AARYN

Aaryn had barely been listening, since most of what Tarkyn was relaying only reflected what Gar had already told him about Hholdyn's insistence about what he'd seen.

Aaryn's mind kept drifting, wanting to land on images of his mother's beast watching him from the trees, or images of Elreth under the Weeping Tree. His mind and body seemed erratic and unable to grasp hold of any focus. He was growing tenser, and beginning to question if he should even be in this meeting when Elreth singled Tarkyn out and it caught his attention.

The Captain's unease made Aaryn force himself to focus. To measure the male to ensure he wasn't hiding anything.

Tarkyn cleared his throat, then addressed Elreth directly.

"The reason it has taken so long for me to bring this to you is because Hholdyn made one more claim that I find… unlikely. Yet, just like the rest of his story, the details didn't change as we put him under pressure, or returned to questions we'd already asked.

"

Interesting. Aaryn's ears perked.

"What is it?

" Elreth asked.

"To relate to us what a defiant Anima said isn't a crime of your own, Tarkyn. Be at ease.

"

He nodded once, but the tension didn't leave him.

Hholdyn claimed there were strange patterns in the sand for a wide area around where the scent trail ended, and that… that he believed he caught a scent of something… possibly serpent?

"

"Possibly serpent?

" Elreth asked.

Tarkyn nodded.

"He claimed the scent was one he'd never encountered. But, as he put it,

"it tasted like the snakes.

" When I pressured him to explain that further, he couldn't. He claimed his superior skill in tracking is because he… tastes a scent. Can, in essence, consume it. And this was a scent unlike he had ever come across before.

"

Aaryn sat forward in his chair. Hholdyn was the disformed's most talented tracker. And it was true he found trails where no one else did, at times. If these claims were real—not just Hholdyn attempting to cover for his own defiance—then Aaryn believed him.

He'd scented something he'd never scented before.

Elreth frowned and sat back in her chair, her eyes thoughtful.

Tarkyn waited, and many of the elders talked among themselves, discussing this new development. But for a time, no one spoke.

Then Elreth turned to him and asked him in a normal voice—not for the room,

"Do you believe him?

"

"Hholdyn?

" Aaryn asked.

Elreth nodded.

"Yes, I do. I mean, unless it's an outright lie, just to cover himself… if he claims he scented something new, I believe him. We have run competitions the past two years, and Hholdyn always wins. He is… second to none in our ranks for following a scent, or any kind of trail. He claims he can at times follow the disruption of the environment.

"

Elreth's face pinched.

"What does that even mean?

"

"He speaks about being able to smell where dew is displaced, or leaves or dirt have been opened to the air. We can all follow those visual cues, of course. But his skill… there is no doubt he finds trails where no one else can. Or at least, he has in the past. I know his attitude was wrong when he followed the chosen team. But unless he has good reason to fabricate a lie, I would be inclined to listen to what he's found and explore it.

"

Elreth nodded, then turned to Tarkyn and raised an eyebrow.

The Captain, hands gripped in his belt, nodded as well.

"I am uncomfortable with his claims. But… I cannot deny that were I not personally invested in seeing him disciplined, had I not known about his defiance, I would have marked him a credible witness. He smells of truth—at least, truth that he believes. And I can't see any reason his mind would have to deceive him on this. So, yes… I am uneasy, but inclined towards believing him.

"

"Are you or your guards aware of any circumstances that would bring an inexperienced Anima to these types of conclusions, where another explanation actually exists?

" Lhern asked.

Tarkyn tipped his head back and forth as if he were of two minds about the answer to that.

"There is a mushroom out in the wood that can cause hallucinations. Tobe suggested it was possible he'd eaten one by accident. But the effects last only hours, and generally whoever consumes them is later well aware that they have… slipped from reality. There are also usually physical consequences, and Hholdyn showed none of those. Though we don't know how long he took to travel back to the City… It seems unlikely.

"

"Is it possible there are other Anima that have created these circumstances or trails, specifically to deceive?

"

"I can't see how they could. Even an Anima cannot stop their scent from transferring. Setting a false trail? Certainly. But one that dead-ends on the sands, and leaves striation and an unknown scent? I can't see how they could do it. Unless…

" Tarkyn blinked and his eyes went distant. His brows pinched over his nose, and then he looked sharply at Aaryn.

"What?

" Aaryn snapped.

"Unless Hholdyn, or someone else among the disformed is working directly with the humans,

" he said, his voice half-awed, half-angry.

"While the Anima have no known way to do this, I have heard of human technologies. Are you aware of any of your people working with the humans in any way? Could this be a trick?

"

Aaryn's anger surged and it was a struggle not to growl.

"Why must it be a disformed conspiracy with humans? Any tribe, any people, any combination of peoples with malicious intent could have entered into some kind of deceit with the humans. Why point this at the disformed?

"

"Because you specifically stated that some of them have crossed the traverse and have experience with humans.. I assumed you meant only that they took those steps in rebellion, and stayed under Guardian care. But… I hadn't considered… is there some kind of… arrangement with the humans? Is that how your people know them and how to relate to them better than ours? Have you been breaching the secrets, Aaryn?

"