More rebels swelled the camp, and with them came more captive wielders. As far as she could tell, they were somewhere in the south of Calidell. At times she thought she glimpsed the distant mountains of Kemen above the trees, and she frequently overheard the town name of Emudera mentioned among the men.
On her eleventh night away from her
home, Febain dismissed her guard and came to sit by her. “You are coming to my tent.”
She could smell the ale heavy on his breath, and could see his pale blue eyes failing to focus on her. If the world was just, he’d try to sleep with her and die horrifically in an inferno of Blaze. Of course, as she was not yet twenty she would also die a fortnight later, but Artemi was willing to make the sacrifice. He hauled her from the tree and pulled her into his strikingly clean tent. It felt warm after the frostiness of the outside air and the blankets under her legs were impossibly soft.
Febain tied her to the giant, supporting pole of the tent and stood to leer for a moment. Before long, he was slavering hungrily at her breasts and moving his hands up the insides of her legs. The sensation made Artemi feel utter
revulsion, to the extent that she almost vomited what little food she’d eaten onto Febain’s repugnant head. She held it in, however, hoping that he would fall into his own execution. He moved to kiss her on the lips and leaned across her to take hold of a dagger. Artemi dodged the kiss, but was unable to escape from the weapon he held at her thigh. Slowly, he moved the hilt up and upwards, until she experienced a strong desire to punch him square in the face. Her bonds prevented her from doing anything, however, and she spat at him instead. As he was about to respond, Passerid stepped into the tent.
“Get away from her. Now,” the kanaala demanded.
Febain spun round groggily. “Who are you to give me orders?”
Artemi hoped that their argument would soon dissolve into a fight, and perhaps offer her a chance to escape.
Instead, Passerid cooled the tension. “Forgive me, Captain Reduvi, I only sought to ensure your safety.”
Febain grunted and turned his eager eyes back to her. “Witches they are, Passerid; luring us with their soft skin and innocent eyes. That pale skin hides a she-demon of unparalleled evil. I am sure of it!”
Artemi merely blinked at him. He was a very stupid and fearful buffoon. How humiliating it would be if she died at the hands of such a pathetic excuse for a man.
Corfields was a charming village, full of black-timbered cottages, broad-windowed shops and rosy-cheeked inhabitants. The late spring sunshine pushed through the grey clouds as Silar meandered down the main street, running his eyes appreciatively over the prettier girls. Three days had passed since he’d arrived, and he was still waiting upon a response from Morghiad. On this day, his patience was finally rewarded by the distant sound of horse hooves - hundreds of them.
The soldiers in simple clothing promptly rounded the farthest building and charged into the centre of the village, sending its residents running for the safety of the nearby buildings. The king certainly wasn’t taking any chances with Artemi’s rescue party. A powerful black warhorse rode round from the back of the column with a tall and dark-haired man atop it. Several young women trailed him closely.
Silar paced out to meet him. “Bloody Blazes, Morghiad! How much of the army did you bring? And shouldn’t you be waiting for news from her captors?”
Morghiad had dressed plainly for the journey, and he dismounted gracefully from his mount in shades of black to match his mood. “I’m not waiting in that blasted place a moment longer. Besides, I’ve already received their first note. It will be a couple of days yet before they send the second. They will want to be sure their hiding place is safe first, and leave me to sweat. Now, we have already lost enough time. Find your horse and show us to this Sky Bridge.” His eyes glittered wildly with the last order.
Silar was about to enquire why he had brought five wielders with him, but decided to run for Candor instead.
They marched with impressive speed into the woods and toward the clearing Silar had located. Throughout Morghiad appeared to be measuring him, considering something very deeply.
“What is it, sire?” Silar asked with some wry exasperation.
Morghiad showed no obvious emotion. “What was your business at Corlands?”
Silar gripped his reins. He’d forgotten
all about his original mission, though it naturally had lost much of its import. It did not mean that Morghiad would be any more amenable to hearing about it, however. “I went to see Artemi.”
“Why?” he asked sternly.
“I wanted to talk her round to coming to Cadra and returning to you. I wanted to clear up the mess you two so effortlessly made for yourselves.”
Morghiad’s face stayed straight, and Silar had to rely on a set of skills he’d learned decades ago to read anything of the other man’s emotions. The brief twitch in his shoulders signified anger, and his slowed breathing spoke of his efforts to contain it. There was also something else in his eyes. Relief, perhaps?
“That is none of your concern. What goes between us is our affair,” Morghiad said.
“You appear to have forgotten that she was my friend, too. And a friend to many others at the castle. You haven’t always had the best manner with women. I think you were lucky in her last life that she was forced to know you. You and Calidell need my help.”
Morghiad blinked at his response, but remained quiet. In truth, he wasn’t any worse at conversing with women than Silar. He was certainly better at gaining admirers without even speaking to them, but they both knew Artemi was a special case.
The small clearing soon became apparent, and Morghiad frowned at it. “I think you were right, general, though there’s more than one Bridge gate here.”
