by David Ekrut
“How can you know he will think of this?”
“The kid is clever, and it’s what I would do with his skills.”
“But if you are wrong—”
“Quick,” Jax said, “In here.”
Jax ran into one of the abandoned buildings, glad to see Daren following him without question. The man’s doubts, it would seem, did not extend to following Jax’s instincts for survival.
Once inside, Jax moved to the upper floor and found a window facing the road. Toward the center of town, a pair of horses galloped away from a colossal statue of a hybrid, woman-dragon creature. Beneath the foreboding statue, several figures moved together in a web of chaos.
A man screamed as he plummeted to his death. Seconds later, a woman leapt into the air. Dragons appeared, but the elementalist never turned from her fight. Balls of light leapt from her palms and struck two men below her, then she flew into the dragon’s claws. When the second dragon reached for her, Jax looked away.
“Reanya’s Darkness,” Daren said, still watching the battle. Then his breath caught.
Jax turned back to the battle. Elwin stood amidst a dozen bodies, next to Daki and another man. The lean warrior with them looked familiar somehow. His well-kept black hair was shorter than most warriors kept. Even at this distance, it was obvious the man’s dark armor was crafted by a master.
“That is Bain Solsec,” Daren said.
“Wait. What? How could you possibly know that?”
“He is the only person I have ever seen Eriden of the Ironclad kneel to. When I was young, Bain would come to our palace three or four times every winter. Eriden supplied him with young bedoines and warriors. That is Bain. I am certain of it.”
“What in the abyss is he doing here? And with Elwin?”
“Could they be working together?”
Elwin was running with the others not far behind. Bain followed, his posture resolute and expression dour.
Daren turned to go, but Jax stopped him. “Look. They are being pursued.”
Far down the street, dozens of robed figures ran after Elwin. A few blinked into and out of existence, each time reappearing fifty paces ahead.
“We can make it to him,” Daren insisted.
“No. Those are magi. Our touched weapons are useless against them.”
“He needs our help.”
“True,” Jax said, trying and failing to hide his irritation. “We could go down there and let the magi kill us. It might delay their pursuit for a few seconds.”
Daren frowned at him.
“We will help him,” Jax said. “I promise. But dying will help no one.”
The warrior turned back to the window. Below, the first of the magi ran into the alley, where Elwin had led the others. The last few stopped at the entrance to the passageway. Jax ducked behind the windowsill and motioned for Daren to do the same. Against his better judgment, Jax peeked just enough to watch them.
“We need to divine the best course,” a young man said, between breaths.
“Attempting to predict the future is a waste of time,” a man with a thick beard said.
“Divination did not aid Tessaryn Carpeci,” the woman next to him added. “She was the Farseer’s best clairvoyant. And she is a stain on the street right over there.”
Jax perked up at that. She wouldn’t be pursuing him after all. One good had come of this at least.
“We warned her against this,” the young man insisted. “Her obsession with Jaxton Fliste was unhealthy.”
“What did she want with him? He was merely the son of a minor lord.”
“Tessaryn would not say. She was miserly with information where Jaxton was concerned. But she was certain he would come here.”
“Fine,” the bearded man said, making a shooing gesture. “Go look at your divinations, while the rest of us do more practical work.”
The young man frowned. “This is your fault, Galivant. Had you provided more of your incanters, we could have defeated them.”
“There were only supposed to be the two of them and the dumb animal. Tessaryn never mentioned those others.”
“One miscalculation in all her years of service to the cause. Had you trusted her, we would have retrieved Asalla’s tome.”
“Easy to say that, isn’t it? When you clairvoyants are the only ones capable of verifying the best future comes to pass. Oh, and that miscalculation sent her to the abyss, along with those I ordered to help you. Now, piss off while us grown-folks clean up your mess.”
“You may lead the conclave of Keepers, but you do not give me orders. I am a Farseer, not one of your incanters.”
Galivant pushed aside his robe, revealing a belt crafted to dispense round pieces of metal. “This is your last chance to get the abyss out of my sight.”
“You would be a fool to touch me. I am an emissary, your only link to the Farseers.”
“An unfortunate casualty after a powerful elementalist attacked us. The Farseers could send another emissary.”
After a few seconds of glowering, the younger man averted his gaze. Then he pivoted and stalked back toward the massacre.
Once he was gone, Galivant turned to one of the others and said, “Watch that one, and let me know if he moves against me.”
As the magus walked off, Galivant knelt, placed his hands on the cobbles, and began mumbling in the strange language. When he opened his eyes, they were aglow with a blue light. He stared intently at the ground and began walking away. The others followed.
Jax turned away from the window and leaned against the wall. What in the abyss was going on here? Wait, that was it. The whole portrait was becoming clear.
“I know that face,” Daren said. “What is it?”
“The artifact,” Jax said, irritated. “Tessaryn had known I would cross paths with Jesnia. An old acquaintance, remember? Had she not told me, I never would have taken the thumping scales. She wanted this. Orchestrated it even. All of it. Even this moment. I can feel it. But why?”
