by Devon Vesper
Valis sighed and held up his left hand. “It got crushed in the dreamwalk, and now it’s throbbing. I also got my head knocked around.”
Seza groaned and shoved Tavros out of the way so she could sit on the edge of the bed. “That will teach you.”
“Teach me what, exactly?” Valis asked with a small smile.
“Teach you to let anyone hurt you,” she said.
Her eyes bored into his, and once Valis lowered his gaze, Seza took his hand in hers and started pressing against his bones, muscles, and tendons. “There’s nothing physically wrong with it. Or, at least it feels whole.”
“Probably damaged nerves,” Valis said through clenched teeth. “Either that, or it’s just my soul being a bastard.”
“Let’s go with nerves for now,” Tavros said.
“Good idea,” Seza said as she started a gentle massage with her hand gently glowing gold.
“While she’s healing me, why don’t you go round up the leaders.” He paused to breathe through a wave of pain. “We just need a short meeting to go over what all has transpired and let them know I came back mostly whole.”
Tavros frowned and pointed at his chest. “And you broke your promise. You didn’t come back immediately.”
“I know, love. And I’m sorry.” Valis crooked a finger until Tavros came closer. Then he reached with his right hand and drew Tavros down for a chaste kiss. “I had to kill the Qos adherent before he raised the alarm. And I killed the anchor while I was at it. They’re in for a surprise in the morning with two strange deaths.”
Tavros kissed Valis’s forehead, straightened, and headed for the door. “You going to scry after Thyran again?”
“Yes. Not until Seza is finished, though.”
“Right. Let me fetch the leaders.”
When he left, Valis sagged against the headboard. “I feel so bad for worrying him.”
“We’ll all get over it,” Seza said in a distracted whisper.
“Yeah.”
Valis opened his mouth to say something else, but the door opened, and Tavros led in the Kalutakeni leaders, Venabi and Vodis, the Aesriphos leaders, Shyvus, and Phalin, and the mercenary leader, Jintas. “They were already waiting in the hall,” Tavros said. “You did scream the house down. I’m surprised they waited outside.”
Vodis gave Valis a worried look, his forehead bunching. He spoke with such earnestness that Valis gave him a small smile when he asked, “What happened? I never heard you scream like that.”
Valis looked from one set of worried eyes to another and took a deep breath. “I killed the anchor. Another dreamwalker found me, so I had to kill him, too, or else he could have raised the alarm, and I’d be swarmed.” Valis looked down at his hand, glad that Seza took away his pain while she worked. “He did a spell that I’ve never even thought of, and it caught and mangled my hand.”
He told them the rest as Seza continued healing him, moving from his hand to his head before checking him over like a worried mother.
“Do you know if there are any other anchors?” Jintas asked.
Valis shook his head. “None. I got the man to talk before we started battling. Either that or he was stupid and didn’t know how to keep his mouth shut.” He shrugged. “He said that in order to create a single anchor, the spell depletes the magic of most of the entire monastery, and they need time to rebuild, which is why it takes so long and why they can’t do all four anchors at once. It will take a few months between each, as the text in my father’s books had stated. And right now, they’re still recovering from Irenessa’s ascension as an anchor.”
“Irenessa?”
Valis huffed a laugh. “I told you he talked too much. Irenessa is the name of the anchor I killed during my dreamwalk. I snatched her out of a dream she was having and decapitated her. Then I watched her body convulse and expel her last breath.”
He stretched and sighed as his back let out a series of pops. “Her death is what summoned the dreamwalker I battled.”
Seza gave his hand a pat and let Tavros back into the space more comfortably by scooting down toward the foot of the bed. Valis flexed and clenched his hand a few times and nodded. “No more pain. Thanks, sis.”
“Sis?”
Valis grinned and blushed. “Sorry.”
Seza rolled her eyes and got up. “It’s okay. I don’t mind.” Then she clapped her hands. “Okay. Everyone to bed. We have an early start tomorrow, and Valis needs to not be half-dead in the morning.”
