“I know we need to help them, I’m not saying that. I just hate we have to this, it’s not us. We’re not battle lords. I know those out there attacking our friends are doing wrong, but they’re still human. Well, some of them are.”
“They would not hesitate to destroy us.”
“I suppose. So, I’ll do my best to keep up.”
Crystalyn let the matter drop. Jade had her own convictions, something she admired about her, but Crystalyn would do what she had to, to keep her sister safe and save a few of their friends.
“How close are you, Do’brieni?” Crystalyn asked. Broth’s reply came as an image of a grove of evergreen trees below the quarry a short meadow away. Atoi ran some distance ahead. Close enough, she thought.
Crawling to the slab’s edge, Crystalyn formed the symbol she’d once sworn she wouldn’t use again. The symbol was black on one side, white on the other, and octagonal in shape; the pattern inside was thin, and stick-like lines formed a myriad of pinwheels tipped with round spikes at the points. Though she dreaded using it, it had proved effective against large forces.
Releasing it, Crystalyn formed her second symbol, a black and brown eruption symbol she’d only recently mastered. The first was halfway toward the large group of Users on the right side as she launched a second and a third, releasing them toward the middle group of Dark Users, and then prepared a fourth one to target the left.
The black symbol slowed to a stop above the enemy where she’d envisioned. There, it rotated, spinning with greater and greater speed until it spun itself apart and threw out countless black teardrops. Judging by the chaos rippling in a widening circle below, the acid droplets fell, taking a horrible price on anything the drops came into contact with.
Her second and third symbols expanded as they struck the ground brown side up. Blazing with a rich black radiance briefly, they erupted with a series of explosions the size of a small meadow as they faded. Bodies, and parts of them, heaved high into the air.
The other side retaliated swiftly. Three differing clouds of dark cones, red splinters, and something dark resembling a storm cloud launched from several directions bearing down on their position with uncanny precision.
Dissolving her last symbol, Crystalyn pushed away from the quarry rim with her free hand. “Time to go, Jade, they’re not going to let me send another one!”
The drone of the incoming retaliation filled the air, getting louder the closer they came. Though it slowed her down a little from the necessity of keeping it grounded, Crystalyn draped her absorption symbol over the two of them. Then she scrambled uphill past the ponderosa, pulling Jade along with her.
Several cones slammed into the evergreen. With a loud pop and great cracking, the ponderosa toppled slowly toward them, gaining speed. Crystalyn angled away from it as fast as she could, but a quick glance behind and up showed they would not run clear of the falling behemoth. The top of the tree was too branchy.
Stopping and turning, Crystalyn dissolved the absorption symbol and released the one that came to mind, her black netting symbol. Unfolding to triple its size, black pole-length spikes, as sharp as a double-edged sword, sprang from every knot on its octagon shape and snowflake interior.
The symbol sliced through the tree branches, clearing away many of them as the dark cloud launched from the Dark Users dropped into it, visible now with what it contained. Black bits of broken sword tips and chunks of other black metal common to Virun mixed with the bright steel of the White Lands tore through her netting, clanging and dinging against wood.
The larger chunks of steel shattered branches, drenching them with wood chips, and a wave of red spikes thudded into the tree adding to the chaos. The tree fell faster, falling with the weight of long life and great height.
Jade screamed something, tugging on her hand, but there was no time. The canopy of wood and foliage met the ground with a deafening crash. A huge, main branch landed with its thick fork on either side of them, the force of the impact whipping their hair back.
The once mighty tree shuddered with a final creak and then lay still. Crystalyn gazed wide-eyed at a red spike protruding an inch from her eye, buried in the crook of the branch. Fragments of metals lined a good portion of it.
Oddly, the face of the First Light of the Circle of Light, Durandas, popped into her mind at that moment. Crystalyn swept the image and the fear of the narrow escape to the back of her broken mind. Now was not the time to slip again, to spiral into the madness lurking within waiting to claim her. For the first time in months, she once again wished she hadn’t run out of meds.
