Owlsight

Keisha realized she had learned more about the Gift of Mindspeech in a few hours conversing with Meree than she had gleaned in all the books sent her by the Collegium. For instance, along with that simple statement came attached information, that the dyheli, as a species that had no way of recording information, relied entirely on trained memory, so much so that Meree literally could not forget unless she chose to, or a stronger mind took the memory from her. That another race, the kyree, also trained their memories in the same way. This extra information just tagged along with the rest, like lambs behind their ewe, but just popped up in Keisha’s memory as she examined the statement.

The idea made Keisha dizzy; imagine having entire libraries of knowledge right in your mind, instead of having to look things up! How could anyone manage all that? How did Meree keep it all straight?

:Look and see,: was Meree’s reply, and she obligingly opened her mind to Keisha without a second thought. Keisha could only bear a few moments, but it was fascinating, with all the information neatly arranged in a flexible web, so that many trains of thought would lead to a particular bit of knowledge, each bit led to others that were related, and new bits could be fitted in without stress.

Like game trails in the forest, she thought, dizzied, as Meree closed off her mind again.

:Very like,: Meree agreed, :Now, have you come across anything as a cure for wet-tail?:

By that time it was so dark that Keisha couldn’t see anything, and she allowed herself to trust to the Hawkbrothers around her and not worry about what might lie out there under the cover of shadows. The conversation with Meree was fascinating enough to keep her attention, so much so that the time passed without her noticing how long the ride had been, until Meree said, :If you look ahead, you will see the beacons atop the two rock spires that mark the entrance to k’Valdemar Vale.:

She rose a little in her stirrups to look past the rider ahead of her - and sure enough, there were two blue- white lights in the distance, shining beneath the branches of the trees, with huge clouds of bugs swarming around them, winking in and out of sight as the light reflected from their wings. Now and again, something larger flashed through - a bat, taking advantage of this insect feast. As they neared, she saw that the lights were not as bright as she had thought; they only seemed that way in contrast to the darkness. Nearer still, and she realized that they weren’t lanterns or any other sort of light that she knew; they were round balls, about the size of her fist, perched somehow on the tops of two rough-hewn pillars of rock about three times the height of a man.

This was certainly nothing like Errold’s Grove!

The dyheli slowed as they neared the pillars, until they were moving no faster than a walk. :You will soon see hertasi, so do not be alarmed,: Meree warned, and the image of the hertasi came to Keisha along with the name. She was glad for that warning, for she would certainly have been alarmed otherwise! A manlike lizard with rows of sharp, pointed teeth that walked on its hind legs would qualify as a monster by Errold’s Grove standards, and probably a dangerous one at that. But when the little lizard-people crowded around the arriving riders at the entrance to the Vale, she managed to smile at them, albeit a little nervously.

Darian joined her as soon as Meree stopped moving, and helped her to dismount. She completely lost her nervousness in the unexpected pain of her legs as she swung her off-side leg over the saddle and tried to slide down to the ground. Her legs absolutely refused to bear her weight, and they hurt. Only hanging onto the saddle and Darian’s support kept her from ending in a heap on the ground.

“Ooooh!” she groaned indignantly. “What happened? I thought I was in good shape!”

“You are,” Darian said with sympathy. “You just aren’t a dyheli- rider yet.” He held her steady as her legs wobbled under her, and she took a couple of tentative steps away from Meree.

“I guess I’m not any kind of rider,” she replied, as one of the lizards took her bundles and the dyheli’s tack, and Meree moved off. Finally her legs stopped rebelling - though they were still horribly sore - and she was able to hobble without assistance.

The lizard whispered something musically to Darian; he replied in the same language, and it scampered off with her things before she could stop it.

“I’ll take you to the guest lodge,” Darian offered. “That’s where the hertasi is taking your bundles.”

“It has a bed, I hope,” she groaned. There must be wonders all around her, but at the moment she was in no condition to enjoy them.

He laughed. “I think you need a soak in hot water more than a bed.”

The idea of a hot bath was heavenly - but - she thought she remembered something about the Hawkbrothers and communal bathing, which did not appeal to her at all.

“I have an offer for you,” he said, interrupting the thought. “My home is nearer than the guest lodge - and you aren’t used to the customs of our hot pools. I’ll set you up with a private bath and go on to the lodge and see everything is ready there for you. Then I’ll come back and get you.”