by Sean J Leith
He paused for a moment, but continued unraveling his bedroll without looking over. “Over time, I have learned that listening teaches me far more about someone than speaking.”
“Wise words, Master Magnus.”
He looked so young—twenty-one, maybe. Yet he was One-hundred twenty-six. Lira wondered where he lived, and where he had been. “I am no master—I am still learning. Every wise person has a path of mistakes, my lady.”
What kind of mistakes? Lira wondered. She knew so little about him, but he listened to everyone for so long. Lira felt good in him, but a darkness, as well. She didn’t know how to explain it; it was just a hunch. He turned toward Lira’s room as if checking on someone in particular.
It was a silent protective sense—as if he knew she could care for herself and dared not question her sense of independence. “Do you favor her?” Lira asked, motioning to Kayden’s room.
Magnus looked to her with no reaction. No tells at all. “My feelings are not important, whether I do or do not.”
Lira remembered she left her rucksack in her room with Kayden. She got up and gave a sly smirk. “Everyone’s feelings are important. You should talk to her. Not necessarily about that sort of thing, but sometimes you must let others know more about you, too.” Lira went to her bedroom door. “She has that flower pressed in her book, you know. Don’t tell me that wasn’t from you.” Lira narrowed her eyes at him.
He simply nodded in response.
With a chuckle of victory, she said, “Rest up. We have work to do tomorrow,” she said, trying her best to be cheerful. With a smile, she tried to stay strong. But each day broke her bit by bit.
She crept into her room and picked up her bag. Kayden was out cold, towel off her head. Kayden slept curled into a ball facing the middle of the bed, clutching her two scarves.
Lira tip-toed back to the door and cracked it open.
“Don’t go,” Kayden mumbled in her sleep. “Don’t.”
Lira curled her lip in, feeling as if she knew what that meant. Kayden was always reluctant to let anyone go anywhere dangerous without her.
“It’s all right, I’m not going anywhere,” Lira responded. She walked back to the couch that was barely long enough for her, and laid down under a blanket she had in the room.
“Okay,” Kayden mumbled. She returned to deep breathing.
She wondered how much time they would spend in Solmarsh. She missed her home, and worried for the ones that vanished. Sohgra told her a few: Darryl Godron, the blacksmith, Terra Longworth, the head fisher for the docks, and many more. More wold come, she was sure, if they did not act quickly.
Lira fell into a deep sleep shortly after quieting her thoughts of concern, tired after a long day of traveling.
* * *
The next day, the group went house by house.
“Kidnappings! Armored folk carrying them off!” one said.
“A quick, crash-bang, and they’re gone!” another supplied.
“Disappeared into the night!”
Lira wondered what ‘they’ were.
Kayden followed footprints from what she could find them, but the rain washed out the majority. The most peculiar thing was that at a point, the footprints would vanish. They were plate, some leather—not bare…
Less people wandered about the streets than usual. Some of they spoke to said the townsfolk avoided being out at night time, now.
Lira felt for the victims. She shared a few tears with them, but the others with her didn’t shed a single one, and Lira couldn’t see why. She always tried to empathize with others, yet Magnus, Kayden, and Domika stayed adamant the whole way through. She saw a glimpse of sadness in Vesper, but he calmed down quickly and returned to the strange man that he always was, except he mumbled and murmured less in recent days. Kayden always kept a strong demeanor when they meant business. She kept her soft side in check until they were behind closed doors.
But after their first day of door-knocking, they found nothing.
On their way back to Lira’s house, Lira spotted Calvin walking into the centre of town alone, scratching his head in an awkward fashion. “Could we keep going?” she asked.
Kayden sighed. “I’m done. Too many people. I’m exhausted.”
The others nodded and grumbled. She was tired as well, but something dug at her. “I’ll meet you at my house. I’m going to look around a little longer.”
“All right. Mags, keep an eye on her,” Kayden said. Domika and Vesper walked with her, and Magnus stayed behind.
