He shook his head, still gazing into the woods. Perry cupped his hands around his mouth. “Roar!”
The sound of his raised voice made her heart stop.
“Roar, you rancy bastard! I know you’re out there! I can smell you from here!”
A moment later, a whistle broke into the air, echoing through the mountain pass.
Perry looked down at her, a striking grin on his face. “Our luck just turned. ”
He devoured the hillside in big, loping strides. Aria ran to keep up, her heart racing faster than her feet. At the top, they reached an outcropping of boulders that looked blue in the failing light, like whales breeching from the sea. A dark figure stood there, his arms crossed over his chest as though he’d been waiting. Perry tore over to him. Aria watched as they locked into a fierce embrace, then began to shove at each other playfully.
She picked her way closer, taking in this new Outsider. Everything about him looked refined under the cool light. His lean build and sharp features. The cut of his dark hair. He wore fitted clothes. Black from head to toe, with no frayed edges or holes that she could see. This was someone she could easily see in the Realms. Polished and too handsome to be real.
“Who’s this?” he asked, seeing her.
“I’m Aria,” she answered. “Who are you?”
“Hello, Aria. I’m Roar. Do you sing?”
It was a surprising question, but she answered on reflex. “Yes, I do. ”
“Excellent. ” Up close, she saw the gleam in Roar’s gaze. He had a prince’s looks but a pirate’s eyes. Roar smile
d, an appealing, clever flash. Aria laughed. Definitely more pirate. Roar laughed at her laugh, and she decided on the spot she liked him.
He looked back at Perry. “Have I gone dull, Per, or is she a Dweller?”
“Long story. ”
“Perfect. ” Roar rubbed his palms together. “We’ll settle into a few bottles of Luster. Long stories are the best sort for cold nights. ”
“How’d you come up with Luster out here?” Perry asked.
“Swoggled a bottle a couple of days ago, along with enough bread and cheese to keep us from starving. Let’s celebrate. With you here, it won’t be long before we find Liv. ”
Perry’s smile vanished. “Find Liv? She’s not with the Horns?”
Roar cursed. “Perry, I thought you knew. She ran! I sent word to Vale. I thought you’d come to help find her. ”
“No. ” Perry closed his eyes and tipped his head up, the muscles in his neck tight with anger. “We never got word. You stayed with her, right?”
“Of course I did, but you know Liv. She does what she wants. ”
“She can’t,” Perry said. “Liv can’t do what she wants. How will the Tides survive the winter?”
“I don’t know. I’ve got my own reasons for being streaked about what she’s done. ”
A dozen different questions cropped up in Aria’s mind. Who was Liv? What was she running from? She remembered the gold ring with the blue stone that Perry had stashed away. Was the ring for her? She was curious, but it seemed too personal to pry.
Roar and Perry set to work building a screen with leafy branches to form a bulwark against the wind. Whatever had happened with the girl, Liv, had left them quiet. They worked quickly together despite their silence, like they’d done this sort of thing a hundred times. Aria copied the way they wove the branches together and found that for her first-ever screen, she did a respectable job.
They couldn’t have a fire, but Roar produced a candle that gave them a flickering light to gather around. Aria had just begun devouring the bread and cheese Roar brought out when she heard the snap of a twig. It sounded close in the quiet. She turned, seeing only the screen of pine branches as she heard footsteps scuttling off in retreat.
“What was that?” She’d just started to relax. Now her heart was pounding again.
Perry bit into a piece of hard bread. “Your friend have a name, Roar?”
Aria scowled at him. How could he dismiss this lurking stranger after what they’d been through with the cannibals?