As everyone filed out, Seza pointed at Valis and wagged her finger. “And you… no more dreamwalking tonight.”
“Promise,” Valis said.
“And no scrying.”
Sighing, Valis nodded. “Not until morning.”
“And—”
“Goodnight, Seza,” Valis said, grinning. “We’ll be good.”
She huffed but headed for the door. “Goodnight.”
Chapter Six
The moment Valis finalized the sale of the Braywar estate, his army cleaned up after themselves and loaded Braywar’s gold caches and the caches of gold from the sale of Braywar’s estate onto their wagons. Then Valis led his people east. Neri City sat almost exactly in the center between the Braywar estate in Tonemor just outside the country of Ges, and the far edge of Endyer, three countries to the east.
They had to cross the entire country of Ges, as well as Ptheras to get to their destination just inside the southwestern corner of Endyer. With the near-constant blizzards making travel difficult, it took Valis and his army a month to travel what would have taken a week or so if they had been traveling during the summer.
Just as the sky lit up with a crack of lightning and the boom of thunder rolled through the sky, Valis’ heart lifted at the sight of a tight-packed, walled-in city in the distance. Hopefully, the storm clouds would wait to belch out all its snow until Valis and his army made it to the city gates. It looked to be just a short distance away, but Valis had been fooled before.
Rather than rush, Valis halted his army and dug out his pocket watch.
“What’s wrong?” Tavros asked.
“I’m not taking our army into a city this close to the enemy monastery without scrying to see if it’s under Qos adherent occupation.” Valis glanced at Tavros and gave him a small smile. “I’m only a little paranoid.”
“On this trip, it pays to be paranoid,” Tavros said. He stared off at the walls of the city. “Are we even sure this is the right city?”
“It is,” Phalin said. He sat to Valis’s left with his husband, Shyvus between him and Valis. Tavros rode along Valis’s right side.
Phalin nodded toward the sign that Valis had somehow overlooked that he assumed said “Welcome to Neri City.” It stuck up only a foot above the snowdrift it sat under.
Valis shook his head and sighed. It was in a language Valis didn’t recognize, but Roba could have told him if he’d bothered to ask. It was no wonder Tavros didn’t recognize the writing. Though Valis had no idea whether he spoke the language, let alone was able to read it.
Shaking his head to clear it, Valis flipped open his pocket watch and cast a mage light above him for a bit of extra light since the sky remained dark and foreboding even though it was mid-morning.
As he looked into the polished, mirror-like cover inside his watch, Valis cleared his mind and focused on scrying from above. When he saw nothing out of the ordinary, Valis took to the streets. He peeked in homes and shops, feeling extreme discomfort for invading these people’s privacy. It wasn’t like him, but he had to know.
Everyone seemed to be acting normal. The houses he passed had families either happily chatting or performing chores. Those in the shops bartered easily or browsed the goods for sale while chatting and joking with the stores’ clerks.
Valis then changed the way he looked at people, and when he saw golden embers of magic in everyone he spied on, Valis snapped his watch shut, tucked it away, doused his mage light, and signaled for everyone to get moving. “It’s clea
r.”
“And why are you blushing?” Shyvus teased.
“Because I purposely peeked into homes to see if those in the city were afraid or cowering,” Valis said. “They all seemed to be in mostly good spirits. And everyone I looked into had gold magic. I just dislike invading people’s privacy.”
“You can…” Shyvus shook his head. “Of course, you can see whether they have gold or black magic at a glance. Of course, you can.”
Valis chuckled and went back to melting snowdrifts. “You’ll soon learn that there is almost nothing you can’t do with magic so long as you have intent and focus.”
The rest of the journey to the city went by in silence for the most part. Only a few chatted in the ranks. When they got to the front gate to the city, Valis halted his army and rode the rest of the way with only Tavros at his side.
“Who goes there?” one of the guards asked.
“Grand Master Aesriphos Valis Bakor and Tavros Sadovin,” Valis replied. “We seek shelter for the day and throughout the night for our army, and I need to see your master cartographer.”
