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Chapters (68)
  1. Books by Anne Bishop
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Contents
  5. Dedication
  6. Acknowledgments
  7. Geography
  8. Maps
  9. A Brief History of the World
  10. Epigraph
  11. Prologue
  12. CHAPTER 1
  13. CHAPTER 2
  14. CHAPTER 3
  15. CHAPTER 4
  16. CHAPTER 5
  17. CHAPTER 6
  18. CHAPTER 7
  19. CHAPTER 8
  20. CHAPTER 9
  21. CHAPTER 10
  22. CHAPTER 11
  23. CHAPTER 12
  24. CHAPTER 13
  25. CHAPTER 14
  26. CHAPTER 15
  27. CHAPTER 16
  28. CHAPTER 17
  29. CHAPTER 18
  30. CHAPTER 19
  31. CHAPTER 20
  32. CHAPTER 21
  33. CHAPTER 22
  34. CHAPTER 23
  35. CHAPTER 24
  36. CHAPTER 25
  37. CHAPTER 26
  38. CHAPTER 27
  39. CHAPTER 28
  40. CHAPTER 29
  41. CHAPTER 30
  42. CHAPTER 31
  43. CHAPTER 32
  44. CHAPTER 33
  45. CHAPTER 34
  46. CHAPTER 35
  47. CHAPTER 36
  48. CHAPTER 37
  49. CHAPTER 38
  50. CHAPTER 39
  51. CHAPTER 40
  52. CHAPTER 41
  53. CHAPTER 42
  54. CHAPTER 43
  55. CHAPTER 44
  56. CHAPTER 45
  57. CHAPTER 46
  58. CHAPTER 47
  59. CHAPTER 48
  60. CHAPTER 49
  61. CHAPTER 50
  62. CHAPTER 51
  63. CHAPTER 52
  64. CHAPTER 53
  65. CHAPTER 54
  66. CHAPTER 55
  67. CHAPTER 56
  68. CHAPTER 57

Even when he was in Wolf form, he and Meg communicated just fine. Maybe they communicated better than two humans because she didn’t expect him to talk.

That was an entertaining thing to think about, so he thought and dozed and, when she fell asleep, gave her hand a couple of friendly licks.

CHAPTER 43

CHAPTER 43

Words became thoughts conveyed as a wind that riffled the surface of lakes; as a taste in grass; as the smoke rising from a short-lived natural fire. Those thoughts, those ideas, moved swiftly to the north, the south, the west, the east.

Tasting the thoughts when they reached the surf, Alantea spun them back into words.

Distraction. Diversion. Attack in one place in order to destroy the true prey that lived in another place.

I can create distraction. Alantea sent that thought back to kiss Thaisia’s shore.

We can be a diversion, offered other Elementals.

They waited for Namid’s teeth and claws to reply.

For two days the Elementals, from the smallest to the most powerful, waited for an answer.

Then, for just a moment, an odd and terrible silence formed a skin over the whole world. Then it was gone, leaving behind the answer.

Distraction.

Diversion.

Destruction of the true prey.

Thin the herds.

•••

A wind began to blow from the northernmost part of Thaisia.

A wind began to blow from the south, teasing the water Elementals who lived around the gulf until they slapped at the wind, creating surges that slipped over the retainer walls that humans had built to protect their cities.

One of the Elementals known as Earth pretended to pick a quarrel with Pacifikus, the Elemental who ruled the Pacifik Ocean. Earth stamped her foot, then leaped onto Tsunami’s back and raced for the West Coast of Thaisia. Pacifikus laughed, mounted Typhoon, and gave chase, still undecided if he would steer the coming storm away from most of the coastline or run with Earth and feed the storm until it reached its full potential.

And off the coast of the eastern Storm Islands, Alantea mounted Hurricane and began to limber up her steed.

CHAPTER 44

CHAPTER 44

Watersday, Juin 30

Hope frowned at her half-finished drawing. The Wolfgard cabin looked fine. So did the trees and grass. But the real sky was a clear, deep blue, and the sky she’d drawn was dark, ominous. The storm clouds had shadows in them that almost formed shapes—creatures with teeth and claws.

She tore the drawing out of her sketch pad and turned the paper over to the clean side. She wasn’t going to finish that drawing, but Jackson had told her that paper might be harder to come by, so she wasn’t going to waste what she had.

She slapped a hand in front of the nose of the juvenile Wolf who was sneaking up on her colored pencils. “Those aren’t twigs to chew on.”