“I smelled food and came running.” Astor joined us. Iri was not far behind as he rubbed the crud out of his eyes.
“Fish. Aria and Beru caught them.” She looked back and forth between Beru and me. I ignored her and focused on the food she was cooking. My stomach grumbled as the smell of frying fish filled the air. We’d only had vegetables and fruit for so long.
“Have you had anything else come to you?” Sade flipped the fish.
“I remembered some things about the final battle.” Beru rubbed his stomach.
Iri seemed intrigued with this new information. “Like what?”
“I was on an errand for Onen Suun.” Beru stretched out his legs. “He knew he had to imprison Dag’draath. But he didn’t have enough power.”
“He was that strong, even then?” Astor’s voice dropped in awe.
“He was. Onen Suun sent me after a stone: Death`s Breath. It was rumored to have immense power. With that stone, Onen Suun would have enough power to put a spell on the prison.” Beru stopped—it seemed painful for him to remember.
“Was he a wizard like me?” Astor became more intrigued with the story.
“No. But the spell created the prison.”
I interrupted him. “Is the stone what’s calling you back?”
“I think so, but I can’t be sure until we find whatever it was that I hid. It’s becoming clearer to me now.”
“Did you find the stone?” Astor was deep into the story now.
“Yes. It wasn’t easy, but in the end, I did find it.”
“What happened next? I mean, if you found it, why did you hide it?” Astor’s eyes were big. Sade and Iri shared a smiled at Astor’s enthusiasm.
“It’s blurry, but I remember having to pass different tests. I was in the middle of one when we were attacked. I’m guessing that’s when I hid it somewhere.” Beru shook his head as he tried to remember what happened.
“So, Suun never had the stone when he made the prison?” I had always been interested in how the prison came to be. This was the first I had heard the story.
“No. I was taken captive, and told no one else where the stone was hidden.” Beru seemed to be clearer on his story now.
“It must be what’s calling you.” Sade handed him a plate full of fish.
“If it is, we can use it to close the prison,” Beru stated.
“How did the prison end up getting built if they didn’t have the stone?” Astor asked the question the rest of us had heard the tales of.
“On the blood of others. From a major sacrifice.” Beru hung his head as if ashamed, and then stopped speaking and dug into his food.
We grew quiet as we filled our bellies with fish. The day before, we’d fought, but today, we had hope. We knew what we were looking for and Beru was getting his memory back. It would be no time at all until he realized he was the key.
“What tests did you have to pass? ” The moment Astor finished his food, he wanted to know more.
“Let the man eat.” Sade let out an exaggerated sigh.
“I don’t remember. I think I failed one. But I don’t remember what they were. They were physical, I’m sure.” Beru stared off into the distance.
“It’s okay if you don’t remember everything. It’s coming back. That’s what’s important.” I placed a hand on his arm, and he wrapped his fingers around it. I could feel Sade’s eyes on us. I was in for some questioning later when we were alone.
The rest of us finished our food, and we started to break down camp. I was washing the dishes down by the water by the time Sade made her way over to me. She sat, but didn’t offer to help and I knew the interrogation was about to begin. “So.” She rocked back and forth on her heels, her eyes dead set on me.
“What?” I looked back at her, opening my eyes wide and trying to look innocent as I scrubbed a plate.
“Something’s going on.” Her eyes narrowed as she watched me. “Or something happened. I know you didn’t catch those fish.”
“You’re right. I didn’t.” I turned my eyes back to the task at hand.
“He kissed you again, didn’t he?” She stopped rocking, leaning closer to watch my expression.
I scrubbed the dish harder but didn’t answer her question. I wanted to tell her in my own time, not hers. I didn’t want her to influence what I planned to do. And anyway, she thought we were all going to die soon, so I wasn’t sure I wanted her advice on this right now.
“You can’t keep this from me. Let me live vicariously through you. That’s why your face was so red this morning, wasn’t it?” Her voice grew louder and more excited when I flinched without meaning to. “And you baited me with food!”
I looked at her and gave up, smiling. She moved closer, so she was beside me, and almost touching my arm. “You cheeky girl. Now, go on. Tell me absolutely everything. I need details!”
“There’s nothing to tell, really. He did kiss me, but it was quick. I went down to the river and found him there. He’d already caught the fish.” I kept my face toward the water, embarrassed at how I couldn’t stop smiling at the memory.
“What was it like?” Sade nudged my arm and raised her eyebrows up and down rapidly.
I laughed out loud at her antics. “It was nice.” I could feel my face heating up again.
“What else? What did he say?”
“He wants us to go away when this is all over. To spend some time alone, but I don’t know.” I shook my head. I hadn’t had time to think things over.
“I think you should. Besides, it will be good to have something to look forward too.” Sade shrugged like it was no big deal to her.
“I’m done. We should get the boys moving. You know how slow they are if they don’t have us around to prod them.” I stood up with the clean plates and began up the small hill. I balanced everything evenly, so nothing fell.
“Apparently, Beru isn’t slow.” Sade ran past me, giggling as she went.
I shook my head and laughed. Sade wasn’t as predictable as I’d pegged her to be.
