Path of the Mother (Book Three)

Chapter 9 Beavin Garden

A fish jumping in the lake brought them out of their reverie. Duncan and Lilly had just been standing there in each other's arms on the sandy beach where the Wyvern dropped them off.

"Okay," Duncan said. "Time to find some hunters. Do we just wait till we hear the dogs bark, or what?"

"If I'm guessing right, their dogs won't make any sound," Lilly said. "They alert their handler by the way they point. We won't be able to find them by listening for the dogs."

"So, how do we find them?" Duncan asked.

"If they're on horses, they can move much faster than we can," Lilly said. "We need Laomi to tell us where they are. If we know where they are and where they're going, then we have a better chance of putting ourselves in their path."

"Sounds like it's really up to the Nymphs," Duncan said. "I wonder if there is a magic spell that could put us on the right path."

"Whoa," she said. "I don't believe it. You're actually advocating for the use of magic. It's definitely a new world."

"Oh yeah ... you're so funny. I'm just saying that ... well ... what are we supposed to do now?"

She looked down the shoreline and grinned, "Have you ever met a Beavin? We've got nothing better to do right now."

He looked where she was oriented and saw three of them down at the water's edge. They were pulling something out of the water, and whatever it was, it took all three of them. "You know how to talk to them?"

"They talk in the Common. Let's go meet them."

"Are they dangerous?" he asked.

"They don't bite. Come on. I think you'll like them," she said, picking up her gear.

He picked up and shouldered his kit and bow and followed her down the beach. He tried to watch both the creatures and the tree line at the same time. From the distance they started out at, they looked like small bears that were standing upright. Once they got closer, he could tell that they were something completely different altogether.

The Beavin became more wary when the Humans got close, and Lilly hailed them to keep them from running away. They were about at the north-eastern edge of the main body of the lake. Humans just didn't get this far north very often. They usually didn't even get as far as the southern end of the lake, for that matter.

"What do you want? We didn't do anything. We're just pulling in our garden," the one that was obviously the spokesman for the group said, nervously.

The smallest one said, "Are they going to hurt us?" as it tugged on the arm of the one that looked like it might be a female ... it was hard for Duncan to tell, but this one had several teats that were more exposed through the fur on its chest than the others.

"Shh,' the female looking one said to the little one. "Let Addok do the talking." She kept her eyes on the Humans and her hand on the shoulder of the child.

Lilly said, "Don't worry. We're not going to hurt anybody." It helped that they weren't actually holding any of the weapons they were carrying. They did have several blades showing on their backs, their sides, and hanging from their packs. Not to mention the bows they had over their shoulders too.

"We don't see too many Humans up here around the lake," Addok said. "If you're hunting, we're Beavin. They say that we don't taste very good. We're gamy."

Duncan started laughing at that one. These guys looked like overgrown humanoid beavers. They didn't have the paddle tail, but other than that, if they were on all fours, it would be hard to tell them apart. Well, except for the baggy grass shorts they were wearing.