A sudden rustle drew their attention behind Dravid. Rufus stumbled out into the light, his face white.
“What were you doing?” Dravid demanded, echoed by the others.
Rufus took a seat next to him, shaking. “I’m sorry,” he repeated several times. “I had to… relieve myself. I thought it would be okay, not going far. But… one of them is out there. It came too close. So close.”
Victor shook his head. “Next time, take someone with you.” He looked around. “That goes for all of us. No one should be alone.”
Dravid gave Rufus an awkward pat on the back. They had become, if not friends, at least close acquaintances over the past days of traveling. Their respective deficiencies made them the slowest walkers, always at the back.
“You’re all right now,” Dravid told him.
Rufus stared into the fire. The curse-stalker clearly terrified him. Dravid could imagine. If Varioch were like Kuktarma, Rufus had probably been warned of the creatures as a child, then tormented by the very thought of them once he became cursed. They were walking nightmares for those who bore a curse of any kind.
On the opposite side of the fire, Marshal abruptly rose to his feet. He walked around the fire and stood beside Seri. She looked up in surprise.
“Volraag is here,” Marshal announced.
“What? You can sense him?”
Marshal nodded. “Since earlier today. He’s very close.”
“How close? Can you tell?”
Curious. She must not want to let Marshal know about her Bond to Volraag.
“No, I don’t know. But I can feel him as powerfully as I could back at the war camp. He’s very close.” Marshal looked around. “Listen to me, everyone.” He needn’t have bothered. All eyes were already fixed on him. “Volraag is here. He started a war over the high place in the south. And now he’s come for this one.”
“Lord Volraag of Varioch?” the pilgrim asked.
Marshal nodded. “I’m sorry that you’ve gotten caught up in this. The curse-stalkers are not our only threat now. Volraag is here. I do not know his intentions, but they can’t be good. And he may have others with him.”
“The assassin,” Victor said.
Rufus shivered again. Dravid glanced at him. “Maybe we should turn back?” Rufus suggested. “We can’t know how many soldiers he’s brought. It may be an entire legion!”
“That is not likely,” Ixchel said. “To bring so many soldiers across the water to Ch’olan? It would be an invasion fleet. Ch’olan’s own soldiers would be fighting him even now.”
“No,” Marshal said. “He wouldn’t have brought an army. Only those he needed, for whatever he’s doing.” He paused. “We need to be ready, whatever it is. Any suggestions?”
“We stick together,” Victor said. “Together, we’re more than a match for him.”
“I don’t want to underestimate him.”
“You and Seri should be enough to stop whatever he tries!” Victor said.
He was right. But Marshal and Seri hadn’t been spending much time together lately. Selfishly, Dravid couldn’t help being pleased, but he knew something needed to bring them back together.
“And the rest of us handle this assassin,” Topleb said. “He can’t be all that bad. Ixchel and Victor will show him how to fight. Victor is the Hero of Varioch. Almost as impressive as Ch’olan soldier.”
Rufus opened his mouth as if to protest, but closed it again.
Dravid noticed he hadn’t been included in any of the fighting discussion. He had never claimed, nor wanted to be a warrior. But it did raise the question again: why was he here? He looked across Ixchel to Seri. Did she really need him any more?
Forerunner, who sat on the other side of Seri, leaned over and whispered something to her. Dravid felt a twinge of guilt. He hadn’t been able to get anything from Forerunner about Seri’s “heritage” yet. Seri nodded in response to the whisper without looking at Forerunner.
“What can we expect from this high place?” she asked out loud. “Pilgrim, have you been there before?”
Kishin inclined his head in a slow nod. “I regret that I have not been as yet. Hence my pilgrimage.”
“Oh, right. Topleb, Ixchel, can you tell us anything?”
“I have never been,” Ixchel said. “But I have seen drawings. It is a circle, with stone platforms around it.”
