by Anna Logan
Wards? “‘You’ as in…”
“As in you, Wylan, the twins, and four others with your same abilities.”
“Four others?” she glanced back at Brenly.
“Yes, there’s eight of you. There’s eight Wardens too, one for each of you.”
Feeling like she’d get dizzy if she tried to pound any more craziness into her muddled brain, she didn’t reply. Naylen took up the role. “Um, yeah, what in Lamara’s glory are you talking about?” He sent a nearly accusing glance Seles’ way. “And you’re San Quawr?”
“Yes, we’re all San Quawr,” Yhkon answered before she could, “and so are all of the wards.”
“That’s why I said we should maybe trust them,” Seles said, timidly. “If they’re from Calcaria, then—”
“Where is Calcaria?” Naylen interrupted, irritably.
“It’s in the Shadow Region.” Yhkon said it as if it was of little consequence.
Talea’s back straightened with surprise, and interest. “How is that possible? I mean, I thought people had tried to settle it, but it was too savage, and cold, so…”
“It’s both,” Grrake was nodding. “I was among the first few hundred men to start the settlement. It is habitable, you just have to be willing to take time to make it so, and to suffer losses. Now, twenty years later, it’s a thriving city. We even have a second town started six years ago, that’s growing steadily.”
“So it really is true,” Seles had a wistful air about her, looking at nothing in particular. “A refuge for San Quawr. We never believed it.”
“Very true.” Haeric smiled, a bright, honest smile that made it difficult not to trust him. “We have a population of about forty thousand.”
There was a silence, until Naylen crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, the picture of skepticism. “You’re telling me that you’re here as friends, not foes. That we’re all San Quawr. That the uninhabitable Shadow Region is where you live, in a thriving city of forty thousand other San Quawr, who are supposed to be a rare minority.”
“That is a lie you’ve been told,” Yhkon’s arms were crossed too. He made a significantly more imposing image in the stance. “In reality, San Quawr are as abundant as any other race. Maybe a little less so, but only because they’ve been massacred in the name of the Eradication for decades. That’s why we went to Calcaria. Not because it was easy, but because we had to.”
Talea closed her eyes and rubbed her temples, before looking again at him. “Back up. How does all this fit into what Wylan says about you? Why have you been stalking us?” Her voice was weak and cracked randomly, making her sound even more pitiful than she felt. Pitiful wasn’t exactly how she wanted to come across while talking to four armed men, of whose intentions she was doubtful.
Grrake sighed. “I don’t blame him for thinking what he does of us, but it’s a misunderstanding. We never—” he cut off as Wylan abruptly sat up. There was a sharp intensity in his expression, making it clear he’d been awake for at least a few minutes.
“Misunderstanding?” he echoed. His voice held some of her same fatigue, but mostly sounded of controlled anger that seemed to be a large part of his personality. His posture was upright, legs under him, hands at his side. He was ready to move if the need arose, but he wasn’t planning on immediate offensive.
The body language of the four Wardens caught her attention, too. All of them, however subtly, had become more alert. “Yes.” Yhkon uncrossed his arms, only to cross them again, a little less rigidly and lower on his chest. “I know what you saw, and I know how it must have looked. But Grrake and I were not the ones who killed your family.”
There was a twinge in her gut, as she watched pain flash across Wylan’s face.
“The Kaydorians got there before us, simple as that. The deed was done before we could take down more than a few of them. We…that is...they fought their way past us and got out, I suppose right before you came back, so that it was only us you saw.” He paused, looking towards Grrake, then down. “I’m sorry. I wish we could have saved them.”
They had all become an audience, watching and wondering. It was a bit of a wait for Wylan’s response. He didn’t so much as blink for a long moment, his gaze no longer on the Wardens, instead on one of his hands. When he eventually spoke, the words came steady, so steady. “Do you have proof?”
Grrake stepped forward. The action appeared more eager than threatening. “Yes. We couldn’t save most of your family, Wylan, but…” he smiled just a bit, the type of smile a father might get when giving good news to his children. “We were there in time to save Nakelsie.”
