Shadows of Home (Bound to the Abyss Book 4)

by James R. Vernon

  Shay shook the thoughts from her head before they could take root and sour her mood. Problems for another day. She must remain focused on this night.

  The two guards at the city gate gave her a nod as she approached. The benefit of her abnormal size and skin tone made her easy to identify amongst Lurthalan's newly appointed gate guards. Shay made sure the story about how the two previous gate guards had harassed her and lived to regret it spread amongst their ranks.

  Exiting the city gate, Shayua smiled as she caught sight of the place she had spent most of her life since the age of four.

  Avien'zia's temple looked much like the littering of circular hide tents that surrounded it, except that it was three stories high and its base had the diameter of two city blocks. A patchwork of hundreds of hides covered the wooden frame of the building like a second skin, with holes cut into it on both the second and third floor windows. A large set of wooden double doors in the front was the only entrance for the majority of worshippers. While it was unknown whether Avien'zia herself or her first followers had killed all the animals required to cover the building, it was the deities’ followers who repaired and replaced the skins now whenever a patch started to wear through.

  The dozens of tents around the temple were all homes to Avien'zia's followers as well. Shay had spent the majority of her childhood growing up and training in the temple, running in and around the tents outside, and hunting in the surrounding countryside. If anything felt like coming home, this was it. And the dozens of people that called the area their own were her extended family: hunters, butchers, thief-catchers, leatherworkers, and bounty hunters, all of whom did not mind living lives less civilized than those on the other side of the city walls—less civilized but much better policed. Homes without locks meant very little tolerance for thieves, and even those with the strongest rivalries would look out for each other's possessions. Very few secrets were kept in the maze of tents, and it took very little time for news to ripple through the camp, which was why Shay wasn't surprised when a man and a woman rose from one of the outlying fires and strode towards her.

  They covered their bodies with the hardened leather of Avien'zia's Spears, the elite fighters and trainers of the temple. Both the man and woman had shaved heads, common amongst the Spears, and the leathery, dark skin of someone spending most of their time out in the sun. Even with the hardened leather restricting their movements, the two walked with the ease and grace of a wolf stalking its prey.

  Shay couldn't spot a weapon anywhere on either of their bodies, but that meant little. The woman began to speak as soon as they were only a few feet from Shay.

  "Shayua Durluin." There was neither scorn or awe in the woman's voice. "I am Yara, and this," she gestured towards the man, "is Jent. We have been waiting for you since word reached us that you snuck into the city--"

  Shay tried to keep the anger from her voice as she cut the woman off. "I arrived by crossing the lake because my ward has a bounty on her head. I did not actively seek to avoid our goddess."

  To Shay's surprise, her response brought a genuine smile to the woman's lips. "I misspoke. Someone of your reputation should be afforded the benefit of the doubt. Especially when you walk openly into the goddess's camp. For that same reason, I will assume you came to present yourself before the priest and priestess, explain your actions, and receive their judgment."

  "I did."

  "Then allow us to accompany you to the temple."

  "Very well."

  Flanked by her escorts, Shay walked right through the camp towards the temple. She received the expected amount of stares from those sitting about or working near their tents. She had grown accustomed to those looks growing up, even if the people had not grown used to seeing a woman with skin the color of the setting sun and one who was taller than most men. Some might also have heard of her reputation as a dangerous fighter. A blessing and a curse. In the past, she had gotten jobs because of her appearance just as often as she had because of her reputation. It had also driven both men and women to seek her out to test their skills against hers. She had faced each, and won a sizable number more than she had lost.

  Nothing from her past would matter once she stepped in front of the five or six priests and priestesses who would be randomly chosen to pass their judgment on her. Every action has a consequence, and Shay had performed quite a few that had caused a wide range of consequences. Whether she was guilty or innocent was not up to her. That would all be decided by the temple.

