by JA Andrews
She looked at the rest of them. “We can’t kill any more of these.”
“Can’t kill them?” Douglon said. “Wait until one jumps on you.”
“No,” she said firmly. “These aren’t evil. We can’t kill any more unless they are too far gone to save.”
“If we can’t kill them, what exactly would you like us to do?” Douglon demanded.
“I’ll take care of them,” Ayda said. “You just make sure you don’t kill them. But keep Milly and the others safe.”
“Sure,” Douglon grunted. “We’ll just play with them ‘til you take care of it.”
She ignored him and remounted her horse.
It was several hours before they encountered the next monster. They turned a corner, and there in the path was a lion. A lion with wickedly intelligent eyes. It hunched before them, growling slightly. The group froze, the horses shifting in fear. Ayda walked forward. As she got close, the lion crouched lower.
“It’s going to attack,” Douglon warned, his voice low. He slid to the ground and pulled out his axe as he moved over as far to the side as the trail would allow.
“It’s fine,” Ayda said.
She took one more step, and the lion lunged toward her. She flicked her hand, and a shimmery blue net appeared in front of the lion. It roared once and the net flickered out. Then the lion hit Ayda and drove her to the ground. Douglon cried out and rushed forward.
Milly screamed from the back of the group. Alaric whipped around to see a huge ape hanging down out of the tree, pulling Milly up out of her saddle. Brandson was racing toward her, his knife out.
Alaric dropped to the ground and grabbed a moss-covered rock. He thrust some energy into it, igniting the moss, and threw it at the ape. The rock hit the creature in the shoulder, and it dropped Milly back into her saddle. She spurred her horse away as the ape dropped to the ground to face Brandson. Alaric gathered energy, looking from Brandson to Ayda, who was pinned beneath the lion, holding it back with one hand.
“Don’t kill it!” Ayda yelled at Brandson.
Douglon rushed forward, but a swipe of the lion’s paw threw him against a tree.
“Sleep,” Ayda commanded, setting her hand on the lion’s forehead. The beast stumbled slightly then toppled to the side.
Ayda shoved its legs off of her and raced back to Brandson.
Alaric lit another rock and hurled it at the ape.
The ape bellowed at Brandson and swung an arm out at him. Brandson fell back, letting out a cry as the ape’s nails dragged across his calf.
Ayda rushed past him to stand in front of the beast. It bellowed at her as she reached out and placed her hand between its eyes.
“Sleep,” she commanded quietly.
The ape leaned closer, his mouth open, breathing fury into her face. She stood calmly before him for a moment before he blinked then sank to the ground.
Brandson was leaning heavily against a tree with blood dripping down his leg.
Ayda walked up to him and touched his leg gently. Then she stood and walked over to where Douglon still lay stunned.
Brandson’s eyes widened, and he stood, gingerly putting weight on his leg. Then he pulled his tattered pants to the side and looked at his leg, which held only a dark red scar.
“A scar?” he said dumbly.
“I can heal it,” Ayda answered tartly. “I can’t make it so that it never happened.”
“No, I didn’t mean—” Brandson protested. “It’s wonderful!”
Ayda smiled slightly.
Douglon stood slowly, shaking his head to clear it. “How long are these things going to sleep?”
Ayda looked at them sadly. “The rest of the day. They’re terribly sad, aren’t they?”
Milly looked at her as though she were crazy. “That thing was going to carry me off into the trees!”
“That ape used to be a farmer. I could see it in his mind. He refused to give a Shade Seeker his only pig. They took him and did this.” She paused. “He had a wife and a tiny baby.”
Milly’s brow crinkled. “Can you… put him back to normal?”
“No,” Ayda answered. “There’s not enough of him left in there.”
Milly looked at the ape sadly, then tentatively reached out her hand to stroke his head.
“Is there nothing you can do?” she asked, looking at Ayda, then Alaric.
Alaric looked at the two creatures and shook his head. What was there to be done? They couldn’t be restored to what they once were. They were too changed.
