the
feeling that for once she had the comfort of another body next to hers. Scrawny
though it might be, it was a great consolation.
"As I am my own, now, too."
"Maybe I should go stop him."
Alaysha held the girl back when she started
to pull away.
"I doubt he wants anyone around at the
moment. Whatever it is you've done to him with those worms, it'll keep for a
while."
Yenic was gone a long time; Alaysha was
startled to find she had fallen asleep and was cushioning the girl's head as
she also slept. At times, though she'd felt herself nodding off next to the
heat, she hadn't thought she'd actually succumbed to the night. She hadn't
remembered feeding the fire either and yet it roared merrily on.
She heard him coming long before she saw
him, and Barruch whickered noisily when the bushes rustled.
At first, she wasn't sure what she was
seeing, but it looked like fireflies hovering in six straight lines behind the
lacy cover of leaves. They lifted and moved together left and right, bobbing up
and down, all in unison. Then they shot towards the ground and the stomping
racket of feet too much in a hurry to care about making noise rattled across
the air.
"Something's wrong," Yenic was
saying, his voice a hoarse, pained noise. "What have you done to me?"
Alarmed now, Alaysha pushed the girl's head
from her lap and jumped to her feet, taking the strides she needed to grab her
sword from her bundle. Yenic broke through the tree cover, the six stripes on
his cheeks more obvious now, not fireflies as she'd thought, but the
phosphorescent yellow color of the grub's skin. His hands were aloft as he
looked at them, the yellow shining brightly through the dark where it was
smeared on the tips of his fingers and palm.
A low chuckle came from behind her,
stopping Alaysha in her tracks. She turned to the girl to see her moving
towards Yenic with her hand over her mouth, trying to keep the laughter in.
"Can you still see, Yenic? Can you see
in the dark?"
"No better than I did before." He
didn't sound impressed.
"Does it burn yet?"
"You mean it's going to burn?"
"And steal your vision once your eyes
swell shut."
Yenic made a noise between a groan and a
scream, then stumbled about, feeling his way around as though he was already
blind. "Shouldn't you at least help me?"
"I can take you to the water. That
should prevent the burning."
"And the swelling?"
"Oh, yes. Of course, the
swelling." The girl snickered and Alaysha sent her a reproachful look that
sent the black eyes downcast so quick it was obvious she realized she'd played
a poor game.
"You did this to him; you should
help."
"I didn't do anything," came the
protest, but the girl minced toward him and reached out for his hand when she
was close enough. "Here, I'll help rinse it all off. But we'd better hurry
before you start seeing things."
His shouts rose an octave and mixed with
words Alaysha had never heard even in her rides with the most swarthy of warriors.
The only intelligible thing she could make out were his last, frantic ones.
"Seeing things?"
The dry response was nearly lost in the
bushes as the girl answered. "Where do you think Meroshi's power came
from? Magic?"
"I believed you," Yenic's tone
turned pouting.
"Of course you did. It's a story we
tell every outsider, knowing they'll try it. So we can see them coming should
they decide to attack, and if they do attack, they fight the shadows of their
night terrors rather than any one of us." She guided him away from the
fire toward the waterfall and Alaysha could hear Yenic's plaintiff protest that
he wasn't an outsider.
The girl's matter-of-fact reply came right
on its heels. "Maybe not, but how often do you think I get a chance to
tell that story? Why even the youngest of us knows better than to play with the
dreamer's worm."
Alaysha watched them go and settled back
down near the fire. If the girl knew such a use for a grub that Yenic's kind
did nothing with but eat, she wondered what else the girl and her
feeling that for once she had the comfort of another body next to hers. Scrawny
though it might be, it was a great consolation.
"As I am my own, now, too."
"Maybe I should go stop him."
Alaysha held the girl back when she started
to pull away.
"I doubt he wants anyone around at the
moment. Whatever it is you've done to him with those worms, it'll keep for a
while."
Yenic was gone a long time; Alaysha was
startled to find she had fallen asleep and was cushioning the girl's head as
she also slept. At times, though she'd felt herself nodding off next to the
heat, she hadn't thought she'd actually succumbed to the night. She hadn't
remembered feeding the fire either and yet it roared merrily on.
She heard him coming long before she saw
him, and Barruch whickered noisily when the bushes rustled.
At first, she wasn't sure what she was
seeing, but it looked like fireflies hovering in six straight lines behind the
lacy cover of leaves. They lifted and moved together left and right, bobbing up
and down, all in unison. Then they shot towards the ground and the stomping
racket of feet too much in a hurry to care about making noise rattled across
the air.
"Something's wrong," Yenic was
saying, his voice a hoarse, pained noise. "What have you done to me?"
Alarmed now, Alaysha pushed the girl's head
from her lap and jumped to her feet, taking the strides she needed to grab her
sword from her bundle. Yenic broke through the tree cover, the six stripes on
his cheeks more obvious now, not fireflies as she'd thought, but the
phosphorescent yellow color of the grub's skin. His hands were aloft as he
looked at them, the yellow shining brightly through the dark where it was
smeared on the tips of his fingers and palm.
A low chuckle came from behind her,
stopping Alaysha in her tracks. She turned to the girl to see her moving
towards Yenic with her hand over her mouth, trying to keep the laughter in.
"Can you still see, Yenic? Can you see
in the dark?"
"No better than I did before." He
didn't sound impressed.
"Does it burn yet?"
"You mean it's going to burn?"
"And steal your vision once your eyes
swell shut."
Yenic made a noise between a groan and a
scream, then stumbled about, feeling his way around as though he was already
blind. "Shouldn't you at least help me?"
"I can take you to the water. That
should prevent the burning."
"And the swelling?"
"Oh, yes. Of course, the
swelling." The girl snickered and Alaysha sent her a reproachful look that
sent the black eyes downcast so quick it was obvious she realized she'd played
a poor game.
"You did this to him; you should
help."
"I didn't do anything," came the
protest, but the girl minced toward him and reached out for his hand when she
was close enough. "Here, I'll help rinse it all off. But we'd better hurry
before you start seeing things."
His shouts rose an octave and mixed with
words Alaysha had never heard even in her rides with the most swarthy of warriors.
The only intelligible thing she could make out were his last, frantic ones.
"Seeing things?"
The dry response was nearly lost in the
bushes as the girl answered. "Where do you think Meroshi's power came
from? Magic?"
"I believed you," Yenic's tone
turned pouting.
"Of course you did. It's a story we
tell every outsider, knowing they'll try it. So we can see them coming should
they decide to attack, and if they do attack, they fight the shadows of their
night terrors rather than any one of us." She guided him away from the
fire toward the waterfall and Alaysha could hear Yenic's plaintiff protest that
he wasn't an outsider.
The girl's matter-of-fact reply came right
on its heels. "Maybe not, but how often do you think I get a chance to
tell that story? Why even the youngest of us knows better than to play with the
dreamer's worm."
Alaysha watched them go and settled back
down near the fire. If the girl knew such a use for a grub that Yenic's kind
did nothing with but eat, she wondered what else the girl and her
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