Chapter 25

25

By day, a strange noise curiosity sparks; by night, a strange noise fright marks.

~ "Fear of the Dark" by the bard Velvenor

Levitke's powerful muscles surged under Kaylina, and the city soon grew distant behind them. She hoped the taybarri could outrun the horseback pursuers the guard had called for. She also hoped Jankarr and Vlerion wouldn't get in trouble for helping her. And that the city and kingdom wouldn't be destroyed by a Kar'ruk plot. By all the craters in the moon, there was a lot to hope for.

"We'd better find that press before visiting your family," Kaylina said, though she didn't know if Levitke had understood her earlier request or planned to take her into the mountains. "Stay on the highway, and I'll watch for the spot where Frayvar and I came out of the river the other night, and then…"

Then what ? It wasn't as if the wagon carrying the newspapers had left a trail of them that they could follow back to its origins. Unless the taybarri could track the scent somehow.

"Oh, wait." Kaylina dug in her pocket and pulled out the newspaper article the Virts had left in the castle kitchen. "Levitke. Can you smell this, see if you catch the same scent along the trail, and track it to its origins?"

The taybarri slowed from a gallop to a walk as she glanced back. Kaylina explained the load of newspapers and how she and Frayvar had stumbled upon it. After more than a day, and however many horses and wagons had passed along the highway, this would be a long shot, but it couldn't hurt to try.

Levitke stopped in the road, her neck turning, and Kaylina held out the paper. The taybarri sniffed it a few times, then bit it, withdrawing it from Kaylina's hand, and chewed on it.

"Uh, it's not honey."

Maybe Levitke hadn't understood anything and had simply hoped for a treat. Was it Kaylina's imagination, or did the taybarri's expression seem disappointed?

A war horn rang out from the direction of the city, and Kaylina frowned. She wouldn't have thought the guards would prioritize finding one wayward subject when there were Kar'ruk all over the place, but she didn't doubt that the hunt for her had begun. Again.

Maybe Levitke understood too, because she returned to running, following the highway and the river toward the mountains. If they couldn't find the press, Kaylina would ask again if Levitke would take her to see her family. The plant had definitely implied that bringing an elder taybarri back to the city would help with Kaylina's problems. With everyone's problems.

Levitke slowed from a run to a walk, snout lowering to the ground. Kaylina recognized the beaver dam in the river. This was the spot where she and Frayvar had managed to climb out of the water.

"You did understand me," Kaylina whispered, awed.

This time, the look that Levitke slanted back seemed on the verge of an eye roll. But, surely, the noble taybarri didn't do such things. They weren't irreverent.

Kaylina was tempted to dismount and look for clues, but after a few more sniffs, Levitke continued up the highway. Now and then, she paused to lift her snout in the air for several inhalations. Kaylina took that as a positive sign that she was on the trail, hopefully of the newspaper wagon and not an animal that had crossed that way and might make an appealing meal.

Before entering the preserve, the highway veered away from the river. It traveled between the densely treed area and an estate bordered by a stone wall and intermittent watchtowers that overlooked the ancient druid sanctuary. As they skirted the preserve, Kaylina thought she glimpsed a campfire in the trees. More Kar'ruk warriors lurking, ready to help their so-called diplomats enact their plan?

As Levitke continued past the area, heading farther from Port Jirador, Kaylina tried not to feel like she was abandoning her brother and others who needed help. She wasn't a ranger who could win battles against Kar'ruk. She wouldn't be any assistance in the city. Besides , she was being hunted, as the horns blowing in the distance reminded her.

Levitke climbed into the darkening mountains, eventually detouring from the highway to skirt a watchtower. Near it, fires burned in metal-lined pits, the flames brightening the surrounding area. Thanks to cliffs rising to either side of the highway, it was difficult to pass without being caught by the light.

The faint whuff of a taybarri came from a stable built against the tower's base. One or more rangers had to be stationed inside, keeping an eye on the approach to the valley and the city.

Kaylina tensed, not certain if the men would recognize her and know Targon believed she should be helped instead of arrested.

Levitke answered with a soft grunt.

Another whuff sounded in reply, the agreeable tone seeming to imply, You may pass.

They did without anyone in the tower objecting, and Levitke continued uphill, heading deeper into the mountains. The night air grew chillier, and howls sounded in the distance, a reminder that dangerous predators called this wilderness their home. With luck, those animals would find a taybarri an intimidating foe and stay away.