Chapter 22
“It should be here,” I told my crew as we entered what I thought would be the prison. Perplexed, I turned in a circle and looked around. I didn’t recognize anything.
“I thought so too.” Beru stepped out ahead of me and looked off into the distance. “The landscape is completely different.”
“Is it because there’s a rip? Maybe something happened here to change that.” Sade kept her fighting stance, not looking at all reassured there was no sign of danger at the moment.
Iri appeared worried. “Is the wall completely down?”
“It could be.” That was the worst-case scenario. I hoped we just had the wrong spot.
“We would know if the walls were down.” Beru walked back to us. “Let’s go farther. It’s got to be around here somewhere.”
“What should we be looking for?” Sade walked forward, alert for any noises.
“You’ll know when you see it,” Beru called back to her.
Beru walked to the left as Sade, Iri, and Astor walked straight ahead. I hung back and followed Beru.
The land seemed familiar and the feeling was the same. Deep, dark coldness. It had to be around there somewhere. There were few trees or anything of a living nature, so it should have been easy to see the buildings.
Beru walked up a hill and stood at the top. I waited for him to say something but lost my patience. “See anything?” I yelled at him.
“Nothing.” He ran back down the hill. “It’s familiar, though. It’s here.”
“I guess we’ve never been on this side of the wall,” I reminded him,
“That’s true. There must be another entrance somewhere.”
Beru took off running, and I followed him. We could be chasing thoughts for hours. We had no idea what to look for and no idea if anyone could see us. There was nowhere to hide if we wanted to look in this desolate landscape for the entrance.
“It’s impossible.” I threw my arms up in the
air. I’d expected to get there, find the rip, get the stone, fix the prison, and be on to my next life. Hopefully, with Beru at my side if he could forgive me. I should have known it wouldn’t be that easy.
“Look for a ripple.” Beru ran back and forth in front of me.
I sighed. A ripple? That could take us months. The land was vast and barren, which made it hard to see anything. “There’s too much land to cover.”
“It’s around here somewhere. I know it is.” Beru kept running. “It’s close. I can feel it.”
I followed him and kept my eyes open for the ripple. I wasn’t entirely sure what he meant, but he was being drawn to the stone. He had the most chance of finding it out of all of us so I wanted to stick close to him.
“What if we don’t find it?” I called out to Beru, who was a short distance away from me.
Beru ran back to me. “What do you mean? That’s why we are here.”
I could tell I was testing his patience, but he was calm with me instead of yelling, like I probably would have done to him.
“What do we do with it?”
A million things ran through my head at the thought of collecting the stone. Things I hadn’t thought of before. Like Onen Suun was gone, and no one knew the spell he’d used in the first place. Even if we found it, the stone could be completely useless without him.
“We take it, of course. Figure out how to use it to keep the prisoners locked up.” Beru looked confused about my questioning, and I didn’t blame him.
“But you were supposed to take it to Onen Suun. He was going to use it to build the prison. He’s not here now. What are we supposed to do after? ” I questioned him hard as my own insecurities infiltrated my thoughts.
“We can worry about that when we have it. We’re wasting time, Aria,” Beru pleaded with me.
“We have no one to take it to,” I yelled, not because I wanted to. I was unraveling at the thought of having the powerful stone in our possession. I was suddenly more frightened at the possibility of finding it than I had been at dying.
Beru grabbed both of my shoulders and tried to calm me. “Let’s just look for the opening. We don’t even know if it’s the stone that’s pulling me here.”
I nodded, aware of how ridiculous I was being. But something was nagging at me. This may not be the best option. “Wait.”
I pulled Beru’s sleeve as he began to walk away from me to continue searching. He turned back, lowering his eyebrows. I could see he didn’t understand my reluctance, but I stood opened-mouthed, unable to tell him about my worries.
“Dreamwalk to Runa.” Beru pulled me close. “Talk to her. Maybe she can help you with what’s bothering you so much. But let me keep looking.”
I nodded at his plan. Runa would know what to do with the stone. I hoped. I watched as he walked off, and then began my descent into a dreamwalk.
It was easier to contact her now, past, perhaps because Runa left a channel open for me to communicate with her. It wasn’t long before I was back in the white room I disliked so much. Perhaps, because I never got good news there.
“I’ve been waiting for you.” Runa’s back was to me. “I’ve been wondering what you are up to with those hoodlums.”
“They are loyal friends. More like family now.” I wouldn’t let her talk about them that way.
“Fine. Whatever they are. Just tell me what’s going on.” Runa sat down in her throne-like chair as she waved a hand and offered me a downgraded version.
I wasn’t sure how I should start. She hadn’t exactly welcomed me there. “I need your opinion on what we should do.”
“Have you gone south?” Runa settled in.
“Yes, they’re looking for the entrance to the prison now.”
“Then why are you here? Don’t you want to be there when they find it?” Runa rang a bell and servants appeared with drinks.
“It may take some time. They are looking for a ripple in a very large, very empty space.” I took a glass of what appeared to be red wine.
“I can’t help you with that.” Runa shook her head.
“I don’t need your help with finding the stone. Could you just listen for a change? I don’t have a lot of time.”