Lira crept around the corner of the road toward the center of town. Calvin scribbled on a piece of parchment, walking toward the markings. He scratched his head, analyzing them.
Lira glanced to Magnus, who raised a brow as well. By the time she looked back, Calvin was already walking away. She tried to keep out of sight, knowing if he even caught a glimpse of her he would stop what he was doing and come for a chat.
The previous night, something was off. Calvin was a peculiar man, but he always blinked twice when he was up to something, silly or not, and he had multiple times. Her gut feeling told her to follow him.
On his way, Calvin met with a few individuals in the town. He spoke to Harvey Trent Jr., his father’s apprentice. They shook hands and spoke about a few ingredients needed for a couple concoctions for the alchemy shop. After he left, Harvey rubbed his head and sat down, as if exhausted.
Lira wanted to ask Harvey a few questions, but felt following Calvin was a better pursuit. As she kept her distance, the same thing happened twice. Calvin met with Porra Shiel, a fisher in Solmarsh, and Laura Pollard, the tanner. They shook hands, they seemed to tire, and then Calvin left.
“Peculiar. They seem to tire,” Magnus whispered.
“Strange—” Lira’s voice dropped off. Normally she wouldn’t see it as an issue, but something didn’t sit right with her. Calvin walked out the north gate of town, oddly enough. Lira rushed after him, until she saw something that stole the breath right out of her. Calvin spoke to a knight in crimson armor. She shot back behind the wall and motioned for Magnus to stay back.
Crimson armor. She feared the worst: Malakai. Callidan spoke the truth. “—and the girl?” a deep, resounding voice said.
“She won’t be a problem. She’s a good friend of mine and I assure you—”
“That girl was on our trail in multiple places.” The knight cut Calvin off. “Kill her. Or does she mean something to you?”
“She is part of the arrangement, my Lord,” Calvin said in a nervous tone. “She was the one promised to live should I endure these tasks. Lord Asheron said—”
“My brother gave me this task, and I shall not have it wasted on a whimsical decision. Should this fail—you cannot imagine the repercussions. Obtain the information about her that I have asked, should something falter. When we prepare, my brother will be here to ensure it moves forward. Keep that in mind.”
“Yes, my L—” Silence. Then a gasp. Heavy breaths. “Where did he—” A sigh. “Again. He always does this.” After a pause, he said, “Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen.”
Lira carefully checked around the corner—Calvin held his head, panicked. Nearly looking behind, she shot back around the city wall. Looking toward Magnus, his eyes only showed fear. He shook his head.
Without a pause, Magnus whirled around the corner, drawing a sword—but Calvin was gone.
“What? Where did he go?” Lira asked, peeking.
Magnus stood stoic. “I do not know. It concerns me—it could be some form of magic.”
Lira sighed. She didn’t know what to do next, and night was beginning to fall across the town. Malakai. Asheron.
Magnus’ tone turned cold. “Kayden will not like this.”
Lira shook her head. “You can’t tell her.”
He narrowed his eyes. “And allow this treachery to continue? He is clearly culpable—and you are part of this supposed accord.”
Exempt. She was exempt. She remembered what
the guards said when her brother was taken. She didn’t understand then.
She shook her head. “It’s too risky. If he and Malakai panic, who knows what could happen. Please, no mention of this.”
After a pause, he relented and nodded. “Until your meeting.”
The sound of slamming doors, parents rushing their children inside, as well as others running through town attempting to make it home, echoed through the gate to town. The sun began to set.
Disappearances occurred by night, and no one wanted to be outside, including Lira. “Come on, let’s go home. I don’t want to be outside after the sun is gone.”
Magnus nodded. “The others will worry.”
As they walked briskly across the dirt roads, Lira thought over and over in her mind about today’s happenings. The harbinger comes by the path of life, the markings said. She worried for the town, at least, for those who were left. Many families traveled to other cities and towns for the time being, but some stayed in dedication to their work. Many didn’t have the funds to stay in inns, or they didn’t have family nearby.
