Flame and Snow

Chapter 9: Akton

Chapter 9: Akton

Having just come out of spring, the weather was still fairly mild and that made traveling easy enough. No mud was churned up on the road to Ivels, no clouds threatened to pour, and the breeze cooled whatever heat they walked up. But Akton was not used to traveling with anyone else.

At first, he hung back a little, letting Talfryn lead, checking him out when he could. By the time Teorg vanished behind them, though, Talfryn was shooting him the occasional odd look. He didn’t try to initiate any conversation, but he did take a swig from a bottle and replace it without offering any. Eventually Akton moved up to walk next to him. The road was wide enough, after all.

They walked in silence until about noon, when Akton spotted a good place to stop and eat. Talfryn unquestioningly followed him, ridiculous grin on his face, and seemed perfectly happy to bite into a hunk of dry bread. Akton took the opportunity to shoot him an odd look.

“This is my first time leaving Teorg,” said Talfryn, and Akton nearly choked.

“How old are you?” he asked.

“Twenty-six,” said Talfryn, looking almost self-conscious about that. “Go on and tell me you’ve been to Ivels dozens of times, then.”

“I’ve never been there,” said Akton. “Twenty-nine, and I’ve been making supply runs on my own for two decades now. Mostly to nearby towns. My family lives in the mountains.”

He wondered if he was nearly as sheltered as Talfryn. For all he traveled constantly, right here was the farthest he’d ever gone—he stuck to the towns and villages nearby his little settlement. Anything big or important his father and sister had handled. They had been to Ivels.

“I’ve always wanted to see the Harvest Festival in Ylenia,” said Talfryn, pulling out a few pickled vegetable strips from his pack to eat with the bread. “It’s supposed to be utterly wild and glorious. Feasting, alcohol, costumes, parade…People from other nations visit just to see it. Or the Winter Burning. Queen Ylenia herself lights the largest bespelled fire in the square, and it’s essentially an open market with everything you could imagine, and from every country you’ve heard of. Some of the illegal substance restrictions are dropped for a whole week.”

Akton stared at him. Great, he was traveling with a bookworm. A competent one, at least. Akton had noticed Talfryn didn’t carry any weapons apart from a couple of small knives that looked like were used for collecting plants. He hoped Glenna had packed her son some of those fire spells.

“I’ve never been to Ylenia, either,” said Akton.

“Once before I die would be nice. And while I’m young enough to enjoy it.”

They finished eating and Talfryn took a swig from the bottle, again not bothering to offer it. Akton frowned, slightly annoyed, then tore his gaze away abruptly when Talfryn caught him looking at his lips.

“Would you be offended if I said you were attractive?” asked Talfryn, not what Akton was expecting at all. His heart sped—he hadn’t had a relationship in so long, and not only was Talfryn good-looking, Akton had felt something stronger than that for him since he’d showed up at the pub and saved his ass.

“No,” he said, but he knew he had to be careful. Talfryn was already aware of the shifter angle of things, and Akton knew it was too risky to give himself away. For all Talfryn had defended shifters, he’d also killed one, and there was no guarantee he wouldn’t feel differently if he knew.

Talfryn looked pleased at that. He took a step closer.

“But we have to keep going,” said Akton, bending for the packs he was carrying. “While there’s still light. And you should let me heal.”

“You look to be in good shape to me,” said Talfryn, following him back to the path, but he otherwise dropped the matter. The rest of the day passed without incident and they made camp at a lean-to that looked like it saw a few travelers.

“Nice of them to leave firewood,” said Talfryn as he swung his things to the dirt floor. He was kneeling by the fireplace and had flames licking over wood before Akton had found a place to sit. “Tea?”

Akton stared at him and he shrugged.

“Glenna packed some. She probably wants me to have a look at what’s in store for us. I’m sure she had a look at what we left behind.”

“No thanks,” said Akton, tugging more bread out of his pack. s**t. He hoped Glenna wasn’t any good at reading tea leaves. Akton didn’t even know if being a shifter was something that came up in them. In any event, he wasn’t planning on letting Talfryn know. He’d just have to avoid Teorg on the way back.

The night was awkward. He and Talfryn set out their bedrolls hesitantly, unsure how close to be to one another. Akton had no worries about being cold—that was one of the few benefits of being a weasel shifter. He endured the cold well. And while it still got chill during the night, it wasn’t bad. Talfryn seemed to be looking for indication he should either move closer or keep his distance, but Akton let him figure it out. He was too annoyed that he’d sleep with Talfryn if it was less likely he’d figure out Akton was a shifter. His fast-healing injuries would give him away.

For some reason, this felt like Talfryn’s fault. He was too smart. He could pay for it with feeling awkward.

Akton woke early, on the end of a dream full of flame. He wondered how long he’d have to wait for the nightmares to run their course as he steadied his breathing and got up. Talfryn still appeared asleep, probably used to sleeping in, but Akton was not in that habit. He slipped out of the lean-to and into the surrounding forest.

The morning was crisp and cool, and Akton waited until he was a fair distance from their camp to shift. It felt good to shake off his stiff human form and claw his way up a tree trunk to stretch. Experiencing the world as a weasel was a perspective that he knew set him apart from others, noticing the way everything smelled, how various creatures interacted. His nose led him to a nest and he only hesitated briefly before shifting back and swiping the eggs. Only one each, but a good addition to breakfast.

Talfryn was still asleep when he returned and nudged him with his foot as he moved to resurrect the fire from the night before. They would need to collect some wood to replace what they’d used. It was the kind thing to do for the people who used this stop next.

“Ugh, really?” asked Talfryn, rolling over.

“I’m not your mother, and you need to get up,” said Akton, fussing with the fire. Talfryn groaned and went out to relieve himself, returning with some green sprigs.

“Let me,” he said, tossing the greens down and crouching to the fire. He added twigs and blew on the embers, as Akton had been doing, but they immediately sprang to life for him. Talfryn yawned.

“How are you so good at that?”

“Apothecary’s secret,” said Talfryn. “Thanks for breakfast, by the way.”

They cooked and ate the eggs with the green sprigs Talfryn had found, which happened to be young chives, and a bit of the bread and cheese. Akton felt fairly good by the time they set out again, until Talfryn tried to start a conversation.

“What do you think of shifters, then?”

Akton tried not to stiffen. Talfryn was clearly looking over at him. Judging him. He wanted to shrug but instead grunted.

“A couple of them tried to kill me,” he said. “What am I supposed to think?”

Talfryn turned back to the road.

“You got defensive about them, too.”

“Look who’s talking,” said Akton, irritated when Talfryn smiled at that.

“Know someone?”

“Do you?” asked Akton, wanting to turn this back on Talfryn. “Sleep with one once?”

“Shifters must come through Teorg occasionally, yes,” said Talfryn. “I probably have. But do you really expect any of them to mention that to me?”

“Then why do you expect me to?”

“So you do know someone,” said Talfryn, and Akton scowled. He was getting pissed. Talfryn clearly was much more used to conversation than he was—Akton spent so much time on the road or doing chores, he didn’t have much experience talking around things. And Talfryn appeared to be very engaged with everything in Teorg.

“I don’t know you well enough,” said Akton, hearing the words come out a growl.

“I’d like to. Know you better, that is.”

“Then shut up about shifters,” said Akton, and Talfryn fell silent after that.