The Great Betrayal (The Lost Prophecy Book 8)

by D. K. Holmberg

  “The Old Forest. The forest itself has power which will help confine them.”

  He hoped the daneamiin were willing to do that.

  And there was something else he needed to do. He needed to understand more about teralin so that he could figure out why it didn’t react to him the way he thought it should. He needed to understand why the damahne had feared teralin. Were those two things related?

  They were questions he did not have the answers to.

  Jakob grabbed two of the fallen damahne and shifted them free of the cavern. As he did, he felt the pressure of the teralin as it returned to the negative polarity. His questions would be answered somewhere else, in another time.

  The Old Forest had a sense of age to it, and each time Jakob shifted there, he sensed resistance. He was always able to overcome it, but it required effort and focus. His repeated visits to the forest did nothing to change that.

  Anda flickered away when he appeared in the heart of the Old Forest, and when she returned, Aruhn came with her. The old daneamiin looked from Jakob to the damahne, and sorrow filled his eyes.

  “You should not be here like this, Jakob Nialsen,” Aruhn said.

  “I would not if there were any alternative. I need your help.”

  “We have already offered the help we can. We hold—”

  “I know that you hold the Eldest and that this is different.”

  “What you ask now is that we restrain damahne. Have you learned nothing from walking back along the fibers? Have you learned nothing of our past?”

  “This has nothing to do with your past. This has everything to do with the possibilities of your future.”

  “It has everything to do with our past. We were cast away by the damahne because they feared us. You asking my people to hold damahne only reinforces that fear.”

  Jakob regretted this was necessary. “There is no other place I know of that will hold them. I tried the Tower, but my brother was able to escape, and that was before he began to fully understand his abilities.”

  “Your brother?” Aruhn looked at the bound damahne again and began to shake his head slowly. “Jakob Nialsen, I am sorry.”

  “The damahne are divided still,” Jakob said. “As they were when your people were cast out, they remain divided. Raime serves one of the damahne.”

  “You have seen this?”

  “I have seen enough.” Somehow, he would have to learn who Raime served so that he could counter him, but whoever it was had managed to evade him for now. “We all need to work together so that we can overcome him.”

  Aruhn looked at the motionless damahne before looking up at the daneamiin who helped hold them. He let out a sad sigh. “What choice do we have? You have already convinced my people to help. Even if I were to suggest otherwise, they have made a choice. They have decided to prove your ancestors were right.”

  Before Jakob had a chance to object, Aruhn turned and flickered away, leaving Jakob watching with a heavy heart. It pained him that Aruhn felt the way that he did, and it pained him to think that Aruhn might be right. Worse, there was nothing that he could do or say otherwise, not when he needed their help.

  Anda sent a streamer of ahmaean toward him, but Jakob felt none of the warmth that he normally would. Within it, he detected only uncertainty, and he shared that uncertainty with her.

  Chapter Twenty

  Isandra trailed the groeliin as it made its way through the mountains. The creature remained just as large as it had been before, but it was slimmer now, taking on less of a monstrous appearance, and had become almost manlike. Wind gusted around her, pulling at her cloak, and brought the piney scents of the forest that surrounded her to her nostrils.

  She remained crouched, her merahl prowling nearby, with Jassan and Novan flanking her.

  The other Antrilii had returned to Farsea.

  “It seems to have some control of its ahmaean,” Novan said.

  “Why do you say that?” she asked.

  “The way that it pushes itself off the rock,” Novan said. “There is a certain movement to it. It reminds me of…”

  The historian shook his head. They had been following the groeliin for the last day, ever since it had left the cavern and began heading toward the south. The smaller groeliin had come with it, though there was less of a change to the smaller groeliin than what they’d seen with the larger.

  “What does it remind you of?” Isandra asked him.

  “It makes no sense, but the creature reminds me of another type of being, one that I never would have connected to the groeliin.”

  They continued to loop around the trail, following the groeliin as it circled the rock. So far, the two creatures had barely slowed, continuing to move progressively faster to the south, the smaller groeliin simply following behind the larger. Was it searching for other groeliin? Or was there some other reason for this creature to head in this direction?

  “Where do you think they’re going?” Jassan asked. He had asked the question several times already and seemed frustrated that Novan didn’t have an answer. How could he? Especially since they still didn’t know whether the groeliin had truly been changed.

  Yet neither groeliin had attempted to attack. That much implied that something was different, though Isandra wasn’t sure what.

  “You know these mountains as well as anyone,” Novan said. “Where do you think the creatures might be heading?”

  “This leads to the heart of the mountain range. There is little there other than more groeliin.”

  “If it heads toward the other groeliin, it might be doing so simply out of habit,” Isandra said.

  “Or it could be going to find the other groeliin so that they can return it to the way it had been,” Jassan said.

  “If that’s the case, we might be able to find where the groeliin remain.”

  “The groeliin don’t stay in any one place.”

  “Some have said the same about the Antrilii,” Novan said.