Ayda cocked her head to the side and crouched down before the ape. Placing both hands on the sides of his head, she closed her eyes for a long moment. Finally, she opened them and shook her head.
“I thought that maybe I could cut the Shade Seeker’s hold on him. But he’s too much monster now for it to make a difference. He can do nothing but hunt and kill. What was a man has been long forgotten.”
“Of course it has,” Milly said softly. She reached out to take the ape’s enormous hand in her own, avoiding its long, red nails. “How could it not be? We become what we act like, don’t we. And after so much time, what would be the point of remembering?”
Chapter 45
Alaric watched Milly, her words echoing through his mind. We become what we act like.
Kordan shouldn’t have made his own Stronghold. He should have come here, to the Shade Seekers. It was a Shade Seeker Kordan had ended up acting like, not a Keeper.
Alaric reached up and rubbed the ruby at his neck. And where, he thought, should he go himself?
Light from the setting sun stretched out across the path.
“We need to keep moving,” he said.
Quietly, the group remounted and, skirting the sleeping lion, continued into the valley of the monsters.
The sun sank lower as they went. Ayda rode in the center of the group with Milly so the elf could get to the front or back of the line easily. Alaric and Brandson led, and Douglon took the rear. Every few minutes, Alaric cast out, looking for monsters, but found the forest near them empty. But far off in the woods, he caught glimpses of large creatures.
“We might want to find a place to camp before it gets dark,” Brandson said, looking warily around him. “Somewhere that might be defensible.”
A few minutes later, the trail went by a cluster of large boulders with a small clearing inside of it. There was only one way into the rocks making it the most protected place they’d seen all day. The group set up camp in the fading light.
“How much farther?” Ayda demanded.
“Only an hour or two,” Alaric said. “But we can’t do it at night with all the creatures here. We need to stay someplace we can defend. Tomorrow, at first light, we’ll go to the keep.”
Ayda glared at him. “We’re wasting time,” she hissed as she walked away.
They set a fire at the entrance to the clearing to light their camp as well as hold off any but the bravest beasts.
“I’m sure the animals know we’re here already,” Alaric told them. “But we can try to dissuade them from bothering us.”
They took shifts on watch, two at a time, while the others attempted to sleep. Milly and Brandson took first watch, and Alaric lay wide-awake. He was exhausted, but he couldn’t sleep. Every few minutes, he could hear rustling outside the ring of boulders. There were creatures out there. Whether the fire would hold them off or not, he didn’t know. There were enough people here and the fire, so they might be held at bay, but Gustav certainly wouldn’t want to be disturbed, and since things seemed to work out the way Gustav wanted…
Alaric must have dozed off eventually, because he woke to a scream by Milly. He sat up and saw her pointing into the darkness, but he could see nothing. Then the shadow on the top of the largest boulder slithered, and a head lifted off the rock. Its eyes glinted back firelight, but its body was all shadows.
Brandson stepped in front of Milly and drew his knife. Douglon leapt up and held his axe, but backed slowly away from
the boulder. Alaric stood, too, and stepped back as a black lizard slithered down the rock to the ground. Ayda stepped forward. The beast snapped its head toward her and dropped low. It hissed deep in its throat, causing lines of molten red to glow beneath the dark scales of its neck.
A fire lizard. Alaric’s breath caught and his palms began to sweat. This one was larger than the one he’d fought when Evangeline was poisoned. That one had been sleek and fast. This one was thick with strength. Its head, slithering smoothly on a thick neck, was almost as high as Alaric’s waist. Alaric began to gather energy from the trees and grass around him.
Ayda stepped forward purposefully and held out her hand toward the beast.
The lizard crouched down, ready to spring.
“Ayda,” Alaric whispered, “please be careful. That’s a fire lizard.”
“You’re not a lizard,” she said softly. “Do you remember who you are?”
