did not kill you because I did not let her. I threw a shield around you. She could not get through it.”
“You can do that?”
“I can.”
Dahl stared at her.
“Do we go on?” Bruhn’s voice broke through to them. He had also dismounted and leaned against his horse as if for support. His face was pale.
“Of course,” Dahl answered.
“What other choice do we have?” agreed the Sele. If it had been unnerved during the battle, it did not show it now.
Bruhn remained standing where he was, staring at them all. Catryn had no need to explore his mind to know what he was feeling.
“The village the boy told me about should be close by,” Sele the Plump said, its voice breaking into the tension. “Should we not be getting on?”
CHAPTER 10
Catryn slumped on her horse’s back. Her strength returned to her slowly. As they drew near to the village, however, strange feelings began to overcome her. Not the evil she had felt before. Instead, she felt as if her mind were slowing down, deadening. She looked around her for reassurance. They were riding through a pleasant wood, not unlike the woods she had known as a child in her own world. The trees were in full leaf and sunlight filtered down through them. The sky was blue; clouds skimmed past. Were it not for the inexplicable dread that was increasingwith every step her horse took, she would have thought the scene full of peace and tranquillity.
But that is the problem, she thought suddenly. It is too tranquil. Too peaceful. She cast her mind ahead of them to the village.
Where was the normal bustle of people? Where was the usual buzz of minds?
They trotted their horses into the village and stopped at a well to replenish their water jugs. Catryn threw a blanket over her horse’s withers to cover up its wings. A young woman came to the well to draw water also.
“Good morrow,’’ Catryn said pleasantly as she dipped her jug into the water beside her.
The woman did not respond.
Thinking perhaps she had not heard her, Catryn repeated her greeting. The woman continued to ignore her.
She acts as if I am not here, Catryn thought. Is she deaf? But she is not blind—surely, she could at least return my smile?
As if she were totally alone at the well, the woman filled her bucket, turned and walked away.
Dahl and Bruhn knelt beside her then to fill their jugs as well and douse their heads. Catryn felt their presence immediately, Dahl’s puzzled concern and Bruhn’s resentment burning still, so strong it overrode any other feeling within him.
Hard upon that came the realization that she had not felt the woman’s presence at all. There had been acurious emptiness in the air around her, even when the woman had stood right beside her. She gazed after the woman and sent a tendril of thought reaching out to her. The tendril encountered nothing.
Jugs filled and the horses’ thirst quenched, the party led their animals along the track that led into the village center. It was filled with people. They walked about, intent on their own business. It looked like an ordinary, everyday village scene. But there was something amiss.
“It is very quiet,” the Sele remarked. “No one seems to exchange words or greetings with anyone else.”
“Nor did that woman reply when I spoke to her at the well,” Catryn said.
“The boy, Norl, he spoke of a strange silence that fell upon the village after the beast had flown away, did he not?” Dahl asked.
“He did,” the Sele answered.
Catryn furrowed her brow as she watched the villagers. She searched ceaselessly with her mind, but could not connect with these people at all. That was more than troubling, but something else was wrong as well.
“They have no shadows,” she said. “The people have no shadows.”
It was true. The sun shone down bright and hard upon the village square, and although the trees and buildings all cast long, dark images, the people moving about between them had no shadows at all.
“What does this
“You can do that?”
“I can.”
Dahl stared at her.
“Do we go on?” Bruhn’s voice broke through to them. He had also dismounted and leaned against his horse as if for support. His face was pale.
“Of course,” Dahl answered.
“What other choice do we have?” agreed the Sele. If it had been unnerved during the battle, it did not show it now.
Bruhn remained standing where he was, staring at them all. Catryn had no need to explore his mind to know what he was feeling.
“The village the boy told me about should be close by,” Sele the Plump said, its voice breaking into the tension. “Should we not be getting on?”
CHAPTER 10
Catryn slumped on her horse’s back. Her strength returned to her slowly. As they drew near to the village, however, strange feelings began to overcome her. Not the evil she had felt before. Instead, she felt as if her mind were slowing down, deadening. She looked around her for reassurance. They were riding through a pleasant wood, not unlike the woods she had known as a child in her own world. The trees were in full leaf and sunlight filtered down through them. The sky was blue; clouds skimmed past. Were it not for the inexplicable dread that was increasingwith every step her horse took, she would have thought the scene full of peace and tranquillity.
But that is the problem, she thought suddenly. It is too tranquil. Too peaceful. She cast her mind ahead of them to the village.
Where was the normal bustle of people? Where was the usual buzz of minds?
They trotted their horses into the village and stopped at a well to replenish their water jugs. Catryn threw a blanket over her horse’s withers to cover up its wings. A young woman came to the well to draw water also.
“Good morrow,’’ Catryn said pleasantly as she dipped her jug into the water beside her.
The woman did not respond.
Thinking perhaps she had not heard her, Catryn repeated her greeting. The woman continued to ignore her.
She acts as if I am not here, Catryn thought. Is she deaf? But she is not blind—surely, she could at least return my smile?
As if she were totally alone at the well, the woman filled her bucket, turned and walked away.
Dahl and Bruhn knelt beside her then to fill their jugs as well and douse their heads. Catryn felt their presence immediately, Dahl’s puzzled concern and Bruhn’s resentment burning still, so strong it overrode any other feeling within him.
Hard upon that came the realization that she had not felt the woman’s presence at all. There had been acurious emptiness in the air around her, even when the woman had stood right beside her. She gazed after the woman and sent a tendril of thought reaching out to her. The tendril encountered nothing.
Jugs filled and the horses’ thirst quenched, the party led their animals along the track that led into the village center. It was filled with people. They walked about, intent on their own business. It looked like an ordinary, everyday village scene. But there was something amiss.
“It is very quiet,” the Sele remarked. “No one seems to exchange words or greetings with anyone else.”
“Nor did that woman reply when I spoke to her at the well,” Catryn said.
“The boy, Norl, he spoke of a strange silence that fell upon the village after the beast had flown away, did he not?” Dahl asked.
“He did,” the Sele answered.
Catryn furrowed her brow as she watched the villagers. She searched ceaselessly with her mind, but could not connect with these people at all. That was more than troubling, but something else was wrong as well.
“They have no shadows,” she said. “The people have no shadows.”
It was true. The sun shone down bright and hard upon the village square, and although the trees and buildings all cast long, dark images, the people moving about between them had no shadows at all.
“What does this
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