The Seer (16 page)

A low growl
rumbled out from the trees nearby and they both immediately froze, only their
eyes moved, raking the forests for the source of the sound until they heard it
again; a growl followed by the definite swish and snap of branches breaking as
something heavy forced its way through.  Mistral heard Samson’s sharp
intake of breath but she could see nothing other than the dense green conifers,
swaying gently beneath the heavy downpour of rain. 

Wordlessly she
signalled to Samson for them to move on again.  Water seeped into her
boots with each cautious step but she was ignorant to the icy coldness. 
They crept through the trees, pausing every third step to scan their
surroundings for any sign of their prey.

Another
guttural snarl sounded from the thick cover of the trees on their right. 
Barely breathing, Mistral reached for her sword and pulled it slowly from her
belt.  She gripped it tightly in her right hand while Samson stepped up
beside her, his sword already drawn.  They stood completely still,
straining to catch the slightest sound of their prey moving.  Samson’s
head suddenly snapped around to the right and then to the left; he signalled
quickly that their prey was on either side of them.

She nodded
mutely, quickly switching her gaze back to rake the rain-soaked conifers for
any movement.  A half-heard growl from behind them made her turn sharply,
quickly turning back when another louder growl echoed out from the trees
directly in front of them.  Cursing under her breath she signalled front
and behind; they were surrounded.

Stepping
together to stand back to back, Mistral and Samson prepared to fight.

‘This is no
breeding pair!  It’s a nest!’  she hissed and was startled by the
sound of her voice.  It was deeper than normal with a velvet undertone she
would recognise amongst a thousand spoken voices.  Before she had time to
make sense of the bizarre change to her voice her eyes caught a movement close
by.  At first all she could make out were leathery scales glistening with
raindrops, then a pair of black eyes fixed on hers, gleaming hungrily. 

A huge
gargillian loped into view between the low hanging branches.  Mistral
tightened her grip on her sword while she assessed the creature.  The
muscular legs were slightly bowed and the ridged back hunched, but it was still
easily as tall as her.  Mistral’s eyes roved over the reptilian features,
passing swiftly over the lipless mouth and distinctive flattened nostrils she
noted the crown of bony growths encircling its skull and quickly muttered to
Samson in her strange voice.

‘Ridged skull
… adult male … probably the leader ... we need to take that one down
first.’ 

The gargillian
paused and tilted its head slightly to regard them both.  Suddenly opening
its mouth in a wide leer, it ran a long forked tongue over distinctive
green-coloured teeth.  She felt Samson stiffen and knew he had grasped the
gargillian’s threat.  They were going to be eaten.  The gargillian
abruptly threw its head back and emitted a series of harsh barking
coughs.  Mistral realised that the creature was laughing at them.  At
once gargillians were emerging from between the trees on all sides, cautiously
at first and then with more confidence once they realised there were only two
warriors to contend with.  Giving a ferocious snarl, the big male
gargillian suddenly dropped onto all fours and leapt at her –

Mistral woke
with a cry, her eyes flying open to see Fabian staring at her with a startled
expression on his face.

‘What is
it?’ 

‘I Saw! 
You were in the Black Forests with Samson!  It’s a Contract to hunt
gargillians!  You think it’s just a breeding pair but it’s a nest
Fabian!  You were surrounded!’

A look of
shock flashed over Fabian’s face then he raised his eyebrows briefly, as though
something had impressed him.

Mistral stared
at him wildly, ‘You can’t take that Contract Fabian!  You’re going to be
killed!’

He regarded
her thoughtfully for a moment, ‘We nearly were,’ he admitted quietly.

Mistral
continued to stare at him, her face clouding with confusion, ‘What do you
mean?  I don’t understand!  I Saw you and Samson –’

‘Yes. 
Samson.  How did he look to you Mistral?’

‘What?’ 
Mistral paused and stared unseeingly into the darkness while she recalled her
vision.  ‘Oh!  Samson!  He had no scars!’

Fabian smiled,
‘Hmm, he picked up a few on that day.’

Mistral rubbed
a hand over her eyes, trying to make sense of what she had Seen, ‘So, if it
wasn’t a premonition, then what was it?  I
was
you; I could hear
your thoughts but when you spoke it was me, only I had your voice.’

‘I was
dreaming about it Mistral.  You Saw into my dream.’

