Lovers in the Woods by Ann Raina Read Free Book Online

all the rest.
    Sajitar had seen lumberjacks with more than
just an axe walk into the wood, afraid of their own shadow. He had
seen fear in their eyes and heard stories of giant monsters
attacking in the dark. Some exited mute and apathetic, afraid of
sleeping in the dark. That was considered one of the milder
illnesses. He knew of people who had gone mad and tried to shoot
their wives, shouting they were beasts that had to be killed.
    Though sometimes and partly true, the reasons
did not justify murder.
    He wondered why corporations
were so eager to plunder the woods even if it meant losing men.
Maybe this would change if the heads of the corporations were
forced to set foot in Emerald Green. And that , he thought, might lead to less and less
exploitation . And
new heads for corporations, too.
    The Horlyn vanished without a sound between
the trees in the semi-darkness.
    Sajitar pointed
to the right, saying without words that being cautious not to cross
the Horlyn’s way was better than following its trail.
    Rayenne whispered, “How did you know the
beast would just walk away? It had smelled us, hadn’t it?”
    “ I can’t say.” Sajitar grimaced. For more
than an hour, his left side hurt as if a thick wooden splinter had
stuck in his skin. He reached for his flagon to take another
swallow. “Maybe it wasn’t out for dinner yet.”
    “This is no joke, you know.”
    After putting away the flagon, he turned to
inspect his jacket. There was a hole with seared edges the size of
a button right over his left hip. The shirt beneath had the same
hole. Breathing hard suddenly, he found his skin penetrated, too.
He probed it and flinched at the pain.
    “Shit.”
    “What’s up?”
    “ I knew something hit me,
but I didn’t realize… ouch !”
    “Shall I take a look at it?”
    He wanted to say yes ,
but saw something move on the left side of the crude path. He
dropped the jacket.
    “Hey, who goes there?”
    Rayenne turned in the saddle, alarmed and
ready to shoot.
    From the shadow behind a tree a tall,
slender man appeared and lifted his hands to show he was unarmed.
His face was weather-beaten, his eyes small with overhanging
eyelids. His shoulders sagged, and it was hard to tell if he was
forty or even sixty years old. He walked with a limp, slow and
labored. In his dark red worn-out pullover and baggy pants, he
looked the role model for all miserable lumberjacks working on
Belthraine for too long and for too little money to ever get
away.
    “Didn’t mean no harm, missy,” he said when he
was close enough. His voice rumbled and he cleared his throat to no
avail. “Nice B-horses you got there. Pretty. Fast, I suppose,
ey?”
    “Yes.” Rayenne still had a hand on the butt
of her gun. “Who are you?”
    “Doyakis. People call me Yak, can’t tell you
why.” While his eyes stayed wary he opened his mouth for a
smile.
    Sajitar wished he hadn’t. The man’s teeth
were only stubs, yellow and darker than that. He could not tell how
long this man had been in the woods, but he knew for certain that
he had not seen a doctor or a dentist for a decade.
    “What ya doin’
here?” Doyakis wanted to know, inclining his head as he squinted at
the strangers. He spat at the ground. “No one’s gotta business out
here except me. Not in these parts of the woods, anyway.”
    “And what’s your business, Doyakis?”
    “Trees.” The
old man cackled which turned into a cough. “Searching for the best
trees. Did you think dragons? Or fairies? Maybe you’re out for that
here, ey?” He wiggled his gloved fingers at them. “Ah, I know.
Looking more for a quiet place to—”
    “Are you alone?”
    “Miserable and alone, yep. Worse off than you
two, obviously.” He pulled up his nose, thought of spitting and,
when he saw Rayenne’s disgust, let it be. “But if you want to I’d
share my hut with you tonight. See, there’s nothin’ around here and
the weather’s gonna change in a few short hours. I know that.