Recognition.
The creature gave a low rumbling sound, not threatening, almost… acknowledging. Then it slipped silently back into the darkness and vanished.
Bria stared after it, her pulse unsteady.
Kaelan remained still a moment longer before turning back toward her.
But now another fear had begun to take shape inside her, not fear of the creature. Not entirely.
A question, and it was one she could not push aside.
What connection could possibly exist between the beast… and Kaelan?
Chapter Eight
A Stranger
And a Strange Little Creature
“We follow the tracks.”
Kaelan’s voice came quietly after the creature disappeared into the darkness beyond the clearing, though the steady purpose in it left no doubt he had already decided.
Bria looked toward the trees where the beast had vanished so silently that at times, she questioned if she had truly seen it at all. Yet she had. She still felt the weight of its strange gaze fixed not on her, but on Kaelan.
“It is still night,” she said softly.
“Dawn approaches.”
The sky above the ruins had begun to pale slightly, though Driochmor surrendered little of its darkness. Shadows lingered thick beneath the forest canopy, and what faint light touched the land did little more than soften the blackness into deep gray.
Kaelan crossed back into the ruins and crouched beside the fire. Bria watched him gather dirt and scatter it carefully over the glowing embers until the last traces of flame disappeared beneath ash and earth.
Bria watched him quietly. There was purpose in every movement he made, as though he had long ago learned to survive in places far harsher than these ruins. And she wonderedwho he truly was. Where was he from? Somewhere in Scotara? Or far beyond its shores?
Kaelan rose and brushed the dirt from his hands. Curiosity or her own chance of survival had her asking, “To most people, that beast would inspire terror. Yet you stood before it unmoved, unthreatened.”
Kaelan glanced toward her briefly. “It is unwise to show a beast fear.”
Bria pressed gently, “The way you looked at it made me think you are familiar with such a creature. Are you?”
“We need to go,” he said, and took firm hold of her hand as if concerned she might refuse to go with him.
Bria needed no tug to follow along with him. He provided protection and while she still struggled to understand it, she did not wish to feel that emptiness that overcame her when they were separated.
Outside, the first weak traces of dawn slowly spread across the forest, though little light reached the ground where towering branches wove together overhead. Kaelan moved toward the edge of the clearing and lowered his gaze to the damp earth. He released her hand to lean down for a moment.
Bria remained at his side, drawing her cloak tighter against the chill. “You still have not answered me.”
Kaelan remained silent, studying the tracks. “I remind you again. You ask too many questions.”
“Wouldn’t you do the same if in my position?”
He stood, spotting a spark of stubbornness in her eyes. She would not let this go and she had a right to know, some, though not all of it. That would come in time.
“The creature comes from the Northland,” he said at last. “As do I.”
Bria stared at him not hiding her surprise.
