The Wayfinder Read online

  “No!” Win shouted. “Zanna is waiting for me to Find her.”

  Paz Naamit blinked at his anger, the golden eyes winking in and out like the sun being covered by a cloud. “At the end of this trail there is a caaairn. I do not lie.”

  Win fell to his knees. He shivered in the sunshine and stared out over the ledge. Maybe he should join Zanna. It would take only one step and his pain would be ended.

  Lady Kala said, “No! I need you to Find the Well.”

  His eyes were hot and dry. Why couldn’t he cry?

  Lady Kala thrust her muzzle into Win’s face. “We will stop at the child’s cairn and honor her. But we must go on, and we must hurry.”

  No time to mourn, Win thought. The plague was spreading across the Heartland, and many were dying, not just Zanna. He would concentrate on the Finding and nothing else.

  The Finding had been pulling Win downward, but he hadn’t allowed it to take total possession of him. Now he embraced the Finding, letting it overwhelm him. If he had to travel to Find the Well, then he would let it pull him so hard that he couldn’t think, couldn’t stop to eat, couldn’t stop to sleep or dream or grieve. The unbridled Finding hit him with such force that it jerked him upright.

  Paz Naamit flapped her wings in warning. “Go home. No one maaay cross my nest.”

  The Finding pulled Win forward a step. Paz Naamit screeched and dipped her head, pointing her sharp beak at Win. Win struggled to control the Finding, but it pulled him forward again.

  “Go home!” Paz Naamit jabbed at Win.

  Lady Kala said, “What’s wrong with you? Make peace with the bird before you take another step.”

  Win forced his legs to be still. “O great one, you know my mother, Hazel, is a Finder?”

  Paz Naamit bobbed her head without moving her gaze from Win’s feet.

  “I, too, am a Finder. I go on a quest for all of the Heartland. The Finding draws me downward, and we must pass over your nest.”

  Paz Naamit tilted her head from side to side. “A Finder? A Finder! If you can Find my treasure, then you maaay pass.”

  “What treasure?” Win was cautious.

  “Come closer. I will give you a Finding.” She lifted her claw and reached for Win’s head.

  Lady Kala growled menacingly. “Take care!”

  But Win didn’t worry about being careful, it didn’t matter what happened to him. The razor-sharp claws closed over his head, closed around his neck, gently, oh, so gently.

  THE EAGLE’S FINDING

  After a moment the eagle gradually opened her claws.

  Win ducked down and away. “That’s all?” he said. She only wanted him to Find a tiny gemstone, so tiny he doubted she could even pick it up with her claws.

  Paz Naamit nodded solemnly.

  Win closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment. “It’s over there, in the nest. May I?”

  “Staaay far awaaay from my egg,” Paz Naamit warned.

  Win studied the nest. Long fat sticks—twigs to the great eagle—were haphazardly thrown on top of one another until they reached a height of about four feet. He found a sturdy branch and started climbing. The nest was shallow and smelled of old rotten meat. Scattered about were gleaming bones, all that was left of past meals. On the far side was a single freckled white egg as large as his head. The Finding drew Win to the back of the nest where it butted up against the cliff. At a certain point he stopped. “The gemstone is below me, under all the sticks.”

  “Retrieve it,” Paz Naamit said.

  “I can’t. I would have to tear up your nest. What do you want with such a tiny gemstone?”

  “Haaazel gave it to me. I saaave it for her. Maybe Haaazel will come and ask for it. Bring it to me.”

  “I can’t!”

  “Then you must return to the land above.”

  Lady Kala said to Win, “There’s a tunnel here that goes beneath her nest. Ask her what it is.”

  Win nodded toward Lady Kala. “My companion says there’s a tunnel under the nest. Maybe she can retrieve the gem.”

  “Ssss! Rats!” Paz Naamit squealed in anger. “They crawl under my nest and feed on what’s left of my kills. But if they daaare to trouble my egg—” With a mighty hop Paz Naamit landed beside her freckled egg, shaking the whole nest, almost making Win lose his balance. She turned the egg over and over, inspecting it closely, while making soft mewling sounds. Win backed as far away from the egg as he could.

