Merrick looked up when he heard the muffled footsteps on the soft ground around him. He was surrounded by a dozen of the Queen’s Fianna, some of them looking on in sorrow, some in fear, but all of them with hatred in their eyes for Merrick.
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Heinin was sprawled out on the living room floor, pieces of his family’s home strewn all about him. His breathing was growing shallower by the minute and he could feel his own heart starting to run down. He strained to raise his head, looking at his body sprawled out before him. He was bleeding from hundreds of tiny cuts made from the exploding windows.
He closed his eyes and pictured his parents coming home to find their son dead and their home destroyed. He could hear his mother weeping, beating her fists against his father’s chest, mumbling incoherently about the bad omens and how she should have known. Heinin felt a wave of guilt wash over him—his family would be left with nothing. No home—no herd—and no son.
As he closed his eyes, Heinin imagined his father trying to stand strong next to his mother while shedding, for the first time in his life, a single tear.
CHAPTER 31
MONA AWOKE to the thunder of footsteps and screams outside the chamber in the ancient pyramid where Inmorak had sent her to rest. She shook her head, trying to clear her mind from the long overdue sleep. She had not been wearing her watch when Eudroch had unexpectedly taken her away from her home, however many days ago that had been. She had fallen into a sort of rhythm, talking with Eudroch during parts of the day and then rejoining him in the evening for dinner. Without her watch, and because there were no windows in her room, she had no way of knowing the time of day, but she guessed that it might be early in the pre-dawn morning.
Stumbling to her feet, she walked over to the door to her room and opened it part way. A continuous stream of people, mostly men dressed in colorful cloth and feathers, carrying spears and other weapons, blurred past in the hallway. As she was debating whether to enter the fray and look for Eudroch, he hurriedly turned the corner and approached Mona, a sense of focused urgency on his face.
He was dressed as the other warriors she had seen. He wore a tan colored loincloth and feathers tied with leather tongs around his arms and legs. Most of Eudroch’s exposed skin was a deep tan, including his face, and was covered with decorative black tattoos that looked like the concentric patterns of a giant fingerprint. A giant mace with a round head hung heavily by his side, its metal pulsing with muted light. It seemed as alive as the sacrificial dagger that had reminded her of living lava.
Eudroch pushed his way into Mona’s room and closed the door behind him. His forehead was beaded with sweat.
“I have found my brother,” Eudroch said, a wide smile on his face. “As I thought, he is being held prisoner by the Earth Clan, Ohman’s family. As we speak, my Fire Warriors are assembling. The time for his rescue is now.”
Mona searched Eudroch’s eyes, looking for any hint of deception. She found none and allowed herself a moment of hope at the thought of seeing Merrick again. Regardless of what Eudroch promised, her instinct was still to distrust him. Eudroch had shown kindness to the child at the altar, and he had been mostly honest with her, but still, he had basically kidnapped her, and even though she wasn’t exactly his prisoner, her options were certainly limited here in the middle of the jungle. She didn’t trust Eudroch’s motives, but she was willing to go along with what he said if Merrick was in danger; she believed Eudroch was telling the truth about that much at least.
Mona forced herself to match Eudroch’s smile with one of her own.
“Thank you for going after Merrick and bringing him back here where he’ll be safe and I can finally talk to him. I can’t wait to see him again.”
Eudroch’s face darkened as his smile was replaced with a frown.
“My dear Mona. I appreciate the vote of confidence, but you are coming with us. You’re not here just because I like you, or so that you can have some romantic reunion with my brother. I need you to talk some sense into Merrick—to convince him that I want to help him. He will trust you and whatever you tell him to do. He must be made to understand the danger he is in from the Earth Clan. I have no idea what kind of lies they’ve been telling him—brainwashing him with their unkind words about Sigela! No, you must come with us. I need you. Merrick needs you.”
