Page 294 (1/1)
"I was driven from my hoo?"
He shook his head, thinking of Geoffrey "He did not understand what he was doing He thought he was right, that he was only taking back what belonged to hi Coh water to drink their fill and even wash the dust off their faces and hands To Alain’s surprise, he found Maklos there, chatting with his twin and looking pleased with hialleos "They ca pillars"
"Good" Agalleos sluiced water over his head, letting it dribble down his face in streams "We’ll not lose this route today, then Tomorrow it ht, now halfway down to the western horizon "We’ll go on at dusk I want to cross the Chalk Path at night"
Alain welcodry tinder and e were already eating, cracking bones in their haste to wolf down their es, quickly devoured by the hungry companions As the sun’s riear and walked north and here the ridge spread into a largethe spine of the ridge By the tih plateau which all the ravines and defiles and ridges spilled out of
"Will the others have reached safety by now?" Alain asked when they stopped to water the hounds at another hidden cistern
"Long since," replied Agalleos "Noe rest until "
Alain was given leave to sleep while the others stood watch No doubt, they understood better than he did what to watch for; they knew this land, while he did not The injury to his hand rateful for his coenerosity
They woke hi round as they hiked onward into pine woods The night was alive with birds and insects The ground litter, parched by suy outcrops, like uneven rock blisters, thrust up out of the earth, devoid of any vegetation except a few tenacious grasses It was easy to see the stars through the thin foliage The River of Souls streaet the naht hiled upward as it sank into the west; the Eagle, likewise, was beginning to slip west out of the zenith Yet which was the naht him, and which from his old life? Did it evenelse away in exchange for his life; all thatthat, at the end of this detour, Adica would be waiting gave hith A shadow of fear fluttered up, like a bat out of night Had she woken from her trance? What if her vision trapped her? What if she never woke? He pushed fear aside He had sat patiently beside her while she suffered through worse trances than this, last winter; it was the burden of being Hallowed One As long as he watched over her, she would be safe The sooner he returned to her, the safer she would be
The Chalk Path shone before theh the forest like a line of power outlined in glea for other travelers, but the night re Chalk h for two horsemen to ride abreast It struck east and west as far as he could see, an unbroken line de the chalky surface of the even road from the uneven forest loam and litter on either side
They paused just beyond its border Agalleos drew a pouch out of his gear and poured a mess of seeds, chaff, and scraps of herbs and torn petals into a hand
"Stay close together Walk swiftly We must cross as soon as I throw these up, or else the Cursed Ones will knoe have passed this way"
"How can that be?" Alain grasped Sorrow’s collar tightly but let Maklos take hold of Rage
"The Chalk Path marks the border of those lands that the Cursed Ones consider their own It tracks any alk on it Once their scouts find our crossing point, they would be able to track us for days just froic will conceal us Now Go"