Looking down, he saw that the redgrave roots ran along the edge of the path without entering it. There was no way that was natural, but it also didn’t look like the path had been cleared in any way he was familiar with.
“How’s the path kept clear?” he asked as they rode on. Roku was on foot, limiting their speed, but no one was in a rush now. The smell of the redgraves was soft and spicy, a relaxing wash of scent and warmth that swept over him as they traveled.
“Kota teach the trees,” Roku said after a thoughtful pause. “Guide roots. Some by hand, others with herb mixes.” He shrugged. “Is Kotan shaman work, a simpler magic.”
“Simpler” or not, Teer was impressed. To keep paths open through the redgraves would have to require days of work of moving roots every season. Unless the magic part was powerful indeed, the path represented a huge effort to keep the plant unharmed.
“Simple but powerful,” Teer said aloud.
Roku looked back at him with a surprised expression, then nodded.
“Redgraves are more common in the northeast, where Kota are born,” he admitted. “They feed Kotan people and hide Kota’s most ancient settlements. They are Kotas truest guardians.”
Teer could hear voices ahead. A handful of dogs barking. The distinctive sounds—to a former ranch hand, anyway—of cattle. They were getting close, and he waited to see what the settlement looked like.
Finally, they turned a corner of the carefully managed path and could see the opening in the midst of the redgraves. An area half a mile across was empty of the red trees beyond a few clearly managed hedges.
The settlement of the Sondar Tribe was unlike anything Teer had ever seen—and yet he could see the mirror of Hardin’s Ranch in the structures, too. There were carefully built pens to his left, a mix of redgrave hedges and familiar rough wooden fences that held pigs and cattle and goats.
To his right, a clear zone was home to tents in a dozen different varieties, with dogs and children running around in a chaotic swarm. The first building was in the middle of the tents, a round structure with a dozen large posts holding up a thatched roof without walls. A massive stone hearth in the center of the building served, Teer guessed, as a community kitchen.
More buildings of the same style were positioned through the clearing. Most of them had walls of brick or more wood built between the posts holding up the roofs, but stone chimneys emerged from the center of each roof. The round structures were alien to Teer, but he could see their virtues for a settlement without access to Unity sawmills.
The thatch of the houses also clearly drew on the surrounding redgraves, with red leaves woven through the material to help blend the settlement—the town, Teer corrected himself—into the surrounding grove.
“Wow,” Lora murmured beside him. “I…don’t know what I was expectin’, but it wasn’t this.”
Kard chuckled.
“The Kota like to talk of tribes and so forth, but it would be a mistake to think of them as less sophisticated than the Unity,” he told them. “Settlements like this aren’t permanently lived in, but they are permanent. At least one of the roundhouses will have a full machine shop, too, though they usually have to buy tools from friendly Unity traders.”
“Kard and Kard’s friends can stable their horses with Kota’s,” Roku told them, gesturing toward a long, low structure near the animal pens. “Then Roku will bring all to the Notable Shaman Tyrus.”
Teer gave Kard another questioning look, but his mentor shrugged.
“Apparently, my old friend has been promoted,” Kard said. “I don’t pretend I understand shaman ranking.”
26
The “Notable Shaman” Tyrus lived in one of the larger roundhouses, one positioned slightly back from the permanent portion of the settlement and well away from the stables, animal pens and tent grounds. A young Kotan woman sat cross-legged on the steps of the roundhouse, clad in the same corset-and-trousers arrangement as most of the Kota—but with a red silk scarf wrapped through her hair, exactly like Nia.
“Roku, what is this?” she asked, springing to her feet and studying the approaching strangers.
“This is Kard, Tyrus’s old friend from the Unity, and friends of Kard’s,” Roku replied. “Can Reeah tell the Notable Shaman that Kard has returned?”
He glanced over at Kard. “Roku will not enter the shaman’s home without invitation.” He grinned. “It’s unwise for anyone.”
“I agree,” Kard said, bowing slightly to Reeah. “Tyrus knows me by this name, Reeah. I doubt he’s surprised by my arrival.”
