Ix had been fidgeting for the last few minutes of the conversation. She finally burst out, “Sam, I’m going to jump ahead so we can put in some more miles today. I think we may be able to get out of the mountains by evening if I don’t get too tired.” Oh, so that was it. She was bored and wanted to continue.
“That sounds like a good idea to me,” Sam said. “We’ll stay here and talk with the brothers until you come back for us. How are you feeling now?”
“I’m fine, just a little tired from the traveling earlier. I’m good for several more jumps with all of us yet.”
Brother Dilkin’s face showed mild confusion. “If you are fatigued, we can help. The use of the rohw that we have developed is primarily involved in healing and empowering. If you would allow it, I could remove any fatigue you have.”
Ix eyed the man carefully, as if looking for deception. Her penetrating gaze locked onto his eyes and held there for much longer than seemed polite to Sam. Dilkin waited with no sign of discomfort.
Finally, she said, “I will allow it. What do I have to do?”
“Nothing at all. I will do everything. Please remain relaxed. It will take but a moment.”
The man stood and brought his hands together in front of him just below the navel, the center of a body’s energy. Brother Dilkin’s hands started to glow softly with the rohw. Only those sensitive to the energy would have seen the glimmering, so to Emerius and maybe Ix, nothing would seem to be happening.
To Sam, the visible energy was not even the greater part of it. He felt it, like a beam of sunlight striking him on a cool, cloudy day. The heat radiated and warmed the side of his body closest to Dilkin.
The man began to weave his fingers together into complex positions. He did so smoothly, sliding his digits over one another and then holding the twisting postures for a second or two before moving on to the next one. With each new movement, Sam saw the glow change and become stronger. He locked his eyes on Dilkin’s hands, fascinated.
The finger weaving went on for only a few minutes, and by then light radiated off the man’s hands so brightly, it almost hurt Sam’s eyes to look at it. Then he started drawing symbols in the air.
His hands moved independently to draw what seemed to be pictures or symbols of some kind in empty space. At times, he would bring both hands together and continue drawing, but mostly both hands drew individually. The glow surrounding those hands didn’t increase, but it changed, began to pulse and mutate.
Finally, Brother Dilkin exhaled a slow breath as he made a pushing motion with his hands toward Ix. The assassin stiffened as Sam saw the glowing energy move into her, and then she relaxed. She blinked once, and then stood up.
“That…that was…incredible,” she said, eyes wide. “I feel like I have slept for an entire day. How did you do that?”
“It is a simple matter,” Brother Dilkin said. “I merely borrowed energy from our surroundings and put a small bit of it into you, charging your pathways with the rohw. It is the process we use for healing, empowering a person’s own systems with more energy so that they can combat whatever it is that ails the body.”
“Thank you.” The assassin bowed to the man. Actually bowed. “I have never experienced anything like it.” She rolled her shoulders and bounced on the balls of her feet. “I’m ready to jump now. I’ll see you in a little while.”
With that, she disappeared, causing the two Brothers of the Order to release small gasps.
“I thought I saw her release a small amount of the rohw just before she disappeared. Is she a rohw master?” Mosian asked. “If so, she has learned to mask her ability such that I cannot detect it in her.”
“No,” Rindu said. “She uses the rohw instinctively. Her teleporting is an ability she was born with, but she has no training in other uses of the universal energy. She could learn, I believe, and would be powerful in it, but she walks another path.”
Brother Dilkin smiled. “It is wonderful to see other things the rohw can accomplish. It is easy to become complacent or unappreciative when you see the same thing every day.”
“Yes, I agree,” Rindu answered. “For example, I have never seen such a use of rohw as you just demonstrated. What was it that you did?”
“That is the sibyt, the finger weaving to connect more powerfully with the universal rohw. Do the Zouyim not practice this?”
Rindu’s eyebrows drew down as he considered. “No. I have never seen nor heard of such a practice. Perhaps this is a technique that your ancestor Pred Turin discovered?”
