Victor touched his cheek. He had completely forgotten about the arrow scratch.
“Hope that doesn’t leave a scar,” he said.
“You’ll still have a long way to go to match the decanus,” Topleb said.
“Yeah, how did he get those scars, anyway?” Rufus said. “Never seen anything like them.”
“Curse-stalker,” Victor said without thinking.
“What?” “Now you have to tell us!” “How?” The squad erupted with questions. Victor lifted both hands until they quieted.
“All right. I’ll tell you.” He related the story of the curse-stalker’s attack, leaving out the reasons for their travel or any mention of Marshal’s actual curse. He enhanced Marshal’s part in the battle, but did not leave out Aelia, especially since Rufus had met her.
“Why did it attack you, anyway?” Callus asked. “I thought you two weren’t cursed.”
Victor shrugged. “The monster was crazy. Who knows why it did anything? Any other questions?”
“Why am I here?” Wolf said. He looked around in surprise when everyone laughed.
Topleb patted him on the back. “We don’t know why we’re here, little Wolf, so how can we answer that?”
“No matter how many times he asks it,” Gnaeus muttered.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
“HE’S STILL ASLEEP?” Seri asked.
Ixchel nodded. “I insisted on seeing him myself. They no longer attempt to stop me. He sleeps quite soundly.”
Seri sighed. “He absorbed a lot of magic and then had it pulled back out of him. I expected him to be exhausted, but two days? I’m worried.”
“I could try to wake him.”
“No, he probably does need the rest. But if he’s not awake by this evening’s meal, I’ll go wake him up myself.”
“The white robes will not appreciate that. But I will make sure you can get in.”
Seri snorted. That might be entertaining. She got up from the chair in the sun. Forerunner’s sanctuary was a nice place, but she felt idle. The last two days had passed in boredom, impatience, and homesickness. Seri found herself thinking of her parents more and more often. Forerunner himself proved elusive, though she hadn’t tried too hard to find him.
“I suppose we should look for Forerunner again. I want to talk with him… and I don’t want to talk with him.”
“You’re afraid he will gain influence over you again.”
“I’m not afraid!” Seri’s initial irritation faded almost immediately. “Well… maybe I am. I don’t want to fall back into what I was before you woke me up.”
“Like everyone else around here.”
“No doubt.” In her boredom, Seri tried talking with numerous residents of the sanctuary, including several of the white-robed women. Without exception, they all expressed awe and delight at being in Forerunner’s presence. None of them could find anything negative to say about him.
They made their way into Forerunner’s pavilion. Seri looked about and spotted a single white-robed woman, sitting alone and strumming on a lyre. “Lucia?” she called. The young woman looked up and smiled, recognizing Seri from an earlier conversation.
“Seri. Have you had any musical training? I’m looking for someone to join me in a duet this evening.”
“Uh, no. I am sorry to say that my university schooling did not include any formal music education.” As a matter of fact, the university had offered numerous musical opportunities, but Seri had never taken advantage of any of them. Her desire to become a mage overrode everything else.
“We are looking for Forerunner,” Ixchel said. “Do you know where he is?”
“If only.” Lucia sighed. “He came through around an hour ago, but hurried on before I could speak to him.”
“Which way did he go?”
Lucia gestured vaguely toward the western doors. “He left through those doors, I believe. I wanted to follow, but then I had this idea for a performance. Have you had any training, maybe?” She directed the last question toward Ixchel.
“I have. But I will not be able to join you this evening. I wish you success in finding another partner.”
Ixchel hurried toward the doors before anything else could be said. Seri followed, delighted in this information. Once they left the pavilion, she grabbed Ixchel by the arm.
“What training?”
“My Lady?”
“What musical training have you had? You’ve never told me about that!”
“It is not relevant to—to my protection of you.”
“What difference does that make? We’re friends too, you know! Tell me!”
“I think Forerunner must have gone down this trail.”
