Pain shot through Achan's shoulder. He blinked. Darkness surrounded him, lit by the faint orange glow of firelight. Where was he? Had that been a dream?
The rope at Achan's waist tugged, pulling him tighter against a hard surface. He reached out and found a fat, sticky tree. He was in Darkness with the knights, running from Esek.
Sir Gavin called out from the circle of torchlight, "All right back there?"
"Are you hurt, Achan?" Sparrow's voice. Behind him.
"Uh…" Achan stepped around the protruding tree. "There's a tree here, Sparrow. Watch yourself."
"Just a tree, Sir Gavin," Sparrow yelled and the rope tugged Achan along again.
Sir Gavin Whitewolf.
Achan perked up. Sir Gavin was knocking, wanting to bloodvoice. Achan concentrated on opening the door like he'd done last night, allowing only Sir Gavin inside.
Would he know if he succeeded? He wanted to tell Sir Gavin about Cetheria-no, that had been Lady Tara, hadn't it?
Achan, Sir Gavin said. Don't answer, simply listen. 'Tis vital you learn to bloodvoice straight away. I've no doubt you'll succeed. Our connection now is perfect. You've opened your mind only to me. I can sense your shields. Now you must learn to speak without dropping your shields. Duplicate yourself, like Caleb's guard explanation, leaving a man to guard your mind. Let the other speak. Cough if you understand.
Cough? Why the secrecy? Did Sir Gavin suspect someone? Sparrow perhaps? Achan considered the little fox on his heels and coughed.
Good. Now do as I described.
Achan took a deep breath. He imagined himself standing sentry before the door to his mind, Eagan's Elk raised, ready to defend. He pictured himself stepping to the side. Instead of the guard Achan moving, another Achan stepped out of the first. The two stood side by side in his mind, looking at one another.
Go on, then, the first Achan said to the second. I've got this.
Achan smiled. He always had been a quick learner.
Twice before, Achan had passed through one mind and into another. Sparrow called it jumping. Achan had jumped through Sparrow to see Macoun Hadar speak with Lord Nathak. Then, when the Council of Seven had gone to deliberate as to who would be king, Achan jumped through Sir Gavin to watch the debate through Prince Oren's eyes.
Both times, Sparrow and Sir Gavin had been watching already. Achan had merely touched them, used their energy, cheated really, like peeking over their shoulder to use what they had already accomplished.
This time he'd need to use his own strength. He hoped he wouldn't faint as Sparrow often did. Concentrating on Sir Gavin, the second Achan ventured out.
Achan now walked at the front of the line, staring out through Sir Gavin's eyes into the black void beyond, arm holding a burning torch above his head, dodging the occasional slimy, black branch. Sir Gavin's pack and shield hung heavy over his aching shoulders. The rope at his waist jerked, forcing him to stop.
"Gavin!" Sir Caleb shouted from behind.
Wait. Hadn't Sir Caleb been ahead of him?
"Aye?" Sir Gavin wheeled around, looking back to Sir Caleb, who stood over a body.
Achan's body.
"Achan's fallen. Fainted or something."
Achan wheezed, the sour smell of the forest overwhelming. He lay on the wet soil. His elbow stung. His hip too. He rolled onto his knees. Sparrow, Inko, and Sir Caleb stood over him, faces shadowed in the flickering torchlight.
Sir Gavin cut between Inko and Sparrow, torch wavering in his hand. "What happened?"
Achan rubbed his elbow. "I reached out, but forgot I was walking."
Sir Gavin burst into deep laughter. "No, Achan. That's not how to message. You were watching. Never watch and walk at the same time. Forgive me. Save yourself more bruises and we'll try again once we've stopped."
No one asked any questions, thankfully. Achan had never fainted-not without the aid of a wound or tonic, anyway. It seemed weak. He hoped Sir Gavin could explain what he'd done wrong so it would never happen again.
Another thought shifted to the forefront of his mind. "Sir Gavin, I also saw Cetheria. She stabbed me, but I didn't die."
"Saw her where?" The knight reached out his hand.
Achan gripped his wrist and pulled himself up. His elbow throbbed. He must have scraped it when he fell. "Last time, when we stopped. Before I hit the tree. She stabbed me in the chest."
"Already it is happening, Gavin. I have been feeling my mind to be wandering also. We should be turning back, going to Light as fast as our legs can be carrying us."
"We are not going back, Inko. Achan, I want you to open your mind, like you did before, shields up, open to me. Then I want you to include everyone here. Do it now."
Achan repeated the process of duplicating himself to guard his mind. He looked from face to face and felt a connection tug in his mind.
Good, Sir Gavin said. Now, we keep moving. Caleb, give us a little talk about Lord Falkson and Barth, so we all know who we are dealing with. Ask questions to see that no one is drifting.
Well, the people of Barth worship Barthos, god of the earth…
With that, Sir Gavin turned and pulled them onward through the twisting black trees.
*
They made camp in a rocky area. Sir Gavin and Achan took first watch.
Achan settled onto a jagged boulder beside Sir Gavin. He looked up to the sky and noticed, for the first time, a variation in the blackness. A twisted stripe that was darker that the rest. A tree branch, perhaps? "How do you know the way?"
"I've always had a keen sense of smell." Sir Gavin put out the torch. Darkness sank over Achan like a shroud he couldn't lift. The knight chuckled softly. "Aw, that's not the full truth of it. I use my bloodvoice to share the senses of nearby beasts."
Achan recalled seeing through the bird's eyes. "You can do that?"
"I recall you did it once."
Achan tensed. "I did?" Had Sir Gavin known he'd been experimenting last night?
"When you killed your first deer."
"Ah." Achan shivered at the memory of sharing the doe's mind, tasting the bitterness of the tree bark it had been eating. It hadn't been a fair way to hunt. "Is that how you got your name?" Sir Gavin's stray surname was Lukos, after the big wolves that lived in the Chowmah Mountains.
"Sort of. I grew up in Tsaftown. We used sleds pulled by dogs to travel over snow. My lead dog was a wolf whose mother I'd killed when she attacked a friend. The pup hung around and I trained her. Chion. My white wolf. She was a good dog. Taught me much."
Achan thought of Dilly and Peg, the goats he'd tended in Sitna. He missed their companionship. "Where is she now?"
"Died years ago. I never replaced her."
Achan sensed a heavy grief that matched Sir Gavin's tone. He shifted his weight on the unforgiving rock. "How does sharing the animals' senses help you?"
"They are my eyes, nose, and ears here. I'm able to peek from one mind to another, using what I need to guide us. We follow an old road that once stretched from the south shore of the second Reshon Gate all the way to Mirrorstone. There the road divides: north across the sandbars to Melas and Allown Duchy or west across the rocky plains into Barth."
"So we're in Barth Duchy now?"
"We're in Nahar Duchy, in part of Nahar Forest. The volcanic rock of Barth Duchy reaches into the forest a bit. You can't see, but south of where we stand, the Cela Mountains separate us from Cela Duchy, where Jaelport and Meneton lie."
"What other cities are in Barth Duchy?" Achan asked.
"Only Barth. Barthians keep to themselves as much as Magos or Cherem, though they have a treaty with Jaelport."