“I don’t think I can without poisoning the forest.”
She felt how Shadow had controlled the spread of the taint. It no longer pushed toward the Svanth Forest, no longer reached toward the distant border with Saffra. The svanth tree here and near the palace continued to fade. Whatever poisoning done to them by her touch still spread through their branches, but it would not reach the forest. Shadow had sacrificed himself to stop it.
“But you’re more than the forest.”
Eris ran her hand along Shadow’s fur. Lying here like this made him seem smaller, less the majestic creature she had known. There was an emptiness where the bond had been, the silence now missing from Shadow.
“I’m not strong enough,” she whispered.
Terran lowered his sword and knelt next to her. He rested his hand on her arm and pulled her close to him, hugging her tightly. “You are the strongest person I know.”
“He spent everything to stop it.”
Terran looked down at Shadow. “He’s tied to the trees?”
“It’s more than that with him. He’s connected deeper somehow.”
“But through the trees?” Terran repeated, as if what he asked was somehow important.
Eris thought about what she knew of Shadow. When she’d first met him, he had needed her to claim parts of the border in order to protect it. When she did, only then was he able to help. But even that wasn’t completely true. She had known Shadow before then, had seen him within the Svanth. The forest had not known him as a threat. That should have been her first hint that he was more than she ever understood.
“Through the trees,” she agreed.
“Then use your other magic to save him.”
Eris frowned. “It’s not magic. I draw energy from the trees and flowers and…” She trailed off, looking around at the grasses of the Verilain Plains. She had used the plains before. It was how she had fought the magi the first time, how she had saved Lira and kept the mage Adrick from taking her father’s throne. Immense power was stored here, different than that of the forest, different from even that Lira’s garden. Could she use this to help Shadow? Could she still save him?
She pulled the gloves off her hands and stepped away from the svanth tree. Before she had planted it, the magi had destroyed the grasses growing here, leaving them with something like the desolation they created along the border. With the planting of the svanth, the grasses had been able to return, the desolation held back. Could the needlegrass now return the favor?
And if they could, at what expense?
She touched the nearest blades, gripping them tightly. Energy stored within the needlegrass flowed into her, filling her. Eris pushed through it, drawing as much of the power stored within the plains, and forced it through herself, burning away the taint of the veratrum flower. It was painful, a burning sensation unlike anything she’d ever experienced, and then it passed, leaving her feeling exhausted.
Eris reached through the roots. Those growing here were shallow, nothing like those of the forest. But she could trace them to deeper ones and followed those toward the fading svanth tree. Once there, she recognized what Shadow had done, the sacrifice he’d made. If she could replace the barrier he’d made, could he return?
Eris drew from the needlegrass and pressed deep, down through the earth until it reached the barrier created by Shadow. Slowly, she began piecing together a new barrier, built from the energy stored within the Verilain Plains, power drawn from the massive expanse of needlegrass.
It was slow work. What Shadow created had taken time and skill she did not have, but she had a framework, so she copied it, borrowing from the protections he placed around the trees, the separation he created so the taint would not spread.
Eris worked as quickly as she could, but as she did, the plains began to fade. The needlegrass did not have adequate stores. She needed more.
She reached to the north, running along the shallow roots rather than deeper, drawing not from the trees, but from the flowers and scrub plants, pulling even from Lira’s garden in the depths of the Svanth, a garden that did not belong to her, but one which she could use. Distantly, she recognized what she did might destroy the garden, might destroy the Verilain Plains, but even the grasses seemed to understand the importance of the sacrifice.
Power surged through her, filling her, wrapping around the trees, isolating the toxins working through them. She pushed harder, pressing through the trees, up through the branches, where she felt the taint. With another draw of energy—this one depleting the stores within the hidden garden at the edge of the Svanth—she pushed against a darkness. She tried burning through it but found she could not. Instead, she surrounded it with flows of energy, trapping it into a tiny bundle until it was nothing more than a speck.
She let out a soft sigh. Her work was not done.
Another pull of energy, this one from places she did not know, from grasses and flowers she did not recognize but which lent her their power just the same, and withdrew the barrier Shadow had created. Eris began to pull this energy into herself, but this would not be strong enough. Shadow had held more power than she could imagine. Instead, she turned it, diverting it back into Shadow, slowly feeding him, filling him.
The process took moments but seemed an eternity. When done, she released what she’d borrowed, sending it back toward the grasses and flowers and the plains. Little remained.
Weakness washed over her, and she fell forward. Her head rested atop Shadow.
“Please…” she whispered.
Another eternity seemed to pass.
And then he breathed.
The first breath came as a slow and shuddering thing. It filled his chest gradually. Nothing else moved, only his chest.
Exhaustion prevented Eris from moving. She lay atop Shadow, unable to pull herself away. Slick fur pressed against her face, filling her nostrils with his oily and musky scent. Each breath barely moved her head.
“Shadow?” she asked.
Had she the strength, she would have delved through the earth, delved toward Shadow to discover what injuries still were present, but she did not. Instead, she waited, hoping and praying to the Sacred Mother that he would take another.
