I had a moment of rising panic as I remembered a story my mom had told me from when she was younger. Her brother had accidently shut her finger in the car door. It had hurt, but they thought nothing of it until she woke up a few days later with her whole arm aching and several lines of red traveling up that arm. She went to a doctor who told her she had blood poisoning. If she had waited much longer, it could have traveled to her heart and caused a lot of problems.
“Please don’t be anything there. Please don’t be anything there,” I said in a chant of my own. I turned my left arm to look at the new tattoo. Sure enough, lines of purple stood out under my skin. My heart skipped a beat. “Damn.”
The warmth spread into my shoulder before traveling down my spine to my left thigh. My heart skipped a few more beats. I couldn’t tell if it was from fear or it just giving out due to magic poisoning or something.
Just when I thought I might go ahead and let my panic out, there was a physical rush throughout the hut like a gust of wind had somehow made its way inside. The warmth left the tattoo sites along with Elder Narit’s hands, leaving the cold to rush back in to chill my skin.
I looked at my arm. The lines of purple faded away. “What happened? Did it, uh, work?”
Elder Narit sat back, shoulders slumped. Her voice was hoarse and barely audible. “It is done.”
“It is?” I twisted my head to try to get a look at the last tattoo but could only see the edges of it on my shoulder blade. I pushed myself to a sitting position. I held up an arm, trying to see if I could tell a difference in my muscles. There didn’t seem to be any. “So, that’s it? I should, uh, be stronger or whatever? Should I feel it or something? ‘Cuz I don’t think I do.”
“It worked,” Seanna said, her voice uncharacteristically awed. “I saw it work. That last little bit was her connecting the three to complete the magical binding.”
“Oh,” I said, not really knowing where to go from there. Just like that, I was stronger and faster? I didn’t feel it. I just had to take their word for it. Something had definitely happened, but I didn’t know what.
I glanced down at the arm resting on my leg. Looking at those two tattoos together—the open circle and wing—reminded me another plain, black tattoo. I turned to the Elder. She looked even older. The skin on her heavily lined face sagged a bit.
“Did you give my mom a tattoo?”
“Grace Porter?” she asked. “No, I didn’t.”
I slumped and nodded. That would have been a little too obvious. “Can you do another one?”
Seanna looked at me, brows raised.
“You don’t have to do the magic thing,” I said quickly. “Just a normal tattoo.”
The Elder gazed into the bowl of ink, twirling the liquid inside. “I supposing I could. What were you thinking?”
“Did you see the tattoo she had? My mom, I mean.” I held out my right wrist and traced out a spiral with a slash through it. “The circle thing.”
“Of course,” she said.
“Do you think you could do that?” I was surprised how quickly I got over the panic brought on by the strange lines under my skin. “If you feel up to it, I mean.”
Seanna stirred but remained silent.
“I am thinking we have enough time,” she said. She seemed to perk up as she scooted closer. Her voice was stronger. Her eyes brightened and her skin seemed firmer than a second ago. A slight smile tugged at her thin lips.
I glanced at the door. No light peeked in from outside. I had no idea what time it was, but I wasn’t tired at all. I guess there’s something about getting poked thousands of times and a mild panic attack to wake me up.
She grabbed my hand and rested it palm up on her knee. She retrieved the needle from the bowl and swirled the tip in the liquid. She poked it in the center of my wrist. I flinched as it went deeper. Blood welled up, mixing with the ink as she returned the needle to the bowl. Instead of gathering more ink on it, she dropped it there and turned back to my wrist.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
She pushed a finger to the spot and hissed. She slid her finger along my wrist in the same motion I had done to demonstrate Mom’s tattoo. Ink and blood trailed behind, sinking into my skin. At first, the ink was ragged and sloppy, but it spread until the lines were crisp and even.
“What did you do?” I asked as he let go of my hand. I held it up to examine the black tattoo.
“Just as you asking, yeah?” she replied.
“Yeah,” I replied, “though I wasn’t expecting it to be done quite like that.”
She shrugged and pushed herself off the floor, her joints clicking. She retrieved the bowl of ink and shuffled to the hearth where she tossed the remaining liquid in. The fire flared in a bright flash before settling back to a calm flicker. She tucked the needle away somewhere in the clothing and stuck the bowl in a bag she picked up by the fire.
“Time is almost up,” she said as she stretched out her back.
“What do you mean?” Seanna asked.
“Your time here,” the Elder said, gathering a cloak over her shoulders. She glanced at me. “I suggesting you get dressed.”
I glanced at my near nakedness and blushed as I scrambled to grab my pants. “Are we leaving now?” I asked, pulling on my jeans.
She shrugged. “Is being up to you but I would suggest it.”
“What’s going on?” Seanna said.
“There are people coming for you.”
“What?” I exclaimed.
“Who?” Seanna asked.
“Does it matter? Leave now and you’ll stay ahead of them,” Elder Narit said.
“Of course, it matters,” Seanna insisted.
“You mean me being here brought something down on you again?” I asked.
“Do not worrying,” the Elder said. “This is no longer our home. Just a place of ghosts.”