  Paz whirled around. “Get it out of there!” she demanded. “Use the rat tunnels if you must. Then leave me. I need to set on my egg.”

  Lady Kala stretched out on her belly and squeezed into the tunnel. “Stand over the gemstone,” she commanded.

  Win moved back into position, being careful to stay out of reach of Paz’s sharp beak.

  For a few minutes there was silence. Paz was still inspecting her egg while Win stood over the gemstone. Every few minutes he heard Lady Kala complaining. “Filthy rats!”

  Finally she reemerged with a tiny red stone in her mouth, which she laid on the path. Her coat was a filthy mop as if she’d gone through a sewer and then a briar bramble. But Lady Kala still walked gracefully and spoke royally when she commanded, “Ask the Golden One, may we pass?”

  “O Great One, there lies the gemstone. May we pass?” Win scrambled down the side of the huge nest and joined Lady Kala. He peered curiously at the stone that had caused so much trouble. It looked familiar somehow.

  “You maaay pass. Leave the stone there, and I’ll taaake care of it.” She ruffled her feathers and settled herself on the egg.

  Win picked up the gemstone and held it up to the light. Of course! He pulled out the Wolf Amulet from Hazel. The gemstone fit into one of the eye sockets.

  “Sss! What is that?” Paz Naamit rose again and peered at Win. Her golden eyes blinked and squinted in the bright afternoon sun.

  Win walked to the edge of the nest. “Look! Your gem is the missing eye from the Wolf Amulet Hazel gave me.”

  “I know this,” Paz Naamit said. “Leave it and go.”

  “But Hazel said the amulet is important in my quest. What if I need the gems in the eyes? O Great One, grant me the jewel, for Hazel’s sake!”

  Paz Naamit spread her wings, raised the feathers on her head, and reared back on her tail to free her feet.

  “Go!” she squawked. She was a fearsome sight.

  Lady Kala considered the great bird with something other than fear though. “Winchal Eldras, look at her cloudy eye. Do as I say. Offer her a drop of the Well of Life to heal her vision.”

  “You think she is blind in one eye?” Win asked Lady Kala. He went over their brief encounter: The eagle was awkward at landing, and when she attacked, her aim was poor. Perhaps Lady Kala was right.

  “O Great One, I told you I go on a quest for the Heartland. We seek the Well of Life to heal our land of the plague.”

  “Go! My patience wears thin!”

  “O Golden One, the cloud over your eye grows darker and darker each day. Perhaps the water I seek could heal your eye. Give me the jewel, and if our quest is successful, I will bring you water from the Well of Life.” Win held his breath. What if they had guessed wrong?

  Paz Naamit ruffled her feathers, turned, and sat back on her egg. For long minutes she was silent. Win watched her eyelids blink, one eye at a time, as if she was testing her vision. Several times Win wanted to say something, but Lady Kala warned him each time: “Silence!”

  Finally Paz Naamit gave a trilling sigh. “It is true, the cloud of darkness grows each daaay. Taaake Haaazel’s jewel, but first heed my words. My people soar over many lands, and the old taaales speak of the Well of Life. If you make it past the sentry to the Well itself, taaake only one or two skins of water. While you are at the Well, you maaay drink all you want, but when you leave it, the Water of Life becomes a hundred times as potent. Three drops in a well will chaaange all the water into healing water for ten days. A single drop will heal my eye.”

&nb
sp; Win hadn’t even thought about how much Water of Life to bring home. Nor had he thought of how much water would be needed to heal all of the Heartland. Paz Naamit was a bird of great wisdom!

  “Do you know anything about the Wolf Amulet? What is it for? How do I use it?”

  “Beware of the one who seeks power.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Go!”

  “No, wait, I need to know–”

  “Go from my nest!” Paz Naamit reared back on her tail again, raised one booted leg, and aimed her dagger talons toward Win. Her eyes blazed in anger. “When you return, stand on the edge of the land above and call my naaame. I will hear. Now, go!”

  “Wait—”

  “It’s no use. She has spoken; she will say no more. We must pass over the nest before she changes her mind,” Lady Kala said.

