Battlefield of the Sacred Land

by Mark E. Tyson

  “What is it?” Gondrial asked.

  “I thought I saw an arm with the phylactery, placing it there.” She pointed to the spot.

  Gondrial shook his head. “No, he planned this. He killed the Drasmyd Duil behind him with intent to raise them back up afterward. He also picked a fight knowing we would do the deed for him and kill him.”

  “How would he know that for certain?” Shey asked.

  “Well, I can’t believe he had help. That wouldn’t make any sense. He was a meticulous planner. Rest assured, he had this planned out. If we had not killed him, the dragons he knew were about to attack, would have.”

  “Perhaps you’re right,” she conceded. “Come, we will go to the gardens and tell the others the bad news.”

  Shey’s melancholy mood faded not long after she had relayed the news of Naneden’s transformation. It had been so long since any of them could bask in the sun and smell the sweet fragrances of spring. She decided she was entitled to some enjoyment, especially after what she had just learned about Naneden. The gardens included several pools of water in a cascade, designed to water the plants, but they were large enough where one could also wade and relax in them. Tatrice and Bren had discarded their armor and were in their skivvies, splashing one another. Fayne and Deylia had found a pool to get into as well. Apparently, Vesperin had declined to join them and was nowhere to be seen, probably praying.

  “Come on,” Gondrial said, grabbing ahold of Shey’s hand and pulling her toward a large pool one level up from the overgrown walkway.

  “No, Gondrial. Stop.” But she quickly realized she was not trying very hard to get away. Gondrial let go of her hand and stripped to his undergarments, and he also removed his shirt. He was even more muscular than she remembered. She quickly averted her eyes, trying not to look at him. “For the love of the gods, Gondrial. What are you thinking?”

  “Get in here!” he said. “That’s what.”

  “No, it’s still too cold out. That water must be freezing.”

  “You would think so, but no. The sun stays on this side of the palace all day and the walls block the wind. It’s actually quite warm, as warm as the heated pools of Cedar Falls.”

  Gingerly, she felt the water with her hand, and he was right—it was quite warm. He abruptly grabbed her arm and pulled her in. She slipped and ended up fully in the water face to face with a jubilant Gondrial. He leaned in close. She felt the impulse to flee.

  “Is this the right time?” he said. Then he pressed his lips against hers.

  She pushed him away. “No, it most certainly is not!” she said, and then she unexplainably leaned in to kiss him back “But it will do.”

  Nightfall had come entirely too fast for Shey. That is, until they all found a wonderful spot in the gardens for a large fire and began cooking supper. The high walls and the ruins of the palace hid them and their fire perfectly. As dusk faded into night, the garden stayed relatively warm and the stars all came out. Crickets began to chirp, and for a moment, Shey forgot about all the cares of the world. Apparently, Gondrial had too. He tied his shirt around his neck but didn’t put it on. Bren and Tatrice, freed from guilt by Dorenn, held each other close as newlyweds should. Shey was glad Tatrice was no longer fighting her feelings. Shey’s eyes went to Fayne, who in turn kept an eye out for Trendan patrolling high up on the palace wall. Vesperin was still alone in gardens somewhere. Deylia sat beside Fayne, whittling a long stick to a point with her dagger, preparing to roast something in the fire, no doubt. Snoring happily nearby, Seancey had found a good place in the tall grass for a nap.

  Gondrial strolled over to the wall where Trendan was patrolling. “Trendan, we are about to prepare supper. Why don’t you come down? Shey and I put a ward around the gardens earlier. I think we are safe.”

  Trendan knelt. Shey saw him fix Fayne within his gaze, and then he turned away, pretending he was looking over the ruins of the city. “I will come down for a bite when everyone has finished. I feel a lot safer patrolling this wall. I wouldn’t want anything to sneak up on us.”

  “Suit yourself,” Gondrial said, and then he rejoined Shey.

  “I think he is avoiding Fayne,” Shey whispered in Gondrial’s ear. “I saw him sneak a look at her just now when you were talking to him.”