Mistral stared
blankly at him for a moment and then looked away, ‘So now I can hear your
dreams too, even when I’m asleep,’ she said dismally.

Fabian gave
her a bemused look, ‘I confess I’m not given to flights of fancy in my sleep
Mistral, but would hearing my dreams be really so terrible?  I dream
rarely, that I know of, and it’s usually about Contracts I’ve taken. 
Surely a little gore doesn’t frighten you?

‘Gore I can
handle, but –’ Mistral shrugged and refused to meet his eyes. 

Fabian
frowned, ‘Please explain.’

Mistral sighed
and stared into the dying embers of the fire, ‘You can control your waking
thoughts, to some extent,’ she said quietly.  ‘But not dreams.  They
express thoughts and desires you’d rather other people didn’t know about, and I
don’t want to hear that from you.’ 

‘I have
nothing to hide from you Mistral.’  Fabian reached out to gently turn her
face towards his. 

She met his
deep gaze reluctantly, ‘No, maybe not.  But I don’t think I could cope with
waking up in the morning suddenly knowing all about some girl you’ve loved in
the past.’

Fabian burst
out laughing and Mistral instantly scowled, ‘I’m glad my feelings amuse you,’
she snapped and broke away from his touch.

‘Ah, Mistral.’
 Fabian sighed and reached out to pull her into his arms.  ‘I promise
that I will not dream of others.’

‘You can’t
promise that.’  Mistral said stiffly. 

‘I can,
because there have never been any.’  Fabian finished softly.

‘What?’ 
Mistral twisted in his arms, looking up at him uncertainly.  ‘Never?’

Fabian shook
his head lightly, ‘Never.  I truly believed I was incapable of feeling any
emotion until I found you.’

‘But –’

‘Ah, yes …
Emiror.’  Fabian sighed.  ‘A misconceived notion of what it would be
like to feel love.  Perhaps somewhere deep inside I knew you were waiting
for me and I mistakenly thought she was the cause of my awakening,’ he shrugged
and smiled at her through the darkness.  ‘Whatever I thought I felt was a
mere shadow compared to when I first saw you.’

‘You remember
that?’  Mistral cringed.  She had been mucking out the stables on a
hot summer’s day the first time she had ever seen Fabian.  Not at all the
first impression she would ideally have given to the man she loved. 

‘Oh I remember
it.’  Fabian murmured, his lips brushing against hers.  ‘You had
straw in your hair and I had the strangest urge to pull each piece out –’

‘Trying to
sleep here!’

Fabian laughed
as Phantom’s peeved mutter made Mistral jump guiltily.

‘Sleep,’ he
ordered gently and pulled the Wolverine skin tighter around her.  She lay
her head against his chest and for once in her life, did as she was told
without a murmur of complaint. 

By the morning
Mistral felt much better even managed to eat some of the honey and oat cakes
Phantom had brought.  Ignoring his caustic comments about not wanting to
see it coming back again soon, she marched over to tack Cirrus ready for the
day’s ride. 

‘Are you going
to stay awake long enough to join us in a spot of planning tonight or
what?’  Xerxes asked while they he tacked his own horse.

‘Anyone would
think we bore you Mistral!’  Brutus laughed, shoving his brother’s horse
out of the way to reach his own.

‘Oh no
brother, I think something else has worn our poor sister out.’  Xerxes
winked suggestively to Brutus.

Mistral
scowled at them both and swung herself up into the saddle, ‘I’m feeling much
better, thank you for asking,’ she snapped archly and kicked Cirrus into a
trot, leaving them laughing behind her. 

Leo and Fabian
rode on ahead, their disagreement of the day before apparently behind
them.  Mistral watched Fabian’s dark head bend to meet Leo’s blonde as
they conversed and reflected for the hundredth time how strikingly different in
colouring and character they were.  It seemed utterly impossible that they
could be brothers.  Immersed in her musings, she didn’t realise that the
twins had ridden up on either side of her until Phantom spoke and made her
jump.

‘You startled
me!’  she glared at him accusingly.  ‘Can’t you put a bell around
your neck or something to give me warning instead of just creeping up on me!’

‘Lost in your
Mage again were you?’  He smirked.

Mistral
ignored him and looked over at Phantasm, ‘Want to tell me what plans were made
last night then?’

‘Of course.’
 Phantasm responded smoothly. 

