Echoes

by Honor Raconteur

  “You know, those two options are just so appealing, I’m not sure which one I’d rather go with,” Chi drawled sarcastically.

  I shrugged, as I had to agree with him, but I didn’t have anything but the truth to offer.

  “It’s like being offered two different types of poison,” Bannen agreed with saccharine sweetness, growing more sarcastic with each word. “Which would you prefer, the yellow lemonade poison or the red cherry delight poison? They’re just both so appetizing, aren’t they?”

  “Why, good sir, I would always choose the red over the yellow,” Chi responded acidly. “Red will match the blood as it spills all over the ground.”

  “An excellent point.”

  Now they were just being ridiculous. “Trapped, dormant energy isn’t going to kill you.”

  “Will it straight jacket us with our own arms?” Chi demanded. “Or grow tumor buddies, like we’re in a plague? I know Blanks got new fingers out of that deal, but I’m quite attached to mine. Literally.”

  “It doesn’t even have the energy to do that,” I promised him. “If it did, I wouldn’t say it was safe to stay tonight.”

  “Camping out near a mountain with a possible Toh’sellor Jr. stuck inside,” Chi groused, shoulders hunching in. “I think I’ll skip sleeping tonight. I’ll work on my poetry instead.”

  “If you go sleep deprived and punch drunk on me again, I will clock you in the jaw and put you out like a light,” Vee promised him darkly. “If Rena says it’s safe to sleep, it’s safe to sleep.”

  Chi glared up at his wife but didn’t argue. Or at least, didn’t argue loud enough that she could hear what he actually said.

  I had a feeling that Maksohm would be putting a shield up around the entire camp tonight. Otherwise none of us would be comfortable about sleeping so close to the mountain. Not even me.

  I did not sleep well that night. None of us did. I could hear people getting up and down throughout the night. Somewhere near dawn I dozed fitfully, but when the light got strong enough to shine through the tent flaps, I got up and dressed quickly. Bannen took over cooking breakfast, which involved a rice porridge with pumpkin in it. We all ate, me more than most, trying to compensate for the lack of sleep. I’d need the energy soon.

  Maksohm sat on a log next to me and asked in an undertone, “What do you want to do today? Keep tunneling forward?”

  Part of me just wanted to dismantle the mountain until I made sure that there was no active part of Toh’sellor inside of it. But that wasn’t reasonable. “I was hired to come up here and carve out a tunnel inside the mountain. I think I should keep doing that and keep a sharp eye out while working. I can’t guarantee that Toh’sellor’s energy is in any specific direction, after all, and just carving out chunks blindly will bring the mountain down on top of our heads.”

  “And drain you badly in the process,” he agreed with a troubled sigh. “I wish I had a better solution to offer but you’re unfortunately correct. We’ll pace ourselves with you. Should I keep a shield up?”

  “Just in case?” He could hold shields all day without really tiring, so I didn’t feel bad about asking. Keeping up a shield would let me actually focus and work and potentially keep everyone else from jumping right out of their skins.

  “I’ll do that, then.” Maksohm eyed the mountain as if it had personally insulted his mother. “Just when I think we’re done with Toh’sellor, it somehow rears its ugly head again.”

  Bannen dropped down to a comfortable seated position at our feet, bowl in hand, and groused, “Tell me about it. I really hope this is just a false alarm, though. I’d much prefer that than having to fight another Toh’sellor in close quarters.”

  “We all feel that way,” Maksohm assured him darkly. “Alright, in fifteen minutes, let’s resume tunneling.”

  I finished up eating, attended to nature, then thought to check in with Dag before we went back to work. Keeping him here seemed like such a bad idea now, but I couldn’t risk having him portaled anywhere. If something really happened, we’d need all of the magical energy that we could get. It was a sticky situation and I didn’t know the best call to make.