“Hardly,” a sharp voice said from inside the house. The door, made of clay-infused thatch instead of wood but otherwise identical to what Teer expected, swung open to reveal a squat Kotan man with pitch black hair and only one visible eye.
The Notable Shaman Tyrus wore only a loose kilt, revealing a muscular chest criss-crossed with scars from blades and bullets. A purple silk scarf was twisted through his hair and wrapped over his left eye.
“Tyrus does not know what Kard was doing on the great plain, but Tyrus felt Kard’s power,” the Kota continued. “From that, Tyrus knew Kard was coming.”
His single eye turned to look at Teer and Lora.
“And this would be Kard’s new companion, Teer. Doka wrote to Tyrus of Teer,” the shaman noted. “Now Tyrus sees Teer, Tyrus sees the Bond between two. That must be quite the story.”
“It is,” Kard agreed. “You and I must speak of Teer and his nature before we part once more. But we are here for a more traditional request of your people, to house one fleeing the injustice of the Unity.”
Tyrus’s gaze fell on Lora and froze on her for a long moment.
“Dark magics have marred a child’s heart,” he said gently. The harsh tone and stature vanished as he looked at her.
Child was probably pushing it. Teer was surprised by Tyrus’s youth—if the shaman had forty turnings, he didn’t show it. He’d fought in the Sunset Rebellions, which meant he had probably been an adult twelve turnings earlier.
“Even Kard’s people bar the theft of life,” Tyrus noted. “Girl was spared much, but the scars remain.”
“The wounds heal, Notable Shaman,” Lora said quietly. “But I am wanted for defendin’ myself. If I return to the Unity, I’ll be hung over a wardstone for strikin’ down one of the Marked.”
Tyrus studied her for a few long moments, then nodded.
“Come in, all three,” he ordered. “Thanks to Roku. Service will be remembered.”
Roku bowed his acknowledgement and waved to Kard before turning back. The house’s guardian sniffed after him, but Teer noted that Reeah’s gaze still lingered on the exiting scout as they stepped into the roundhouse.
The roundhouse was at least eighty feet across, with the central portion taken up by the same massive hearths as the other houses. From the door to about ten feet past the hearth was a single room, laid out with tables, chairs, cushions—and also chalkboards, books, pens and papers that would have looked at home in any schoolhouse in the Unity. The complex script and images on the chalkboard eluded Teer’s understanding, but he recognized a classroom when he saw one.
The other half of the roundhouse appeared to be split into several rooms of some size, with six visible doors and Teer figured dividing internal walls for privacy.
Tyrus led them over to one of the tables by the hearth. A kettle was sitting on a stone stove top, and he quickly poured four cups of tea and laid them on the table.
“Tell Tyrus girl’s story,” he instructed. “Your name?”
“Lora, sir,” she told him.
“Call Tyrus Tyrus,” the Kota replied. “Or, if girl must, Captain of the Sunset Scouts.”
“Please don’t call him that,” Kard half-grumbled. “Is that why your people still call me Lord Colonel?”
“Kard earned Kard’s title in blood and fire,” Tyrus replied. “To the Kota, titles never die.”
“That man did,” Kard said. “Kard was never a Lord Colonel.”
“That is not the business of now,” Tyrus said. “Lora. Tell Tyrus everything.”
She did. There was nothing in the story that Teer didn’t know now. The only difference was that this time, she seemed to be drawing strength from his and Kard’s presence. They also knew her story and had her back.
“Tyrus saw the mark of life-theft magic upon Lora,” the Shaman said. “A dark magic, as Tyrus said. Sanctuary among the Kota is Lora’s. Tyrus will find Lora a place. There is always work.”
“I’ll work,” Lora insisted. “I’ll earn my sanctuary.”
“Sanctuary is given, not earned,” Tyrus said. “All must work together for the Kota to thrive. Lora is Kotan now. Understand?”
Teer could see the relaxation sink into Lora’s shoulders as Tyrus spoke. The firm decisiveness of the Kotan shaman seemed reassuring to her.
“Any shaman could make that decision,” Kard told her softly. “But a Notable Shaman’s word carries weight.”
“Kota insisted,” Tyrus grumbled. “Like Sondar insist Tyrus have this house.” He gestured around them. “You will stay with Tyrus,” he instructed. “All three. Lora will find a home in time; for now…stay with Tyrus.”