“Where are you going?” Seanna asked.
The Elder had shuffled to the wall where the large bear-like skin hung. “Away. Back home.” She paused and turned to glance my direction. “Those demons are still in you, Gatekeeper. Do not ignore them or they will consume you.”
I paused getting dressed. “You never told me what demons you’re even talking about.”
“You will finding them,” she said with a nod. Her form faded as she stepped beyond the light from the fireplace.
“Elder Narit,” I called out, moving to follow her. I found nothing but the animal skin. I pushed it aside, but the wall behind it was solid. “Where did she go?”
“I don’t know,” Seanna said, “but I think we should take her advice.”
“Something is coming?”
“I believe so, though I don’t know what.”
“Great. I hate this place,” I said, hurrying to pull on my coat and retrieve my pack. “I hope you know how to get away from here.”
“We will make do.”
We rushed out the door into an amazingly cold early morning. She sun was on the way up but had not risen enough to light the top of the mountain. It provided just enough to make the world look like I was looking at it through a pair of thick, grey tinted sunglasses.
“Which way?” I asked.
Seanna glanced around before pointing. “This way.”
I had no idea how she made that choice but had no other choice but trust in her experience on Alisundi. We took off at a jog. I glanced at the space in between buildings, thinking I’d see Elder Narit standing there like she had gone through a secret opening in her hut. She wasn’t.
For the second time in as many visits, I found myself fleeing the Jo-Shar village with an unknown pursuer after me. I hated this world.
14
They’re Coming
Do you know where you’re going?” I called up to Seanna.
We made our way into a ravine. Seanna picked her way through the snow-covered path with ease, but of course I slipped and slid most of the way down. So far, I couldn’t tell a difference Elder Narit’s tatt
oos might have made.
“Basically,” she said.
That didn’t make me feel any better. “What’s after us?” After a moment, I added, “Is anything after us?”
“Yes,” she said as she paused between two dead evergreen trees, “but I don’t know what.”
“The eioshu?” I asked. “The Balataur?”
“There really is more to this world than you’ve been exposed to.”
“And none of it has been good,” I said.
“I can feel them out there,” she said, ignoring my comment. “They are distant, but closing in. I can’t tell what they are, though. They are...humanoid, though.”
“The Balataur,” I said knowingly.
“I don’t think so. Their minds are too fast.”
“Their minds?”
She held up a hand to show a small piece of wood polished to look a lot like a stone. “I can use magic to sense minds. Not really read them, but I can see inside them—get a feel for them. It’s how I was able to use your thoughts and feelings against you.”
“Good to know,” I growled.
“I don’t anymore,” she promised. “I’ve learned my lesson.”
“Right,” I said. “So, they’re out there, but you don’t know what they are beyond their fast minds?”
“The Balataurs’ minds move slowly on one track. Whatever is out there have minds that bounce around faster than I can keep track.” She glanced at me in the growing morning light. “They’re not friendly, though. That I can tell.”
“Okay, so what are they?”
“I don’t know. I...don’t even have a guess.” She smiled sardonically. “I guess there’s more to this world than I’ve been exposed to, as well.”
“Let’s not wait around to find out, then,” I suggested.
She nodded and turned to continue between the trees but pulled up short with a scream.
Someone stood in front of her. Or, something. It was short, wiry, and wore a masked painted to resemble what looked like eioshu—white with rows of teeth jutting out from either side of the mouth hole. Large, round eyes narrowed behind the eye slits as it lashed out at Seanna with a blade as long as my forearm.
She screamed and just managed to twist out of the way of the attack. Her momentum carried her into a dead tree. She fell to the ground with a grunt.
I instinctively raised a hand to telekinetically push the little creature away. Of course, nothing happened.
It took the gesture as a threat. It jumped between the trees and slashed at me with its weapon. The blade whistled past as I stepped back. I reached over a shoulder to retrieve one of the escrima sticks sticking out of the top of my pack. I swung it in a wide arc, narrowly deflecting another slash of the blade.
The thing stepped back, apparently leery of an armed opponent. It showed no signs of being cold in its thin pants and sleeveless jerkin. Slight muscles corded its small frame.
“Gaige, don’t engage him,” Seanna said.
It was a little too late for that. I was already fully engaged. I grabbed the other escrima and twirled them around in a way I hoped conveyed that I knew how to use them. I did...sorta. It’s not like a little less than a year of training made me a master, but I knew how to put them to good use.
Beneath the mask, the little dude’s eyes flicked toward Seanna, keeping an eye on her. She scrambled to her feet and produced the little knife she had threatened the Jo-Shar Niklas with a year ago. She made no move to advance on the creature, though.
“Roosrath,” Seanna muttered.
“What?” I tried to maneuver to put the thing between Seanna and me to put us at an advantage, but it shifted with me to prevent that.
“That’s what he is,” she said. “Viscous, highly territorial, and they never travel alone.”
The Roosrath faked a strike to catch me off balance. I didn’t bite.
“That means there’s more nearby,” she went on. “Most likely he’s trying to keep us here while his companions catch up.”
“Then we need to get moving.”
