He opened his mind to the living souls among the fallen banthers. Nothing. “They’re all dead.” With a quick snap of the reigns, he forced the stallion into a gallop moving faster toward the Tree of Life.
For a quarter mile, banthers littered the forest floor, none living.
He followed the path where it opened into an airy glade. The same glade where General Demos stood frozen by a magic he couldn’t begin to comprehend.
General Demos and the sansan warriors galloped into the clearing. This time the general didn't freeze.
Dead banthers, sometimes three deep, littered the forest floor leading to the Tree of Life. A fatal crack split the tree in half exposing red pulpy wood.
He opened his mind to any living souls and gasped.
A dim sky-blue soul thread surrounding the tree. Despite whatever force had attacked, the tree lived. Behind the tree, another soul stumbled out from behind its great trunk. Unlike Zeke's soul thread, the figure glowed with a shade of blue deeper than the Tree of Life.
The figure stumbled past the wrecked trunk clutching a spear adorned with skulls.
“Tarbin. You’re alive?”
The banther’s shoulders sagged. Tarbin dropped the spear. Blood streaked Tarbin’s silver fur.
He’d watched the banther die before his eyes. Had Zeke saved Tarbin? “What happened?" He said "Where’s Zeke?”
Tarbin gazed ahead wearing a stunned expression. “Tarbin not know. Zeke go through hole and chase away creatures.”
“What sort of creatures?”
Tarbin knelt and scooped up a handful of rich soil. The banther pointed to a hard-shelled bug crawling atop the dirt. “Like this.”
A swarm of insects? That didn’t make any sense. “Insects?”
Tarbin nodded and dropped the soil. The banther's arms stretched out. “Bigger than Tarbin.”
His thoughts drifted back to a conversation with the visitor. Aurelia had warned of the ickaret. Was Tarbin describing the ickaret? He traded a worried glance with General Demos. “Are any banthers living?”
Tarbin’s shoulders drooped. “Tarbin live.”
His stomach sank. “I’m sorry.”
“You help Zeke?” Tarbin said.
Could he? He hoped Zeke would help him.
General Demos faced him. “You said this place was special. That it was easy to build a portal here."
He nodded. "That's what Zeke told me."
“Can you try?”
“Try to build a portal? I don't know how.”
The soft glow from the Tree of Life hummed like a beacon behind Tarbin.
“The tree…,” he said under his breath. “That’s it.”
“Explain,” Demos said.
He dismounted the black stallion and stepped over the corpses. Focusing his mind on the tree’s fading soul thread, he pulled on its aura and mingled it with his own. In his mind, he imagined a doorway to another place. Energy surged through him and he gasped.
Beside the Tree of Life, a pinpoint of silver light popped into existence. The air hummed and the light broadened. A moment later, a circular portal rimmed with silver hummed before him.
Through the doorway, blue sky and a shining sun cast a warm glow across the glade.
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
Maylin’s Gate
Inside Trace's preserve, radiant light bathed the grove. Robins fluttered among the pine trees and a comforting gurgle rolled along the brook. A pair of honey bees buzzed around blooming daisies laden with pollen.
Danielle circled the triangular gate. A structure symbolizing the Brotherhood's greatest fear. She rubbed her chin and checked the connections for the hundredth time. If she had to check them a hundred times more, she would. She wouldn’t rest until the portal to Maylin opened. She would see the heartwood grove with her own eyes and smell its sweet nectar with her own nose.
At the apex of the triangular structure, Trace’s sphere hummed inside a socket that fit like a glove. Elan and Lora’s spheres blazed in the lower right and left sockets. Black metal struts decorated with alien symbols held it all together. Despite all their attempts, no gateway appeared.
She folded her arms and let go a held breath. “Why won’t the gate work?”
A slight smirk crossed Keely’s face. “Centuries of hiding the secrets surrounding this hunk of metal and it won’t even turn on.”
