Daro shrugged. Enosh had no idea how the man could be capable of being quiet only when you needed him to talk, but they managed to drag Sapphire to the nearest village. By then, the orange sun had inched its way higher up the horizon.
A portly woman was waiting with Mahe at the crest of the road. At the first sight of Sapphire’s wounds, she made a sign to ward against evil spirits. The guards used to make the same one whenever they passed by Enosh’s cell in the dungeons. Enosh was almost afraid that she wouldn’t help, but the woman soon stepped forward, taking Sapphire into her muscled arms. She was stronger than Enosh and he was only too happy to rescind.
Enosh felt Daro plant a heavy hand on his shoulder. “You go with them. I have to make sure that shit-eater didn’t follow us.”
Enosh watched him leave and thought about what he’d told him, about leaving. With Daro distracted, he could easily do so himself. The man he used to be would have tried.
But the man that he was now was exhausted. He had not really recovered his strength or endurance from three years ago. He took a deep breath and found a rock to sit on. It wasn’t like he knew where to go now, anyway. The young man on the griffon—Arn, Sapphire had called him—had claimed that Yn Garr wanted him dead. He glanced at the direction of the healer’s hut. The damned woman was treading on deeper waters than she let on.
He closed his eyes, and he must have been more tired than he thought because when he opened them again it was midday and Daro had returned. The soldier was sitting on a bench next to the healer’s hut, speaking to Mahe in hushed tones. Enosh couldn’t catch their conversation, but he noted Mahe dropping a hand on Daro’s arm and his reaching out to pat it. There was a tenderness in that exchange that made Enosh feel like an intruder, and he closed his eyes once more.
He didn’t have to pretend to be asleep for very long. The healer called out to them from her window. Enosh got up, his legs shaking, and was at the doorway first. Sapphire was sitting up against the wall, her torso covered in a strip of blood-stained brown linen. The healer said something, and Sapphire gave a weak laugh.
“She wants to know what demon caused this,” she said, once she caught her breath. “I’m tempted to point at you.”
He sat beside her. When she didn’t immediately kill him for it, he murmured, “I’m glad you’re alive.”
“I’m glad I’m alive, too.” She looked like a different woman. There were two dark indents along the bridge of her nose where her spectacles normally sat. Her eyes, always dark behind the glass, were a startling shade of blue. The seeming vulnerability of her now unnerved him. “I need to tell you something, but I’m not sure if I want those two—look at them out there, pretending for all the world like no one can see them—to hear. Give me your hand.”
“Is this going to hurt?”
“Only if you don’t listen to me.”
He sighed and placed his fingers into her palm, which still felt like ice. He started to pull away, thinking he could ask the healer to give her a blanket or two, but she yanked him down. “We’re not at our strongest right now but this shouldn’t take long. Hold still.”
“Shouldn’t you buy me a drink, first?”
She ignored him and closed her eyes. A warm sensation ran up the veins in his arm where she was touching him. Before he could fully grasp what was happening, he felt everything dim and found himself swimming for the surface in a sea of agan that threatened to drown him.
“Oh please,” came Sapphire’s ever-sardonic voice. “You could just float out of there, you know.”
“I—” Enosh gasped.
She sighed. There was a popping sound. Even as the cold water rushed into his lungs, Enosh felt something grab him by the shirt and haul him away. He opened his eyes and stared up at a clear, cloudless sky. “If there’s no sun,” he mused, “where does the light come from?”
“I don’t know if we have the time to go over all that right now. But if you want, there’s a library up in Dageis that’ll tell you about eighteen different theories on that subject alone. It’ll probably take you five years to go through them all.”
Enosh pulled himself up. He couldn’t see Sapphire anywhere. “Where are you?” he asked.
“Down here.”
He dropped his gaze and saw a little red fox sitting nearby. He opened his mouth.
The fox flicked its head up. “Here. My, but you are slow. I can see why your wife got tired of you.”
“That’s a low—”
“We’re not in the physical world anymore. Here, we are not confined by the stature we had at birth or our bodies.”
