“To where, though?” Fenris demanded. “We’ve no clue where Iannis ended up.”
“No, but Xiver did give us a good idea of where he parked that dirigible. Maybe we can find some clues there.”
“Yeah, and didn’t the captain say their mage went to destroy the dirigible?” Annia added. “If we can intercept him, maybe we can keep him from getting back to the camp so we can rescue the delegates without his interference.”
“I would love to get my hands on that traitor,” Fenris said, a hungry gleam in his eyes as he chewed his jerky. “Between the three of us there is a good chance we’d be able to subdue him.”
“Alright.” I patted Fenris on the back, then popped another piece of jerky into my mouth. And as we prepared to leave, I wondered just how much excitement I could look forward to now that Fenris was finally letting his bloodthirsty side show.
15
After our short rest, we headed back north into the mountain range in the direction we thought the dirigible might have ended up in. Unfortunately, Xiver hadn’t been exaggerating when he’d said he’d hidden it well, and we searched for several hours without any sight of it. Between hiking up into the forest with Xiver, then back out again and up into the range, we were exhausted, so halfway through the night we collapsed in a cave and slept for a few hours. I had to admit I missed the cots we’d slept on at the Resistance camp, but I was so tired from all the magical and physical exertion that I couldn’t bring myself to care overmuch.
The sound of unknown voices woke me, and I bolted upright to see that two Coazi males were standing at the entrance to our cave. Their forms were backlit by the morning sun rays streaming in, and I jumped to my feet, squinting against the light. Fenris and Annia, who’d been woken by my motion, quickly followed suit, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Annia nock an arrow and aim it at the intruders.
“Hold up,” I said, raising my hands to indicate to the Coazi that I meant no harm. The spears in their hands were pointed downward, and I didn’t think they intended to attack us, though they stiffened at Annia’s aggressive stance. “They’re not pointing any weapons at us, Annia, so I think we should do the same.” I waited until she lowered her bow, then turned my attention back to the Coazi. “Good morning.”
“Are you seeking Flying Man?” the one on the left asked as the two stepped a little further into the cave and out of the blinding light. Now that they were a little closer, I could see that though they wore the same buckskin tunics as the other tribe we’d encountered, the beads decorating their clothing were arranged in triangular patterns rather than the swirls the other tribe favored.
“Flying Man?” I echoed, confused but hopeful. Could he mean…?
The male nodded. “White man with purple eyes fell from the sky seven suns ago. Halyma saw a great spirit in him, and took him back to our village to be her sharalli.”
“Uh-oh,” Fenris said to me. “I’m not sure exactly what a sharalli is, but I think it means consort or husband.”
“What!” I exclaimed aloud, and the two Coazi jumped, startled at my outburst.
“Is Flying Man your sharalli?” one of them inquired, looking at me curiously. “He say nothing about another woman.”
“He was maybe afraid?” the other Coazi pondered. “Nobody says no to Halyma.”
“Halyma is your shaman?” I asked.
“Yes.” The two males nodded simultaneously. “She is chief shamaness of the Coazi. We do not like white man living among us, but Halyma has temper like raging buffalo, so we say nothing.”
“Thank you for your assistance.” Fenris stepped forward before I could ask anything more, taking control of the conversation. He waved a hand in the air and spoke a few Words, and immediately the males’ eyes glazed over. “You will forget that you saw us, and return to your village.” His voice resonated with power, and the burnt-sugar scent of magic stung the air.
The two Coazi blinked, then immediately turned on their heels and walked away. I opened my mouth to speak, but Fenris held up a hand.
“Stay silent until they are out of earshot.”
“Why the hell did you do that?” I snapped, my fingernails digging into my palms. “I wasn’t done talking to them!”
“They’ve told us all we need to know. Their shamaness is holding Iannis hostage, and we need to go to their village and get him back. Giving them more information about us isn’t going to help, and if they warn the village we are coming that isn’t going to help either.”
I huffed out a breath, my ears telling me the Coazi were gone. “How do we know that Iannis is being held there against his will? I can’t imagine any of the Coazi being strong enough to do that.”
“Yes, and I can’t imagine Iannis willingly choosing to remain with the Coazi when so much is at stake,” Fenris pointed out. “From what these two men just told us, their shamaness is not only powerful, but she has a temper and her people are afraid of her. We need to get close enough to the village to do a proper reconnaissance so we can figure out the best way to extract Iannis.”
“Well I know that,” I said peevishly, turning my gaze toward the cave entrance. Honestly, I knew Fenris was right, and I’d been coming to the same conclusion myself. But as soon as the Coazi had said Iannis was their shamaness’s new consort, the need to grill them and find out just what the hell that position entailed had consumed my mind. Did that mean the two of them were married? Was Iannis spending his days frolicking in the grass with her, and his nights rolling around in her bed? Iannis didn’t even know this woman – how could she claim him so quickly? He was not hers to keep. My blood boiled, and I fisted my hands at my sides.