Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 161535 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 808(@200wpm)___ 646(@250wpm)___ 538(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 161535 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 808(@200wpm)___ 646(@250wpm)___ 538(@300wpm)
“I know. He had a wizard that was scrying upon us, watching from afar. I went and destroyed him before I came to retrieve you.” He says it the same way I’d mention the weather. It’s cloudy today, with a chance of rain. I made the wizard’s guts turn to liquid. Then I’m sad that I’m grateful for the death, because it makes hiding easier.
Dingle’s lead rope is on Kalos’s wrist this time, and I hug my cloak closer as we head out of the barn. “Maybe we backtrack where Seth went, then,” I say as we step into the moonlight. The weather is chilly, but at least it’s clear, with enough moonlight to see the snaking road in the distance.
For some reason, I think of Margo and her ornate necklace. The crystals that came from a place they’d already been. A scholar on the edge of the lands without magic.
If there’s no magic, can Kalos hurt anyone? Can Seth spy on us?
“I have an idea of where to go,” I say, and the god gestures that I should lead the way.
The weather hates us. If there’s a weather god, he’s not in the mortal realm, because if he was, he’d have more sympathy for us. At first, it’s brutally hot and muggy, with the air so thick it’s like moving through soup. It makes traveling feel like pure effort, and by the time we stop for the evening, I’m wrung out and my clothes are sodden with sweat.
Did I mention we have no money? Because we have no money. I drink from streams and eat a few berries. We pass an orchard, but everything left on the ground is rotten and the branches themselves are bare. Just my luck to be a few days past apple picking season. Dingle eats his fill and belches happily for hours. I go to bed that night hungry and positive that I’m crawling with parasites thanks to raw-dogging the water. Kalos says he won’t let me get sick, but the thought of ingesting microscopic things makes me queasy anyhow.
The next day it rains. Not a little rain. Not a gentle mist. There is thunder and lightning and sheeting rain that blocks my vision. It’s an absolute torrential downpour that washes out the roads and destroys my shoes. I take them off and hold them as I squelch through the mud, miserable, as we head towards our new destination.
“Do you want to stop under a tree for a while?” Kalos asks, his sodden cloak plastered to his big form.
I shake my head. “The sooner we get to the Dirtlands, the better.” The sooner we get him to a no-magic zone, the better. Everyone’s safer in that situation.
“You know we won’t get there tomorrow,” he points out.
“I know.”
“It’s fine if we take a break and wait for the weather to pass.” He glances up at the sky. “Seth won’t be going anywhere in this. He has a lot of mounted troops and this will be impossible for them to navigate. They won’t catch up to us if that’s what you’re worried about.”
I’m not worried about Seth. Okay, I am a little, but I’m more concerned about Kalos causing others to be sick just by his proximity. Hasn’t he made me sick accidentally every time he’s used his powers? It just makes sense to steer clear of civilization. “I know it won’t be today, or even tomorrow.”
“Or even a week from now. There’s a lot of road between Balsingra and the Dirtlands.”
I fight back a whimper and put a cheery smile on my face. “And every day that we push is a bit more travel we’ve conquered. I don’t mind if we keep going.”
Kalos grabs my arm. “I mind.”
That makes me pause. I study his face, worried. He’s been quiet. I don’t know anything about gods and what if he’s sick and masking it? What if Seth did something to him? “Are you all right? Do you feel well?”
“I’m fine. But I don’t want to continue in this rain. It’s miserable and Dingle smells foul.” He gestures at the little goat. Instead of his usual charming antics, Dingle is trudging alongside us, as if the weather is beating him down, too. “We should find an inn and lay low for a few days to recover. You’re still not feeling well.”
An inn. “With what money?”
He wipes streaming rainwater from his face and flicks his fingers. “There’s an easy fix for that.”
Oh, I just bet there is. “I don’t want an easy fix, Kalos.”
“I figured you wouldn’t, but I thought I’d suggest it anyhow.” He glances over at me. “We could just rob someone. No one gets hurt that way.”
“I appreciate the brainstorming, but we’re not robbing anyone, either. I don’t want us to turn out like Seth and Margo, all right?” I keep smiling, even though it becomes more difficult when my foot sinks down into even more mud.