The Outcast (Summoner #4)(62)
“What the hell was all that about?” Edmund groaned, the first to speak. “It was like the beastly thing was worshipping the baby.”
“I don’t care,” Arcturus replied. “We’re alive and it’s not our responsibility anymore.”
Silence reigned for a few moments longer; then Elaine spoke up in a small voice.
“I’m sorry. I thought I was helping … I didn’t want you guys to argue.”
Arcturus felt the strange dual sensation of wanting to harangue her and hug her at the same time.
“It was an extremely foolish thing to do. We could have all died. Never do that to us again, all right?” he said, his voice angry.
She lowered her head and hugged Valens close to her chest.
“I know,” she whispered, a slow tear rolling down her face. “I just wanted to do something brave. You’re all so brave all the time … I wanted to be too.”
Arcturus shook his head. It was hard to stay angry at her. Still, he forced himself to let her stew for a few more seconds before he gave her a tight hug. She sobbed once and then pulled away, rolling over as if going to sleep.
“Any news from Athena?” Rotter asked, tugging off a boot and turning it upside down. A stream of pebbles and twigs trickled from it, and Rotter groaned with relief.
“No sign,” Edmund said, giving his scrying crystal a cursory look. “I’d have felt it if something changed.”
“Maybe Harold and the others managed to get a message out,” Alice said. “They might even have escaped the jungles by now.”
“If they haven’t been captured or worse,” Edmund said. “For all we know, the rebels could have taken over Hominum already.”
“There’s nothing to be gained by thinking about that now,” Arcturus said. “The best we can do is concentrate on getting out of this hellish jungle.”
“So, where are we, then?” Edmund asked, pressing his back against the boulder’s edge. “Were we at least running in the right direction?”
“Roughly,” Rotter said, staring up at the canopy.
“How do you know?” Alice asked. “We could have been running in circles.”
“The stars,” Rotter said. “The Elven Arrow always points north. Here, look.”
He used his fingers to trace three bright stars in the sky, and if Arcturus squinted he could make out a cluster shaped not unlike an arrowhead at one end.
“Well, that’s a relief,” Edmund said. “With any luck we should reach the southern border of Hominum tomorrow afternoon.”
“Aye,” Rotter said, lying on his back. “And not a moment too soon. The orcs will know we’re in the jungles by now if that shaman has any sense; they’ll be sending search parties out soon enough. We should get some rest.”
Arcturus shuddered at the thought of the orcs hunting for them in the dark. He couldn’t help but stare into the surroundings, focusing to use Sacharissa’s night vision. All he saw were the scurrying of jungle rodents and the swooping shapes of fruit bats. Somehow, the animal noises comforted him, even as they grew louder in the ever-growing gloom. He felt they would be silent if orcs were approaching. Or so he hoped, anyway.
Turning away from the surroundings, Arcturus summoned Sacharissa in a flash of white light, and wrapped himself around her. She whimpered as his hand pressed against her wounded side, and he hushed the Canid with an apologetic kiss on the nose.
Even in their haste to escape, Arcturus had found time to infuse her—she would never have been able to keep up with them after her injuries. He knew she would heal faster while within him, but he could not help but summon her, for he had felt her battering his consciousness in her desire to be physically close to him. It was a slightly selfish decision, but he had no regrets as he cuddled her.
“You did well to survive the battle with the Phantaur,” Alice whispered from the darkness. “In case you didn’t know, I can’t heal Sacharissa. It’s a bone injury … it has to heal naturally. Sorry.”
“It’s okay, that’s why I didn’t ask,” Arcturus said. “But … I do have a question for you.”
In the background, Arcturus could hear Rotter and Edmund snoring, and could make out the forms of the two propped against the boulder.
“What is it?” Alice asked.
“I haven’t been taught proper spellcraft. If I had known some, I might have been able to use it against the shaman or his demon.”
“That’s true,” Alice replied. “Although, spells don’t work as well against demons, just so you know, the shield spell in particular. That’s why Sacharissa was able to break through the shaman’s shield during your battle.”
“Even so, I’d like to learn,” Arcturus said. “I know the symbols for the four main spells—Lieutenant Cavendish taught me, but never showed me how to use them.”
“Well, there’s not much to it,” Alice whispered back. “You simply channel mana to your finger, until the tip glows. Then you draw the symbol in the air and hold your finger in its center until the spell ‘fixes’ itself in place, moving in tandem with your hand as you move it around. Finally, you maintain the flow of mana both to and through your finger at the same time, and as the mana pushes through the symbol, it will perform the spell.”