Mona fought her instinct that told her going with Eudroch was some sort of a trap at worst and a way for Eudroch to take advantage of her at best. If it meant the possibility that she could help Merrick, she would just have to take those chances. Whether Eudroch needed her or not, she didn’t care—all that mattered was that Merrick might.
Mona nodded her head.
“Of course. Whatever I can do to help Merrick,” she said.
A smile returned to his face as Eudroch took Mona by the hand and led her out of the room and down the hall, to the altar room where Mona had seen Eudroch save the boy’s life earlier.
Once she was in the altar room, Mona could tell from the insect sounds and the coolness of the outside air that drifted into the center of the pyramid that it was still nighttime. She walked through the small tunnel to stand at the edge of the outer steps of the pyramid and looked out over the bustling tribe. The moon that hung high above the tribal community was blood red, what her grandfather called a hunter’s moon. The title was appropriate, since they were indeed hunting for someone that night—Merrick. Mona looked at the dozens of warriors all dressed in their battle plumage, running up the stone staircase, and she thought that the moon would not be the only thing turned blood red by the end of the night.
She and Eudroch made their way back to the altar room along with the rest of the Fire Warriors. As the small army of men began to quiet, Eudroch positioned himself in the middle of the room—all eyes watching his every action. Mona could now see that although the fronts of the warriors were tattooed or painted with differing black concentric curves, their backs all bore the same shape—that of what looked to Mona like a stylized dragon, its wings spread to the men’s shoulders—its talons sunk beneath their tucked-in loin cloths.
Eudroch raised his arms high in the air and tilted his head back so that he was looking straight up at the inside of the pyramid’s apex. Eudroch spoke in a language that Mona assumed was some sort of Mayan or Aztec derivative as the warriors formed in concentric circles around Eudroch. One of the Fire Warriors took Mona by her elbow and led her through the assemblage to stand directly next to Eudroch, who didn’t even seem to notice her presence.
As Mona looked up, through the chimney-like structure that rose from the center of the altar room, the red moon cast a foreboding crimson hue on the group of warriors. Eudroch began chanting in the same language she had heard him utter before—a language that Mona inherently knew no human could ever speak. She guessed that Eudroch’s words were from the Fire Dragon tongue that he had told her about. Each time his mouth opened, his voice crackled and hissed like the cacophony from a forest fire very much like the sounds she had heard from Merrick’s own mouth in the alley back in Old Town. The warriors around Eudroch joined in, somehow matching Eudroch’s uncanny strings of sound, note for note, creating a rising din of musical noise that sounded like nature itself about to explode. Above, the sky turned black with clouds, the red moonlight now only visible as a faint halo.
Eudroch absently placed his arm around her, and leaned over to whisper in her ear that she should follow the same advice he had given her earlier when they had traveled from her home. She tried to pull away, but before she could voice her opposition, she felt the now familiar tingle all through her body as its intensity built to the breaking point. Deafening booms of thunder filled the inside of the pyramid as the black night sky exploded with hundreds of threads of lightning.
Suddenly, she was one again with the living lightning. This time, she knew more of what to expect and more easily was able to hold on to her essence by thinking about memories of Merrick as she watched the earth rushing past her far below.<
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Mona turned her attention back to Eudroch’s essence and felt it holding onto her, creating a connection that went both ways. Whether Eudroch meant to or not, he had created an open passageway between the two of them. She could feel Eudroch’s anger, his fierce boiling nature, but could also make out his sense of purpose and his passion—she sensed that he truly believed in the importance of his mission to rescue his brother, Merrick. With that reassuring thought filling her, Mona recalled the details about Merrick that she missed the most. She remembered his intelligence and his kindness—his humor and his independence. Mona’s memories of Merrick filled her with a warmth that was different from what she felt from the heat of the lightning, but in some ways it was even more pervasive. Then she suddenly grew colder as she thought about how Merrick lacked the passion that Eudroch had in such abundance. She felt guilty, but she could not deny that she was excited about meeting the new passion-filled Merrick that she hoped would emerge after his reunion with his brother, Eudroch.
