Sentinelspire

Whatever was moving on the hill was getting closer. Had the sun been up, Lewan could have seen whatever it was.

A voice came out of the roaring rain. 'Lewan?'

Lewan let out his breath. It was Berun's voice.

'Here, master!' he called out as he made his way out of the shelter. He stood and removed the starstone from his pocket. As it warmed next to his hand, the light grew, catching and sparking in the droplets of rain so that Berun seemed to emerge from a thin curtain of crystal. His master had his hood down, and his long hair lay heavy and dripping over his face and down his shoulders. He held his unstrung bow in one hand.

'Lewan!' Relief flooded Berun's face, but it lasted only a moment. He looked worried as his eyes took in the sight before him. 'I've been scouring the hill. When I didn't find you… you're hurt!'

'Just a scratch.' Lewan managed a grin over his chattering teeth. 'I took a bad fall trying to get up the hill.'

The concern didn't leave Berun's gaze. 'Why the knife?'

'Until you called out, I thought you might have been one of them.'

'I took care of them.'

Lewan remembered everything Sauk had told him on their walk yesterday, of Kheil the assassin, one of the most feared murderers in the East. 'Took care of them?' he asked.

'They'll live,' said Berun. 'Though if Sauk ever catches up to us, we might not. He's never been one to forgive a slight.'

'So it's all true, then? You do know him.'

Berun looked at him, and in the meager light of the starstone, the shadows under his brows seemed very deep. Lewan swallowed and held his master's stare.

'We'll speak of this later,' said Berun. 'Let's get you cleaned up and warm.'

They returned to Lewan's makeshift shelter. Berun cleared out more leaves and deadfall to make room for them both, then hung both their starstones from the branches overhead. By their light he had a look at the cut along the inside of Lewan's arm. He cleaned off the worst of the dirt and half-dried blood with his fingers, then dabbed at the wound with a clean cloth that he'd soaked in the rain.

'More of a deep scrape than a cut,' he said. 'Still, it bled quite a bit. A branch, you said?'

'I slipped in the mud and came down on a log.'

'Fortunate it wasn't worse.'

Lewan winced and sucked in a sharp breath. He was still freezing, and his arm was almost numb, but his master's ministrations were working feeling back into the skin, and with the sharp tingling came pain. Fresh blood seeped out of the wound.

'Let me salve and bandage this,' said Berun, 'then we'll get you into warm clothes. We'll rest 'til first light, then we need to move. I bought us some time, but we need to be leagues from here by midday.'

'Where is Perch?'

'He led the tiger away.'

'Is he…?' Lewan couldn't bring himself to finish.

'He's alive,' said Berun. 'He's frightened and cold, but he's alive. That much I know. Beyond that…'

'Master,' said Lewan, 'what… what did you do? To them. To Sauk and his band.'

Berun turned to rummage through the largest of their packs. He found the small wad of clean linen they used for bandages and a polished wood vial of salve. He opened the vial and began to smear a thick, pungent paste into the wound.

'They're alive,' he said. 'I used an old trick Chereth taught me. Used the wild against them.' 'The wild?'

'I roused every spider in the valley and surrounding hills and set them on Sauk and his men. They'll live, though I doubt they'll feel much like chasing us for a few days. Still… Sauk is not one to underestimate. I want to be well into the mountains by dark tomorrow.'

'You do know him, then?'

'I told you we'd speak of this later.'

'We'll be on the run at first light,' said Lewan. 'Why not talk now?'

Berun looked up from his work and scowled, obviously displeased at Lewan's impudence. 'What do you want to know?' 'You do know the half-orc?' 'Did.'

'You are Kheil, then?' said Lewan. 'Sauk spoke truly? You're a… a killer? A murderer for hire?'

Berun put the stopper back into the vial and wiped his fingers on his shirr. He stuck his chin out and was breathing heavily through his nose. Lewan knew his master well enough to recognize that Berun was upset. Pensive. Usually when this mood hit, it was wise to leave and let Berun brood on his own. But not now.

'Is it true, master?'

Berun sighed and began wrapping Lewan's arm in a bandage. 'Not anymore,' he said. 'Years before Chereth and I found you, before you came to live with me, I… I was… reborn.'

'Reborn?'

'In my past life, the man I used to be-Kheil-was a killer, a murderer. Kheil served Alaodin, the Old Man of the Mountain who dwells in his fortress on the side of Sentinelspire. Four years before I met you, Kheil was sent to kill an old druid in the Yuirwood.'

'Chereth?' said Lewan. 'Your master?'

'Yes. Kheil led Sauk and a dozen assassins into the Yuirwood. Why? Didn't much matter. They were there to do a job.

But… the job did them.' Berun finished wrapping the arm and tied the bandage. 'How's that?' 'Tight.'

'Good. It'll loosen as we're on the move. Now, let's get you into some dry clothes so you can warm up.'

Lewan unhooked the clasp of his cloak and shrugged it off. 'What do you mean, 'the job did them?' '

As Lewan got out of his wet clothes and put on dry ones, Berun told his tale. He spoke in a lifeless tone, without detail, of how the Masters of the Yuirwood had killed Kheil upon the Tree of Dhaerow, how Chereth had used Erael'len, calling upon the Oak Father, and raised Kheil to life. The old druid had named him Berun, which meant 'hope' in the tongue of Aglarond.

'Why…?' Lewan struggled to find the words. 'Why have you never told me this before?'

Berun looked down, and in the dim light cast by their star-stones, his face was hidden in shadow. 'I am Berun now. Kheil is dead. Best to let the dead rest. Kheil's life is in the past.'

Lewan watched as his master wrapped all of his wet clothes into a tight bundle, tying them with a cord from their supplies. The shirt was probably a loss, but they could use the scraps for other purposes.

'Kheil's past just came hunting us,' said Lewan. 'Something tells me that half-orc won't give up so easily. What do we do now?'

Berun rubbed his fingers through his beard. 'We go into the mountains. Deep into the Khopet-Dag. Sauk might follow us there, but his men won't. Leading so many into the mountains would attract unwelcome attention. He knows that.'

'And we won't?' asked Lewan.

'I'll be careful,' said Berun. 'We're going to the yaqubi.' 'The yaqubi? Why?'

'Chereth and I lived with them for a couple of seasons.' The ghost of a smile flickered over Berun's lips. 'It's where I found and bonded Perch. The yaqubi are good people. You'll be safe there.'

'Safe?' said Lewan. His heart skipped a beat and started hammering in his chest. 'You mean… you're leaving me?' 'Lewan-'

'You can't! Please! I-'

'Lewan!' Berun grabbed Lewan's shoulders and shook him.

Lewan closed his mouth with an audible snap. He blinked and stared at Berun, trying to find the words that would convince his master. Berun was the only father he had known since his own father… Lewan clenched his eyes shut and turned away. He could feel a sob building in the back of his throat. I will not cry, he told himself, and he took a deep breath to calm himself.

'Listen to me, Lewan,' said Berun. 'What Sauk told me… I don't know if any of it is true or not. Chereth, the Old Man… any of it. But I have to know. I have to be sure. If there is even a chance that my master is alive…'

'I'll come with you.'