“He is correct,” said Longtooth, nodding slowly. “I am very old, and I remember well the Keeper of the Mind and his power. It was to reveal, not to deceive.”
I looked nervously at the others. That wasn’t true. I could fool people, if I wanted. I’d done it before. But the dragons didn’t seem to know that. Even though I hadn’t told them the lie, was I responsible for telling them the truth?
It might not be advisable, said Meridia in my head.
I sighed and gritted my teeth. Fine. I’d keep my mouth shut for now.
Redwing wasn’t satisfied. “I call for a vote,” she said desperately, eyeing Windfang and Cloudsplitter. She had to be hoping that Cloudsplitter, the only unknown, would vote with her for some reason. She couldn’t have any idea how friendly he’d been to us when we’d met him, otherwise she’d never have taken the risk.
Longtooth’s brows drew together. “Very well,” he said gruffly. “I cannot deny you this. Those who accept the Realm Keepers’ proposal, be heard.”
“I accept,” said Blackscale.
“I accept,” said Longtooth.
“I do not,” spat Redwing.
Windfang opened his mouth, but before she could speak Cloudsplitter leaned forward. “Oh, I accept,” he said, waving a hand irritably. “You worry overmuch, Elder Redwing. They are the Realm Keepers, not an invading army of Giants.”
Redwing’s eyes widened at his tone, and I saw Blackscale’s lips draw back from his teeth in a smile. Even Longtooth looked away for a moment, as though trying to hold back his expression. Not only did Cloudsplitter win us the vote, but he’d made Redwing sound like a paranoid fool. Apparently his silver tongue didn’t just extend to diplomacy; he knew how to work a room, as well.
“The terms are accepted,” said Longtooth. “Keeper of Mind, do as you will.”
I nodded slowly, suddenly much less sure of myself than I had been when I told Sarah. But what could I do now? Back out? I tapped into Mind again, and again the world went foggy. I turned to look at Blade. “You ready?”
He smirked, his face murky white as though hidden behind the edge of a cloud. “Sure thing,” he said. “Just…one word of warning. You’re not going to see something happy. Brace yourself.”
I nodded.
All right, said Meridia. Now find the spark of Blade’s mind. Reach out to it. Feel his thoughts.
I did. This was something I had some practice with, although Greystone had warned me never to use it except in emergencies. I saw images and sounds flashing past me, things that Blade was seeing right now and things that were only in his memory.
Now find the minds of the Council, continued Meridia. Draw them out like strings, like blood from a wound. Wrap them around the images in Blade’s mind, and let him show them what I have told him.
I did as she commanded. I saw the five sparks hovering above the golden chairs. Curiously, each of them radiated with thin, wispy tendrils that floated around in the air, seeking, searching like the arms of an octopus. I glanced up at some of the dragons on the walls. They had no such tendrils. It had to be something about the chairs, about the way they could scry the minds of others over great distances.
I seized the tendrils and wrapped them around Blade’s mind. As soon as they made contact, the spark of his mind flared like a fire suddenly fueled by gasoline. Blade winced and put a hand on his forehead.
“Are you okay?” I said quickly, ready to pull back and break the connection.
“Fine,” he said. “That was just…weird.”
Now show them what I showed you, said Meridia. Remember.
Blade closed his eyes and thought. And before me, I saw a scene begin to unfold.
I saw Terrence standing in a dark room, surrounded by bodies on stone slabs. I didn’t recognize their faces, but there was one thing I did recognize: they were wearing Realm Keeper robes. The same robes I’d been given on my second day in Midrealm.
The woman Terrence stood beside had blue trim on her robes and a blue belt. The symbol of water was worked into her metal buckle. She was of average height, with high cheekbones, a tan face and almond-shaped eyes. The eyes were closed, and no breath stirred her chest.
Terrence brought forth an orb from the shadows, half-filled with water, but the water was clinging to the top of the orb rather than resting at the bottom. I recognized it from the description I’d heard long ago: the token of the original mage of water. Terrence had stolen it from Elladorn shortly after we’d been summoned to the stone circle.
