“This, or something quite like it, was present in the field when I witnessed a time echo. It was larger. And I noticed it only because it seemed to curl more tightly at the moment of the event.”
“I am not certain this will provide us with any aid,” Ayna said. “Our combined focus could easily stretch our search from one coast to the other, but a broad search will not be enough.”
“No… No, this is one part of the key. This will let us know if we are searching in the correct place. What remains is for us to locate those places worth searching. It doesn’t solve the puzzle, but it gives us what we need to know if we are on the trail of the solution. And that is more than we had.”
#
Calypso paced out of the tavern. Her belly was full, and for the moment the messages had stopped flowing to and from her pad. Her mind felt fuzzy and unfocused in the way it tended to when she’d gone far too long without genuine rest. If the circumstances were different, she would have sought out someplace that could provide her with a warm bath and doze in it for half a day to restore the energy expended in her very taxing journey. Things were moving far too swiftly for that. If she was going to be prepared, she was going to have to resort to a technique she’d not had to call upon since her earliest days in magic. And to do that, she would need some peace and solitude.
“Miss! Miss Wizard!” called a voice from the doorway.
She slumped a bit. Clearly she would not be finding either of them here. “Yes, sir. How may I help you?” she said, summoning up the most genuine smile she could manage.
“I… er… you seemed like you might be heading someplace. And I don’t think I saw any carriage or horse for you. I thought you might need some help.”
“How very kind of you, but I—”
“I have a horse right there. A good strong one. You could ride in front of me. I’d take you anywhere you need to go.”
“I am not much of a horseback rider, and as it happens I have my own means of transportation.”
“I could make sure you don’t fall off. I’m good and strong,” he said.
Calypso sighed. “Tell me, sir, would you say that this establishment is representative of the north? Would you go so far as to say it is representative of the entirety of the continent?”
“Er. I don’t suppose so. There’s nicer ones.”
“I’m not concerned with the building, mind you. I’m concerned about the patrons. Is this a particularly unsavory establishment? I ask because, through either your actions or your gaze, the vast majority of the people I’ve encountered within seemed to be motivated primarily by my appearance or by the silver I am carrying. By virtue of my recent arrival in this kingdom… Ulvard, I suppose you would be calling it now? Regardless, by virtue of my recent arrival, that means that most of the people I’ve met in the whole of the continent have been similarly motivated by lascivious desires, greed, or the assumption that I am likely to be easily bamboozled. It is not encouraging.”
The man stammered for a moment. “We’re a pretty bad lot,” he admitted.
“That is a refreshing and encouraging bit of honesty, sir. That you would have the means to make such a determination suggests you are aware of venues with clientele more likely to behave in a civil and acceptable manner?”
“I’ve been to a few places that probably weren’t too happy I’d been there.”
“Excellent. I find myself rather pressed for time, but when the urgent tasks at hand have been seen to, I am hoping to open diplomatic relations between my adopted homeland and yours.”
She swiftly jotted down a message on a slip of parchment. “Be a dear and deliver this to someone with the ear of your king or queen,” she said. “And have some silver for your trouble. A bit more if you’ll promise to do so swiftly.”
“I don’t… folks like me don’t get an audience with the king and queen.”
“You are holding a dispatch from a powerful kingdom that shares a border with your own. A wise leader will be receptive. Now, if you will excuse me.”
She touched her fingers to the amulet about her neck. Heavy, wet snow sprang to life at her feet. Runners of crystal-clear ice formed. Elegant filigree of sparkling white traced out the form of a small but capable sleigh. She took a seat. The ice and snow ahead of the improvised vehicle smoothed itself. Behind the sleigh, it reared up into a low, rolling wave. It was enough to propel the sleigh forward, easily a match for the speed of a horse-drawn counterpart.
Her hair ruffled and fluttered in the breeze. Smoothing the snow ahead meant she could bridge small gaps or ease her way over obstacles, granting something of a personal road between herself and her intended destination. It was enormously taxing, but she was able to ease the load somewhat by letting her conjured legs transition back into a tail.
The journey was a mercifully brief one. All she required was a measure of distance from those who might interrupt her and a ready source of water. Within a few minutes she’d slipped deep enough into the countryside to have the former, and the latter presented itself soon after in the form of an icy stream.
Calypso eased her conjured vehicle to a stop and willed the ice on the shore of the stream to part itself. She drew her mind together into a net of spells that would ward off the worst effects of the cold, then slid into the stream. She braced herself against the bottom, eyes shut and mind open. Gradually the stresses on her mind and body eased away. Meditation calmed her mind. It calmed her spirit. The subtle power of the stream flowed into her and through her. When the time came, she would be restored. She would be ready.
#
“And finally, the valley,” Myranda asserted.
