Shield of the Gods (Aigis Trilogy, Book 1) (30 page)

             
Roxie looked over one arm to read the note, and frowned. The scratchy writing was in a language she couldn’t read. “What does it say?”

             
“Thank you for dinner, Antares,” Aerigo said politely to the Druid as he got to his feet. He headed for the door.

             
“Yes, thank you!” Roxie said, then hurried after Aerigo.

Chapter 21

Counsel of the King

              The sun had sunk behind the Fire Mountains, casting the Green Province in dusk. The treetops clung to its golden light, leaving Drio in a shadowed twilight. It took their eyes a moment to adjust to the dimness as Aerigo led them towards the river.

             
“Who sent the message?” Roxie asked.

             
“Maharaja.”

             
“Ma—who?”

             
“The King of the Wildwood.”

             
“The Malkin? I thought the Durians said they were dangerous.”

             
“They aren’t if they trust you. The Malkin are cautious, and with good reason.” He turned due south, following the river, and they crossed a narrow bridge next to a mill. As they reached the other side, Roxie’s eyes began to glow. The forest felt like it was alive and full of eyes, all focused on her. The growing darkness made the trees look like giant fingers sticking out of the ground, just waiting to curl around her once she entered. She almost voiced her reluctance to follow, but his brisk pace left no time for hesitation. Her hand twitched for his but she caught herself, put off by Aerigo’s distant behavior.

             
It wasn’t more than five minutes before Roxie lost Aerigo in the dense undergrowth. One moment she was trailing a few steps behind him. The next moment Aerigo rounded a giant trunk and disappeared. She jogged to catch up, but when she reached the other side of the trunk, he was nowhere in sight.

             
“Aerigo?” she called shakily. Her voice seemed to go nowhere, as if the leaves were absorbing all sound. There was no noise in this forest, no singing tree frogs or rustling of night creatures stalking in the bush; just a faint sound of wind rustling the leaves. Roxie pressed herself against the trunk, facing out into the darkness. Visions of beasts leaping for her face with teeth and claws bared raced across her mind as her imagination flew out of control. “Aerigo!”

             
Roxie’s heart almost stopped dead when she heard something move on a branch just above her head. Something large landed right in front of her and it brought its face down close to hers. She had no voice left to scream and her legs froze. All she could do was stare into a set of feral eyes inches from her own. The creature didn’t attack, yet she faced it as if it was the last thing she would ever see. She was staring into the face of a tiger. A tiger with a human body. A tail flicked behind its legs. It sniffed at her.

             
The cat’s eyes narrowed, whiskers twitching as his mouth curled into... what? A sneer? A sneer flashing a row of sharp teeth. Then the creature turned and disappeared into the darkness without making a noise.

             
What the heck was that?
She wanted to call to Aerigo again, but was afraid of drawing the attention of other night creatures. Instead, her mind was taken over by an impulse to walk forward.

             
She started off slowly, her footsteps silent as the cat-creature’s, not knowing where she was going or why. Her eyes faded back to normal as fear was overtaken by curiosity, and soon her pace picked up. That had to be people whispering ahead... The voices seemed to beckon her to come closer. Her feet obeyed while part of her mind wondered at the strangeness of her situation. Something was drawing her forward, almost against her own will, but she wanted to see what was calling to her. Ahead, a globe of light hovered above the ground deep among the trees.

             
Something grabbed her right arm.

             
Roxie spun, raising her free fist. When she recognized Aerigo, the spell on her mind was broken.

             
“Rox, where are you going? I thought you were following me.”

             
“I was but you disappeared. Didn’t you hear me calling for you?”

             
“You did? That’s not a good sign. Let’s go.”

             
“Wait!” She grabbed his arm and pointed into the trees. “What’s that light?”

             
Aerigo took in a sharp breath. “We don’t want to get anywhere near that.”

             
Roxie grabbed his arm when he moved. “But I heard voices. Surely there are people.”

             
“Rox!”

             
Roxie shook her head free of the trance once again. The sight of the light globe made her want to run, instead of get closer. If she let the globe touch her, it would probably kill her or suck out her soul, or something. “Okay, let’s go,” she said, holding tight to Aerigo’s hand. He led her away at a fast walk. “What was that evil light?”

             
“An aigon,” he said without looking back. “Something only powerful magic can fight.”

             
“Will it follow us?”

             
“I don’t think so. We’re heading to a safe place. I’m surprised one even got this close.”

             
Unsure whether or not to be comforted by this news, Roxie followed in silence. Her mind vision spotted another presence moving alongside them, his feline features boldly outlined in white. Aerigo stopped. Roxie wheeled about, still clinging to his hand, to see the cat-creature standing before them. She was about to cower behind Aerigo when he greeted the Malkin.

             
“Hello, Vallian. I hope King Maharaja doesn’t mind that I brought someone along.”

             
“Quite the opposite,” Vallian said in a soft voice. He sounded a little shy, or maybe he was trying to keep their location secretive. “Come.”

             
Under the Malkin’s guidance they soon found their destination. They came upon circular clearings laid out like a honeycomb network, each separated by ancient trees. In the middle of the nearest clearing a bonfire roared, the first welcome light since leaving the temple. Other fires flickered in each neighboring clearing a hundred yards away to the south, east, and southeast. The clearing they were walking through had cooking gear and large sacks piled at the base of trees. A complex mass of hammocks, platforms, and canopies built for shelter against the rain loomed overhead.

