The Seer (30 page)

Fabian spread the map out on the rock beside the
light of the fire while Phantom passed around cold leftovers from the night
before.  It was still dark, with just the beginnings of daylight beginning
to turn the black sky to grey.

‘This is where we are now.’  Fabian pressed a
finger lightly against the parchment then began to trace their route.  ‘We
can travel together this far before we need to split up.  Xerxes – you and
your hunting party will take one of the bestra and travel north east to this
point here,’ he pointed out one of the locations for the bestra to be tethered
as bait.

Xerxes stood up and gazed towards the north east,
the breaking dawn shedding a weak light over the route he would take, ‘So, to
the left of the gully running down from the short peak there –’ he pointed to
the mountain, his eyes narrowed in concentration.  ‘I can position Cain
and Brutus to the right and my brother and I on the opposite side.’

Fabian nodded, ‘The dragons’ nesting site is
higher up on the northern side.  They will fly down once they catch the
bestra’s scent,’ he looked up and studied the sky; an unbroken swathe of pearl
grey that held the distinct promise of snow.  ‘The conditions are
good.  There will be no sun today to obscure our vision.’

Xerxes licked a finger and held it aloft,
‘Perfect,’ he gave a satisfied nod.  ‘There’s a light breeze from the
east.  It’ll carry the bestra’s scent nicely but shouldn’t cause our
arrows too much trouble.’

Mistral chewed slowly on a piece of cold rabbit
and listened to them planning the hunt.  Despite his usual devil-may-care
attitude in most aspects of his life, Xerxes was nothing but professional when
it came to work.  She felt no urge to join in, her mind was preoccupied
with the thoughts she had Seen in Malachi’s mind the night before.  She
couldn’t help feeling responsible for the backlash Leo would face when he
returned to the Valley.  It had been she who had forced him into giving
her the cull, no-one else; once again demonstrating her endlessly ability to
act with absolutely no thought for the consequences of her selfishness. 
Setting her guilt aside, she let her mind return to the one shadowy figure that
was central to the whole matter, yet seemed to have been overlooked by everyone
–

‘Are you ready Mistral?’

She looked up, startled out of her reverie by
Fabian’s voice, ‘Sorry, miles away.’

He frowned, ‘Is there something you need to tell
me?’

She glanced over at her brothers; they were
breaking camp, packing away the tents and loading all of the provisions onto
one bestra, the other two would be used as bait.  She stared silently at
the two doe-eyed creatures, feeling a wave of pity sweep over her.

‘Mistral?’

‘Sorry.’  Mistral tore her gaze away from the
bestra.  What was wrong with her these days?  Rescuing kittens, and
now feeling sorry for two cows!  Maybe she was really ill after all ... ‘I
keep thinking about how Leo’s name is going to be mud when he gets back to the
Valley, and as usual it’s my fault,’ she explained with a sigh.

‘Leo could have refused to give you the Contract
Mistral, just as he could have turned down your offer to work solely for him to
pay back your apprenticeship.  He’s more guilty of selfishness than you
are.  If Leo were less driven by his own ambitious desires, he might have
seen the full implications of giving you the cull.  You cannot, and you
will not, take all the blame for this.’

‘Maybe not, but I can definitely take some of
it.  But, there’s something else I need to tell you – I think we’re
overlooking someone –’

‘Gleacher.’  Fabian finished quietly. 
‘Yes.  I agree.  He holds the warriors, and that makes him integral
to both Leo’s and Malachi’s chances of success.’  

Mistral frowned and dropped her voice, ‘Malachi
must
have some sort of hold over him, or he’d never have agreed to be involved in
the export of illegal potions.  Yet, no-one could question his dedication
to the Ri ... and that’s the part I’m most puzzled about.  How can he be
loyal to the Ri yet have betrayed us by helping Malachi?’

‘I agree that something must be amiss between
Malachi and Gleacher, and that could be dangerous for Leo’s campaign to be the
next Divinus.  All the warriors trust Gleacher implicitly.  They
would follow whichever Divinus he favored without hesitation.  So far,
Gleacher has remained outwardly neutral but I am certain his loyalties lie with
Leo, however we need to know the nature of the hold Malachi has over him. 
He may use it to force Gleacher to act against Leo, and that would be
disastrous.’ 

‘I can try to read him if you like.’  Mistral
offered.

Fabian regarded her for a moment before reaching
out to gently trace the dark shadows beneath her eyes, ‘No, I think that trying
to read Etienne and then reading Malachi last night was enough of a strain for
you.  Besides, if we are to trust Gleacher then he should speak freely
when confronted with the question.  I will ask him, when the right
opportunity arises; he is not a man that can be easily intimidated.’

‘No,’ Mistral agreed with a frown, ‘which makes me
wonder what it could be that Malachi has on him.’

I’d love to know that too …

‘I’m sure you would brother.’  Mistral
murmured with a wry smile, looking over to where Phantom was pretending to be
checking his bow.

‘Are you ready to leave yet Mistral?’  Xerxes
called in a brisk voice.  ‘Only I want to be in position before the sun
hits the nesting site and wakes the dragons.  If they get wind of the
bestra while we’re still trekking it’ll get a bit messy.’

‘Yes brother, I’m ready.’  Mistral grinned
and leapt to her feet, filled with excitement at the prospect of the
hunt.  Dragons!  The one creature she had always dreamed of having
the chance to hunt … well, apart from giants – but there was always time for
that opportunity to arise.

‘We’ll leave Marietta here.’  Xerxes said,
giving the bestra laden with all their provisions an affectionate pat. 
‘So she doesn’t accidently become bait too.’