“Perhaps it is so,” the man agreed. “I thought it was of the Zouyim. I would very much like to discuss the rohw with you or with whomever in the temple would be the appropriate person.”
“I, too, would like that. I suppose I am as appropriate a person as exists. There are but three of the Zouyim left now, and I stand the highest, if going by the old ranking.”
Brother Dilkin’s mouth dropped open. Sam saw that Brother Mosian wore the same expression. The older man’s eyes became watery. “Three? How is it that there are only three? What has happened?”
“I am afraid,” Rindu said, “that the Gray Man, a powerful rohw user, destroyed the Zouyim temple and killed almost all the brothers and sisters. For many years, I thought I was the only Zouy left alive, but I have recently found two of my brethren. We are the last of the Zouyim Order.”
A shrill sound like that of an injured cat reverberated in the small chamber, leaking out into the larger hall. Both of the brothers keened, tears beginning to pour from their eyes, faces masks of sorrow. Sam thought it strange that it affected them so profoundly, though they had never seen the temple, or even a Zouyim for that matter.
Rindu reached out and patted Brother Dilkin’s back gently. “Please, Brother Dilkin, do not despair. Please. We three still live, and with us lives the potential for re-establishing the Order and the temple. In fact, we have plans to do just that. Please calm yourself.”
It took several minutes, but the men finally settled themselves and became calmer. “You must tell us how this happened. Who would have the power to destroy the Zouyim? Why did the Sapsyra not support them?”
Sam looked to Rindu. The monk’s lips had compressed slightly. Sam knew Rindu well enough. He did not want to tell them that bit of news.
“I am the last of the Sapsyra,” Nalia said. “My sisters were all destroyed, as was Marybador, at nearly the same time as the Zouyim. I, too, plan to rebuild. Marybador will be constructed anew and sisters will be trained. Both of the guardian orders of Gythe will arise again. It will be so.”
After a few more tears and another calming down period, the men were ready to ask more questions. At that moment, Ix appeared, right where she had been when she disappeared.
“We must be going now,” Sam said. “When we come back, we will tell you the whole story and discuss whatever you desire. We’re sorry we don’t have time right now.”
Brother Dilkin bowed deeply to Sam and the others, even more deeply to Rindu, almost bending in half. “We understand. Thank you for the information you have given us. We will inform the other brothers and sisters and ask if they have questions for you as well. When you return, we will discuss many things.”
Sam smiled as he bowed to Brothers Dilkin and Mosian, saluting them with his right fist in his cupped left palm. He touched Ix’s forearm and looked around one final time before finding himself in another location, miles away from the village of Rohwbyt.
Chapter 7
The party traveled until late in the evening, thanks to the energy infusion Ix had received from Brother Dilkin. Even with their brief stop in the village, they traveled almost a hundred miles. It was excruciatingly slow going through the treacherous mountains, the terrain and the weather interfering with Ix’s ability to cast her senses out to avoid materializing inside a rock or tree. In more hospitable areas, Ix could jump nearly the distance they traveled that day at once. They were nearing the edge of the mountains, the lower lands visible ahead o
f them. Nalia thought traveling would become easier in the flatlands. There would still be snow, but not the difficult and dangerous mountain conditions.
She was the first to arrive at the traveling point the next morning.
“Hi, Nal,” Sam said, as he hugged her from behind. His chin rested briefly on her shoulder before he turned his head and kissed her ear. Lightning shot through the lobe, into her face, and down her whole body, somehow triggering a smile as it did so.
“Good morning, Sam.” She tilted her head to the side and kissed his cheek. “Are you ready for another day of travel?”
“I am.” He seemed in a good mood.
She supposed that doing something, working toward their goal, was the reason. They had all agonized when they didn’t know what to do next. She thought maybe each member of their party was relieved to be in motion. She was.
