His Ancient Heart by M. R. Forbes Page A

side," Ollie said.  
    Spyne didn't hear him. His attention was back on the dead Mediator.
    Why can't I remember your face?

CHAPTER NINETEEN
    Talon

    The first thing he heard were birds chirping.
    The first thing he felt was a burning in his neck.
    "Fehri," Talon said, the word coming out cracked and weak.
    "I'm here, General," the Captain replied. "I've been here all night."
    "We're outside the city?"
    "Everything has gone according to plan."
    Talon opened his eyes. They burned from the dirt that had been poured onto him, the grave he had been buried in and then dug up from. His vision was blurry, but he could see the man sitting on a rock nearby, a water skin in hand. He stood and brought it over.
    "Thank you," Talon said, taking the water. He poured it out onto his face, letting it sting his eyes and wash away the grime. Then he took a long drink from it.
    "It is a thing of wonder," Fehri said. "You were dead for six hours. Your heart stopped, no breathing. Yet here you are. Certainly, you have been blessed by Amman."
    "There is nothing wonderful or blessed about it." Talon pulled himself to his feet and felt his neck.
    "The ropes had gone in pretty deep. It's all but healed," Fehri said.
    "It still burns."
    "I expect that it will be gone within the hour, at the speed you recover."
    Talon closed his eyes again, taking a moment to feel the renewed beating of his organic heart. "Where are we?"
    "Near the river."
    "Good. We'll follow it west to where I left Eryn. I can only hope she's still alive."
    "Amman protect her. As you command." Fehri turned and went back to the stone he had been sitting on. "I have some things for you." He reached around the rock and lifted a small pack. "I stashed them away in the cart before we brought your body out."
    Talon took the pack from him and opened it. Inside was a new dark blue shirt, undergarments, a pair of black pants, soft leather boots, and a dark green cloak with a hood large enough to shadow any size head. A hunting knife strapped to a thin belt rounded out the supplies.
    "I couldn't sneak a sword out," Fehri said.  
    "If we need weapons, we'll have worse problems than a knife instead of a sword." He noticed that the soldier was no longer wearing his blacks. "Where is your uniform?"
    "Burned. The area is still thick with soldiers, and you're supposed to be dead. Well, the murderer who killed my guards is supposed to be dead. A Captain seen with the Liar? No. For now, I'm only Fehri."
    Talon didn't miss that he referred to the dead guards as 'his'. "I'm sorry about the guards. I didn't realize that Oz could be so unpredictable, or I would have been more careful."
    "It is not your fault. Nor is it the creature's. It has no soul to understand right from wrong. The fault lies in its creation."
    "Then the fault is still mine. I helped create the juggernauts."
    Fehri tilted his head. "There is so much to you I don't understand."
    "There is so much to me I don't understand, either."  
    The memories were so fragmented, so broken. When he closed his eyes, he could feel the heat of the furnaces, hear the clanging of metal. He'd never had magic. What he did have was a sharp mind and a way with raw materials.
    "General?" Fehri asked.
    He hadn't realized he was slipping back into those memories. "I'm well. Give me one moment, and then we'll go." He quickly stripped off the dirty linens, pulling the clothes from the pack and slipping them on. As he removed the cloak, he discovered that there was another item tucked within it.
    He lifted a small box from the cloth and ran his hand along the top. It was a simple thing, nothing more than lacquered pine with a set of ircidium hinges at its back and a latch on the front.
    "I didn't put that in there," Fehri said, sounding confused at the presence of the box.
    "Caela must have." He shook his head, not quite believing it. He pressed on the latch, and the box clicked open. He lifted the lid, checking the contents. Two vials of reddish brown liquid and