AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I edged my way down, slipping and sliding, occasionally having to lean back toward the slope to balance myself with my hand. At a shout from Rhiannon, I glanced back. She'd landed on her butt in a patch of brambles.
"You okay?"
She nodded as Leo helped her up. "Yeah, a few thorns but nothing major." Shaking off the clinging stickers, she cautiously passed over the slippery spot and I went back to deciphering the best way down.
Ravines in western Washington are usually steep, covered in thorny brambles and stinging nettle and ferns, and they're moist. Fungi grow thick in them, and there's the ever-present sense that the very ground is alive. Add a layer of snow, and freezing temperatures, and you have the perfect recipe for an accident.
The scents of ozone mingling with the cedar and fir created a sharp blend that went straight to my head. Scents affected me more than they did others, probably because of my affinity for the air.
The mist wafted up the side of the slope and I stopped, staring at the coiling, vaporous serpents. If there was anything hidden within the fog, we couldn't see it. Chances are whatever might be cloaked couldn't see us either, but Rhiannon and Leo weren't skilled at quiet navigation. Kaylin appeared to be, and I knew how to soften my footsteps, but with the other two in tow it would be obvious we were coming.
I held up my hand and motioned for them to shut up. They quieted down, pausing as I listened. At first, the sound of snow falling from the branches to the ground below and the calling of crows overshadowed everything else, but as I tuned in and asked Ulean to separate the sounds for me, the layers began to pull apart. To the left--a small animal running through the overgrowth. Overhead, the trees creaked in the wind, branches rubbing against each other.
As I lowered myself even deeper into the slipstream of sound, I could hear the slow hiss of the mist as it rolled along the ground, alive and looking to cover and obscure. And behind the mist, spirits whispered on their passage through the ravine. Ghostly lips played out laughter and tears, sudden cries, then--just as suddenly silent.
Still lower, I had to go lower.
And finally, below the mist, below the ghosts and the susurration of breeze, more whispering. But this time the noise was on a different frequency--not Elemental, but belonging to . . . the Fae. And that meant, the Shadow Hunters. But I heard no footfalls to warn me they were near, no vocalized thoughts to indicate they might be waiting below. No, this was different--as though I were listening through earphones to something distant and far away.
I let out a slow breath and turned back to the others. "We're being watched, but I don't sense any immediate danger. I think we're safe enough." I kept my voice as low as I could but no matter what I did, I knew the slipstream would catch it up for the waiting ears and eyes that hid behind the mist.
Turning back to the path, I began to make my way down into the first layer of mist that rose about a third of the way up the sides of the ravine. The fog swirled around me, cloaking everything outside of a couple yards in my path. While I could see my feet through the white swirls, we'd be walking blind here. I waited for the others to catch up.
"Don't fall behind. I'll go slow. We need to keep within sight of one another."
"Will this help?" Kaylin passed me a thin rope. "We can each keep hold of it."
"Sounds good to me. Don't let it catch on anything." I wrapped the end of the rope around my arm and once again headed into the mist. The chill echoed in my lungs, and reflexively I coughed, then whirled at a sudden stir in the wild rosebush next to me.
"Crap!" I stumbled back as a creature leapt out and landed near my feet. Squat, with bloated eyes, it was about three feet high, and had nasty-looking teeth in an oversized mouth. And it latched on to my leg.
I tried to shake it off, but it had a good hold and--oh shit, it was about to bite down. I had no doubt that those teeth would be able to rip right through my jeans and take a good chunk out of me.
"Get it off me!"
Kaylin rushed forward and landed a kick to its midsection. The creature let go but hissed at him and gathered itself for a leap. Before I could think, instinct took over and I flicked my switchblade open, stabbing the tip square on the creature's back. As I pulled away for another blow, it jumped out of reach, reminding me of a toad, then ran off.
Panting, I faced Kaylin. "What the fuck was that?"
"Goblin dog. Goblins live in the forest with the Fae you know. They're actually part of the whole Fae world, but both Seelie and Unseelie avoid them. Goblin dogs are . . . well, they're intelligent to a degree. They're a cross between goblins and other . . . creatures. Goblins that didn't quite develop normally. They're used as slaves and frontline grunts in wars. In other words: anytime somebody has to do the dirty work and stands a good chance of being offed."
"Oh, how delightful. I've never heard of them. Hell, I barely know anything about the world of the Fae." I paused. "How do you know so much?"
He gave me a long look. "The shamanic tradition my mother was initiated into, the magic that changed my DNA, is steeped in the magic of the Court of Dreams. The inhabitants of the Court aren't fully corporeal and they work on the astral plane. They're well aware of the Fae and I've learned much in the hundred years I've been alive."
I'd never heard of the Court of Dreams but just the mention of it washed over me like a bucket of cold water. Something about the name . . .
"Wait . . . hundred years? You're a hundred years old?"
"One hundred and one, yes." He said it so matter-offactly that I decided to let that issue drop right there. We could discuss his age and how he managed to get there without looking a day over thirty later on, when we weren't fighting goblin dogs.
"Okay. So, is this also what gives you your ability to see ghosts?"
"Yeah, and my other . . . abilities." Kaylin nodded to the bottom of the ravine. "We'd better get a move on or that thing might come back. And frankly, I don't know if we're armed enough to actually kill it. You landed a nasty blow with your blade and barely slit the skin."
The reality of what he was saying washed over me. We'd barely hurt the creature. What would we do if we were facing something more dangerous? No two ways about it: We had to shape up because chances were good that we wouldn't make it through the next few months without another fight. Kaylin was experienced. And I knew enough to teach street fighting. We'd muddle through.
"Keep your eyes open. If something happens, don't run off into the mist alone. Kaylin and I have the most experience fighting, so Leo, you stick with me. Kaylin, you help Rhia."