  As they reached the temple doors, carved out of wood centuries old, the surrounding leathers stretched tight where they were tied to the frame, and a familiar shiver passed through Shay's body. It wasn't the cold night air or the worry of what judgment she may face that caused the feeling.

  The same shiver ran through her body again as she passed through the doorframe and into the receiving room of the temple. Despite its outer appearance, the inside of the temple wasn't just a set of leather walls and simple decorations. Wooden walls and ceiling framed the room, even though the floor was packed dirt. Tapestries covered in different depictions of hunters capturing their prey adorned the walls everywhere a doorway didn't sit. Yara led Shay to one such door and directed her through. They entered one of the many hallways that ran around the outside of the main chapel. The other woman lead her down the familiar hallways that Shay had spent so much time navigating until they stopped at another plain door.

  "This is where you may wait until it is time." Yara wasn't ordering her. The woman knew Shay would wait. Her honor had brought her this far and would anchor her to the room to face the will of her goddess.

  "Thank you," Shay replied before opening the door and ducking enough so she could step inside. Yara made no reply as she turned and left. Shay closed the door behind her.

  The room she had entered was small, barely enough room for a few chairs and a molted old rug. A contract room, where citizens waited until they could be seen by a priest or priestess in order to set an official bounty. Applicants could wait a few hours or a few days.

  Shay hoped they wouldn't make her wait days. There was no telling what Ezzy might do if Shay was gone that long. Any possibility that came to her mind involved the young woman doing something without thinking it through first, which usually led to disaster.

  Thankfully, Shay only had to wait an hour or so until there was a knock at the door. An older woman entered a second later, with snow white hair tied into a bun at the back of her head, framing a wrinkled and tan face. At first glance, Shay believed the woman had mistakenly walked into the wrong room. She wore the clothes of a simple citizen; a faded blue shirt hung loosely from a wiry frame and was tucked into black cloth pants. Her feet were bare, which wasn't strange in the temple. Maybe people enjoyed feeling the packed earth beneath their feet, and none of the other temples were as free with their dress code as Avien'zia's temple. All in all, the woman looked like the hundreds of other people Shay saw walking down the main street of the city during the day.

  Her judgment of the woman was flipped upside-down though as soon as she spoke.

  "Greetings Shayua. You may call me Cotton, although the title I wear is that of Avien'zia's Sight."

  She spoke the name of her position as simply as someone might mention they had stubbed their toe. Spoke it as if each of the deities’ Sights wasn't one of the most guarded secrets kept by the temples. That fact that the woman revealed herself was a great honor, almost more so than speaking with Avien'zia's Voice. That is, if the woman was who she said she was. Shay bowed, keeping her head raised so she never broke eye contact with the small woman, showing her the respect she deserved, even if she was unsure if her words were true.

  "You honor me," Shay said as soon as she was standing straight again.

  "I thought it best to tell you first, so you would appreciate the seriousness of this meeting."

  "Holy one--" Shay began but the woman cut her off with a raised hand.

  "It is just the two of us. No need
to throw about titles and platitudes. Cotton will do fine for our little meeting. I had been called by my first name decades before my title was thrust upon me."

  "As you wish," Shay paused as she struggled against her innate desire to use the appropriate titles, "Cotton. I am just unsure why someone of your importance would be involved with a simple inquiry into the actions committed by one of Avien'zia's followers."

  "A valid question—one with the hidden undertones of disbelief that I am who I say I am."

  "I mean no disrespect."

  "And I've taken no insult from your doubt, but..." She left a space for Shay to fill.

  "Very few people are given the honor of knowing your actual name, let alone being able to put a face to it. I don't wish to be disrespectful, but I would appreciate anything you could do to prove you hold such a high position."

  "Shayua Durluin, a Fara'korin of Avien'zia." That knowledge alone would have verified the woman sat high in the temple hierarchy. Raising someone to Fara'korin in the temple was another well-kept secret shared only to the highest members. "Durluin is your mother's name, a human, and your father's name is unknown, although it is clear you get most of your physical features from his race."