He beckoned the closest wielder over, who happened to be Selieni, and asked her to open one of them. She nodded eagerly, her blonde locks bobbing in an echo of her excitement. Had Morghiad still failed to tell her about the impossibility of a relationship? And hadn’t she noticed the lengths he was going to for another woman? Silar made an exasperated noise in spite of himself. No doubt he’d have to fix the problems that arose from this. They were already making themselves known in the visions of his mind.
Soft purple and blue light filled the far corner of the clearing, arcing into fronds of interwoven, white fire. It was a beautiful sight to behold, although the general still found anything to do with Blaze Energy highly suspect. He never knew what these people were doing right in front of him. Artemi had been fond of the occasional practical joke when her power had first matured, and almost always at his expense. At least he’d be guaranteed a consolatory hug from her afterwards; none of these women would offer himthat unless he sprouted black hair and green eyes. Silar continued his internal grumbling as two more gateways sprang from nothing.
“Men into four groups of fifty then,” Morghiad barked. “Selieni with me - you two with Silar and Jarynd,” he nodded at the closest wielders. And to the others: “Demeta, join with Eupith, Cydia and his men. Anadea, stay here with Koviere and keep the Bridges open. We’ll meet back here at midday tomorrow.”
The general nodded in agreement, though it ought to have been him shouting the
orders. And why had Morghiad chosen Selieni for himself? Surely that was sending completely the wrong message to the girl. Silar hoped that the king’s group would be the one to find Artemi. That would solve a great number of problems.
Each Sky Bridge had been marked with a blue, glowing symbol at the top of the arched gateway. None of these symbols meant anything to the king or his men. Even Koviere, with his numerous centuries of life, knew
nothing of their meaning. Morghiad made a note of the three icons for reference; no doubt Dorlunh would have a book about them somewhere. That archivist seemed to have an implausible amount of knowledge at his fingertips.
Tyshar bounded through the arch as soon as it was ready, and galloped upward through the tree can
opy. Selieni followed close behind with eight soldiers. All of the men had been hand-picked by Morghiad and Beodrin for the task. Moreover, three of them were female and excellent fighters with it. He hoped that the next few centuries would see Calidell exploit the underused talent it had so wilfully neglected.
The invisible platform bore them westward across rich woodlands and sprouting fields, forming a swift-moving flurry of green. Tyshar tore through the air hungrily with his great hooves, until they broke through the thick and weighty clouds. For the next twenty minutes, all Morghiad and his cohort could see was a white ocean of tiny, glittering ice crystals and super-cooled water droplets. The arc of the Bridge began its descent to the ground, and it soon became apparent from the blackened chimneys and warehouses that they were headed for the environs of Leodis. When they exited the Sky Bridge in the midst of a muddy field, Morghiad sent one of the lighter soldiers back to instruct the next units to travel in thirty minute intervals. The surrounding area was well-trampled, but from his stationary position he could see two clear sets of tracks. One led directly to the city and the other headed south
into the countryside.
“I want four of you to go to the city and find out what you can. Remember that her captors masqueraded as Calidellian soldiers. Be back here before nightfall. And try to be subtle with your enquiries.” As the group rode over the hill, he took the opportunity to call Selieni to join him away from the others, and she duly complied.
Many men might have described her as pretty; she was certainly bright-eyed and had an almost feline accent to her features, but she reminded him far too much of Beodrin for his liking. “Selieni, it has come to my attention that you... ah-” He cleared his throat. “I think you have made it plain that you desire...” How could he do this without leaving her mortified at his words? “Selieni, you are a very attractive
young woman.”
She smiled brilliantly at him. This wasn’t going well at all.
“I cannot...” He could not put into words what he needed to say. “This current situation we... it needs to be ended. It cannot continue like this. Do you understand?”
She frowned briefly, but then nodded slowly. “I understand, sire.”
“Good.” Morghiad felt a small weight lift from his load of concerns. Perhaps he wasn’t that terrible at dealing with women, after all. They trotted back to the group, where the king ordered her to stay at the gate with three of the soldiers. The last soldier, an old hand called Garadin, joined him to make a start on tracing the second trail. They had an hour and a halfto see where it led before they’d
have to make their way back, and Morghiad wanted someone experienced.
The hoof prints were clearly pressed into the thick mud; they were certainly between three and five days old. The track did not signify a large number of travellers, however, which concerned Morghiad deeply. He and Garadin followed it along a farm track, into a small copse of trees, over two hills and across a swollen stream. Shortly after that the trail ended abruptly. Morghiad sighed to himself. Now that he knew what to look for, he could see that the collapsed arch of another Sky Bridge lay in front of him. Reduvi had been more cunning than he’d anticipated. They turned back the way they’d come and, in time for their deadline, returned to see the last of his group arrive.