They had worked swiftly, sweeping through Deacon’s notes from the past few days and his records of the last few years. Myranda recounted every conversation she could recall on the subject of the Chosen and their greatest moments. If Deacon was seeking out such places now, it stood to reason they would be places he’d mused about in the past. With each new suggestion, the mystically adept combined their efforts to determine if it was marred in the same way that the field outside the city had been. Several were. But three of them thus far had showed something subtly different. There was a hint of the same disruption, though larger and more diffuse. But it felt important. And so they had continued.
“This valley. Here. This is where Trigorah died. And it is where the rest of us were captured.”
Ayna and Ether, eyes shut and minds focused, murmured among themselves.
“Strange,” Ether said.
“A place of power,” Ayna said.
“There is something…” Ether continued. “Yes. There is a sign of the same blurred, softened distortion.”
Myranda nodded and placed a marker on the map.
“Then that makes five. We need someone in each of these places as soon as possible. Each must carry a means to deliver a message to the rest of us. We need to know if there has been some sort of an event there. If not, the lookout needs to stay there and alert the rest of us the moment one seems to be occurring. Even if there seems to have recently been an echo, we need to know. The disturbances happen where Deacon will be, not where he has been. These are places that fit the pattern he’s traced across the landscape. We may just catch him before he arrives.”
“I’ll go to the farmhouse,” Ivy said. “It’s nearby. If I bring my violin and keep my strength up, I can make it there on foot by tomorrow.”
“I’ll go to the mountains in Tressor,” Ether said. “I doubt any but me could reach it in time.”
Myranda shook her head. “No. Not fast enough. I think you and Ether should go to the same place. Even if it means keeping track of fewer places, I’d prefer we stay close and nimble. Considering the tension at the border, it is likely best not to send someone south. I’ll send a message to warn them.”
“But what if they discover it is Deacon?” Ivy said.
Myranda took a breath. “I don’t know. But we won’t avoid tha
t going there to wait for him. Our very journey there will raise suspicion and draw attention.” She tightened her fist. “There is no right way to do this. The man I love is doing something I don’t understand. Something that is endangering his people. What are the possible reasons? That he has lost his mind and I will have to subdue him? That he has been subverted and is the puppet of a dark will that is even now trying to maneuver us into killing him? But we have a job to do. I serve this world. And if Deacon were here, he would want me to do what it takes to protect his family and preserve the good we’ve done for this world. If you think you know better than me, then speak up. I am desperate for a better option. But I don’t know that a good one exists.”
The others looked to one another, then to Myranda again.
“Ivy and I will go to the farmhouse,” Ether said. “It is the potential location with the least logical reason for him to visit and may be a low priority for him.”
“I should be able to reach the cave in the Rachis Mountains in no time at all,” Ayna said. “Calypso will be heading in that direction. I can coordinate to rendezvous with her.”
“Good. That is midway along the Rachis Mountains. You can speed Myn and I along for the first half of our journey.”
“Of course.”
“Then the plans are made.”
“What about Leo? Are we leaving him here alone?” Ivy asked.
“My father and Sadie will see to him. Right now the world needs us more than he does. We know what we all must do. Remember, everyone. This is Deacon. Remember what he has done for us, and what he has done for this world. We have to stop him from doing any damage, but our goal is to bring him to his senses, not to kill him. Now let’s go do what needs to be done.”
Chapter 9
Ether flapped her wings and gazed down at the landscape below. Her favored form when tasked with transporting someone was that of a silver-feathered griffin. She’d assumed it often enough and for long enough that maintaining the shape required little additional effort, despite its size. This left enough of Ether’s mind and spirit free to conjure winds to help speed her along more swiftly than a natural beast could achieve.
Ivy held on tightly to her back and matched her gaze. “This seems familiar now. We must be close,” she said. “You’re faster than I remember.”
“Recent trials have caused me to hone my skills.”
“Impressive for a creature who believed herself to be perfect.”
“My primary flaw has been underestimating my own formidable capabilities,” Ether said.
“Uh-huh,” Ivy said flatly. “There, that’s the place!”
The malthrope held a little more tightly as Ether wheeled toward the farmhouse nestled between two large fields below. As much as Ivy enjoyed the flight, she still hated the landing, something that Ether became acutely aware of as the grip about her neck became uncomfortable. She fluttered to the ground and allowed her form to ease back to human. Ivy stumbled a bit as the shape beneath her slipped away. Ether caught her arm and steadied her.
“Oh, wow,” Ivy said, shaking herself a bit to chase away the jitters of the landing. “I remember this place so well. Right there is the barn where Myn slept. It was right after we found her. Right after she got big. And that’s the farmhouse! Oh, do you think Sandra is home?”
“There is smoke from the chimney. I should say she is.”
Ivy squealed and hopped in place. “I can’t wait to say hello again!”
“We are here with a task, Ivy,” Ether said.
The malthrope put her hands on her hips. “Is this the right place? Do you feel the scar or whatever on the landscape?”
“It is, and I do.”
“Then the ‘task’ we have to do is wait and see if Deacon shows up or if something out of place in time happens. Between my ears, my nose, and your magic, we can do that easily enough while visiting with Sandra.” She grabbed Ether’s hand to pull her forward. “Come on!”
