Kyla gazed around the room, thinking what to do. She had Winnie working to keep everyone calm, and she’d sent Zauna back to her crystal ball. She’d asked Abigail to look through the Breyadon for a spell that she could use to find and contact Marta. Once before Abigail had used such a spell from that book to contact Ed when he was in his “special place.” It was vital that they find and retrieve Marta. So Abigail had gone for the Breyadon and was hunting through it for the spell she had used then.
“Here it is!” Abigail announced.
At that moment, Veronica and Renni walked in, and Ed with them. Progress, at last! She hurried to greet Ed and stretched out her arms to give him a hug.
He backed off, a wild look in his eyes. “How … I don’t understand. Kyla? Where am I?” He gave a frightened glance around the room. “Who are all these people? Where’s Marta?”
What was the matter with Ed? This was more than an effect of grief. Had Jerome somehow done something to Ed’s mind? Frowning, Kyla glanced at Veronica, who looked equally puzzled and then at Renni, who met her glance with a defiant look that revealed what had happened. Probably to ease Ed’s grief Renni had used her power to erase memories.
She’d have plenty to say to Renni about that later. First she had to try to explain things to Ed. She pointed to Veronica. “You know Veronica, but she’s grown up a good bit, since you last saw her five years ago. And this,” she indicated Renni, scowling at her as she did so, “this is Renni Natches, a new member of our community here in Port-of-Lords, and, I suspect, the reason for your confusion and loss of memory. Her gift is the removing or altering of memories. You apparently don’t remember coming here from Sharpness several days ago. What is the last thing you do remember?”
“I’m in Port-of-Lords?” He shook his head as though to clear it. “I came here several days ago?”
“That’s right. You don’t remember traveling here?” She repeated her previous question. “What is the last thing you remember?”
Tugging on his beard, his brow puckered in thought, he spoke slowly “I took off work to go home and eat lunch. On the way home I stopped by the post, and we’d received a letter from you, Kyla.” He gazed at her wonderingly. “I didn’t open it; I wanted Marta to have that privilege. I got home, and Marta had been sewing all morning, and she set her work aside. She was thrilled to get the letter and wanted to read it right away, before we had lunch. She opened it and started reading it aloud. And … and the next thing I know, I’m walking into this room with these two young ladies, and you’re coming toward me. And I don’t understand.”
“Of course you don’t. Because this young lady,” Kyla pointed an accusing finger at Renni, “used her gift to erase over three weeks’ worth of memories from your mind.”
“But why? And where’s Marta?”
Kyla bit her lip, considering how much she dared tell him. Everyone gathered around her except for Zauna, who stayed at her crystal ball. Kyla wished she’d sent more of her guests away. Especially Renni. She’d known all along the young woman was trouble.
While she pondered what to say, Abigail approached holding the Breyadon. “I was just about to try a spell that might let me talk to her,” she said. “If it succeeds, we can find out exactly where she is.”
“That’s fine, but I still don’t understand what’s going on,” Ed said, looking around and scowling. “I don’t know who most of these people are. I don’t know how I got here, why I’m here, or why Marta isn’t here. Someone, please tell me what’s happened.”
Winnie Calder sidled up next to Ed, and Ed’s features relaxed a bit as Winnie exercised her gift of imparting calm. Quickly Kyla said, “Yes, Abigail, go ahead and try to reach Marta. We need to know exactly where she is and what’s happening with her.”
Abigail glanced around her. “I can’t do it here,” she said peevishly. “I don’t need an audience. I’ll go into the kitchen, and—”
“We need to know right away whether the spell works,” Kyla interrupted, “and if it does, I need to speak to Marta.”
“I’ll go with her,” Veronica volunteered.
“No, absolutely not,” Kyla said. “You’ve done enough.”
“I didn’t know she was going to do that to Ed’s memories,” Veronica declared, pointing at Renni. “She just did it without telling me.”
“I don’t doubt that,” Kyla responded, glaring at Renni, “but you’ve caused other problems.”
“I just tried to help,” Veronica snapped. “Nobody else was doing anything.”
“I’ll go with Abigail, “ Leah said, “and if she makes contact with Marta, I’ll come back and report immediately.”