“Show us your magic, please,” the other guard said. “Times are dire, as I’m sure you understand.”
Valis nodded, and he and Tavros both pooled their golden magic into their hands. “We understand your vigilance,” Valis said as the guard stepped aside to pull a bell chain and called to the guard on the other side. “Aesriphos need entry. Raise the gate!”
“It does,” the other guard said. “You’ll find the inns are mostly empty. One of the guards inside will give you directions.”
The bell rang twice to let the outside guards know their request was heard. A moment later, the gate rose to allow Valis and his army entrance. On the other side, Valis got directions to the cartographer and motioned to Shyvus. “Tav and I are going to talk to the cartographer. You all find the inns and set a watch rotation for the carts.”
“Yes, Grand Master,” Shyvus and Phalin said in unison.
Once they broke off, Valis led the way to the cartographer with two mercenaries following behind in case Valis fell to a vision and fell from his horse. They rode the bustling streets, dodging people as they traveled the perimeter of the city. When he’d last looked, the shops had just opened not long before, but now the streets were swarmed with people out buying their produce, groceries, and other necessities from shops and stalls.
Everyone cleared the way when they saw the mercenaries following Valis and Tavros, but Valis paid them no mind until a little boy wailed and clutched at his mother’s skirts. “Bad men!” He pointed directly at the mercenary closest to him.
Valis stopped and glanced down. “These men are very good,” he assured in his kindest voice. “They are mercenaries loyal to me, not Qos adherents. My husband and I are Aesriphos.”
“They’re not bad men?” the boy asked. “Promise?”
Valis grinned. “I promise.”
The boy’s mother combed fingers through her son’s brown hair and nodded to Valis. “Thank you for your kindness, Aesriphos.”
Others had seen and overheard the conversation, and Valis noticed many eyes went from wary to relieved. Now that Valis was certain word would spread like wildfire due to gossip, he led the way. When they made it to the cartographer’s shop, both mercenaries remained outside with the horses while Valis and Tavros went inside. With all the paper and scrolls of maps taking up every shelf and flat surface inside, the smell and ambiance made Valis homesick for Thyran’s reliquary. He shook that melancholy feeling off and headed for the back where he saw a lone woman with spectacles perched on her button nose as she worked on a map. Her gray hair led Valis to believe she might be the master cartographer, especially since she seemed to be the only one in the shop working.
An hour later, they both left again with the master cartographer’s promise that the maps would be ready by morning. Since she had maps already made of Endyer and only needed to sketch in the path they should take to get to the mountain, she assured them it would take only a short time. She also assured them that since Valis had a rough sketch of the caverns, she could have those done by the next afternoon, as well. All in all, Valis was pleased and thanked her as he and Tavros left the shop.
“What is the plan now?” Tavros asked.
Valis pointed to one of the Aesriphos who came around the bend. “Get settled in the inn and scry. I want to check on Father, Papa, and I need to check in with Thyran to let him know we made it to Neri City safely.”
Brogan and Rylas stopped before them then turned. “We’ve already reserved a room for you,” Brogan said over his shoulder. “You’re done here?”
“Yes,” Valis said. “All maps should be done by tomorrow afternoon.”
“Sounds good,” Rylas said. “Let’s get you two comfortable so we can get comfortable. It’s fucking cold.”
Once Valis and Tavros gained their room, Valis was ready for the fire, himself. But he and Tavros stunk, so Valis called for baths for them both and tendered their laundry before getting settled in their room. Brogan or Rylas must have had the armory deliver armor stands, and Valis silently thanked them as he and Tavros shed their armor and arranged the pieces for later polishing. It was the small things that made his heart full from his friends.
By the time they had bathed in blessedly hot water, tendered what clothes they had worn to the laundrywoman, and shut themselves in their room with towels about their waists, Valis wanted nothing more than to curl up by the fire in their room and warm up again.
“You need a bowl?” Brogan asked as he knocked on the door. “For scrying?”
