“What will you do?” Jez asked.
“Rebuild, eventually,” Galine said. “We are not so soft that we actually need to live in buildings. Perhaps Welb had a point.”
“What happened to him?” Jez asked. “I didn’t see him after the battle.”
“Perhaps he wanted to avoid confronting Aniel.”
“I did,” Welb said as he came out of the trees. Some of the beast men came after him. “You’ve seen me, though. So have many others, and I’m not so arrogant as to believe I can hide from a high lord of the pharim who has decided to look for me.”
There was a laugh that seemed to come from everywhere at once. Lizards swarmed in front of Welb, and what had to be a hundred flying insects landed on top of them. The animals swirled together before resolving into the form of Aniel. The beast men gasped and took a step back. Welb started to shake but controlled himself after a second. Aniel smiled.
“Did you think you had hidden from me before?”
Welb blinked at him. “You knew?”
Aniel inclined his head. “You are no longer a Beastwalker, and you did not claim to be.”
“I was afraid you would be angry.”
“Your punishment was given when you were cast from the Keep of the Hosts. I want nothing more from you. If you wish to live among the beast men, I have no objection.”
“Thank you, Lord Aniel.”
The high lord of the Beastwalkers nodded once. Then, his form exploded into a cloud of insects, all of which flew in a different direction.
“But what about Sharim,” Osmund asked once Aniel had gone. “What’s to stop him from coming back?”
“He can’t,” Jez said. Osmund looked at him. “Do you remember what Villia said when I was going to follow Shamarion into the abyss? You can’t go into the abyss of your own free will and come out again the same way. He’s gone.”
“Unless he’s summoned,” Lina said.
“What do you mean?”
She wrinkled her nose at him. “Jez, six month ago, Sharim tried to summon an army at Rumar. Today, he tried to summon one here. Are you sure he didn’t succeed sometime between then and now?”
“Are you saying there could be a demon army out there?”
She nodded. “One that might have the ability to summon him back.”
“If he comes back here,” Grita said as she walked up next to Welb, “we’ll be ready.”
“You’re not coming back?” Jez asked.
She shook her head and looked over her shoulder at Toden who was helping to clear away some of the rubble to make way for new houses. “It was real beast mind that took us. It might have been brought on by Aniel’s condition, but that doesn’t make it false. We can’t go back.”
“Maybe if I spoke to Horgar,” Jez started.
She shook her head. “Our place is here. We’ll guard it and leave the rest of the world to you.”
“I’m staying too,” Osmund said.
“What?”
Osmund raised a hand. “Not forever. Just long enough to see if I can find some balance with me and Ziary. I have a feeling we’ll need it.”
Jez thought about that for a second. He’d started to hope this was all over, but deep down, he’d known it was a fantasy. Sharim would not have fled into the abyss without a plan to escape. Whether demonic or human, Sharim had allies. This wasn’t over, but for today, at least, they had won.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gama Ray Martinez lives near Salt Lake City, Utah. He moved there solely because he likes mountains. He collects weapons in case he ever needs to supply a medieval battalion, and he greatly resents when work or other real life things get in the way of writing. He secretly hopes to kill a dragon in single combat one day and doesn't believe in letting pesky little things like reality get in the way of dreams. Find him at http://gamarayburst.com/ and http://www.facebook.com/gamarayburst.
Beastwalker (Pharim War Book 3) Page 18
