She Is The Darkness

61

Sahra had moved to her pallet. She was on her knees there, palms atop her thighs, staring straight forward. Waiting.

I drifted into position in front of her.

"You're here, aren't you, Mur? I can feel it. You're what I've felt before, aren't you?"

I tried to answer her. I got she is the darkness! from Smoke and a reeling back. Why now? Sahra had not bothered him before. Had she?

He did not like any female these days. He even tensed up around the Radisha when we were there.

I pushed inward. Smoke pushed back. Sahra sensed something. She said, "I'm too heavy to travel now. I'll come as soon as our son can travel."

A son? Me?

I became a different man in that moment. But it lasted only a few seconds. Only until I wondered, how could she know that?

Some people called her a witch. Well, spooky. I never saw it myself.

But maybe she could know.

My world began to shudder and shake. I had enough experience ghostwalking to know that meant somebody back at the shop wanted me to wake up. Reluctantly, I responded. I wished there was some way, any way, to let Sahra know I had gotten her message. "I love you, Sarie," I thought.

"I love you, Murgen," Sahra said, as though she had heard me.

The shaking grew more insistent. I turned loose of the temple of Ghanghesha but refused to be managed completely. I tried to drop in on the Radisha for a closer look at her scheming but Smoke shied away with an aversion almost as strong as that he showed for Soulcatcher. She is the darkness.

The earth blurred beneath my point of view. I was low and moving fast. Maybe that helped defeat some of the spells making Goblin and Mogaba so hard to find. I got a clear, if brief, look at both as I whipped past.

They were on the move. Mogaba seemed to be gathering strength. The forvalaka was with Goblin. Both groups moved inside an envelope of crows.

Soulcatcher probably had a better idea of the big picture than I did.

"Don't you ever learn?" Croaker snarled.

I barely had strength enough to sit up and reach for something to drink. I had spent a lot more time out than I realized while it was happening. Sarie always did make me lose track of time.

"Shit," I murmured. "That took it out of me. I could eat a cow."

"You weren't supposed to be dealing with family things. You keep it up, it's going to be crow, not cow."

You could not find an edible cow in this end of the world, anyway.

I grunted. I had a pitcher of something sweet in one hand and a warm loaf of bread in the other. At that moment it did not occur to me to ask why he would accuse me of getting involved in family things.

"It's dark already. Our people are all climbing into their holes and pulling them in after them. I need you rested and ready because I want you over there watching the Shadowgate. And not sightseeing, either. We need to get a signal up the instant Longshadow cracks the gate."

I lifted a hand. As soon as I cleared my mouth I asked, "Why don't I watch Longshadow? Smoke don't want to get close out there. I might not see the shadows moving till it's too late. Longshadow I can see while he's making his summons." I dumped some sugar water in behind the last bite of bread.

Smoke groaned.

"Shit." Suddenly, the Old Man looked like he wanted to cry.

"Where's One-Eye?" I asked. "Better get him in here."

Smoke had not made a sound in years.

"You find him. I'm the physician here." He headed for Smoke's cot.

"Good idea." I got myself up and stumbled toward the doorway on still feeble legs.