Jade tugged on her hand. “We have to keep moving, we have to keep moving,” she babbled.
Turning away, Crystalyn raced uphill hand in hand with Jade. They ran toward a concealing patch of trees, glancing often behind and at the sky above.
ALLIES AND FRIENDS
The great topaz gateway of the Dark Citadel deposited Lore Rayna and the rest of the survivors in the Old Town Coliseum in Gray Dust where the mirrored obelisks resided. In all probability, using the gateway for the escape was the boldest part of the planned conversion of the Dark Oracle led by Durandas. The topaz gateway on the Gray Dust side also had sentries, though less than a third of those guarding the Dark Citadel.
A pair of the black-armored sentries stood on each side of the topaz obelisks. Four others were spread along the east and west walls. Three unarmed soldiers, two women and a man staffed a like number of podiums placed away from the topaz gate. The podiums’ purpose made for allowing or denying use from travelers who stood single file along a lengthy great room with a high-vaulted ceiling.
The four guards at the gate had drawn scimitars, presumably when the Lore Mother had come through. They moved toward the two of them even though Captain Wron—one of Sureen’s great commanders—and his surviving fighters disguised with the black kell livery of the Citadel’s warrior apparel had come through first. They stood in a group not far away.
There was little point in claiming she had an affiliation with them, or anyone of the Dark Citadel, not as a true Valen. Lore Rayna’s height, both hers and the Lore Mother’s, marked them as for the race they were, wherever they went. And, not a single one of their kind, had ever allied with those of Virun ancestry.
The podium keepers had already halted the people lined in three rows from using the gateway. The east and west guards strode toward her, their long strides purposeful.
Halting near the fighters, a woman with deep golden hair cropped above her black plate-armored shoulders regarded her with hard blue eyes. Then she turned to the group of fighters. “Traveling from the Citadel is restricted during earlier bells to avoid unpleasant merges. Worse, you have violated this protocol two-fold by allowing two members of a large mass race through at such times. Your marker must reflect the great lord’s command of this, give it to me.”
Though no one drew sword, many a hand hovered near the waist or rose to a shoulder where a large sword haft peeked over a shoulder within the band of fighters.
“I shall handle this,” Durandas said, tramping away from the topaz gate.
Behind him, Sureen appeared. Whirling around, she faced the great gateway for a brief time and then moved to follow Durandas.
The male soldier beside the golden-haired woman cursed. “Blast it! You two,” he said, jabbing his scimitar at the other male guards who had accompanied him from the opposite side of the gateway, “go back to your post!”
Giving a brief nod, they strode away, marching past Durandas and then Sureen.
Durandas worked a medallion from his neck, pulling it over his head. Gripping it by the rugged chain, fine silver flashed with its slow rotation. “This should clear the air,” he said, raising his arm higher and putting the medallion level with the woman’s eyesight. Centered within silver, an onyx heron rotated into view.
The woman snatched the medallion by the chain, ripping it from his hand. “I’ve only seen a single other
pendant such as this. That one graced the neck of a great lord. Where did you get it?” she asked, her voice filled with awe or impending violence; Lore Rayna could not determine which.
“The details of my coming into possession of the black heron are of no concern to you. Suffice it to say, this proves beyond doubt the importance of our mission,” Durandas said quickly. He reached for the medallion.
The woman drew back. “So you say, User,” she sneered. “Yet, you travel with those who believe themselves chosen of the land.”
“Have no concern over the Valens!” Sureen said, moving beside Durandas, the tone of her voice imperious. “The naturists have some use for this mission, for the moment.”
The woman regarded Sureen, the light tone of her complexion darkening. “Though you wear the garb of Virun, I do not recognize the house of your insignia,” she said, slipping easily into a fighting stance.
Raising his curved bladed weapon, the male guard moved away from the woman a few paces, giving them both room to swing.
