Page 62 of To Touch A Silent Fury

For the first week, I had panicked, running after the first plume I saw. When I reached it and narrowly dodged a well trap, I found the prince’s army had come across the spot long before me and had already dismissed it. When I returned that night, I chastised myself for being so stupid. I was thinking like a Sightlander, seeing smoke and chasing it with no other thought. Ihadn’t stopped to really think. If Vellintris had landed that same day, on the other side of the forest, I wouldn’t have known.

The prince’s army could station their men all around the forest. I would never beat them to the fires, and so I could not rely on that. But what I could use was my knowledge of the Euphons. The information I had learnt from Yvon over the years, information no cacof should have. Information she regretted ever letting slip, and likely hoped I had let go. But if the Brothers had taught me anything, it was that knowledge could be power.

So, instead of chasing down every fire, I searched for the Sons of Amune.

And now, a little over five weeks into Ergreen, standing two pines deep in the tree line, maybe I had succeeded.

The wind streamed past me as I stood as still as a rooted oak and quieter yet, no hulking branches to whistle against. Vines grew on seven short towers formed of hauled flat river stones, roofed simply with mud and reed thatch. From the silence and the emptiness, it was clearly meant to be seen as abandoned.

But for all their talent at keeping quiet, the inhabitants had left signs: a covered mess trench, boot prints, crumbs, and a scrap of torn fabric. Someone was in there.

I camped out most of the day, waiting for movement, using the daylight to forage some cloudberries long past their prime, but not yet rotted, before getting lucky and finding two healthy munka tubers.

This time, when she found me, she did not break a branch.

It was deep into twilight, and the faintest noises of life had begun to sound from the towers when a hand clamped down heavy on my shoulder.

I spun around as another gloved hand slapped across my mouth and pushed my back against the tree.

Yvon pulled her faceguard down, dark blue eyes blazing. With the hand not on my mouth, she signalled to me. I picked up what I could. ‘You. Here. Bad. Why?’

I blinked rapidly as she breathed over me, her blonde hair falling in my face. I hadn’t seen her since her first warning, and the last span of weeks hadn’t treated her kindly. She was clearly exhausted.

There was little hope in lying when she’d caught me right outside my quest. I signalled back. ‘Seek. Amune. Children.’

I didn’t know the sign for the Sons, so I just flicked my head back and hoped she would understand.

She narrowed her eyes. ‘Impossible. Not for you. Bad for you.’

I sighed. ‘Worship dragon. They lead.’

Yvon stumbled back a step, her hand falling from me and her eyes opening in shock as she shook her head. ‘You leave here. Now.’

I pointed out into the forest, away from the towers. ‘Come. Talk.’

Yvon’s anger flared back, and then she turned from me, stalking back into the woods the way I had come that very morning.

She didn’t stop for some time, and I nearly turned back, thinking she meant to lead me away from the towers altogether. Then she whirled around.

“What are you doing?” she whispered. “There is nothing there for you.”

“How did you find me?” I replied, checking the space for my boot prints. I’d been careful in the muddy ground to smudge over any obvious tracks, but I must have left one. “Do others know I’m here?”

Yvon glared at me. “You were careful enough. My tribe have seen a strange girl in the forest, but they do not suspect you to be cacof yet. You are safe for now.”

“How, then?” Iasked. “Did I make noise?”

“I taught you, didn’t I? You are quiet enough,” she said. “It is your shadow I found.”

My shadow? I didn’t understand what she meant, nor the signal she gave. My confusion must have been painted across my face, because she knelt down and pointed.

Instead of a boot print, she pointed to another print. A large paw, deep into the mud.

“Only one, from the tracks,” she said, giving me a meaningful look.

I scanned the trees around us but saw no sign of it. A wolf, alone in the forest. It had to be the same one, the one who had been circling my pit all season. Yvon had clearly reached the same conclusion. At least, if this was the source of my discovery, Yvon was the only one who could think to tie the beast to me.

I had left him to his devices, only spotting him by his trails and the scraps he left behind from his hunts. Why he kept close to my pit, I could not say. Why was he following me now?