Free [Lanen Kaelar 03] - Redeeming the Lost by Elizabeth Kerner Page B

Kedra called aloud to us all on the ground, “All is well! We have
food, my friends, and water in abundance, and a place to rest as long as we
need it!” Kedra landed awkwardly, allowing Will to drop just the little
distance from his hands as he backwinged frantically. As Will picked himself up
and brushed the earth from his clothing, I bespoke my son.
    “Kedra, how fare you? Is it well, truly?”
    “It is very well, my father,” he replied
aloud, though his eyes were troubled. “I must speak with you soon, Father,” he
said in tightly focussed truespeech, then continued aloud, “Farmer Timeth is
presendy recovering from the acquisition of sudden wealth, but his kine are
healthy, his water is good, and his farm backs up to a high rock wall to the
north, under the shelter of which there is room for us all.”
    “Blessed be the Winds,” I murmured. “Good news
at last.”
    Mirazhe came to join us then, her tiny
youngling Sher6k awake now and riding between her wings. He looked so terribly
small and fragile. When I frowned a litde at Mirazhe and opened my mouth, she
hissed a laugh and said, “Fear not, Hadreshikrar. Your son’s son is perfectly
safe, and the soulgems of the Lost are in Gyrentikh’s keeping.”
    I shut my mouth with a snap and turned my head
away briefly in embarrassment as Kedra and Mirazhe laughed. “Am I so
transparent, my daughter?”
    She replied, her eyes dancing, “You are, my
father. But none the less valued for that.”
    Sherok, for his part, was delighted with the
view despite the hunger that he was broadcasting in waves. Kedra greeted his
son by touching his soulgem to the raised spot on Sherok’s faceplate where his
soulgem would eventually break through, and Sherok’s thoughts turned from
hunger to joy in the instant. The wash of his pleasure at seeing his father
again was as the dawning of a second sun to my weary soul, and I stood and
called to the Kantri, aloud and in
truespeech, telling them Kedra’s news.
    “It is nearby, dear heart,” muttered K6dra to
Mirazhe. “I have not eaten, but it will not be long now.” Indeed, most of the
Kantri were preparing to depart when Vilkas came running up to me.
    “Lord Shikrar, please, you must not let them
eat right away!” he cried, a little out of breath. “Will told me what you were
doing, but you must listen. Don’t let them eat at first! Start by drinking. And
when you kil the catde, start by drinking the blood.”
    I stared at him. “Surely how we eat is no
concern of yours,” I said, annoyed at his tone of command.
    “Please, I beg you, listen to me. Your bodies
are very similar to ours, I saw the results of fatigue in your blood and
muscle. Just exactly like us. And I tell you, if you eat meat too quickly after
such desperate exhaustion and hunger, you could die of it. Even water is not
the best. Blood has salt and enough sugar to help you back to enough strength
to eat. Drink the blood, I pray you, and wait an hour until you are recovered.
Then drink water, slowly, and very small amounts of food at first—that is the
most important. Eat much less than you want, lest your hearts stop from the
shock.”
    “We have managed to five so long without your
assistance, Master Vilkas,” I said dryly. “I thank you for your concern, but—”
    “Shikrar, didn’t you tell me once that some of
the Ancestors died when they reached the Isle of Exile?” asked Varien quietly.
    “Yes, the greedy ones who gorged themselves on
the few large creatures who lived on the island, and left the rest to—oh.”
    I closed my eyes and sighed. When I opened
them again, I bowed to Vilkas, to his great surprise. “Master Vilkas, forgive
my foolishness. We will do as you have asked.”
    Vilkas nodded to me, an attenuated bow, and
strode back to where Mistress Aral spoke with Will. I called out in truespeech
to all the Kantri, who, groaning and complaining, nevertheless began to rise
and flex stiff wings. I took a moment to bespeak