“So you decide to be a fox?”
She stared at him, tail flicking. “I like foxes,” she declared, after a moment.
“I like myself. I think I’ll stick with it, thank you very much.”
“Are you sure?”
“And why wouldn’t I be?”
“I just thought maybe you’d want to fix the way your face looks.”
He frowned. “Why? Has it changed so much in this world?”
“No. It’s the same face you’ve always had.”
“Lady, you wound me.”
“Vixen, if you please.” She flicked her tail again and glanced around. “I think I know where we are. Follow me.”
Prancing, she led him from the shores to a patch of forest beside a bubbling stream. The trees and plants had a faint, silvery sheen to them. Sapphire jumped on a rock, her nose twitching.
“I haven’t been here in a long time,” she whispered. She glanced at the outcrop of rocks that marked the edge of the stream. Tentatively, she reached out with her paw. “I wonder if—”
And then she shook herself. “That’s not important now, I guess.”
Enosh stepped towards the rocks. “What’s not important?” he asked, marvelling at the icy sharpness of the agan that pooled around his feet. It was almost—but not quite—like water. So many texts described it like blood. He wasn’t sure if he agreed.
She glanced at him. “Tell me, is there a marking of some sort on the rocks?”
Enosh looked and shrugged. “None of the kind. Why don’t you see for yourself?”
“I’m afraid,” Sapphire said.
He stared at her. She bared her teeth at him.
“I’m just really surprised at how talkative you are, all of a sudden,” he said. “You’ve only insulted me twice so far.”
“The layers you build up, back there, aren’t as important.”
“You mean you’re nicer here? I can get used to that—” He stopped, spotting something between the rocks. He bent down and pulled out a locket, threaded through a silver necklace. It felt solid in his hands. He held it up to his eye before popping the locket open. There was an empty groove where normally there would be a portrait or carved figure of some sort. Instead, someone had drawn a crude star.
Enosh returned to Sapphire. Her eyes widened when she saw what was in his hands. “Would you mind holding on to that?”
“Don’t you want to see it?”
“I know what it is,” she said. “Just don’t drop it.”
He shrugged, looping the chain around his palm. “Now,” he said, looking around. “You went through all this trouble to tell me something.”
“I wanted to show you how easy it is for someone trained, like I am, to manipulate the agan. I made this stream, don’t you know? When I was still so very young. Moon and I…” She faltered. “You don’t know this. A lot of the knowledge was lost when the ka-eng were driven from the mainland. You think the agan is just something to play tricks with, to amuse others or whatever it is you’ve been doing all these years. You and so many others like you.”
“Then tell me. All you do is berate me for what I don’t know.”
Sapphire pressed her ears against her head. “How am I supposed to do that? I was schooled for years before I could even grasp the basics while you...” She snorted. “The agan connects this realm to the other. People think it is used for spells and po
wer but that’s just not true—it is needed for everything, like the blood being pumped from your heart to your veins. For the seasons to turn, for the soil to grow, for the rain to fall—it is everything. Never forget that.
“I’ll be brief, but a long time ago, people—the ka-eng and kusyani—discovered that agan sometimes leaked into the physical realm in vast quantities and that they allowed for the bending of the rules. Suddenly you could create fire out of nothing, or turn a creature into stone, or fly into the air like you were a bird. People began studying the many ways this could be exploited. We learned that certain children are more attuned to the process than others and that some are so naturally gifted they can tap into the agan on their own.
“But the agan, like I told you, is blood-like. Remove some, and the body feels pain. Remove enough of it and the body is affected, tries to compensate to heal the wound. And so using the agan without thinking about it can result in large tears on the surface that connects both realms to each other. There are many ways this can be done. The Dageians are good at this. They have single-handedly caused, over the years, so many catastrophes—the great earthquake over at Batu-in, the flooding at Drusgaya…”
She sniffed. “Incidentally, they’ve also learned how to counter the effects of what they do. They’re so dependent on the agan, the Dageians. Can’t shit without a spell to wipe themselves.”
