The Icon Unbound

Chapter Seventeen, Part B - Rigel

Well here is a little breather before more weirdness happens. Any guesses to who is on the mountain with them? See you in the comments below! There were only a few fixes here. There is a lot that is going to be happening to these guys on their journey. --Elizabeth, UPDATED 06/18/2017

Near sundown, Saiph came trotting back up the line, confusion on his brow.

"I came across fresh tracks, brother."

Rigel's hand instantly went to his bow. "Game tracks? Bloody Saints, which way?"

"Couldn't eat this unless you had a taste for human," Saiph said. "The tracks were smallish. Perhaps a young woman."

Corwin frowned. "No one who is not on a pilgrimage would set foot on these slopes. For one thing, there's no food these days, and for another, there are all the legends warning the unworthy away."

Saiph spread his hands. "If it's a pilgrim, they've given up. These tracks lead directly away from Waterwall."

Corwin frowned. "It could be a coincidence."

"Has anyone else left Waterwall?" Rigel looked at his sister. "Meissa, could it be a larva?"

Meissa bit her lip. "I dunno. They can't stand the sunlight. If Antares decided to follow, he would use a tunnel, they wouldn't walk above ground."

They turned to the Icon, who had remained on Nadir's back. She looked even paler than usual. She lifted her thin shoulder. "I'm not sure. Anything can leave Waterwall. Those shields don't keep anyone or anything in, nothing is a prisoner in my realm. All of the shields work to keep strangers out, that's all." The Icon crossed her arms. "I suppose these tracks could belong to anyone."

Saiph spread his hands. "It was unusual, so I reported it. I'm not even sure this is relevant."

"I would have to return to Waterwall to take another census, which would be futile anyway because everyone was accounted for."

An itch at the back of his brain startled Rigel into walking again. It was the same feeling when there was a puzzle to unknot. He was so hungry and tired he couldn't think straight. A few sleepless nights and his mind had failed him. He would have to harden himself to deprivation before this was resolved.

"I have to think clearly. We need food and water, or we're going to start dropping. Saiph and the esteemed Icon might be able to go a week without food, but the rest of us do not have an office to shield us from human need," He tried to take the sting of his words away with a smile, but it felt lopsided.

"You are correct." Through an unspoken signal, Nadir knelt on the ground and the Icon slid off, her long hair catching on the rough scales. She tugged it away, tearing it without flinching.

Saiph growled, flinging a hard stare at Rigel. "There is no need..."

"Please, no more arguments. Your oaths as Sentinel and War Master keep you from the kind of hunger that your family feels. I know it's easy to forget, but we must remember the unbound have mortal weakness."

"It's only been one day."

"One day of grueling labor. And there is Meissa to think of." The Icon knelt to the ground, and Nadir sat on his haunches nearby. "I am not connected to this place, and it's hard to work from nothing. Clean water, meat, and vegetables..." Her eyes glazed over, and her chin dropped onto her chest.