Finally, a reaction. A twitch, as if his temperate expression were about to flash into one of emotion yet was stopped before it could. His dark eyes narrowed. “You mean she’s alive, in Calcaria?”
Tarol joined the discourse, shedding a far lighter mood than the other three. “Sure is. And a spunky little lass she be. Causes all sorts of trouble.”
Wylan’s countenance had softened, though Talea suspected he hadn’t meant for it to. “So you want me to trust you long enough for you to take us to Calcaria, where I can see for myself.”
Yhkon nodded. “Yes.”
All eyes turned back to Wylan. He held Yhkon’s gaze momentarily, and dipped his head slightly, though his posture remained rigid. “Fine.”
Talea was inwardly gawking. Either Wylan was fooling them and still intended to fight, or he had the most rational, open-minded, objective personality of anyone she’d ever met.
The Wardens looked somewhat surprised too, though Grrake less so, as if he’d expected it. On cue, he smiled that same kindly smile. “Thank you. I respect your open-mindedness. How much of our explanations did you already hear?”
“Most of it.”
“Alright,” Grrake scanned the rest of the group. “Shall we continue where we left off?”
Please do. Talea scooched a little closer to the fire, pulling the blanket tight around her shoulders. “Yeah, I still don’t understand exactly who you are or why you’re here, and what it has to do with us.”
Ki chuckled. “Lots ta catch ya up on. Been ‘ard not ta—”
“Mm-hmm,” Naylen was glowering at him. “You know, I don’t like the fact that you two have been lying to us ever since you happened upon us. Let me guess, these guys sent you that night? You’ve been on their side this entire time?” His face was reddening, brown eyes reflecting the firelight. “That explains your absolute lack of concern when they attacked us in the middle of the night and strangled Wylan. The way your whole family was so welcoming,” his tone became mockingly dramatic, “so friendly and so eager to embark on this great adventure. If—” Both Ki and Yhkon tried to cut in, but he surged on with all the more fervor. “If you are so set on us trusting you,” he glared at the Wardens and twins together, “you might not have gone behind our backs and followed us around and—”
“Oh, quit already!” Yhkon snapped, wearing a dull glare of his own. “Do you think you’re enlightening us in some way? Yes, we went behind your back. Yes, maybe it should have been handled differently. But the fact is, he—” he pointed at Wylan, ignoring an attempt from Grrake to quiet him, “has been trying to kill us every time we came near him for years, so we weren’t too keen on waltzing up to you and extending a hand of friendship, knowing we’d probably be electrocuted on the spot!”
Talea, wincing, got to her feet. Naylen’s fiery return made her flinch. “Oh, oh right. How unfair of him to try to defend himself from who he thought murdered his family. We’re such idiots to be wary of two armed men following us around, spying on my little sister for who knows how long, sneaking up on our campsite in the middle of the night?!” he threw his hands up. “I’m terribly sorry, we should have been more welcoming!”
Wylan had gotten up as well, and moved closer to him and Talea, as if displaying his loyalty was still with them. Grrake grabbed Yhkon’s shoulder to hold him back, speaking soothingly. “This is getting out of hand. Let’s ju
st—”
Yhkon shrugged him off. “Listen, kid.” He crossed his arms more tightly. Even if she judged him to be almost thirty, for some reason Talea felt like he couldn’t justifiably refer to her brother as a kid. “I would explain all of this, if only you’d stop screaming and kicking. Or do you have some more ignorant complaints to make first?”
Naylen started to say something that she guessed wasn’t the type of thing he’d usually say with her, Brenly, and Seles around. She raised her cracking voice to drown him out. “Hey. Naylen, we should hear him out. And you,” she faced Yhkon, trying to steady her voice and make the words come, and come firmly, when what she wanted to do was cower. “You’re hardly helping either. Pl—” she stopped herself. Took a deep breath. “Don’t think we trust you. And we’re not defenseless, either.” At the silence that met her speech, she cleared her throat and took a step back. “I’m just saying. Let’s figure this out without any more fighting.”
Yhkon stared at her, almost dazed. “Right,” he swallowed and uncrossed his arms, putting them in his pockets instead. It looked awkward, with the hilt of a sword and several knives at his waist, and the spiked gauntlets on his forearms. “Well, this is going to take a while, so let’s all sit down.”