  He nodded. “Is Vesperin avoiding her too? I haven’t seen him since before the pools.”

  Shey looked around apprehensively. Normally she did not worry about the cleric., but he had been gone a long time.

  “Ask Trendan about him,” she instructed Gondrial.

  Gondrial went back to the wall. “Trendan, do you see Vesperin?”

  “Aye, he’s made an altar out of a piece of broken wall. He’s fine.”

  “Good, thanks,” Gondrial said, and then rejoined Shey. “He’s fine. Probably praying. He was worried that he was losing touch with Loracia, remember?”

  “Aye, I remember. I only wanted to make sure he was safe,” Shey responded.

  Tatrice slowly pulled her arm out from under Bren’s muscular torso and sneaked deeper into the gardens, away from Trendan’s patrolling eyes. The moon was bright and full and the gardens were illuminated well, so she had to be particularly sneaky to avoid being seen. It had been a perfect day in the gardens, but deep down her soul was conflicted. Fayne had dropped a major secret on her, and she wanted answers. Was Kimala really her mother? The woman, although she was not herself at the time, killed Sanmir! Lady Shey and Sylvalora said they knew my mother. They told me so, back in the bathhouses on the Southern Road, she thought. Were they speaking of Kimala? If I could catch up to the woman and somehow save her from the curse Naneden has bestowed upon her, perhaps she would remember the song she used to sing to me to get me to fall asleep? That would prove it once and for all! I have to find her. I have to try! She sneaked back to the camp and waited for Trendan to patrol to the far reaches of the wall. The half-elf almost saw her when Seancey appeared to relieve him, but she remained still and his eyes passed her by. She carefully gathered up her pack and collected the large leather and burlap bag that contained her white dragon knight armor, and tried her best to minimize the clinking. The bag Shadesilver had given her to carry her armor in made it weigh almost nothing. Once out of sight of the camp and under the cover of several weeping willow trees, she quickened her pace. The gardens stretched on farther than she realized, and when she did reach the end of them, a tall wall impeded her progress. She felt along the edge of it until she came to a rusty, weed and vine choked gate. She tried to push it open, but it squealed loudly into the quiet of the night. She stopped trying to open it. The noise it was making would surely draw attention, so instead she lowered her pack and armor over it and climbed it. There was sufficient room above it to find her way over.

  When she picked up her things, Tatrice looked back into the gardens. Bren will probably try to follow me, she thought. Her heartbeat quickened. He would come with me if I asked him, but he may also try to talk me out of it. The Sacred Land and defeating Kambor and now Naneden is more important. She could hear him now. She reached in her pack and took out her shining white Lora Daine. She was tempted for a moment, but instead she put it back into her pack. I will see him again. He isn’t going to hate me for leaving. There was a dragon knight spell that allowed one to follow the trail of a Lora Daine, she knew. If she was going to use her dragon stone to travel or call upon Shadesilver, she was going to have to get far enough away from Old Symbor so his own stone would not be able to trace the path of hers.

  “Are you going to call upon your dragon?”

  Tatrice started at the sound of a feminine voice coming from the dark of the other side of the rusted gate. “What, who’s there?”

  Deylia lifted herself over the the gate and stopped, a bright smile on her face. “Me, Deylia.”

  At first, Tatrice was irritated at being followed, but then she realized it might be to her advantage. “Deylia, go back to camp. I’m leaving. Will you tell Bren and the others I will find them
later. There’s something I have to do.”

  Another figure climbed over the gate. It was Fayne. “Aye, I have a feeling it’s the same task I must do.”

  “What are you doing here?” Tarice asked.

  “The same as you. I am going after my mother. Although, we might have different reasons for finding her.”

  Tatrice looked at Deylia. “Are you going back to tell everyone in the morning or what?”

  “I’m going with you two,” Deylia replied.

  “There is no two of us!” Tatrice said. “I’m going alone.”

  “Are you traveling by dragon stone or dragon, then?” Deylia asked.

  “No, neither. If I use the stone, Bren will be able to trace me and follow.”

  “Then you are not going alone,” Deylia said.

