In his absence, the predawn darkness felt lonely and oppressive. Few sounds disturbed the lakeside. No animals skittered across the trail; no birds chirped from the trees. A breeze stirred the bare branches, rattling them like bones. She regretted urging Sicarius to leave.
A scream sounded beyond a bend in the trail. She skidded to a stop, then darted for the closest tree before her mind caught up with her reflexes. That had been a human scream, not the unearthly screech of the creature. Still, humans rarely screamed on dark trails for good reasons, and a moment passed before she coerced her legs into moving forward again.
Hand on her knife, ears cocked, she eased around the bend. Beneath the waning starlight, two bodies sprawled on the trail, limbs twisted at unnatural angles. Rucksacks, black fatigues… The soldiers. Neither figure moved.
Her foot bumped something on the edge of the trail. It rolled away from her. The object lacked the heft of a rock, but in the weak light, she could not make out details. Amaranthe reached down to investigate, and her fingers brushed against human hair.
She jerked her arm back, and her heart leapt into double time. She took a steadying breath, forcing reason into her mind. However distressing, a severed head was not a mystifying find next to a couple of bodies.
She examined it more closely. The head had been torn off.
The creature.
Light blue had crept into the eastern sky, but trees and bushes created shadows and offered dozens of hiding spots on either side of the trail. Ears straining, she listened for footfalls or breathing. This had just happened, so the creature could not have gone far.
Amaranthe skirted the head and approached the bodies. The gouges tearing flesh and bone apart appeared the same as those she had seen on the dead man outside the icehouse.
A familiar screech tore through the foothills. Even though she expected it, Amaranthe flinched.
At least the creature was not right on the trail beside her. It had headed inland.
Several moments of squinting into the gloom let her find tracks trampling the snow beside the trail. She knelt and probed the cold craters. The size of the prints dwarfed her hand, but it was the shape that drew her interest. They were asymmetrical, even lopsided, with five clawed digits on one paw and four on the other, none of them balanced. She had long suspected the creature was nothing natural, but a thrum of excitement went through her. Perhaps she finally had some proof. No one could look at the prints and think bear or panther. Amaranthe glanced at the sky, noting the lack of clouds. With no snow heading in, the tracks would remain for searchers to discover.
“Once the soldiers see this, they’ll know there’s magic about,” she muttered.
“Perhaps.”
Maybe she was growing accustomed to Sicarius’s stealthy approaches, because she did not jump this time. She could have hugged him though. Being out here alone was about as appealing as roaming an old battlefield during a full Spirit Moon.
“I doubt their upbringing will allow them to see the truth,” Sicarius said.
“Some of the soldiers who have been stationed on the borders must know these mental sciences exist.”
“Some.” As he spoke, Sicarius circled the area, head up, eyes scanning. “It’s been almost twenty years since the last war with Nuria though. Of late, the empire has used more subtle tactics to keep neighboring nations off- balance.”
More subtle, huh? Like sending in assassins? She recalled he spoke at least one foreign language, enough to chat with the shaman who healed her anyway.
“This creature is likely the work of a Nurian wizard,” Sicarius continued.
“And what would the Nurians have to gain by mauling random people in our capital? An invasion I could see- they’d love all our ore and natural resources, but simple mayhem?”
He did not answer.
Amaranthe stepped off the trail. “We have to get a look at it to tell Akstyr, see if he knows more. It left tracks, so we can follow it.”
“The creature has nothing to do with our goal,” Sicarius said.
“Someone has to stop it or it’ll go on killing people.”
“So?”
She scowled at him. “So, the emperor wouldn’t want his citizens being mutilated by some bloodthirsty monster.”
Since she had stopped running, her body had cooled. Cold air licked through her damp clothes, and she shivered. “Let’s go.”
Amaranthe started up the hill, following the tracks. She had only taken a few steps when Sicarius’s voice halted her.
“No.”
She turned. “No?”
“We cannot fight it.”
“I’m not planning to fight it. We just need to find out what it is we’re dealing with.”
Sicarius pointed at the shredded corpses. “ They found out. It killed them. It will not let us walk up, shake its hand, and walk away. If we get close, it’ll kill us too.”
“You’re afraid,” Amaranthe blurted.
As soon as she voiced the words, she regretted it. She had uttered them as a revelation, but they sounded like an accusation. Or a challenge.
Sicarius did not respond, though he stood still, face like stone.
While she could not retract her words, maybe she could soften them. “I do not judge you for it. I merely wonder why, when you seem to fear no one.”
“I have no fear of men. They are soft and easily dispatched. Their creations are more powerful and less predictable. It’s likely our weapons won’t work against it.”
“I understand. And I’m scared too,” Amaranthe said. At least he did not sound angry. She had never seen him lose his temper and never wanted to. “But I think this is tied to our goal. Arbitan Losk had newspapers clippings of every story that’s been printed about this creature, and there’s magic guarding that house, when magic is forbidden in the empire. You and Akstyr both tell me this creature was made with the mental sciences. I don’t think it’s a coincidence.”
“You said nothing to me of the newspaper clippings.”
“No, because you were displaying…snippiness yesterday.”
“Snippiness?” he asked.
“It’s a word.”
“I think not.”
“I’ll ask Books when we get back.” Amaranthe smiled and held out her hand toward the tracks.
“Very well.” Sicarius led the way inland.
As they climbed the incline, the trees near the lake dwindled, replaced by cleared fields around the garrison. The ground leveled to an oft-traversed area used by the soldiers for parades and training, with a pavilion and bleachers in the distance. A nervous twinge ran through Amaranthe. The emperor’s birthday celebration was usually hosted out here. Was it possible the creature was scouting the area?
Hundreds of footprints tamped the snow, and she kept losing the creature’s trail. It took enormous bounds that left wide gaps between the tracks, and its path was not entirely linear. Sicarius followed the intermittent traces with some sense she did not possess.
To the distant left, a road wound up to the front gates of the garrison. Voices counting in unison drifted out- soldiers doing warm-up exercises before their company runs. Across the parade field and up a hill, a water tower rose, its bulk dark and distinct against the brightening sky. The creature’s tracks steered away from the garrison and headed toward the tower.
“Maybe it’s thirsty after all that killing,” Amaranthe said with grim humor. “Though I suppose it could be passing through.”
“No,” Sicarius said. “That is its destination.”
Amaranthe eyed the tracks, wondering at his certainty. “Why a water tower?”
“It’s strategically important.”
