Drift: River of Falcons Book 1

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Vultan leaned low over Drift's body to examine the hole in her chest. It was quite convincing. Still, because he was a cautious man when it came to his own fate, he confirmed that she was not breathing. Then he prodded her with the butt of his staff and studied her thoughtfully, noting the awkward way one arm had been pinned beneath the falling body while the other was splayed out to the side, the hand almost touching the carcass of a doe. It was very satisfying to someone who had dreamed of her death almost every night for the past seventeen years.

"Still, you can't be too careful when it comes to your own fate," he muttered. Then he lifted and swung his staff with a curse that sent another spurt of red lightning into the body, widening the hole in the chest.

A trickle of smoke wafted up.

Vultan grunted in satisfaction, but still could not take his eyes off Drift's lifeless form. Then he aimed his staff at her once more. "Just to be triply sure," he growled, and shot her with a frost spell that coated her with rapidly spreading ice crystals. There were several sharp cracking sounds, such as a pond makes on an especially cold night, as the spell spread deep inside the body.

He took a step back, breathed deeply, and sighed with satisfaction. It had been a very long time coming. To the extent that he was capable of feeling real happiness, he felt it then.

After a few moments, he walked over to the bank of the river, let his eyelids flutter closed, and initiated a sending. You left before you found her! he snapped as soon as he reached Magus. I had to finish your assignment for you, you worthless pratt! I am deeply disappointed.

Whatever Magus replied seemed to anger Vultan even more. He shouted, Of course it's done! I told you that the prophecy was only one future, and all we had to do was eliminate the girl to create a different one! But no, you had to scurry back to your precious palace to worry about someone eating your dinner before you got there. It is incredibly hard to believe that you could have come from my seed, Magus. It must be that your mother's inferior nature somehow came out in you. I shall have to turn my attention to the creation of a more suitable heir, now that I don't have to worry about that cursed girl and her stupid prophecy anymore!

Vultan listened briefly, then added, I drilled her through the chest with lightning, then I froze her. If that isn't dead enough for you, I'll give you the same treatment and see how you feel about it! Without waiting for an answer, he terminated the sending, then glanced over at Drift's body. With a satisfied look, he spun on his heel and started to walk toward the north. As he walked, he faded away.

With a flicker, he reappeared. "While I'm at it, I may as well kill the Searcher," he said to himself. "Since I won't need him for leverage anymore. Hmm. This mess might scare him off."

There was a rumbling as the carcasses sank into the ground. In a moment they were gone, and he turned his attention to Drift's body. It lay on its side, the white dress frozen awkwardly askew, the eyes staring cold and lifeless up at the sky. Vultan was about to repeat his burial spell when Drift's body began to shimmer. A Gyrfalcon called in the distance and the body dissolved into a bright mist that floated across the beach and dissipated above the river.

"Let her ancestors take the body, it makes no difference to me!" Vultan stroked his long beard. "She's just as dead, and now the Searcher won't have any idea what went on here." His cruel grin returned for a moment, then he flapped into a large vulture and circled upward, scanning both riverbanks for any signs of remaining life.

*

Ubi had just pointed out a ring of massive old maple trees enclosing a circle of mossy ground. "This would make a great campsite," he said. "Just like Drift said. But, um, uh..." He stood there, his eyes unfocused, a look of horror blossoming on his face.