The clinks of plate armor sounding softly nearby informed Lore Rayna that Sureen’s warriors had drawn weapons. So had the guards who rushed toward them from both sides of the room. Gently pushing the Lore Mother behind her, Lore Rayna performed her mental preparation for the sacred transformation. Though she could not slip her branches through stone, she could send them snaking along the floor.
Ignoring those nearby, Sureen took a step toward the woman, banging her staff on the granite beneath her feet. “Nor will you, House of Black Corral.”
Sureen’s words had a profound effect, and the woman straightened, dropping her fighting stance. “You recognize me?”
Sureen allowed a tiny smile to thin her lips. “I know your sigil. Though your house has garnered some respect, the great one has sent his most elite on this mission, a house he deems effective only if left in the shadows.”
The woman lowered her scimitar, letting the sharp tip hang an arm’s length above the floor, gripped in her steady hand. “But how shall I truly know then?”
“Present the medallion to the great lord,” Sureen said.
“No!’ Durandas cried. “The great one entrusted me with it, it is not yours to give!”
“Though the great lord may kill you for simply possessing it, there is a small possibility you shall be deemed worthy for elite service,” Sureen continued as if she had not heard the outburst. “Make your choice quickly, woman, the time for our delay has passed.”
The woman cast a wide-eyed glance at the medallion in her hand as if seeing it in a new way. “Mira, I am Mira, and I shall go straightaway to the lord of our Citadel.”
“Very well,” Sureen said. Turning, she strode away from the great topaz gate. “Bring the Valen women, Captain.”
“What!” Durandas exclaimed.
“Wait! Who do I tell our great lord who gave this to me?”
“The great one shall know,” Durandas said. “Though it is doubtful he shall be pleased.” Slipping his black hood over his head, he strode away.
Six warriors moved into position, surrounding Lore Rayna and the Lore Mother.
“Move out,” Captain Wron ordered.
The woman, Mira, stared after them, even as they marched through the high-arched doorway exiting the Old Town Coliseum. Once outside, Lore Rayna strode beside the Lore Mother as they easily caught up to Durandas and Sureen who had sprinted ahead.
Without the need to speak of it, everyone picked up the pace, the warriors clinking softly in a jog. All ran without protest. Dashing under the stern eyes of the old statues carved by humans who had passed into dust long ago, the entire group caught up Durandas’ and Sureen’s slowing to match their now fast walk pace.
Durandas was speaking as they strode down the small incline of the ancient roadway leading to Gray Dust. “What have you done, Sureen? That medallion was far more valuable than you are aware!”
Even while wearing the hot black robes of a Dark User in the midday heat of Gray Dust, Durandas moved easily for a human of many seasons. The Light User continued to surprise Lore Rayna with his prowess.
“I am aware of the black heron’s worth. Shall I remind you of a lifetime spent interrogating those of Virun? I know my enemies well. One might ask you how is it you were able to obtain such a rare artifact without my knowledge or the awareness of anyone else on the Circle of Light?”
“One is quite curious to know how you acquired a black heron without the rest of our order knowing,” the Lore Mother inquired in a soft, but commanding tone of voice.
“I suppose it did save us from fighting our way out of Old Town Coliseum,” Durandas admitted, ignoring the insistent tone the Lore Mother.
Lore Rayna clamped her mouth closed, though she wished to berate Durandas. Not even the First Light on the Circle of Light should speak to the Lore Mother in such a way. Yet the Lore Mother must have reason for not responding to such an affront.
“Precisely,” Sureen continued. “I do not know about you, but I need a bit of a rest before engaging with the Flow again so soon after the Oracle. That took much from me.”
“Aye, from me as well, your quick thinking likely saved lives, perhaps my own,” Durandas said, though grudgingly.
As they turned onto Dust Stir, the main thoroughfare going in and out of Gray Dust, Lore Rayna stopped listening. A busy street demanded some attention for pocket lifters, bag thieves, and flesh catchers who preferred crowds for the added marks it gave them. The experienced lifter and bag thief rabble would avoid a large observant group, yet there were still a few bold or foolish enough to try, though she herself was safe from any such attempts. Her living dress would deter all; it only revealed pockets to her.
