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The steam warmed my face as I took a greedy sip. Black, with enough sugar to curl my tongue. The jolt helped: I found the energy to bite into the sandwich. I finished both before I answered. The warmth from the blankets helped too.
“He ordered me to fix the problem. It was that or lots of people suffering while the river took revenge for him breaking the Compact.” I found the strength to smile. So it had an edge to it, why shouldn’t it? If we were going to share a bed again, I wanted him to see me as I was. Even if he decided to run instead.
“Scary face, Alys.” He appeared unmoved. A little sigh of relief snuck out of me.
“Still want to travel with me? Do you feel safe?” My eyelids drooped. He took the lid from me, nudging me to lie down. My hand snagged his free one, tugged on it.
He raised a brow, squeezing my hand, then disengaged. “Safe enough. Pretty sure my virtue isn’t, though.”
In warm comfort, sleep pulled me under.
ChapterEleven
ALYS
Iwoke as the gray-pink light traced the horizon. I snuggled into the warmth, pulling the blanket over my eyes, though the bitter cold had departed the area. Like the Wendigo, but not quite… had the spirit possessed someone who’d proven strong enough to retain their identity? Someone who had a talent for illusion, to disguise it when it roamed? I’d been too busy trying to stay alive to identify magical nuance.
And it would explain why it ran away when injured.
“Ready?” Walker’s hand peeled up a corner of the blanket, and the scent of tea and frying dough made its way to my nose. I sat up. He crouched by the fire, flipping another flat cake onto a camp plate. I hadn’t really focused on him last night beyond his face, vision blurred between the dim light and the exhaustion.
His clothing was made of well-worn leather, shiny in spots from wear. A thick belt supported a utility knife and a smaller bone-handled one. A shoulder holster carried a lasgun as well, unconcealed by his unzipped thin jacket.
Crawling out of the warm blankets with an edge of regret, I walked over to the fire, stooped, and brushed my lips against his forehead, avoiding the red gem in the center. “Thank you.”
His emotions were restful, calm, and salted with humor. It made it easy to touch him.
“You’re welcome.” He offered me a flat cake; I savored it. Dried berries sweetened each bite.
“So, you’re offering to open the Road and take me with you back to Capitol?” I poured the tea with my free hand into the two cups and offered him one.
“Yes.” He set the pan to the side, picking up a cake of his own. “Judging by the light show last night, you’ve got plenty of magic. Why haven’t you made a contract with the Road?”
I sighed. “Because I’m terrible at focusing my power. I can’t get it to manifest steadily enough to summon and hold the Road’s attention, much less use it to enter into a contract.”
The Road was a passageway that allowed people to travel from one place to another more quickly, but not everyone could use the Road, myself included, because a magical contract was required to use it. The Road would constantly try to consume anyone who tried to walk it without a contract. Almost all those who could make an agreement with it opted to be able to take someone with them at need, which was how I’d traveled on it in the past. Not everyone could make a contract, and sometimes they needed to travel fast. So long as the person without the contract stayed close to the person who called the Road, everything was fine. It didn’t cost extra power to bring a friend, but if you got separated… well, the Road still had a reputation. It was relatively safe, although the occasional person was lost on it, but it was still faster and safer than flying because of the elves.
Ethan had told me that limiting the power I accessed would keep me from the craziness that afflicted some Stormdusts. He’d brought me back from that madness when my parents died, and he’d worked with me to bind my power. Risking insanity for fast transit would be stupid, even if not using magic made me look weak to the rest of the world.
When I dared to look at Walker, I was surprised when I found no pity in his steady gaze. It was strangely refreshing. Perhaps he didn’t think having power was the most important thing in the world, like everyone else.
“Maybe try a different mode of training? Some people don’t do well with the demonstrate and repeat model. I learned non-traditionally, myself.” He suggested, as I handed him my plate and cup.
“So I can be a more useful slave for the Guild?” I asked, my voice dripping with sweetness.
He smirked, but leveled me with a serious gaze. “So you can stay alive. From what I saw of the aftermath, this was a pretty close-run fight.”
“Fair point.” I shrugged. The conversation lulled for a moment as we started cleaning up and packing. But when we were almost done, I continued, “I wasn’t trained in a school either; my uncle taught me. He tried everything he could think of—I was in an accident as a child and he said that might impact my control and power, too. But if there’s anything you want to teach me…”
Walker laughed and shook his head. We’d finished packing the campsite as we spoke, and he slung his pack over his shoulders before he pulled the bone-handled knife from its sheath on his belt.
The blade was greyish stone, probably flint, and was small and worn. He nicked his thumb, drops of blood welling up. He caught them in his other hand. I moved to stand next to him.
Shedding blood made calling the Road easier, with less power needing to be expended. Others would feel the Road approaching; I’d never been able to. It exited between places, offering a swift way to travel, but it was risky. Sometimes people didn’t make it to their destinations. Someone had discovered it before the Fall, and it was one of the reasons the Ridden hadn’t won when they invaded. It granted humanity superior mobility that it took them years to match.
The Road cost, in ways I didn’t really understand, since no one would tell me. Years ago, in Kalderon, Ethan had directed me to watch while Chance made his contract. I’d felt nothing, seen nothing, as Chance paled and sweated a fine sheen of blood all over his body. I’d had to hug myself to keep from reaching out to help him.
The blood had vanished from his skin, and the air had parted as the gate to the Road opened, its edge a circular blur maybe six feet across. Within the blurry edge, a vista of ancient trees.
