Von descended back into the cloud of rum as their voices filtered around him, wondering if Tarn would have cared if Len had died.
Yavi finished wrapping his dressings. She fastened them in place with a pin then Dalton lowered Von back onto the cot. She gave him a sad smile before she moved on to tend Geon. The lad didn’t wake when she poured the rum over his wounds. Elon left the tent as she cleaned him. The rest of the Raiders followed one by one. Dalton lifted his friend for her to wrap the dressings around his thin torso then departed once she finished.
“Your mending skills have improved,” Von said in a whispered rasp.
“Yes, Master. I have had much practice as of late,” Yavi replied formally. She peeked outside of the tent before she tied the flaps closed and hurried to Von’s side. Tears glistened on her lashes in the candlelight. “I feared you dead when you didn’t return. You barely escaped with your life, and that monster punished you for it!”
Her hands fluttered around him, not knowing where to touch. She settled with cupping his cheek. It was a blessing to see her again. He had expected to die. If not by the sorceress then by his master.
He had failed his task. Tarn killed for less.
“I earned it.”
Yavi shook her head. “But how did you fall under a spell?”
“By chance, I found the Lūna Medallion in Corron. It belonged to a sorceress.”
Yavi inhaled a soft breath. “The one from the foretelling?”
“Possibly.” The woman not only came back for her medallion, but she demanded he also free Dyna. A bystander would not have cared. “If she is, it hinders Tarn’s advantage. For all my skills, I could not stand against her power. If not for her, I would have succeeded.”
Yavi sighed and cleaned the sweat from his face. “Am I awful for feeling relieved that she escaped?”
“No.” Von had to admit he felt the same. Tarn would not get what he wanted yet, and that left the world a little safer. For now. He turned his arm over to show Yavi the bite mark on his hand. “Dyna gave me some trouble of her own.”
“Did she now?”
“She reminds me of you.”
“I’m fond of her already.” Yavi laid her head on his shoulder, and her tears trickled onto his skin. “I cannot stand this life.”
“I will take you away from here, Yavi. I promise.”
“We need to go, Von. Us. You and me.”
“You know I can’t. I am indentured until I am freed.”
“That man will never free you.”
“Aye, he never will,” Von sighed. “But you are my life-servant. By law, I can free you whenever I wish.”
“You fool yourself if you believe Tarn will ever allow that. He sees you as his property. In his eyes, what belongs to you belongs to him.” She wept bitterly. “I hate him, Von. I hate him so much. That bastard cut you to the bone. It will leave horrid scars.”
A wave of dread overwhelmed his pain.
His mind flashed with a memory of a trip he had taken to Arthal with Tarn. They had gone to visit the Seer. She was stunning in all her terrible beauty with cheekbones as sharp as glass. The translucent wings on her back shimmered with the gold dust that coated her skin. She’d worn a crown of white blossoms and thorns upon her head. Her long locks were the color of the ocean and tangled with braided knots and strips of silk. A black ring circled her golden irises that seemed to glow. Her voice was as eerie as the howl of the wind when she spoke her divination.
Von had stood in silence, reproaching and disbelieving the pixie. He didn’t want to believe her.
After they were finished, Tarn left the Seer’s cave. Von moved to follow, but she grabbed his arm and whispered in his ear: “Only whence she burns will she be free. Her screams will carry in darkness and in ice to haunt thee. They’ll cut through thy ears as the scars on thy back. Breaking and mending that which thee lacks.”
He had not saved Yavi from the divination.
Von looked at her, and his vision blurred. The Seer foretold their future years before they had met. She had warned him of what was to come. Tarn’s divination was proving true, and that could only mean so would his.
No, he won’t let it happen.
What was the purpose of a divination if not to be a warning? All he must do was keep Yavi from fire.
Von gathered a bit of strength to bring an arm around her waist and pulled her close. He pressed his face into her bosom so she wouldn’t see how much the Seer’s words frightened him. He had to hold on to the hope that he could save her from the foretelling.
“As miserable as this life is, I thank the God of Urn I lived. You are my only comfort in this world, Yavi.”
Her lips took his, tender and soft. The pain was manageable now. He didn’t know if it was the drink or the affection of this woman that he didn’t deserve.
“I love you,” Von said as he kissed away her tears. “More than I could ever tell you.”
