Page 104 of Wind Rider

Ralina turned to face Death as Bear stepped silently behind her. “My Lord, I did not wish to interrupt you and Thaddeus, but I wanted to collect my thoughts and order my words. Today marks an important chapter in your story.”

“It does, indeed,” Death said. “And you are right to give today’s events special attention. I do grant you leave to go.”

“Thank you, my Lord.” She bowed to him.

“Have you moved into that nest I assigned to you?” Death asked her before she could escape down the stairs.

“I was planning to do that tonight,” she lied. She’d had no intention of leaving her sick and dying people to rot away in the repulsive holding pen area Death had designated for all who were ill or injured and refused to take The Cure. But this night the move that Death had ordered fit perfectly with her plan—desperate and unlikely to succeed as it was.

“Good. Be sure you do. That is where I will call for you on the morrow, when you will observe the next chapter of my magnificent tale. And, Storyteller, you are looking too thin. I am concerned for you. Do I need to send you special cuts of meats so that I can be sure you are eating enough?”

Ralina’s mouth flooded with saliva, and she had to swallow several times to keep from vomiting.Of course I’m thin. I have to forage for roots and berries and vegetables. Thank the Sun God canines don’t seem to be able to be infected by eating tainted meat, or Bear would’ve starved by now.Finally, she was able to smile and say, “Oh, no, thank you. I tend to lose weight while I am creating a new tale. It’s part of my process. The more important the tale, the more I focus on its creation. If I eat too much it makes my brain sluggish. I’m sure you understand that, my Lord.”

Before Death could respond Thaddeus spoke. “Strange that I don’t remember you getting thin when you wrote our stories.”

“Strange that I don’t remember you paying much attention to me at all before now, Thaddeus. We were not friends. We were not intimate. How would you know anything about my creative process?”

“Well, I—”

Ralina cut him off. “And I have never been entrusted with a tale of this importance. Of course it is going to require special concentration.” She looked from Thaddeus to meet Death’s dark gaze. “My Lord, would you rather that I fatten up or I that I create your tale authentically?”

“Thaddeus, do not question her again,” Death said. “I give you the freedom to do what you need to do, Storyteller.”

“Yes, my Lord.” Ralina fled down the stairs, silently urging Bear tohurry before He changed His mind—again—and made her stay with Him longer, or listened to Thaddeus more than He listened to her.

She and Bear jogged to the holding pen. The Skin Stealer standing guard near the area where Ralina had built a rickety shelter and pallet barely glanced her way as she ducked under the rope barrier no other Tribesman or woman was allowed to cross. She hastily gathered her few meager items—a wooden mug, clothes she’d managed to salvage, a bowl for Bear, and a few precious piles of paper that Death had commanded be brought to her the instant He’d understood she recorded her tales on them. She rolled the items carefully in her pallet, and then left the holding pen area. Again, the guard paid no notice. Death had made it clear that she could come and go as she wished, and not one person in the camp would dare to cross Death.

Well, not one person except Ralina, Storyteller of the Tribe of the Trees.

She knew where she was going, but had ready the excuse ofIt was dark and I got lost trying to find my new nest.No Skin Stealer would question her. Most of them were too animalist and didn’t seem to think about much of anything except fighting, eating, and fornicating, but the Warriors and Hunters who followed Thaddeus—who had ripped living flesh from their canines and merged it with their own—were a different story. They were meanandcunning. Ralina avoided them as much as possible.

Thankfully, the excitement of the Lynx guide’s arrival had brought on a celebration that drew Skin Stealers and Thaddeus’s followers to the God’s tree, where they were drinking and dancing themselves into an orgy-like frenzy. It was simple for Ralina to slip from shadow to shadow in the darkness until she reached the tree the God had commanded be prepared for the Lynx man several days earlier.

Ralina had to steady herself before she hailed Dax from below. The nest they’d prepared for him used to belong to Cyril, Lead Elder of the Tribe, and though the tree had been damaged in the fire, and the nest blackened, it was still recognizable enough that homesickness washed over her, threatening to drown her in sadness.

“Hey, aren’t you the Tribe’s Storyteller?”

Dax’s voice startled her and Ralina whirled around, Bear hugging the side of her leg and growling low in his deep chest.

Dax backed a step, his hands held up, palms out. His big Lynx was beside him, almost invisible except for his yellow eyes. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. Mihos needed to go out before we bedded down for the night.”

Ralina recovered quickly. “My fault. I was lost in the past for a moment, but I’m back now. Yes, I am Ralina, Storyteller for the Tribe of the Trees—though that is now an extinct position.”

“Things have definitely changed.” Dax glanced around as if to see if anyone else was near.

“I need to speak with you. Privately,” Ralina said.

“Well, then, come on up.” Dax motioned to the lift that was on the far side of the tree, and they entered it, working a pulley mechanism that took them up fifty feet and into the arms of the huge old pine.

Cyril’s nest had been completely gutted—which made Ralina relieved and sad at the same time. The only thing left in it was a bucket for Dax’s overnight wastes, a pallet, and a small brazier.

Ralina wasted no time. “Have you eaten anything since you arrived in the forest?”

Dax was lighting the brazier, and he looked over his shoulder at her in surprise. “No, not yet. What I said to your leader is the truth. Mihos and I ate before we crossed into Tribe of the Trees territory. Why?”

“First, the God of Death isnotmy leader. He’s my jailor. Next, donoteat the meat ofanyanimal in this forest. Too many of them have been tainted.”

“Tainted? You’re going to have to explain. And is that guy really a god?”