The Black Star (Book 3) Read Free Page B

said.
    Ast gave it some thought. "Lights in the sky. They are rumored to resemble Ghost Lights."
    "Isn't it too early in the year for that?"
    "I don't have a direct line to the clouds," Ast said, "but through careful observation, I've discovered they do whatever they want whenever they want. If it were to snow tomorrow, you might think it's too early in the season. But you couldn't argue with the fact there was snow."
    " He probably could," Lew said, then shot a startled look at Dante.
    Dante ignored this. "Sure, but if the snowflakes were shaped like trees—or cicadas—I might begin to suspect it wasn't your average, everyday storm."
    Ash chewed bread, watching the woods, and brushed crumbs from his shirt. "People see shapes that aren't there. Particularly people who spend all day staring at sheep. In a couple of days, you can see for yourself."
    They finished eating and climbed the makeshift ladder to the cave. Inside, they spread blankets on the smooth floor and hung sheepskins over the small entrance to help trap their body heat inside. Even so, the cold woke Dante more than once. When it did, he pulled aside the sheepskin and watched the night, but saw no strange lights in the sky.
    At daybreak, they climbed down and prepared for the day's hike. Dante didn't bother to fill in the cave; they'd need it on the way back, and in any event he wanted to conserve his strength. The forest quit abruptly just an hour into the day, spitting them into a craggy field bereft of everything but shrubs, weeds, a few late-season wildflowers, and a hell of a lot of boulders. They stopped at the edge of the pines to cut walking staffs, then continued into the rocks.
    The uneven footing made for slow going. Ahead, conical peaks soared against the sky, white-capped and forbidding. Lew struggled to keep up. Their breath misted the air. Patches of snow hid in sheltered blue pockets the sun rarely touched.
    The field stretched for a few miles that took far too long to cross. Elevated above all but the highest peaks, and with no ground cover taller than his waist, Dante felt simultaneously exposed and protected. It would be virtually impossible to sneak up on them here.
    Shortly after noon, they climbed a short ridge and found themselves at the edge of a sheer ravine. The gap plunged a hundred feet to a frozen stream bed of bright ice. The far edge of the ravine hung sixty feet away.
    "Shall we climb down?" Ast said. "Or would you prefer to save us an hour and simply sling a rock bridge across it?"
    "A bridge?" Dante said. "I must have left it in my other cloak."
    "Yesterday, I watched you carve a hole in a cliff by staring at it. Would this be so much harder?"
    "Yes. And significantly more prone to collapsing halfway across and dashing our brains against a glacier. I could probably conjure up a sturdy enough bridge, but that might leave me too worn out to create a cave tonight. And where does that leave us? In a kapper's stomach."
    "And we didn't bring a walltent." Ast nodded. "Let's hope we've got enough rope."
    They'd need every bit of it to descend the ravine, which had a few ledges here and there, but was otherwise vertical. Ast secured the rope around a rock, then belted himself to the rope, gave it a tug, slipped on thin leather gloves, and started down.
    "Just like that, then?" Dante said.
    Five feet down the cliff face, Ast glanced up, squinting against the sun directly overhead. "Unless you'd prefer to jump."
    "Lew first. I can use him to cushion my fall."
    Dante looped his belt over the rope and got on gloves. Once Ast was halfway down, he paused on a ledge and signaled Dante to follow. With his pack and clothes, the going was awkward; the first time his feet dangled into empty space, he had to bite down a scream.
    Yet the climb wasn't as atrocious as he expected. With his legs curled around the rope, his belt threaded around it, and the cliff right beside him, much of the pressure was eased from his arms, and he was able to take