protect their fire and to conserve its heat.
'No practice tonight, I think. We're both tired. And I think you'll know what to do when the time comes.'
The Elven-Knight's words were an unintentional echo of the message Kellen had received from the Wild Magic during the last spell he'd cast, the message he still didn't understand. Remembering that unfulfilled obligation only worried him more. What would the true cost of Jermayan's healing end up being? Would it turn out in the end to have been better for Sentarshadeen if Kellen had let Jermayan die? But how could he ever have faced them— Idalia—Shalkan—himself—if he had?
'Ah—all right, if you think that's best,' Kellen muttered. 'I think I'm going to take a look around. Stretch my legs while there's still light.'
'Be careful,' Jermayan warned, but Kellen could tell from his tone that the Elven Knight wasn't really worried. Nothing could approach them unseen up here.
Kellen changed out of his armor into the spare set of clothes and boots he'd brought. Wrapping his cloak tightly around him and belting on his sword—an act that seemed like second nature to him by now—he walked off.
He didn't plan to go far—not even out of sight of the camp—but he'd been telling the truth about wanting to stretch his legs. Spending a day on horseback—or on unicorn-back—was still a kind of sitting, and not the restful kind, either. His legs ached with something that was not quite a cramp, and felt restless, as if they would twitch nervously if he didn't given them the exercise they craved. Strange, how you could be so tired and yet parts of you still needed more activity to settle down…
The hilltop was covered with the same sort of dry scanty grass that they'd seen elsewhere; both Valdien and the mule were grazing meditatively. In places the granite beneath showed through, and if that weren't enough, there were occasional horse-sized (and larger) boulders strewn about, as if someone had been using the hilltop for a target a long time ago.
Considering what Jermayan had told him about what sort of thing had gone on around here, maybe someone had. This would be a natural place to make a stand.
He was keeping one eye on the camp, intending to walk a wide circle around it, when he saw the stele.
At first he thought it was just another boulder, albeit a tall and narrow one. Perhaps snow and rain had sheered part of it away, giving it that tall and narrow shape.
But no. When he got closer, he realized that it had been carved into that shape deliberately, and centuries of wind and weather had softened its shape until it looked like one of the natural boulders.
He came closer. There was writing on it—at least, he thought it must be writing, though the even rows of symbols were wholly unfamiliar.
There was one thing about the stele that was all-too understandable, however, though seeing it came as a complete and utter shock. Carved near the bottom was the glowering, horned, and fanged countenance of a Demon.
'Jermayan!'
Kellen's shout brought the Elven Knight at a run, sword drawn, with Shalkan close behind. Kellen pointed; he was very proud when his hand didn't shake.
Too much.
'Ah.' The confusion and alarm eased from Jermayan's face. He peered at the inscription on the stone. 'It is a marker, commemorating a great battle fought here, of an Allied triumph over the Demons.'
Kellen stared around. Suddenly the empty hilltop seemed somehow populated, as if the armies that had once engaged here had not left.
Maybe they haven't. If any place should be haunted, it ought to be a place like this one.
'Of course, in those days this place had a different aspect,' Jermayan reminded him, as if guessing the direction of Kellen's thoughts. 'But come.
We will eat, and consider what route we may take on the morrow.'
Jermayan turned and walked away. Kellen gazed after him. Jermayan seemed awfully calm about standing in the middle of an ancient battlefield, a place where Demons had actually set foot. He glanced at Shalkan, but for once the unicorn's expression was unreadable.
Grand. Making camp among the ghosts. I hope at least some of them are friendly.
