Kolindo's Arc

Chapter 1 of 4

Kolindo crouched in the cattails and counted the vole tracks again. Three sets went into the mud. None came out. The little princess of the creek tribe stood beside her in shimmering water-silks, whiskers trembling. Voleena had asked her to find the beast that took three of her cousins. Kolindo had not told her the rest of her plan. She meant to tame it. The creek ran clear past them, bright with jeweled fish and gemstone crawdads. Her owl watched from a willow branch. Kolindo had hunted here since she was small. She was fast. She was lucky. She could stop time long enough to move her owl between heartbeats. None of that told her what a beast this size ate, or what would send it into a killing rage. "I need help," she said. "Someone who makes things." Voleena pointed upstream. "The fox in the silver hut." The hut sat in a clearing, roofed in filigree, gleaming like poured moonlight. Sylvara Silverwick opened the door before Kolindo knocked. Fox snout, faerie wings, flour on her apron. She looked Kolindo up and down. "Vole business," Sylvara said. "I heard." "I want to tame it. I don't know what it eats. I don't know what scares it. If I guess wrong it kills me." "Then don't guess." Sylvara turned back inside. Kolindo followed. Tools hung on every wall. "I can make you a calming charm. Reads a creature's temper. Tells you what it wants before you offer the wrong thing." "Make it." "I need scale-dust from the rainbow peaks. Treasure dragon country. Bring me a pinch and you'll have your charm by dusk." Kolindo went. She flew the ridges above the tree line, owl beside her, and scraped shed dust from a sunning ledge while the great dragons slept. She stopped time twice to slip past a waking eye. She was back before the shadows turned. Sylvara worked fast. She pressed the dust into a silver disc no bigger than an acorn cap and hung it on a cord. "Warm means fear. Cold means hunger. Still means curious. Don't be clever." Kolindo returned to the creek at dusk. The charm went cold, then still. She pushed through the reeds. The beast crouched in a hollow under the bank. Shaggy, moss-backed, taller than she was on its haunches. Three water voles slept curled against its belly. It had been guarding them. It lifted its head and looked at her with wet, worried eyes. The charm stayed still. "Oh," Kolindo said. Voleena crept out from behind Kolindo's boot and squeaked. One of the sleeping voles stirred and squeaked back. The beast made a low sound that was almost a purr. Kolindo set the charm down in the mud. She had come to tame a killer. She had found a nursemaid who did not know how to bring the children home.