Even Elspeth's Companion had been of little help, not with the snow so deep and soft. The cats, with their snowshoelike paws, had a definite advantage in weather like this.
It had been snow with ice beneath; they had slipped and slid so often that he reckoned they were both black and blue in a fair number of places. He wanted to get back to his ekele, to the hot pool beneath it.
He thought, briefly, about seeking one of the other scouts for company, then dismissed the idea. There were several women of k'sheyna who were friends, willing and attractive, but none of them were Elspeth... Stupid. Don't be an idiot. Don't complicate matters. She's your friend, sometimes your student; be wise enough to leave it at that. You aren't living a romance-tale, you have work enough and more to do.
Still-she was a competent partner now as well; he felt more confident in his magic, and so did she. As a team, they were efficient and effective.
Working with the gryphons had been a stroke of genius.
A white shape flickered through the branches ahead, ghosting just under the branches in silence; a breath of snow-fog, with a twin coming in right behind it.
Vree cried a greeting; not the challenge scream, but the whistling call no outsider ever heard. A long, deep Hooo, hoo-hooo, answered him, and One of the two owls swooped up across the Veil and onto a branch just above Darkwind's head.
The second followed his brother, and as he flew up to land above, Darkwind made out the distant figure of someone riding through the barren bushes and charcoal-gray tree trunks of the unprotected forest.
The dyheli waded through the soft snow easily, his thin legs having no trouble with drifts a man would be caught in, his sharp, cleft hooves cutting footholds in the ice beneath. Astride him was Wintermoon. Behind the first dyheli came the second, unladen, his breath puffing frostily out of his nostrils.
Wintermoon waved as soon as he saw Darkwind, grinning broadly.
Since he was not normally given to such things as broad grins, Darkwind was a bit surprised.
Being with that Outlander has done him some good, then. Loosened him UP.
It occurred to him that Wintermoon might have found himself a real friend-rarer still, a close friend-in the Outlander Herald. Could it be mutual? Perhaps they had learned that they had a lot in common; Skif had struck him as rather a loner himself. A close friend was something, so far as Darkwind knew, his brother had never had before.
About time, too.
Wintermoon and the dyheli crossed the Veil and the scout slid from the dyheli's back to land beside his brother. 'Darkwind!' he said, obviously pleased. 'Thank you for doing this yourself, and thank you for fetching the supplies for me at all. What's all this?' Wintermoon briefly embraced his brother and indicated 'this' with a toe to one of the extra bundles. 'I did not ask you for nearly so much.'
'And it doesn't look like provisions, I know.' Briefly, Darkwind told his brother what he had put together for the little expedition.
Wintermoon frowned at that. 'I don't know. I hesitate to use anything magic made out there.'
'I've shielded it as best I can,' Darkwind pointed out, 'We have been using magic without attracting trouble for many weeks now. And if I were the one doing the scouting, I would weight the warmth and light very heavily in any decisions I made. Winter is only just upon us, and already it has the Vale locked around with ice and snow. It will be worse out there.'
'It already is worse.' Wintermoon eyed the bundle dubiously, but then heaved it onto his mount's back. 'You were the first of us to object to using magic on the border; if you say it is probably worth the risk, I will believe you. I have very little to return you for your gift, I am afraid.'
'No sign of Nyara?' Darkwind asked, expecting a negative.
'Very little sign, and old,' Wintermoon replied, as he helped his brother tie the bundles securely to the dyheli backs. 'But there are things that tell me she passed the way we are going. I have some hope that we will find her, though I have not told this to Skif, for I do not wish to raise his hopes with nothing more substantial than old sign. It is a difficult secret to keep, though.'
'That is probably wise,' Darkwind said carefully, balancing the first dyheli's load.
His brother looked up at him from the other side of the stag's back.
'He is a man who has had many disappointments,' the scout said suddenly.' I would not add to them, if I can avoid it. He is Wingsib; more than that, he does not deserve it.'
'We seldom deserve disappointment,' Darkwind observed dryly.
'But I do agree with you.' He fastened the last of the bundles to the second dyheli, and straightened from tightening the cinch. 'If you are worried about losing time and need someone to meet you with supplies, send K'Tathi again,' he said. 'It's no trouble, and perhaps I can find you something else useful, rummaging around in the old stores.'
'You might indeed, and thank you.' Wintermoon peered out into the growing darkness beyond the Veil. 'I had best get on the trail; it will take some time getting back with all these supplies.' Darkwind nodded, and Wintermoon mounted the second stag, so that the work of bearing him could be shared between the two. With a wave of farewell, Wintermoon urged his mount and its brother out of the Vale and into the night; vanishing into the darkness beneath the trees, followed by two silver shadows, ghosting out and above.
Darkwind turned his own face back toward the Vale, figuring to find some dinner, soak himself in hot water, and go to bed. A headache was coming on, and he assumed it was from fatigue. It had been a very long day. Bed, even one with no one in it but himself, had never seemed so welcome.
SO when he passed his father's ekele and saw the Council of Elders, even old Rainlance, huddled in conference with most of the mages of k'sheyna, including Elspeth, he was tempted to retrace his steps before anyone saw him. Such a gathering could only mean trouble. Surely he had done enough for one day. Surely he deserved a rest.
