Hunted by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #3)(44)

“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.

“Relax, Naya.” Annia patted me on the shoulder, bringing me back to the present, and I turned to look at her. “We’re not going to know for sure what’s up with Iannis until we get there and see for ourselves. For all you know she’s got him chained up in her tent, trying to force him into submission.”

I laughed and winced all at once as an image of Iannis chained to the floor of a tent with a bunch of bearskin rugs underneath him and probably nothing covering him popped into my head. That wouldn’t be so bad if I was there, but considering it was the shamaness…

“By Magorah, but we’ve got to hurry.” Shaking my head, I cleared my mind of the image. It didn’t matter what kind of state Iannis was in, we still had to get him back. Reaching for my beast, I shifted into panther form, then headed out with Fenris and Annia, hoping against hope that we’d get to Iannis in time to undo whatever spell the shamaness had put on him.



Back in beast form, Fenris and I were able to track the two Coazi males without difficulty despite the lead we’d given them. We followed at a distance, with Annia even further behind to make sure we drew no attention to ourselves. It took another couple of hours, but by early afternoon we arrived at the tribe’s camp, set on a plateau at the edge of a large patch of forest high up on the mountainside.

Rather than following the two males into the camp, we hung back in the forest, shifting back into human form and climbing up tall pine trees so we could get a good view of the camp while remaining hidden from view. Perched securely on a branch, with my legs wrapped around the tree’s trunk in case the branch wasn’t as sturdy as I’d gauged, I fished out a spyglass and extended it, then fitted the lens to my eye.

Like the Coazi tribe we’d met on the plains, the mountain Coazi set up their dwellings in a circle. Unlike the plains Coazi, their huts were made out of wooden frames that were covered in what looked like woven mats and sheets of bark. In addition to several large looms where women sat and wove rugs, the center of the circle also housed a large, communal fire pit with logs set up around it for people to sit on. Several women were prepping the fire pit for cooking, and I noticed a woman watching from the side who was more elaborately dressed than the others. The feathers in her hair were a brilliant blue, and a colorful shawl with animal patterns woven expertly into the fabric was draped around her slim shoulders. The buckskin dress she wore flattered her shapely figure and regal bearing. Jealousy flashed low in my gut as I guessed that she must be Halyma.