Free The Eynan 2: Garileon by L. S. Gibson

Remelin's voice rose in consternation. "Spell protecting this place? And that's twice you've mentioned seeing me before. What are you talking about?"
    "We're all asking questions, and no one is getting proper answers. Let's sit down quietly and fill in the gaps," Jhond suggested.
    "There's nowhere decent here for us to sit," Remelin began, and Ninian privately agreed. The place was filthy with years of accumulated detritus. "And my home is little more than a hovel on the outskirts of the town."
    "I don't believe talking in this place is a good idea," Jhond said, flicking a glance at Ninian, who understood his friend's misgivings. Even now, there was still something about it that just felt wrong. Ninian hesitated to say evil, but he wondered how far from the truth that actually was.
    "We haven't seen the town yet," Ninian commented. "If you'd show us where you live?"
    Remelin still looked uncertain, and Ninian didn't think it wise for Jhond to resort to using his power simply to transport them there. He wanted her acquiescence, so he gave her his best smile and added, "Please?"
    Remelin frowned, but said, "Very well. Come. Though I don't know how you can say you didn't see Lumera when you have to pass by it to climb up here."
    "We came from another direction," Ninian said.
    She glanced over her shoulder at him, the expression on her face telling him she didn't believe him, but whatever her thoughts, she kept them to herself. She walked back to the small corner where she'd been huddled and bent down to collect her things. She shoved a couple of items into a small satchel and then swung a thick cloak about her shoulders, which she carefully fastened, before slinging the satchel over her shoulder. She turned back to them then, frowning.
    "It didn't register when I first saw you," she began, "but where are your outer garments?"
    Recalling the warm woolen cloaks left behind in Garileon Castle, Ninian glanced at Jhond, who shrugged.
    "We have nothing else," Ninian replied. "We use our power to protect ourselves from many things, the weather included." Ninian murmured a spell under his breath to increase his protection from the extreme weather on the journey to Remelin's home, aware Jhond would be doing the same.
    Her eyes widened a little, but she said nothing, just began to climb the steps. They followed her until they arrived back outside in the courtyard, which she crossed quickly, heading for what must have been the main gate once, although now only a portion of the top arch remained and most of the right jamb was missing, too. Remelin marched on without bothering to look behind her, seeming to be certain the strangers would follow her.
    As they moved outside the structure, they got their first clear view of their location, and it took Ninian's breath away. Directly ahead, he could see the sea, a fair distance away and a long way below him. On the distant horizon, he could just make out the ice flows that were the beginning of the icy wastes. Bringing his gaze closer, he could see the tops of trees and the winding path between them that led down to the town in the valley below where Remelin lived. He stopped and turned around. The building they had just left sat on an outcrop jutting out from the mountainside, and above them the sheer cliff face arose, snow on its surface and its top lost in swirling mists, adding to the forbidding, dangerous air of the location.
    "What was this place?" Ninian breathed.
    "I think that's something we need to find out," Jhond answered quietly. "Come...let's catch up with our new friend," he added, and Ninian saw Remelin was fast disappearing through the trees. "I see now why she thought we must have seen her home."
    "And she knows I lied. Not an auspicious beginning."
    "She isn't being honest with us either. Not yet, but she will be."
    A short while later, they walked into the outskirts of the small town of Lumera, but before Ninian and Jhond had time for more than a quick glance at their