Songs of the Eternal Past- Complete Trilogy

by C S Vass

  “Sasha,” she said. “You should stay here with me tonight.”

  “No.” Shifter spoke before Sasha had a chance to answer. “That would not be wise. Sasha, I’ve arranged a safe-house for you to stay in. None of you need to know where it is, so it’s better if you don’t.”

  “How are we supposed to work together if you don’t trust us?” Fiona asked angrily.

  “How indeed?” Shifter asked airily. “It would seem we have more than one obstacle to overcome. In any case, the arrangements have already been made, so it’s best not to worry. And don’t give me that look, Fiona. There’s an escort waiting to take Sasha there.”

  Sasha took Fiona’s hands, and the look she gave her caused Fiona’s heart to ache. So much was still unresolved between the two of them, but Fiona had not had proper time. She hadn’t expected Sasha at all, let alone in the condition she was in. “Thank you, Fiona. I’m glad to have seen you again. I look forward to putting this all behind us so we can…move on.”

  Fiona smiled sadly. They embraced, and Sasha left.

  “I guess it’s you and me,” Fiona said to Donyo.

  The Master Architect had a slightly guilty look. “Well, actually…”

  “Donyo will be staying with Martin,” Shifter said flatly. “If anyone is looking for him, he will be harder to find in the house of the Captain of the Guard.”

  “I see.” Fiona press her mouth into a tight line. She could not have said why, but she suddenly felt very irritated, as if everyone were abandoning her.

  “Until next time then,” Martin said stiffly to her. Donyo gave her a sympathetic look and followed him out into the early dawn.

  When the room was empty but for the two of them Shifter turned to her. “Do you understand what forces you deal with?” the secret-keeper asked bluntly.

  “We’ve had this conversation,” Fiona said stubbornly. “Just let me worry about it.”

  “The manjeko is no toy.”

  “I’m no child to treat it as a play thing.”

  Shifter walked up to her, and to Fiona’s surprise put a hand on her stomach. “It’s growing. The power is swimming within you. The process is likely too far along to stop now even if we wanted to stop it. Fiona, there will be consequences. I’m sure you already have some experience with the side-effects.”

  “I do,” she said. “So I don’t need you to let me know about them. I’m capable of handling this, Shifter. I needed to do it, so I did.”

  “It’s not my place to stop you. But even if the manjeko doesn’t end up killing you, which in all likelihood it will, what do you think will happen when word gets out that you have gained this ability? Do you have any idea how many people died as a result of the contest of power over the Moonwood. You won’t be able to hide this, and they will come for you Fiona. I just hope you’re ready when they do.”

  “You’ve heard what I have to say, Shifter. I expect we will see each other soon.”

  “We will.” The godling turned and left her alone in the house. Shifter did so not a moment too soon, because as soon as the door closed Fiona ran to a chamberpot, and emptied to contents of her stomach. It had been a long night.

  Chapter Twelve

  That morning Fiona slept. She dreamt of a strange forest where the trees were razor-thin and glowed with blue light and the moon was red as blood. The forest itself was shrouded in darkness, but she could feel beasts moving about, stalking and hunting. It was no nightmare though. She felt at home, peaceful even. Fiona was one of the beasts.

  She awoke to a tingling sensation all over her body. It was pleasant, euphoric even. She felt energized, and shot out of bed, stretching her body indulgently. It was a good day to be alive. She drank some water and ate dark bread with butter and an apple. She hadn’t felt this good in…maybe ever. She was so in-tune with her body that she could practically feel the blood pumping through her veins, bringing life to every crevice within her.

  Even her house seemed better than usual. Her bedchamber, a normally dingy room with just the smallest vertical hole in the wall to serve as a window actually felt cheerful. And her body…it felt so good. Something was opening up inside of her. Something that was stretching her out, expanding her presence.

  Fiona erupted from her body.

  It was incredible. She was like a ghost floating above a grey city with an open red sky above her. She drifted along and everywhere people stood frozen like statues. Beggars with their hands out, housewives caught in the middle of bargaining at the fish-markets, carriages with wheels frozen mid-roll.

