Then, without warning, Osha leaned back sharply on the bench and pulled hard on the reins.
Wynn threw her free arm over the wagon’s sidewall to hang on.
“What is happening?” Chane called, his rasp muffled through the mask.
“Shade stopped,” Osha answered.
Once the wagon shuddered to a halt, Wynn grabbed her staff with her free hand and rose to see. Perhaps twenty yards ahead, Shade stood poised in the middle of the road.
Wynn jumped out the back and ran ahead to crouch as she touched Shade’s shoulder.
“What is it?” she whispered.
—Shouts ... men—
Wynn didn’t hear anything, but she did spot a flickering light as from a small fire far down the road. At rushed footfalls behind her, she looked back.
Both Chane and Osha closed on her.
“I can hear and see it,” Chane said.
—Wagon ... fall—
Wynn turned back to Shade. “The wagon has overturned?”
Shade huffed once for yes.
Wynn held out the device. At first it did nothing, but when she swung her hand left and right, she felt the device try to twist back each time, as if it was out of balance or invisibly longer and heavier on whichever side it wished to turn. It was in full balance only when she pointed straight down the road.
“It’s here ... the orb,” she whispered.
Osha stepped up on Shade’s far side and peered down the road. Perhaps he could see and hear nearly as well as Chane.
“Shade says the wagon has overturned,” she added. “They’re delayed, and that means we have a chance to catch them unaware.”
“Osha,” Chane rasped, “if I come at them from the north side, and you from the south with Shade, we might take out enough before they spot us that the others will surrender ... or at least I might get to the orb and run.”
“That is ridiculous!” Wynn argued. “From my count, the duke has eleven men with him. You’ll need me to—”
“You are staying here,” Chane cut in.
“Don’t even start!” Wynn shot back, and when Shade looked up, she added, “Not you, either!”
Shade still growled, obviously agreeing with Chane, and likely Osha, too, though he remained silent.
Wynn knew she had to put all of them in their place. Shade claimed to have sensed a Fay in the keep, but under the best circumstances, she would do almost anything to keep Wynn from being alone out of the wild. That was where the Fay preferred to appear, out of anyone else’s sight.
“Listen,” she began again. “You need a distraction, and I—”
Shade suddenly dashed a few strides down the road. She halted, her whole body stiff with her ears fully upright. Wynn didn’t even have time to follow or ask anything, for Shade whirled and charged back, snarling. Wynn retreated two steps in reflex.
Osha rushed in and held out his bow to block Shade. “What she do?”
Wynn held out her hand, trying to halt the dog, and then she stiffened at one memory-word in her mind.
—Undead!—
Shade looked to Chane, and Wynn couldn’t help but do so. Chane was staring down the road and turned only his eyes to her.
“She senses something more, yes?” he asked.
Wynn hesitated before she answered. “She says there’s an undead out there.”
“Undead?” Chane repeated.
“Is it Sau’ilahk?” Wynn asked, turning to Shade. “Is it the wraith?”
A moment passed before ... —Different—
“Undead?” Osha repeated as well.
He had not heard—nor would he have understood—the earlier exchange between herself and Chane in the wagon’s back. Chane appeared somewhat stunned, or as much as she could tell from his posture and eyes. Perhaps he had donned all the gear without really considering how someone could have located the orb of Spirit hidden among Aupsha’s sect.
“What do you mean, ‘different’?” Wynn asked Shade. “Like Chane?”
—No ... Different—
“What is wrong?” Chane demanded.
Wynn shook her head. “I think Shade doesn’t know ... or isn’t sure, whatever it is. Only that it’s some kind of undead, perhaps one she has never sensed before.”
Chane stepped straight at her. “Enough! Shade, take Wynn back to the keep now.”
Wynn backed away, almost ramming into Osha, and held out the staff like a spear. “I’m not going anywhere!” she warned.
Chane halted barely beyond the staff’s crystal.
“What happen?” Osha asked, looking among everyone before fixing on Wynn. “What new danger to you?”
With a grimace, Wynn rapidly explained a little about Sau’ilahk, the wraith who had tracked her over the past year, and his possible presence here.
“But that’s not what Shade senses,” she added. “Even if he or some other undead is out there, I have the only weapon that will work against any undead. They cannot get to me, so long as I can use the sun crystal.”
Still watching her, Chane let out a breathy hiss.
“We do this my way,” she said. “The orb means more than any overprotective nonsense from any of you! Chane, take the north side, as you said, but Osha goes with you.”
Both of them tensed.
“Not another word!” she warned. “Take a position where you can see the wagon and whoever is there and then try to spot the orb. It will probably be covered or in a container, and you both know the rough size of one. Shade and I will cut through the south-side trees. If Sau’ilahk—or any undead—tries to come for me, Shade will know and I’ll ignite the staff. If not, once Shade and I close on the wagon from the south, I’ll ignite the staff anyway.”
She paused, waiting for her words to sink in—or for any more futile arguments.
“If Sau’ilahk isn’t here or doesn’t attack,” she continued, “igniting the staff will cause chaos, maybe momentarily blinding some guards. Osha, do not look for me or to the south, as only Chane has protection for his eyes. Once the staff ignites, Chane goes for the orb. Osha, you keep the remaining guards off of him. Once you two have it, get out of there and don’t look back. Shade and I will meet you at our wagon.”
For a few breaths no one spoke, and she finally asked, “Agreed?”
It wasn’t really a question.
Wynn knew this was the best they could do with this unexpected opportunity. Each of her companions had reasons for not trusting the others, even though Shade and Chane had learned to work together. All of them, including Osha, had reasons for staying close to her, and those reasons were now getting in her way.
Wynn noticed that Osha didn’t have the bundled sword on his back this time. He must have left it in the back of the wagon.
Chane was still glowering, but his gaze finally shifted. “Shade, one more thing.”
He reached over to remove his left glove, exposing the ring of nothing on his left middle finger. This arcane object shielded his nature as an undead from anyone or anything with the capability of sensing him—such as Shade. Obviously he was giving the dog fair warning, for he pulled the ring off.
“I want all my senses unimpeded,” he explained, “and I do not care who or what senses me. If there is an undead out there, my presence may draw it out.”
Wynn wasn’t certain she liked that. Shade grumbled only once, for by now she’d become accustomed to suddenly sensing Chane’s true nature when he removed the ring.
Chane tucked the ring into his coin pouch and dropped that inside his shirt. As he slipped his left glove back on, he looked directly at Shade.
“Howl at the first hint of an undead anywhere near you.”