Ix and Emerius showed up, followed shortly by Rindu. Skitter had decided to stay at the fortress and spend the day with the kittens, making Sam promise to let him come with them when there was more for him to do than sit in a backpack. Within a few minutes, they were all situated in a loose circle around Sam. Sam took up the seated posture he used to attain the khulim in preparation to teleport them all to their stopping point. Nalia liked it much better when he transported them. For one thing, she still could not find it in herself to trust the assassin fully. And when Ix was responsible for their traveling, they all had to gather close and touch her. With Sam, they could stay where they wanted and he would transport them all in the bubble he created.
They appeared in the snow-covered meadow where they had stopped their traveling the night before. It must have snowed during the night, because the tracks they had made the day before were gone as if no one had ever been there. The unmarred snow was dazzling in the early morning light, like thousands of the little clear stones Sam had shown her in Telani, diamonds.
They had settled into a routine, so as soon as they arrived, Ix waved her hand in farewell and disappeared to make her next jumps. The others plowed through the snow to a pile of rocks a dozen feet away. Nalia and Sam dusted the snow from the boulders and sat. It would be an hour or two before Ix returned.
Before long, Rindu stepped up to Sam. “Sam, we should take this opportunity to train.”
Sam jumped to his feet. “Yes, that would be great. Kori rohw?”
Rindu looked around the meadow. The snow was almost two feet deep. “Perhaps. Or we could work on redirecting flow and resonance. Either way, we must have room to move about. One moment.”
The monk dropped into a low stance and began to breathe deeply. Putting his hands out to the side just above his shoulders, he forcefully exhaled as he pushed his open palms out and down. It looked like he was trying to flap his arms to fly, but in very slow motion. The snow for a dozen feet in a circle all around him moved as if some giant shovel was scraping the ground clean. He stood in a ring of bare earth with some few remaining shreds of grass clinging stubbornly to the ground. Nalia smiled at the surprise on Sam’s face. He should be used to Rindu’s use of the power, but he seemed to be more amazed by mundane uses than the complex or fantastical ones.
Nalia watched Rindu and Sam as they discussed matters and Sam tried to emulate things her father showed him. Time passed quickly, and soon, Ix had returned. She did not have snow on her cloak, a good sign.
“I made it out of the mountains. The weather is still chilly, but it’s not extremely cold and it’s not snowing, so that’s a plus. Are you all ready?”
Emerius was the first to step up to her. He had been sitting on a rock, carving some sort of figurine out of a piece of wood as he watched Sam and Rindu. He seemed bored. Nalia wondered what was going on in that one’s head. He had changed with the death of his sister and younger brother. He was more subdued, calmer. He also didn’t joke as much as he used to, and when he did, it was very dark humor indeed. It was to be expected, she thought. She knew the feeling, remembered when her mother died. He would settle into it eventually, but he was not done changing yet.
The party gathered around Ix, and they teleported to another location. The mountains they had been in were now to their west. They would start moving north soon. Ix rested for a few minutes, drinking some water and snacking on dried fruit. Then she disappeared again. The others went back to occupying themselves as before, Sam taking the first handful of minutes to meditate and learn the vibratory signature of the area.
Hours passed. Nalia saw Sam glance occasionally at the location where Ix last teleported out. He looked worried.
“It has been three hours,” Nalia said. “She has never taken this long. Is she trying to travel many more miles this time?”
Sam’s mouth turned down to a frown. “I don’t think so. She would have told us. I hope nothing happened. If she teleported in front of a family of bears or a group of bandits, she may have been injured. Or maybe she fell into a ravine or something.”
“Do not let your mind create problems that do not exist, Sam,” Rindu said. “It is said, ‘the dangers we fear most are those we create in our imaginations.’ She can teleport in the blink of an eye. If she landed in danger, she would simply teleport out of it. Let us wait and see. In any case, there is nothing we can do now. Let us continue our training.”
Nalia held her silence.
Another two hours passed. “There’s something wrong,” Sam said. “We have to try to find her.”
