The Vastness

by Hausladen, Blake;

  Barok turned to Evela, and it was a measure of our desperation that she answered freely. “Yes, but our knowledge of the song is incomplete, and we do not know how to learn the rest. The words we are missing could be anything. A fish no one in Zoviya has ever laid eyes upon or a flower that only grows in a cave beneath Mount Amey. We are attempting a song that names everything and it is impossible to know what we are missing.”

  “And if you did know it all?” Evand asked her. “What then?”

  “We would sing it today, slaw the Shadow, and heal our Mother Earth.”

  “Spending Barok and his children in the process?” he asked and turned to Barok and me.

  “That is the cost,” I said.

  “Emilia could not be engine for this song instead of your blood?” he asked.

  Evela replied, “We had hoped this for the sake of the children, but there is a reason Soma stands apart from Emilia and the druids. Their magic will not mix.”

  “So how do we learn the rest of this song before the Hessier arrives? Can we speak to this spirit of yours and ask Her?”

  “She speaks to me directly,” Evela said. “But her torment is without end. All we hear now is screams.”

  “Can She be soothed?”

  “All that we can do to keep away Her pain has been done.”

  “Who else would know these missing words?” Evand asked.

  “Sikhek?” Soma asked.

  Fana shook her head. “He gave me all of his words before he sailed with you to the Priests’ Home. There is no one alive who knows them.”

  Several heads came around. Pikailia spoke first. “Could a ghost somewhere know them all? We saw some very old ghosts in the east. Could there be any that know the song?”

  I turned to Barok. “Did Kyoden hear it?”

  “Yes, but distantly. None of the ghosts in the yew know the words.”

  “Kyoden’s repose was not typical, I understand,” Evand said. “What did your ancestors typically do with their dead?”

  Barok did not want to answer.

  “They entombment them,” Burhn said, and all eyes turned to my quiet companion from Verd. His mother, Lady Jayme, was standing with him when he said, “It’s a magic that binds a soul in an object instead of a body. The Edonians entombed their dead in great sculptures of granite they called Cern Stones. Sikhek spent generations destroying them. Aden would tell us of the battles that were fought against the ghosts of the druids they contained.”

  “Aden left such a stone for us on the Enhedu Road,” Barok said.

  “And you survived?” Burhn said with a distrusting look.

  Barok pointed at Leger.

  Lilly stepped forward. “I am glad they entomb them. It hurts to sing. I would be happier to sing the song if I was already dead.”

  I wanted to weep. Lilly was lost. Fana took her arm and held her close.

  Evand asked Leger, ”What became of the stone you encountered?”

  “I destroyed it and the ghost it contained.”

  “There must be more that Sikhek did not find,” Soma said. “Describe the stone. We are a well travelled bunch. Someone here must have seen another of these stones.”

  “Nothing special about it,” Leger said. “It was a large granite egg with a flat bottom. When I knocked it over I saw some engraving on it base before I smashed it.”

  “How long was the engraving?” I asked. “How many lines?”

  “Six lines, I think. Why?”

  “It was the prayer.”

  “You mean your prayer?” Barok asked.

  I recited it for them. “Wayward spirits, stay from my path and be but a wind behind me. Of you and yours, I know no ill, and pray that you will walk lightly.”

  “That stone you saw at Dagoda. Do you think it could have been a Cern Stone?”

  I remembered the smoke that had reached out to me as I stood before it, and said, “Yes. I am certain. It had stood like any other bit of rock near a graveyard. It got moved to make way for a well and rolled down the hill. An egg of granite with a flat bottom and an Edonia prayer engraved upon it. I don’t know what became of the stone after it rolled down the hill.”

  “I know this stone,” Liv said. “It was at the bottom of the hill the day I escaping that foul place. No idiot matron of would have a reason to move such a monstrous rock.”