  Vee caught up to me and leaned in for a low-voiced conversation. “Rena, about Dag—”

  “I know,” I groaned, hands spreading in a helpless shrug. “But what do I do? We can’t portal him out right now, we need to reserve our energy. It’s not safe to keep him here, but I don’t know where else to send him unless your mother will watch him.”

  “I’m sure she will, but that wasn’t what I was about to say. Dag is adamant about staying here and helping us keep an eye out. He’s been amazingly well behaved for his age, and very focused. I think we should respect that and keep him here. At least until we’re sure if Toh’sellor is inside or not.”

  That was not at all what I’d expected her to say. “You really think so?”

  “Apprentices start taking on responsibilities at eight,” she reminded me. “He’s safe enough out here with the men, right? And he can help safeguard them. He’s done everything we’ve asked of him, Rena. Trust him a little.”

  She was right. It was just hard because my maternal instincts were flaring up, saying I needed to safeguard that child. I had a responsibility to do so. Blowing out a breath, I rubbed at both of my eyes with the pads of my fingers, trying to think while sleep-deprived. “Alright. Let me talk to him.”

  Vee patted my shoulder, bracingly, which meant she nearly sent me flying to the ground. “One more thing, though….”

  I gave her a curious look as she trailed off. “What?”

  “When you were in Gargan, did you hear anything about the cenebre that live in this mountain?”

  That did not sound promising. More like, the way she asked that question while shooting troubled looks at the mountain didn’t inspire good and happy things. “No…? We heard about legendary creatures, but not a specific name. Why?”

  “There’s a lot of old legends and stories about a magical race of monsters that call this mountain home. According to the stories, they were incredibly difficult to defeat and we nearly lost half our population before a truce of sorts was worked out. No one of Gargan would willingly even climb up this mountain, much less try to claim it.” Vee leaned in closer to confide in a low tone, “Two different railroad companies have been petitioning for years to tunnel through Cloudland Mountain and create a bypass to Gargan. The Elders on the Gargan Council have fought them off every time. I’m surprised you’re here, frankly. I didn’t think they’d gotten permission.”

  Remembering the petition and the stop work order I’d seen posted, I suddenly doubted they had. “They might not have. They might have decided to just pay the fine instead.”

  Vee’s face screwed up in a sour way. “Wouldn’t that be just like them? Sards, so we’re here illegally?”

  “Might be. I’d say it was almost a moot point at the moment, as I need to tunnel in a little more just to verify that no offspring of Toh’sellor is in there. But Vee, this creature you mentioned?”

  “The cenebre? Yeah, nasty pieces of work. I’m not all that sure if they still exist or not,” she admitted frankly, casting another worried look toward the mountain. “No one’s seen them in the past hundred years at least. They could have died out and we wouldn’t have known it.”

  “Or they could be alive and well.”

  Vee shrugged helplessly, her hands splayed to either side, palms up. “Them’s the breaks.”

  “You’re just full of good news, aren’t you?”

  “Wouldn’t you rather know of potential trouble?” Vee asked me, her expression saying very well that she knew which I’d prefer.

  “Well, yes, but I want less potential trouble. Is that so much to ask?” Grimacing, I went to find Dag.

  The little boy sat next to the kitchen, his eyes trained on the tunnel opening and his face scrunched up in thought. When I dropped down next to him, he didn’t take his eyes away from whatever he was studying and greeted me
with, “I couldn’t see from here if the energy is gone or not.”

  “Yeah, the tunnel stretches in too far back.” But kudos to him for trying. “Dag. I need to go back in there with the rest of the team.”

  “Yeah,” he agreed and spared me a glance. “I’ll keep watch out here. Don’t worry, if there’s trouble, I’ll take them all back down.”

  Since when was he the appointed leader of the rest of the adults? I sensed Bannen or Vee’s doing in this, somehow, as that seemed the sort of directions that they’d give a child. Then again, neither of them had been children for long growing up, turning to adults too quickly. They seemed to think all children were capable of more because of it. “Right. I’m trusting you to do that. I’m not convinced Toh’sellor’s actually in there, it could be leftover energy, but I might be wrong.”

