Bone, Fog, Ash & Star

by Catherine Egan

  Nell curled into a ball and whimpered, clutching the bag of herbs to her face.

  “Almost there,” said Eliza, squeezing her shoulder. “Just hang on a little longer.”

  “Are the Thanatosi crossing also?” Foss asked the Boatman.

  The Boatman grinned hideously and did not reply.

  “You cannot tell me?” asked Foss. “Fascinating. I have much to learn about the way of things. Not everything can be learned from books! Well, we must assume they are. I will prepare a barrier.”

  “Crossing at the same time?” Nell asked, giving him a white-faced, miserable stare. “How?”

  “The Boatman, as I understand it, is not constrained by time and space in the same manner that beings more rooted in the worlds are,” said Foss. “But it is quite beyond our minds to comprehend it.”

  Nell groaned and shut her eyes again. Eliza held her hand. Foss knelt aft and murmured to himself, preparing a barrier. The black cliff loomed up before them and then opened into steps.

  “Come quickly,” said Foss, rising. They followed him off the boat and up the steps while the boat faded away to nothing behind them. Eliza and Charlie supported Nell between them.

  At the top of the steps they faced the temples of the Faithful, great red-earth domes still being repaired since Nia had destroyed them. The Ravening Forest scooped around the eastern horizon, a green half-ring. The very land and air here seemed to thrum with Magic.

  “I wonder if they’ve chosen a new Oracle yet,” said Charlie, looking at the temples.

  “Should we take shelter?” Eliza asked. “We could go to the Faithful but I hate to put them at risk after everything they’ve been through.”

  “We will stay in the open,” said Foss. “We want to see our enemy approaching. First, do what you must to contact the Faery.”

  Nell turned the crystal in her ring and said, “Jalo, please come and help me. It’s Nell, aye. Thank you.” She looked around at them all, suddenly doubtful. “What if it doesnay work?”

  “It will take him time to reach us,” said Foss. “But the gemstones of the Faeries are known to possess a great variety of powers and I am sure the ring does what you have said.”

  He paced out the outer limits of the barrier he had prepared and uttered the final words of the spell. It formed a dome over the little group and their dragon, visible only by the slightest shimmer in the air. Nell sat down on the dry red earth and pulled her folder out of her satchel again. Moments later she was entirely lost in a physics problem. Foss looked over her shoulder curiously.

  “Ah, but you see, this neglects the Magic element,” he said, pointing at the problem with his long, golden index finger. “If you look at this problem from the perspective of Deep Physics it becomes much clearer. Matter is not only matter, it is imbued, one might say…”

  “I dinnay need to know about Deep physics,” said Nell impatiently. “That’s nay going to be on the test.”

  “Not on the test?” cried Foss. “At Austermon? The most prestigious university in Di Shang? I myself have written a letter to the President of the University, commending him. It is outrageous that they should not require any knowledge at all of the Deep Sciences. I shall have to write to him again.”

  Eliza’s heart gave a thud and a raven appeared on Nell’s head with a squawk.

  “Foss!” she said, drawing her dagger. The cliff behind them opened into steps. Fog poured up it, covering the barrier but not penetrating it. Arrows fell off the barrier and swords struck it uselessly. In the fog they saw the featureless, oblong faces of the Thanatosi, with only the slightest depressions where eyes ought to be and the slightest protrusion where a nose ought to be. Their hair floated about their heads as if they were underwater. The four companions drew close to one another inside the barrier.

  “Are you sure they cannay get in?” Nell asked, clutching her notes to her as if she was protecting a beloved child. “Eliza, why is this raven on my head? Its claws are scratching me.”

  Eliza jerked her head at the raven and it flew to her shoulder, disappearing as soon as it alighted.

  “The barrier will hold,” said Foss. He couldn’t resist adding, “If you had some knowledge of Deep Mathematics you might have more faith in the barriers of the Mancers and how they come to be. It is like asking if the sky will fall. It is not easy to make the sky fall, is it?”

  “I’ve nary tried,” said Nell primly. She glanced at Charlie. “Are you all right?”

  Charlie looked pale. “It’s just strange, aye, to think that if they did get through the barrier I couldnay change. I couldnay do a thing. They would just rip me apart.”

