Wine of the Gods 4: Explorers Read Online Free PDF Page A

him when he came. Maybe the Sheep Man won't notice."
    "Fat chance of that." Question shrugged ruefully. "I'll go find a rope."
     
    By the time Dydit arrived the horse was cool and in a stall, and Never had her clean feet in shoes and her sash emphasizing a slender waist.
    Lefty thumped his friend on the shoulder. "So, are you three ready to hit the road again?"
    Dydit snorted. "Gods, yes. I learned a lot over the winter, but one more lesson in constant vigilance and I'll run away screaming."
    "Thought you did that last week?" Question looked around innocently.
    "I came back so it doesn't count." Dydit led the way into the Tavern. There was a small fire burning in a corner of the huge fireplace, antidote to the spring dampness. They grabbed the big round table in front of it. Their meetings had a tendency to involve lots of large maps being unfolded or unrolled.
    Harry chuckled from behind the polished bar along the side wall. The owner and proprietor of the Tavern was a old man, dark except for the arc of gray hair around the sides and back of his bald pate. "It's good to see Nil settling down to teach."
    Dydit nodded. "He gets rude about all three of his students running away every summer, and when I come back he's gone insane and bred every mare we've got, and sold most of the three year olds I trained over the winter."
    Harry shook his head. "I expect he'd do that anyway. And he claims it's nice to have time for the twins, and to try to coddle Justice."
    "He needs a dozen students so he can't gang up on the two or three of us." Dydit thumped down in a chair and grinned. "But six months away from him is even better. Can we leave tonight?"
    Never shook her head. "No. I have to at least make the Equinox assembly. This will be the fourth year in a row I've missed the Summer Solstice ceremony. It'll be seven or eight years before Rustle grasps power, but I need to be sure she gets to enough of the ceremonies to stimulate her power. Answer's reshuffled the Half Moons, but I'm still the odd witch out. So I learned a lot of solitary techniques over the winter. Out on the trail, I'll have plenty of time to study them. Practice. So, Lefty, when do we leave?"
    Lefty was a sixteen year veteran scout from the Army, which had recently seen fit to make him an officer. And he was a wizard. Barely trained. Dydit and Question were both more powerful and better trained than he was. And Never might be 'only' a Half Moon level Witch, but she was learning fast and growing in abilities. How had he gotten put in charge? Oh, right. He was an Army Scout, and they were civilian volunteers.
    "One week. It was a cold winter so I'm starting us late on the assumption that spring thaw was late across the mountains as well. Not to mention where we were when we quit last fall. Whatever we ought to call it."
    Harry frowned. "Asia is what the continent used to be called. I think you must be in a region called Siberia. You should be far enough south to find the end of the ice cap, soon."
    Used to be called? Lefty frowned at the old man. Was he a mage? Did he have any old books? Despite five summers spent with this trio, he still wasn't comfortable enough in the village to ask prying questions. Especially given the ability of at least half the residents to fry him to a crisp with a casual wave of their hand.
    Giggling children invaded the Tavern. Two of them made a beeline for their table.
    Never's seven year old daughter was a blue-eyed blonde charmer. Havi's hair was black and his eyes honey gold. Dydit's son showed the influence of the spell Dydit had lived under for nearly six hundred years. Six and a half years old. Damn nice pair of kids, but they aren't my responsibility. I can just enjoy their best and send their worse back to Never and Dydit. It's the other way around with your own kids. His thoughts circled around Question's last miscarriage. Being childless may have made exploration easier for her, but she wanted a baby so bad. I'm in the Army. I