I tried a fake of my own, swinging half way my right escrima.
“Gaige, wait—” Seanna started.
When the Roosrath stepped to avoid the strike, I scored a hit on his shoulder with the left. It spun to the snow.
“You hit it,” Seanna said in disbelief.
“I did,” I said. “Is that a bad thing?”
The thing tried to crawl away, holding his arm.
“No, they’re just...fast.” She stepped next to me and pulled me by the sleeve, leading me further down into the ravine. “I wouldn’t have expected you to be able to hit it.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” I glanced back at the Roosrath pushing itself up, his arm dangling at his side.
“No, really. They’re notorious for being furious fighters that frustrate even the most veteran combatants.” She looked around, trying to keep an eye on everywhere at once. “They’re not from this area. They must be trying to move into the Jo-Shar territory now that they’re gone.”
“Okay, well they can have it.” It angered me that another group was horning in the Jo-Shar’s old home and it was my fault they left it to begin with, but I had to realize it wasn’t their home anymore. They were apparently content wherever they were. “It’s not like we want it.”
“They don’t see it that way. If we’re here, that means we want what they want and they’ll do what they can to make sure we don’t get it.”
“Awesome. So, let me guess...’Hurry’.”
She didn’t reply. She led me further down into the ravine. We picked our way around boulders, increasingly more frequent trees, and snow drifts. All the while, Seanna kept her head on a swivel. I figured the Roosrath would have to eventually give up the chase—we had to be out of the territory they wanted by now, but she didn’t slow or give any other indication that we were in the clear. In fact, it was quite the opposite.
“They’re gaining,” Seanna said a few minutes later.
“Can we hide from them?” I asked. “At least until they give up and go away.”
“I don’t think so. From what little know of them, they’re expert trackers.” She waved a hand at the deep indentation my boots were making in the snow. She, of course, left no sign of her passing.
“So, what do we do?”
She didn’t reply for a moment. “We find a place to make a stand.”
“We do what?”
“I don’t think we’re going to get away from them. They’re locked in on us now. They’ll make sure we don’t come back to try to claim this land from them.”
I looked around at our situation. The sun was starting to light the tops of the ravine above us. It illuminated our situation. Every war movie I’d seen talked about having the high ground in a battle. There we were stuck in the bottom, surrounded by cliffs the Roosrath could attack from.
“Where?” I asked.
Seanna scanned the area and pointed. About fifty yards down the ravine, a relatively flat outcropping jetted out from the bottom the cliff. It was about ten feet off the ground and mostly flat.
“That is as good as any,” she said.
We ran for the selected area. I found myself slowing down so I didn’t overtake her. When we reached it, I stuck my escrima sticks in my pack and I positioned myself to help boast Seanna up onto the outcropping. She stuck a foot in my laced fingers and I lifted, barely feeling her weight. I turned and backed away to get a running start. I took two leaping bounds and jumped to grab the lip. I pulled myself up and stood beside her.
Retrieving the sticks from the pack, I gripped them until my knuckles turned white. I hated this world. I went there looking for Aoife and found myself running from another unknown enemy. Again.
I scanned the area but saw no movement other than the white wisps curling from my mouth when I breathed. “Where are they?”
“They’re out there,” Seanna replied. “Coming in fast.”
“What do we do?”
“We wait.”
“I hate waiting.”
“It’s the only thing we can do.”
“I know,” I said. “How do we do this? I mean, like what strategy should we have?”
“Try not to die.”
“That’s helpful,” I muttered. “So, how good of fighters are they? My experience is limited to a few weeks of flailing around with my telekinesis and a year of martial arts. I’m not exactly Aragorn here.”
“Who?”
“Never mind.”
“Don’t worry,” she said and held up a different piece of wood. “I have a last resort.”
“What does that do?”
“You don’t want to know.”
“Funny thing is, I kinda do,” I said. “I’d like to know what you’re going to do before you do it for a change.”
“Shh,” she hushed. She tilted her head to the side, her eyes unfocused. “They’re coming.”
15
THe Roosrath
I expected an immediate rush of attackers. It didn’t happen. What did happen was Seanna and I stood on the rock, tense and ready to defend ourselves. It probably looked hilarious, but it wasn’t so funny to me. My heart pounded and my palms sweated.
“Where are they?” I breathed.
“Out there.”
I waited in silence for as long as I could manage—about twenty seconds—but heard nothing but my breathing. “Out there where?”
Seanna held up a hand and did whatever she did to sense things. “Everywhere. We’re surrounded.”
“Great,” I said, tightening the grip on my sticks. “How do I let myself get talked into these messes?”
“I didn’t talk you into anything.”
“Your Tree Mother did,” I said.
“She was just trying to help. We are trying to help.”
“Help get me killed?”
She turned a glare on me. “I’m right here with you, aren’t I? If you get killed so do I.”
“Unless you use your special, magic wood to obliterate everything around you or whatever.”
“That’s not what it does.”
“How would I know?” I asked. “It’s not like you tell me anything.”
“I’d love to tell you things, but you don’t want to know anything, remember?”
The Gatekeeper Trilogy Page 66
