Daughter of Ashes

by Esther Mitchell

  The two crews split up at the base of Raiador with whispered benedictions of good fortune, and Telyn immediately reached for her first hand and foot holds along the mountain's face. She had no fear for her own climb -- she'd climbed enough mountains in her life to know what she was doing, and she knew Raiador wouldn't let her die with her father's quest unfulfilled. However, that protection and knowledge didn't extend to her team, and she hoped they were at least competent climbers.

  "Come carefully," she advised quietly, just in case they weren't experienced. "The first climb is a steep one, until we hit the paths further up the mountain."

  "How do you know?" The young man called Dec wanted to know. "Only Miners are permitted above the mountain's base."

  "I was a Miner once." She left it at that. She wasn't about to get into her history with anyone.

  Nervously, the three young Minegards did as she ordered, the girl, Reni, a little more boldly than the boys. Finding Telyn's description of both the climb and the higher paths accurate, they weren't inclined to question her next order.

  "The most likely place for an ambush from above is down that path, to the left. I won't be going with you. I'm continuing up the mountain, to find a good spot to have a look over the fields on the other side."

  "How?" Reni looked unconvinced. "There's nothing up there."

  "There's a tunnel above us that comes out on the other side of the mountain. I won't risk your jobs or lives on it. Just follow that path around the mountain, and back down. Keep a watch out for ambush."

  "What happens to you?"

  "I'll meet you on the other side."

  They shared a look, but didn't argue, and Telyn didn't wait to find out if they objected. She reached for her first handholds, aware that she had a hard climb ahead of her.

  The climb proved steeper than she recalled. Eyes scrunched against falling dirt and rocks and teeth gritted in determination, she pushed beyond the ache in her arms and legs as the climb got more treacherous, the holds more difficult to find.

  "Carypdor!" The oath slipped from her lips as a jagged piece of rock tore a gash in her right sleeve and drew a long, bloody scratch up her forearm. It was cursedly dark and smoky now -- even for one born with night vision -- and the face of Raiador crumbled and slid beneath her every move. As the misty darkness persisted, Telyn wished heartily for something to light her way.

  Light blossomed around her, and Telyn nearly lost her grip as she jerked in surprise. All around her, Salamandars floated in the air, dancing like tiny torches through the darkness. Sala flowed down to perch daintily on Telyn's shoulder, flickering cheerily.

  "We are here, Daughter of Ashes. We are the army ever at your back, your aid in even the darkest places of this world. You need only your thoughts to summon us to your side."

  Telyn drew in a deep breath of the thin, sulfuric air, and coughed, nearly losing her grip once again. It was a relief when, a moment later, she clambered onto the high mountain path. "Thank you, Sala. Now that you're here, maybe you can explain why I just lied to those Minegards. Why am I way up here, risking my neck on a foolhardy climb? I could have seen just as well from the lower path."

  "A test, young Telyn."

  "Test?" She didn't like the sound of that. No one said anything about any tests. "What sort of test?"

  "The Phoenix is an honor not given lightly. You must prove yourself true before the task and destiny, are assigned. Then, and only then, will you be allowed to remove the sigil on your left hand."

  Telyn glanced at the golden talon that gleamed dully in the darkness, lit only by the flare that was Sala. Could this explain why she'd been unable to remove the articulated ring for so long? "Why?"

  "It is our law. You must be worthy of the Phoenix, before you can be free of the bond."

  Telyn sighed at the repeated mention of this mysterious phoenix. "Just what is a phoenix, anyway?"

  "If you succeed, you will know."

  Sala's cryptic statement grated on Telyn's nerves. She was tired of secrets and riddles. "And if I don't?"

  "Then you will be dead."

  Telyn froze. This wasn't just a test. This was a life-or-death decision, with no choice in it. Anger kindled, until she recalled that she was given a choice. She'd chosen to put the talon on. With a sigh, she surrendered. "All right, then. What do you want me to do?"

  "The tunnel ahead." Sala flickered toward the opening in the mountain face. "You must go on alone. We shall await you on the other side."

