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Allabva resumed her eastward journey once she was back on the road. Hronomon joined her shortly after.
“It sounds like you enjoyed your dinner.”
“Oh yes, I most certainly did.” Despite the parting admonition to beware the Disaffected, it had been quite a positive encounter.
“Good. I’m glad.” His voice was flat, however.
“You led them to me, didn’t you?”
“That, I did.”
“Why? Aren’t you suspicious of every unknown factor potentially trying to frustrate our progress?”
“I am.” He stopped talking and a chorus of nighttime insects that had been singing the entire time took over Allabva’s hearing, gently punctuated by the tap of her walking staff on the packed earth at her feet. She wasn’t satisfied with Hronomon’s terse reply.
“Then why did you do it?”
“A few reasons.” He offered none, only walking. Allabva told herself she would get him to open up more before the end of their journey together.
“Like what?”
“You need your food to last you longer. I followed them for a time and they seem to be good people, so I thought it likely they might share with you. You need human interaction. They provided that. Most importantly, they were other people, which meant you are not alone. I could keep my distance from you and yet you were protected by the presence of others.”
“I guess you could tell they were good people the same way you said you were drawn to me?”
“No. I no longer have that gift. That comes to the Hronomon as part of the Construct, and only functions until a Companion has been identified. I was not completely certain they were safe, but it seemed most likely because they had healthy children.”
Allabva cocked her head. “Because they had healthy children?”
“Yes, healthy and generally happy. I have observed that adults who have children who are well cared for tend to do exactly that, they care for their children. They find themselves less interested in wishing to do harm to others. It’s not perfect across the board, but I’ve found it to be a helpful guideline.”
“And if you were wrong this time?”
“I can easily overpower a family of four. I watched them carefully the entire time.”
“Then how did they make me any safer than just having you around?”
“I already told you that. They provided a visible deterrent to trouble. I need to stay out of sight. I could stop most trouble, but it’s more likely to start if you look like you’re alone to begin with.”
“Oh.”
“Keep your pace up. Maybe you shouldn’t play the flute in the dark. You need to watch your step. Also, you hazard coming upon other travelers who would hear you well ahead of time.”
“But the road is rather flat and the crickets are rather loud. I think I’ll be fine. Can’t you scout ahead as well, since you prefer that I not appear to be traveling with you?”
Hronomon sighed, a half-neigh sound that Allabva found interesting. She had never heard any Nomo-Nomo sigh before. “Very well. Play if you like, as long as it helps you keep your pace up. I thought it would be a good idea for you to spend some time with other humans and to share their food, but you should remember that we are on a mission with a critical deadline. Do not slow down.”
Hronomon broke into a trot and Allabva watched him grow farther ahead of her.
Rather than pulling Delgan’s flute out immediately, Allabva reviewed the lyrics she had heard Fiewren sing. She had already thought the tune was beautiful before, but now she decided that the entire song was even more so than she had realized. Thus, Allabva walked forward briskly, singing to herself and repeating every part of the song to make sure she would never forget it.
When her voice had grown hoarse from singing, she drank from her waterskin, then tucked her staff under her arm and pulled out Delgan’s flute. Trying to stave off the creepy sensation of walking alone in the chill of the night, she played softly to herself. First, she played In the Cool Shade of the Mount, then she decided to distract herself more strongly again by attempting to figure out the notes for other songs.
She tried Five in the Morning, Five at Night. It was a child’s song and had a rather simple tune. After noodling with different fingerings in time with the rhythm at the start of the tune, Allabva was able to find a combination that seemed to work to produce the correct intervals. She was happy with herself for having been able to discover the method to play this song, but she bored quickly of the repetitive motif.
Next she tried playing the Greenstones’ Dance. She attempted the opening of the tune several times, experimenting with different fingerings and searching for the intervals between the notes that would make the tune sound right. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to produce it. She had no reference to get started, as she had used with the flute’s enchanted tune. After some time filled with nothing but repeated failed attempts, she gave up.
Allabva walked, her staff tapping the ground in time with her step, trying not to think of what ills may await her in the dark. She knew Hronomon was out there in the night, but knowing that he was there was not as comforting as having him right by her side. She tried not to think of the Disaffected, whom Banduchy had claimed would wish her harm if they discovered she had any connection to one of the Nomord.
Tap, tap, tap, went her staff. Crickets replied with their unending song.
“How long is this journey?” she asked herself.
The crickets again answered in the same chirps as before.
“What is Sacalai like?”
Tap, tap, tap, chirp, chirp, chirp.
Allabva decided she could not continue all night like this. She pulled out the flute again.
“Beware the wolves.”
The flute sang in its high-pitched tones as if it were played by a human, intoning obligingly its sweet song, communicating both a haunting sorrow and an indomitable optimism. The second sentiment only had half its intended effect on Allabva’s heart right now, but she tried to open up and be swallowed in the intimated embrace, to bask in the warmth of the desired conclusion.
“Will you be there, Delgan?” she spoke aloud to the night.
Tap, tap, tap.
“Will you hold me like the flute’s love held her?”
Tap, tap, tap.