  The Sight raised a gnarled old hand to Shay's face, running her fingers across a square jaw line, even going so far as to touch one of Shay's exposed incisors. Even knowing who the woman was, Shay found it difficult to keep her temper in check during the other woman's probing.

  "Abandoned here," she continued without removing her hand from Shay's face, "at the age of four and put right into training. First kill at the age of eleven, but not given your first bounty contract until the age of fifteen. Why do you think that is?"

  "If you are Avien'zia's Sight, you should know the answer to that question already."

  "I do." The woman's voice turned cold and her fingers pinched Shay's chin in the space just behind the jawbone. Her nails bit deep enough that Shay felt a bit of blood stain her skin. All she could do was endure the slight pain as the woman continued. "I asked why you thought it had taken four years before your first contract."

  "Because I am a woman."

  The Sight's grip increased in pressure. "You know the temple and most of those who hire from it do not concern themselves with gender. We serve a female god. You are one of a select few to be raised to Fara'korin, at the age of twenty no less. Stop wasting my time with weak answers."

  "I was not hired because I am a woman who looks like this." She raised her hands, spreading her crimson fingers wide. "Clearly a mix of human and Shadaer Umdaer, no matter how often I denied it. How often I violently hurt those who said it." It hurt Shay to say the words she so often heard whispered behind her back. Hurt her more than she thought it would.

  "You are partially correct, although your pride allows you to speak the truth without understanding it." The Sight finally released her grip and took a step back. "The reason you were often overlooked for jobs was because of your temper, and more specifically, how easy the topic of your heritage could be used to incite you to anger. Even now, you do not receive as many contracts as you deserve because of it."

  The words stung, both because of the truth behind them and that they held up Shay's pride right in front of her in a way that it was impossible to deny. Her shoulders slumped as the weight of her shame pressed down on them.

  "But that is the past and the present," the Sight continued. "I haven't come to speak to you about your temper, or the fact that instead of carrying out an open bounty, you decided to take the target on as an apprentice. Our goddess has sent me to speak to you about your future. Or more specifically, where your future is headed while you train Esmerelda Ciantar: to the target Esmerelda is speeding you towards."

  "Ean Sangrave."

  "Yes." For the first time, doubt crept into Cotton’s voice and her eyes squinted as they took Shay in. When the woman didn't continue, Shay spoke into the uncomfortable silence.

  "So, the temple is aware of him."

  "ALL the temples are aware of his connection to the Abyss and the potential danger he poses to the land. Only the top priests of each of the deities knows about him; most others and the general populace have been left in the dark." She paused again, but continued just as Shay was about to speak. "The gods and goddesses seem to be...at a disagreement over how to handle this Ean Sangrave. Until a consensus can be found, the official stance of all the Voices of the different deities is that no action should be taken against or in support of him. Knowledge of his existence cannot be spread." She paused again to give an exaggerated role of her eyes. "Not counting Alistar and his followers, of course. Their intentions towards the man are as obvious as the gleaming white armor their Seekers wear."

  "If the temple refuses to take an official stance on this at the moment, the fact that you are talking to me instead of the Voice implies that there is an unofficial stance. Since you know Ezzy...Esmerelda is hunting him, I assume you want me to kill him?"

  "Quite the opposite. Our goddess has made it clear that nothing should be physically done to him. It seems she has taken the position to wait and see. But he does need to be watched more."

  "You want me to spy on him?"

  "I want you to follow your little apprentice in trying to find him. Keep tabs on him and see what he is doing, so that when a decision has been made, a follower of Avien'zia is there to make sure her will is carried out before a member of one of the other temples can get to him first."

  "But Esmerelda is dead-set on killing him if she can justify it and capturing him at the least."

  "And she is your apprentice. If you order her to stand down, she must."

  Shay let the slightest grimace touch her lips, which the woman must have noticed.