  So this is the manjeko, Fiona thought with wonder. It was incredible. She didn’t know how she knew how to use it, but it came to her naturally. She simply willed herself to go in a direction, and her field of vision took her there. She had no body, no form. It was as though she was looking through a crystal ball.

  As she became more used to controlling the magic, a thought grew within her. It was troubling, like being reminded of work one has to do when lost in some leisure. But she didn’t acquire the manjeko for pleasure. She did it to find Rodrick.

  Her thoughts shifted towards her brother, and strangely enough she could sense him. She felt that he was in the city, but it was as if she could smell the scent of him without being able to tell which direction it had come from. He was there, but there was no clear path to find him.

  But the manjeko was supposed to be better than that, wasn’t it? The old Laquathi priest believed that it would be able to take her to Rodrick without a problem. Deciding to try an experiment she changed her thoughts from Rodrick to Donyo. Again, without fully understanding the sensation she was experiencing, she felt Donyo in the city. Only this time, it was much more precise.

  Melting through the air Fiona peered into Martin’s house, and surely enough Donyo was there laughing loudly at something with the Caption of the Guard, his hands frozen mid-slap on his large round belly with a half-empty mug of beer on the table in front of him.

  Martin looked happy too. He wasn’t laughing, but there was a wide smile on his face and his hands were gestured in the air. Clearly he had just told some kind of joke. Fiona felt a twang of jealousy at the sight. It felt like such a long time since people had openly laughed and joked with her. Then the jealousy was replaced by guilt. Was it right to just peer into people’s lives without a just reason to? What if they had been doing something private?

  She assured herself that it was alright. It was only just this once, to see if the manjeko really could lock in on people so that she could find them. But that opened a whole new puzzling dilemma for Fiona. If she could find Donyo so instantly why couldn’t she find Rodrick?

  She decided to keep looking. After all, she had all the time in the world didn’t she? Moving back outside Haygarden appeared so simple in its frozen state. Snowflakes were suspended in the air on their way down to blanket the earth, the red sky loomed above. Then there was the simple joy of being there without the Beast and all of the terrors that he brought. Perhaps her ordeals had been worth it.

  She continued on like a bloodhound in the woods tracking a fox. He had to be somewhere after all. His scent—no, his essence—was heavy in the air. She could feel it so clearly. But it was obscure. Perhaps he had learned some way to hide it?

  She focused even closer. As the magic became fine-tuned through her efforts, she noticed that the red sky deepened in color, and the world became even more grey. It was as if she were trying to move a very heavy boulder and was starting to feel it budge. She needed to find him.

  And suddenly something broke through to her. It wasn’t just an ordinary feeling of Rodrick. It was something more solid. A thought. A thought that screamed. A thought that bordered on the obsessive. It was coming from him. She could feel it.

  Concentrating with all of her effort Fiona tried to zero in on what she was feeling. There were words behind it, but it was like someone shouting from far away. She couldn’t make them out. She couldn’t locate the source. But the thought was interming
led in the essence of her brother that she felt as she floated through Haygarden. It was being repeated over and over again. But how? Rodrick would be frozen like everyone else, wouldn’t he?

  Fiona continued to focus. She was getting closer. The thought was definitely coming from Rodrick though she still couldn’t tell which way that she should go. That’s when she heard it.

  Tome Vaenti

  She was sure of it. Those were the words, and they came from Rodrick. But what did it mean? As she continued to use all her efforts guided by the magic of the manjeko, she heard it again and again. Tome Vaenti. Tome Vaenti. Tome Vaenti.

  It wasn’t just a thought. It was a complete obsession. The thought had consumed him. Perhaps that’s why it was powerful enough to break through to her.

  But she couldn’t stay and search much longer. In her desperation to find some sign of her brother Fiona had not noticed just how much of a toll using the manjeko had taken on her. She felt herself slipping, and she didn’t have the energy to keep from falling.