The next time Levitke left the highway, she didn't return to it, instead following a bumpy dirt road that a horse-drawn wagon would have been hard-pressed to maneuver across. Patches of lumpy snow here and there would have been a further impediment.

Kaylina was about to suggest loads of newspapers hadn't likely come this way, but Levitke halted.

Her whuff sounded triumphant.

"You think this is the spot?" Kaylina peered dubiously into the dark around them, spruce and pine trees looming up, mostly blocking the night sky. A creek gurgled nearby, but full night had fallen, and Kaylina couldn't see it. She couldn't see much of anything.

The next whuff sounded like a confident affirmative.

"If you say so." Kaylina slid off and dug into her pack for her lantern.

When she got it lit, the small flame doing little to stave off the mountain darkness, she spotted Levitke drinking from the creek.

"Are you sure this is the spot and not where you want to water yourself and camp for the night?" Kaylina asked.

The taybarri ambled over and licked her with a tongue large enough to wash her entire face.

"Was that an answer to my question?"

After whuffing twice more, Levitke wandered to the side of the road and chewed on snow. Kaylina started to sigh in disappointment, but she glimpsed a straight line in the snow. A track left by a wagon wheel.

"Maybe this is the spot."

Levitke gave her a flat look that seemed to say, Obviously .

Lantern aloft, Kaylina searched further.

Half-buried by snow lay a stone campfire ring, a cast-iron frying pan, and a couple of rusty shovels. By the creek, the wooden remains of a sluice box promised miners had used the area at one time, but it looked like it had been a while since anyone occupied the camp.

Levitke pawed at something on a rocky hillside a dozen yards off the road. Boards had been nailed together to make a semblance of a door that covered a cave entrance. Or maybe an old mine shaft?

The expectant look Levitke turned on Kaylina made her come closer to investigate. A patch of snow held fresh boot prints, some a little larger than hers, some a lot larger. Had the Kar'ruk been back here too?

There weren't any hinges on the faux door , and Kaylina had to drag it aside. The shaft she'd been envisioning stretched into darkness.

Levitke growled, and Kaylina jumped back, grabbing her sling before realizing it would be hard to fire while she held the lantern. Instead, she drew her knife.

The taybarri faced into the shaft, lips rippling back from her fangs and her muscles tense. Her nostrils flared as she sampled the earthy air that wafted out. Earthy and inky air. It smelled of newspapers inside, but Kaylina doubted that would make Levitke growl.

"Do you go first or do I?" Kaylina whispered. "I haven't finished the ranger handbook yet and am not sure of proper protocol."

In what she had read, the rangers always rode the taybarri into danger so that they faced it together, but the shaft wasn't high enough for that.

Not glancing at her, Levitke growled again. After a few more sniffs, she padded into the shaft, her head almost brushing an earthen ceiling supported by timbers.

Kaylina followed her about ten feet in, thinking the long taybarri would have a hard time turning around if the way grew narrower, but if their species had originated burrowing tunnels, maybe such matters didn't concern them.

Someone had hammered nails into the wooden supports for the shaft, making hooks for lights. Most were empty, but a couple dented lanterns remained. Kaylina opened the cache of one, found that it had kerosene, and used her flame to light it. The next couple of lanterns were empty, but she didn't necessarily want to illuminate the entire shaft anyway. Just enough to help her find… whatever she could down here.

About twenty yards in, she and Levitke reached large alcoves carved out of either side of the shaft, the walls made more from stone than dirt.

To the left, stacks of rusty mining equipment rested, as well as crates that appeared newer. Crates that held newspapers to be transported to the city? Or blank paper for printing them?

Since Levitke had poked her head into the alcove on the right, Kaylina couldn't see much, but something metal reflected the yellow flame of her lantern light.

"Did you find the printing press?"

Levitke shifted around so that she could back up and make room for Kaylina to see into the alcove. Yes, there was a press, as well as a desk with a journal open on top, the page full of writing.

"So… where's the press operator?" Kaylina looked to Levitke, wondering if the taybarri would growl at a Virt or if something more dangerous lurked in the mine.

Levitke wasn't looking at the press. Her snout pointed deeper into the tunnel, nostrils flaring as she tested the air.

The mining shaft sloped downward, disappearing into darkness. An army could have been down there—or a pack of yekizar—and Kaylina wouldn't have known.

After a few more sniffs, Levitke padded deeper into the shaft.

Being left alone made Kaylina nervous, but she wanted to check the journal. She trusted the taybarri would warn her if an enemy approached.

