I Am Seer - Book 3

Chapter 7 - Wind

Until this moment, I had forgotten about my past experience on the mountaintop with Skart and David—there had been too much going on for me to think about it. As a tendril of breeze ran along the edge of my jawline, however, my memories came crashing back into place. Instantaneously, I was certain there was some kind of monster following me and waiting to catch me unawares.

"Seeee-eeeeee-eeeeer."

A wraithlike hand passed over my hair, and had I not been so frightened, I might have thought there was a certain gentleness to the touch—like a caress. Then the horse, sensing some unsafe patch of terrain in our current path, took a sharp turn, and tense as my body was, I was too caught off guard to follow the movement. It all happened so fast, I had no time to do anything more than gasp.

One minute, I was firmly planted in my seat, and the next, my body had slid swiftly into the open air. Instead of falling, however, I remained suspended in the air as something pressed against my spine between my shoulder blades. Finally, I had the wherewithal to release a half scream just as Bohai's fingers closed around my wrist and jerked me back onto the horse's back.

"Did you hear that?" I said tightly, trying to keep my voice even despite my fear.

"Hear what, my lady?" He half turned in his seat to look at me, and I realized just how much time we'd been on the road as the gray of dawn illuminated his confused expression.

"That voice." I said, urgency gripping my tone.

"Bree, are you all right?" Martimus's voice was stiff, and I turned back to look at him. "What voice are you referring to?"

"Just now!" I looked back and forth between the two of them. "Neither of you heard anything?"

Martimus' gaze shifted to Bohai, and some message seemed to pass between the two of them which I didn't have the brain power to understand.

"Perhaps we should stop for a quick rest." Martimus pinched his lips together. "You young people might be able to survive a night of hard riding, but my body is far too aged to keep up this pace without a break."

In response, Bohai slid off our horse's back and offered me a help hand. His features appeared impassive in the dim light, and I had no choice but to follow his lead as Martimus dismounted behind us. The two of them led the horses onto a shelf outcropping of rocks, and I trailed slowly after them, searching our surroundings for any sign of the mysterious creature.

Clearly, neither Bohai nor Martimus had seen or heard anything, and even while I wondered dimly if I'd been imagining it, the memory of the fingers crawling up my spine was too vivid and fresh to forget. There was something out there—I was certain of it—and I was going to have to fight it alone if it decided to attack us.

"Why don't you lie down and get some rest?" I gasped at the sound of Martimus' voice from right beside me, and my eyes continued to shift around the area, waiting for the mysterious wraith to make a second appearance. "Bree!" His voice turned sharp. "Lie down and get some rest while Bohai prepares some breakfast for us."

There was no room for questions in his tone, and I obeyed quickly, lying on the blanket he'd laid out for me. As deathly still and windless as our little, rock outcropping was, I couldn't bear to close my eyes—both for fear of what I might see if I happened to sleep and because I didn't want to be caught unaware should the creature return.

Martimus laid out his own bed a few feet away from me, and in a moment, I could hear his soft snoring which told me he was fast asleep. Bohai, on the other hand, remained upright, loosening the horses' packs and gently brushing them down with bits of grass from the craggy rocks around us. I don't know how much time passed as I watched him, but his methodic movements were soothing to my fragile nerves, and slowly, my heartbeat returned to its normal pace. Believing the chill I'd felt was all in my imagination was much easier now that the sun was beginning to rise.