  The sky gradually began to lose its redness as the world around her gained color again. Resigning herself to leaving, Fiona slipped away and back into her own body.

  When she returned to her house, the exhaustion was crippling. She fell to the floor and breathed heavily, drenched in sweat. She would have to be more careful in the future. How she felt using the manjeko was completely disproportionate to how tired she felt now that she was done. It might have been dangerous if she fought harder to stay. Her limbs were heavy and there was a strain on her chest.

  But still, the success of what she had accomplished easily made up for that. Smiling, she realized that she has taken an enormous step towards mastering the manjeko and finding her brother. She even confirmed that he was in the city and now had a new piece of information though she didn’t quite know what it meant.

  Tome Vaenti.

  She had never heard those words before, and she didn’t have the slightest clue what they meant. But she could find out. Now that she had the manjeko, nothing could stop her. Rising to her feet she decided that it would be wise to spend the day in rest. It would do her no good to completely run herself down when she had just made such an important step. Looking forward to an afternoon of sleep, she walked into her living room to fetch a water jug, when she saw Brandon standing there in a black tunic, smiling malevolently.

  * * *

  “Hello Fiona,” Brandon said. “It’s been so long since I’ve heard from you. I thought I’d check in and see how you are.” His brown eyes glittered maliciously above his curved nose.

  “How kind of you,” Fiona said. Internally she was afraid. She was far too exhausted to get into any kind of confrontation if things went south with Brandon now. Knowing the Forgotten if things did go badly, then surely he would have plenty of help waiting just outside.

  “So, my friends tell me that you’ve met with Donyo Brownwater, more than once even. How exciting. I’d be so happy to hear about what exactly it is that the master drunkard is working on.”

  “We haven’t gotten that far yet,” Fiona said, trying to stall for time. “Donyo keeps his secrets well-guarded.”

  “Don’t we all. But unfortunately I’m hearing some disturbing rumors from my superiors. They seem to be under this bizarre impression that you’re not actually too motivated to share Donyo’s plans with us. They seem to think that you’re using us to put pressure on your brother without any intention of paying us for our hard work. Crazy, isn’t it?”

  “You of all people should know that these things take time,” Fiona said. She took a step back, and then internally cursed herself for it. Now was not the time to look weak or scared.

  “Me, of all people?” Brandon rubbed his hands together as if he were pondering something. “I can’t imagine what you mean, Fiona. All I ask is that you hold up your end of the bargain. We had a deal after all, didn’t we? Is it too much to ask that you remember us?”

  “Maybe you shouldn’t call yourselves the Forgotten then.”

  The words were out of her mouth before she realized she said them. Fiona’s eyes widened with shock. She was so tired that she just seemed to not be able to filter herself. She eyed Brandon curiously, wondering what exactly he would do. He didn’t strike her as the type to appreciate a jape.

  To her surprise he burst out into loud voracious laughter. “That’s good, Fiona. I’m glad you can still make light of the situation.” He rubbed his eyes theatrically and took a step towards her. “Who doesn’t like a good joke from time to time?”

  His expression changed as quickly as an arrow flies from its bow.

  Scowling, he took a long knife from inside his tunic into his hand and eyed it.

  “Tell me,” he said. “Do you know why we call ourselves the Forgotten?”

  Fiona looked at him nervously. “I have a feeling I’m about to find out.”

  “Smart girl. We call ourselves the Forgotten because of the old dead Duke Redfire. Our founder was a close ally to him during the rebellion you know. One of the very first lords who supported Duke Redfire when he decided to revolt against the Empire. A man who was most instrumental in convincing the rest of court to support the Duke and launch the most impressive insurgency the world has ever seen.”

  “Is that a fact?” Fiona asked. “I can’t say they taught us much about that at Clearwater.”

  Brandon laughed darkly. “No, Fiona. They wouldn’t have. They like their history in this city to be as fresh and clean as spring water. All of the muddy bits are carefully run off into the sewers so the good little boys and girls of the Leaf District don’t have to suffer the foul taste.

