Chapter 303 (1/2)

Chapter 303

“GreyI won’t pretend to knohat sort of customs and rituals these tribes may have”—Caera touched Swiftsure’s blood, which was splattered over her clothes and part of her face—“but this see that would be universally disrespectful”

“Stop fidgeting,” I replied, s some of the blood so it looked is chirin“Nothing says love like painting each other in the blood of your ene about this is ‘cute’, and it’s not for certain that Swiftsure was an enemy,” Caera huffed

I rubbed snoeen nore hie him”

“Hey! I’is yapped, his burning is and smiled patiently“A puppy would at least have the decency to sulk when it gets scolded”

Caera let out a chuckle as Regis sputtered in frustration

Noticing hiswinds, I looked up to see that the sky had turned al to you, princess! I’h to—”

“Let’s getuntil this turns into a real stor back into my body

I held my hand out for Caera“We’ll teleport just past the eI don’t want to risk using aether anywhere closer”

She took ly“The fact that I can so casually accept the fact that we’ll be teleportingher close, I ignited God Step, following the aetheric path that I had mentally charted on our first runIn the span of several seconds, ere standing on the edge of the sharp lip of stone that surrounded the Shado’s hidden sanctuary

From there, we travelled on footIt wasn’t a difficult climb, but it did take ti snow before we arrived in a shallow alcove looking down on the woven huts now clearly visible even through the growing stormThe last part of the plan required that not only the two of us, but Regis be visible as well

“Like we planned,” I whispered

“Not that I ly, but I don’t see how is said softly

Caera nodded“I’ured wolves and leopards are…close enough” I shrugged, keeping an eye on the village“Who knowsMaybe you’ll ic,” Regis said sarcastically

I aether into my eyes to supplement my naturally enhanced vision, I studied the details and activity happening within the villageThe woven huts the Shados lived in were shaped vaguely like beehives and rassEach structure was fitted with a simple door woven into a frah the wind still howled, the village was protected from the worst of itIn fact, the entire hollohich it was built was clear of snowA handful of small, twisted trees with broad, dark leaves decorated the packed earth paths between the houses, and dense, deep green grass grew everywhere else

In a circular patch of sandy earth, four Shados appeared to be…trainingWhen we had first arrived, the two pairs had been attacking one another, though without their clawsAs atched, they halted their sparring, bowed to one another, and began a series of identical movements that were clearly rehearsed

Their co to watchThey eEvery slash or swipe of a paw took the position, and each attack was intertwined with a defensive h they didn’t actively use their aether abilities while training, I could see how sudden leaps or strafing hops were meant to simulate their ability to teleportAs I watched them, I wished that I could speak to them and learn about their oes well, h what I’d planned to say and do one last tiSwiftsure’s corpse out of ripped it by its ruined neck and leapt fro between the circular training area and the outer wallCaera and Regis jumped down just behind me

The four closest Shadoled in alar into low crouchesAether flared around the fro out of doors or si their aetheric teleportation, each one snarling, claws out and ready to fight

I raised the stiff corpse aboveSwiftsure’s body roll out of rass

Next tothe backs of our necks to the crowd of ShadosI listened carefully to the whisper-quiet sound of a single Shado cautiously approaching

I peeked through my curtain of pale wheat hair and watched as the cat-like creature nudged the corpse, causing the neck to roll and revealing the torn throat, which Regis had chewed open to hide the razor-thin slashes

It said so my head a fraction of an inch to better see itThe Shadoas clearly old, its thick white fur having lost its lustre, the black spots fading to grayIts head snapped around when I moved and it stepped back into a defensive posture

Very slowly and calround, I said, “Please, weyour aidDo any of your people speak our language?”

Another Shado, this one taller than the rest, stepped out of the crohich had foran to speak in their hissing, ry leopard

‘This doesn’t seehts into my mind

Be patientThey didn’t immediately attack, which is exactly e hoped for

~

A third Shado, so old and stooped that it walked with the aid of a stick, stepped forward and responded to the tall one, who shot e went silent except for the noise of the wind battering at the stone wallsI resisted the urge to cladto happenEven if they didn’t attack us, I didn’t knohat their capability for coive us their piece of the portal frame once we had made them understand our purpose

If they did attack us, I was confident I could fight theic position, but I really hoped it didn’t coh, the less likely a fight seemed

Finally the Shadoho had co, and two others ran up to collect the body, carrying it out of sightThen the cat-like creature sat in front of estured for rass, crossingmy hands on is shuffling around as well

The Shado’s eyes shone like a atthe edges offrom my body

Or my aether, I realized

Slowly, very slowly, one broad paw reached out toward my upturned palmThere was no , deeply curious about what this creature ht do

The soft pad of the Shado’s paw touchedchanged

The quiet one, as were the stunted little fruit trees and the crowd of worried-looking cat peopleEven the constant rushi+ng of the wind had vanished

I felt as though I were drifting in space, though I wasn’t floating, exactlyI wasn’t really anything at allBefore fear could set in, however, color and light seeped out of the ees, like I had closeda favorite memory

Except it wasn’t my memoryI watched as two Shado kittens chased each other through the villageOne, the chaser, was howling angrilyThe other had taken soAs they sprinted toward the pool, I was suddenly in front of the both kittens to slide to a halt

Calmly, I took the object—a little branch with a handful of purple berries on it—plucked the berries one by one froave each child an equal number“Be kind to one another and share,” I said sie of the Shados

Then the vision melted away and was replaced with anotherThis ti, Swiftsure’s body lying aardly before ain, though this time it was froh I still didn’t hear the words as words, I understood theirme

“Three Steps, it is clear this must be some trap of the fiendish Spear BeaksWe should kill these creatures quickly before we fall under their power”

The other Shado—Sleeps-in-Snow—stepped from the crowd and said, “Take care, Left Tooth, lest your fear cause you to grow feathers and a beakLet us see their minds and know their purpose”

Then the vision faded and everything went dark and blank againI felt a sense of…expectation

I thought I understood what the creature wantedShe couldn’t speakour memories we could communicateI could explain e’d co forward the rightthat could upset our hosts, but I had no way of knowing if the topic itself—our pursuit of the portal pieces—would anger them

First, I shared thebefore the broken archway and my attempt to repair it with aetherNext, I replayed the battle with the Ghost Bear, including ht itDeciding to take a risk, I finally focused on thefor me to take the clan’s portal piece