Uneasily, they did so. All the Wardens looked awkward when sitting in various poses on the ground. But, if nothing else, it made them less threatening. Yhkon took up the task of spokesman again, his attention seemingly on her more than the others. “Here it is. You two, and Ki and Kae, have a phenomenal ability. Do you have any explanation for it?”
She peered at Wylan. His face was unreadable; if he had an explanation, he wasn’t going to share it. To Yhkon, she shook her head.
“Well, we do.” He pursed his lips. “It’s hard to explain though, so for now, I’m going to skip it. The point is, we knew about you even before your eighth birthdays, and used the lightning pillars to locate each of you. Once we knew who and where you were, the team of eight warriors we’d created—us being four of them—were assigned individually to one of you. Grrake is Wylan’s Warden. Tarol is Ki’s, Haeric is Kae’s. I’m yours,” he gave Talea a timid smile, as if trying to make up for poor first impressions. Good luck with that. “It’s our job to protect our specific ward, and the wards in general. Yes, we have been ‘watching’ you, for years. But only to protect you.
“With Ki and Kae,” he half-smiled at the twins, “it was different. I knew their parents many years ago, so when I found out they were two of the wards, there was no need to be secretive about it. We told Alket and Ayida back then everything we are telling you now. When you came to Castown, yes, we sent the twins to you. We didn’t want you to make a lightning pillar, lest it be noticed by others. And yes, we asked the Krims to pretend they didn’t know about us, because we were worried that the moment you found out they did, you’d just leave.”
Well, I suppose that’s fair.
Seles’ forehead wrinkled with puzzlement. “I don’t understand. Why didn’t you come to us earlier, too? Wouldn’t it have been easier to convince us of all this years ago, rather than now, after we’ve been thinking you were a threat for weeks?”
“Perhaps,” Yhkon said the word haltingly, his eyes shifting to Grrake.
The older man took over for him. “Yes, I suppose it might have been. But with the nature of how we came to know about the Eight, we were unsure as to how much interference we ought to make.”
Talea squinted at him. “And why is it you won’t tell us the nature of how you figured out about us?”
“Talea,” Seles said in an undertone, with an almost apologetic frown at the Wardens. “Bite your tongue. It’s—”
“No, that’s alright.” Yhkon gave her an affirming nod. “You have every right to ask that.”
Talea hoped she didn’t show what she was thinking. She’d been on the verge of snapping back at her mother. I mean, good grief, do I really have to be a docile little maiden of virtue that doesn’t speak out of turn in a situation like this? She couldn’t help that she was showing the other part of what she felt, by giving Yhkon a hint of a smile. I like these Wardens better already. “Thanks. So, can’t you tell us how it is you figured out?”
“We can,” Grrake said, speaking over the beginning of a more hesitant reply from Yhkon. “It is Narone who gave you your abilities. The twins believe this, and I suspect you do, too,” he said to Wylan. “How we figured out is that Narone, well, told us. Told two men, that is. It would be hard to explain exactly how, but He did. You might even call it a prophecy.”
Oh, great. Talea inwardly gagged. Gotta love being prophesied about by some god. “Okay, and that had what to do with you not being able to tell us all this earlier?”
Grrake adjusted his position, leaning forward a bit. “Basically, when Narone told us this, it was said that the Eight would live in Zentyre, without knowledge of what was to come, until they were fifteen. To us, that meant we weren’t supposed to either tell them what we knew or remove them from Zentyre until then. But now that you’re fifteen…here we are.”
Yhkon had an opposite demeanor from the other Warden, having leaned back with a cynical look. “Personally, I would have brought you all to Calcaria years ago, prophecy or no.”
Wylan, previously a passive spectator, spoke up. “You’re not a Radical, then.”
“No,” Yhkon sat back up, looking defensive. “I am. I mean, I…”
Grrake was giving him a meaningful look. The younger man rolled his eyes and continued. “Of course, I’m a Radical. I just couldn’t help being skeptical of what seemed to be an impractical strategy with no reason. Stop looking at me like that,” he muttered to Grrake. “I wasn’t the only one who didn’t like it.”