“Fine, do that,” Kyla said, smarting under Veronica’s all-too-accurate accusation.
Carrying the large, leather-bound spell book, Abigail headed for the kitchen with Leah following her. That made two fewer people in the room, but Kyla still felt stifled, with everyone except Zauna gazing expectantly at her, waiting for her to say or do something when she had no idea what to say or do.
Zauna suddenly let out a horrific scream and toppled to the floor. Kyla rushed toward her and knelt beside her. Winnie joined her. “She’s fainted,” Winnie said. “I think I can bring her around. Just, please, everybody back away and clear the area around us.”
Slowly and a bit grudgingly, they did as she requested, leaving a large open space around her and Kyla and Zauna.
Winnie looked at Kyla. “You, too, please.”
Kyla nodded and stepped back away from Winnie and Zauna. Ed made his way to her.
“Kyla, I have to know what’s happening,” he said.
“I know, Ed. Just please be patient a little while longer and let me see what Abigail learns and what Zauna saw that made her faint. Then maybe I’ll know what to tell you.”
A clap of thunder shook the house. A thump drew all eyes to the cleared space around Winnie and Zauna.
A body lay there, bathed in blood. “Mayzie!” Kyla screamed and ran to the wet nurse who had fallen out of nowhere. She slipped on the blood pouring from the young woman’s chest and nearly toppled down beside her. Righting herself, she screamed again.
A long, deep gash between Mayzie’s breasts exposed her breastbone and parted her chest enough to make visible her ribcage and lungs. Was she—could she still be alive?
“Veronica, get over here,” she yelled. “And someone get Abigail. We need healers.”
Veronica darted to her side.
Renni dashed to the kitchen and returned in moments with Abigail and Leah. “I couldn’t reach Marta. I was still trying,” Abigail said and then gasped as she saw why she’d been summoned. “It’s Mayzie? Is she still alive?”
“Barely,” Kyla said and added grimly, “I think.”
Abigail dropped to her knees beside Mayzie, and Veronica joined her. They laid their hands on Mayzie’s blood-soaked body.
Another thunderclap rocked the room, and Kyla shuddered, fearing to see another body appear, but instead a voice boomed out, “Save her if you can, it matters not. You are all doomed.” A bloodcurdling laugh followed, and then an awful silence.
They all gazed helplessly at one another. Someone started sobbing. Kyla looked around. Her gaze stopped on Veronica, whose hands covered her face while her shoulders shook.
“We lost her,” Abigail spoke from beside Veronica. “Mayzie. We lost her when that horrible voice broke our concentration. She’s dead.”
“It’s my fault,” Veronica said between sobs. “It’s all my fault.”
Abigail shook her head. “We were sharing power, channeling it into Mayzie, stemming the blood loss. Veronica and I both stopped when the voice came. By the time we recovered, she’d slipped away.”
“I should have held on,” Veronica insisted. “I stopped because I recognized that voice. It’s Jerome. I remembered all that anger he poured into me when … when I killed …” She burst into a fresh round of sobbing.
Leah knelt beside her and gathered her into her
arms. “Hush, Veronica. It’s all right. It isn’t your fault. You mustn’t think that.”
“Jerome!” Ed exclaimed. “He’s free? And behind all this? Why didn’t you tell me? He’s got to be stopped. We have to find Marta.”
Veronica clung to Leah, her tears soaking the lovely dress Leah had worn to the Naming-Day ceremony. Her own dress was drenched with Mayzie’s blood. Her inability to heal Mayzie, to save her life, was too much to bear. She’d failed miserably at everything she’d attempted. She’d let Aunt Kyla down badly, going off on her own, thinking she could make everything right. Instead she’d made it all wrong.
She hadn’t been able to bring Dreama back, and bringing Ed alone, which she’d never intended to do, had stranded Marta somewhere, probably where Jerome could find her, and now Ed wasn’t there to help her and couldn’t even remember why he needed to find her, thanks to stupid Renni.
Aunt Kyla would have to explain everything to Ed, and that would take time, and they couldn’t spare any time if they were going to save Dreama. And Ed didn’t even know about Dreama, and if they didn’t get her back, he’d have no memories of the little daughter he’d had for such a very short time. And Marta, if they got her back, would never forgive her for letting that happen.