  And, as suddenly as they appeared, the host of tiny lights disappeared, leaving Telyn once again alone in the smoky gloom. Before, the darkness had been uneasy -- now, it was ominous. Whatever it harbored, she now knew it was capable of killing her.

  She blinked, trying to adjust her eyes to the gloom, and scanned what she could see of the path ahead. Her heart thudded dully in her chest, gaining speed with every possibility that crossed her mind. Perhaps she'd face a draconis, or a raktou. She had no idea what she'd do in either case. Drawing a breath of foul air, she coughed, and drew together her courage. The hum of her anaqueri against her thigh comforted her not a whit. It only sang like this when danger lurked.

  Muttering a prayer to all the gods of her ancestors that she would live to see the other side, Telyn drew her blade, and stepped into the pitch darkness of the tunnel that held her fate.

  Chapter Three

  Telyn forced her breathing to shallow as she moved cautiously through the mountain tunnel, listening for sounds of movement in the darkness. Her night-friendly eyes roamed the murkiness, but the gifts of heredity would be of little aid to her, here. Her eyes might be capable of penetrating the darkest of nights, but the thick, curling haze of this place was beyond her ability to breach. She sniffed the air, and her lip curled in revulsion. It smelled sulfuric and bitter, like burning pitch and a draconis' breath.

  Just great. Maybe she was up against a draconis after all. Distracted by the thought, she barely heard the slight hissing to her left in time to jump clear before a scalding jet of super-heated water shot from a crater in the tunnel floor. The billowing smoke of it obscured what little visibility she had, and Telyn bit back a silent curse. She could only rely on sound and instinct as she moved cautiously through the tunnel. What exactly she was looking for, she didn't know. But she felt the chill of danger through the steamy jets of smoke curling up around her, and she could only pray she survived.

  She saw the tiny dots of starlight as the haze thinned. Thank the gods of her father; she was near the tunnel's end. Telyn breathed a sigh of relief. Not that she'd expected an attack this far up the mountain, but Sala's talk had her jumping at shadows the whole time. She would be glad to have this steamy, smelly tunnel behind her all the same.

  The reminder of Sala tore another sigh from her. She didn't like mysteries, and the Salamandar was full of them. Mysteries left too many loose ends to... Rock, skittering from the wall!

  Telyn whipped around even as the suddenly singing anaqueri leapt into her open hand. Her fingers closed around familiar thrumming heat in a smooth action born of cycles of dangerous familiarity. She heard the swipe of another blade against air and saw the flash of iron in the darkness. Before she could react, there was a sickening sound of metal slicing through leather, cloth, and skin. Searing pain followed quickly, shooting through her like a fiery arrow, and the force of the attack sent her careening back against the tunnel wall. Her hand flew to her shoulder. The warm stickiness of blood matted her tunic and shirt to her skin.

  At the feel of her own blood, the shock of attack turned to battle rage, and inner fire blazed to life, fuelled by the power of the mountain around her. The anaqueri in her hand sang with energy, light flashing brightly at its core. On instinct, Telyn planted her feet and raised the anaqueri until it was flat and level with her shoulders. She couldn't say why, but it felt natural, like a defense she'd used a hundred times, though she'd never even considered it before.

  The light at the anaqueri's core flashed outward
like lightning, and sparks ran along its facets, and then threw themselves into the darkness with enough force to shatter steel. The sparks illuminated the horrified, monstrous face of a Katarie Assassin for an instant before the light tore through it, and its body melted into a pool of acrid-smelling flesh.

  Shuddering, Telyn fell back against the tunnel wall, gasping for breath. What in Kishfa's name was going on, here? Anaqueri weren't Majikal. In fact, they were supposed to be immune to enchantment. So where had the sparks come from? She glanced around warily. Something strange was going on. Since the Salamandars pulled her into the Fire cavern of Raiador earlier, her connection to the anaqueri grew stronger with every passing moment. It was as if Raiador had changed both her and the anaqueri, though she didn't how it happened.