  Tatrice stood staring at Deylia’s sandy blonde hair for a moment. “I’m confused, why would you come with us? This doesn’t concern you.”

  “Lady Shey and Gondrial are powerful wielders, and Trendan, Bren, and Seancey are powerful warriors. Plus they have a cleric of Loracia with them. I don’t think they need me. Any illusion or anything else they run into is no match for them. You and Fayne, however, are not only more interesting, but you are also more likely to need me.”

  Tatrice often felt the same way around the others. “All right, but let me be clear, this is my side trek. You two will listen to me.”

  Deylia shrugged. “Fine by me.”

  Tatrice looked to Fayne. “Fine by me too, as long as your intentions are not to hunt our mother down and kill her.”

  Tatrice sighed with irritation. “It isn’t,” she said between clenched teeth, hoping Fayne would still believe her.

  Fayne nodded. “All right, what’s our plan?”

  “We get far enough out of Old Symbor for me to use my dragon stone. We will go to the last place we saw her and see if we can pick up her trail,” Tatrice said.

  “Will your dragon stone take all of us?” Deylia asked.

  She sized both girls up. “I don’t think we will have any trouble.” She remained silent for a moment while she looked at Fayne, and then she asked, “What about Vesperin?”

  “We had a fight about Tre . . . we had a fight. He isn’t speaking to me. It serves him right if I leave him behind without a word. Maybe it will make him think.”

  Tatrice nodded. “We will probably be followed, so be careful where you step and what you leave behind.”

  Deylia and Fayne nodded.

  “Gather your things,” Tatrice said. “And stay close. I will be moving at a brisk pace.”

  Chapter 22: Battlefield

  Trendan bent down on one knee to examine the ground. “This is indeed the way they went.” He stood back up, his face twisted in thought.

  “What? What else?” Lady Shey asked.

  “I don’t think they’re wanting to be followed. I don’t see any signs of struggle and it appears that one of them clumsily tried to rub out their tracks.” He pointed to two instances of partial footprints scattered aside. “Look here and there. This is the work of a branch complete with leaves being swept across the open ground. One of them brushed these footprints.”

  “Why would they sneak off in the middle of the night?” Gondrial asked. “It’s not like . . . well . . . any of them.” He put his hand on Vesperin’s back. “Even if you had a fight, Fayne wouldn’t slink off like this.”

  “Fayne is an expert tracker,” Trendan said. “She also knows how I track. If she wanted to disappear, I think she could do a much better job at fooling me than this.”

  “You think there may be foul play, then?” Shey asked.

  “Here,” Trendan said. “The tracks go into a circle and then disappear. It looks as if they all stood here together.”

  “That’s because they did,” Bren said. “They used Tatrice’s Lora Daine. They could be anywhere by now.”

  “Can you use yours and trace their path?” Gondrial asked.

  Bren took out his Lora Daine and whispered some words, but nothing happened. “She probably knew I would try this. That’s why she waited to get out of town; it’s been too long for my stone to pick up her trail and follow her.”

  “Wait,” Shey said. “My mother once taught me a trick with her Lora Daine. Gather together.”

  “My stone isn’t big enough to carry all of us, Shey,” Bren said. “I think I know what you’re going to try, and I think you’re going to break my dragon stone.”

  “Nonsense.” Shey winked at him and cast her spell. The stone expanded three sizes and appeared as if it might crack and split open. Trendan winced when he caught a glimpse of Shey’s worried expression. There was a sharp cracking sound, and Trendan fully expected to see the stone in pieces when he opened his eyes. He opened his eyes, and the stone was indeed in three pieces.

  “I’m so sorry about that,” Shey said to Bren. She handed him the broken stone back.

  He let it drop from his palm. “It’s of no use to me now. It seems magic can’t solve everything.”

  Shey gave him a hard look.