Ether stubbornly refused to speed her pace to match Ivy’s enthusiasm.
“Oh, the cabbage is doing so well,” Ivy said. “Isn’t it amazing how it can grow even through the coldest months? I wonder how much Sandra knows about it. I’ll bet she’d love to talk about it.”
The shapeshifter stopped for a moment. Ivy turned to face her.
“Is something wrong?”
“You do understand that we are on the fringe of what might well be a horribly destructive arcane event, don’t you?”
“I can’t say I understand it, but I’m aware of it.”
“And yet you are giddy at the thought of discussing the particulars of growing cabbages with a woman you’ve met once before.”
“Three times! She was invited to some of the ceremonies over the last few years.”
“That is not the aspect that puzzles me, and you know it.”
“Ether, I haven’t exactly had a normal life. None of the Chosen have, if you get right down to it. Sometimes it feels like I’ve spent more of my life dealing with things that might end it than I’ve spent actually living. You’ve got to steal the happy moments any way you can.”
“But the moments are simply moments. Fleeting.”
“That’s not a very challenging notion, Ether.”
“How can you enjoy something knowing that someday it will be gone?”
“How can you not? That it is fleeting makes it all the more precious. And besides. The nice thing about life just being a bunch of moments strung together is that the bad times are just moments too. They’ll pass by just as surely as the good ones do. And then there’s the next chance for something nice.”
Ether gave Ivy a measuring look.
“How could so simple a creature with so few years in this world have attained such wisdom?”
Ivy grinned and gave Ether’s shoulder a shove. “You want to know the secret?” She leaned forward and whispered in Ether’s ear. “I knew I didn’t know much, so I listened to people who did.”
She backed up and took Ether by the shoulders. “Your problem was you knew too much from the beginning and thought you couldn’t learn any more. If you don’t move forward, eventually people will pass you, no matter how slow they are. Now come on. If you want to learn a little something about stealing happiness in the moments between adventures, follow me. I smell apple pie, and if I know Sandra, she’ll be willing to share a slice.”
#
Ayna buzzed in the mouth of an unremarkable cave in the Ravenwood face of the Rachis Mountains.
“A cave…” she muttered, eying the darkness ahead. “I agreed to come to another cave.”
She flitted forward a bit, then pulled back. Even a few yards into the maw of the cave gave her the terrible sensation of enclosure and captivity.
“The return to Entwell is going to be unpleasant.”
She buzzed back and landed on an icy branch and shut her eyes. The wind from the mountains curled about her wings. She should have felt at home here, just as much as she did in Entwell. All the wind was connected. When she focused, she could even feel the familiarity of this breeze, as though she had sat in this very spot before. And though she didn’t feel cut off, as she had inside the jar, she still felt lonely. What worried her wasn’t that feeling but the slow realization that the loneliness was a return to normal. She wasn’t any more isolated and alone here, in the middle of a vast world she’d left behind long ago, than she was in Entwell, the place she’d called her home for longer than most fairies could hope to live. Ayna tried to set her concerns aside. She came here for a reason, after all. But the odd, creeping anxiousness remained. Fairies were not solitary creatures. Yet somehow she’d cut herself off from the others.
“It doesn’t matter,” she grumbled to herself. “Such has been the way of things for years. Why should something that has been perfectly acceptable for so long suddenly concern me?”
The swirls of wind brought the distant hissing slide of ice on snow. Almost more confou
nding to her than the feeling of loneliness was the buoyant feeling that came with the realization that Calypso was approaching. After decades of being completely self-reliant, she found she craved companionship. It was unpleasantly like discovering a nutrient that once meant nothing and now she couldn’t live without.
“Ayna!” Calypso called out, her gleaming sleigh grinding to a stop on the jagged debris at the foot of the mountain.
“Calypso,” Ayna said with calculated aloofness.
The water master stepped up to the base of the tree where Ayna was perched. She was dressed differently from when they’d parted ways. Most notably, she had donned a long fur-lined coat.
“What is this all about?” Ayna asked, gesturing to the clothes.
“I suppose life in Entwell has spoiled me a bit. The temperatures were grating on me, and rather than squandering my strength keeping myself warm, I encountered a lovely traveling market on the way here that had quite a selection of warm clothing. Nothing for fairies, I am afraid.”
Ayna crossed her arms and threw her head back. “They wouldn’t have anything for fairies. We get no respect here.” She buzzed down and perched on Calypso’s shoulder, shuffling into the furry fringe of the hood.
“Has the time echo occurred yet?”
“I… haven’t made that determination yet.”
“Why not?”
Ayna narrowed her eyes and glanced to the darkened mouth of the cave.
“Oh! Oh, I see.” Calypso smiled sweetly. “It was very kind of you to wait for me. With your speed, I was worrying I wouldn’t have the opportunity to investigate at all. Would you like me to go first? Perhaps you could stay here and watch from the outside?”
“No. We should combine our expertise,” Ayna said.
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