“The field-bound trail leads to a Sky Bridge,” he began, “I believe it’s a ruse. If Artemi’s captors have been witty enough, then they’ll have done the same at the ends of the other Sky Bridges. Selieni and Garadin, take eight men and find out where that Bridge goes. But do not open the gate at the other end. Come back here as soon as you are done. We’ll be in the city.”
Leodis proved to be just as futile an expedition as the second Sky Bridge. They trawled the smoke-filled streets and ale-soured taverns, but found no reports of uniformed soldiers or red-haired women. Morghiad felt the beginnings of desperation creep underneath his skin. The longer she was missing, the more lost she became. Feeling exhaustion pressing upon him, he rode back to the gateway in the
dim light of the morning. Selieni and her group were already back, also looking weary, but she mustered a smile for him.
“The Bridge led to the outskirts of Jesundh, my lord.”
Morghiad hissed through his teeth. This had brought them no closer to finding her at all! “We are being led from a desert to a dry river. And all the while they have her.” He gripped at the silver dagger on his thigh. “Fine. Let’s return to the others at Corfields.”
Eupith’s group were already there by the time Tyshar’s hooves hit the rich, woodland soil. Cydia looked as grim as the king felt.
“Well?” Morghiad demanded.
The dark-skinned soldier shook his head. “Three trails, my lord. One led to Torfens. The others took us to more Sky
Bridges which, as far as we could tell, led to the mountains of Kemen and the border with Gialdin. No one in Torfens claimed to have seen anything of use.”
“Much the same for us, only the first Bridge led west and the second southeast.” Worryingly, Cydia’s news proved that the Sky Bridges did not respect the modern boundaries of Calidell. He couldn’t even be sure if Artemi was still in the country.
Silar and his two wielders promptly fell from the third gateway, followed by the first batch of soldiers. His expression told the king what he was about to say before he uttered it. “How many subsequent steps?”
The general twisted his mouth. “One more Bridge that way, and the city of Jorvid.”
“How many countries do they intend to lead us through?” Morghiad suppressed a sigh. “My time here is running out. No doubt Reduvi will have his demands at the castle by the time I return. Eupith, I’m putting you in charge of the search from here. Once you have rested, start making a map of their movements for me. Follow every trail until it is exhausted; once I know of their deadline I will have you informed of it immediately. Silar, I need your help in Cadra-”
“But, my lord?” he spluttered.
“But nothing. Too many of your skills are wasted here. We’ll take Marandh and Hurrefa with us.”
The two soldiers stamped forward on their sleek, fast horses and Morghiad spun to make his way back to the capital. He bit down on his lip, dreading what he would find when he returned.
Adding to his anguish, he found no communications from Reduvi waiting for him at the castle. Artemi had been in captivity for an entire week, and still there was nothing!
Morghiad set an irritable Silar to explore intelligence from the tattered remains of his network, and handed him the first note from Reduvi. Silar had an excellent talent for reading more from such items than most people could find in an entire book.
After that, Morghiad set his own task of finding out more about the web of Sky Bridges that Artemi’s captors so craftily exploited, and marched down to the library. He found Dorlunh huddled in his cave of books and documents, his long hair uncharacteristically tied back in a ponytail. “I
heard about the Lady Artemi, sire. Terrible business, that. How mightI be of service?”
Morghiad pulled out a folded piece of parchment and set it upon the archivist’s crowded table. “We have discovered that Sky Bridges exist, and that her captors are using them to hide her. These symbols were marked on the gates that led west, southwest and southeast. Do you have anything that could point to their meaning, or help us to decipher others?”
Dorlunh examined the icons closely and sighed. “Those Bridges are so ancient now, they are unsafe. They were forgotten for a reason.”
“You knew of them?”
The short man pulled a grimace. “I’m old enough to have seen a few things, my lord.
But if it will help you find her, then you should have some of their secrets. Follow me.”
Morghiad blinked in surprise, but followed the archivist down a dust-filled corridor towards an even dustier chamber. Oddly, Dorlunh’s boots were muddied. It was surprising that the man ever left the confines of the castle, never mind his de
n of books.
The archivist lit several lamps before diving into a pile of aged folders. He pulled a faded yellow one out and set it to one side; then he hopped up a ladder to extract a broken and battered tome from far above his head. He was surprisingly nimble - graceful even. Dorlunh jumped back down and offered the book to the king. “Those symbols were not directions, but the ancient names of towns. Most of them will be listed in here.”
Morghiad flipped open the book at a random page. It did indeed have a translation of many similar-looking symbols, but in Old Hirrahan. Wonderful. “Thank you. What is in the folder?”
Dorlunh grinned. “A very old map. It does not have all the Sky Bridges marked, since several were constructed after the Era of Floods, but it is fairly comprehensive.”
“This map is older than the Floods? Is that even possible?”
The archivist laughed. “I had a friend place a Blaze shield around it. The form is fading now, but it has protected it well these last few millennia.” He was older than the Era of Floods? Clearly a lifetime inside libraries had served him well, or had made him delusional.
They walked back to the desk where
The Fireblade Array: 4-Book Bundle Page 57