“Yes, please.” Valis tightened the towel about his waist when Brogan opened the door. Tavros collected the bowl and filled it with water from the pitcher at the washstand in the corner. As Tavros placed it on the small desk by the window, Valis kissed his husband’s shoulder in thanks and sat down.
The room warmed quickly, and once he was comfortable, he scried after Thyran first.
“You are late,” Thyran said as he answered the scry. “I see you are safe.”
Valis ducked his head with the censure. “We’re staying at an inn. We made it to Neri City not long ago. I’ve already hired the master cartographer, and she says the maps should be done by tomorrow afternoon.”
“Good work,” Thyran said. “Now, I suppose you are itching to finish this scry so you and your husband can have some time alone.”
The sigh that followed, and the almost sad note in his voice made Valis smirk. “I miss you, too, Thyran.”
His friend smirked. “Yes. I do miss you and your friends. Do not rub it in, young man.” Then he waved, dismissing him. “Go about your duties. Contact me if anything of import transpires. And do not forget to scry after Kerac. He is driving me insane asking about you.”
Valis chuckled and nodded. “I will after I end this scry with you and scry after Father.”
“Make it quick,” Thyran demanded. “I really do mean insane.”
Chuckling, Valis said, “Bye, Thyran.”
“Goodbye, brat.”
Valis ended the scry and, still chuckling, scried after Darolen. When he saw the blackness, Valis pitched his voice low enough not to be heard outside of Darolen’s cell, but loud enough for his father to hear him. “Father?”
Darolen whimpered. He fucking whimpered. Valis frowned at that. The sound tore at Valis’s heart. “Valis?”
“It’s me, Father.”
“I haven’t heard from you in so long,” Darolen whispered. “I thought you were a dream… a fever dream that I can’t wake up from. Am I sleeping?” He coughed, a wet splash following right after. “Am I dead?”
“You’re not dead, Father,” Valis said with conviction. “And you’d better not die, do you understand me? You’re so strong. You can be strong for a little longer. We’re just inside Endyer. We’re almost there. I promise you, we’re coming.”
Darolen’s voice sounded so desolate that Valis wished he could reach through the scry and
comfort him. “I’m trying, my son. I’m… I’m trying.”
“Do more than try,” Valis begged. “Please.”
“I…”
Valis straightened his back. “Give me a few moments. I’ll contact you again soon. I promise.”
“You always keep your promises,” Darolen whispered.
“I do when I can,” Valis said. “Now, I’ll be right back.”
He ended the scry and scried after Kerac, contacting him through the brass disc on the nightstand by his bed. When his papa answered, Valis forced a smile. “I hear you’re driving Thyran nuts,” he said as soon as Kerac answered the two-way scry. Valis stared at his papa, his heart swelling as he noted that Kerac had filled out nicely, and his musculature was starting to show great progress from Kerac’s hard training.
Kerac chuckled and let out a heavy sigh. “I suppose. He talks to you more regularly than we get to because of my schedule, and I just miss you.”
Valis sighed, making the water ripple for a moment. “I miss you, too, Papa.”
He smiled then and let his eyes wander. “You’re starting to fill out nicely. How has your physical therapy been?”
Kerac beamed. “Very well. Firil had allowed me to start strength and endurance training some weeks ago, and I’m already starting to see results. Firil also has me on a high protein diet, but he’s still making me drink those nutritional liquid meals twice a day, and will for a few weeks more. The only thing wrong with me, in my opinion, is the fact that you and Darolen aren’t back yet.”
With a nod, Valis felt his heart turn over, aching for Kerac. Trying to get his papa’s spirits up, he adopted a huge grin that stretched his cheeks. “I wish I were there for you, but I’m so glad you’re feeling better. Just don’t push yourself too hard. Hopefully, you’ll be taking care of Father before too long, and he’ll need you strong and healthy.”
Kerac’s happy demeanor turned sober, and he gave a solemn nod. Then he took a shuddering breath. “How is he?”
Valis grimaced as his stomach knotted with the question. “He’s very sick. And judging by how emaciated you were when you first returned to Avristin, he may be worse off than you were, so be expecting that.”