             
“Welcome to the Dwelling,” Vallian said. He was colored and striped like a tiger, and had big feet like a Scondish person. He was as tall as Shaku, too, but heavily built, and wore what looked like an Egyptian skirt Roxie’d seen in hieroglyphs. Vallian somewhat reminded her of Antares’ physical appearance. “Maharaja is near. I will lead you closer, but then we must part. Tonight is a good night for hunting.” The Malkin padded around the bonfire and they followed.

             
If there were many such creatures nearby, they were very good at hiding. The feeling of being watched crept over Roxie’s skin again, but this time she understood why—or rather who—it was. She kept her mind-vision out of the canopy, for some reason finding it rude and forbidden for strangers to know what was up there.

             
Vallian led them to the heart of the Dwelling, stopping near the bonfire. “Good night.” He bowed, then jumped onto the nearest tree and clawed his way up.

             
Once the Malkin disappeared, Roxie turned to Aerigo. “Don’t we get some sort of formal greeting or anything?”

             
“The Malkin just go about their business. As you can tell, they don’t waste words.”

             
“How can they stand living in a forest like this? It’s so creepy and dangerous.”

             
“The Wildwood isn’t creepy, and it’s dangerous only if you don’t know anything about it. The Malkin know this forest better than you know your own home. Plus they have powers of their own.”

             
“Do they, like, know everything that goes on in this forest? I feel like I’m being watched.” Roxie shot a glance at the canopy and saw only leaves and branches, and some wood planks and vines in the firelight. Even the light seemed forbidden from wandering too far into the canopy. Darkness blanketed everything above the first level of branches.

             
“We both are. We’re in their domain.”

             
They heard a soft thud next to them. A Malkin with piercing green eyes stood tall and proud before them. Even taller than Vallian, he looked every inch a king of the forest. Maharaja had a bushy white mane about his face, and his cheek and eyebrow whiskers stuck out beyond his tufts of hair. Next to him, even Aerigo seemed small. The King wore a white cloth wrapped around his waist so that it criss-crossed above the knees in front and tied in a knot above the base of his tail, the rest falling free behind him. He wore another length of cloth looped around his strong shoulders. When he spoke, his voice was deep and smooth. “Welcome back, Aerigo. It has been a long time since we last met. You have much to tell.”

             
Aerigo looked away from the King’s gaze.

             
Maharaja studied Aerigo for a moment, then turned to Roxie. “You must be the girl Rox, and you are an Aigis, are you not?”

             
“How did you know my name?”

             
“The Wildwood has many ears. One would be wise to not whisper secrets near my trees.” The King narrowed his green eyes at Aerigo. “Your heart is troubled, Aerigo. Come.” He placed one clawed hand on Roxie’s back (which was half as big as her back) and led them to a nearby tree. Maharaja leapt onto its trunk and clawed his way up with as much noise as a squirrel.

             
“Uh, are we supposed to follow him up there?”

             
“No.”

             
“Good. Because I had no idea how I was gonna get up there without a ladder.”

             
There was a scratching and a rustle above, and then a soft thud behind both Aigis. The King straightened his knees, holding rolled blankets in one arm. He tossed one to Roxie and unrolled the other with a flick of his feline wrists. The blanket snapped open and sank onto the grass without a wrinkle. “Make yourselves comfortable. There shall be much talk tonight.”

             
Roxie put down her own blanket without unrolling it and sat on a corner of the other. The ground felt soft and smooth beneath it. She pulled up her pant-legs and undid her boot buckles. Aerigo sat on the opposite corner.

             
“Why are you taking your boots off?”

             
“It’s a comfort thing,” she said, pulling one off, then the other. She set them down neatly by the tree trunk and stretched her toes. Her socks were stained, too.

             
Maharaja returned with two sacks full of food and three round goatskins. He sat between them with his back against a tree and handed them each a skin. The Malkin placed the bags at the blanket’s edge. “The drink will ease your discomfort and make talk easier. I will speak first. And if you have any questions, I will answer to the best of my ability.”

             
Roxie took a sip from her skin. The warm liquid felt like honey in her throat, but didn’t entirely taste to her liking. It was sweet, like grapes, yet had an aftertaste that reminded her of a beer her grandmother had let her taste once. Still, as she sipped every so often, she found that it tasted better and better.

             
Maharaja said, “Let me say first that I have been in this world through all of its ages. I’ve seen much in my lifetime, though I have not left the Wildwood often. There is no place in the world like this forest, and there have been times when I thought Azriel would claim it from me.”

             
“You mean the mountain?” Roxie asked.

             
“It’s a dormant volcano. Mountains have their own consciousness and do not like to be crowded by trees. My northern borders have been burned many times, yet defiantly grow back. Only a few millennia ago Azriel decided to rest for a while.”

             
“Only a few?” Roxie said uneasily.

             
“Don’t let the expanse of time daunt you. Only those whose lives are limited number the days. Time is but an abstract concept.”

             
“True.”

             
“About the same time Azriel went to sleep, humans began to colonize farther south, along the river on my western border. You’re staying with the humans due west of this camp, but many more live farther south, all the way to the tip of the Green Province. There they built ocean-going ships and discovered lands I have never been to.”

             
“You’ve never left this continent?”

             
“I have no need or desire to. There’s plenty to explore on this part of Druconica. Besides, I have my people to watch over, and my Malkin have been around far longer than humans. We let the humans live in peace outside the Wildwood, so long as they do not hack at my borders. These trees are precious to me. The only thing I don’t like about humans is that they make war. They cannot seem to live in peace with other colonies. For the past fifteen-hundred years they have been quieter, with one exception, but lately things are stirring up again.”