“Go ahead.” Her eyes narrowed in warning.
She was interested. Otherwise, she’d have thrown me out for talking to her like that. I had her in the palm of my hand right now, which I was hoping would work in my favor. “Beru knows what he’s being drawn to now. It’s a stone Onen Suun tasked him to find.”
I paused, half expecting her to stop me with questions, but she sat still.
She offered me a fake smile. “I’m listening, as you wished.”
“It’s a stone called Death’s Breath.” No sooner had I said it, than her smile disappeared.
She rose to sit on the edge of her seat. “And does he have this stone?” Her voice was emotionless, her words clipped and precise.
“No. It’s in the prison. He will know where to find it once we get in.”
“I see.” Runa looked off toward the side of the room, appearing deep in thought.
“You’ve heard of the stone?”
“Yes. I have.” Runa didn’t offer any more information.
“I need to know what to do once we get it. If it’s as powerful as Beru thinks, it’s not something I want to be carrying around with us.”
I got up, unable to hold my energy together. If any lanterns or candles were near, I was certain I could light them just by looking at them.
“No, you’re right. It’s something you will want to keep hidden. Just not in the prison.” Runa stood up and walked over to the wall. She pressed some buttons, and her own personal bar opened. She poured two glasses of tan liquid. “Thinking of that stone makes me parched.” She handed me one of the glasses and I took it willingly.
“What should we do?” I was only too eager for her response. She already knew more about the stone than perhaps all of us by the way she was acting.
“Give it to Astor and Iri. Let them bring it to Western March. We can protect it here.” Runa sat back down on her throne.
“What will you do with it?”
Runa was a little too quick to ask to have it brought back there. She knew there would be danger in that, so why would she want to have it with her?
“I’ll hide it.” Runa looked smug.
Her eagerness to take on such a power worried me, but I had no one else to trust. And frankly, I would be happy it would be nowhere near me.
“Then, once I have the stone, you and Beru should leave and go far away. Stay away until we figure out the best way to handle the stone. The ur’gel will follow you, of course. It would help people in the Lower Forest as well. Give them time to build up what they’ve lost in the attacks.”
I nodded, knowing she didn’t mean anything personal by her comment, but it was a harsh reminder of the pain and suffering I had caused to free Beru. “I see.”
“Stay in the desert. It’s far enough away.” Runa gripped the throne’s armrest.
“Okay. I’ll do it.” I wasn’t sure what I’d wanted her to say. I guess I expected something different. That I would be part of the plan to keep the stone safe. I reminded myself not to let my ego get the better of me.
“You can call on me if needed. Remember that.” Runa stared intently at me.
“Thank you.” My voice was low. I should have been grateful for her help. I had sought her out this time. But something wasn’t sitting right with me.
“Something’s on your mind. You don’t trust me, do you, Aria?” Runa leaned over and watched my eyes.
“I don’t know who I can trust right now.” I was honest. It wasn’t necessarily her.
“We are dreamwalkers, you and me. We’re on the same team.”
“But you’re above me. You know more than I do. You can do more things than dreamwalk,” I countered.
“Yes, and so could you if you chose. I’m not holding you back. Now, of course, you are free to deal wi
th the stone however you please. You can refuse my offer, and not bring it here.” Runa drank from her glass but didn’t take her eyes off me.
“I accept your offer, and I do trust you. I wouldn’t have come if I didn’t.” Mother Ofburg wouldn’t have come here if it weren’t safe. I had to remember that. “I trust you because of Mother Ofburg.” I sat with my back straight, ready to return to my friends and look for the prison entrance.
Runa lowered her glass. “I take it you haven’t heard, then.”
“Heard what?” I was confused.
“Mother Ofburg has passed. Her body was found floating in the river.” Runa’s eyes filled with tears as her face crumpled. “I thought you already knew. I’m sorry.”
I didn’t move at first. Afraid if I did, what she told me would be true. I remained stiff even as my cheeks began to spasm.
“I’m sorry to be the one to have to tell you. I can feel her essence in you. She gave you her energy?” Runa passed me a cloth to wipe away tears I hadn’t realized were falling.
“Yes.” My voice was small. I broke out of my stiff stance and felt dizzy and weak.
“She knew what she was doing when she did it then?”
“I believe so. I just didn’t think it would happen so soon. I thought maybe I’d get a chance to say a real goodbye once this was all over.”
I wiped my eyes as Runa came over and sat on the arm of my chair. She pulled me toward her and wrapped her arms around me.
“We all go through things. Things we don’t think we can live through. But we do. You’re strong, Aria. You’re young and have so much to learn. She’ll live on through you.” She kissed the top of my head.
“I can’t imagine life without her,” I muttered as I fell into deep sobs, allowing her to comfort me.
“She lives in you. She gave you her greatest gift. You have yet to discover the extent of it.” Runa rocked me back and forth for a while. We said nothing.
When I was ready, I pulled away from her. “I’m ready to go back now.”
“I know you are.” Runa smiled and stood up. “I’m always close if you need me.”
I nodded and gave my face one final wipe with the cloth. “I’m such a crybaby.”
Soul Healer Page 15