  Rahan was not impressed, and said, “So, then all we need to do then is to sneak some blind girls through an army of approaching beast Hessier, convinced the hostile ghost of an ancient druid of unknown power to give up words it might not know, and then get them back to Barok and the children in time the dump the blood from their veins so a song can be sung that will kill a god as old as the earth itself? Is that the option we are discussing?”

  “Your obvious disdain for magic aside,” Soma said, “That is about right, though I could sail Lilly south around Geart’s flank and back before he knew we’ve done it.”

  “I’ll learn the words if you can get me there,” Lilly said. “I think an old druid would like some visitors.”

  “And we can keep you safe, little miss,” Lady Jayme said and her Sermod all stood close.

  “Count me in,” Burhn said.

  “Not him,” Fana said. “No offense, sir, but Avinda say the last on that subject. No man should dare again to sing with the Shadow is so close.”

  “Remember what became of Harmond,” I said.

  “He was weak,” Burhn said.

  “No,” I replied. “He was as remarkable and extraordinary as you are. The Shadow took him. He will take you, too, before the end of this if you give voice to magic. Ask your mother.”

  He was offended and turned to her. “Mama?”

  “No,” she said. “The Shadow is too close to you. I will do this. You will stay safe and be ready to help keep the touch of the Shadow off the Hemari who defend the city. If you love me, you will never sing again.”

  Ghemma touched his arm and all his displeasure vanished.

  “Men are pretty simple,” Emilia whispered to me.

  Liv and I nodded and the three of us moved to join Soma.

  Barok and Evand looked ready to object, but did not disappoint us. Evand said to us, “You may call on me or my army for anything you need. We will be here seeing to the city’s defenses. Hurry, and do not fail.”

  The gathering concluded, and all the loyal people around us began moving again to risk their lives on our say.

  I stayed close to Emilia.

  77

  Goddess Emilia Grano

  Cern Stones

  More work had to be done to soothe protective husbands, and helpful generals and admirals. Dia handled them as though she could see their disorganized souls, and Soma put an end to it with orders that cleared the Whittle of its male crew and moved everyone aboard they had recruited. Foxtail Harbor, in the bottom corner of the Warren has never been so busy. Dia, Liv, and I watched from the tall deck as Tayler and Pikailia moved from ship to ship and brought back yellowcoats twenty at a time, carrying bows and more arrows than I’d ever seen. Earinne and Lady Jayme brought healers and Sermod, while Evela and Fana got our fragile druids below.

  The city buzzed. Millions of people and soldiers were on the move, and it was too much to watch at once all pressed in around me. They had such faith in Evand, and those close to him were beings swept up into our adventure, but the song they were working so hard to sing could not be right. How would the millions feel if they knew what we had planned? I caught myself thinking again what Dia has asked of me.

  Dia caught my eye, but did not press.

  Evand proved to be the calmest of those watching his wife depart. Barok put on a good face but was tortured as we slipped from view. Rahan was upset about not being the center of attention, and threw himself into the organization of army and refugee, but half his soul was aimed at Evela. I would have said something to let her know how he felt, but her soul was in the same split state and as focused. The mothers aboard the Whittle that had lef
t children behind were the sternest of the city’s millions, and their threads intertwined with each other stronger like sheets of iron.

  Soma had been swift and organized a great many things in that short span. The ship and its large crew looked ready for anything, and a barge loaded with horses followed close behind us.

  “Have any of those albatross turned our way?” Soma asked me.

  “Still circling the city. They’d have a hard time picking out our two ships as important with all the motion around us.”

  “Keep a close eye,” she said and I nodded.

  They were boring to watch, but I did it anyway. They didn’t pay us any attention as they circled Barok and his children.

  Before I knew to expect it, instructions were passed for everyone to be ready.

  “That was fast,” Dia said.

  “No one remembers the speed of the river,” Soma said. “Get your butts moving down to the rail. You’ll be over in a moment. Tayler, you are in command until I return.”