Lira didn’t understand Krogar’s motives, either. He knew the markings were in the town, and even knew what they said. Why hasn’t he investigated anything? she wondered. Knowledge was his trade.
She would find out more tomorrow. Perhaps she would have dinner with Calvin, to figure out what he was up to, and what Malakai’s plan was. He was in Grandis Prison. He even mentioned his brother tasked him with this work. They’re working in this together for the King. The knight said his brother would come to assess the situation…
But the next day, Harvey Jr., the young man Calvin met with, went missing along with two others.
The next, so did Porra.
Laura was gone the day after that.
They couldn’t track Calvin down, until Lira finally found him. “Dinner tomorrow, just the two of us, at Sohgra’s inn?” he said. “I’m very busy until then. Sorry that I’ve been absent.” He hurried off before Kayden and the others arrived.
To meet the knight in crimson? she thought. Her village smelled of the King’s plot. Of Asheron’s deception. The Knight of Shadows was here as well, she was sure.
Lira had to tread lightly.
Chapter Thirty-four
A Plateau of Progress
Saul Bromaggus
Saul examined at the map Thalia gave him. It was zig-zagged and inefficient. No direct path. This is ridiculous. “I cannot believe we must take this blasted path. We should just walk straight through.” He was suspicious of the path, but Saul had a choice: trust Thalia’s guidance, or walk through the Plateau at the risk of running into the Stormwardens. And probably death, as they would be the kind of Hydris that would kill us on sight. Saul came to consider that not all Hydris were the same—just like the Broken. When he awoke in Rhoba’s prison, Saul’s ideal of a ‘people’ shattered.
“Didn’t Lady Thalia say the civil war was occurring in the central cities? She gave us that map to keep us safe,” Drof stuttered. He fiddled with his small hands and scratched his narrow jaw. His nerves were barely intact in past weeks.
Saul grumbled, “You may be correct, but I do not like it. They have us moving through forest, at least. Living off the land is of no concern of mine, but I am no master of mountains.”
They walked for two days, and it felt like they went nowhere. They left their Ravagers in Shi’doba, since the beasts could not traverse the mountain ranges in the south end of the plateau. Their plan was to move south west, then move through the Thistleweed Forest. Then, to Saul’s disgust, they would move through the Blackcore Mountains. The Terrans held up in there since nearly the dawn of the land. The Draconians sought to smoke them out, but nothing could match the Terran might within. They knew every tunnel, nook, and cranny of the mountains, which gave them a significant advantage. All the Hydris could do was trade with them and leave them to their mining. They were said to be somewhat peaceful, but stubborn as all hell.
“I have never seen a Terran,” Saul said. Somewhat untrue; one visited him in his dreams. “How would they defend mountains from Broken, Hydris, and even the Draconia?”
Drof stumbled up. “They are mightier than any thought. Their arms are well made, bodies powerful, and they know the tunnels.”
“I should hope they let us through freely,” Saul said.
“What about the small woman? You seemed to take to her,” Drof said. Saul scowled at him. “I—I mean, you d—didn’t have a problem with her—”
“She’s a magician, and a Hydris. I am uncertain of whether I trust her or not.” He felt he could but wouldn’t admit it.
One of the shorter Broken with yellow marks stepped forward to speak. “Yet you took her map and decided to follow it,” Korren said.
Saul only returned a frown. “I take an opportunity when I am given one.” In truth, Saul did indeed take to her. She was not as he pictured a Hydris, displaying an interesting strength of personality. She decided not to join them, therefore Saul probably would never see her again. It made no matter.
Looking toward Korren, he raised a brow. “Why did you stay? I would have thought you would go with Fae,” Saul asked. They were siblings before exile. She had a strong personality in contrast to him, which Saul found peculiar. He was closer to Drof, in truth.
“My sister has a mind of her own. I do not wish to recklessly move for my goals. I believe that slow and steady wins the race.”
