Rising From the Ashes: The Chronicles of Caymin Read Online Free PDF

approach. At last, she stood and squared her shoulders and made her way back up the hill to the fire where Enat still slept. All flame was gone. Only the coals remained, pulsing with a red glow as if they breathed. She placed more wood on them and watched as flames began to lick at the bark. She looked across at Enat and saw that her eyes were open.
    “I thought you might not come back.”
    “I thought I might not, as well.” Ash returned her gaze to the fire. “I do not belong anywhere.”
    Enat said nothing for a while. “It’s true. You are different. You are not fully animal or fully human. That is not a bad thing. But you will have to find your own way.”
    Ash said nothing, but lay down, covered by her cloak.
    Enat pulled her cloak more tightly under her chin. “I’m glad you returned.”

    The next day they traveled down the far side of the hill, pausing near the lake. As she had when she came to find Ash, Enat began hobbling, leaning on her staff as they entered the tiny village at the edge of the lake. She spoke to a man there, handing him something, and then turned to Ash.
    “We’ve time for a little diversion,” she said.
    Enat got into a small boat and gestured to Ash to get in. She rowed Ash out onto the water. Ash gripped the sides, her hands tightly clenched as the boat moved in rhythm with Enat’s pulls on the oars. Gradually, she relaxed, enjoying the rocking motion of the boat. Silvery fish darted below them.
    “Can you call them?” Enat asked.
    Ash had never tried talking to fish. She reached out with her mind and looked up at Enat with a gasp. “They heard me!” Several fish approached the surface of the water, their mouths opening and closing as they stared up at her. With a sudden splash, they leapt from the water and dove again. Ash leaned over the boat to watch them.
    “Stop!”
    Enat stopped rowing, and the boat stilled on the water. As the ripples of their movement faded, the water became smooth. Ash raised a hand to her face, touching her scars.
    “Have you never seen yourself?” Enat asked gently.
    “No. All the water near the sett moved. It was not still. Not like this.” Ash fingered her hair, matted and tangled with twigs and moss. She looked at Enat, whose silver hair was smooth, tied back with a woven leather cord. “I used a sharp stone to cut it when it got too long. It does not look like yours.”
    “No, it doesn’t.” Enat reached out. “I can cut it for you.”
    Ash touched her scars again. “But you cannot change this.”
    Enat said nothing, but picked the oars up and rowed them back to shore where the owner of the boat waited.
    They journeyed on, skirting the lake and leaving it far below them as they climbed the hills on the far side. That night, sitting near their fire, Enat pulled a silver knife from a sheath on her belt and cut Ash’s hair.
    “How much more?”
    Ash reached up and felt the rough ends at her shoulders. “All. Cut it all.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “It will grow back.”
    Enat cut the rest of Ash’s hair, leaving only stubble all over her head, everywhere except where her scars extended over her right temple. There, no hair grew. “Your hair is red,” she said in surprise. “Like a fox,” she added at Ash’s questioning look. “I did not realize.”
    Ash picked up the matted tangles of hair lying on the ground and lifted them to her face. They smelled of badgers and, suddenly, she was lonely again for her clan.
    “We will arrive at the forest day after tomorrow,” Enat said. “You will have to ask permission to enter.”
    Ash looked up sharply. “The trees?”
    Enat nodded, a gesture she had had to explain to Ash, who did not understand at first. “The trees, but also the animals there.”
    “What if they say no?”
    “They will not,” Enat assured her. “But the forest is theirs to grant permission or no. We must never assume we are welcome.” She was quiet for a while. “There is one thing more you must know. Once the