{"id":248,"date":"2010-04-23T13:30:15","date_gmt":"2010-04-23T19:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/atfmb.com\/Evermist\/?p=248"},"modified":"2010-04-09T23:59:23","modified_gmt":"2010-04-10T05:59:23","slug":"chapter-twenty-nine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/atfmb.com\/Evermist\/2010\/04\/chapter-twenty-nine\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter Twenty-Nine"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a9 2010, Patrick Hester.\u00a0 All Rights Reserved<\/p>\n

Chapter Twenty-Nine<\/h1>\n

Elias reined his horse up and whistled to Jaycn, who was riding between he and the rest of the squad to let Elias see if he could scout on his own.\u00a0 It was the twelfth day out from Deisarch Dain and the weather had cleared again, leaving the sky above bright and blue and the sun hot.\u00a0 He’d already stripped away his heavy coat and had kept his gloves behind his belt all day.<\/p>\n

Jaycn trotted up and Elias pointed to a point in the Wall where a crack had formed and a tiny stalk of green no more than a cubit tall poked its way out and into the sunlight.\u00a0 It had a single leaf about the size of his thumb.<\/p>\n

“Right, good eye.\u00a0 I’ll tell the Sergent.\u00a0 Stay here and watch for anything<\/em>, understood?”<\/p>\n

“Yes.”\u00a0 For some reason, Elias felt the need to pull his rifle from the holster on his saddle.\u00a0 He tried to take in everything from the Wall, to the crack, the fog that hid the forest – even Jaycn as he trotted back to the rest of the squad.\u00a0 He’d found the crack and the plant, but he still felt like he didn’t know really what he was supposed to be doing.<\/p>\n

“All right, everyone spread out facing the interior of the island,” Klen ordered as the squad rode up.\u00a0 “We take positions along the Wall, weapons out and at the ready – keep your eyes on that fog!\u00a0 Jaycn, on your way, bring back the Engineers.”<\/p>\n

“Aye, Gunny,” Jaycn said, then rode to Elias.\u00a0 “The Engineers live in the Towers and only they can deal with this.\u00a0 Keep your eyes and ears open, I’ll be back in an hour or so.”<\/p>\n

“Right.”\u00a0 Elias dismounted as someone came and took his horse.\u00a0 The rest of the squad had already begun taking positions along the Wall, rifles ready and pointed at the trees no one could see.\u00a0 Jaycn spurred his horse and sped off.<\/p>\n

Elias took the spot next to Narut, who gave him an uneasy smile.\u00a0 Staring out from the Wall, he could see the blackened earth Fesh had told them about back when they were in training, and that felt like a lifetime ago even though it was only a few weeks.\u00a0 It extended for a mark beyond the Wall, and he couldn’t imagine anything being able to grow out there and wondered how anything managed to grow at all with all the snow they’d seen.\u00a0 Then he thought about the fact that it had snowed for days straight, and yet there was no snow on the ground below.\u00a0 Plus, there was this heat today that he didn’t think could happen – yet it did, almost as if the island itself was radiating a heat from within.\u00a0 That thought soured his stomach.\u00a0 How could an island radiate heat?\u00a0 It had to come from somewhere, right?<\/p>\n

“How was your watch?” Narut asked him softly.\u00a0 Neither took their eyes away from the space beyond the Wall.<\/p>\n

“Quiet,” he said, just as softly.\u00a0 “And creepy.\u00a0 I did hear the trees rustling just before my watch was over.”<\/p>\n

“Oh.”\u00a0 His friend looked green.\u00a0 “You saw those paw prints?”<\/p>\n

Eli nodded.\u00a0 Larger than the hoof prints left by the horses, larger than anything he’d seen before, really.\u00a0 He had to study them with Jaycn, who pointed out that his hand fit fully inside the middle while the three toes could each hold another hand spread out.<\/p>\n

“I heard about the cats,” Elias said slowly.<\/p>\n

Jaycn nodded.\u00a0 “Big ones.\u00a0 Take a horse right out from under you and drag it over the wall with you still in the stirrups.\u00a0 Ever heard a horse scream?”<\/p>\n

Elias shuddered.\u00a0 “No.”<\/p>\n

“You will.\u00a0 In a full attack, I’ve seen vines come whipping out of the mist, drag a man off or pierce him through.\u00a0 Branches too.\u00a0 Those deaths are immediate.\u00a0 Trees don’t need fresh meat.”<\/p>\n

Elias got as comfortable as possible, sighting down his rifle towards the trees.\u00a0 The sight at the end of the barrel glared in the light, so he licked his thumb and rubbed it on the sight.\u00a0 It was going to be a long afternoon and he wanted to be ready for anything.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2010, Patrick Hester.\u00a0 All Rights Reserved Chapter Twenty-Nine Elias reined his horse up and whistled to Jaycn, who was riding between he and the rest of the squad to let Elias see if he could scout on his own.\u00a0 It was the twelfth day out from Deisarch Dain and the weather had cleared again, […]<\/p>\n

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