it wants.
Yet humans had nearly defeated their fleets, ten thousand years ago.
“You have that look,” Vinnevra said, kneeling beside me. “Like you’re somebody else.”
“I am, sometimes,” I said.
She gazed through the deep twilight at where Gamelpar had rested with his back against the smooth trunk of a tree. “So is he.” She scratched idly at the dirt. “No good here for insects.” I hefted the stone. “I could learn to throw rocks at birds.” We both smiled.
“But we’d starve before I got any good,” I admitted.
Gamelpar was much tougher than either of us thought. He kept up with us beyond the foothils and into the mountains.
I lost count of the days.
ELEVEN
WHILE GAMELPAR AND Vinnevra rested near the base, I hiked to a granite outcrop at the top of the closest and lowest rocky peak.
Along the slope I found a few bushes with smal black berries that had a certain sweetness and did not upset my stomach. I nibbled, but gathered the rest into my shirt, saving them for my companions.
The wide streak of dark blue water was about thirty kilometers away, protected on this side by both the mountains and a dense region of nubbly forest. Looking inland and outward, this huge lake stretched across the band many thousands of kilometers. From where I stood, I guessed its breadth at about two or three hundred kilometers.
And where will we find a boat?
I shook my head in absent reply, then studied the lake intently as cloud shadows and dapples of light played over it. Clear enough even from this distance, the water was studded across most of its width and breadth by tal, narrow islands like pilars. About two or three kilometers from the near shore, some sort of growth or construction connected and lay over the pilars and islands—
dwelings connected by bridges or just peculiar vegetation, I could not tel which.
If we were to folow the course established by getting the hel away from the ditch and the Beast, then we would have to cross that lake, but first, penetrate the surrounding forest.
Soon, with night bearing down, I descended the slope. The old man and the girl had moved a short distance from where I had left them, near a dry riverbed, and Vinnevra was patiently rubbing her grandfather’s arms and legs. Both looked up as I approached.
“What’s out there?” Gamelpar asked, patting his granddaughter’s shoulder. I delivered my berries and they ate, tipping their hands in thanks. Vinnevra’s steady appraisal disturbed me.
Then she got up and walked away, and I felt a peculiar disappointment—for both of us.
The old man reached for his stick, as if prepared to move out right away, based on some report of danger. “What’s out there?”
he asked again.
“The big lake,” I said. “Dense forest.”
“I’ve seen that one many times from the old city” Gamelpar said.
“I never expected to go visit it.”
“We don’t have to,” I said.
“Where else is there?” he asked.
“She doesn’t know,” I said.
Vinnevra had hunkered miserably a few steps away, head bowed.
“We need purpose. We need direction.” He folowed this with a direct look that as much as said, Without that, I, at least, will soon die. And what will become of the girl then?
I shared more of my gleanings with the old man, then walked over to the girl, who again seemed to reappraise me, like some unexpected and unpleasant marvel, as she accepted the last spare handful and ate.
At that moment, I wondered—for the last time—what my chances would be if I just took off on my own. I could move faster.
Out there, I’d likely be as knowledgeable about the conditions as either Vinnevra or Gamelpar, so far from their home. . . .
I had at least as much chance of finding Riser by leaving, I thought.
But of course there were larger problems to solve, and the old man stil held, perhaps, some answers—particularly with regard to the Captive. The Primordial.
The Beast with the glittering eyes.
The morning came
Yet humans had nearly defeated their fleets, ten thousand years ago.
“You have that look,” Vinnevra said, kneeling beside me. “Like you’re somebody else.”
“I am, sometimes,” I said.
She gazed through the deep twilight at where Gamelpar had rested with his back against the smooth trunk of a tree. “So is he.” She scratched idly at the dirt. “No good here for insects.” I hefted the stone. “I could learn to throw rocks at birds.” We both smiled.
“But we’d starve before I got any good,” I admitted.
Gamelpar was much tougher than either of us thought. He kept up with us beyond the foothils and into the mountains.
I lost count of the days.
ELEVEN
WHILE GAMELPAR AND Vinnevra rested near the base, I hiked to a granite outcrop at the top of the closest and lowest rocky peak.
Along the slope I found a few bushes with smal black berries that had a certain sweetness and did not upset my stomach. I nibbled, but gathered the rest into my shirt, saving them for my companions.
The wide streak of dark blue water was about thirty kilometers away, protected on this side by both the mountains and a dense region of nubbly forest. Looking inland and outward, this huge lake stretched across the band many thousands of kilometers. From where I stood, I guessed its breadth at about two or three hundred kilometers.
And where will we find a boat?
I shook my head in absent reply, then studied the lake intently as cloud shadows and dapples of light played over it. Clear enough even from this distance, the water was studded across most of its width and breadth by tal, narrow islands like pilars. About two or three kilometers from the near shore, some sort of growth or construction connected and lay over the pilars and islands—
dwelings connected by bridges or just peculiar vegetation, I could not tel which.
If we were to folow the course established by getting the hel away from the ditch and the Beast, then we would have to cross that lake, but first, penetrate the surrounding forest.
Soon, with night bearing down, I descended the slope. The old man and the girl had moved a short distance from where I had left them, near a dry riverbed, and Vinnevra was patiently rubbing her grandfather’s arms and legs. Both looked up as I approached.
“What’s out there?” Gamelpar asked, patting his granddaughter’s shoulder. I delivered my berries and they ate, tipping their hands in thanks. Vinnevra’s steady appraisal disturbed me.
Then she got up and walked away, and I felt a peculiar disappointment—for both of us.
The old man reached for his stick, as if prepared to move out right away, based on some report of danger. “What’s out there?”
he asked again.
“The big lake,” I said. “Dense forest.”
“I’ve seen that one many times from the old city” Gamelpar said.
“I never expected to go visit it.”
“We don’t have to,” I said.
“Where else is there?” he asked.
“She doesn’t know,” I said.
Vinnevra had hunkered miserably a few steps away, head bowed.
“We need purpose. We need direction.” He folowed this with a direct look that as much as said, Without that, I, at least, will soon die. And what will become of the girl then?
I shared more of my gleanings with the old man, then walked over to the girl, who again seemed to reappraise me, like some unexpected and unpleasant marvel, as she accepted the last spare handful and ate.
At that moment, I wondered—for the last time—what my chances would be if I just took off on my own. I could move faster.
Out there, I’d likely be as knowledgeable about the conditions as either Vinnevra or Gamelpar, so far from their home. . . .
I had at least as much chance of finding Riser by leaving, I thought.
But of course there were larger problems to solve, and the old man stil held, perhaps, some answers—particularly with regard to the Captive. The Primordial.
The Beast with the glittering eyes.
The morning came
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