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Swella watched from the base of the pyramid as the storm gathered overhead. She knew what was happening. The vile Eudroch had found who he had been looking for all his life—his brother. Now, he was taking the warriors, the best of the male stock from the tribe—taking them to the Earth Clan to die trying to bring back his twin. Swella shuddered at the thought of the existence of two Eudrochs. Their combined capacity for evil would be great indeed if his brother shared the same degree of power as Eudroch.
As the storm of lightning bolts leapt to the sky from the top of the pyramid, Swella watched with the rest of the tribe in awe. Their loved ones traveled with that lightning to do battle for a madman. As those around her talked excitedly about the second coming of Sigela and how their tribe would soon rule the new world, Swella fought hard not to let her newly found cynicism show. As she slowly climbed the steep steps of the pyramid, she thought of how just a few days ago she would have been among them, loudly proclaiming the new might of the tribe—shaking her fist at the sky, ready to go to war with the Earth Clan. Now that Eudroch, the murderer, had taken her only child, Swella could think of nothing other than revenge and of stopping Eudroch from realizing his plans of bringing Sigela back to this world.
She had worshipped Sigela since she was a little girl, and she always would, but now she understood why the other dragons had banished the fiery one to the heavens. Too much heat—to much zeal and passion led to death more often than it led to happiness. As she continued up the stone steps, the ground began to shake beneath her, the great pyramid itself vibrating, threatening to crumble beneath her weary feet.
Swella fell to her hands and knees and held on as best she could to the undulating stone. Soon, the ground stopped moving. From halfway up the pyramid, Swella could see the mass of people below her cautiously rising to their feet. Swella took the movement of the ground as a positive omen from Terrada. The great Earth Dragon had given Swella a sign to bolster her determination and her strength of will. She was just a simple woman, who used to be only a mother and who now had become Terrada’s instrument of fate.
As she restarted her ascent, nearing the opening that led to the altar room, Swella resigned herself—what was once her home was now enemy territory. She was Terrada’s agent, and while Eudroch and the warriors were away, she had to plan what she would do to stop Eudroch and to avenge her son, Dabu.
CHAPTER 32
MERRICK SLOWLY REGAINED consciousness but kept his eyes closed. His actions replayed themselves in his mind like a mad movie running at a high, choppy speed. He had killed Fenton, the one adult in the Earth Clan who had befriended him and tried to teach him about his craft—about his magic. There was no excuse for what Merrick had done—no reason for his actions other than the fact that he lacked the control necessary to wield his own magic without hurting those around him.
He remembered back to his first lesson with Fenton and Balach—how Fenton had warned him about using his power so blindly, especially when he was in a heightened emotional state. Fenton knew that Merrick didn’t know enough of his own craft to safely use divinium to enhance his powers. Then, why had Fenton given him back his divinium pendant? The answer was obvious. Fenton had sacrificed himself for Merrick. The knowledge that Fenton had given his life so that Merrick would survive didn’t make anything better and didn’t assuage the heavy feeling of Merrick’s guilt.
Merrick thought about Balach, Fenton’s son, and Adriana, his wife. Merrick had just condemned Balach to grow up without a father, a fate that Merrick understood too well, and for Adriana to be without her husband forever. Merrick had been welcomed into their family as one of their own—had been completely trusted—and had brought nothing to them but sorrow.
Merrick forced himself to open his eyes and look at his surroundings. He was lying on a cold floor made of a smooth substance that he did not recognize, even though it reminded him of the stone the rest of the mountain was made of. The floor itself was a large circle, about six meters in diameter with curved bars spaced no more than a hands width apart connecting the floor to the ceiling of the cage. As he wearily got to his feet, the cage swayed slightly, the floor slanting to one side.
As he stepped up to the bars, the floor tilted forward. The cage remained level only if he was located directly in the center of the circle. Looking through the bars, Merrick saw why.