“Maybe we’ve built it wrong,” Brees said while focusing on the top socket.
“I don’t know how many more ways we can assemble it,” she said. “The way we’ve put it together is the only way that makes any sense.”
Arber stepped over the base strut and through the opening. “It looks just like the mural in the ruins.”
She nodded. “I’m sure we have it right.”
“Maybe you have to interface with Lora’s Sphere,” Jeremy said, squinting at the green and red orb.
Arber gripped the triangle’s left beam. “Trace would know,” the guardian said under his breath.
“Maybe it will never work,” Keely said. “Maybe whatever magic gave it power died a long time ago. We don’t know how our own magic works let alone this contraption.”
“Arber,” she said. “What did you say?”
Arber’s eyes narrowed. “I said it looks the same as the mural.”
“No,” she said. “After that. Just a second ago.”
Arber’s face reddened. “I didn’t mean anything. I —”
“You said Trace would know. Didn't you?”
“Yes, but I didn’t mean anything by it,” Arber said.
She whirled searching the grass around the portal. “Jeremy, where’s my belt pouch?”
Jeremy reached inside the leather backpack near the brook and tossed her belt pouch. “Lora must’ve used the portal to bring back the first heartwood. Nothing else makes sense.”
“Maybe Lora discovered the first tree and brought it to Maylin?” Arber said.
She rifled through the pouch pushing aside loose seeds and bits of dry grass. A surge of panic set her stomach churning. Had she misplaced it? “I know it’s in here,” she said.
“What are you looking for?” Jeremy said.
“Trace’s seed,” she said.
“Trace had a seed?” Brees said.
“Among his possessions.” She knelt and dumped the pouch’s contents onto a flat rock near the brook.
“It’s not in your pouch,” Arber said.
She shot the guardian a nervous glance. “Oh?”
Arber half-glanced toward Brees then unhooked a sliver ear stud. “I didn’t want the seed falling into the wrong hands.” Arber nodded toward Brees. “No offense.”
“None taken,” Brees said. “I’m glad you took precautions.”
She took the seed from Arber.
“You’ve tried infusing the seed with energy at least a hundred times,” Arber said. “In all honesty, I thought it might make a fine ear piece.”
“You can have it back in a second,” she said. “I’ve run out of things to try. It’s something different.” She placed the earring at the center of the base strut and stepped back.
A pocket of crickets chirped, but the portal remained unchanged.
“Well, that was interesting,” Keely said.
“Try infusing it with power,” Arber said.
She channeled flows of nature magic into the seed and waited.
Nothing changed.
“Well, that didn’t work,” she said.
“Something must activate the gateway,” Jeremy said. “It could be anything. Maybe something was lost during another time. Something we’re missing.”
Jeremy’s words poked at an idea buried in her subconscious. She just needed to pry it loose. “Another time….”
Jeremy’s brow furrowed. “Yes.”
Her thoughts drifted back to the ruins and an idea came to her. She sifted through her belt pouch and pulled out the ruby they discovered in the ruins.
Arber’s eyes widened. “Do you thi
nk it will fit?”
She smiled. Nothing passed by Arber. “There’s only one way to be sure.” She held the ruby to the light and examined the round hole carved into its surface.
Her heart beat faster and she met Arber’s gaze.
Arber’s attention locked on the ruby as she slipped the seed inside the hole.
A perfect fit. With a slight click, the seed rolled to a stop inside the ruby.
“Try again, Danielle,” Arber said. “Use your nature energy.”
Hand trembling, she placed the ruby on the lower beam. Her gaze settled on Lora’s Sphere. What if she drew on the orb’s power directly? Opening her mind, she drew on the nature sphere's power and directed energy into the ruby.
The ruby wobbled.
“Look,” Keely pointed at the ruby.
“Give it another nudge,” Jeremy said.
She drew on the sphere’s magic a second time directing as much energy as she could into the ruby.
