The stream widened in spots and appeared as no more than dark, swampy mud in others, but it snaked in and out of the rocks, climbing farther upward toward the straggly trees and brush. There was much less dense cover, more boulders and rocks, at this altitude. Jonas had moved into the lead position and Jeff was bringing up the rear as they hiked in silence through the rest of the night.
Camellia found it fascinating that she couldn’t hear any of them breathing or stepping on twigs or debris as they moved in single file. Every few miles, one of the men would crouch down and leave a couple of stones arranged in a certain way. It was clear to her they were used to moving through rough terrain together at a fast pace. As dawn began to break, Jonas signaled a halt. No one made a sound.
She stayed very still, calling up the underground network, feeling for threats and listening for any chatter the trees, brush, wolves or owls might have passed on to the root system to give to her. Jonas, a few miles ahead, there are several men just over the next rise.
I feel them as well, he acknowledged, all business. I’m going to make a bridge and include Jeff and Kyle so they can hear. Is that all right with you? We will still have our own individual way of connecting.
She was well aware she could connect with him alone if she needed to, so she wasn’t too concerned—and she would know if he was talking to them alone.
That would be best. Then there won’t be a relay or the possibility of speaking aloud. If the men up ahead are Whitney’s soldiers, they might be enhanced, which could include enhanced hearing.
Jonas passed on the information to the other two men. We can hunker down here where we have more cover or proceed over this ridge to intercept. If we proceed, we have little cover, and we don’t know what we’re walking into. I suggest the three of you stay here and let me scout ahead and take a look.
Let me send one of the owls. Gray or Blue can tell us how many we’re facing, Camellia said. They’ll watch them and send us any information.
She could feel Jonas’s hesitation and knew he would prefer to observe whoever was giving off that feeling of a threat. As they had gotten closer to the group, the feeling had gone from vagueness to certainty. There was no doubt in Camellia’s mind that whoever these people were, they had come with the idea of harming someone.
Camellia, Kyle said, the smallest reluctance in his voice, do you access your owl’s actual eyes when he’s a distance from you?
She frowned and turned her full attention to the man, really looking at him. He was uncomfortable asking her the question, and she could tell by both Jonas’s and Jeff’s reaction that neither one of them knew where he was going with it.
She shook her head. I don’t know what you mean exactly. The owls work independently of me. I have no way of accessing their vision. If I’m in the field, I can use my enhanced vision, if that’s what you mean.
Kyle shook his head. No. I’m capable of tying myself to an animal or raptor and using their vision to see what they can see. It’s very draining and I rarely do it, especially in a combat situation, because it would put those around me in jeopardy.
Jonas and Jeff looked at one another. Jeff lifted his eyebrow and shrugged.
Will it upset Gray? Or harm him?
Kyle shook his head again. I do my best to become part of the animal in spirit. I know that sounds hokey, but I don’t know how else to explain it.
Camellia was used to consulting with Middlemist Red. The plant had lived a long life and seen many unusual things humans didn’t understand or believe. Red had saved itself when it became apparent that people who feared what the species could do wanted to eradicate it. Red had vanished so completely but left behind a mystery that had been unsolved for centuries. Many guessed at the reasons Middlemist Red had vanished when once the plant had grown freely, but no one knew the reality.
Red had saved itself again when bombs were dropped, specifically targeting the plant’s location, once again vanishing in the rubble only to turn up decades later. Humans thought of themselves as being first in the hierarchy, with animals perhaps second. No one considered plants might have intelligence. No one considered they might communicate, have weapons, poisons—have their own “soldiers.” If anyone suspected such a thing possible, they would want to wipe out the “queen,” just as they’d tried to do centuries earlier.
Camellia would never allow what she had discovered of Middlemist Red to ever fall into anyone else’s hands. That was another reason she could never live with Jonas’s team. It would be too dangerous to Red. The problem was, Jonas had Red running in his veins as well. Those same properties. Those same exact abilities. So many. Untapped. Unknown.