“I’m on a dangerous quest now. Will you forgive me for not showing up for dinner…” She thought for a moment, having to dedicate her mind to calculate what day it was. She had lost track, having been whisked from her home by the Gha-Nomord who called himself Hronomon. Was it after midnight now? “…tomorrow night?”
Tap, tap, tap, chirp, chirp, chirp.
The flute finished its song, playing only the verse, the chorus, and the verse again. Allabva swallowed hard. “Beware the wolves.” The flute started over.
Tap, tap, tap.
“What kind of dangers will this journey really bring me?”
Chirp, chirp, chirp.
Allabva lowered her voice. “What dangers will tonight bring me?”
Tap, tap, tap.
“Mother, Mellier, will you still be safe? Will the orchard be heavy with fruit when I come home?”
Chirp, chirp, chirp.
Needing to break the mood, Allabva sang along with the flute’s melody, choosing to review the chorus and the final verse, trying to internalize them to the fullest. She modified the lyrics, seeing fit to adapt them to her situation.
Take me there, through the ash and pine,
Take me there, to the desert or sea,
Wherever I go, I’ll not leave you there,
I will not be parted from thee.
In the cool shade of the mount,
My love came to call in the morning, (to me)
And I know not when I’ll return,
I will hold you forever that day.
Tap, tap, tap, sniffle.
Allabva caught herself tearing up, confronted by the reality of vast uncertainty greeting her in every moment since she left home. She wiped the tears from her eyes with her sleeve, then restarted the flute to play as comforting background music.
“Beware the wolves.”
Allabva rummaged in her bag and pulled out her gloves, keeping her fingers warm. The frosty night seemed colder than it should have been.
Allabva saw Hronomon approaching from ahead. She stopped the music and returned the flute to its hiding place inside her blouse.
“Allabva,” he addressed her flatly.
“Yes?”
“What did that man talk to you about after I showed myself outside the ring and then waited for you on the road?”
“He said there were people that he called the Disaffected. He said they wouldn’t like it if they knew I had any connection to one of the Nomord. Why do you ask?”
“Because it’s too cold.”
“What does the weather have to do with the Disaffected? Will they blame you for the weather?”
“Perhaps indirectly. All the same, I blame them likewise, indirectly.”
Allabva waited for an explanation, looking at Hronomon as if he were crazy. Hronomon snorted, then supplied his explanation.
“Sacalai has too much influence in this world. She should not have so much yet. The fact that these Disaffected are known to exist belies a stronger grip on men’s hearts than Sacalai should have yet. This means we are likely under a greater urgency than the Shrongelin or I had realized.”
“What does this have to do with the weather?”
“Your race is so forgetful,” Hronomon accused. “Human lives are so short that you do not remember the most basic things about my kind.”
Allabva tried to ingratiate herself by showing what she could remember, including what Hronomon himself had told her. “The Ta-Nomord can heal, the Gha-Nomord can confer strength, but it requires a bond—”
“You know that the Ta-Nomord can encourage plant growth,” Hronomon interrupted. “The Gha-Nomord cannot do that directly, cannot directly influence plant life or crop growth. We can help in a way, because we can influence the elements directly. It is not absolute, and it is very localized. In the days before the Construct, we could band together with the Ta-Nomord and achieve great positive effects in order to benefit both human and Nomord. We cannot combine to achieve those effects because of the Construct, but I should have been able to keep you warm at night. At least, warmer than tonight.”
Allabva was struck. “You can influence the weather?”
“Yes, to a limited degree, but so can Sacalai. If she can cast her influence into the world and keep the night this cold against my will, then the hazard presented by the Disaffected is greater than I anticipated. You must travel faster.”
“I’m not sure I can do that. You told me to set a sustainable pace, and I am.”
“Then exceed your sustainable pace. We must meet the Shrongelin with the greatest haste. I will continue to watch the road ahead.”
Hronomon trotted forward, swallowed up again in the blackness and chill of the night. Watching him go, Allabva stumbled and then caught herself. Her false step was caused by unevenness in the road. She hadn’t noticed it while focusing on the music, especially under the cover of darkness, but the landscape was starting to change. Now there were more trees, more frequently spotting the plain. Likewise, the plain itself was giving way to gently rolling hills.
Now distracted from her premonitions of doom by wanting to take in the interesting view despite the obscurity of night, Allabva started to feel hungry again. She fed on her provisions as she walked and wondered how she was supposed to go faster than her sustainable pace. By definition, she wouldn’t be able to keep it up. Regardless, munching on wedding leftovers, she mentally took note of her speed and length of gait whenever she was traveling slightly downhill, then tried to maintain it when the road was level or went uphill.
She continued this the best she could through the night, nearly reaching a constant jog on the downhill and level patches and allowing herself to slow to a quick walk during any amount of climb. She listened to the flute’s music on and off, while wondering to herself what sort of creature this Sacalai was, that the Nomord should fear her so. Allabva thought she was doing well to maintain an accelerated pace, but was apprehensive that she would need to sleep sooner. She was also concerned that her fatigue from tonight would still follow her after she slept. Nevertheless, she pressed on, not seeing Hronomon again for a good stretch.
Then it began to rain.
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