Letters had been set on the press but only a few rows. It was as if someone had started on the next day's newspaper and then been interrupted.

She set her lantern on the press, reading backward to interpret what it would have printed once ink was applied. The first few words sent a chill through her.

Irrefutable evidence has been discovered to affirm that the ranger Lord Vlerion, from the cursed Havartaft line, turns into a beast by night and slays innocent beings in the city. The king and the rangers know of his secret and protect him. Perhaps they even send him to do their bidding, as they did during the Castle Massacre. It's possible the aristocracy has long been using the deadly beast to get rid of the righteous and virtuous, any who oppose their oppressive rule. The king and the rangers must be held accountable, and the evil Lord Vlerion must be hanged before he can take another life. He ? —

"What?" Kaylina blurted at the unfinished sentence. No further words had been set.

Whirling, she grabbed the journal to see if it held the rest of the story or had the name of the person reporting it. The information wasn't all accurate— night wasn't what caused Vlerion to change—but it held enough truth to be dangerous. Very dangerous. Soon, Vlerion might find himself being hunted as assiduously as she.

Her hands shook as she opened the journal and held the last page with writing to the light. It was the same story. The typesetter had been copying it verbatim. It continued on to promise that only by slaying Vlerion and shining sunlight on the corrupt ranger organization would the murders stop and the Virts be victorious in overthrowing the tyrannical regime.

When she flipped to earlier pages, she found the stories that had already been printed. As with this one, they'd been copied word for word. This story might have shown up as early as the next day, if the press operator hadn't been interrupted.

Where was the press operator?

Kaylina looked around, but Levitke hadn't returned. She wondered if a wagon of Virts would arrive in the middle of the night, expecting stacks of newspapers to have been printed.

"If it does, I'll be here waiting for them."

The other wagon had only had one sleepy driver. Maybe she could handle him, questioning him or even forcing him to turn himself in to the ranger in the watchtower.

She flipped back through the journal, looking for a name. Was it that Hokkens that Mitzy and the other Virts had mentioned? The man who'd seen Vlerion change in the dungeon?

The author wasn't named anywhere in the journal, so she had no idea where the journalist had gotten his or her irrefutable evidence , but would it matter? There was enough truth to the story that the citizens who read it might believe it all.

"And try to kill Vlerion," she whispered.

She closed the journal and held it to her chest. Maybe it wouldn't do much, since whoever had written on the pages could do so again, but taking it might help delay things a few days. It would give her time to…

"To what?" She couldn't return to the city to help Vlerion without risking herself.

Maybe she could take it to that watchtower and ask the ranger inside to deliver it to Captain Targon. Maybe he could then?—

Wood snapped near the mine shaft, and Kaylina almost dropped the journal. She snatched her knife and spun toward the entrance of the alcove.

It had sounded like someone had stepped on that makeshift door. Levitke? Or an approaching enemy who hadn't noticed it in the undergrowth in the dark?

Kaylina didn't think the taybarri had returned from the depths of the shaft. Though she was reluctant to leave the journal, practicality made her set it on the desk so she could grip the lantern and her knife. She listened for footfalls or rustling clothing, evidence of someone walking into the shaft.

Other than a distant owl hooting, the night had returned to silence. As long seconds passed, she bit her lip uncertainly. The wind hadn't made that sound.

She was tempted to wait where she was until Levitke came back up the shaft, but her instincts told her that a threat was coming. Even if she couldn't hear it, she could sense it. Maybe the press operator had returned. Or maybe a predator was looking for a snack.

Knife leading, Kaylina crept to the alcove entrance and peered around the corner. The shaft was straight enough that she could see the exit, a moon shining silvery light into the forest beyond. She could also see the lantern she'd lit, still hanging on its nail.

Until something moved in front of it.

She twitched, raising the knife, but she couldn't see anyone. Only the dirt walls and wooden supports. But something blocked the light, something that hadn't been there before.

Could the magic of the Kar'ruk axes turn them invisible ? She'd never heard of such a thing.

Though confused, Kaylina drew back and traded the knife for her sling. When she peeked around the corner again, the lantern had returned to view. Whatever had blocked it had moved. Guessing it was coming closer, Kaylina licked dry lips and loosed a lead round.

It struck something with a clank. As if hitting armor? Chainmail?

The shadows in the shaft blurred, and heavy footsteps thudded toward Kaylina. A deep snarl and clipped words sounded. A Kar'ruk.

Kaylina stepped back, but there was no time for her to fire another round.