“How much?”
“This much.” He pulled her close and found her mouth again, deepening the kiss.
“I will need some of that rum if I have to watch this,” a faint voice garbled.
Yavi flung herself away, and they stared at Geon in dismay. Von had forgotten about the lad.
Geon blinked drowsily. “Am I alive?”
“Yes, uh, here.” Yavi helped him drink from the bottle. She exchanged a worried glance with Von.
A faint, impish smile surfaced on Geon’s face. “Naughty.”
“Geon!” Yavi smacked his shoulder then apologized profusely at his wince. “You won’t tell anyone, will you?”
He chuckled. “You’re my friend, Yavi. You know I won’t.”
Von exhaled the breath he was holding. “No one must ever learn of this.”
“Worry not, Commander. You have my word. Though, if I am being honest, I had my suspicions.” At their silence, he added sheepishly, “You favor her, sir, and well, you share a tent.”
Von grimaced. He thought they were being cautious. But sleeping in the same tent together was too noticeable, even if it was under the guise of a servant.
“Have I been demoted?” Geon asked, closing his eyes.
“Aye.”
Yavi hummed sympathetically and patted his leg. “I’m sorry, Geon. I know how hard you worked to be a Raider.”
He coughed a weak chuckle. “Being a Raider is not as glorious as I imagined. I don’t have the stomach for it at all. I’ll ask the cook to take me as an apprentice.”
Von and Yavi laughed.
“You will need as much bravery, if not more, to work with Sorren,” she said.
“I can do it.”
Von smiled. “Are you certain?”
“Aye, I’d rather work with the Minotaur than risk angering Master Tarn ever again,” Geon murmured. The amusing moment passed at the mention of him.
“Did you battle with the Guardians?” Yavi asked him after a pause.
“I wouldn’t call it a battle. The sorceress threw me about like a sack of meal and broke my arm when I kept her from killing Von.”
“You did?” he said in amazement. “Why would you do that? You couldn’t hope to defeat her.”
“You’ve saved my life several times, Commander. I have lost count of how many debts I owe you.”
“You’re a fine lad.”
Geon cracked a weak smile. “I reckon I would have died if not for the Maiden. She kept the sorceress at bay and defended me when the remaining Guardians arrived. Then she ... healed me.”
Von stared at him. “Dyna did?”
“Aye, she mended my broken leg and arm.”
“How?”
“With magic.”
Yavi gasped and moved closer to inspect him. She picked at the torn clothing by his elbow and knee, tearing them further to see.
Von caught a glimpse of the new scars he bore. “If Dyna could use magic, why did she not wield it against me?”
“I don’t know, Commander, but I speak the truth. My scars are p
roof. She’s special. Please don’t tell the master. He will enslave her once he learns of her magic.”
Von couldn’t promise that. As long as Tarn didn’t ask, it didn’t need to be mentioned. But it was a matter of time until he learned of her power.
Dalton had accused her of being a sorceress and Dyna denied it, so Von had readily believed her. He had been so busy moving the camp and tending to other matters that he had not stopped to think about it. But if she had magic, now it made sense why she could reveal an enchanted map.
Yavi worked on straightening up the tent, and Geon drifted off to sleep again. Von attempted to sleep too, but then he heard the crunch of boots on the gravel outside.
“Is he awake?” Elon called out.
“I am,” Von said.
“Pardon the intrusion, Commander. Tarn requests your presence.”
“That man has no sense of mercy,” Yavi hissed under her breath. “Can he not allow you one night of rest?”
Von motioned at her to be silent. Elon seemed neutral, but they couldn’t take any more chances. Slave defiance was severely punishable. If he had been whipped for failing a task, what would Tarn do to Yavi for her irreverence?
Groaning, he slowly sat up on the cot with her help. She pulled out a gray tunic from the trunk and carefully dressed him. She placed his arm around her for support, and the movement sent a painful shock through his back. Von clenched his teeth, biting back a curse. He inhaled a sharp breath and rose to his feet. His vision swam, and he nearly toppled over if not for Yavi. His legs wobbled with each step to the entrance.
She quickly untied the knots and opened the flaps. Elon lurked in the shadows beneath a nearby tree where the moonlight didn’t reach. “You will need to assist him there,” she said.