“To get the artifact,” Daren said as if it was obvious.
“No,” he sighed. “She could have just jaunted in and snatched it before Jesnia knew what in the abyss was happening. Clearly, she knew where Jesnia was. Why not just take the cursed scales herself? Why set me on to the path? She wanted me here. Jesnia too for that matter. She’ll definitely come. Why did she pull our strings?”
“You know I dislike guessing. Just tell me.”
“Curse it all!” Jax threw his hands up. “I don’t know, either. I’m missing something.”
“Does that matter at this precise moment?” Daren asked. “What do you want to do now?”
Jax peeked out the window. The street below was empty, but several people with carts moved about the square. They were more concerned with loading the bodies of the dead than anything happening on this side of the city.
“Come on,” Jax said. “I have a plan.”
“No,” Daren said. “Every time you make that claim, our path becomes tumultuous. Tell me what you have in mind.”
At first, Jax was hurt, but then again, Daren wasn’t wrong. “Come on. We need to follow those magi. I’ll explain on the way.”
~
Feffer was relieved when Zarah pulled their horse to a stop. They’d acquired the animal at a farm several miles south of Delcoa. Not that it would do the farmer much good, but Zarah had left one of the king’s writs behind.
They dismounted and stared at the city. The north entrance to Abadaria was broad, but beyond the large hinges, there were no signs of a gate having ever been there.
“Follow my lead,” she ordered. “This place holds many snares.”
“What’s the rush? We should camp out and get a good look at the perimeter.”
She frowned the way she did when considering whether or not to confide in him. A
fter a few seconds, she shook her head. “I cannot say. But we need to be swift.”
“Cannot. Or will not?”
“Cannot.”
He took a deep breath to avoid speaking the insult on his tongue. She’d refused to tell him more of her Vision, and there was fear in her eyes. As much as he wanted to know more, he would trust her.
“How do you know what a trap will even look like?” he asked.
She pointed to the markings in the cobbles around the gate. “They are similar to eloiglyphs. Only, instead of being infused and tethered with Spirit, they hold energies some other way.”
It all looked like gibberish to him. “But between your Vision and that book the magus gave you, we should be able to get around them, right?”
“Most of them,” she said, kneeling to inspect the sigils in the street. “Just stay back.”
While she flipped through her book and mumbled to herself, Feffer inspected the wall several paces from the entryway. Those vines looked strong enough to hold a giant. He gave them a tug. They held firm. He scaled the wall with ease, then climbed over the other side.
Before hopping down, he made certain there were no markings on the cobbles. He held his breath as he stepped into the street. When he didn’t burst into flames, he breathed easily again. The buildings he passed on his way back to the gateway were covered with similar growth.
He didn’t want to give Zarah a fright while she inspected the sigils. Aside from being prickly about such matters, he wouldn’t want her to fall forward and turn to ash or whatever these traps supposedly did. So he sat cross-legged a few paces from the symbols and waited.
Finally, she leaned back and said, “I think I have it.”
“Oh good,” Feffer said.
Her head whipped in his direction. “What are you—how did you get—I told you to wait.”
“I’ve been waiting.”
“You could have been killed.”
“Yep. Are you coming, or what?”
Standing, she placed her hands on her hips and said, “How did you get inside?”
“I scaled the wall. Those vines are better than a ladder.”
Zarah inspected the wall and frowned. Shaking her head, she put the tome back into her pack and turned to regard the horse. Mumbling to herself, she removed the horse’s bridle and saddle, then slapped its rear, setting it to a gallop away from Abadaria. She moved away from the sigils several paces and climbed to the top and over.
“Why in the abyss did you do that?” Feffer asked. “We might need the horse to get us out of here.”
“If we die,” she said before her feet touched the cobbles, “it shouldn’t starve while waiting on us.” She squared up in front of him. “From here on, you will do precisely as I say. This is not a thumping game, Feffer.”
It was Feffer’s turn to flinch. He’d never heard the princess curse.
“I will,” he promised. “But you could ask for my advice, you know. I’ve been known to stumble into good ideas every once in a while.”
Her expression softened. “You are right. I apologize for my language. But I do not wish to see either of us dead, not when we are so close to the heartblades.”
“So,” Feffer said, looking up at the aeries. “How do we go about getting to them?”
“The servant’s portals.”
“The what?”
“This way.”
She walked south, down the main road for several blocks. A quarter of a mile ahead, the way opened to a large field of manicured grass. Fruit trees lined the edge of one side and a fenced courtyard the other. Beyond the park, the buildings were white, instead of green. He thought he saw a figure enter one of the homes.
Zarah turned between two buildings, crossed to the next street, and moved down another alley. She continued like this for some time, angling them south and west as if she knew where she was going. She did not slow until they passed the last row of green homes.
“We need to take extra cautions from here,” she said.
“Do people live in these?”