  “Fear not!” said Foss, becoming a little annoyed with all this talk of the barrier not holding. “They will not give up but nor will they break the barrier. You would be safe for a lifetime within it. Of course, that is not ideal.”

  “Can you make a moving barrier?” asked Nell eagerly. “Then he could just stay in it forever.”

  Foss sighed. “Those who understand nothing of Magic think anything is possible,” he said to Eliza, who smiled at him. To Nell he said, “Some permanent barriers move, but only on a set course. Charlie would not be able to set the course himself and so would not be able to move about freely. It is, as I say, not an ideal solution.”

  Eliza thought privately that if the Mancers were behind this, then barriers would not keep Charlie safe for long, in any case. Any barrier that Foss could raise, the Mancers could tear down.

  “I’m just trying to help,” said Nell. One of the Thanatosi went spinning by her and she moved closer to the center of the barrier, uneasy. “I dinnay think I’m going to be able to study while they’re cartwheeling all over and waving those big swords.”

  “Cannay we fight them?” asked Charlie. “I mean, nay we, but you, praps?”

  Foss shook his head. “I am not an expert on the Thanatosi but I have read that killing them is not a simple matter. I think it is better not to try, at least until we know more.”

  “Why dinnay we try to eat?” suggested Eliza. “We’re going to be here a while.”

  They made sandwiches and tried uselessly to ignore the swift-limbed assassins. The light drained from the sky, darkening behind the fog of the Thanatosi.

  “I had hoped to see the hanging gardens of the Sparkling Deluder,” said Foss. “They appear in the south, no?”

  “Yes,” said Eliza. “They’re beautiful, aye. Hard to describe.”

  He smiled. “You have seen much of the worlds, Eliza.”

  “I spose I have. Is there going to be trouble for you, Foss, when you go back to the Citadel?”

  His eyes dimmed and flickered. “We shall see. I have done nothing against Mancer protocol. My continuing contact with you is encouraged by the Mancers in general as well as by Aysu. That I should act to assist your friend is entirely natural. It will depend on how powerful a faction Kyreth controls. And where Aysu stands.”

  Eliza’s heart sank. She hated to think of putting Foss at risk for her sake.

  “Do not fear for me, Eliza,” said Foss. “Things are…complicated in the Citadel, but I trust Aysu. It is good that she is our leader now. And whatever the consequences, I am glad to have seen even a glimpse of this world, to feel its ground beneath my feet.” He pressed his hand flat against the earth. “So different from Di Shang. It is strange. Perhaps its

  because Di Shang is ruled predominantly by the laws of nature and the Magic of Mancers has its roots in nature, but I am weaker here somehow. I have less to draw on, or perhaps there are more forces working against me. I do not know.”

  “But the barrier will hold?” Nell piped up.

  “I can still call forth an impenetrable barrier,” Foss replied irritably. “I am a Mancer, after all, even here.”

  “Good.” Nell pulled her jacket around her for warmth. “I’m cold.”

  “Me too,” said Charlie. “This is awful, lah. I cannay even turn into anything furry.”

  “Will you stop with
that?” grumbled Nell.

  None of them slept well inside the barrier while the Thanatosi pressed their strange faces to it, flashed upwards or to the side with swift kicks, running up and over the barrier on their hands, for the thousandth time bringing a blade down. They ate most of the provisions the following day and conversation was minimal. They were all beginning to be afraid that Jalo would not come.

  Late in the afternoon the fog of the Thanatosi was suddenly scooped up and the assassins were flung aside in a golden net. Jalo was hurtling towards them on a myrkestra. He veered away from the barrier at the last minute, then alighted and stepped inside it at a gesture from Foss. With golden hair, ever-changing eyes, and the ageless beauty of all the Faeries, he looked entirely out of place in this bleak, rocky landscape. He made a courtly bow and kissed Nell’s hand, his feathered cloak swirling elegantly with every movement.

  “A pleasure!” he cried. “How I have hoped that I might be of assistance to you some day! You and your friends, of course.”

  “Hello, Jalo,” said Nell, beaming up at him. He was even lovelier than she had remembered.

