Page 138 of Wind Rider

For a moment River felt a terrible sense of panic.How could I have forgotten the crystal?

Anjo’s strong voice steadied her.You did not forget. You have the perfect crystal around your neck.

“Yes!” River said quickly. “Yes, I do have my crystal.”

Behind the old woman and her ancient mare the other eleven members of the Mare Council trotted up, forming a circle around River and Anjo.

“And what crystal will you awaken?” Morgana asked.

River reached up and touched the center stone in her grandmother’s necklace. “Amethyst.”

Morgana nodded her head in approval. “Then you must simply awaken your crystal so that the Council feels the properties of amethyst. Whenever you are ready, mare Rider, you may begin.”

River closed her eyes, and her hand fisted around the crystal that rested a little above her heart.

Amethyst is a stone with many properties. It can balance the mind, the emotions, and the bodies of people in need. It clears auras and bestows stability, strength, and great peace. It helps in meditation and focus and can even enhance cooperation and unity. But one of its greatest properties is the ability to bring a great sense of contentment if wielded by a powerful Seer.

Show them how powerful you are. Show all of them,Anjo said.

Smiling at the trust and belief that filled her mare’s words, River drew a deep breath and called the stone to awaken. It instantly heated. She cupped both hands around it as she concentrated, finding her way intothe crystal, and then with a powerful mentalpushRiver flung her arms wide, imagining that she was washing her Herd in that unique, spectacular contentment her grandmother’s stone possessed.

River heard the Council gasp—and that sound was followed by the susurrus of the Herd, as contentment filled not only the twelve members of the Mare Council, butevery member of Herd Magenti.

You did it! We did it!Anjo’s happiness filled River’s mind, and she opened her eyes to see every member of the Council of Mares smiling at her.

“Herd Magenti Central—behold your new Lead Mare and Rider, River and her Anjo!”

And while dusk settled over the Plains of the Wind Riders, a great cheer went up from the Herd as they greeted their new leader. Tears of joy blinded River, so that she didn’t see Clayton and several of his friends leave the celebration—as did Skye, hanging her head in shame as she backed slowly away from the group of merrymakers to follow after Clayton.

CHAPTER 20

PRESENT DAY—THE SALEESH VILLAGE AT BONN DAM

As dusk settled over the Umbria River, Death consumed the first Saleesh village. It took them five full days to reach the Bonn Dam, and in that time they lost one of the Tribe’s repaired boats and three rafts—though the God didn’t appear upset at all about the loss. Not of human and canine life, nor of the boats. Instead He mysteriously kept saying that there would be plenty to take the place of those lost.

And that wasn’t all that was mysterious about Death’s behavior since they’d entered the Umbria River. The God had taken to sitting on the driftwood throne that had been moved to His raft, ordering His Attendants to leave Him be, and then speaking to the empty air around Him as if it were filled with people.

Ralina observed these bizarre one-sided conversations many times. Death spoke softly, assuring invisible hordes that He was coming and that He would set them free. Ralina hadn’t asked Him to whom He was speaking or what He was saying. There was something about Death’s tone, which was almost fatherly, that sent chills of trepidation over her skin. She suspected the God’s answer would be life-altering and, most likely, terrifying—and after His immolation of the Tribe Ralina wasn’t sure she could survive many more terrors, or at least survive them with her mind intact.

There was something about the Umbria River that made her bloodfeel cold and her heart empty, as if despair fell like spring rain over the entire area. At night she was glad that she had to pretend Renard was her lover. The God watched them, often—not so much with an eye looking for subterfuge, but more in a disturbing camaraderie, as her taking a young lover was a sign of strength to the God. And though she and Renard were not lovers, the time they spent together was pleasant, because they were definitely allies against Death, and slowly becoming friends as well.

The day had been clear and warm, and the setting sun washed the darkening sky in orange and pink and yellow when they docked their flotilla at a well-tended beach filled with beautiful boats of different sizes and shapes just before the ruins of the dam turned the Umbria into a white-water nightmare.

“Storyteller!” Death roared from His raft.

“My Lord, I am here,” Ralina said as Renard and Daniel paddled their little boat beside the God’s spacious raft.

“Ah, excellent. Storyteller, I would that you remain close beside me, as what will happen here will be an important chapter in my tale, but I also would not have you injured.”

His words made Ralina feel ill with foreboding. “Are you expecting that the Saleesh will attack us, my Lord?”

“They mighttry,” came Thaddeus’s snide response. He’d joined Death on His raft earlier that evening. The two of them had been speaking for hours, but Ralina had not been invited to listen and record their conversation, which was as disturbing as it was odd.

“Yes, and in their trying I do not want my Storyteller injured,” Death said. “Thaddeus, I had thought to allow you to lead my Reapers into the village, but perhaps I will task Iron Fist with that job and instead you will remain by the Storyteller’s side so that I can be sure she will come through the day unharmed.”

“I will do as you command, my Lord.” Thaddeus spoke the words and bowed subserviently, but the look he shot Ralina was venomous.

Ralina’s heart was pounding so hard she was amazed the God didn’t hear it. And then Renard spoke up.