Mistral
listened to him carefully while her anger cooled.  She was fond of
Phantom’s sense of fun but she was infinitely grateful to have the more serious
natured Phantasm to add balance to their sometimes volatile friendship. 
She glanced over at Fabian and Leo and then back at the twins; two sets of
brothers, yet each pair so completely unlike the other.  Whereas the twins
complimented each other’s natures perfectly, Fabian and Leo seemed to do
nothing but clash.

‘Mistral?’

‘Hmm?’ 

‘I said, are
you feeling ill again?’

‘Oh, no sorry
brother, I was just thinking.’

‘Definitely
ill then.’  Phantom muttered.

‘You were
saying?’  Mistral asked Phantasm, pointedly ignoring Phantom’s jibe.

‘The herd numbers
are rigorously controlled at six dragons; two males and four females. 
Only one of the males is adult, the other is a juvenile who will become the
next dominant male –’

‘I bet that’s
one hell of a fight!’  Xerxes interrupted in a voice filled with glee.

‘I’m sure it
is.  It happens once every twenty five years, when the juvenile reaches
full maturity –’ 

‘Good job
you’re not a dragon then Xerxes, or it’d never happen.’  Mistral said
waspishly. 

‘Oh sister,
you’re just being childish now!’

‘Childish? 
Me?  At least I know my husband’s name!’

‘I’ve only
been married twice … sort of … and their names were … er –’ Xerxes faltered and
looked to his brother for help.  ‘What were they called again?’

‘Celia and
Daphne.’  Brutus replied promptly.

‘No they weren’t!’ 
Xerxes said crossly.  ‘Those were the names of their mothers … I think –’

‘Talking of
which, shall we get back to dragons?’  Phantasm interrupted crisply.

‘Good idea.’
 Xerxes agreed with obvious relief.

‘How much of a
problem will the males present?’  Cain asked with a frown.  ‘I can’t
imagine them just standing back and letting us walk in and bump off a couple of
their herd!’

‘You are quite
correct Cain.  The adult male is obsessively protective of his harem,
however –’

‘So how do we
get rid of two of his ladies without having to kill him too?’  Xerxes
interrupted impatiently.

‘If you would
allow me to finish my sentence I will tell you!’  Phantasm growled through
clenched teeth.

Xerxes
muttered something uncomplimentary under his breath and scowled.  

‘So … as I was
saying … the males hibernate so they shouldn’t present us with any
problems.’  Phantasm finished.

‘What about
the females?’  Cain asked. 

‘Sadly not.’

‘Damn!’ 
Cain muttered.  ‘That would’ve been my perfect type of Contract!  Big
money to shoot arrows at a sleeping dragon!’

‘I have to
agree with you brother, however it is, as you rightly point out, big money …
and we are going to have to earn it.’

‘What’s the
plan then?’  Mistral asked faintly.  She was suddenly feeling sick
again but didn’t want to admit it. 

‘I vote to
give Mage De Winter leadership of the hunting party.’  Phantasm began
cautiously.  ‘I know your name is on the Contract Mistral, but he has got
double the amount of experience of hunting dragons than we have,’ he added
quickly.

‘S’
fine.  Fabian can have it.’  Mistral muttered weakly.

Phantasm gave
her a sharp look, ‘Really?’

Mistral
nodded, keeping her lips pressed tightly together to hold back the retch she
could feel building.

‘Are you
alright?’

Mistral forced
grimace of a smile, ‘Fine!’

‘Sure?’

Mistral made
an ‘oh yes’ kind of face and suddenly became very interested in Cirrus’
mane.  The motion of his walk was starting to make her feel even more
nauseous.

‘Well.’
 Phantasm eyed her uncertainly.  ‘With Mage De Winter as lead he
should be able to take us straight to the herd without too much tracking
required, which will save a lot of time since we’re already cutting it fine to
beat the January snowfalls.  The dragon herd have been kept in the same
part of the Northern Range since they were first introduced to the Isle.’

‘What bait are
we going to use?’  Brutus asked. 

‘The Mage
babysitters.’  Xerxes said cheerfully.

‘I somehow
think that would seriously hinder Master Sphinx’s case with the council, don’t
you?’  Phantasm snapped.  ‘However, Mage Pickering’s wife breeds
bonacon solely for the purpose of keeping the herd fed, so pretty much anything
but bonacon will probably offer an appealing change.’