Read Darkness Risen (The Ava'Lonan Herstories Book 4) for Free Online Page B

valiantly wrestled from the packs. She was the first to fall asleep
once everyone had been fed, and no one begrudged her that.
    Av’dawn found them still asleep. Jeliya, again, was
the first to awaken. This time she did move, moaning slightly, turning her
throbbing head to look out the high windows of the oval barn. Av was just
climbing to the top of the sky, slim footsteps left as slight wisps of cloud in
Av’s wake.
    She shivered still, the slight chill and airlessness
of the Av’ru still within the core of her, a prickle of cold that seemed to
numb her very soul...
    When was the last time I performed the Rite of Solu? she
asked herself suddenly, just recognizing the first signs of lor’den. It had
been at least two turns, if not longer.
    Gritting her teeth, she forced her reluctant body
up, stumbling to the side door of the barn, taking her desi with her. She
cracked the door as quietly as she could, and slipped through.
    Outside the structure, she looked for a clear, Av’lit
patch of ground. Before her was a cart path worn in the ground, overshadowed by
gulu trees. The trees formed a ring about the barn in once neat rows left to
grow wild. Distant hills rose to the right, and the land rolled off in gentle
swells, the path from the barn following the curves.
    Spying an irregular spot of Av’light to the nor’weste,
she limped to it, crossing the large circles of dead grass that marked the
egwae’s arrival. She reached the bright patch, and fell to her knees, let the
desi slip off her shoulders.
     
    “In you there is
light....”
     
    After completing the rite, Jeliya studied her
surroundings. The lonely barn was on a low rise, with the land falling away to
the norae and weste, a small stream flowing at the lowest point. Beyond the
stream were fields of grain and alternating patches of the leafy heads of ground
provisions. She could see that the rough path that led from the barn door
turned to follow the stream for a short way before crossing it over a crude
plank-bridge, while the marching lines of gulu trees paralleled the water
course away este. Off to the norae were distant green mountains speckled with
bright spots of color.
    Where are we? she wondered, taking in the signs of
wuman occupation. Where did the Av’rujo send us? Was this a place the Av’rujo
had known? Well, obviously, it is, she thought a little scornfully to
herself. Now, how to get their bearings without encountering others...
    “Jeliya!”
    She turned, saw Pentuk and Otaga coming toward her.
Picking up the desi, she wrapped it around her shoulders and pushed herself to
her feet.
    “Princess, what are you doing out here by yourself?”
the Warru First asked sternly, taking her arm with one hand and putting the
other arm as support around her waist. Pentuk did the same on the other side.
    Do they suspect me of trying the rite I performed on
the Katari plains, when I tried to reach Gavaron? She had never
explained what she had been doing, but their concern now, as then, was
palpable.
    “Rite of Solu,” she said, trying to smile. “Felt lor’den
starting.” She felt them relax a little at the explanation, but not completely.
    “You still should have awakened one of us,” Otaga
chided. “Though we are in wuman territory, there may still be enemies about.
All will come to naught if they capture you.”
    “Yes, Warru First, you are right,” Jeliya
acquiesced, feeling the first shackles of her position resettle upon her. “Til
we are safe back at T’Av’li, I will not wander out alone again.”
    Otaga nodded, mollified. Pentuk was silent on the
other side. When Jeliya glanced at her, she gave a sheepish shrug and smile.
She would not openly question the Heir.
    About half the egwae members were awake when the
three slipped back inside the barn, including Staventu and Jahun’no. They all
looked up as the Heir and her escort came in, varying degrees of concerned and
curiosity in their faces.
    “I went out to look around and to perform