  Reluctantly Win agreed. He pushed Lady Kala onto the nest and then pulled himself up beside her. The Tazi pranced daintily along the outer circumference with Win lumbering behind, each step difficult as he became tangled in the sticks and twigs. Paz Naamit stared fiercely at them as they crossed the nest. At the far side Lady Kala leapt lithely down, and Win fell heavily beside her. He looked back up to see Paz Naamit settle herself once more on the freckled egg.

  He drew a deep breath and released his control of the Finding, allowing it to fill him so completely he could think of nothing else. The Finding pulled him—out of control—into the Rift.

  THE CAIRN

  The trail below Paz Naamit’s nest was wider and smoother than the upper trail. Shortly after they left the eagle’s nest, Win stopped suddenly and leaned against the cliff wall. “Lady Kala, the eagle interrupted our conversation. I can’t be responsible for you, a royal gazehound. It’s too much for me. I will escort you back to the top of the cliff if you wish, but you must go back.”

  Lady Kala sat on her haunches and shook her head. “I’m not your responsibility. I’m able to care for myself. I travel with you only because Hazel says you have some skill in Finding. But if I think your skills are failing, I will go my own way. Besides, I haven’t had so much adventure in my whole life. You can’t imagine how boring the kennels can be. I didn’t know I could fight eagles so well.” Her voice held a hint of smugness, and her eyes shone with excitement.

  Win turned and gazed out at the Rift. He could make out clearings in the trees and bends in the river. He had to risk his life for the Heartland—this he could face. But the thing he feared most of all was failing to protect someone as beautiful and gentle as Zanna—or Lady Kala. He would freeze again, and this time it would be Lady Kala who suffered. They would face too many dangers in the Rift; he wouldn’t be able to protect her. He would fail.

  She answered his thoughts. “I need not your protection, and you could not stop me even if you tried.” She strode down the path with a springy gait as if this were a stroll through the streets of G’il Dan.

  After a moment he followed, but fear dogged his steps until he finally lost himself completely to the Finding and blindly followed its pull.

  By midafternoon the side of the cliff was in deep shadows. Near the bottom of the trail, just as they dropped below the level of the treetops, Lady Kala stopped and nodded toward some long scratchings in the cliff face. “What is it?” she asked.

  Win struggled to concentrate on her words. She repeated the question two more times before he understood. He ran a finger over one line. “Deep cuts, made by some sort of tool. Men. It’s too big, and we’re too close to see the overall design, though.

  Lady Kala said, “We need to get down, then back away to see it all.”

  When Lady Kala and Win reached the Rift floor, it was already dusk, though there were still several hours of daylight for the land above. Win backed away from the cliff until the rock drawings came into focus. A tall human figure held a rabbit over the open mouth of a white crocodile. The warrior held a spear in one hand, and the rabbit dripped blood from the other hand. The crocodile was cut deep into the red ocher stone, then filled with a white chalky paste. Jagged teeth snatched at the rabbit. An untutored artisan had created a crude yet powerful icon.

  “What is it?” Win asked.

  “A Zendi warrior.”

  “The tribe that lives to the south, in the desert? What kind of animal is that? Why is the drawing here?”

  Lady Kala sighed uneasily. “We know little of the Zendi. Perhaps, somewhere in Zendi country, there is an easy way to come into the Rift. I have heard tales that albinos are considered lucky to the Zendi. Especially if the albino accepts a sacrifice as in this picture. Then the Zendi think that they cannot lose a battle.”

  “Does that mean the white crocodiles are unlucky for the enemies of the Zendi?”

  “If we meet one, I won’t wait around to ask if it likes us or not,” Lady Kala said. “We must be very careful from now on.”

  Nodding agreement, Win turned to look at the path before them.

  The floor of the Rift was beautiful: deep emerald green leaves, brilliant fuchsia flowers, flashy yellow birds flitting through the purple shadows. How could this place be so green, so alive? How could this be the place of death for Zanna?

  The path disappeared in the undergrowth. It was obviously not used except for an occasional rodent that raided the great eagle’s nest. Win wanted to plunge into the forest right away and follow the Finding.