“Keeper.”
His voice came to her weakly, distant and muted as if crossing a great expanse.
Eris pushed herself up. Her arms quivered and shook, and she nearly fell back onto him. Terran grabbed her and supported her, holding her up so she didn’t fall.
“You sacrificed too much,” Shadow said. Even near death he admonished her.
A strand of coiled, dark hair hung in front of her face. She didn’t have the strength to move it and tried to blink it out of her eyes. “You’re the one who sacrificed too much.”
Shadow took a deeper breath. His tail twitched, and his broad ears turned, twisting toward her. His eyes blinked open. “You should not have returned me.”
Eris shook her head. She should have held onto some of the energy she’d drawn from the plains and the hidden garden. By releasing it, she had drained too much of herself. Her strength gradually began to return, but it came too slowly. “How could I not? You gave everything to stop the spread of what I caused. I couldn’t let you do that.”
Strength slowly returned. Terran watched her. When satisfied she wouldn’t fall over, he squeezed her shoulder reassuringly and released, standing and backing up to watch over them. In her state, she could do nothing if they were attacked. Shadow was even worse off.
Shadow sniffed, his massive nostrils flaring. His lips peeled back to reveal sharp fangs. Muscles tensed beneath his fur, and he stretched out his legs, as if preparing to stand. “The choice was mine. As was the mistake.”
Eris frowned. “Mistake?”
“I should have warned you sooner.”
“About the Darkbinders? That was what you said before you…” She didn’t want to think about what had nearly happened, the void where their bond should have been when Shadow had almost died.
“What are they?”
Shadow took a deep breath. He pushed with his forelegs to sit but failed. He stretched, somehow making it look as if that had been his intent. Eris knew better. The bond was weak but it began to return. She sensed his frustration, the weakness working through him. Energy returned to him, but it would take time for it to rebuild. If it ever did.
“I will return,” Shadow rumbled softly.
Eris shook her head. The bond must be returning for him to know her thoughts. “And the Darkbinders?”
“They have already returned.”
A troubled sense rippled through the bond. Had he been stronger, she doubted she would have felt it. Normally, he protected her from such things, trying to hide them from her. But in his weakened state, he couldn’t. Whatever these Darkbinders were, he feared them. In the brief time she had known him, she could not remember him fearing anything. He had faced the Conclave, tearing through magi trying to destroy him without so much as blinking. For him to show fear…she did not know what to make of it.
“What are they?” she repeated. The lessons buried in the roots of the Svanth Forest said nothing about Darkbinders, and Lira had not mentioned anything. Could it be she didn’t know?
Shadow managed to shake his head. “You are not ready.”
Eris leaned toward him. Frustration made her stronger. “You will share with me what I need to know. If I am in danger—”
“You should not be. They should not have been able to harm you.”
“I’m not harmed.”
Shadow sniffed. “No. You were not.”
Eris sensed he didn’t tell her something. “This wasn’t the priestesses?” she asked. She had thought them responsible for what happened to her mother. The same taint that had nearly destroyed the svanth trees she planted, the source of her greatest power. If not the priestesses, then who?
He growled low as he struggled to stand. “I do not know.”
She frowned. “What do they want?”
He managed to turn his head. His lips peeled back again in a hard snarl. “You already know what they desire. They seek to destroy the Source.”
“Isn’t that what the magi wanted?” Terran asked.
Eris looked over. She hadn’t realized he watched them again. He still stood with his body tensed, sword held ready, but one ear tilted toward them, listening.
“The magi sought to claim the Source, not destroy, gardener,” Shadow answered. “They recognize the power that is there. They would have it for themselves.”
She jerked her head around to look at Terran. “You can understand Shadow?”
He fixed his gaze on Shadow. “It’s there. I didn’t know what it was at first. It helps that I can hear your side of the conversation. Lets me fill in gaps.”
Shadow growled softly.
She turned to him and touched his fur, smoothing it beneath her hand. The bond between them strengthened, gradually returning to what it had been. “Was that your doing?”
“We are bonded,” he said.
“What can you tell me about the Darkbinders?” Eris asked.
Shadow stirred, pushing to a crouch. This time, his legs supported him, and he rested, watching her. He blinked once, a film seeming to clear from his eyes as he did, and tilted his head. “They seek to destroy the light.”
Something about the tone of his voice gave her pause. “You once told me you were the place between darkness and light, that you were the shadows across the forest floor.”
“What of it, keeper?”
“I didn’t know what you meant when you told me. I still don’t, not really. But you also said you were the guardian—my guardian. Is that why you’re here? You’re meant to somehow protect me from the Darkbinders?”
Shadow breathed out slowly. He squinted, and Eris could almost imagine she saw him debating how to answer. Rarely did he provide clear answers. Usually he left her with cryptic messages, nothing clear at all.
“It is rare for a keeper of light to understand so little. I should not be the one to guide you.”
“Who else is there?” Eris asked.