Seri looked in the direction Ixchel pointed. A well-worn trail wound down from the pavilion then up another small hill before disappearing into a circular grove.
“All right. But we’ll talk more about this later.”
The two women followed the trail. The grove itself opened up in a wide circular clearing surrounded by tall pines. Forerunner stood in the center of the clearing, surrounded by a group of shadowy figures.
Seri caught her breath. “Gidim,” she whispered. It had to be. Each of the six figures appeared man-size, perhaps a little taller. Everything about them appeared fuzzy and indistinct, almost like they were made of shadow and smoke.
“He consults with tzitzimitl,” Ixchel said. She drew her sword.
At the sound of her voice, Forerunner and his companions turned to see them. Almost in unison, the shadow figures left in different directions and all vanished. Forerunner strode to meet them.
“Ah, Seri. Ixchel. So good to see you. I’m afraid my companions were a bit shy about staying to chat, but I am available in whatever capacity you desire.” As usual, Seri could tell that magic vibrated through the words.
Ixchel held her sword in a defensive pose. “You speak with evil ones, deceiver!” Though she intended to sound angry, Seri noticed a tremble in her voice.
Forerunner raised his hands, palms outward. “I speak no deceit, Ixchel of the Holcan. And those you saw are not evil, merely visitors from a different realm.”
A different realm? “The Otherworld?” Seri asked.
“You have called it that, yes. When its inhabitants wish to interact with those of us in this realm, this is how they appear. There is nothing sinister about it.”
“No,” Ixchel said, her voice barely above a whisper. Her sword hand shook.
“Stop it!” Seri insisted.
Forerunner spread his open hands further. “Stop what?”
“Stop channeling magic through your voice! I can tell you’re doing it!”
“Ah, that.” Forerunner closed his eyes and gave a single nod. He opened his eyes and smiled again. When he resumed speaking, he spoke without vibration. “I apologize. It’s a natural part of who I am. I have to focus in order not to do it.”
“If the Gidim are the same as the Eldanim that live in the Otherworld, I see no reason to trust them,” Seri said. “The last visitor I knew from there was a murderer.”
“How horrible. Still, you wouldn’t judge an entire world by the actions of one, would you? Is that fair?”
“I, uh…”
“Of course not. Let’s put that behind us and move on. You were looking for me?”
“Yes…” In that moment, Seri’s mind went blank. Why had she been searching for him? Something important. Something vital. But what? Forerunner tilted his head ever so slightly, and she stared at his eyes. Four stars. What did that do to his vision? Could he see both worlds, like the Eldanim? Or… more than two worlds?
“Why are you breaking our Bonds?” Ixchel’s voice broke into her thoughts like metal scraping on metal. The harshness of it made her wince, and yet Ixchel sounded like she might burst into tears.
“I am not,” Forerunner said.
“Liar. My Lady’s Bond to me is gone. All of our Bindings are gone.” Ixchel’s sword arm shook. “I cannot even tell where home is!”
&nb
sp; “It must be a side effect.” Forerunner ran his hand over his smooth chin, as if stroking a beard. “My own power must somehow be negating these things.”
“The Laws of Cursings and Bindings are inviolable,” Seri said. “They’re bound into the very land itself. You cannot negate them.”
Forerunner’s eyebrows went up. “Can I not?” He bent and pulled up a handful of dirt. He held it up and watched as pieces fell through his fingers. “I will admit that I had not anticipated this, but it is not a surprise.”
“How?” Seri demanded. “It’s the most powerful magic we know! You cannot be that strong!”
“Ordinarily, I’m not. But for my task at the present, I have been gifted more power than I am used to handling.” He dropped the rest of the dirt, and brushed his hands together. “The Bindings, as you call them, are the weakest of Antises’s magic. It makes sense that they would be submerged.”
“Submerged?”
“Yes. They’re not gone. Once you leave and travel far enough away from me, I imagine they’ll snap back into place at full power. It might be an unpleasant experience.”
