FEATHERS VIBRATED in the passing air, the hawk soaring above the field, wings spread wide, riding the currents and eddies of wind high above the ground. The hawk's eyes scanned the landscape and the roads crossing it. A man stood near the intersection of two dirt paths stretching among rippling grain. Beside him, a woman and girl sat in the narrow strip of grass between road and furrow.
The hawk tilted against the warm summer air, banking to scan along the road toward the midday sun. Dust tinged the horizon, packs of humans walking the lane, heading toward the crossing.
Sha-Kutan stood where the two trails met. He looked along the trail to the east, twin furrows dug deep by years of wagon wheels wobbling along the path. The woman, Lee-Nin, sat next to the girl, Sao-Tauna, sharing an apple they had plucked from a tree before passing from forest to field.
We should keep moving. Open spaces are danger.
The woman and girl are weak.
Should we leave them?
She will not expect us to be with others.
No.
"There are others approaching." Sha-Kutan pointed down the eastern path.
Lee-Nin stood and stared along the road.
"How many?" Lee-Nin squinted. She had not ceased questioning his ability to see and hear better than she could, but she had come to accept it.
"Twenty or more," Sha-Kutan said.
"Soldiers?" Lee-Nin's voice sounded anxious. Sha-Kutan noticed the shift in her scent as well.
"No," Sha-Kutan said.
"Star dreamers." Sao-Tauna stood up to look down the road, raising her small hand to shield her eyes.
"Pilgrims," Lee-Nin said with a nod.
Odd that she does not question how the child would know this.
Yes. Odd.
"We go with them." Sao-Tauna stood on her tiptoes, trying to see the approaching band of pilgrims.
"No," Lee-Nin said. "They travel west. We should head east. To Juparti or Punderra maybe."
She comes from the east.
We cannot go that way.
"Follow the star dreamers." Sao-Tauna stated this as a simple fact, obvious and inarguable.
The girl may be right.
More people will provide protection and cover.
"She is correct." Sha-Kutan nodded toward Sao-Tauna. "We are safer with others. There is less chance of discovery."
"That's possible, I suppose." Lee-Nin raised her fingers to her lips in thought. "We could pretend to be a family joining the pilgrimage."
A family?
It might work.
A family?
"One family among many will be less likely to draw attention." Lee-Nin turned to Sha-Kutan. "We draw too much attention by ourselves. You draw enough as it is. Can you stoop a bit? Hunch your shoulders? Try not to appear so ... massive?"
Stoop?
Hunch?
"No." Sha-Kutan frowned, standing to his full height.
Lee-Nin looked up at him, her lips curled in annoyance. "Hmmm."
"Here they come." Sao-Tauna tapped her wrist against her thigh rhythmically as the heads of the first pilgrims crested the rise in the road.
"We pretend to be a family then." Lee-Nin turned back to watch the approaching pilgrims.
Sao-Tauna raised her arms up to Sha-Kutan, staring at him placidly.
There is something strange about this child.
Quite strange.
"Up." Sao-Tauna rocked on her heels as Lee-Nin looked on in cautious curiosity.
Up?
She will not likely follow stories of a large man who loves his daughter and wife.
Sha-Kutan bent down and scooped Sao-Tauna up in his arms. She gasped as he raised her to his shoulders.
"So high," Sao-Tauna marveled as she looked down at Lee-Nin.
"If anything happens to her..." Lee-Nin left the remainder of her threat unspoken.
Sha-Kutan nodded to acknowledge her words and looked past Lee-Nin toward the east and the approaching humans.
Perhaps we should have stayed hidden in the woods.
Perhaps.
The pilgrim in the lead of the procession along the field trail raised his arm, waving in greeting.
Seated on Sha-Kutan's shoulders, her one arm wrapped around his neck, Sao-Tauna raised her free hand to wave back at the pilgrims. He marveled at the sensation of her small, warm hand against his skin, the heft of her on his shoulders, the smell of her dirty hair, the scent of joy radiating from her.
Perhaps we should have stopped hiding long ago.
Perhaps.
YOU ARE READING
The Dragon Star (Realms of Shadow and Grace: Episodes 1-3 of 7)
FantasyAN EPIC STORY OF MAGIC, LOVE, AND WAR The birth of a new star and a new goddess thrusts seven exceptional people's lives into turmoil, forcing them to become fugitives, warriors, spies, and saviors. Junari, a courageous priestess with newfound f...