“If only Daro could hear you now.”
“I wanted you to see what you’re dealing with. You were, all these years, assisting Yn Garr in re-creating Naijwa’s beast.” She cocked her head at him. “You do know that your ancestor Jaeth was tantamount in the destruction of the thing the first time around?”
“I am aware of it.”
“Not really a destruction, though. More of a decommissioning. Raggnar rog-Bannal couldn’t destroy the creature. It was a large beast, pumped full of a dozen spells that would take centuries to decipher. Naijwa was quite an accomplished woman. Killing it wasn’t a problem, so much as the thing could rip a hole through the realms larger than Gaspar. That much agan flowing between the worlds? You can’t imagine the kind of damage that will cause. Life as we know it might cease to exist.”
“That seems unlikely.”
She smacked her tail into his leg. “I’ve been studying this for years. Maybe I’m wrong. It would be great if I was.” She managed to look sombre, even in her fox form. “You remember when I asked you if you knew what your old master wanted from all of this. That was for your benefit. I was giving you the chance to come clean. I didn’t want you to look like a fool.”
“You not want me to look like a fool? Come on, Sapphire. I wasn’t born yesterday.”
“I do have a heart, on occasion.” She cocked her head at him. “There’s no one else around. You can tell me. Did he promise you gold? Riches beyond your wildest dreams? The Gorenten Headland?”
He started at that, and she smiled. “It’s not exactly a secret, is it, Enosh, son of Meirosh of Gorent? Your people have been trying to get back to your roots for a long time. And failing spectacularly, I might add.”
He pressed his lips together. “So what if that were true?”
“What if, indeed? Then he would need a means to do that—one in line with what he’s been doing all this time, because Yn Garr, busy man that he is, would have to be trying to kill several birds with one stone. The Gorenten Headland has been under Dageian rule for centuries. How else would he make such a promise to you if he wasn’t planning on setting fire under the dragon’s tail?”
“Get to the point.”
“He’s going to unleash Naijwa’s beast on Dageis. You don’t look surprised, so this is what he told you himself. Only—”
“Only what?”
She fanned her tail at him. “For someone who seemed so sure of himself a moment ago…”
“Don’t make me pick you up and throw you into that stream.”
“It’s not deep. Unlike you, I am capable of swimming.”
“Yes, but think of how silly you’ll look flying in the air with your paws flailing about.”
She bristled. “He’s not going to do it the way you think he will. You’ve thought all this time that he means to batter at Dageis’ defences and somehow bring the mages to their knees. No...they’ll kill the beast before it could take one step. The secret lies in its death. Its death will create a hole into the fabric of the agan where it falls, large enough to destroy even Dageis, if done properly. Especially Dageis. After years of carelessness, the fabric is thin there. The resulting damage…they’ll speak of it for centuries.
“If he is able to bring it to Drusgaya and they destroy it there, he would have unleashed his weapon right in the heart of Dageis.” She licked her lips. “I’m right, aren’t I? I wasn’t sure, but that look on your face…”
“So what if you are?” Enosh managed. “What does that change?”
“Nothing, of course. But it sounds so silly, doesn’t it, hearing it from me like this? That boy, Arn, wouldn’t believe me, either. His delusions are even worse than yours.”
“So you’ve met before.”
“Obviously.” She sniffed. “I didn’t come to this conclusion overnight. About two years ago, we were in the woods in Cael, near the Kiel border, hot on Yn Garr’s tracks, when we came across him. He was a boy, then. That pet of his was barely a chick. Yn Garr set fire to the house they were staying before we could get close and the boy’s father, I believe, died from it. He blames me.” She shrugged.
“And here I thought it was me he wanted to kill.”
“The world doesn’t revolve around you, Enosh.”
“So you’ve said. Yet here you are, still with me.”
She glared at him, and he smirked. “No, I know. You want to bring me to Eheldeth. This has been your plan from the very beginning, when you decided to work with me. It’s all right. I’m used to betrayals.”