The beast paused and cocked its head. Then it crept closer. The lizard’s snout was inches from Ayda’s hand. Ayda knelt down and leaned forward, reaching out her hand slowly. Its eyes slimmed to slits and it drew in a breath.
“Ayda—” Alaric whispered in warning.
But the elf pushed her hand forward and closed her eyes. She set her hand on its snout.
The lizard’s eyes snapped open wide and a deep growl began in its chest.
“Can you remember?” Her voice melted through the air.
The growl stopped. The creature blinked. It sniffed Ayda’s hand several times, then sank back onto its haunches.
I remember, elf, a voice rang out in Alaric’s mind.
Milly, Brandson, and Douglon started and looked at the lizard in amazement. Alaric looked at the creature in surprise. He must be speaking into all of their minds.
Ayda smiled warmly. “I’m Ayda. May I?” she asked, reaching for its head.
The lizard, which had drawn back, gave a stuttered nod and closed its eyes.
Ayda place her hands on either side of its enormous head. She closed her eyes as well, and the two stayed like that for several breaths. When the creature finally opened its eyes, they were clearer.
Ayda stepped back and gestured around the circle. “This is Keeper Alaric, Douglon, Brandson, and Milly.”
No one relaxed, but Milly peeked around Brandson. “What is your name?” she asked, her voice a little higher than normal.
The lizard shook its head.
“It has been too long,” Ayda said quietly. “He has been changed for so long that he can’t remember who he was before.” She looked at the others. “It’s been a very long time. Maybe a hundred years.”
The creature’s eyes were wary. A hundred years. A hundred years trapped in the body of an animal. Most of the Shade Seekers’ monsters were crossbreeds of humans and common animals. They had normal sorts of lifespans. But to cross someone with a fire lizard? Fire lizards were a relative of dragons. They lived for centuries.
The creature lifted its head and looked directly at Alaric.
A Keeper, his voice rang out slowly in Alaric’s mind again. It has been a long time since I saw a Keeper.
Alaric stepped forward. He could find nothing to say.
Do you know my name?
Ayda and the others were watching expectantly. The creature looked at him desperately.
“Ayda would know more than I would,” Alaric answered. “She can enter your mind easily. I don’t know if I can.”
You’re a Keeper.
Alaric opened his mouth to object, but Ayda cut in.
“Don’t tell me, Keeper, that you don’t understand the concept of how to do this.”
Alaric shot her a glare. “I’ve done it before,” he snapped. “Just not the way you do. My way involves permission. And I can only see what he wants me to.”
“Well, this man wants you to see his name. There was too much in there for me to look through. But maybe your way will work.”
Taking a deep breath, Alaric stepped forward and reached out toward the lizard’s head. The creature reached forward as well. Alaric’s hand touched the small, black scales on the side of his face. The lizard flinched away, then moved his head back against Alaric’s hand. The scales were smooth and warm, like river stone lying in the sun.
Alaric took another deep breath. Closing his eyes, he reached out tentatively toward the man’s mind.
What he found was the mind of an animal. There was hunger and watchfulness and the feel of the earth beneath his feet, the rock beneath his tail, the smell of the people in front of him. He was a beast, but he was intelligent. His mind held caution and planning, and through it all wove bright strands of anger.
Alaric moved carefully, following the anger deeper into the creature’s mind until he found a place that was full of fury. There were snippets of memories there. Memories of mountains and trees, of people.
But that was all he could find. Impressions of life and sadness. Regret. The rest of the mind was closed firmly.
Alaric pulled himself out and let his hand fall off the scales. “I’m sorry.”
The lizard shook his head slightly. It was long ago.
Milly, who had been peering intently at the lizard walked closer to him. “I think you are quite lovely.”
The creature snorted softly but bowed to her.
“If you don’t remember your old name, do you have a new one? Is there something we can call you?”
The lizard considered her for a long moment. You may pick one for me.
Milly gave him an uncertain smile. “You’re so very black, like the color of night. Alaric, is there a word that mean darkness, but in a good way?”
“Nox?” he offered.