  “Some have said it only because that’s what the Antrilii wanted.”

  Novan shrugged. “Perhaps the same can be said regarding the groeliin.”

  “The groeliin don’t have enough foresight to do such a thing,” Jassan said.

  “I think from what we’ve seen of the groeliin, it is quite evident that we don’t know nearly what we think we do about them.”

  Jassan looked troubled but said nothing. They continued onward, following the two groeliin as they made their way along the path weaving through the mountains. The groeliin moved quickly, heading over the rocky ground, picking a way that Jassan seemed surprised by, if only because of the difficulty of the path.

  Isandra glanced over at him from time to time, noting him to be silent and somewhat reserved. There was something about following the groeliin like this that troubled him, but she wouldn’t push him to see what it was.

  The day passed much like that. They barely took any breaks, wanting to keep pace with the groeliin and not daring to let the creatures get too far ahead of them. Every so often, the merahl would range ahead, leaving them for a time before bounding back and vocalizing softly. It was enough for Isandra to know that the groeliin continued in the same direction and that they remained paired as they were, not separating.

  Any hope for relief that might come at night was dashed when the groeliin continued to make their way through the mountains long after the sun had set.

  “It will be dangerous for us to continue to follow them,” Jassan said.

  “If we don’t, we won’t know where they’re headed.” Isandra peered into the darkness, thankful for the enhanced eyesight the Magi possessed. Jassan—and likely Novan, for that matter—would also possess enhanced eyesight.

  “I understand, but it makes it unsafe. A single misstep…”

  Isandra had taken a misstep like that before and had nearly careened off the side of the mountain. Had it not been for the merahl, she likely would have.

  “I agree with Isandra,” Novan said. “
I was asked to understand the groeliin, and this is the closest I’ve come to ever seeing something that will help us piece together what the groeliin intend.”

  Isandra glanced over at him, wondering again what it meant that this young man—Jakob—had asked Novan to understand the groeliin. It surprised her that Novan would allow himself to be directed by anyone, especially someone who had once been his apprentice.

  “If he wants to understand the groeliin the way that you describe, why isn’t he here?” Isandra asked.

  “Jakob has many responsibilities now.”

  “Such as?”

  “The last I heard, he was working with those who had fallen victim to the madness, trying to salvage what he could of them.”

  Isandra frowned. The madness was a strange illness, and she’d heard of it afflicting people scattered throughout the north at least, but if it was like any other illness, it would likely be found elsewhere. The Magi had discovered very little about it, other than that nothing could be done for those it took. Haerlin had brought word from his travels outside of the city, stating that he had risked a visit with those afflicted with the madness but had seen nothing.

  If this Jakob had managed to help those people, did that mean he truly was one of the gods?

  Isandra struggled with what that might mean, and with the possibility that Novan knew a god.

  “What happens when he salvages them?”

  Novan’s brow furrowed, and he shook his head. From the tightness around his eyes, she could tell there was something he wasn’t sharing with her, but what would it be? Why would there be something he would conceal from her about the madness?

  “That’s up to Jakob. All I can do is ensure that I fulfill the task he asked of me.”

  “Why do you think he asked this task of you?”

  Novan shook his head again, and once more, Isandra had the sense that there was something he wasn’t sharing with her.

  Rather than pushing, she continued trailing after the groeliin, keeping hidden in the shadows. It became easier the longer they traveled, now that the darkness could hide her, she no longer had to worry about the groeliin seeing her outlined against the rock. Her cloak helped with that—especially as it was Antrilii-made and specially designed to help conceal one against the rock, but movement was easier to spot than her remaining still. If the groeliin noticed her chasing them, would they take a different tact? Would they head somewhere else?

  So far, there was no sign that they had noticed.

  The only thing that she had noticed was that every so often, the groeliin would pause, and she would feel pressure against her.

  The first few times it happened, she wasn’t entirely certain what it was that she detected, but the longer they went, especially now at night, she became more aware that this came from the manehlin that circled the groeliin. The power they now possessed—no longer darkened, but still present—would occasionally stretch out from them and touch her, as well as the others with her.

  It was late at night, and they paused on a rock shelf, with the moon shining fat and full high overhead. The groeliin had finally slowed. She sensed the same pressure from them again, and the sense of their manehlin washing away from them. But this time, Isandra was certain it was directed toward her. Her own manehlin reverberated softly, echoing with the sense that came from the groeliin.

  “Does either of you feel that?” she asked in a whisper.

  The merahl sniffed and let out a soft sound.

  “What should we be feeling?” Novan asked. The historian crouched toward the edge of the rock, dangerously close to the edge. He gripped his staff in his hand and leaned forward, inhaling deeply of mountain air. Novan had become increasingly silent the longer they traveled. She still waited for him to share more about this young man who had task him with chasing down the groeliin, but Novan had not revealed any more information.

  “It’s their connection to the manehlin.”

  Novan glanced over his shoulder at her, frowning. “You can feel it from here?”

