness in her
tone got my blood boiling,” Reese said. “I lived Azrel’s past
through her eyes when we first met so I know what she’s been
through, and to have the White Warrior talk about her like that…”
His voice trailed off and he sighed angrily. After a quiet pause he
began again gently. “Thank you for standing up for her. I can’t
imagine how much courage you have in your heart to speak to the
White Warrior that way.”

I heard Rabryn drop another saddle onto a
horse’s back. “It had nothing to do with courage,” he replied. “It
had everything to do with defending someone you love who is
defenseless, regardless of any consequences.” It was quiet over
there for a minute, except for Rabryn’s movement as he adjusted the
saddle. “How are Acalith and Lisswilla feeling about this?”