“Yes,” Milly said. “Nox. Will that do?”
That will do very well. Nox sounded pleased.
“How did you end up like this?” Ayda asked.
This fire lizard. The Shade Seekers were going to hurt it. I tried to stop them. They weren’t pleased.
“Were you a Shade Seeker?” Alaric asked.
I don’t think so. Nox paused, then shook his head. I don’t know. The Shade Seekers talk to me. Many of the other beasts have forgotten how to speak. They use me to control the others. We stay in the valley and attack anyone who comes here without the Shade Seekers’ permission.
“Then why aren’t you attacking us?” Milly asked.
“I could tell the Shade Seekers’ control over him had weakened,” Ayda answered. “It wasn’t hard to break.”
The lizard bowed his head to her. I owe you a great debt.
“Why has their control weakened?” Alaric said.
Maybe because they are all gone from here. Except the one who is here now. He has appeared once before, but did not stay long.
“The Shade Seeker who is here now,” Ayda said. “Where is he?”
At the keep, Nox answered. He passed through the woods late this afternoon.
“He came through the woods?” Alaric asked in surprise. “Not on his dragon?”
Dragon? There has been no dragon near here.
“Are you sure?”
He looked levelly at Alaric. I am sure.
“Of course you are. Sorry.” Alaric exchanged glances with Ayda. “We thought he was on a dragon.”
“Then he’s not far ahead of us!” Milly said. “We’re not too late.”
Too late for what?
“The wizard is trying to revive the Rivor,” Ayda said, her eyes glinting.
Nox growled again, deep in his chest, and his eyes went flat. That should not happen. The Rivor lived in this valley for years. During that time, the other Shade Seekers disappeared one by one, and the Rivor’s power grew. He killed many creatures, too.
“Mallon killed the other Shade Seekers?” Alaric asked.
Nox nodded. Many of them.
“Can you take us to the keep?” Ayda asked.
Nox nodded. The Shade Seeker will do nothing until morning, though. Raising a creature is a long process, usually requir
ing hours of preparation and more than one Shade Seeker. Alone, this wizard could not do all of the preparations he needs in the dark.
Alaric agreed. “The runes he needs to write are extensive. But there’s another reason. If his dragon isn’t here, then Gustav has nothing to sacrifice.”
He had only a donkey and a wagon. In the wagon was a large object wrapped in cloth.
“Mallon’s body,” Milly said. “What will Gustav sacrifice that is powerful enough?”
He has summoned all the creatures in the valley to meet at the keep tomorrow at midday.
“All of them?” Milly gasped. “He’s going to sacrifice all of you?”
Nox’s eyes glared into the darkness. He could not do that. A single Shade Seeker would not be strong enough to control all of us at once.
“We keep assuming he can’t do things,” Brandson said.
The Shade Seekers all together could command us to kill ourselves, perhaps. But not one alone. And not one like this.
“Gustav is particularly good at influence,” Alaric said. “Maybe he plans to have you kill each other.”
“Take us to him tonight,” Ayda demanded.
Alaric shook his head. “The other creatures will be out in the dark.”
This valley is dangerous at night. Even were I to be with you, we might encounter more monsters than I could fight.
“I’m not afraid of monsters,” Ayda said quietly.
“There’s very little chance that we are going to make it safely through the valley tomorrow during daylight,” Alaric said. “We can’t risk it at night. Especially knowing that Gustav isn’t going to do anything immediately. He won’t start until close to midday tomorrow when the creatures come. He needs something to sacrifice.”
Ayda glared at him, her eyes burning into him. Alaric swallowed hard and braced himself for… something.
She finally let out a long breath. “Fine,” she hissed. “I’ll take watch,” and she stalked off past the fire and into the darkness.
The rest of the group looked at one another uneasily.
“She’s a little angry at Gustav,” Milly said to Nox, smiling apologetically.
Indeed. The elf is powerful and lonely. And angry. Do you think you can stop the Shade Seeker?