Mistral laughed, ‘You named the bestra after one
of your sweethearts?’ 

Xerxes looked at the bestra tenderly, ‘Well, they
have many similarities; long hair, nice eyes, not too demanding –’

‘Don’t forget the wet nose and short legs.’
 Cain reminded him.

‘They sound the same too.’  Brutus added unkindly.

Xerxes gave them both dark looks and slung his bow
across his back, ‘We’ll shoot gloveless and cloakless,’ he ordered
snappily.   ‘Less room for error.’

‘Yes, oh mighty one!’  Brutus called
cheerfully and grabbed his bow. 

Laughing quietly, Mistral grabbed her own longbow
only for Fabian to instantly take it from her and add it to his own. 
Phantom looked hopefully at his brother who ignored him and strapped his own
bow on before following Mistral and Fabian out of the camp.  Xerxes strode
up alongside Fabian to resume their conversation about the hunt, going over the
dragons’ few weak points and discussing where to position each warrior and
which order to shoot in.  Mistral listened with half an ear; she already
knew from experience that the best laid plans usually went straight out of the
window when the action happened.  Preparation was all very well, but she
believed in relying on instinct and not wasting too much effort on trying to
plan everything right down to the last detail.  They had bait and bows,
what more did they need?

‘You feeling alright today?’ 

Mistral looked round to see Brutus walking next to
her.  She glanced quickly at Fabian; he was deep in conversation with
Xerxes about the pros and cons of different types of bow.  ‘Fine.  You
didn’t say anything did you?’  She whispered back.

Brutus shook his head. 

‘Good.’  Mistral sighed with relief.  ‘I
definitely wouldn’t want to miss out on today!’

Brutus beamed out from beneath the heavy fur hat
he was wearing, ‘No, it is going to be something to tell the grandchildren
about!’

Mistral looked at him in surprise, ‘Something
you’re not telling us Brutus?  Or is Xerxes not the only one with children
littered all over the Isle?’

‘Oh he hasn’t got any.  Mother was just
winding him up.  But seeing her again, it makes me think about things like
that, you know, family. ’

Mistral pulled a face, ‘Not really Brutus.  I
never knew my real parents and I don’t think I’d want to either.  They
were only too happy to dump me at the first opportunity … both my adoptive
parents are long gone and Fabian’s are too.  Sadly, you lot are all the
family I have now.’

Brutus grinned, ‘And what more could anyone ask
for in a family but a bunch of thieves and assassins?’

A megalomaniac brother-in-law with
ambitions to rule the world …

Mistral shot Phantom a sour look but he was
conveniently busy adjusting the ties on his boots.

‘Oh I don’t know Brutus, maybe a nice portrait of
you all to hang in our house?’  Mistral suggested casually.  ‘Know
anyone that paints portraits Phantom?’

The temperature dropped steadily as the climbed
further into the mountains.  The sky above was iron grey, heavy with the
threat of snow.   After an hour of trekking they reached the point
where they were to divide into two parties and halted, passing around a gourd
of Floris’ liquor and sharing last minute banter until Fabian called them all
to attention to go over the final details.

‘As agreed, we can communicate using Mistral and
the twins.  Mistral will listen in to Brutus’ thoughts and the twins will
use their gift to keep Xerxes informed of any changes.’

Mistral deliberately avoided Xerxes’ reproachful
look.  Fabian had asked her to read him but she’d refused point blank,
stating that she was barely over her sickness and didn’t want a relapse.

‘We shoot until all of the dragons are down. 
Only use poisoned arrows for the first successful round of fire then revert to
sedated ones.  Remember the cull is only for two of the juvenile females
and not the queen.’

Mistral ignored the pointed look Phantom gave her
but couldn’t shut out his thoughts.

Yes, let’s not get carried away shall
we? 
  

‘Cain, are you carrying enough Theriac to treat us
all should the need arise?’ 

Cain nodded and reached into his saddle bag to
draw out a red glass bottle, ‘Cures all known poisons, hopefully including the
one I’ve brewed for the dragons,’ he passed it to Fabian.  ‘I’ve got two
more bottles with me if we need it.’

Fabian took the bottle and stowed it carefully in
his own saddlebag before glancing around the group, ‘Any questions?’ 

Everyone shook their heads.

‘Then, it is time.  Good hunting.’

‘Good hunting!’ 

Their lively response echoed off the dark face of
the mountain.  Mistral watched Xerxes, Brutus, Cain and Grendel leading
their bestra away and felt the eager burn of anticipation unfurl in her
stomach, its heat obliterating any lingering doubts she had about the deal
she’d made to get the Contract.  It had been worth it.  They were
finally hunting dragons.

Recognising the wild gleam in her eyes, Phantasm
sighed heavily, ‘Remember, no reckless heroics today please Mistral.  Just
shoot your bow and try to repress the impulse to have a go at a dragon armed
with just your dagger.’

Fabian looked over to give her a private smile
from beneath the fur trim of his hood.  She grinned back, knowing that he
shared in her thrill at the day’s hunt.  Access to his dreams had provided
her with a deep insight to the mind of her Mage.  The protectiveness he
displayed towards her was a direct contrast to the complete lack of regard he
showed for his own safety.  He had an innately fearless nature that, if
possible, made her feel even more drawn to him than before.  Tearing her
gaze away from Fabian, Mistral looked up at the rugged path winding away in
front of them.  A startled mountain hare leapt out and bounded away and
Mistral reached out instinctively to restrain Prospero.

‘I wish Prosp was here,’ she sighed, suddenly
wistful for the company of her huge dog.  ‘It doesn’t feel right going hunting
without him.  He would’ve loved all this.’