  “Where did it take us?” Gondrial said, looking around. “It looks like we went deeper into the Sacred Land.” His eyes abruptly became big, and his face twisted in panic. He grabbed ahold of Shey’s arm and led her to the nearest cover, which happened to be a barren boulder. Trendan didn’t look to see what Gondrial was looking at; he was smart enough to just follow him to cover. Vesperin and Bren also had the presence of mind to follow. The sky began to darken, and soon Trendan saw why. Hordes of Dramyd and Drasmyd Duil were blocking the light of day as they flew across the area.

  “How did we end up way out here?” Gondrial said. “Is this the way the girls went?”

  Trendan sneaked back out to the area where they first appeared—the creatures flying overhead seemed to not care—and he began to examine the ground. He circled around, got down on one knee, and scrutinized the surroundings, but he saw nothing in the way of footprints or hints that anyone but them had arrived at that spot. “I don’t see any sign of them if they did.”

  “It’s possible the Lora Daine took us off to the side when Shey manipulated it,” Bren said. “We could be leagues away from where the girls traveled.” His voice still had a hint of anger.

  “I said I was sorry. It was worth a try, wasn’t it?” Shey said.

  “Of course it was,” Gondrial said. “We are probably closer to them than we think.”

  “What now?” Bren asked. “Do we go after the girls or go in the direction of those Dramyds?”

  Lady Shey gauged the landscape. “I think we know for certain the girls didn’t come through here. It might be better at this point for us to complete our mission. I think the girls can take care of themselves, and it’s obvious they went off for a reason. I’m guessing they are going after Kimala.”

  “So we go after the Dramyds and see where they lead,” Gondrial said.

  “They will lead us to Kambor,” Bren said.

  “I agree,” Vesperin said as he straightened out his robes.

  Lady Shey bent down and scooped up a handful of Sacred Land dirt. Trendan watched as she used the essence within to cast a vision spell. He knew it was a vision spell because his eyes readjusted. “There!” she said, pointing. “A pack of the Unseen running behind.”

  “Why aren’t they attacking us?” Vesperin asked.

  “They know we’re here. You can bet on that,” Gondrial said. “They are being summoned. I believe they have a higher priority than us at the moment.” He began walking in the same direction as the Dramyds were flying. “We will get as close as we can to find out what’s going on up there, and then we will go back to the portal.”

  “Which one?” Shey asked. “The Triangle or the Migarath Portal?”

  “Whichever is the closest,” he replied.

  They traveled across the Sacred Land as fast as they could carry themselves. With each stop for rest, Shey and Gondrial spoke of how much the essence had returned to the barren land
. They even came across patches of grass and trees with leaves budding on them. At last, by the banners flying, they came upon the camping armies of Scarovia.

  “Where are we exactly?” Gondrial asked.

  “By my estimates, southwest of the old Temple of the Oracle and just northeast of the ruins of Gondolan in the southernmost corner of the Sacred Land,” Trendan answered.

  “I should have known,” Gondrial said. “This was where the worst, most intense fighting was happening during the War of the Oracle. Remember? The battle of Gondolan was particularly brutal, and it’s where the blight of the Sacred Land emanated from, spreading to the rest of the area until the mindwielders stopped it.”

  Shey had a grim face. “I remember. It makes sense this is where Kambor would want his new temple. The land under our feet is going to regenerate first.”

  “And regenerate intensely,” Gondrial added.

  “It appears to me that this army is lining up to attack. I can see the formations,” Seancey said.

  “Who would they be fighting? There is no way Dorenn’s Trigothian army could get here so fast unless they figured out that travel spell Naneden used on the army of the West,” Gondrial said.

  “Not very likely. Morgoran said it involved dark essence and neither he nor Ianthill would attempt it if that were the case,” Shey said.

  “What are those? The dark images in the distance?” Vesperin asked.

  Trendan strained to see what Vesperin was looking at. The unlife were moving across the landscape. The ghost ships Trendan had seen in Darovan were scattered across the barren landscape.

  “The unlife. They are far out in the distance, approaching the army from the opposite side. I can just barely make out where they are going,” he said. “The ghost ships from Darovan we were telling all of you about are out there; that’s the dark spots. The Dramyd and Drasmyd Duil are circling in on them.”

  “Are they joining forces?” Gondrial inquired.