Page 39 of Shifter King
"No, and I doubt that the Bealorns we spoke with will care particularly much if you are violent. But if you are perceived as a threat, they will be more cautious about trying to take you."
If there was time. A cold uneasiness swept over her. "How did they know where to find us? How did they know about me?"
"Did you pick anything up with your mindreading?"
She released a slow breath, the memories pressing hard against her mind. "As she spoke, I saw flashes of what happened to a woman. I think they may have been Machat. They—they tortured her. And—I think Gabrice, the young man, was upset. I could be wrong. Maybe she had nothing to do with how they found me."
AaQar nudged her and then indicated the large steaming canteen. The scent had gotten worse. "You should drink this."
"Oh…"
"It will help you heal faster."
"It smells like bones and collagen and mushroom and…something else." She winced. "Thank you. I will—I will drink it."
"I've seen you flinching. Have you been having more of these flashes since you left Dry Deep?"
He asked the question almost too casually. Or maybe it was her enhanced abilities that revealed the truth. She nodded though. "It's been—there's been a lot."
"Dry Deep has done that for many Neyeb. I don't know all of the healing recipes that the Neyeb prefer though I can tell you a good number drank something that contained at least most of the ingredients in that as well as some extra things for flavor. I've mixed in the tea as well to give it additional potency and so that you don't have to drink an ungodly quantity." He indicated her canteen. "You are doing all you can. This will get easier in time."
She found a smile pulling at her lips. He wanted to know how much she was hearing. "I'm sure it will help." It really wasn't much, and she tried not to pry. It was starting to feel like wandering through a field of water balloons with a suit of thorns. And whatever comfort she could try to offer would likely be dispelled if she even acknowledged that she had heard anything from him. Other than QueQoa, AaQar seemed most concerned about his thoughts being heard. Not that she blamed him. She disliked the fact that they could scent her mood. The thought of being around someone who could at any time peek into her thoughts and mind unnerved her. Of course it also unnerved that there was an ancient entity currently chilling in some part of her mind even as she sat here sipping whatever vile healing concoction AaQar had mixed up.
She took a sip from the canteen and grimaced. Shrieking crespa, that was—she blinked, not even certain there were words for it.
"It's best to drink it hot. Killoth said it gets easier. Of course, he also knew the other ingredients to make it more palatable. But the one good thing about our being close to Darmoste is there is a wider variety of some of the healing plants and fungi."
She tried to smile, but it vanished as she choked down another mouthful. Still though, not as hard as the first. "I'm assuming the non-waving kind of fungi?"
That at least did draw a smile to AaQar's face. "We never use the waving fungi. Or singing fungi for that matter."
"I…" She rubbed her eyes. It was impossible to be truly ridiculous with this world. "I don't even know where to go from there."
There were topics she wanted to discuss. The dead in Darmoste. The state of those outside. The Tue-Rah. The Bealorns searching for her. The Machat. Everything. But it was as if a clamp had been placed over her mouth. Words weren't needed. Nothing that she could say would help, and he did not want to talk either. So she drank from the canteen and did not protest much when he insisted on filling it again.
Perhaps it was a placebo effect, but whatever that drink did feel as if it was making her stronger. And the taste actually wasn't the worst by the time she finished the second. Not only had the aching in her head decreased, but it was easier for her to envision creating the barriers, holding the shields, and strengthening her boundaries.
As she continued to sip the strange drink, she pored over the Neyeb books and her own notes. The Neyeb tradition of not writing down certain basics so that all would be required to work directly with mentors and more skilled practitioners annoyed her. There had to be something somewhere.
She flipped through the pages once more, letting that distinct scent of old paper wash over her. Elonumato had made her a Neyeb, and He obviously had to expect her to use these skills. But how was she supposed to figure it out? Especially with the Ki Valo Nakar lurking. Was she supposed to trust it with her education? It did talk a fair bit about her calling, but most likely it would only want to discuss what related to soul ripping in all its forms.
She shuddered and returned to a section on mental shields that outlined proper protective measures when one was in a hostile crowd. Already a familiar set of steps that did not work as fast as she wanted them to. But it was better than nothing. She closed her eyes, working through them one by one, imagining the shields and willing them thicker. Up around the walled barriers and the deep-lined boundaries.
Soon QueQoa woke and joined her at the table. He rested his head on his hand, observing that they would need to do something about warmth in the bunker once the Grey Season came and then fell silent as he drank a steaming canteen of tea.
WroOth followed sooner after. He immediately lifted the lid of the stew pot. "Did you put the linbok liver and quarter straps in?"
"They're on salt in the back," AaQar said. "There's enough in the pot right now."
"There's enough room for that." WroOth poked at the bubbling stew with the large spoon. "At least half of it. It'll make it much better for eating."
"If you put too much in, the overflow could catch fire." AaQar took the spoon from him.
"Not completely. Just enough to get smoky. Besides we don't have to put all of it in or even half. Even a quarter will help."
"Fine. A quarter of it if you get it."
WroOth returned as if victorious with a salted chunk of meat and an almost purple liver. After plopping both into the pot, he stirred it in. "This will make it far better."