“One that I will risk,” Ixchel said. She half-turned. “Let us leave this place, my Lady.”
“No, I can’t.”
Ixchel stopped.
Seri stared at Forerunner. “If there’s any chance he can do what he says he can do… I have to stay.”
“He lies.”
“You need proof, I suppose,” Forerunner said. “Very well. Where is Junia?”
Seri glanced at the trail. “I haven’t seen her in a couple of days.”
“That’s because she is on her way home, where she will find her brother restored to her, just as I promised.”
“But you had nothing to do with that.”
Forerunner tilted his head to the side. “I did, but I can see how that would not convince you. Tell me, have you spoken with Lucia?”
“Yes…”
“And did she tell you what I did for her?”
Seri thought for a moment, recalling the various conversations she had experienced in the last few days. “No, I don’t think so.”
“Why is she so intent on her music now?” Forerunner let the question hang in the air for a moment before continuing. “Because when she arrived here, she was deaf. A childhood illness stole her hearing from her three years ago. I restored it.”
Could it be true? On the road, Junia and Cato spoke of healing miracles.
“Words!” Ixchel snapped. “Just words. You have no real proof!”
“Very well.” With an abruptness that took them both by surprise, Forerunner lunged forward and grabbed Seri by the head. He placed one hand over her left eye and cried out, “See!”
Seri’s head exploded in pain. She would have staggered back, but Forerunner held her. At first, she could see nothing but light. Blinding, painful light. Ixchel screamed something and Seri felt her moving beside her, but couldn’t see or otherwise perceive anything but the light.
Then her vision cleared. For a moment, she saw Forerunner pulling away from her. With his left hand, he blocked an attack from Ixchel with a sword that appeared to be made of literal fire. Yet his eyes continued to study her. “Blink,” he said.
Seri did. And immediately, she saw the Otherworld. The blazing, beautiful stars called to her from above the broken landscape. But her view focused instead on a group of six individuals who stood a few dozen yards away. They turned toward her, perceiving her presence.
All six were human-shaped, not the stretched proportions of the Eldanim. Yet they all stood at least seven feet tall, each one stunningly beautiful. Seri blushed at her own thoughts of the four males, so muscular they might have been sculpted to look like the peak of masculinity. The beauty of the two females made her want to hide her own face. Standing in their presence, even at this distance, made her feel tiny and insignificant. But they continued to stare at her. Their skin glowed like burnished bronze and lightning seemed to radiate from their eyes. She had no clear idea of their clothing, so struck was she by their raw beauty, sexuality, and magical presence.
She found herself trembling. All six of them projected such an immense aura of magic it dwarfed Forerunner or even the Lords. Her mouth filled with saliva in the time it took to recognize their appearance.
Against her own desires, she closed her eyes. When she re-opened them, she stood in the clearing again with Forerunner and Ixchel. The latter looked prepared to launch herself at Seri’s presumed attacker, sword at ready.
“No, don’t,” Seri said weakly. Ixchel paused, literally on her tiptoes, and looked at her in concern.
At that moment, Seri’s star-sight activated. A light blue ray of magic erupted from the ground right at her feet. She grabbed at it and absorbed it. The power felt so good. As she looked around, she saw numerous other small bursts of magic coming from the ground. Zes Sivas had many times the magic output, but this was significant. This location must be a strong source for wild magic. And then she looked at Forerunner.
He blazed with a fiery magic unlike any she had seen. Instinctively, she knew it to be similar to Lady Lilitu’s power, and even more closely related to the six strangers in the Otherworld.
“Are you all right, Seri?” Forerunner asked. As he spoke, Seri saw beams of orange light launch from his mouth and shoot into her own and Ixchel’s ears. As suddenly as it had all started, the star-sight stopped and Seri’s vision returned to normal.
“I, I think so.” Seri sank to her knees and put her hands on the ground.