Dark words poured from Terrence’s mouth in a steady stream. It sounded like Wyrdspeech, the magic that he’d used in the siege of Morrowdust. Greystone had used it, too. He’d cast a spell with it on the walls of the Runehold, when we’d been fighting…
The body on the stone slab stirred and her eyes shot open, dead white. The woman jerked upright, her limbs flopping around like a puppet on strings. Her mouth opened, and from her mouth came a terrible shriek. It was the sound of undeath, a terrible scream that I’d heard before.
The lich at the Runehold. The one Greystone had driven off with Wyrdspeech. The lich had made that same sound.
“The old Keeper of Water,” I said in shock. “Terrence turned her into the lich?”
“What?” snapped a voice behind me.
Startled, I broke the connection. The world went from foggy to normal. I turned to see Barius standing behind me. He’d pushed his way past Raven. I looked at his face and flinched. His eyes were wide and wild, and his whole body was tensed as though ready for a fight.
“Tess,” Blade’s voice was thick with anger. “Don’t.”
“What did you say?” demanded Barius, his hands clenched into fists at his side. “What did you say of Reiko?”
I stared at him, confused. “Reiko?”
“The Keeper of Water before Lord Miles!” he barked. “What did he do to her?”
Barius took another step forward, looming over me. I flinched, but before I could react I felt myself pushed firmly backward. Nora stepped in front of me. Though she stood a good six inches shorter than Barius, she faced him without flinching. I realized with a shock that her right hand was wrapped around her sword hilt. Behind her back, where Barius couldn’t see, her left hand held the handle of a dagger that was tucked into her belt.
“Calm down, Barius,” she said evenly.
“What did you say?” Barius roared, his voice shockingly loud in the stone-silent Council hall.
“Tess, don’t say anything,” said Blade, stepping up to stand beside me. “I wasn’t supposed to say anything.”
I ignored him, stepping forward to put a calming hand on Nora’s shoulder. “Nora, stop it,” I said quietly. “Barius—”
“Don’t, Tess!” said Blade behind me. There was a note of desperation in his voice. I turned to find him looking at me with a pleading expression.
“He already heard me, Blade,” I said quietly. “I have to tell him now. Or you will. I need you to see that.”
Blade’s eyes darted to Barius, but Barius didn’t look away from me. Blade gave a frustrated growl and kicked at the stone floor. Slowly, keeping his eyes averted, he nodded.
I turned. “Terrence found some way to raise the old Realm Keepers,” I said quietly. “When he took the water orb from Elladorn, he used it to raise the last Keeper of Water from death. She became the lich. The one we fought at the Runehold wall in Morrowdust.”
Sarah gasped, and I saw Cara’s face turn stony. Miles and Melaine looked at each other, Miles in confusion, Melaine in dread. Nora turned to look at me, her face a mask of horror.
“I’m sorry,” I said quietly, suddenly unsure. Though all of us were disturbed, the other Runegard were looking at each other with expressions of fear, and they kept glancing at Barius. But he’d kept his eyes only on me. And as I watched, tears began to well up in them.
“You said her name was Reiko?” I asked in a small voice. “Was she a friend?”
Barius cried out in anguish, a long, wail
ing peal of sound that reverberated around and around the room until it seemed that an army of mourners stood around us, calling out their sorrow. His blade leapt from its scabbard. Nora drew her own sword and dagger—but Barius turned away from us both, stalking blindly across the floor. His steps faltered as they led him back and forth, left and right.
“I will destroy him!” he roared. “Death will never be good enough! In every hall and in every deep place of the world, they will tell the tale of his suffering. Until my days are spent, I will find new ways to make him plead for the mercy of death. But he will never find it. Not from my blade.”
Raven jumped forward to go to him, and in her face I saw more sadness than I’d ever seen there before. “Barius,” she said, her voice quivering. “Stop it. Tell me what’s wrong. What did he do?”
She reached out a hand for him, but Barius jerked away. He stormed toward the front door of the Council hall and vanished outside into the morning’s bright light. Raven gave us one last look and ran after him.