“Why a betrayal?” she asked. “I fulfilled my end when I was under your employ. Did I say you had me, till death do us part?”
“You didn’t have to. My charm, combined with my dashing good looks...how can you resist?”
“All that attention you give to your whores has rattled your brain loose. As it stands…” She stopped. Her ears pricked up, and she glanced at the distance. “Someone’s here.”
“I thought we were safe.”
She stepped forward, jumping from one rock to another until she was well into the stream. “You, there! We can see you! Come out!”
There was a slight movement, a bending of shadow. Sapphire bristled. A little girl stepped out. Enosh recognized the face of the girl he had seen the first time he had stepped through the agan-river over three years ago.
“You,” he murmured.
She smiled, nodding. “I saw you both slip through. I wanted to say hello.” She looked at Sapphire. “Hello, little dog.”
“Fox,” Sapphire hissed.
The girl ignored her and reached out to grab Enosh’s hand. “I didn’t think you’d come visit again. It was nice when you were here the last time. I waited.” Her fingers were cold and her face, no matter how hard Enosh tried to stare at it, seemed indistinct, like she wasn’t quite sure how she was supposed to look. Her features blurred occasionally, as if she was underwater.
“I was gone a while,” Enosh agreed. “People locked me up.”
The girl wrapped her fingers around his. “I told you to read your lessons, but you wouldn’t listen. Like last time—”
Enosh turned to her. “What do you mean by that?”
“Like last time. In the library, when he locked you up for not finishing your books. Don’t you remember?”
He felt his limbs slacken. “How do you know that?”
The girl rolled her eyes. “I know that because I was there. And I told you, too. I told you he’d get angry. I even showed you the best spot in the library, where candlelight wouldn’t bother your eyes so much, you know? Right by the window, near the gargoyle statue? Oh, Ms. Fox, he’
s not talking to me anymore. I think he’s broken.”
“He’s had a long day,” Sapphire agreed. “We’ve been here long enough. Enosh, we need to go back.”
“That girl…” he murmured.
She arched her back against his leg. “We can’t stay too long. Not you, anyway. You might forget how to go back.” She glanced at the girl. “You’ll hang around, won’t you? You don’t look like you have anywhere to go.”
“I’ll be here,” the girl replied. Her voice sounded like bells jingling.
“Then goodbye.” Sapphire leaped forward. Enosh felt himself getting dragged after her right before the darkness closed in around him.
For a long time after that, he thought he was back in their small hut in Gorent, a damp book on his lap. His brother was watching the rain drip along the thatched roof. There was a fascination on his face that Enosh found irritating. Not too long ago, he would’ve joined him in revelry, even insisted they brave the storm to catch snails before the birds could get them in the morning. But life wasn’t that simple anymore. It couldn’t be, not after the way Soshain died.
He woke up to darkness and the strong stench of herbs and candle-wax. Sapphire was leaning against the wall, her skin so pale that it startled Enosh a little when he saw her breathe. She turned to him, her eyes half-lidded, and lifted her hand. The copper chain was threaded through her clenched fist.
“Your sister left that there, didn’t she?”
Sapphire didn’t respond, and for a moment, Enosh thought she didn’t hear him. But when he started to get up, he saw her bend her head over her knee. A soft sob escaped her throat. Not knowing how to respond to that, he dropped his head in an awkward bow and stepped through the door. A chill clung to him like a thin blanket.
Daro was standing outside, a lantern by his foot. “You were both out for a while,” he grunted. “Stepped into the agan.” He frowned as he handed him a strip of bread.
“You sound like you distrust us.”
Daro’s face darkened. Enosh had never had the time to study it before. He found the opportunity to do that now. The man’s features were blunt, almost Gorenten, but with lighter skin. Without the Dageian soldier’s uniform and the thick, Dageian accent, he could easily pass for someone from the northern isles. Enosh broke the bread and mulled over that while he chewed.
An Elegy of Heroes Page 58