  "Esmerelda Ciantar does not always do as you say?"

  Shay shook her head. "She does, but in this, I know she will balk at the idea. She is like a child, trying to skirt around rules I set without breaking them."

  "And this is the woman you chose as an apprentice?" The Sight didn't even attempt to mask the scorn in her voice.

  "She has potential. Once she has fully accepted Avien'zia's teachings and places Her will above all else, she will be a valuable asset for our goddess."

  "And until that day?"

  Shay shook her head. "Esmerelda will continue to seek her vengeance against Ean Sangrave. But if it is the will of Avien'zia that her prey remain untouched, I will stop her."

  "No." The Sight placed a wrinkled hand on Shay's shoulder and squeezed until Shay's shoulder hurt. "If she tries to kill Ean Sangrave, you will not just stop her.

  "You will kill her."

  Chapter 6

  Four days of hard travel found Ean, Azalea, Dao, and Zin standing on the road at the edge of the forest north of the village of Rensen. Above them, the three moons peeked through the canopy of leaves, casting small rays of blue, green, and red through small openings in the trees. They hadn't been able to see much of the sky while traveling through the woods, but if all three moons were out, it meant that dawn was fast approaching. Ahead, the small logging village sat quiet in the late night hours. The road led south, passing the massive two-story sawmill to the right and a clear cut field before finally reaching the one and two story log buildings that made up the quaint village. Save for a few homes with candlelight flickering through their windows, the buildings were shuttered and dark.

  Good, thought Ean. The less people we can run into, the better.

  The image of what had happened in Lurthalan, of people changing as his energy coursed through their bodies, had made sleep practically impossible. The sight was likely to haunt his dreams just as frequently as the first time he had witnessed his energy twisting the body of a raider in this very village.

  That seemed so long ago, when he was first coming into his power.

  "As if I've become an expert at controlling the energy coursing through my body," Ean mumbled to himself.

  "What did you say?" Zin asked from a few f
eet away. In the darkness, the imp's dark-brown skin made him almost invisible as he leaned against a nearby tree. Ean's closest friend had been uncharacteristically quiet since meeting back up with them outside Lurthalan. Zin's eyes had been as focused on the ground as were his long, crooked ears. Ean hadn't locked eyes with his oldest friend once the entire trip. It was unsettling but he had no idea how to approach Zin about the strange wall between them.

  "We should stick to the trees," Ean replied as he peered at the silent village. "Circle around the north side until we find the path that leads through the mountains to Rottwealth and press on."

  "Agreed," Azalea said from his side. The Yulari had cloaked herself in the illusion of a normal woman, with short, blond hair stopping just below her ears and framing a plain face with petite features. It was a sharp contrast to her true form of an exotic and attractive blue-skinned creature from the Abyss. Her human illusion was perfect for making her plain and unnoticeable. Before she had lost her wings and grew fearful of humans, Azalea had made her human form almost as beautiful as her true self. Now, she did her best to not draw any attention. Even the brown robe she wore hid her body completely. Before the village had even come in sight, Ean had felt her tension rise through the bond they shared. As soon as they had stopped, Azalea had snaked an arm around Ean's and held on tight. But tension wasn't all that he had felt through their connection.

  Azalea had barely let him out of her sight since they had met up outside Lurthalan with Ean broken and bleeding and Dao doing his best to support him as they both limped along. While Zin had spoken little after hearing what had happened, Azalea had made sure to give him an earful. While her words had been scathing, it was the guilt he felt rolling off her in waves that had hurt him the most. His magic had healed him before they had even reached the northern edge of Rensen Forest, but the woman's guilt twisted inside his gut, no matter how often he told her there was nothing she could have done. After all, he had been the one to tell her to avoid the city. Ean had known that being in the most crowded city in the land would wear on the fears that had bloomed when Sadiek had cut her wings from her back. Rensen wouldn't be as bad, but Ean would rather avoid anything that made her even the least bit uncomfortable.