Blackscale spoke up from his chair. “Bonebreaker.” Bonebreaker gave a brief nod, then turned and launched into the air, flying out a window to go find Raven and Barius.
The rest of the Council had remained silent, but now Redwing leaned forward in her chair, her lips pulling back from her teeth in a smile. “Do you see?” she said, her voice calm and nonchalant as though discussing the weather. “They are wild and unruly, seized and propelled by their passions. Never could we ally ourselves with ones such as these. They know nothing but death and violence. How can we call the humans our allies, when it is one of their own that has turned against them and raised the dead to fight at his side? Such is the value of their loyalty.”
“We’re not Terrence,” Sarah said firmly. “What he did is wrong. He’s the only Realm Keeper who’s ever turned to Chaos. And once we’ve dealt with him, we’ll never—”
“Dealt with him?” said Redwing, laughing. “You have said it yourself: your armies cannot hold him back. And now he brings even your former champions against you from beyond the grave. You are children cowering before the bear, begging us to come and rescue you. But dragons will not give their lives for the humans. Not ever again.”
“And do you think this Terrence will simply leave us be once he has wiped them out?” snapped Blackscale, rising from his seat. “Better to strike now, before the strength of the humans has been scoured from Midrealm forever. Together we may stand a chance. Alone we will wait for Terrence to find us and destroy us in our nests.”
“The Wyrmspire is invincible,” said Windfang, leaning back and folding her arms across his chest. “Let him come. He will find no victory here, with the weight of the dragons pressing down upon his armies. But meanwhile, let us not sacrifice our own to save the flat and muddy lands of the humans who have already shown us they are unworthy of our trust.”
“Enough!” barked Longtooth. His voice was like a cannon shot; in its wake, the hall fell again to total silence.
Blackscale took a deep breath and composed himself. “Apologies, Eldest Longtooth,” he said. He took his seat. Redwing didn’t look at Longtooth, and she still wore her smug smile as she looked at us standing in the center of the hall.
Longtooth was silent a while, probably waiting to make sure no one else was going to have another outburst. Then he leaned back in his chair, resting heavily on the left arm.
“I am very old,” he said slowly. “I need time to think upon this turn. The Council shall dissolve, for now. I shall send word when we will meet again.”
Redwing jumped up like she couldn’t wait, then unfolded to her true size and took to the air. She flew straight out the window and into the sky. I saw Bloodtooth detach himself from the wall and follow her. The other Elders stood one by one and bowed to Longtooth. Windfang transformed and took off, while Blackscale came over to see us, still in his earthbound form. Cloudsplitter studied us for a long moment, but eventually he transformed and left.
“That could have gone better,” said Blackscale.
Sarah sighed. “Yeah, I think so.”
“We must be going,” said Blackscale. “I feel unsafe with all of you on display like this.”
We turned and made for the Council hall’s front doors. Above us, the air rumbled as the dragons resumed speaking. Blackscale stuck with us in earthbound form, while Nightclaw and Thunderfoot kept pace. I was glad they were there; I didn’t need to be a mind reader to know that most of the dragons looking at us from above were hostile.
“Listen, Sarah,” Blade said uncomfortably. “I’m sorry I didn’t mention this earlier. I didn’t…”
“No, I understand,” said Sarah with a sigh. “I mean, look at how Barius reacted. I’m not saying it wouldn’t have been better to know beforehand, but I know why you did it.”
Blade frowned and watched his feet as we walked out the door.
I felt a palpable sense of relief. I’d been afraid Sarah would be furious with Blade, or that maybe the others would be. Sarah had already slapped Blade, something that had sat over our group like a dark cloud the rest of that day. Maybe she really did forgive him, or maybe she was just saying what she needed to say to keep the peace. Either way, I was fine with it.
We emerged into the open air. Barius was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Raven nor Bonebreaker.
“Nightclaw,” said Blackscale. “Find them.”
Nightclaw nodded and took off, disappearing into the blue above us. Blackscale walked a distance aways and then assumed his dragon form, joining Thunderfoot to loom over us as a guard.