She’d been so sure of herself—of her powers. She’d criticized Aunt Kyla for doing nothing, but doing the wrong thing was even worse than doing nothing.
She had to make things right. Somehow she would.
CHAPTER NINE
SEARCH
Frightened as she was and frantic with worry about Dreama and Mayzie and now Ed, too, Marta somehow managed to keep her wits about her. Ed had told her a great deal about this land, and even though it had changed so much, she recognized the streambed, a dry and stony depression winding where Ed had described a fast running stream, its banks lined with trees. The desiccated trunks of those trees still stood along it. By crossing the dry streambed and walking away from it she should come to the part of the land that Ed had declared not his. He’d described the ruined building where Jerome had been trapped when a wall had collapsed. Ed had explored that building and discovered a nexus there, a point of connection to the Dire Realms. He had even met Claid there, a brief encounter with the Dire Lord that had deeply affected Ed. If she could contact Claid, he’d help her rescue Dreama.
Stinging insects assailed her as she crossed the streambed. She beat at them and continued on, though they seemed determined to drive her back. The farther she went, the hotter the land felt. Waves of heat rolled upward from the baked sand. Even through her shoes the soles of her feet burned. Her thirst increased with every step. She could bear it only by keeping her mind focused on the image of Dreama. Her thoughts, fixed on the infant and what Jerome might be doing to her and to Mayzie, kept her marching resolutely onward.
There! In the distance! A stone building that had to be her goal. With renewed drive she picked up her pace. The heat beat down with such intensity that as she drew nearer the building, she grew lightheaded. If only she had water! Her mind drew pictures of fountains of sparkling water and pasted them onto the desolate land. She had to ignore them. But she heard the tinkling of the water as it cascaded onto the rocks around a fountaining spring. She smelled the freshness, imagined she felt the dampness.
A mirage! To one side of and not far from the building. It looked and sounded and smelled so real! And she was so thirsty. A drop of water landed on her arm. She stared at it for the seconds before it evaporated, leaving a cool spot, a promise of refreshment. Of life.
She turned aside, toward the fountain. It was a trick. It had to be. But if it wasn’t …
With a groan Zauna woke from her faint. Kyla moved to place herself where she would block Zauna’s view of Mayzie, guessing that a vision of Jerome torturing Mayzie must have caused the crystal gazer to faint. Winnie, still crouched beside Zauna, bent close and whispered something into Zauna’s ear. Whatever it was, it calmed Zauna. She sat up, still facing away from the bloody corpse.
The silence in the room since Mayzie’s death was broken only by the sound of someone sobbing. Kyla thought it was Veronica, but she didn’t turn around to look, and the sobbing soon subsided. A hand on her shoulder made Kyla look up.
Leah bent down to say, “I’ve put a blanket over the … over Mayzie. March and Lore are going to carry her body into another room. We’ll have to notify her husband.”
Kyla nodded. “I dread that. Isham will be heart-broken. I don’t know what to tell him. And their little son …” She paused to collect herself. It was hard to get the words out. “Have them put her in the room she used for nursing.”
Leah moved away. Winnie helped Zauna rise and guided her to the chair from which she’d fallen. “What happened to Mayzie?” Kyla heard Zauna ask Winnie.
Zauna must have heard some of what she and Leah had said. Kyla got awkwardly to her feet and went to her side. “You don’t know? When you fainted, what had you seen?”
Zauna shuddered, her face so pale Kyla feared she was about to faint again. But Winnie kept her hand on Zauna’s shoulder, steadying her. “Hands. Bloody hands. Holding Dreama.” Her whispered responses came out in gasps, and she shook her head all the while she spoke, as though she wanted to deny what her crystal ball had shown her. “I couldn’t see the person, just the hands. And Dreama. I don’t think the blood was hers. I didn’t see Mayzie. Just those hands, dripping blood. And Dreama’s face was all screwed up, and I didn’t have to hear to know she was screaming, and … and the hands were lowering her to the ground, and …” Zauna sobbed, rocking back and forth.