  Soma was not kidding. The sails came in, an anchor splashed down, and the barge dived in alongside the ship. Soma pointed me at her daughter and Pikailia. She was taller than her mother and kinder. She coached me onto her strong back and showed me how to lock my arms around her. I wasn’t ready at all when she climbed over the rail and started down a rope ladder, but she was swift and steady. Other sailors carried Lilly and the druids down, and the rest flowed down behind us. With long polls and the stroke of many oars we dove toward the shore.

  “Everyone, this is Fleur, if you do not know her already,” Soma said. “She is a master of horse and a child of Enhedu’s dark forests. When you go ashore, she will be in command.”

  I waved a hello and Liv said to her, “Hello, cousin.”

  I did not understand the joke but everyone else laughed. Fleur was a lot like Evela, straight-faced and stern, but her lips pursed and her eyes warmed as the small crack of a grin stole across her face.

  “Are those the twins?” Dia asked her and pointed at two horse. Fleur nodded as her usual expression settled back across her, but her soul wrapped with Dia’s and the two horses.

  I asked Dia, “You and Fleur trained the twins?”

  She nodded and Fleur moved passed the introductions, her eyes on the fast approaching shore. “My brother made this same ride last year. The only thing he got right that trip was saving Liv. We are not going to make any of his mistakes. Emilia is our eyes. Dia, Ghemma, and Liv are our guide to the stone. Pikailia and the yellowcoats archers will handle any Hessier that attack while Earinne and the Sermod keep away their touch. We ride in, the girls do their business, and we ride out. Soma and Lady Jayme will guard the dock for us to retreat to. If any of you gets distracted or do anything stupid, I will put an arrow in you. The moment we have all of the horses ashore, I want to see every one of you running down the pier and in the saddle as fast as you can. Understood?”

  She got a resounding yes.

  She turned to me, “You can see as far as Dagoda?”

  “Easily, yes.”

  “And you know the topography here? It is very hilly.”

  “Very well.”

  “Is anyone or anything between here and there at present?”

  I closed my eyes and made sure. “No. A few solitary beasts roam the hills to the north and east of Dagoda. The main body is on the tithe road in and around Courfel, moving west toward Bessradi. Evand has only a last few scouts beyond the walls hurrying in refugees. They did a very good job. We are the only other people east of the river that I can see.”

  “As we are riding, I am going to look back at you. If you see something, raise one arm. If we are in danger, raise both.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  It was quiet for moment as the yellowcoats swung the barge carefully in. Soma tried to stay serious but couldn’t suppress a magnificent smile. Everyone began looking at her.

  “Apologies, I grew up here,” she said and pointed at the tree-shrouded buildings gathered close around the long dock and then the thick trees along the shore to our left. “I learned to swim under that elm.”

  It was hard to be scared while she wore such a smile. She signaled back to the ships, and they started downriver while we tied onto the long dock.

  “So they can catch us in the current when we cast off?” I asked.

  “We might need to be quick. Once you are back aboard the barge all we need to do is push off. The river will hurry us out. I’ll be right there waiting for you,” she said and pointed out beyond her friend the elm.

  The barge stopped moving, and everything became a blur. The horses were raced ashore and then we were after them, sprinting down the pier. I was barely up and sitting in front of Dia, when Fleur led their twin Akal-Fell to the front of the line and aimed us toward Dagoda.

  Dia’s soul swelled as we trotted along through the trees and out onto a wide rode. She whispered to me about the rhythm of the horse and where my weight should be. Evand had told me as much but Dia was a much better teacher.

  I did my best to stay centered for her, and blinked my eyes to get quick glimpses of the things ahead. The hills of the Halberdon kept Geart’s beasts from easily spilling south from the tithe road. They moved west while we slid beneath them east.

  We were halfway to Dagoda when I noticed a solitary soul at our destination. I raised an arm as high as I could. Fleur pulled up and led us down into a ditch beside the road while the yellowcoats spread out around us.

  “There is someone at Dagoda. A single person I’d not noticed before. Wounded or very sad and alone. Nothing else has moved our way.”

  She took this in and started us back down the dark road. We lost more light, and it got hard to keep my balance.