Shadow sniffed again. “There are few,” he agreed. “Those who remain are lost. Which is why the Darkbinders thought to attack.”
“I don’t understand.”
“That much has always been clear, keeper.”
Eris started to stand, pulling her cloak around her. The sun dipped low in the sky, and night would soon come. The crisp wind blowing across the plains would change, turning cold. They were unprepared for the cold, but near enough to the edge of the Svanth Forest that she could find respite there. It was more home than the palace in Eliara. If she could get Shadow to move, they could rest and heal. He could grow stronger.
“Can you walk?” she asked.
Shadow tilted his head and snorted. “You can be foolish at times.”
“Only at times?” Terran asked.
Eris shot him a look, but he didn’t notice. His focus remained out toward the plains, his eyes searching as if to find answers. “What do you see?”
Terran shook his head. “Nothing. Everything. I don’t know. Something moves out there.”
Shadow sniffed at the air and growled softly. The hair on his back stood on end. “I smell it too, gardener.”
“What is it?” Eris asked.
Shadow shook his head. “I cannot tell.”
She found the answer odd. As far as she could tell, Shadow manipulated more power than she could even fathom. He’d faced the magi and was only injured by a conjoined attack. Eris had healed him then, cementing the bond between them, but she suspected he would have healed on his own. The power coursing through him even then had been enormous.
Eris delved through the plains. Her strength had returned enough for her to try and do that much. As she did, she recognized a weakness. The energy she’d drawn from the Verilain Plains had left the needlegrass tenuous and frail. It would not survive another attack. And after what happened to Shadow, she hesitated reaching for the power of the Svanth.
She pulled her senses along the roots but abandoned the notion quickly. She would find no answers from the needlegrass.
“I can’t either,” she admitted.
“I will stay here and see what comes,” Terran said. “I’ll join you in the city later.”
Eris shook her head. “I’m not returning to the city. Not yet.”
Terran turned and studied her.
“Shadow needs to heal. And I need answers. I can’t get them in Eliara.”
“The Svanth?” he asked.
She nodded. “For him.”
Terran’s frowned. “But not for you.”
She shook her head. “Not for me. I might find some answers within the roots of the Svanth. And Shadow will tell me what he can,” she said, looking down at him. “But all along, I knew I would need to find answers. There is only one who can help, Terran.”
Shadow’s tail twitched but that was his only reaction.
“You said there were other keepers of light,” Eris continued. “That’s what you called me.”
Shadow nodded. “That is what you are.”
“And the other keepers? Lira?”
Shadow grunted. “Not all among the Order of Keepers are those of light. Similar, but not the same.” He growled softly. “I do not have the words to explain. The guardian should not have to explain.”
“Are all keepers of light like me? Can they use the energy of trees and flowers?” If they could, then she might be wrong with what she suspected.
“No. You burn brighter than most, keeper.”
She’d heard something similar before, but where?
She shook off the thought as another followed. “That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?” she asked. She felt as if she began to understand why Shadow was different than the other guardian she’d seen. “You were drawn here because of me.”
Shadow tipped his head, studying her. Waiting.
“You weren’t expecting to be guardi
an.”
Shadow’s ears twitched. Nothing else moved.
“And Imryll?” Eris suspected the answer but wanted Shadow to confirm. It would explain much about Imryll, including why Shadow had brought them together. “She has a guardian. Is she a keeper of light?”
Shadow blinked. “She is a keeper.”
Eris laughed softly. Even in this, Shadow couldn’t fully commit to an answer. “Who else? Where are the others?”
“They are beyond my sight. I am not their guardian.”
Eris studied Shadow for another moment, and then stood, her mind made up. “Can you walk?” she asked again.
Shadow arched his back and stretched, looking for a moment like some enormous house cat rather than the deadly creature she knew him to be, his claws extending briefly. And then he bounded to his feet, looking as if nothing had happened. But even that was a lie. She felt the strength required for him to stand, the energy he exerted simply to walk. He might reach the Svanth Forest, but he wouldn’t be able to go much farther.
“Come,” she said. “We’ll get you to the forest. I need to find Imryll.”
Chapter 68
The svanth trees loomed high overhead, stretching into the night. Once, Eris would have found the darkness frightening, but no longer. Stepping into the forest felt like putting on a comfortable dress or well-worn boots. Awareness flooded her as she walked among the trees; a sense of peace came over her. She could feel where the trees and flowers and animals of the forest were, simply by focusing on them. All around was life.
More than the palace in Eliara could ever be, this was her home.
Terran held her hand, finally relaxed as well. Shadow prowled behind them, moving stealthily and steadily, but Eris sensed the tenuous way he stepped, the effort he put into taking each step. Had the walk been any longer, he might not have made it. She suspected that once they reached the heart of the forest he would collapse. Then the trees could help heal him. At least, that was her hope.
The scents of the forest mingled together: that of fallen leaves slowly decaying, the bloom of a teary star no longer confined to a seven-year cycle, the cloying thick scent of dearthswain. Eris welcomed them all.
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