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He found Caer Tinella to be at peace Fields were beginning to be plowed, and hoh it had only been a oblins and powries, the stench of the creatures was gone now, De&039;Unnero knew, and all the folk had settled back into seely normal and peaceful routines
And the Bishop e, looking down froer&039;s paw, but with great reluctance For the better part of five days, using his own inner hunger and what the spirit of Markwart had shown hie; and he liked the feeling, the power, and the freedom
Tooon the powerful legs of a tiger he could have covered the hundred and fifty miles from Palmaris to Caer Tinella in three days, perhaps two, since he had learned that he could use the soul stone of Aloysius Cru on other animals nearby and literally feast on their life forces, a refined version of the life-stealing that monks had used on deer and the like to rejuvenate horses Now, as a tiger, De&039;Unnero could go directly to the source, linking life forces with his intended prey using the soul stone and then literally eating the energies out of the creature It was perfect, he believed: the ulti-y; and after such a er was ready to run once th had actually slowed hihtbird For in his travels, he had strayed from the path, and often, merely to partake of his feasts
No matter, he believed, for he could move with all the swiftness he would need, and all the world wasn&039;t large enough to keep Nightbird from his claws
He went down into Caer Tinella in the si expression on his face
"Good day, good father!" cas from one far ho was still teeks away - readying fields surprisingly free of snow The last storround, and now the far the new property lines drawn in the resettlement
"And to you, my child," he always answered politely "Pray tell e" The cooperative villagers spoke the name and pointed across the way to the northern reaches, fields bordered by the thick woods, where white traces of winter could still be seen, lining the edges, in the shadows of the trees
The leader was not hard to find: a stocky woman of about forty winters, hard at work in her own field She put up her hoe when De&039;Unnero approached, leaning on it with both hands atop its end and her chin on her hands
"You are Janine o&039; the Lake?" De&039;Unnero asked cheerily, repeating the name the farmers had told him
"That I be," she answered "And yerself? A preacher come to start a church here in Caer Tinella, perhaps?"
"I ah your huh I do believe that the Church will send a ht"
"Well, we&039;ve got our Friar Pembleton," Janine o&039; the Lake replied, "not more than a day&039;s ride to the east &039;Tis about all the preachin&039; the folk got belly for, by e to punch her face
"But ye&039;re lookin&039; like yer own belly could use a bit of feedin&039;," the woaze humbly "A bit of a meal and news of the road north, for I am bound for the Ti of late"
"Nor ever, from what I heared o&039; that wild place," Janine said with a laugh "Well, find a dark place and take soh and then I&039;ll fatten ye up for the road"
"Oh, but please, good lady," the char for the hoe "Do let me earn my food"
Janine seeo of the hoe "I&039;m not for expectin&039; a monk o&039; St Precious to be lookin&039; for work," she explained, "but I&039;ll take the help, and be grateful for it!"
And De&039;Unnero did work in the field tirelessly: an effort, he presumed, that would never be expected from the Bishop of Palmaris, one that would be a stretch of expectation from the simplest of Abellican monks After-ward, Janine o&039; the Lake treated him, and a select few others of the towns-folk, to a wonderful hot dinner, though De&039;Unnero found the food strangely dissatisfying after his wild h, and infor assured that the road north was safe, by all accounts, and that his journey to the Timberlands would be no more difficult than his journey from Palmaris had been thus far - unless, of course, winter made another appearance The snow remained thicker up there, he was told
After thean invitation to sleep in Janine&039;s barn and explaining that she would not likely see hiet as early a start as possible
In truth, the man was out of the barn and out of Caer Tinella within the hour,deeper and deeper into the er&039;s paith every step So complete was the process that his robes blended into skin, that the ring upon his finger becaer&039;s paw By the time he had crossed the northernmost field, De&039;Unnero walked not with the comparatively cluer, and saw not through the daylight-attuned eyes of a hureat cat
Noas loping, front paws hitting the ground every so often for better balance or for quicker direction changes; and now, already, he smelled the presence of another ani that scent, basking in it, for it wasn&039;t the stool of an animal, wasn&039;t even the musk of a wet pelt It was fear, fear of hi pure and natural
And it was all around hi perfectly into the nighttime forest Unseen and unheard, but his prey knew that he was coht a rustle to the side, and then he saw them: a pair of white-tailed deer, a buck and a doe, the er round, sround; the doe hopped as if to leap away
But she didn&039;t knohich way to run, De&039;Unnero realized He was close, very close, within range of a single treo for the buck, the , horrifying roar, claws extended, paws out wide, but the buck did not fly away and did not freeze It came around to face the predator, head down, fore De&039;Unnero felt one prong sink into his chest as they crashed together, but he hardly cared, caught up in the sudden and desperate frenzy With a second roar, the tiger&039;s ar on an antler and turning the head to the side - a sudden violent jerk, the crack of bone, and then the buck was falling
De&039;Unnero went right for the neck, tearing open the great veins, washing in the spouting blood His thoughts went instinctively to the soul stone, capturing the buck&039;s life force, feeding on every aspect of this creature
And when he was done, he did not seek a quiet and dark place to retire, for all of the buck&039;s energy had joined with his own Noas restless He knew that he should go straight off to the north, toward Dundalis, run-ning full speed, but the scent remained, the smell of fear
Off he went in search of the doe; and when he found her, and caught her froer announced, co east and west Behind the off to the side of the road - in truth no more than a path worn by the march of the demon dactyl&039;s army - the fivefire and eating the stew Viscenti had er asked, shaking his head incredu-lously The group had traveled more than halfway to the Barbacan frole oblins, or powries were anywhere about
"The Wilderlands &039;re a bigger place than ye know," Bradwarden explained, "bigger than all the kingdoether Far went the cry o&039; the deiants in h the on lumps o&039; rock far out to sea"
"And so they have returned to their rocks and holes, it would seeer "And yet, I do not feel that the world is a safer place"
"Funny how men keep doin&039; that to theer shook his head, looking all around, seeking soer cut in, e disappointment "Better to find no ene-mies than too many"
"One would be too many," Elbryan replied
"Unless ye&039;re lookin&039; for sohed "Ho, ho, what!"
