Vulcan's Kittens (Children of Myth Book 1) by Cedar Sanderson Page B
Authors: Cedar Sanderson
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Linn remounted the mare and realized she’d lost her tired feeling as they rode slowly down the slope, the horse picking her way through the enormous bones that littered the entire valley. Linn knew where they were headed, now. The long alligator-shaped skull at the head of the valley with a curl of smoke issuing from one nostril had to be Coyote’s home. She knew the story, how Coyote had rescued the Niimipuu, who would later be called the Nez Perce, from a gigantic monster. She just hadn’t realized it was literal.
She wondered if magic masked this valley from mortal eyes. Surely it would have been in the news, this valley of bones, if a satellite could see into it.
Blackie crept into her lap again, as he had done the day before. Linn wrapped an arm around him, grateful for his solid warmth.
There was little green growing in the valley, as though it had been blighted and never recovered. The bones loomed overhead as they reached the floor of the valley and the ribcage. Linn studied them. White, cracked, and incredibly ancient looking. She shivered a little. The monster that had died here had been bigger than any dinosaur, even.
They reached the skull, and she saw that a rickety staircase led to one nostril, and the smoke vented from the other. No one came to greet them, but the mare stepped livelier as they drew near, tossing her head a little. Linn saw something off to one side that somehow made her relax slightly. A small, neatly tended garden in square-raised beds flourished, flowers mixed in with vegetables.
The horse went right through the gap between teeth. The canine of the monster loomed next to Linn’s shoulder like a massive ivory column, and then they were in the gloom. The horse stopped. Linn’s eyes adjusted to the dim light and she saw stalls built against the wall of the upper jaw. The lower jaw was gone altogether, she realized.
She slid off the mare, feeling her legs wobble. Then the buckskin gelding put his head over his stall door and whickered to the mare. The mare moved to bump noses with him and Linn, taken off guard, lost her balance and sat down abruptly. If the buckskin was here, then Bes must be as well.
Blackie leaped out of the saddle bag and ran to where Linn was still sitting on the earth floor of the stable. He bumped her chest with his head, and she hugged him.
“I’m OK. Just tired,” she told him. He touched his nose to hers, and then Spot One joined him and did so as well. Linn slowly got to her feet and went to the mare. She loosened the saddle and slid it off, setting it on a nearby rack. Everything was rustic but clean. She opened the stall next to the mare’s and the horse walked in and pulled a mouthful of hay out of the manger. Linn closed the door and walked back outside, the kittens following at her heels.
The breeze tugged at her hair as she stood by the gigantic tooth, looking out into the eerie valley. She had braided it that morning, but it hadn’t been brushed. She felt grubby and tired. She let out a deep breath and focused. The landscape in front of her lit with Power. The grass-green flickers of the Coyote mingled with deep umber that was weird.
Linn blinked and closed her eyes. She thought what she had just Seen was the Monster’s power. It had to be, even though it had been dead for something like three millennia. She shivered in the warm air, her neck hair raising.
Blackie put his paws on her knee and she looked down into his baby blue eyes. She wondered what color they would be when he was grown up. She started to focus on him, to See if his power was coming in, and then stopped. She was just too tired.
Spot One walked over to the stairs, tail held high, and started up them. Linn followed to keep him safe and out of mischief, if nothing else. Together the little group went up the side of the skull and along a long deck to the opening of the nostril, which had been closed in and had a door in the center.
A scrawled note was tacked to the door.
Linn remounted the mare and realized she’d lost her tired feeling as they rode slowly down the slope, the horse picking her way through the enormous bones that littered the entire valley. Linn knew where they were headed, now. The long alligator-shaped skull at the head of the valley with a curl of smoke issuing from one nostril had to be Coyote’s home. She knew the story, how Coyote had rescued the Niimipuu, who would later be called the Nez Perce, from a gigantic monster. She just hadn’t realized it was literal.
She wondered if magic masked this valley from mortal eyes. Surely it would have been in the news, this valley of bones, if a satellite could see into it.
Blackie crept into her lap again, as he had done the day before. Linn wrapped an arm around him, grateful for his solid warmth.
There was little green growing in the valley, as though it had been blighted and never recovered. The bones loomed overhead as they reached the floor of the valley and the ribcage. Linn studied them. White, cracked, and incredibly ancient looking. She shivered a little. The monster that had died here had been bigger than any dinosaur, even.
They reached the skull, and she saw that a rickety staircase led to one nostril, and the smoke vented from the other. No one came to greet them, but the mare stepped livelier as they drew near, tossing her head a little. Linn saw something off to one side that somehow made her relax slightly. A small, neatly tended garden in square-raised beds flourished, flowers mixed in with vegetables.
The horse went right through the gap between teeth. The canine of the monster loomed next to Linn’s shoulder like a massive ivory column, and then they were in the gloom. The horse stopped. Linn’s eyes adjusted to the dim light and she saw stalls built against the wall of the upper jaw. The lower jaw was gone altogether, she realized.
She slid off the mare, feeling her legs wobble. Then the buckskin gelding put his head over his stall door and whickered to the mare. The mare moved to bump noses with him and Linn, taken off guard, lost her balance and sat down abruptly. If the buckskin was here, then Bes must be as well.
Blackie leaped out of the saddle bag and ran to where Linn was still sitting on the earth floor of the stable. He bumped her chest with his head, and she hugged him.
“I’m OK. Just tired,” she told him. He touched his nose to hers, and then Spot One joined him and did so as well. Linn slowly got to her feet and went to the mare. She loosened the saddle and slid it off, setting it on a nearby rack. Everything was rustic but clean. She opened the stall next to the mare’s and the horse walked in and pulled a mouthful of hay out of the manger. Linn closed the door and walked back outside, the kittens following at her heels.
The breeze tugged at her hair as she stood by the gigantic tooth, looking out into the eerie valley. She had braided it that morning, but it hadn’t been brushed. She felt grubby and tired. She let out a deep breath and focused. The landscape in front of her lit with Power. The grass-green flickers of the Coyote mingled with deep umber that was weird.
Linn blinked and closed her eyes. She thought what she had just Seen was the Monster’s power. It had to be, even though it had been dead for something like three millennia. She shivered in the warm air, her neck hair raising.
Blackie put his paws on her knee and she looked down into his baby blue eyes. She wondered what color they would be when he was grown up. She started to focus on him, to See if his power was coming in, and then stopped. She was just too tired.
Spot One walked over to the stairs, tail held high, and started up them. Linn followed to keep him safe and out of mischief, if nothing else. Together the little group went up the side of the skull and along a long deck to the opening of the nostril, which had been closed in and had a door in the center.
A scrawled note was tacked to the door.
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