Mostly, Lore Rayna maintained vigilance for the flesh catchers paid by the slavers for new product. Her kind was rare in the southern cities, the heat too unbearable for most to remain long without an ability such as hers. A Valen female, even a male to a lesser extent would fetch a high price at the flesh market. She and the Lore Mother’s luminous eyes would set them above that price.
A moderate march through several back alleyways put them in the wine cellar of a private dwelling in the heart of the silver quarter at the close of midday. A pair of gray obelisks hidden behind a hinged set of wine casks in the cellar took them to the outskirts of Grit Eye City.
From there, the remainder of the small conversion assault group on the Dark Oracle raced through the back streets and dark alleys of the city’s seedier side until reaching the Lovely Stupor Pub’s back entrance. A surly human woman wearing scanty silks opened the door for them and then demanded a few words in private with Durandas. Sureen uncovered and activated an emerald gate disguised as a wardrobe.
The emerald gateway deposited Lore Rayna in the Vibrant Vale’s southern command room. Nothing had changed much from when they had left, just the passing of a few bells. The live, interwoven leaf rugs still crawled on parts of the Great Tree’s floor, and the living oak coaxed from the tree to form the grand desk that stood off to one side had the unrolled maps of the Vale—weighted on the four corners with small river rocks—right where they had left them.
Captain Wron spoke with the Valen commanders who had gathered at the viewing window overlooking the battlefront of Silver Meadow, though it was only a small area from this height. The rest of the men had raised the trapdoor and were climbing down one at a time.
Across the room, the Lore Mother gave the grave news to two Valen warriors their only son would not return. Lore Rayna would not want such a duty and respected her mentor for performing the sad task.
The cost of the undertaking was high, but the result was better than they all had hoped for, due in a large part from Sureen’s powerful assistance. Without her using her magic, it was unlikely anyone would have returned. Durandas too, his wide area attacks had kept the enemy in chaos, a huge factor in helping with the escape. Together, with the Lore Mother’s unmatched Flow interrupts, they had made a f
ormidable trio.
Lore Rayna looked to the area kept clear by the north wall for the purpose of the gateway, waiting. Sureen materialized walking backward, followed by Durandas a mere step apart. He also came through in reverse, keeping a watch right up until touching the spiral curtain on the other side. Though the emerald gateway stood hidden inside the living quarters of the pub’s owners, it had resided inside a lawless area of Dark User supporters.
Lore Rayna relaxed a little with the arrival of the final two, t, though she need not have worried. Durandas and Sureen were adept enough to come through one at a time, but there was always a danger of entering too close to the one in front and reforming as one deformed mass each time a gate was used. Valens’s going through alone with a human twostep interval between was a bound rule, gate usage training required at an early age. With her kind’s added mass, it meant a higher risk.
“Report, daughter,” the Lore Mother said abruptly.
Lore Rayna jumped, vibrating the boughs of the Great Tree. The room shuddered. Now standing beside her, Lore Rayna’s mentor’s wizened face held no mirth for startling her student. “Though neither Durandas nor Sureen has confirmed it, I am certain it worked, Mother. The Oracle was converted.”
The Lore Mother nodded, pleased. “Stuck with providing the Flow to Durandas, I had no opportunity to look into the water. Did it clear?”
Lore Rayna nodded. “Yes, the Dark Oracle cleared, becoming as pristine as the pools below Plunging Falls.”
The Lore Mother gazed off into the distance, though the wall kept barren for gated arrivals stood in the way. “With surprise as our ally, I had expected less resistance. Yet they gathered a formidable force quickly. Someone powerful with the Flow struck Sureen’s barrier once we gained the topaz gateway, and overall, an expert military mind led the soldiers. Our escape was nearly thwarted.”
Beyond the Dark Gate Page 4