“Thank you,” Lora whispered.
“It is just,” the shaman intoned. “If Tyrus be given the power to help, Tyrus must help. This is Tyrus’s oath.”
He turned to Teer, studying the young Merik with his sharp eye.
“Boy’s heart is an odd one,” he said. “Tyrus sees the mark of Kard’s magic upon Teer, the Bond woven between two, but there is other power in boy.”
“That’s why I brought him,” Kard told him. “I’ve never seen magic of any kind in a Merik before, but Teer wields it by instinct. He sees through illusions. Sees like no one I’ve ever known. Fights like I saw you fight, so I hoped you could help him.”
Tyrus looked Teer up and down.
“Bound to a falling star Teer is,” he warned. “Kard’s fate is that of the El-Spehari. Kard will protect Teer if Kard can, but Kard is El-Spehari.”
“I don’t understand,” Teer admitted.
“You came to adulthood after the Sunset Rebellions and the Midnight Proclamation,” Kard said. “The stories of the El-Spehari were quieter then. We were…legendary.”
“The El-Spehari could have no children and were doomed to die in battle for El-Spehari’s fathers’ whims,” Tyrus told Teer. “So, El-Spehari lived grandly. Loved epically. Died gloriously.”
“If we could only live on in legend, then we intended to be worthy of legend,” Kard admitted. “It made as much sense as anything else.”
“And now? How long until Kard finds a new glorious death and drags the Bondsman with Kard?”
“I have nothing left to die for,” Kard said quietly. “I know the fate that waits for me. I will avoid it until I cannot, and I will not bring Teer to it.”
“That is the most Tyrus can ask, Tyrus supposes.”
Teer was lost, but he didn’t think he was entirely intended to follow that part. He looked over at Lora, who looked equally confused, and shrugged.
That got him a ghost of a smile.
“To answer Kard’s question, Kard’s hope, though.” Tyrus studied Teer across the table. “Tyrus knows nothing of Merik magic. Not even stories. Tyrus must believe that Merik magic did not survive the Spehari.”
“That was my fear,” Kard said. “But we’re just fumbling around the edges of Teer’s power. He’s fast and strong and has senses far beyond even my own. He saw through a callipsus’s illusions and killed it.”
That gave Tyrus pause.
“The callipsus in these hills is dead?” he asked. “That will ease Nia’s work.”
“We killed a juvenile callipsus,” Teer warned. “I think we found the den of the one Nia is hunting while it was away. The young one attempted to lure us in and kill us, but I managed to hurt it, at least.”
“May the sacred groves protect all,” Tyrus swore. “A juvenile? Teer is certain?”
“No, but it was only the height of a man and stopped fighting after a few bullets to the inside of its mouth,” Teer said. “Compared to what Kard described a callipsus as being, it seems…likely.”
“Callipsus cannot reproduce without consuming the minds of many thinking beings,” Tyrus told him. “Since Tyrus knows of no missing Kotan settlements, then Callipsus must feed on Unity people. The Spehari will act, which will draw Unity eyes here.”
“Mounting Star,” Kard cursed in turn. “I won’t be able to stay long, then. I was hoping you could at least train Teer.”
“Will have time,” Tyrus said. “Must wait for Nia to return with news of Nia’s hunt. There are ways Kard can stave off that hunt and buy Kota safety. If Nia has the beast.”
“There’s an open bounty on callipsuses,” Kard agreed. “If we deliver a head, that should put off any Spehari or Inquisitors coming our way.”
“That depends on how much attention you drew in Alvid, doesn’t it?” Teer asked quietly. “You said there was a chance someone would put those pieces together?”
“What happened in Alvid?” Tyrus asked.
“Teer shot me,” Kard said flatly, to both Tyrus and Lora’s shocked looks. “I blocked it with magic, but I can’t pretend to be Merik while using magic. They were going to hang him for attacking a Spehari, but I fully understand wanting to shoot a Spehari in the face.”
“So, I took on the Bond and became his servant,” Teer said quietly.