Saul cringed at being called slow. The path was long, and more arduous than a direct route. He did not know which path the others took. He only knew that they also took a map as they left—but without a guided route. Saul wondered what came of the other twelve Broken, hoping they did not get captured. While Fae was a rough-willed Broken, she was still one of them.
“I’m glad you took Lady Thalia’s advice. Her map seems safer, having marked the opposition’s current controlled areas,” Drof said.
“Well, I’m concerned about the line across Bolerra’s Flow. It isn’t over a bridge.” Saul growled. “She had better not betray us. I’ve had enough of that in the last while.” He chose to follow her advice. It challenged many of his beliefs, but that’s what his journey had been all along. His choice to run challenged his sense of honor. His experience in Rhoba challenged the ideal of his people. His stay in Shi’doba challenged his view of the Hydris. So much has changed. Before my father burned, I would have run to my death, or run to the Hydrian capital, Serpentarius, as recklessly as Fae did. Saul wondered how his father would feel if he saw him now.
“We have to trust her. We won’t know until we get there, or when the armies find us. What do you think we’ll find in the capital?” Drof asked.
“Purpose,” Saul said bluntly.
In truth, he did not know. He spoke with confidence so his fellow Broken would follow him with confidence themselves. He wished to know more about the Stormspire, the monument to his goddess. He wondered what secrets it held, what it really was, and how it was built. It fascinated him, and he felt drawn to it. He thought it had some meaning in his dream. Every night when he slept, he was struck by bolts of lightning from the dark sky. A storm is coming, Gadora had said to him.
* * *
In two more days, Saul and his group made it to the north end of the Thistleweed forest. There was a path paired with fields of spikebush shrubs in large bunches, with high-top Thistleweed trees behind, branches thin as corn and leaves long and spindled, just as the map described.
Curious that only a few fields of spikebushes would be along a forest ridge, Saul thought. The forest path was black as night, even in the middle of day, and they could hear a constant sound that reminded him of the grass whistle he played as a child in the Vale. The sounds made it hard for them to sleep at night, but eventually it dropped into the background like a soft wind.
Once more, the dream visited his slumber. He was atop the tower, but it grew smaller. The lightning crashed down on him, and he agonized in pain, slowly. The pain w
as less than before, but it eventually grew until he couldn’t take another second.
He awoke with his heart racing. The rest slept soundly. The snarl of wolves came from around them. They were, however, behind a massive stone wall that rose thirty feet high, surrounding the small campsite. The stone was sandy brown, an accumulation of the rock that surrounded them.
What is this? The others were out cold, and his mind was still fogged, exhausted from the long journey they endured. He was very concerned as no one was on watch. Who in the gods fell asleep? He wondered if he was still dreaming, and where the wall came from. Saul attempted to stay awake to watch over them, but he couldn’t resist slipping back into a sleep once more.
The next morning, the wall was gone. The others got up with loud yawns. “Did any of you see the wall last night? Someone was not on watch.” Saul asked.
The others looked to him with raised brows. “There’s no wall here,” Drof said.
Korren let out a loud yawn as he stretched his shoulders. “What’re you on about? I was on first watch, Drof’s on second, and Torra was on third.” The others nodded and said they didn’t sleep a wink while on watch.
Saul scratched his head, wondering if any of them lied. “Must have been a dream.” Better tom dream of walls than agony from the skies.
On their way through the woods, they hunted coalboars for food. Korren was a skilled hunter, despite his nervous personality. He was as he liked to be in life—patient, waiting for the perfect moment to kill. Every day was the same within the forest: hunting, listening, and walking. It was a calm place, but every night he had the same dream. Lightning struck, he awoke, and the wall was there. He tried to wake the others, but they slept like stones.
They finally saw the open plains once more, and with more days behind them, massive mountains climbed the sky in the distance. They moved swiftly, hoping to not be detected. It was more than a day’s trip to the mountains, and they didn’t want soldiers ambushing them.
When they slept, they did so in a valley, or in the shadow of a hill or mountain, attempting to avoid detection.