“This road leads straight to it,” Topleb added. “We have but to follow it. We may even reach it tomorrow. If I remember right, the road curves around to the left, goes into a tunnel, then climbs to the high place’s opposite side. The road coming from the other direction does likewise.”
“So it is actually… high?” Victor asked. “Like a hill?”
“Of course. Why do you think they call it the high place?”
“The one in Varioch wasn’t. It was underground!”
“Because you Variochs do everything upside down! It is a wonder you don’t walk on your hands.”
Dravid smiled. The banter between the soldiers always entertained. He envied their easy camaraderie.
“I wish we had more of a plan,” Marshal said a few minutes later. “But for now, let’s get some sleep. Rufus, you and I will have first watch.”
Dravid took another look out into the darkness. It would not be easy to sleep knowing those creatures prowled just out of sight.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR
“THIS IS IT.”
Talinir stepped forward. “I was here once before, around fifteen years ago, but I had forgotten…”
The high place, as it had been dubbed by the humans so long ago, looked like a pond on this side. Nothing distinguished it from the surrounding landscape until someone drew near enough to actually see it. The Eldanim once built a platform surrounding it, but it had been destroyed at some point in the last few decades. Talinir didn’t know if the Durunim had done it, or if it had just been a casualty to the general decay of the Starlit Realm itself.
“It has been quite a journey, Talinir,” Janaab observed, leaning on his spear. “I hope it has been educational for you.”
“I have learned many things,” Talinir said. “But the greatest mystery remains unsolved.” He looked at his companion. “The mystery of Janaab.”
“In the grand scheme, it matters not,” Janaab answered. “If you must know, ask the girl. I told her who I am. Or who I was.”
Janaab looked pensive, an unusual look for him.
“Something is bothering you.”
Janaab sighed. “I would like nothing less than to go with you through the portal,” he said. “I spent several years in Ch’olan. Blademaster Sakura was one of my closest friends. But… I am needed here.”
“Needed for what?”
“Others are coming. I will do what I can on this side. But you will need to prepare them over there.”
“Prepare them for what?”
Janaab found a rock to sit on. “You’ve seen the Durunim and their masters. I think they are coming. If the portals are opened… war may come to both worlds.”
Talinir tossed a pebble into the portal and watched the ripples. “Isn’t this portal already open?”
“It’s open enough for you to pass through, or the occasional curse-stalker. But it is limited. And it is linked to the other two. I think one of the other two is now open. Everything is changing, shifting. Just like she told me.”
“Who?”
Janaab glanced up at him. “I told you about the old woman in Intal Eldanir, didn’t I? She also told me about this place and what would happen here.”
“What will happen here?”
“She told me that the next time I saw this place… I would die.”
“Then… why did you come? We could have gone somewhere else! Or you could have stopped a mile away and sent me on by myself!”
Janaab chuckled. “I should have died almost two decades ago. Instead, I ended up here. I have wandered beneath the stars all that time now—if time works the same way here. I have seen
and done far more than I ever thought I would.” He sighed. “I have helped through the shadows to overthrow some and manipulate others. I have had more impact on Antises here than a lifetime spent on its own soil.”
“Then why must it end?”
Janaab held out his hand. It shook. “Once, I could say this was caused by the magic within me. Now… I’m simply old. Old and worn out. It is time for the next generation to safeguard Antises. To maybe do what I could not do. To save it all.”
Talinir took hold of the shaking hand. “Then come meet that generation. Guide them with your wisdom.”
Janaab shook his head. “I have told you all that matters. You can guide them.”
“This is not necessary! You can live!”
Janaab pulled his hand away and pointed toward the portal. “If I go through that portal, very bad things will happen. I will risk undoing everything that they’re fighting for.”
“By your mere presence?”
“Yes!” He shook his head. “I don’t know how to explain it to you. You’ve already noted that I’m disguising my power here. If I cross over, I will not be able to do that any longer. I will be proclaiming who and what I am to everyone in the region. And that will attract attention. I will be too weak to fight for myself by then. And if they fight for me, they may die and all will be lost. Marshal, though… he will not be weak.”