“My partner,” Kard corrected. “The Territories aren’t safe. I’m better with him at my side than not—but we’re all better off, I think, if he learns how to move and how to fight at his new full speed.
“I think you’re the only one who can teach him that, Tyrus. Even among Kotan shamans, only a handful can match your speed.”
The roundhouse was silent and Tyrus examined Teer for a long time, slowly drinking his tea.
“Kard asks Tyrus to teach an outsider, a man who is unlikely to join the Kota, some of Kota’s most sacred and secret skills,” he finally pointed out. “Without even the full training of a shaman. Kard does not intend to spend turnings here for Teer to acquire that, even if Teer’s gifts would permit it.”
“I ask a great favor,” Kard said levelly. “I already owe you, Tyrus. But…I ask for him as well as me. There are no answers for him outside the heart of the Unity, where I dare not go. I cannot approach the Pillars. You know that.”
“Tyrus knows that,” the shaman agreed. He was still looking at Teer. “Well. What does Teer want?”
“I’ll be grateful, sir, if you can teach me,” Teer said quietly. “I do not fear what I am, but I do not understand it. I’ll have limits and dangers and gifts I don’t know, and I fear those could harm others.”
“If Tyrus teaches Teer, Teer will be half a Merik, half a Kota,” Tyrus said. “Teer’s training will never be complete. Teer cannot be a Kota shaman—but Tyrus cannot teach Teer to be a Merik mage. Does Teer understand?”
“I think so,” Teer said, his voice level as he considered Tyrus’s words. No one could teach him to be what his ancestors had been—but Tyrus could give him a place to start, for him to build a new tradition of Merik magic.
“And what would Teer do with this power?” Tyrus asked. “If Tyrus teaches Teer to use all that Teer is?”
“What I’ve done with it so far,” Teer said quickly, looking the shaman in his one eye. “I will hunt evil and help the innocent—like Lora. I don’t want to hurt anyone, Tyrus. I want to help.
“Maybe, in time, I will find others of the Merik with gifts and pass on what I learn, teach more people to help, to keep our people safe.”
The Notable Shaman laughed.
“Did Kard coach Teer on
that?” he asked.
Teer looked over at his mentor. “No?” he asked.
“No,” Kard confirmed with a chuckle. “That was all him, Tyrus.”
“Very well, then, Teer,” the Shaman said with a chuckle. “Tyrus will teach Teer. Not for Kard. For Teer. Teer will owe Tyrus, and when Tyrus calls, Teer will come. Always. Does Teer accept?”
“I do,” Teer said flatly. That seemed reasonable enough—and he liked the Kota he’d met. He’d be willing to fight for them if Tyrus needed him to.
“Then we begin at dawn,” Tyrus said flatly. “Lora, Tyrus will have Reeah speak with Lora at dawn as well. The Kota will find Lora a place and a role here. The Kota can always use Merik faces to speak to the Unity, and Lora ran a business. Hrm. Yes. Tyrus sees potential in Lora.”
Lora nodded firmly, determinedly. If there was one thing Teer knew she had, it was determination.
“Whatever you need,” she promised. “I’ll work.”
“For now, be welcome among the Kota,” Tyrus told them. “All will eat with Tyrus tonight and rest here.” He gestured around them. “Tyrus does not need six rooms for Tyrus alone!”
27
Teer awoke in the night to a sound. He had one of the new quickshooters next to the surprisingly comfortable leaf-stuffed mattress in the room, but he didn’t register a threat.
“Lora?” he asked, instinct telling him who was there.
The room slowly brightened as the woman fiddled with the strange lamps the Kota used. They were lanterns with broad-screwed tops that rotated down or up as they were turned. Inside them, they held some kind of liquid mix that naturally glowed brightly. Depending on how open or closed the lantern was, they provided a surprising amount of light.
Lora left the lamp at half-brightness and crossed over to his bed. She was wearing a knee-length plain shift one of the Kota had lent her, which outlined her skin with perfect frankness and in this light turned out to be somewhat see-through.
Teer was suddenly very aware that he wasn’t wearing anything under the blankets, keeping them wrapped around his waist as the Merik woman sat down on the edge of his bed.
Blood Ward Page 13