  Jalo gave Eliza a deep bow, Charlie a brief nod, and then looked at Foss with thinly disguised disdain.

  “We are glad you have come,” said Foss, sounding not quite as sincere as he had hoped to.

  “Hm,” said Jalo. He looked at Nell. “You have brought a Mancer with you,” he stated flatly.

  “Ye-es,” said Nell, looking to Eliza for help.

  “As you can see, we needed a barrier,” said Eliza awkwardly.

  “No need now!” said Jalo triumphantly. The tumbling mass of the Thanatosi in the net roiled and spun several yards from the barrier. A sword cut through one of the strands and one by one, mist around their ankles, they came spilling out and back over the barrier.

  “Indeed,” said Foss a bit smugly. The Faery shot him a hateful look.

  “I’m so glad you’re here, Jalo,” said Nell hurriedly. “I was worried you…lah, that you might nay be able to come.”

  “You wound me with your doubt!” he cried, clapping a hand to his heart.

  Charlie rolled his eyes at Eliza, who stifled a grin.

  “I didnay really doubt you,” Nell assured him. “I just didnay know if the ring would work. But it did, aye, and you’re here, and we need your help! The Thanatosi are after Charlie…and me. They’re after both of us, lah, and we dinnay know why, but we need somebody really powerful to help us.”

  Eliza thought she was laying it on a bit thick but the Faery seemed enchanted.

  “Whatever I can do. However…well, there is a slight problem. The Thanatosi are devoid of feelings or senses beyond their sense of their prey and the instinct to kill. Thus Illusion and Curses, which work primarily on the emotions or the senses, are not terribly effective. And from what I hear, it is useless to kill them, for there are always more. Well, I suppose we could try.”

  “Unwise,” said Foss briefly. Eliza gave him a warning look.

  “Praps we could work on that,” said Nell, “and in the meantime praps we could have…oh, sanctuary or something? In the Realm of the Faeries. Where we would be safe, aye.”

  Jalo looked pained, but assented immediately. “You have but to ask, Nell, and I will do whatever I can for you. However, the Mancer will not be permitted to enter our Realm. And the Sorceress…well, as I’m sure you can understand, Sorceresses are not terribly popular either.”

  “We are not coming,” said Foss stiffly.

  “Oh!” said Jalo, beaming. “Well, good. That’s no trouble at all then. Just the two of you?”

  Nell nodded, giving him a coquettish look Eliza had never seen.

  “Then we part ways here,” said Foss.

  Eliza gave Nell a tight hug and then Charlie. “Be safe, you two. I’ll come for you as soon as I possibly can.” She gave Nell a stern look and whispered, “And behave yourself, lah!”

  Nell pretended not to know what Eliza was talking about. She took off the ring and gave it to Eliza. “Call Jalo with this,” she said. “Now that we know it works!”

  “Thank you, Eliza,” said Charlie solemnly. “For my life, I mean.”

  She could not reply, clutched suddenly by the awful fear that she might never see him again.

  “Shall we?” Jalo gestured at the Thanatosi and a golden net sprang from his hand. It struck the underside of the barrier and then vanished. He gave Foss an annoyed look. “How can I get them out of the way when you’ve got your clunky barrier up?” he demanded.

  Foss’s eyes grew so bright that they all had to look away, even the Faery.

  “Very well,” said Foss. “I will collapse the barrier, but you must be ready the instant I do. The reflexes of the Thanatosi are at least as quick as yours.”

  “Nonsense,” scoffed Jalo.

  Foss uttered a phrase. The Thanatosi were plunging onto them and at the same instant Jalo had them in his net, sending them rolling off with a deft flick of the wrist.

  “Quickly now!” he cried. “Nell, on my myrkestra. You will follow,” he said to Charlie.

  “Wait!” cried Charlie. “I…I cannay follow. I need to ride the myrkestra too.”

  Jalo gave him a look of surprise.

  “I’m nay a Shade anymore,” said Charlie. “I cannay change.”

  “Oh?” said Jalo. “Very well, both of you. Poor myrkestra will find it a tiring journey, I think.”

  “Hurry,” begged Eliza, looking anxiously at the Thanatosi. “Cannay you just trap them in a barrier?” she asked Foss.

