Steel and Stone by Ellen Porath Read Free Book Online Page B

the sphagnum moss in the trees that ringed the travelers. Tanis drew up behind the mounted swordswoman and lunged for Obsidian’s reins. Kitiara turned toward him. For a moment, confusion flickered across her face. Then her countenance cleared. “A will-o’-the-wisp?” she asked.
    The second orb hung lower, behind the pond. It was an arm’s length in diameter. Its pulsating color shifted from white to pale green to violet to blue.
    “A will-o’-the-wisp is intelligent,” Tanis explained, his sword still at the ready. “It lures its victims, masquerading as lanterns and confusing people until they stray into quicksand.”
    “Quicksand?” Kitiara looked about her.
    Tanis pointed to the black pool at their feet. “Quicksand.”
    Her voice was hushed. She glanced at the hovering globe of twinkling lights. “Will it attack?”
    “It may. Don’t let it so much as touch you. You’ll receive a shock that could kill you outright.”
    Kitiara dismounted, sword in her right hand, dagger in her left. “That must be the creature that killed Jarlburg and the others,” she said. “It probably came to the edge of the swamp near Meddow and coaxed them in.” Tanis nodded his agreement. “What does a will-o’-the-wisp eat?” the swordswoman persisted.
    “Fear.”
    Kitiara’s glance showed that she thought Tanis was making fun of her, but the half-elf continued. “I’ve heard that a frightened person emits an aura. Some creatures can sense it. Instead of killing its victims immediately—by brushing against them, for example—the will-o’-the-wisp prefers slow death for its victims because the creature can absorb fear and store it as food.”
    At that moment, the pulsating ball brightened, slowly but steadily, until its glow allowed the half-elf and swordswoman to make out the litter around the pool of black quicksand. In the eerie glow, they spotted skulls, swords, and pouches of money. Kitiara pointed. “Treasure?”
    “Probably thrown to the will-o’-the-wisp by victims hoping to buy mercy,” Tanis said.
    The lower branches of trees that overhung the pool were bare of leaves, evidence of desperate hands groping for anything that could resist the black sand’s pull.
    Kitiara’s face was shiny with perspiration—as was Tanis’s own, no doubt, the half-elf realized. The will-o’-the-wisp glowed ever brighter, its color transformations coming more swiftly now. “Kit,” he said, “it’s feeding on our fear! Think about something else.”
    She closed her eyes. “Solace.”
    “That’s good,” Tanis said soothingly. “The vallenwood trees … think about them.”
    “Everywhere I’ve gone,” she said, “people have asked me what it was like to live in houses in the great Solace vallenwood trees.”
    “With the rope bridges from tree to tree.”
    “You could live your entire life without putting a foot on the ground.”
    “Which is not the way for a dwarf,” Tanis commented. “Flint Fireforge has one of the few houses at the base of the trees. He rarely leaves the ground except to visit Otik’s tavern.”
    The light dimmed, then brightened, then dimmed again.
    Then darkness.
    Suddenly, the only source of illumination was the faint light of Solinari. Tanis leaped from Dauntless, slinging his bow across one shoulder. “It’s going to attack!” He slapped the gelding on the flank while Kitiara followed suit with Obsidian. The two horses galloped down the path in opposite directions. The half-elf and swordswoman placed themselves back to back, waiting. Tanis heard Kitiara whispering to herself, “Solace, Solace.”
    “Vallenwood trees,” he replied. “Remember the vallenwoods.”
    Then the night burst around them. There was an explosion so bright that it momentarily blinded the half-elf. When his vision cleared, he saw a ball of blue flame streaking toward them. Grabbing Kitiara by the arm, he dragged her down on the path, and the cometlike creature, lightening to pale green, whisked