Trace and Elan’s sphere hummed and rotated inside their sockets. A thin line of green energy sprang from Lora’s sphere and connected to the seed. Two more lines appeared, one white and one blue, connecting the seed to Elan’s and Trace’s spheres.
Her skin buzzed with energy, but she didn’t dare let the connection go. Not yet.
The others gathered around the sphere and gaped at the humming portal.
The ruby spun on the lower strut before lifting off and rising to the triangle’s center.
She kept the magical infusion steady and her heart beat faster.
A pinpoint of silver light appeared where the ruby spun and the flows of energy thickened.
The light grew brighter then turned into a pinpoint bright enough to make her squint.
The group took a collective step backward. They shielded their eyes from the light drenching the grove.
Her heart pounded and her breathing quickened, but she didn’t dare let go.
In a flash, the pinpoint expanded outward. A silver opening appeared. An opening to another place.
She let go of the magical flows and goose bumps crisscrossed her flesh.
A window to another world hung open mirroring the mural from the ruins.
Tears welled in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks.
Cheers erupted from Keely, Arber, Brees, and Jeremy.
Sweet moist air seeped through the portal. Air laden with the heavy dew of cinnamon found only from mature heartwood.
Before them, a grove of heartwood trees swayed beneath a cloudless sky. A grove that stretched to the horizon.
CHAPTER SIXTY
Prynesse
Tara spilled through the monastery doors. Rika, Jo, and the soul knights followed.
The acrid stench of burning wood pricked her nostrils and her chest tightened.
A high shriek came from the sky and a globe of burning tar rained down from the draco gliding over the city center.
She recognized the draco as belonging to Andreas’s forces. “Move,” she said pressing forward. If she had any hope of saving Prynesse and its citizens she had to find a way to convince Rika.
The group sprinted ahead into the cobblestoned city center.
Green souled guardians flanked the king’s lady. A blue shield sprang to life around her and the others in the lady’s entourage.
Rika pointed skyward and whirled on the guardian beside her. “They’re destroying the city. I want every available guardian in the air accompanied by a shield knight.”
“Yes m’ lady,” the guardian said.
“Wait.” She grabbed Rika’s wrist.
Rika spun and met her gaze. “You and Jo run to the government center across the square.” Rika pointed toward a broad two-story building at the mouth of the Prynesse tourist district. “You'll find an evacuation shelter in the cellar. Go.” Rika pressed on her shoulder. “The shields should hold until you get there.”
She shook her head. “No m’ lady. I won’t leave. Not now.”
Rika’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t have time to argue. We’ll sort out whatever mess you’re in later.”
“That’s not it,” she said. “You can’t order those guardians into the sky.”
Another shriek came from over the monastery. A salvo of burning pitch exploded in its open courtyard.
“It’s a trap Lady Rika,” she said. “They want to lure your guardians in range of their archers.”
Rika’s mouth dropped open. “We’re at least eight hundred yards from the city moats.”
She nodded. “Yes my lady. An average baerinese archer has good accuracy at five hundred yards.”
Rika gaped. “How could you know that?”
“Lady Finn,” the guardian said. “What are our orders?”
She pointed to the yellow souled knight standing behind Rika. “Order the soul knights to take position beneath the guard towers near the moats. They have range enough to reach the draco.”
“Soul knights?” Rika’s expression soured.
She bit her lip and cursed under her breath.
“She means the battle knights Lady Finn,” Jo said.
“We need to reach a position of height,” she said and glanced toward Elan’s Great Library. “There.”
“That’s madness,” Rika said. “What about the draco?”
She shook her head. “They won’t follow us to the library. They are no match for your guardians in open battle. They know that.”
Rika whirled on the battle knight. “Gather every knight you can find and do as she says.”
The battle knight saluted and barked orders to a pair of knights across the square. In a blur of golden light, the knights sped away toward the city’s perimeter.
Rika turned to face her. “Why do you need to reach the top of the library?”