“She probably finally betrayed us,” Nalia offered. “She abandoned us, though to what end I cannot determine.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Emerius said. “What good would it do to leave us here? Sam can take us back to Whitehall any time he wants. If this was a betrayal, it was the stupidest and least effective betrayal I have ever seen.”
Nalia glared at the man but said nothing. He did have a point.
“No,” Sam said. “This was not her doing. Something happened to her. We have to find out what. She said she would be going due east from here, so that’s where we’ll go. Just as soon as we go back and retrieve the rakkeben and Oro.”
Sam would not be dissuaded, and Nalia could not think of a reason why they should not begin traveling without the assassin. If she had left for good, they would need the mounts to get to their destination. They might as well start as soon as possible.
They returned to Whitehall, gathered up the rakkeben, Ix’s manu bird, and Emerius’s bear Oro, and traveled back to the snowy meadow in minutes. With a firm set to his mouth, Sam whispered to Shonyb and they were off, the wolves and the bear pushing through the snow toward the east.
The area through which they traveled was a plateau, higher in elevation than Whitehall, but not so high as the surrounding mountains. Sam said it was less than two thousand feet in elevation and that on his world, it was a desert, mostly devoid of trees compared to the western part of the region.
They traveled the rest of the day, taking three short breaks to allow their mounts to rest. During the breaks, Sam would gaze at the ground, his eyes losing focus as he traced the ley lines that Nalia could feel. He was making sure they didn’t go one extra mile they didn’t have to. Following a ley line that traveled due east would keep them on track.
Of course, there was no road, no path, not even an unobstructed line through the scattered trees and snow drifts. They had to circle around rock formations, depressions in the land, and the occasional denser stands of trees. Still, Sam always brought them back to their line going east.
The light started failing while they were still moving forward. They had been traveling better than a half a day and had seen nothing.
“Sam,” Rindu said. “We must stop. It is treacherous for the rakkeben to travel through the snow. It will be doubly dangerous in the dark. They could plunge through the crust into a hole and break a leg, or worse. We must go back to Whitehall and begin again tomorrow.”
“I know,” Sam said sadly. “I know.” He dismounted without another word and sat down in the middle of a clear ar
ea, paying no mind to the foot of snow he was sitting in. Once he had learned the area, he nodded to the others and they all teleported back to Whitehall.
They didn’t find Ix until late in the morning of the next day.
Chapter 8
The party came through the trees and into the clearing. Sam was in the lead, Shonyb loping at the same pace they had kept all morning, even though she was probably getting tired. It was nearing noon and he was starting to worry that they had passed Ix without knowing. Thoughts of her injured somewhere burned through his brain, even though logically he knew that she should be able to teleport away from anything short of unconsciousness.
His eyes flicked to the side as he passed into the afternoon sunlight. Without the tree cover, the light brightened and he squinted at a shape off to his left. With his eyes half-closed, he had almost missed it. At a light squeeze of his knees, Shonyb skidded to a halt. The shush of the others sliding to a stop followed immediately after. They had almost run into him. Oro bowled past him and stopped another dozen yards ahead.
At the edge of the clear area, Ix hung suspended five feet off the ground, seemingly unable to move. She was almost erect, tilted slightly to the front as if she was leaning into a headwind. Her eyes pleaded for them to release her. Sam got off Shonyb and started toward her. Rindu’s hand on his shoulder stopped him.
“Wait a moment, Sam,” the Zouy said. “She is in some sort of trap. We must determine what it is first, or we may also be snared.”
Sam shook his head to clear his thoughts. “Of course,” he said. “Thank you, Master Rindu. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“It is understandable, Sam. We have been searching for Ix, fearing her injured. Your first instinct was to help her. That is good. However, you must always be mindful of your surroundings. First make sure it is safe, and then act. The monkey trying to pull another monkey from the jaws of a crocodile will join his fellow in the belly.”
Harmonic Magic Series Boxed Set Page 105
