Page 39 of Outside the Veil
Moss
lichen
owl fewmet
(mouse)
bunchberry
wasp wasp wasp
green snake
(mouse)
spruce
squirrel
distant human
MOOSE
flash of falcon overhead!
(mouse)
raccoon spore
fir
primrose
roar of river River RIVER…
Rush and sparkle, crash and dance, the Pointe Wolf River leapt into view. He froze on the bank, legs trembling. The river song, sweet and clear, skittered over his skin, yanked at his bones.Oh gods, oh gods, so glorious it rips the heart.
He closed his eyes, pulled himself inward and slid into the river as an otter.
The groceries shifted with ominous thuds when the truck hit another crater. Diego winced and sent up a prayer that the cream had landed on top. The trip into what passed for a town nearby had taken longer than he’d intended. Items he took for granted back home, like arugula, prompted raised brows and puzzled looks here. After few compromises and substitutions, he returned to the house, relieved to find he’d beaten Finn back.
Not that it mattered, but he did want dinner to be a surprise. If Finn were there, his ravenous curiosity would drive him underfoot during the entire dinner preparation.
A rich strawberry cheesecake, a salad with currants and walnuts and a batch of cornbread later—the steaks would have to wait until Finn arrived—Diego turned to the dining area. He considered setting up at one end of the ten-person table but discarded the thought. The occasion called for a more intimate space. He found a card table in a closet and a deep burgundy tablecloth the right size, black china place settings and delicate wine glasses with gold bubbles set in the stems. Two islands of milky white completed the setting—one the vase holding the wildflowers and the other the bowl that would hold Finn’s cream.
Diego hummed as he climbed the stairs to get ready, anticipation dancing through him.
The otter shot downriver. His whiskers tingled with the vibration around him, alerting him to fish and crustaceans, upcoming rocks and rapids. Without slowing, he snatched a fish from its hiding place under an outcropping and rose to the surface.
He climbed onto a rock, fish head clutched in his sharp teeth. Cool, glorious fish. Smooth, soft meat and the crunch of small bones. Sun-warmed granite. Splash of clear water. Scent of algae. The flows of life sluiced through him, the patterns of interconnected magic leaped out clear and bright for him again. The small magics of grass and fern. The larger flow that comprised the river. The…
The feeling reached him as it had the day before, a keening hunger in the distance. Not an audible sensation but a humming inside his head. Something…something…
Gods.
He leaped onto the bank as a deer and raced into the woods. Another magical being trapped like himself on this side of the Veil. Somewhere in these woods. The threads from this other mind emanated strange vibrations, nothing he had met before, but he had to find whoever it was.
I am not alone.