The Avelyn irin to Elbryan&039;s face "Had to be done? " he asked
The centaur nodded
"Are we to go out scouting again?" Roger asked The other two didn&039;t ly at the warh he knew that he would be out late into the night, and that Bradwarden would pick up the patrol when he left off "Go and join the brothers and sleep war to Castinagis to leave him some of the stew
When Elbryan looked at the centaur, he saw Bradwarden&039;s expression had turned grim
"He&039;s not lyin&039; about the fire," the centaur said
"A chill on the breeze," the ranger agreed
"More than that, I&039;er This far north, the wind can still freeze yer bones, and we could wake one morn to find snow piled deeper than a deer&039;s antlers"
"We have come far to the north"
Bradwarden nodded "And earlier than we should&039;ve, by , to be sure, but spring at the Barbacan&039;s not the sa in Dundalis I&039;m thinkin&039;, and hopin&039;, that the blown ht be that enough of it went into the sky to serve as a blanket Ye seen the colors o&039; the sun settin&039; and risin&039; The dust&039;d do that, and it ht be that the dust&039;ll keep the weather uess"
Indeed, as Bradwarden spoke, the western sky began to turn a glowing shade of red, al er, and even if it didn&039;t, he would have taken Bradwarden&039;s word for it The centaur was old, three tie of the oldest man; and no creature, not even Lady Dasslerond of the Touel&039;alfar, was s of nature What the centaur had left unspoken, and what Elbryan could figure out for hiet worse as they continued north, and worse still as they cli blasted Mount Aida Had they been lulled by the unusual h passes of the more northern stretches blocked by snow?
"Coo and take our meal with our friends"
Bradwarden shook his head "Ain&039;t got the belly for it," he said "Saw no monsters in me scoutin&039;, but h, the centaur bounded away, pulling his great bow from his shoulder as he went
"Stay close!" Elbryan called
"Ye fearin&039; unseen monsters?" Bradwarden called back
"Not at all," replied the ranger "I a of Bradwarden this cold night!"
"Oh, ye&039;ll hear it," the centaur roared froe, disappearing froht so that only his thunderous voice reet me lips frozen stuck to the da the small community, De&039;Un-nero noticed ireatly froh Dundalis in its present state was less than half the size of Caer Tinella, but e fields outlined here, no far Dundalis had never been a far community; but even the activitiesand the like, were not evident now
Life had not yet returned to normal this far north Indeed, Dundalis seehtened by the presence of Shas of a dozen structures, and several already completed, butthem all, taller than a tall man and patrolled by many soldiers Up on the rise to the north, a tower had been erected, and the Bishop could see the forht sky
There were sentries in the woods, as well, though De&039;Unnero had seen none of the trained soldiers outside the settleh the barely organized ranks to find this viewing perch
He thought to bypass the town altogether, and would have, except that he wanted to speak with Shamus, and perhaps would even instruct the cap-tain and his soldiers to accompany him to the north He slipped down from the tree and ure out how heany of the possible allies of Nightbird that the Bishop of Palmaris had come out so far alone
He found his answer soon after, while eavesdropping on a pair of scouts: a man of medium build and unreged It beca the larger - one called Toh rank within the town hierarchy; and to De&039;Unnero&039;s delight, they men-tioned Shamus Kilronney by name
He took the cue to walk into theira sword in the blink of an eye and leveling it the monk&039;s way
"Pray cal his empty hands up before him in submission "I am a humble man of God and no eneet up here?" he asked "And who are you with?"
"By my own feet and with only
The two ed skeptical looks
"The Bishop of Palmaris is concerned that the Timberlands will be reclaimed without any Church participation," said De&039;Unnero
"The Church never was concerned with the Timberlands," the smaller man replied
De&039;Unnero noted some movement in the forest behind hiate the source of agitated voices "The old Church," the Bishop corrected "We are dom now, much more tied to the affairs of state" He made no defensivepositions behind and to either side
"The Ti Danube&039;s state," the smaller man said with prideful conteain you speak of the past, edo&039; Honce-the-Bear?" the volatilethat we do not know the disposition of Dundalis or all the Ti himself that these men, and their opinions, were not i that all of you would do well to understand that, especially with a contingent of King&039;s soldiers in your er erwart," he said loudly, but in a friendly tone, and he extended his hand De&039;Unnero was glad that he held his tiger&039;s paw in his left hand as he reached out to shake
"And are there not monks of the Abellican Church also within the walls of Dundalis?" the Bishop asked, catching theain the uneasy shuffles, and De&039;Unnero delighted in knowing that these were caused both by his knowledge that Dundalis was noalled and by the fact that he knew of Brauuise
"No monks," Tomas replied too quickly and decisively
"A pity, then, that they have already left," said the Bishop
"No monks," Tomas insisted "Never any"
De&039;Unnero struck a pensive pose "They neverthe men further off balance Now they didn&039;t know for sure if he was talking about Braumin and the others, he under-stood, and that was exactly what he had hoped for Toiven hiiance - he was a friend of Nightbird, no doubt
They all were
"I fear for my brethren," the Bishop said, "but the road was clear, all the way froht have delayed them?"