  “Be that as it may, all those years ago our founder was among the first to support the Duke, and was therefore promised a great deal in terms of riches and status should the rebellion succeed. Well it did succeed as we all well know. But when it came time to give the rewards, Duke Redfire had other ideas.”

  Brandon’s eyes had a faraway look as though he wasn’t really speaking to Fiona. “The old dead Duke, soon to be named the Duchyless Duke for his failure to keep his provincial holdings in the Lordless Lands, was convinced at the last moment by a ragged Laquathi cutthroat that our founder had behaved without honor, and that rather than reward him for serving the cause of revolution, he should be cheated of what was promised and expelled from Haygarden.”

  “A Laquathi cutthroat?” Fiona asked. “What are you talking about? Why would Duke Redfire care what a Laquathi would have to say? He never gave them much concern.”

  “This Laquathi was no ordinary man. In fact, for his snake-like whisperings into the Duke’s ear he himself received riches and honors beyond what anyone could reasonably expect.”

  Understanding dawned on Fiona as Brandon watched her with hungry eyes.

  “Geoff Hightower,” she said.

  “Geoff Hightower,” Brandon agreed. “So surprised are you? Don’t try to hide it Fiona, I know that you were close with the old fool at one point. But Hightower has many secrets, and most of them aren’t so flattering. He only ever served the Duke because his own city banished him years before the revolution.”

  “That can’t…” Fiona didn’t know what to say. Maybe it could be true. She knew little enough of Geoff Hightower’s mysterious past.

  “So forgive me, Fiona, if I’m a little suspicious of bargaining, especially when those bargains are made with people close to Hightower. I was willing to overlook it because you are an unusual case, but all the same it won’t do for you to mock our name of origin. We are the Forgotten because we have been forgotten, by your Duchyless Duke and by the rest of Haygarden as well. So we made our own place for ourselves.”

  “The Forgotten have been in Haygarden all this time,” Fiona said. “You’re only acting now that things have gotten chaotic. But why? What’s the purpose? How did you founder get you all to agree to work in the shadows?”

  Brandon walked over to the door and peered out as though someone might be listening. Wh
en he turned around his face was full of rage. “I call him our founder out of habit, but I would more rightly say father.”

  “Father?” Fiona gasped. “That can’t be right. There’s too many of you.”

  Brandon approached her, the knife still in his hand. His eyes were twinkling with admiration. “My father knew the value of oaths that were built on such feeble concepts as gold or honor. He knew that to truly be surrounded by those who would do anything for him, blood was what truly mattered. He had many, many children. Despite having different mothers we are united in that common cause of blood from our patriarch.”

  Fiona had to swallow a lump in her throat and almost gaged on it. What Brandon was saying…it was insane. “Your father…he spent his life fathering an entire criminal organization so that one day he could take revenge on the Duke?”

  “Brilliant, isn’t it?” Brandon said with admiration. He gave her a cruel smile. “Who else can be trusted in this cold world besides family, Fiona?”

  She struck at his face with a closed fist. If it had connected, she would have broken his jaw, but Brandon had anticipated her and in the tired state that she was in he was able to grapple her arms and placed his knife to the back of her neck.

  “That’s why I like working with you, Fiona,” Brandon sneered in her ear from behind her. He yanked her arm painfully upwards and she let out a cry of pain. “You don’t stab people in the back. You’re not smart enough to. You wear your heart like a broach on the front of your tunic for all the world to see. So even when you do something stupid like that, it’s easy to see it coming.”

  “Let me go!”

  He laughed, but to her surprise he also released her. “I’ll forgive you that this once, Fiona. Don’t provoke me again. I promise you, there’s more to the Forgotten than there are to any Tellosian agents, or those nimrods in the Vaentysh Boys.”

  As he mentioned the Vaentysh Boys Fiona had a terrible thought. “The Forgotten…you hate the Duke just as the Vaentysh Boys did. Were you helping them?”