I Am Seer - Book 3

Chapter 8 - A Better Way

"The Eighth? Of course." If the Wind had taken physical form, I imagined it would have shrugged dismissively at the words. "Ha-Won was good. He wanted so badly to help before it all went bad. I watch over them on occasion now, but it gets too boring to be with them all the time. His brother, though..." The words trailed off as the Wind turned cold. "I don't want to talk about the carnage that has happened because of him. I know where he went with the others, but I do not visit him."

"So you can lead us to them?" I said quickly.

"To Ha-Won? Or...?" The voice turned hesitant for the first time.

"To the Eighth." I clarified.

"Oh, yes, of course. I won't go to the Below, though." The voice said, but my excitement that we could actually have some direction in where we were going overcame my curiosity about the second part of the statement.

I looked around and discovered I'd been deposited on the top of a cliff, and I could only faintly hear Bohai's voice traveling up the great distance between us. The desire to share my excitement flowed through me, and I rubbed my thumbs over the tips of my fingers impatiently. I could tell Bohai was worried at the fact that we had no clear destination or direction in mind other than the vague need to find the Eighth.

"Ha-Won will be so glad you've come to visit." Because he wanted to train me on how best to die to save his people. "He and your father were such good friends, and he desperately wanted to help your father get back to his rightful position on the throne."

"My father? What throne?" My attention left Bohai at the words.

"I don't know. They had so many long, dull conversations. It was far too boring to entice me to listen to them instead of watching the fauns doing their spring dance, but I do remember there was a lot of discussion about your father's rightful place and a big war that never happened. Then Ha-Won's brother got very excited, and there was a lot of blood, and your father made me carry him to the fight, because there was some dead woman—You were there, too, don't you remember?"

Memories of the dream I'd had of the blood-stained snow and my mother's brutalized body descended on me. My stomach churned at the realization that I might be going directly to the people who caused my parents' deaths. Doubt crept through me: was I really doing the right thing?

"Ha-Won and your father got angry after that, and Ha-Won's brother lost an eye. They all went to different places when the blood got cleaned up a bit, and Ha-Won has been waiting for your father and you to come back ever since." The breeze stilled. "I thought you'd never come back. We used to have so much fun when you were a tiny thing, but I thought you'd get a lot bigger like your father—as humans usually do. It's not even tiring to lift you, though."

"You need to take me back to my friends." I said, trying to pull my thoughts together.

"Why? So you can continue your painfully slow trek up the mountainside?" There was a hint of disdain in the voice. "I never understood why humans prefer to travel on horseback. It's uncomfortable and takes ever so long—especially in the mountains."

"That's the fastest way for us to travel." I said dismissively. "Now, you need to take me back, so we can get to the Eighth as soon as possible."

"Well, if someone hadn't forbidden me to carry them," if possible, the Wind sniffed imperiously. "You might be able to get there quicker without leaving a trail for people to follow you."

"You could carry us—all three of us—there?" I jumped at the words.

"Of course, tiny Seee-eeer." It scoffed in return. "The fat, smelly horses would have to wait, of course, but I could have you at the hall of the Eighth before nightfall." My brain snapped at the chance, and I immediately began to think through the logistics of taking such a move, wondering how wise it would be to subject Bohai and Martimus to the treatment I'd just received. "If you decided to do it like that, the men who are chasing you would lose your trail, and you wouldn't have to worry about them anymore."