“Go on, please,” Kyla begged, though she dreaded to hear more.
“He was lowering her onto an ant hill. And the ants were huge and angry and bright red like fire.” She spoke so rapidly that it was hard for Kyla to follow. As soon as she got the words out, Zauna collapsed in sobs.
“We have to get her,” Kyla said.
“Did you see her actually placed on the ant hill?” someone asked. “Maybe it was a trick.”
Kyla recognized the voice of Petros Birge. His acute hearing would easily pick up the words Zauna had spoken so low and hoarsely. How Kyla wished he were right, but it was no trick—not the sort Petros meant.
“No,” she said. “Somehow he knows we’re seeing what he’s doing. He wants us to try to rescue her. She’s nothing more than a means to an end for him. He wants us to go where he is.”
“Well, we have to, don’t we?” Veronica said, coming to stand beside her. “We can’t let Dreama die.”
“She won’t last long on that anthill,” Zauna said, shaking her head in despair. “Even if we knew where he was and how to get there.”
“I know he’s somewhere on the world I trapped him on,” Ed said. “I can get there. But did you see Marta there?”
“No,” Zauna answered. “I only saw those bloody hands holding the baby.”
“Mayzie’s blood,” Abigail chimed in sadly. “He’s a madman.”
“A clever and very gifted one,” Kyla said. “And very, very dangerous. If you go there, Ed, you could be putting yourself into his power.”
She turned and looked at the others. “I have one idea. Rather than any of us trying to go where Jerome has Dreama, I think Ed should go to the world, take Lore with him, and then let Lore transport Dreama to them.” She turned to Lore. “As soon as you have her, Ed can return here with you and Dreama. It would be safer than trying to confront Jerome.”
To Ed she said, “Lore can bring objects to him, and I believe he could bring Dreama, small and helpless as she is.”
“I might be able to. I’m willing to try,” Lore said. “But we don’t know where Jerome is. We might appear right in front of him.”
“I’m willing to take that chance,” Ed told him. “It’s a big place. The odds are in our favor. It’s the best plan we have. If it works, I’ll bring you and the baby back here, and then I’ll return and hunt for Marta.”
“Just do something, fas
t,” Veronica begged. “We can’t let her die at the hands of that monster. To do that to poor, dear Mayzie …” She sobbed, unable to finish.
“Lore? Are you willing?” Kyla asked, skewering the young man with her glance.
He shrugged. “It’s taking a big chance, and I’ve never tried to transport a baby—”
“It’s the only chance Dreama has,” Abigail snapped. “And you are the only one with that ability.”
“Not quite,” Ed said. “Marta has it. If we could only find her.”
“She isn’t here, and Lore is,” Renni put in.
“All right, let’s do it,” Ed said, grasping Lore’s arm. Before Lore could object, he and Ed disappeared.
“Oh, I hope it works,” Veronica said, wiping away the tears. “It has to.”
Ed gazed in horror at the devastation all around him. Until Lore pried his fingers loose, he didn’t realize how hard he was gripping the young man’s arm. “This isn’t—this can’t be my land.”
Even as he spoke, he knew it was. He recognized certain landmarks. The dry streambed, the withered trunk of what had been his apple tree, the hill, now barren and stony, that had been covered with wild flowers.
His rage grew. He wanted, needed, to find Jerome and make him pay for the destruction he’d wreaked. He turned to Lore and snapped, “Get busy. Find the baby and bring her here.”
“Take it easy,” came the shocked response. “I’m working on it.”
He shouldn’t take out his rage on this fellow, who was only trying to help, but he couldn’t and wouldn’t “take it easy.” He offered no apology but stared off into the distance and muttered, “Just do it.”
Maybe, if Jerome was still holding the infant, Lore would bring him along with the child. Ed wanted that. He longed to confront Jerome, imagining how he’d light into him, not using power, only his own physical strength. He needed the release that would bring, needed the pleasure of raining blows on his old enemy.
A weak wail followed by Lore’s demand, “take me back, quick!” broke through Ed’s thoughts and sent him whirling around.
A Mix of Magics (Arucadi: The Beginning Book 3) Page 6