  “Ah!” he said, as if he hadn’t thought of it, but Charlie and Nell and Jalo were already on the back of the great white-grey bird, which took to the sky. The Thanatosi spilled from the net and followed on the ground. They moved like a film skipping too quickly for the eye to see, jumping great distances in a flash.

  “Well, they are away now,” he said. “There is little point in trying to hold the Thanatosi within barriers, Eliza. As Jalo says, there are always more of them, the Ancients only know how! Your friend will be safe in the Realm of the Faeries. Now…what will you do?”

  “I’m coming back to the Citadel with you,” she said.

  Foss looked at her, astonished. “Why in the worlds?” he asked at last.

  “I was glad to part ways with the Mancers, Foss, but they’ve chosen a war with me instead,” Eliza said darkly. “And that’s what they’re going to get.”

  Chapter

  ~4~

  Foss and Eliza stepped out of the dark wood in the northeast corner of the Citadel grounds. Eliza felt immediately how the Citadel welcomed her, was glad to have her back. She had never really been comfortable or happy here, and yet seeing the Inner Sanctum at the center of the grounds, the giant trees around the lake where she and Charlie used to play, the flower gardens and the bright swooping birds all enclosed by the white walls with towers at each corner, she felt strangely as if she was coming home. After all, she had spent the best part of three years here – longer than she had lived anywhere besides Holburg.

  Aysu was waiting for them, hands clasped before her, eyes like dying stars. She no longer wore the robe of a manipulator of water, marked with a black crab like Foss’s robe. Now she wore all white, for she was the Supreme Mancer. Her posture, though erect, suggested a great weariness.

  “You have returned to us,” said Aysu to Eliza. “The Mancers welcome you.”

  “Thank you,” said Eliza. She hoped desperately that Aysu wasn’t involved in the attempt on Charlie’s life, but there was something about the Supreme Mancer now that made her uneasy. The peculiar brightness of her eyes, the tenor of her voice, the extreme tension of her stance, all gave Eliza the sense that something was not quite right.

  Foss bowed deeply, saying, “Your Eminence.”

  Aysu gave him a brief nod of acknowledgement and Eliza noted the approval in it. Well, he would be given credit for bringing her back and that was good. She wanted to keep him out of trouble.

  “Is Ky
reth here?” Eliza asked bluntly.

  “He is,” said Aysu. “He labours still under Nia’s Curse, though we have given him as much peace from it as we can. He is one of us, Eliza, and that cannot change. But you do not have to see him unless you wish it.”

  “Keep him away from me.”

  Aysu nodded assent.

  “I think the Sorceress would like to rest after her journey,” suggested Foss.

  They crossed the grounds together. Aysu walked with them in silence to the south wing. What was there to say?

  “I’ll have my lessons with Foss as before,” said Eliza at last. “Do you want me to study with you also?”

  Aysu looked surprised by this. “Is that what you wish?” she asked.

  “No,” said Eliza. “Kyreth used to read the Old Texts to me and…talk. They were nay very good lessons. I’d prefer just to study with Foss.”

  “Then that is what you shall do,” said Aysu, relieved. “I have no wish to interfere with the Spellmaster’s lessons.”

  It was familiar but it didn’t feel good to be back, Eliza decided. They entered the south wing and she felt herself dwarfed by the giant hallways. How had she ever gotten used to the scale of this place? They parted ways with Aysu, who returned to Kyreth’s study. Her study, now. Foss and Eliza made their way up to the guest rooms, where Eliza’s bedroom had been.

  Foss said goodbye to her in the doorway and she sat on the bed in her old room. This was the bed she had woken up in four years ago, when the Mancers had first brought her, unwilling, to the Citadel. Before she had even known what she was. It did not seem such a long time – four years – and yet she was barely the same girl anymore.

  The room had been left untouched. The clothes she had left behind were still folded in their drawers, the books she had been studying before that fateful winter festival were still piled on the table and on the floor. Her old notebooks, full of her practice passages in the Language of First Days, were under the desk. She flipped through them absently, noting how her characters had improved, and thought about what to do. She looked out the window and saw a flock of ravens in the grounds. She smiled, comforted. She was not really alone.