  Telyn looked up sharply as a fluttering sound reached her, anticipating another attack. Instead, she watched curiously as a piece of worn material drifted to the ground at her feet. Looking down, she gasped. It wasn't just a scrap of cloth -- it was an insignia. Bathron, from the look of it, but not like any she was familiar with. Her scalp tingled, and she had a nagging suspicion she knew that insignia. She crouched to retrieve the cloth, but stopped with a hiss of pain as her wounded shoulder protested the movement. Carefully, she scooped up the remnant with her good hand, and studied it closer. A large, golden bird, its wings spread wide and its head lifted skyward. The feathers were flames.

  Dizziness assaulted her, and she knew. She had seen this emblem, before. Cycles ago, she'd traced its lines, filled in gold on the smooth surface of an obsidian shield that rested beside its master, entombed deep inside Raiador.

  Light flared nearby, and Telyn raised her gaze to find Sala seated on an outcrop in the wall.

  "This was my father's," Telyn whispered as she clutched the scrap of material. Another piece of the legacy she didn't yet understand.

  "It is the Phoenix -- the symbol of Ashes' house. You have earned it, and his place as our protector." Sala floated down to light on Telyn's shoulder. "With it, you take up your destiny, and his quest."

  Sala kept mentioning this mysterious quest. "What quest?"

  "Your father's Clan once guarded a sacred treasure that is capable of restoring peace. It alone can heal the wounds between your mother's people and your father's."

  "What is it?"

  "A book."

  Telyn blinked. "A book?"

  "A very special book."

  "What's so special about it?"

  Sala returned to her perch on the cavern's ledge, a puff of smoke rising up from the dry moss her landing set afire.

  "Long ago," she began, and a strange whirling sensation filled Telyn, "before the Great War of Majik, there was a man who travelled the world, spreading a message of peace and healing. He was the last great Majin, the last source of pure Majik in the world..."

  He finished setting the last of the beacons and stepped from the dais, dusting off his hands to remove the excess energy. He could sense them out there, coming closer to his world, their pure light and untainted knowledge a palpable feeling within his chest. Great flying creatures -- part bird, part cat, and capable of travelling the jetways of energy between the stars. They and their companions brought a true gift to this dying world, and he was anxious for their arrival.

  The Maji had destroyed everything true and beautiful about this land, their Majik flying like arrows into the heavens, and sinking like poisoned swords into the land, until nothing remained but a wasteland of greed and power-hungry tribes. And his life's work, the creations of his own spirit and energy, were now in danger. As the land weakened, so did he, and if he faded before this new source of light arrived, he feared his treasures would be used as weapons of war, rather than conduits of healing.

  Already, he began dividing his treasures, leaving no two pieces in one place. He had disguised himself as a peddler -- a clever ruse by which no one would expect an exalted Majin -- and hid his tools across Ravenos, given as gifts to those who still possessed the True Light. Only one item remained -- his most precious treasure, and one which could so easily be corrupted. To hide his Majik properly, he must travel to the heart of the nomadic Clans to the South. A fiery bird filled his visions, rising from the smoke hole of a Clansman's Hall.

  With a final benediction for the beacons he lit, he turned toward the South. His time grew short. He must find the Clan of the Phoenix before the darkness descended forever.

  "With the last of his treasures hidden away, the Majin disappeared. It has long been told he sealed himself within a deep cavern beneath a tower at Ulambara, where he sleeps to this very day."

  Telyn blinked back to awareness at Sala's words. Had she really witnessed what she thought? "Sleeps? That was hundreds of cycles ago, Sala. Surely he's dead by now."

  Sala flickered brightly in censure. "He is a man possessed of powerful Majik. He cannot die."

  She found that hard to believe, but then again, she only had to look as far as Brun-Gild to know that Majik was capable of allowing unnatural age. Still, she didn't think Brun-Gild and his obsession with forbidden Cetlahe Afach made him a particularly stirring example. "So what, he just sleeps forever?"

  "No. There is a prophecy--"

  "Isn't there always?" Telyn muttered beneath her breath, unable to contain that sarcastic comment.

  Sala didn't look amused. "The prophecy says that when the wars were near an end, nine born of the blood of the Sacred Houses would be gifted with the energy of the artifacts, and the Elements of their bloodlines. They would seek out the True Light, and restore the Light of the World."