He sighed.
“I am old, Talinir. I don’t know how old your people live. But as human aging goes, I’m up there. I’m tired.”
“What gain is there if you die?”
“Gain? There is much gain! Marshal will come into his own. And I… I will see Theon’s face. And maybe get some answers to questions I’ve had all my life.”
“I cannot persuade you, can I?”
“No.”
Talinir fell silent. What else could he say? Janaab had made up his mind and could not be convinced otherwise. Yet it seemed such a waste, after all they had been through.
“How long do you have, do you think?”
Janaab gestured in a vague direction. “I’m not sure. Everything is coming to a turning point here and in Antises. I will try to restrain what happens here. I don’t know how long I can last, but I think it might just be enough.”
Talinir took Janaab’s hand again, but this time as a farewell. “It has been my honor to know you, Janaab. I can never repay you for helping me survive.”
“Help Marshal. That will repay everything.” Janaab squeezed Talinir’s hand with a grip surprising in its strength for his professed age.
Talinir released him and turned away. The time had come. He stepped to the edge of the “pond” and looked it over. For a moment, he considered taking it slow, stepping down and wading step by step. He took one last look back at Janaab. The old man sat on the stone, holding his spear and watching. Talinir nodded to him. And dove in.
Outwardly, the sensation felt like diving through a curtain of water. But inside, everything shifted. He left part of himself behind in the Starlit Realm, as it should be.
Talinir, warden of the Eldanim, erupted from the portal into the primary world. He grabbed the stone on the edge and pulled himself out. He closed his eyes to steady himself. After one shivering moment, he blinked and stood. All was right again. He could see both worlds at the same time.
He turned back. The overlay of the two worlds never matched up exactly, but he knew where to look. Janaab still sat, watching in his direction. The human couldn’t see him now, but he could still watch over his friend. His hand strayed to his sword hilt. With the warpsteel blade, he could fight in both worlds at the same time.
And if Janaab was right, he might have to.
Victor stared at Dravid. “You want me to do what?”
Dravid glanced around at the others. Noon had arrived. Everyone spread out along the road, taking a break and trying to find some relief from the heat.
“Seri won’t listen to me, and I’m guessing that Marshal won’t listen to you,” Dravid said. “So let’s switch. I’ll talk to Marshal; you talk to Seri.”
“And tell her what? ‘Please like my friend again’?”
Dravid wiped sweat off his forehead. Honestly, he had expected Victor to be a little dense. He was just a warrior, after all. “I’ve already told her that Antises needs the two of them together. But she’s scared. Marshal said something to her about the stars that I don’t get. She doesn’t trust him now.”
Victor rolled his eyes. “The stars again. Great.”
“But that’s where you can help! You can tell her about the Marshal you know, and how she can trust him.”
“All right.” Victor nodded. “I guess I can see that. But what will you tell Marshal?”
Dravid looked over at Marshal, who sat alone, staring into the jungle. “I can talk to him as one broken man to another.”
Victor considered that and shook his head a little. “I… don’t know what to say to that. But I’ll try to talk to Seri.” He adjusted his belt full of weapons and started off toward her.
Dravid turned to Marshal. He thought he knew what he might say, but hadn’t come up with a specific plan yet. On reflection, that described most of his decisions.
“Marshal? Can I talk with you?”
Marshal looked up. A smile crossed his face, but didn’t last very long. “Dravid. What can I do for you?” He got to his feet. Topleb and Rufus, sitting not far away, looked over at them in curiosity. Dravid ignored them.
“You and Seri need to work together,” he said. The direct approach.
“I would like that,” Marshal said. “But I don’t think she wants to be around me any more.”
“Why not?”
Marshal made a weak gesture. “She knows I can’t be the hero she wants.”
“Why not?”
“I just… it’s not your concern.”
