Ambrosia-book1-ch.3

Chapter 3

~Two Nights Ago~

He ran hard and fast. A stitch at his side was causing him to slow, but he pressed on. He knew he was still a good twenty lengths ahead of his pursuers. The dogs, however, were only ten away.

Nickabar shot through the dense woods, zigzagging forward to keep ahead and still confuse the trail. The baying hounds were coming closer, and behind them, the hoof beats of the riders. The feeling of panic did not overwhelm his thoughts, even as his foot landed splashing and slipping in a small stream. He had been in this sort of situation before.

Looking up, he leaped into the branches of a large tree and hung expertly upside down from its limb. Reaching into one of his vest’s many pockets, he unbuckled a small vial of powder. Flipping its top open, he dumped the contents onto the ground around the stream bank. Fine gray powder sprinkled down onto the wet leaves, dissolving almost instantly. Flipping himself back into the tree, he scrambled as well as any squirrel into the dark recluse of the shadows. He gasped once and held his breath.

In a flash, six low, lean figures appeared below him. That was not good; they’d been closer than he’d thought. The collars around their necks told him that they were trained thief trackers, hunters of the utmost breeding. He hadn’t taken that into account. He watched carefully, freezing every muscle and hoping that the dogs would not be immune to the crisroot powder he had used on the ground beneath him.

“We know you’re in there!” The deep voice made his heart skip as the two riders entered the forest glen. “If you give yourself up now and hand over the item, we promise you won’t be killed!”

“Sure,” he thought, “when lambs eat wolves you smooth talkers.”

The riders came into view, both mounted high on a pair of perfectly matched roan beauties. They reeked of nobility and the boy began to wonder what exactly he had gotten himself into. The dogs circled the area, confused. Some ran into each other, sneezing as they tried to follow the nonexistent tracks. Nickabar grinned to himself as he listened to the men muttering curses below.

“Call the dogs off; it’s another one of those gypsy tricks. The kid is gone, and so is your amulet.”

The second man swore loudly and cursed all gypsies. A look of disgust marred his well groomed face. Then he whistled to his dogs.

Even as they began to retreat, Nick didn’t trust them. He decided to stay in his treetop nest rather than risk being caught seeking a shelter for the night. It wasn’t the first time he’d slept like a bird, and he wedged himself into the cradle of two branches. Before drifting off, though, he fished around in another pocket and pulled out the palm-sized amulet. Turning it over in his hands, he let his thumb trace the spider web pattern on one side. Another empty magic item, of no practical value. Suddenly, a raven screamed loudly into his ear. Nick jumped and juggled the amulet, almost loosing it in the darkness. The bird took off as he stored the amulet back in his pocket. He watched the bird fly off silhouetted against the full moon.