“I need to see them,” she said. “I need to see how they've aligned their troopers.”
Rika searched her eyes for a long moment.
Goose bumps flared across her arms and back. She wanted to run and hide, but she wouldn’t. They needed her. She’d brought this mess to Meranthia and would find a way to stop the bloodshed.
A red and black war bird landed on the cobblestones beside Rika and shifted.
She lowered her gaze avoiding the king's father.
“Connal, tell me what's happening.” Rika said.
Connal pointed north across the square. “Three legions of baerinese infantry are assembling across the southern river. Have General Rin’s armies arrived from the west?”
"Not yet," Rika said. "Rin’s armies faced resistance and are still a day away.”
“We need to reinforce our defensive positions along the southern river,” Connal said. "I've ordered Freehold's fifth infantry south."
"Those soldiers are guarding the northern river," Sir Alcott said.
"What choice do we have?" Connal said.
Rika glanced between her and Connal. “Connal, I think we should listen to Sally.”
Connal spun on her with brow furrowed. “Who are you?”
She curtsied and rose before meeting Connal Deveaux’s stony gaze. “Sir, I'll explain everything when we’re safe. I've spent a considerable amount of time living among the baerinese. I don’t want to see any harm come to Meranthia. I can offer strategies that might keep us safe until the reinforcements arrive.” She pointed toward Elan’s library. “But, until we reach higher ground, I can’t offer an opinion.”
Connal gazed at Sir Alcott. “What do you have to say about this?”
Sir Alcott’s eyes narrowed. “Our main force lies to the west. We’re outnumbered. Without Ronan, I fear a complete loss. We should listen to her.”
“That’s good enough for me.” Connal glanced between her and Jo. “You ladies take my wing.” Connal shifted and loosed a high-pitched shriek.
Rika and the guardians beside her shifted.
She slid onto Connal Deveaux’s back and extended a hand for Jo who climbed on behind her.
Connal lifted off. Rika and the guard
ians followed carrying Sir Alcott and a pair of blue souled knights.
Three dracos near the government building scattered. The beasts flew north toward the hills past Prynesse’s northern river.
Connal Deveaux settled onto the roof atop Elan’s Great Library.
She leaped from the guardian’s back and peered southward.
Like marching ants, the baerinese forces gathered on the low rising hills beyond the river.
A broad river ran straight through Prynesse. At the city’s outskirts the river diverted north and south forming a cocoon. The outlying rivers spanned six feet at their broadest.
Rika, Sir Alcott, and the others settled on the rooftop beside Connal.
A presence loomed over her right shoulder and she jumped.
“Here,” Sir Alcott said and handed her a pair of field glasses. “These will help you see a great distance.”
She glanced between the field glasses and Sir Alcott. Was this a trick?
"Go on," Sir Alcott said holding out the field glasses.
Jo took the field glasses from Sir Alcott. “I’ve seen the Meranthian admirals use these many times at sea.”
She let go a held breath and took the glasses. She flashed Sir Alcott a weak smile. “Thank you.” She raised the glasses to her eyes and peered through the lenses.
The baerinese warriors lining the hill appeared as if right beside her.
She moved the glasses away and jerked backward.
Sir Alcott chuckled. “I had the same reaction the first time.”
Heart pounding, she lifted the glasses to her eyes and focused them on the gathering forces to the south.
As Connal Deveaux said, three legions of infantry gathered on the low rising hill.
She scanned the range searching for any sign of General Andreas. Nothing.
She turned and peered across Prynesse’s northern hills.
The hills appeared empty of troopers.
Connal faced Rika. “What news have we from our scouts to the north?”
“We haven’t heard anything yet this morning,” Rika said. “I sent out two more guardians an hour ago, but they haven't yet returned.”
“We need reinforcements on those hills,” Connal said. “God help us if they surround us.”
“No,” she said lowering the field glasses.
Maylin's Gate (Book 3) Page 39