“I did not see anyone in my Vision, but someone is maintaining them. Just stay close to me.”
After a few more blocks, Zarah stopped in front of a tall manor. High above it was an aerie. The dark cavern looked too small to house a dragon, but distance had an odd way of distorting sizes.
“This is it,” Zarah said. “The heartblades are up there.”
She moved to a door and cut her finger with her belt knife. Her hand shook as she marked a symbol with her blood over the one etched in the frame. “Water cancels Fire.”
“What?”
“Nothing. It will be different this time.” She took a deep breath. “It’s already different.”
The look Zarah gave Feffer when she crossed the threshold held much less confidence than he’d ever seen her possess. But the Seeker take him if he would let her go at this alone.
Feffer followed Zarah and never looked back.
Chapter 59
Companions No Longer
Dearest Anetia,
I could not scry you in Trammel before, because you have been in Churwood all these months. To think, I could have visited you any time. Then, you would know this, wouldn’t you?
I thought myself impervious to sentiment. Such pains are beneath a scholar such as myself. But not even I am immune to such perfidiousness as this.
Once more my paranoia has proved prudent. Though he allows me to continue my work, Galivant has placed me under guard. Further, he has ordered me to detail my incantations. For obvious reasons, I have not rewritten the incantia since burning my work a few months ago. Until this moment, Galivant has been a champion of my work. Why has he turned against me now? I need to see you. If I can escape, will you meet me?
Speak soon,
Ricaria Beratum, 2998 A.S.
~
Jesnia approached the gate with an arrow notched. She felt a strong desire to turn around, go back the way she’d come. It had started a mile or so back. She’d ignored the sensation, but the feeling of wrongness, that she did not belong here, increased as she stepped around the oddly place statues.
Several footprints cut through the thin film of dirt atop the road. She knelt and inspected them. All were fresh, and some were made by horses. A few of these boots could be the size of Jax’s but one set was too large to belong to anyone, save Daren.
She stood and followed the tracks, scanning the road for movement. Far ahead, she saw clean buildings. Just on the other side of a dracon statue, she saw people cleaning up after a battle. There was a dead horse and half a body by the statue. Two people knelt over the remains, readying to load it onto a cart. Far ahead of the battle scene, children ran free and people moved about a market.
Who in the abyss were these people? Had they just moved in and taken up residence? Not a bad idea. After all, these homes would stand until someone with the ability to tame tore them down. People had ventured here and left with claims of fantastical beasts. She’d taken it for the bravado of treasure-seekers trying to bolster their own worth, but clearly there was some truth to their bluster.
Maybe Jax had not been a fool to come here, after all. He still had to die for stealing from her, but perhaps she would hear him out before sticking an arrow in him.
Daren’s tracks led into a building, far from the battle, came back out and ran off after several more footprints, too many for her to make out individual impressions without spending a good amount of time. They’d likely hidden here while other people fought. At least Jax had the good sense not to fight these people. Even at this distance, she could see pools of blood staining the street. And something big had torn that woman in half. No man did that.
Moving on the balls of her feet, she crept down the alley, following the horde of prints. Hopefully, she would find Jax before something ripped
him in half.
That was her job.
~
Elwin watched from the window while Mardic slept in the next room.
He wanted to inquire further about the ritual that could save them all and how it had been acquired, but Mardic’s eyes had been lulling mid-sentence. The poor man had just lost two of his companions in the most brutal way possible. Mardic had earned their trust at least thrice over. Questions could wait.
Daki entered the room at a run. Elwin stood, ready for an army to enter after him, but Daki was alone.
“What is it?”
“I have covered signs of our passing, but still they come.”
Elwin looked into the quiet streets. “Are you certain?”
“I am.”
“Taego is in there,” Elwin said, pointing to the room. “I will get Mardic.”
Elwin took two steps, and Mardic emerged in the doorway. Some color had returned to his cheeks, but there were dark circles beneath his eyes.
“We haven’t much time,” Mardic said. “I saw them from the shadow realm.”
Once Taego and Daki rejoined them, Elwin led the way down the stairs. He pulled several stones from his cloak pocket as he ran. Maybe he knew fewer incantations than the magi, but he’d seen the effectiveness of telekinesis in the last battle.
He exited into the street at a sprint, but stopped after a few strides. A magus stood less than two hundred paces from him, lips moving at a steady chant. The man’s eyes emanated a low blue. Upon seeing Elwin, he stopped incanting and the glow faded. Several others stood with him.
Elwin held up a fist full of rocks and incanted a telekinesis. Stones hurtled toward the figures and stopped against an invisible shield.
“Run,” Elwin said.
He sprinted alongside the inn, more to break their line of sight than to get away. The alley took them to the wide street he’d observed from the master suite, just seconds before.
“South,” Elwin said, moving them back toward the center of the city.
Ahead was a long, green field with tall trees, surrounded by flowers. Rather than go across and expose them, Elwin veered east, taking them through a narrow alley.