  His grey eyes, so like mine, glowed with earnest fervor. “I’ll help you destroy it if it’s in there.”

  Why was he so adorable? Not about to dismiss him or his offer, I ruffled the back of his head. “I’m counting on you. Keep a close eye on me as I’m working, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “I dislike this pattern that is developing,” Chi informed me as we marched along at Rena’s side, our weapons at the ready. Never mind that we had nothing to shoot at. It was the manly version of security blankets, and we felt better having them in our hands.

  “What pattern?” I asked, a touch of black humor drawing the right side of my mouth into a smile.

  “The ‘let’s go through narrow tunnels’ pattern. Which one did you think I meant?”

  “The ‘let’s figure out if Toh’sellor is here’ pattern.”

  “Oh. I hate that pattern too, but I specifically mean the one where we keep going underground, in tunnels, that are spooky.” Chi’s voice rose as his agitation started spilling out of his mouth. “I hate tunnels on general principle, they call them fatal funnels for a sarding good reason, but there’s no high vantage point for me in these places. Especially if Rena’s tunneling it, the sides are perfectly smooth, and there’s nothing for me to climb, and it’s about as comfortable as fire ants holding a dance party under my skin.”

  Vee put a hand on his shoulder, gripping, shooting him a sympathetic grimace.

  I shared his opinion on the matter, though. Being in close quarters with no line of sight on Toh’sellor or even a guarantee it was in here was enough to give me the willies. I didn’t like willies.

  Emily stroked Dax’s head in a soothing manner as she voiced what I thought. “What disturbs me more is that there’s a possibility of other shards of Toh’sellor somehow surviving.”

  “Right?” I agreed with her, a shiver dancing along my skin. “I mean, if there really is a part of it lurking in the mountain somewhere here, doesn’t that mean there’s a possibility it could survive other places too?”

  Maksohm shot me a look. “Both of you, stop. I want to be able to sleep peacefully at some point before I die. Can you not stir up even more trouble?”

  “You think I like the thought?” I shot back, although I regretted saying anything, a little.

  Another chunk of rock disappeared ahead of us, Vee’s wind spell carrying the dust outside so we could breathe clean air. Nothing shouted Toh’sellor to us, so we kept moving at a stop-and-go pace as my wife steadily tunneled our way through.

  “Actually, the more I think about it, the more I believe that we’ll hit an answer fairly soon,” Rena offered. She paused before spellcasting, taking the canteen from her waist and drinking it down.

  That sounded reassuring. I crowded in against her back, sneaking in a cuddle. “Yeah? Why’s that, honey?”

  “Toh’sellor doesn’t like stone.” She leaned her head against my shoulder, chin tilting up so she could meet my eyes. “Remember? It always warps stone if there’s absolutely nothing else to work with, and even then not very effectively. I think there was something inside this mountain that drew it here, but with all of the rock surrounding it, there wouldn’t be any place for those minions to go. So there must have been a cave, or a cavity of some sort in here with lifeforms, but they would have died out quickly, as there’s no other power source to feed Toh’sellor or room for it to grow with.”

  “I really, really like that theory. Why didn’t you think of it earlier?”

  “Too panicked,” Rena admitted with a grimace. “This didn’t occur to me until just now, actually, but the further in I go, the more stone I see and little else. I mean, there’s vents and pockets, but that’s—Vee? That’s a very strange look on your face.”

  Turning, I looked up at our friend and Rena was right, that was a very strange look on our friend’s face. Vee looked torn between panic and disbelief, as if she’d just heard something she couldn’t quite reconcile with, but was deathly afraid was reality. Her mouth opened and closed, then she snapped her mouth shut, looking around her as if afraid something might pop straight out of solid rock and shout boo.

  Chi grabbed her hand, hard, face drawn into lines of concern. “Wifey? What’s up?”

  “There’s…” she trailed off, still looking around her anxiously. “Rena. That pocket of energy, you said that looked like a minion that had gotten trapped in the rocks. Right?”

