The Draykon Series (1-3)

Chapter Fourteen

   Eva was up to her ears in sorcery, and hating it.

   Once they'd left the environs of Westrarc, Tren had been firm in the need for defences. 'No telling what's about out here,' he said cheerfully. He made Eva stand still with her eyes closed while he worked on her. She felt a Cloak settle over her like a shroud, cold and clinging and faintly damp. When he'd finished, she stood wrapped and tangled in enchantments that lay heavily upon  her.

   'How repulsive.' A violent shiver wracked her, and she wrapped her arms around herself, trying to warm up.

   'You're welcome,' Tren smiled as he moved away.

   Eva sighed. She'd been Cloaked before, years ago. It was something she'd steadfastly avoided since then. She knew it would take her hours to accustom herself to the burden of breathing and moving beneath the weight of the sorcery.

   'It's quite worth it, I assure you,' said Tren over his shoulder, as if reading her thoughts. 'You're now part of the Night Cloak. Nothing's very likely to spot you unless you speak.'

   'Except some of the more sensitive beasts pouring out of the Lowers these days.'

   Tren shrugged. 'Nothing's perfect.'

   Finshay submitted to his Cloaking without a syllable. Hours later, Eva still felt stifled, cold and burdened by the weight. She refused to complain, however; and so on they went, following the trail marked out by the shortig and with the gwaystrel ghosting on silent wings overhead. As they travelled further across Orstwych, the landscape changed again: the gentle hills ended, and trees closed in. These were different to the dark, contorted irignol that crowded the forests of Glour and western Orstwych. Her night-eyes caught hints of deep colour glinting in the moonlight, shades of blue and green and purple patterning the bark. Frondy red foliage rose above like tattered lace.

   They saw nothing of whurthags, though the forests were by no means as they ought to be. Eva sensed several animal presences as they passed through the woods, traces of beasts that were obviously far from home. They were not aggressive, however, and not inclined to trouble their party. Eva left them alone.

   As the moon sank out of sight and the Night Cloak rolled over the lands, Eva found herself with cause to be grateful for Tren's sorcery. The eager steps of the little hunting hound brought them through a dense thicket, choked with the deep-hued ferns and mosses that were everywhere in evidence in this part of the forest. They were deep in the midst of the thicket when Rikbeek sounded his alarm call from overhead.

   The three halted, wary. Movement caught Eva's eye, and she slowly turned her head. Out of a shadowed burrow in the ground crawled a great creature, furred like a mammal but built more like the ferocious reptiles that lived on the shores of Lake Glanias in the north. An astwach, definitely a predator and decidedly unfriendly. Its movements were slow, but its head turned with alarming speed as it sought the source of Rikbeek's cry.

   The three stood, immobile, as the beast emerged fully from its underground home. Eva's breath stopped. It was longer than she was tall, standing as high as her shoulder. Teeth glinted pale in the dark, and a long tail twitched with the stealthy intent of a predator. It stood, nose lifted to scent the air. Eva tried hard to remember whether the Cloak would mask scent as well as visage. She thought not.

   As if reaching the same conclusion, Tren beside her began to move. She mimicked his movements, slow and measured, creeping steadily away from the beast. As they were almost past the den, Eva noticed a smaller animal emerge from the burrow: unsteady on its legs and ungainly in its proportions, it was nonetheless an obvious copy of its parent.