“That’s true.” Tarol agreed, indifferently. “I didn’t like it either. I just didn’t question it, being an instruction-abiding, trusting follower of Na—”
“Oh please. You don’t abide by instructions unless they happen to suit you.”
“Oh, and you do, Silquije Eun? You’re the one who—”
“Hey, um,” Talea spoke tentatively. The two arguing Wardens immediately focused back on her. “Sorry, but, what are Radicals, exactly?”
Grrake whacked Tarol chastisingly and answered before anyone else could. “Xanytes believe in the One God, Narone, and follow His laws to earn eternal reward. Radical Xanytes believe the same thing, except we believe Narone to be a benevolent, involved God. That He cares more about our faith than how well we follow the rules, and that He is directly involved in what happens, rather than being distant and apathetic, leaving us to fend for ourselves. Does that make sense?”
You should have been a preacher. Sure it makes sense, in a silly, far-fetched sort of way. “Uh, sure. You’re a Radical?” she asked Wylan.
He shrugged, in what she took to be a “yes”.
“Can I ask a question?” Brenly asked, shyly.
Haeric smiled at her. “Of course.”
“Okay, I just don’t understand. You said the wards, or the Eight, were prophesied. Or Narone told you about them. Either way,” she tilted her head, “prophesied to do what? Why would Narone just give eight teenagers a crazy ability without reason, then tell you about it?”
All the Wardens exchanged uneasy glances. “Because,” Yhkon’s gaze was on Talea again. “There’s going to be a war, and we believe the Eight will be the leaders of it.”
11
Traveling Companions
T alea woke with a headache, a stiff back, and confusion at the voices she heard nearby.
“What on Kameon is that?”
“You know, since you’re among the top warriors of Calcaria, I would have thought you’d recognize oatmeal when you saw it.”
“Ha. Well, I would recognize oatmeal. This ain’t that.”
She sat up, massaging her temples. The voices. It was Yhkon, and, and…oh, and Tarol, that was his name. Right. Wardens. Wards. Prophesied…Shadow Region…war. Goodie. The shelter was unoccupied except for Bre
nly, who always managed to sleep later than the rest of them. Yawning, she climbed out from under the blankets, wincing when standing made her head hurt worse. Since she’d put on clean clothes last night after getting a thorough drenching in the river, she didn’t bother changing. Once her boots were on and hair brushed, she was ready to go out.
Opening the flap to the tent, the light nearly blinded her. The sky was brilliant blue and clear, the air crisp, with that breezy, brisk quality that told her autumn was on its way. Sure enough, the trees around them had tinges of yellow. Talea cast a scan over the rest of the campsite: Ki, Kae, Grrake, and Naylen appeared to be talking while standing around the Wardens’ celiths, out of earshot. Haeric was just approaching the fire, where Yhkon was stirring a steaming pot, Tarol still scoffing.
“Alright, Tarol, enough of your mischief,” Haeric said as he advanced, before cracking a grin at Yhkon. “Can I help you with that concoction of yours, Yhkon?”
Yhkon rolled his eyes skyward. “For the love of…No, thank you.”
She turned her back on the camp and walked leisurely to the river. It was roaring and swirling and far more terrifying than it had been before she’d been a hostage to its ferocity. With more caution than necessary, she knelt on the bank and bent forward to scrub her face and neck in the water. It was frigid on her skin, yet reviving, clearing away any lingering grogginess. It only made her headache increase, though. She sat back on the grass, combing her fingers through her hair. It was already smooth from being brushed a few minutes ago, so she parted it into three sections, pulled them to the side, and began braiding. At the ends, she held it in place with one hand and dug into the pocket on her skirt with the other. Where’s the stupid…oh, barbsit tails. The tie was in the pocket of the dress she’d been wearing yesterday, not this one. With a shrug, she undid the braid and tossed her black hair over her shoulder and returned to camp.
Seles stood by the fire, apparently taking over the cooking, while Yhkon stood to the side with his head lowered and hands in pockets, a far cry from the man who last night had seemed as dangerous as the river he’d saved her from. With some reluctance, Talea joined them.
