Chapter 6 - Soul Stealer

Nyla slept through the day and into the evening. When

she awoke after dark, Tarn and Logan were just nishing a

shared supper of stewed venison. Waking slowly, she rolledover and sat up. Neither of her friends was surprised when

the rst words out of her mouth were “I’m famished. Got

anything to eat?”

Tarn and Logan had used the time she had spentsleeping wisely, and so when Nyla woke up, the two menhad a large pot of venison stew simmering over the re.

Tarn pointed to it with his spoon, and Nyla quickly helpedherself to several bowls full.

Both men sat back and watched her eat with amusedexpressions. Laughing gently, Tarn quipped, “I guess youlike my cooking all right now?” Nyla shot him a dirty look,but kept on eating. He turned to Logan. “You weren’tkidding when you said she’d be famished. She’s eaten more

now than she has in the last three days.”

Logan shrugged nonchalantly. “As I told you earlier,

Tarn, she lost a great deal of blood. When you consider

the fact that the magic re-grows lost blood and tissue inminutes what would take days or even weeks normally….But that is behind us. What matters is that Nyla is well,and we can move on with our mission. The question is:

What do we do now?”

Between mouthfuls, Nyla said, “Isn’t it obvious? Wetrack the orcs back to their camp. I remember at least oneof those wargs wandering off before I passed out, right?” Tarn nodded. “Wargs are very intelligent. That one shouldlead us back to their basecamp.”“You’re sure?”

Nyla looked surprised. “For a man who has been ghtingorcs for over half my lifetime, you don’t know much about

wargs, do you Tarn?”

“Not really. I never paid much attention to them —I wasusually more concerned with ghting their riders. A smarthorse is still only a horse. Wargs are the same way.”“Most are,” Nyla replied. “Some are smarter, though There is an element of magic in some of them that allowsthem to achieve nearly human intelligence. According toMaster Ulric’s books, there are stories that some of themcan even…. speak.”Logan laughed uproariously. “A talking horse! What are you going to tell me next? That my horse over there hasfeelings and that I should ask her about them?”Nyla’s look was lled with scorn. “You, master cleric,of all people, should know better. Simple magic allows usto speak with animals. While they do not think like we do,they do have thoughts beyond “Hungry” or “Tired.” Some wargs are supposed to be even smarter than that.” Tarn thought back to how the warg seemed to anticipatehis spear thrust. No ordinary animal should have reacted

so fast, that was for certain. Tarn looked at Logan, who

seemed to be all but choking on his laughter. “I wouldn’tdiscount Nyla, Logan. Those wargs seemed awfully smartfor mere animals.” Logan still looked incredulous, butkept quiet. “At any rate, I think Nyla has the best idea —smart wargs or not. If she is a good a tracker as she says,

we should be able to follow those orc scouts trail in the

morning. For tonight, I’ll take last watch. Logan, you want

second? Then Nyla can get another solid night of sleep after

she nishes her little feast here.” Nyla looked at him, butdidn’t argue as Logan nodded his acknowledgement. “Well,

then. I’ll see you in the morning.” With that, Tarn crawled

over to his blanket and was soon fast asleep.* * *

In the morning, as Tarn was saddling their horses, Nylacame up behind him.“Beautiful animals, aren’t they?”Startled, Tarn jumped when she addressed him. Shelaughed softly at his reaction, and then continued. “I never

really thought about it before, but they truly are gracefulcreatures.”

Tarn turned to her, bemused. “What makes you saythat? You don’t strike me as pony princess sort of girl.”“No, I suppose not.” She laughed gently. “I’ve alwaysbeen torn about my heritage, but I do love nature. I’mnever quite sure why.” She scuffed at the dirt with her boot.“Sometimes it was just more fun to go out and count prairiedogs than sit in my master’s library studying, you know?”She threw her saddle up and onto the back of her horse.

She obviously knows what she’s doing

, Tarn thought.Logan, on the other hand, did not. Tarn watched the

cleric struggle with his saddle, laughing as Logan mutteredcurses under his breath. Unable to resist, he baited thebigger man. “What’s the matter? You can bring a personback from the point of death, but you can’t saddle your own

horse?”

Logan scowled and shot him a dirty look, but didn’t sayanything as he continued to struggle. Finally, Nyla wentover and gave him a helping hand. Tarn could tell thatLogan didn’t want to admit he couldn’t do it, so he didn’tsay anything more when he heard Logan mutter a thank-