  “The horses can see much better than we can,” Dia said. “Lean into me, and trust the horse.”

  This helped, but it was so very hard to ride in the dark and keep track of the beasts racing across the land. A wall and a tall building came into view, and wagon in the trees. We slowed and sheathed lanterns were lit.

  Dia said to Fleur, “The wagons belong to a Bermish family that sells girls to Dagoda. If the wagons are here, they must be close.”

  “Anyone here, Emilia?”

  “Just the one. Straight ahead.”

  We were on foot then. Liv, Dia, and Ghemma lead us toward the main building while the yellowcoats guarded us and got the horses together.

  “Bodies here,” Liv said, and we found pikemen in fancy armor with arrows in their chests upon the wide entrance stairway. A couple more had bled all over the entrance hallway.

  “Emilia,” Dia said. “Look south as far as you can. Do you see a line of people moving away?”

  “Yes, on the very edge of what I can see. They are moving straight south into a groups of beasts.”

  “Serves them right. Where is this last soul you see?”

  We found her at the end of the main hallway, tied to stairway railing. She’d been badly beaten and a trio of Bermish men lay dead around her.

  Dia kicked one of the bodies. “They killed your sons, I see.”

  Ghemma grabbed the old woman by the hair, hauled her to her feet, and spat in her face. “Finally told one too many lies? Do you remember me? Do you remember me?”

  The old woman nodded.

  Fleur gave Ghemma’s a knife. “Be done with this, now.”

  Ghemma snatched the blade and stabbed her hard and fast. The old woman hit the floor and her blubbering faded as her blood poured toward her sons. Dia pulled Ghemma down the hallway and we hurried out along a dirt path.

  I would have been worried for Ghemma, but her soul was as settled as I’d ever seen it. Dia and my mother walked side by with her and they held hands for a time before we started into the trees.

  “There is the old well,” Dia said. “The stone should be to the left of the trail here.”

  The yellowcoats hacked a path through the brush, and as they knocked down the branches of two thick bushes we all saw the m
assive stone on the far side of a small clearing. The rotting hulk of a tree trunk and stump stood like a thick wall behind it.

  Before any of them could say a word, the stone began to glow. Evela and Fana hurried Lilly and the other girls forward. The Yellowcoats fanned out around us.

  Fleur said me, “Keep checking.”

  I snapped my eyes shut. “Nothing. No, wait. Due east. One headed toward us. It must see the light. Six-hundred paces out. Top of a hill, coming down. It very fast. I just leapt the walls.”

  Archers moved the direction I’d pointed and Fleur said to Evela, “We’ll not have much time. Whatever you’re going to do, do it now.”

  “I don’t know,” Evela said. “I don’t feel anything. Lilly, Fana?”

  Fana laid her hands upon the stone. The small glow remained, but nothing else happened.

  I followed Fleur and Dia into the clearing and the stone’s glow began to fade. Off in the trees, someone took a shot. Three more arrows followed the first. The Hessier I’d seen crashed to a halt and disappeared from my mind’s eye.

  “That was noisy,” Pikailia said.

  I had my eyes closed before Fleur turned to me. “There are more to the south. Further off but coming fast. And due east, distant. Nine of them. Not moving yet. North and east of them there are thousands more.”

  “Are they predator or prey animals?”

  It was a terrific question and I tried my best to judge what kind of things were coming at us through the trees, but their soul were nothing but black dots on black leashes. “I cannot tell.”

  “Sounds and lights,” Pikailia said and checked her bow. “They will keep coming.”

  “We can’t keep back the touch of hundreds,” Earinne said. “Be quick.”

  The stone had done nothing since the glow faded.

  “Sing to it?” someone asked.

  “No,” Fana said. “Nouns will have them after all after us in a hurry.”

  “Ideas?” Fleur asked.

  “We should have brought one of the children,” Fana said.

  “No,” Dia replied. “Geart would have seen the Vesteal blood the moment it started south.”