“Wrong. I’m Seri’s friend. Her best friend.” Dravid emphasized the words. “Anything that concerns her concerns me. I’m here only for her. And right now, what will help her the most is for you”—he pointed at Marshal’s face—“to stop moping and act like the leader you’ve shown us you can be.”
“I can’t.” Marshal looked away from Dravid’s pointing finger.
Dravid whacked him with his crutch.
“Ow! What was that for?”
“Look at me! You think you’ve got it bad because you’ve got scars on your face and you want to see the Otherworld’s stars? I’m missing a fire-devoured leg!”
Marshal’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve lost—”
“Your mother. I know! Do you think the rest of us haven’t lost anyone or anything? Hailstones! My Master, my mentor, had the magic sucked out of him so that he died a withered husk! And when he died, I lost my whole purpose in life. I’m broken. You’re broken. So what? Let’s get over ourselves and save the fire-devoured world!”
“You—” Marshal started, but stopped himself. He looked at Topleb and Rufus, who both tried to pretend they weren’t listening.
Something big moved in the jungle a few feet away. Marshal reached for his sword.
Victor approached Seri. Dravid’s suggestion made sense, but he had no idea how to go about it. He swallowed. “Just get started,” he muttered.
Seri and Ixchel both looked up at his approach. “Hello, Victor. How close are we to the high place?”
“Topleb says it might be right around the next bend,” Victor answered. “But he’s not sure.” He toyed with the rusty flail on his belt.
“Then we should be prepared,” Ixchel said.
“About that…”
Seri raised her eyebrows. “Do we have a new plan?”
“The plan is for you and Marshal to work together.” Victor took a deep breath. “And for that to happen, you have to actually talk to each other.”
“We’ll work together when we have to,” Seri said, a sharp tone in her voice, “but that’s all.”
“Look, I don’t full
y understand why you’re upset at him, but—”
“Upset?” Seri interrupted. She stood. “That doesn’t even begin to describe it. He, he said he’d be willing to abandon us all! Abandon all of Antises, if he could just go look at those stars!”
“Because the Eldanim used them to save his life!”
“What does that have to do with it?”
Ixchel stood and eyed the jungle. Her eyes narrowed.
“The only one of the Eldanim you’ve met was Curasir, right?” At Seri’s nod, Victor went on, “Well, the others—the good ones—they’re kind of addicted to the whole starlight thing. Talinir, our friend, even used this kind of medicine called starshine to remind him of it. When they healed Marshal, he kind of became like them, I think. It’s always pulling at him.”
Seri frowned. “You’re saying it’s like… people who can’t live without strong drink?”
“Something like that, I guess.”
“I don’t really want to work with those people, either.”
“Ugh.” Victor ran a hand through his hair. When had it gotten so long? “But it wasn’t Marshal’s choice. They did it to him, to save his life. Look, he’s been through more tragedy than anyone I know, and yet he’s still fighting. He hates himself sometimes, but… he’s the best man I’ve ever known.”
“Your loyalty to your friend does you credit,” Ixchel said. “You have the spirit of the Holcan.”
“Thank you?”
“Now draw your weapons. We are about to be attacked.”
“What?” Even as he turned, Victor obeyed her, one hand unclipping his flail while the other pulled his sword from its sheath.
Curse-stalkers erupted from the jungle around them on every side.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE
TALINIR LOOKED OVER the high place. The humans here in Ch’olan had done quite a bit of extensive building around it.
The portal itself lay in a natural dip at the top of a hill, surrounded by a stone walkway made of hewn limestone. At each of the four compass points, a larger platform stretched out from the circle. At the east and west platforms, stairs descended in opposite directions, curving around the exterior of the circle and leading down to larger stone platforms at the base of the hill to the north and south. Each of those lower platforms were dominated by a large limestone pillar which reached almost as high as the hilltop portal itself. From there, the roads began to the east and west, descending into a tunnel on either side.
Until All Bonds Are Broken Page 36
