The Inner Circle: The Knowing by Cael McIntosh

rooting his feet to the earth. The woman hit the road,
her body twisting and splitting on impact. With her death the
creature lost all interest in the woman. It killed for pleasure
rather than sustenance.
    The creature returned its attention to
the fleeing crowd and beat its wings in pursuit, once again
attracted by the frenzied humans. Mercifully, Ilgrin had been
forgotten. The unknown woman had inadvertently saved his life.
    The creature reached the crowd and
picked out a young man, but as soon as it did so, it vanished. The
man was flipped over and landed on his back, but was able to climb
unsteadily to his feet. Ilgrin shielded his eyes and squinted into
the distance in time to see something tiny flit out of the crowd
and disappear around the side of a building. The creature hadn’t
vanished. It had shrunk.
    Curiosity gave Ilgrin the strength to
push through his shock and continue down the street. There he
discovered the place where the destruction had come to an end.
People sobbed and prayed, but many had wounds that couldn’t be
stopped in time. Onlookers began to gather. Some gave a hand.
Others simply watched, shocked to the point of inactivity.
    It was then that Ilgrin noticed him, an
old man in foreign clothing making his way through the crowd,
touching people on the shoulder or otherwise gesticulating at them.
He stared in open curiosity, but a moment later the man turned
sharply in his direction with eyes so penetrating that they stole
Ilgrin’s breath.
    ‘ Elglair.’ The word
rattled out in recognition of the white pupils. Ilgrin backed into
the crowd and was relieved to see the stranger return his attention
to the situation at hand.
    Disturbed by such a close encounter,
Ilgrin took another step back without paying attention to the
placement of his foot. His toe got caught in a dead man’s shirt and
when he tried to leap away he fell off balance. Instinct took over
and just for a second his wing flicked out to assist in
stabilisation. He carefully removed his foot and glanced about,
fearful of anyone having noticed. Surely with such chaos
surrounding them, nobody would have been watching the disfigured
giant in a hood.
    Ilgrin pulled his coat tight against
the wind. Most people were busy with the wounded, but one man
stared, pale-faced and shaking all over. He turned and ran away,
quickly vanishing into the milling crowd.

 
     
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER Seven
    No More Hiding
     
     
    By the time Ilgrin reached the front
door, darkness had long since fallen. He slammed his fist several
times against the wooden surface.
    ‘ It’s me. Let me in,’
he hissed urgently.
    ‘ Oh, thank Maker.’
Urelie dabbed at puffy eyes as she opened the door and ushered him
inside. ‘Did they see you?’
    ‘ What?’
    ‘ Listen to me.’
Urelie put her hands on Ilgrin’s shoulders and stared penetratingly
into his eyes. ‘Tell me it’s not true. Tell me they didn’t see
you.’
    ‘ No one saw me,’
Ilgrin replied with more certainty than he felt. ‘What’s wrong? Has
something happened?’
    ‘ Some
creature--they’re calling it a demon--attacked the city,’ Urelie
murmured in dismay. ‘I thought . . . ’
    ‘ Urelie,’ Baen
addressed her as he entered the room. ‘Calm yourself.’
    ‘ You thought it was
me?’ Ilgrin pulled away from his mother, unable to keep the hurt
from his voice. ‘I could never have done what that thing
did.’
    ‘ I knew it couldn’t
be true.’ Urelie threw out her hands. ‘People always exaggerate,
but surely it’s not impossible for you to see why I’d fear rumours
of a demon swooping about the city. You mustn’t blame
me.’
    ‘ You didn’t see it.’
Ilgrin put a hand to his forehead. ‘Whatever it was, it wasn’t a
silt. It killed so many people. It must’ve been from a whisp,
right?’ he asked. ‘That’s what they do isn’t it? Silts caused this.
Maker, it all makes sense now. Some Elglair fellow was sniffing
around after it happened. That must be why he’s