  Telyn frowned. "And you think my father was one of them?"

  Sala looked perplexed, and a little uncertain. "We had thought so, yes. It was, after all, to his Clan, the Phoenix Hall, that the Majin entrusted his most prized treasure -- the Book of Creation, which we Salamandars have long known as the Phoenix Book."

  "But if he was..."

  "He would not have been so easy for his enemies to kill." Sala shimmered as she rose up off of the ledge. "When Ashes died, we realized that he was not the One. He did not embody both natures of Fire. He was a warrior, and war only opens the pathway to destruction. But woman creates life."

  "My mother?"

  "No. A warrior woman. One capable of creating new beginnings from the burned out scars left by war." Sala flared cheerily. "When you were born, we received the sign we waited all these cycles for. We endeavored to bring you here, because we knew that only through the power of Raiador would your true inner nature be released."

  Telyn froze, and a chill unnatural to this steamy, heat-drenched cavern rushed through her. "Wait. You're saying..."

  "You, Telyn, Daughter of Ashes, Daughter of Gwneth, are the Chosen of Fire. You must complete the quest your father so desperately began, and retrieve the Phoenix Book."

  "But, if it was given to his Clan, wouldn't they still--"

  "You are the last of your father's Clan. The Book disappeared from the crumbling Hall long before the final axe fell over that mighty Clan's neck. You must retrieve it."

  Telyn backed away a step, dread clenching in her gut. She did her best to avoid Majik. She may have made her peace with Raiador, but she wasn't about to go chasing after Majikal artifacts. "Why me?"

  "Because you are the only one who can successfully use it."

  Surprise bolted through Telyn, and she could do nothing but gape at the tiny Salamandar. Launching herself to Telyn's injured shoulder, Sala knelt beside the wound and ran delicate, miniscule hands over the bleeding gash. Telyn watched in stunned fascination as the cut sealed beneath Sala's touch, until it was only a thin red line of crusted blood on her shoulder and a bloody rip in her clothes. She could no longer deny the power of Fire, in either of its capacities, though she was still having trouble absorbing everything she just learned about herself and her father.

  The feel of something heavy slipping from her hand dragged Telyn's attention away as the articulated talon on her finger dropped to the grou
nd with the sharp sound of metal striking rock. At first, she barely registered the sound. Then, dull panic set in. That ring was a part of her for so much of her life -- certainly, her entire adult life. Strange how she always assumed its removal would leave her feeling free. Instead, vulnerability overwhelmed her, and Telyn's attention focused on the talon.

  "You do not have to wear it, but you may keep it if you wish." Sala's quiet understanding touched Telyn. No one ever understood her so well in her life -- not even her mother. Stooping, she picked up the talon and slid it back onto her finger. As its familiar, warm weight settled around her finger, she realized what was different. The talon was no longer tight and almost painful; now she knew she could remove it as easily as she put it on. The choice gave her a sense of freedom losing the ring altogether would never have.

  "There is more yet to be done, young Phoenix."

  Telyn glanced up at Sala. "I'm ready. What's next?"

  "You have met the enemies your traitor brought to Raiador." Sala tilted her head to gaze up at Telyn. "Who are they, Telyn?"

  Telyn's memory flashed with the images of her fight in the dark tunnel, of horrifying features only a monster could wear. Angry heat burned in her chest as she tucked her father's emblem into her belt.

  "This is far more than a matter of Household safety, sworn duty, or family obligation, Sala. Katarie are slime. Their kind kills people without feeling or remorse. I owe them a slice in return. I won't let them come near this mountain again, and whoever sent for them will pay dearly for his treachery."

  Her suspicions, she'd keep to herself, for now. Gaze fixed ahead, she headed for the tunnel's exit. This wouldn't be pleasant, but she finally had a plan.

  As she emerged from the tunnel, Telyn's gaze fell on the small cluster of tents that spread out below, bathed in starlight. They were a pitiful sight, too few to have been called in for battle's sake. Barely even enough for a raiding party. Telyn's eyes narrowed. Neither fact mattered to her. These animals had invaded ground she held sacred. This would end here, tonight.