“I am sorry that the restoration is only temporary at this point,” Forerunner said. “I need to draw more power to finish the job. This is why I ask you to stay. I need time.”
Ixchel knelt beside Seri and put a hand on her shoulder. “My Lady?”
“I’ll be all right.” She looked up at Forerunner. “Who were they?”
“What?”
“The six people in the Otherworld. Who were they?” Her mind whirled with the impact of what she had seen. Six unbelievably powerful individuals. Six.
“Who do you think they are?”
“I don’t know. They were like no one I’ve ever seen. They—” Seri could not think of the right words to say.
Forerunner reached down and took Seri’s arm. With Ixchel, he lifted her back to her feet. “You will learn,” he said. “You will learn. It is your heritage, after all.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
TALINIR GROANED. KEEPING his eyes down at all times turned out to be extremely difficult. Janaab rescued him on frequent occasions.
“If only the terrain were more interesting to watch,” he grumbled.
“About that…”
Talinir looked at his companion. “About what? This is the Starlit Realm. It has been this way for hundreds of years.”
“Hmm.”
“What does that mean?”
Janaab cocked his head. “How old are you, Talinir? How long have you been a warden?”
“I am forty-seven years, as you measure them in the primary world. I have been a warden for twenty-three.”
“And in all those years, how far have you wandered in this world?”
“I wandered some distance in my younger years, but since becoming a warden, my duties keep me within a day’s journey of Intal Eldanir… until I promised to help Marshal.”
“Have you ever been in the mountains?”
“I’ve… been in the foothills. I’ve never gone very high or deep.”
“Then I would like to suggest a detour on our journey north.”
“Into the mountains?”
“You wanted a change of scenery.”
“But isn’t time of the essence? For both of us?”
“I think we can afford a few days.”
“But why? What purpose would it serve?”
Janaab tapped his spear against a rock and looked ahead. “I’ve been here less time than you’ve been a warden. But in that time, I’ve traveled further than you have.
I’ve been to the mountains.”
“And?”
“And there is something there that you need to see.”
Talinir did not know what to think. He could not believe a human knew more about the Starlit Realm than he did. And yet… he never had been to the mountains. He considered it a time or two before his appointment as warden. But then his time had been spent more in the joy of the stars. When he held no worries about the future. Before he even heard the name Durunim.
CHAPTER THIRTY
“I HAD IT back.” Seri pulled her pillow toward her and squeezed it. “It was glorious.” Forerunner had dismissed them without further explaining anything. Yet Seri still luxuriated in the afterglow of having her power back.
“So you have said.” Ixchel straightened the mattress on the floor, looked it over with a critical eye, then sat on it. She reached for her braided hair.
“Oh, let me help,” Seri said. She climbed off the bed and hurried to Ixchel’s side. She carefully removed the two green feathers that Ixchel valued so highly, and set them aside. Then she set to work on the braid itself.
“How do you get this so tight?” she asked. “I’ve never been able to get my hair to behave this way.”
“It is… my grandmother taught me.”
“Grandmother? Not your mother?”
“I never knew my mother. She died when I was born.”
“Oh.”
Seri remained quiet for a few minutes while she worked on the braid.
“So… musical training?”
Ixchel sighed. “You will not let this go, will you?”
“Not a chance.”
Ixchel gestured. “Bring me my pack.”
Seri heaved Ixchel’s pack and handed it to her. She grinned in anticipation. Ixchel rolled her eyes and opened the pack. From within, she drew a long item, wrapped tightly in multiple layers of cloth and bound with twine. She untied the twine and removed the cloth in precise movements. Seri almost reached out to help out of impatience.
With a gentle touch so different from her usual brusqueness, Ixchel lifted out a wooden device around a foot and a half long. Carved primarily from black walnut, the instrument boasted a wide mouthpiece at one end and two rounded chambers, one much shorter than the other. Ixchel positioned her fingers on either side, placing three fingers of each hand over corresponding holes.
Until All Bonds Are Broken Page 14