  “Don’t you want to visit the cairn first?” Lady Kala asked.

  “No.”

  “You need to see it. Find it,” she ordered.

  Win shrugged. “You Find it.”

  Lady Kala tossed her head and sniffed the air. “Stay here. You aren’t the only one who can Find things.” She disappeared into the undergrowth.

  Win sat on a fallen log and waited, trying to keep his mind empty. The birds were beginning their evening serenade. He’d tried many times to imagine the Rift, but he’d never expected a land with so much greenery. He thought in the distance he could hear a rumbling that must be the river. He’d heard of rivers, but G’il Rim sat on the edge of a desert, and he’d never seen water that ran deep, day after day, continuously, throughout the year.

  “Follow me.” Lady Kala materialized from the forest and startled Win out of his self-induced daze.

  Win stood and stretched, his muscles tired from the long day. He followed the graceful Tazi along the base of the cliff until she halted in front of a pile of stones. Large stones, probably the largest Paz Naamit could carry, were piled into a low colorful mound: yellow ocher, russet, deep brown, and bleached white. White, the color of bones.

  Win knelt and picked up a smooth bone-white rock. A fallen hatchling, that’s what Paz Naamit had called Zanna. And Hazel had known Zanna was gone forever. Hazel had been quietly grieving, and if he hadn’t been so blind, Win would have seen it. She’d been silent, laughing seldom. Her chores and duties were carried out, but her heart had been far from Finder’s Hall and the apprentices; Hazel’s heart had been here in the Rift.

  Lady Kala whined and rubbed her nose with her front paw. A low growl rumbled deep in her chest as if she didn’t like the rock Win held. But she didn’t back away. “Tell me of this sister.”

  How could he explain Zanna? She was a Healer, not a Finder. When he’d gotten a two-inch cactus thorn stuck through his sandal and into his big toe, she’d pulled it out and soothed his pain with a poultice.

  “I can’t talk about her.”

  “It would ease the pain.”

  Win stared at the bone-white rock and the cairn rocks. “Nothing will ease the pain. I live now only to Find the Well. Once I am relieved of that Finding, I will join Zanna.”

  Lady Kala’s sooty eyes narrowed, and her lips curled in a scowl. “The dead are dead, and you can’t bring them back. Why do you seek to join them?”

  Win refused to listen. Instead he sought the memory of cool waters that would taste so clean and pure. The Finding engulfed him, drowned the sorrow of the moment, and pulled him upright. He pl
unged into the forest.

  Part III

  THE SEARCH

  THE FOREST

  Only Hazel and King Andar, who told no tales, had ever traveled through the virgin forest at the bottom of the Rift. Trees were tall but spare, leaving enough light to support a thick undergrowth of shrubs, vines, grasses and thorns. The deeper into the forest they went, the more Win realized that the drought had affected the plants even here in the Rift. Supported by the river, the leaves were still green, but they were brittle, sometimes paper dry. The plants were mostly unfamiliar to Win or would have been if he had bothered to pay attention. Instead Win let the Finding blind him and pull him through the growing twilight for perhaps an hour. Lady Kala trailed after him as best she could.

  Once she protested, “This isn’t a path; it’s destroying my coat.”

  “The Finding pulls, and I obey, path or not.”

  She was kennel-trained and palace-pampered and had never traveled through rough country before; she spent extra energy sidestepping or backtracking in search of an easier path. But Win forged on, allowing nothing to stop him. Sometimes he even closed his eyes and let the Finding tow him through the forest. Thorns scratched him, and spiderwebs tangled in his hair, but his Finder’s sense kept him from tripping over vines or branches. Finally, when the night was becoming too dark to see, they came upon a wide path.

  “Here we shall rest for the night,” Lady Kala announced.

  “The plague threatens G’il Rim. We can’t stop,” Win said.

  “You must rest. You must master the Finding now, or it will pull you to your death, and your death will mean the death of My Prince and the Heartland. Allow the Finding to cloud your memory and help you through the day if you must. But I won’t let you push yourself to exhaustion and risk the success of our mission.”