Page 148 of Of Empires and Dust
Everyone around the fire erupted in laughter. Even Dann cracked a smile.
“What news of the path to Salme?” Vaeril asked once the laughter subsided.
“Reports have Uraks swarming the Illyanara plains. The smaller groups will likely stay clear of us for the most part, but we’re bound to find trouble sooner or later. Atara and Harken have gone to scout for tonight, but I may need you to take some bodies and move ahead of the column tomorrow.”
“Done.” The elf looked as though he were about to speak again before his eyes narrowed and he looked at something near Dann.
Tarmon followed Vaeril’s gaze. The weka had returned and was now stalking around Dann’s tent, its head bobbing back and forth.
“Dann.” Tarmon pursed his lips.
“What?” Dann raised a curious eyebrow.
“You might want to…” Tarmon nodded over Dann’s shoulder towards the weka that was now nudging aside the flap to Dann’s tent with its long beak, peering inside.
Dann turned, leapt to his feet, and charged the bird. “Little shit! Get away!”
The weka cocked its head to the side and scuttled away, rounding Dann with surprising speed and darting back towards Tarmon and the others. The bird stopped just short of the fire and stared at the flint and quenched steel Dann had left in the grass.
“Don’t you fucking dare!” Dann leapt, but the bird was too quick. The weka snatched the piece of flint into its beak and bolted off into the night like a man who’d just been caught with someone else’s wife.
Dann stopped for a moment, his gaze flickering from the group to the escaping weka. He dashed into his tent, then emerged a few seconds later with a quiver strapped to his hip and his white wood bow in his hands.
“We’re breaking the fast with weka tomorrow,” he called as he charged off after the bird.
Erik stared after Dann, then handed the bottle of Raven’s Ichor back to Tarmon. “One copper says the bird steals something else from him before he makes it back.”
Dann wipedthe cold sweat from his brow as he trudged back into the camp. That damn bird was faster than it looked, and it was almost impossible to see in the night.
“I’ll get the bastard,” he whispered to himself, his bow hanging loose in his left hand. He grimaced as he stepped into a particularly waterlogged patch of grass, mud squelching, the water seeping into his sock.
“Catch it?” Erik asked when Dann made it back to the campfire. Three of the captains – Surin, Narthil, and Sylehna– had joined the others, but Lyrei was missing. “Did it… wait, Dann, where’s your shoe?”
“Don’t ask.” Dann dropped himself in front of the fire, pulling off his remaining shoe and both socks and letting the flames warm his feet. He set his bow down beside him, shifting the quiver at his hip as he stared into the flames and laid out his next plan in his mind.
He would catch that bird, no matter the cost. Well, perhaps that was a little dramatic. He would catch that bird as long as the costs were minimal.
Tarmon sat upright with an amused grin on his lips, his eyebrows raised curiously. “Dann, did the bird steal your shoe?”
“No.”
“Then where’s your shoe?”
“I didn’t need it anymore,” Dann said with a shrug.
“The bird stole your shoe.”
Dann clicked his tongue off the roof of his mouth. “It didn’tstealthe shoe. It borrowed the shoe… without asking… and with no intention to return it.”
“That’s stealing, Dann.”
“You know what, Tarmon?” Dann stood, snatching up his bow, socks, and remaining shoe. “You better watch out, because I’m going to stealyourfucking shoe.”
The group erupted in laughter, and Vaeril called as Dann made to leave. “Dann?”
“What?” Dann called back, allowing the exasperation to seep into his voice.
“Did you bring spare shoes?”