“How did you learn about Reiko, Blade?” said Sarah, looking at him curiously.
Blade glanced at her before looking away again. “Meridia told me,” he said, holding up his finger with the gold-and-ruby ring. “She was the one who warned me how much it would upset Barius.”
Sarah’s eyes flashed as she looked at the ring. “Why did you do it, Meridia?” she demanded. “You must have known this was going to happen.”
Blade’s eyebrow furrowed as he stared at the ring, connecting the dots.
It was necessary, Meridia said in our heads.
“Wait, you did know?” said Blade, anger creeping into his voice. “You knew I was going to have to tell him in front of the whole Council?”
Of course I did, said Meridia. Her voice contained no hint of embarrassment or contrition. If anything, she sounded more arrogant than normal.
“Then why the hell did you keep me from telling him?” said Blade. “If I’d told him earlier instead of in front of every dragon on the planet, we might not have blown our chances of getting any help!”
Simple-minded boy, said Meridia soothingly. You were always meant to make a spectacle of yourself.
Blade gave a wordless cry of rage. “I’m so sick of you and Greystone and everyone else playing us!” he said. “You yank on our chains and make us dance to your stupid games. I’m done!”
He tore the ring from his finger, and before Sarah could stop him, he flung it over the cliff’s edge. Too late, Sarah leapt forward with a cry. Blade turned and stormed away, toward Nightclaw’s nest.
I lifted my hand, and the world went foggy. I felt the ring tumbling through the air and snatched it up. Its descent ceased. I dragged it up through the air, back to where we stood on the edge of the mountain path. I plucked it from where it hovered before me and released my hold on my magic. The world turned normal again.
“I don’t think he’s going to want to carry her any more,” I said quietly. I placed the ring into Sarah’s hand. “I don’t either.”
Sarah and the others stood dumbstruck as I turned and followed Blade to Nightclaw’s nest.
THE WAITING
RAVEN
BARIUS STORMED THROUGH THE ENTRANCE to Nightclaw’s nest and went straight to the horses, tied to a pedestal that was fixed to the floor. He tore at his horse’s reins, pulling them loose and wrapping them around his fist.
“Barius, stop!” I said. He ignored me
, turned around, and started walking back toward the door.
I growled as I jumped in front of him, barring his way with my body. “I said stop! Where do you think you’re going?”
“To find Terrence and kill him,” growled Barius.
“Yeah, right,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Maybe you should fly there instead. It’ll be faster, and it’s just as likely.”
“If I have to cut my way through an army of Shadows to reach him, I will,” said Barius. “I would kill five armies. I would burn a city to the ground to weed him from its darkest hole.”
“Listen, that’s very well put,” I said. “But why don’t we stop and think about this for, I don’t know, two seconds?”
Barius glared at me. I stared unflinching into his eyes.
“What about me, huh?” I said. “Who’s going to watch my back?”
“You will no longer be in danger when I kill him,” said Barius.
“You can’t kill him, Barius,” I said. “Blade and Tess together couldn’t take him at Morrowdust. And no offense, but they’re packing a lot more heat than you are. Literally, in Blade’s case.”
Barius glared at the reins wrapped around his fist. “You may be the Realm Keepers, but you are also children. You have never killed in battle. You have not driven your sword into a foe’s gut and watched the light in his eyes burn out. I have. I can do things you cannot.”
“You think Blade didn’t kill him because he was afraid to hurt him?” I said, aghast. “You really are an idiot.”
His eyes flashed, but he remained silent.
“I’m serious, Barius,” I continued. “What do you think’s going to happen to me if you go? You swore an oath or whatever.”
Barius shrugged. “And what good is that here? I cannot fulfill my oath on a mountain full of dragons. If one of them decides to attack you, what am I to do? Leap down its gullet and try to stab it to death from the inside before it digests me? My blade and shield are useless here. And Terrence…Terrence raised…”
His voice didn’t quite break, but he turned away and stopped talking all the same.
Wyrmspire (Realm Keepers Book 2) Page 63