The cage hung inside what looked to be another cavern, much smaller than the one in which the city was located, but also very deep. He peered downward, but could only see darkness below. Above, he could make out the uneven rock ceiling. It looked to be made of the same material of which his cage was constructed.
As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could see that there was a narrow walkway lining the outer wall of the cave, directly across from where he hung in his cell. He saw no visible way for anyone to get across the chasm that separated him from the walkway. He figured that whoever had placed him here must have done so by flying or through some other magical means.
That was fine with him. If he sat in his prison and rotted, at least he wouldn’t hurt anyone.
A bright rectangle of white light appeared from the walkway, throwing a shaft of light into the cage that stabbed Merrick’s eyes with pain. He raised his hand to cover his eyes, but the light was gone in a second. The shuffle of footsteps echoed all around him.
“Merrick,” a voice whispered. “Merrick, are you all right, over there?”
He didn’t recognize the voice, but could tell it belonged to a man. He heard a low grinding noise and then a loud bang as his cage was rocked with the impact from some heavy object.
As the footsteps came closer, Merrick could make out the form of one of the Fianna walking as if through the open air that surrounded his prison. The man was clothed in the traditional Fianna tunic and kilt, and had an array of divinium weapons—sword, mace, and dagger—hanging from his side.
The Fianna stood outside Merrick’s cage, within Merrick’s reach through the bars. He spoke a word of the Earth Dragon tongue, and a dim light illuminated them, allowing Merrick to better see his visitor. The man’s face was younger than Fenton’s, but still hardened like a warrior’s. His thick black hair was pulled back in a chaotic ponytail. He looked at Merrick, not with hate in his eye like the Fianna who had captured him outside the mountain, but with thinly masked sympathy.
“I am Gerald MacKelster, son of Bythrop MacKelster, and I had the privilege of serving under Fenton MacKerval, Captain of her Queen’s Fianna. I share the grief of the clan over the loss of Fenton, but do not share the hatred that others are feeling toward you. I knew Fenton, and even with power as great as your own, the Fenton I knew would not have allowed himself to be killed unless it was his intention.”
“I think he sacrificed himself for me, but it was still my fault. I shouldn’t have been out there in the first place.”
“I think you are lucky you were out there, young Merrick. If you had not escaped the mountain, and if Fenton had not found
you, you would not be alive. Those men that they found dead with you and Fenton—they were Keepers.”
Merrick nodded slowly.
“I know you do not know me, Merrick, but if you value having a friend when all others are your enemy, you will keep what I am about to tell you to yourself. I also served under your father, Ohman. No matter what the Queen or anyone else tells you, he was a man of honor and trust. I come here tonight to pay a debt I owe him.
“I believe those Keepers were sent to either kill or capture you. The fact that three of them as well as Fenton are dead made it easier for them to imprison you. The fact that you aren’t dead means they still need something from you. They must want something you know—or something they think you know.”
“But, I don’t know anything.”
“Aye, but there is one thing you know that none of them do—something that Terrada herself told you long ago.”
“My creation name? I don’t know that either. I haven’t remembered it yet. They can’t get what I don’t have to give.”
“When you are before the Master Keeper, as I’m sure you will be, you’ll wish you did have your name to give. But remember, once they have it, they’ll have no need for you any longer.”
Gerald cocked his head, as if listening to a sound far away. Suddenly the light went out, and Gerald’s voice was only a whisper in the dark.
“You are the only one who stands between Sigela and this world, Merrick. Remember that when you are in doubt.”
As the last of Gerald’s words faded, Merrick knew that his visitor was gone.
Merrick spoke Gerald’s name a few times, but then stopped, thinking better of it in case there were others around to hear. Whatever good Gerald’s warnings would do him, the man had risked everything coming here to give them, and Merrick would not betray his trust.
The Conservation of Magic Page 28