  She nodded. Jassan pressed up against her shoulder, and she was thankful for his warmth, thankful for the simple fact of his presence. Had he not come with her, she still would have come, and she appreciated the fact that he hadn’t argued with her about her desire to follow the groeliin.

  Was she forcing him to do something that he shouldn’t? Did her requesting him to travel outside of the city and to venture into the mountains with her on this foolish chase require that he abandon something of the Antrilii?

  She hoped not, but it was possible. He had been pressured to do many things that were different for him. When Nahrsin had led the Antrilii south, Jassan had willingly gone, knowing that it would benefit his people. When he returned, he had risked himself once again to understand the timing of the breeding, something she still wasn’t certain they had answers for. And now, he was willing to come with her, braving the possibility that they might encounter a horde—or hordes—of groeliin with only the three of them. And for what? For the possibility that she was right about the groeliin, and that they could be salvaged?

  Was that worth it to him?

  Was it worth it to the Antrilii to possibly lose one of their great leaders in this pursuit?

  Jassan took her hand and squeezed. As he did, his manehlin washed over her, mingling with hers.

  She had felt a similar sensation before, but it was rare. The last time came when they had decided to return to the Antrilii lands, leaving Vasha, so that she could see what she could do to help with the groeliin.

  With it, there came a sense of understanding and a sense of purpose. The purpose came from Jassan, and she could tell it was intentional. He wanted her to know that everything he did still served his purpose as Antrilii.

  She squeezed his hand. “Do you feel it?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re detecting, but it’s nothing that I’m picking up on. If it’s related to the groeliin, I trust that you have sensed something about them that we should be careful with.”

  “When we had them in the cavern, when I was using the staff and the swords and the entire teralin within the cavern, I couldn’t detect them quite like this. Whatever it is, there is a sense of closeness.”

  Now that she was putting words to it, she understood what she had picked up on. Was that why she was able to detect the manehlin from the groeliin when the others could not? Was it because she was the one who had helped change their polarity, or was there something else? Had the attempt changed something within her?

  “I don’t like the fact that you are feeling a closeness to the groeliin.”

  “It’s not like that,” Isandra said. “It’s more of an understanding.”

  “If you have this understanding, then can you tell what they intend? Do you know where they’re heading?” Jassan asked.

  Were it only that simple. She pushed out with her own sense of manehlin, trying to connect to the groeliin, and yet she did so cautiously, not wanting to raise their alertness, not wanting them to know that she was present. If they became aware of her, would they try to attack?

  That didn’t seem likely. The groeliin had not shown any intention to attack. If they were going to do so, they would have back in the cavern, but they had been almost peaceful.

  Why had they chosen this direction? Why come here, if they really were to remain peaceful?

  The groeliin started moving once more. Isandra stood and nodded. The merahl sniffed.

  “They’re continuing forward,” she said.

  “The same direction?” Novan asked.

  “It seems that.” She paused. “You don’t see them?”

  “I see them, but they are little more than shapes moving in the darkness.” He glanced to Jassan, who nodded.

  Why could she see them more clearly? Why were they more than outlines in the darkness? To her, the groeliin appeared clear, their shapes distinct as they made their way along the mountainside. Was it the manehlin—or her potential c
onnection to it—that allowed her to see them? Or was there something else?

  She sighed and continued onward.

  Isandra had to take the lead, guiding them through the mountains. The groeliin moved at a steady pace, no longer hurrying along the rocks as they had before. It made it easier for them to follow, and Isandra had a sense that was intentional. Could the groeliin want them to track them?

  The longer she went, the more she began to suspect that they were aware of her presence. They might not be aware of Novan and Jassan, but there was too much pressure upon her manehlin for it to be accidental. Whatever else, the groeliin knew she was here.

  They traveled through the night, and Isandra began to grow tired and was forced to draw upon her manehlin for energy. It was an easier way to alertness, something she had not been able to do when she had hunted the groeliin with Jassan before regaining her connection to her Mageborn abilities. With this, she was able to pull on those abilities, and her manehlin, and use them to give her additional strength.

  The sun started to rise above the horizon, granting colors in the sky. Jassan and Novan followed her silently, and the merahl occasionally brushed up against her. Every time the merahl did, Isandra had a surge of energy, as if the merahl were granting her additional strength.

  When that happened, she smiled and patted her companion.

  They paused near a stream to get a drink when the groeliin paused. The creatures’ pace slowed, as if compensating for the fact that her pace seemed to slow, and her energy began to wane. Every so often, she would glance back at Novan, and would see a troubled expression on his face, but he said nothing. Jassan remained silent, as well, though she hadn’t expected much from him.

  It was about midday when the groeliin stopped moving again.

  “What is it?” Novan asked, breaking the silence that had lasted for most of the morning.

  “They’ve halted.” She studied them where they stood, overlooking a peak.

  Isandra stared at the groeliin, looking for any movement, but she noted none.

  She waited, and as she watched them, there came a surge of power, a washing of energy from them.