  Slowly, Rena nodded confirmation. “Right.”

  “Why did you say minion?”

  “There were traces of something with an animal’s footprint mixed in with the energy. Warped, of course, but it was there.”

  Vee said something that would have gotten her arrested in Corcoran. She gripped Seton hard enough that the familiar shot up a line of colors in protest and she immediately loosened her fingers with vague apologies. “Sorry, Seton. Sorry. Look. I’m…I just had a disturbing thought. You heard about the legends before I came up, right?”

  My attention sharpened on her. “Yeah, Mack mentioned that on the way up here. He said it was why he couldn’t hire any locals to help, no one would get close.”

  Rena stopped dead and regarded her thoughtfully. “The monsters you mentioned earlier?”

  “Cenebre,” Vee stated softly, looking disturbed. “No one’s ever gotten a good look at them, but legend said they were winged creatures as dark as night. They never expose themselves to sunlight, that’s their one weakness. But they can phase through solid rock, in fact they do so regularly, it’s how they travel. They normally nest in mountains and won’t leave their territory unless disturbed or attacked.”

  Disturbed or attacked…like we were disturbing their territory right now by tunneling through it? No one said it but everyone clearly thought it, and the glances we gave each other spoke volumes.

  “I hope I’m not right,” Vee added quietly, her grip on Chi tightening. “It’s just, when you said ‘lifeforms inside of the mountain’ that’s the only thing I could think of. Nothing else really lives in here.”

  It was easy to overlook the missing parts of the picture. I hadn’t realized it until she said that, but in our time here I had seen precious little wildlife. No deer, skunks, squirrels, barely even birds or insects. I hadn’t thought much of it—what wildlife would be comfortable around a man’s campsite after all? Especially up here, where the animals weren’t used to seeing men at all. But the birds and insects and squirrels, those creatures knew no fear. We should have at least seen them. It was the end of June, this place should be hopping with babies and animals.

  Unless, of course, a big, bad predator kept them all at bay.

  “Rena, I really can’t prove anything one way or another.” Vee looked around uneasily once again. “But I think we should keep a sharp lookout for them. Even if the legends are wrong, something up here drew Toh’sellor’s attention.”

  “Yeah.” Rena blew out a steady stream of air, looking even more stressed than before. I hugged her tighter around the waist, wishing I could help. We were all now thoroughly spooked. “Well,” she said with false brightness, “on that thoroughly creepy note, let’s keep tunneling through the possibly monster-infe
sted mountain, shall we?”

  My wife went back to tunneling, but the irritation I felt before was nothing compared to the paranoia I had now. I did not think Vee was wrong. She might not be entirely right, there might not be legendary creatures up here, but there had to be something up here for Toh’sellor to latch onto. That was just the way it worked—the chaotic creature needed animals to form minions with. It wouldn’t have burrowed into this much rock without something drawing its attention.

  The close quarters of the tunnel had felt only vaguely claustrophobic before. Now I felt the mage light above our heads totally inadequate for our purposes, the light making more shadows than anything, obscuring anything behind us. A cold trickle of sweat went down my back and I had to fight to keep from leaping out of my skin at every twitch of sound.

  Emily kept shooting me glances, puzzled and worried. After the third time, I growled, “Z’gher’s culture has a lot of superstitions, alright?”

  “I didn’t mean to make you jumpy, Bannen,” Vee said with a wince, apologetic.

  “Congratulations. You did it anyway.”

  My team leader still gave me an odd look. “You fight monsters and assassins and mad mages all of the time.”

  “And I know what I’m up against with them every time,” I shot back. “I’m not trapped in a fatal funnel with possible legendary creatures that can move through solid rock with my precious wife right in front of me!”

  “Ahh, it’s Rena you’re worried about,” Maksohm responded, as if it all made sense now.

  “Of course it’s Rena I’m worried about!” I came close, but I didn’t smack him in the back of the head for saying the obvious.