Elon came forward and took his arm, carefully placing it over his shoulders. They slowly walked through the quiet camp. Von winced with each step, his slow feet staggering. Sweat dripped down his temples from the strain. He was grateful the men had taken to staying within their tents tonight, so no one had to see his struggle.
The trip was long and grueling. An eternity passed before they reached the large, imposing tent. Candlelight trickled past the tent flaps.
“Thank you for your patience, Elon,” Von said. The elf nodded and slinked into the dark. He stood there a moment, gathering the nerve to go inside.
“Don’t waste my time,” Tarn’s cool voice came from within. “You have done enough of that today.”
Von took a shaky breath and entered. Tarn sat at the head of the dining table, with a mound of fabric and leather placed before him. His pale eyes gleamed in the candlelight as two spheres of ice. His short-sleeved tunic hung on him unbuttoned. It exposed the old jagged scars covering his chest and arms like a roadmap of the past. Discolored, uneven crevices marked his ribs where the jaws of a troll had chewed through tendon and bone.
That day may have ravaged more than Tarn’s body. He was never the same after.
“Master.” Von forced his aching body to bow. He couldn’t detain the low keening in his throat at his wounds splitting open. Blood leaked out of his dressings, soaking into his tunic.
“I did not think it would be so difficult for you to capture a girl,” Tarn said.
Von straightened, breathing deeply. “We were unprepared.”
Tarn’s pale eyes narrowed. “I’ll not hear your excuses. Elon informed you well.”
“Yes, Master—”
“And now the Warrior Guardian has joined them.” He flung the mound off the table at Von’s feet.
What he had thought was mere fabric had been Len’s cloak wrapped around a small breastplate. It was treated to withstand almost any weapon, but at the center was a sliver of an opening stained crimson. She was the only one Tarn had provided armor for, and it barely saved her life.
How had Rawn pierced her armor from three-hundred yards away?
“I hadn’t accounted for the elf,” Von said tentatively. “Nor the sorceress. When I took the medallion, I failed to realize who she was.”
They glanced over to the left when the rune for Truth & Lies glowed with his honesty. Von couldn’t speak a lie in this tent, and sometimes it served in his favor.
“She may be the fourth Guardian in the foretelling,” he added.
Tarn linked his fingers together and rested his elbows on the table. “Was she powerful?”
Von could not call the torrent of magic she expelled weak. “Yes.”
“She must be why my mages can no longer track the Maiden.”
He lifted his head, recalling the glass Orb that ceased to work the moment they had reached the city. “We had lost the Maiden’s location at midday yesterday.”
“Benton reported his tracking spell had been severed at that time. Then a second spell was cast to cloak her. He was quite annoyed that another mage had the power to overthrow him.”
Von tightened his jaw so he wouldn’t smirk. What would Benton say if he realized it was a sorceress and not a mage who had thwarted him?
“Yet it would not matter if you had brought me the medallion.”
Even if he had, it would have been futile. Upon inspecting the pendant, he had attempted to remove the iridescent stone only for its image to dissolve. “The Lūna Medallion didn’t contain the Moonstone.”
“What?”
Von cleared his throat. “The stone was a glamour spell.”
The Mood Rune smoldered red, casting a sinister sheen in the tent. It was a dormant rune that only worked during the rare incidences it detected ample emotion.
Tarn was an indifferent man for the most part, careful not to allow himself to feel anything. “Emotions are a weakness,” he once said. It took a great deal to make him this livid.
“Forgive me, Master.”
“That is all you can say, isn’t it?” Tarn inhaled one deep breath, and it surprised Von when the rune stopped glowing. “The sorceress must have it.”
“I will get it for you.”
“For your sake, pray to your God that you do.”
Von bowed his head, confused by Tarn’s sudden tolerance. “Shall I resume the search for the Maiden?”
“Send the spies.”
He nodded. They would need to rely on Elon’s skill to track Dyna now that magic was not an option. “It shouldn’t be difficult to locate them. They will at some point need to stop in the Port of Azure.”
The muscles in Tarn’s jaw worked at the mention of the seaport city. He walked over to his desk where he had laid out maps of Azure. “Let’s not make it so easy for the Maiden and her Guardians,” he said as he studied them. “It’s imperative they do not board a ship. Send a Raider to Corron to place an anonymous bounty on their heads through the Azure Warrant Authority. Make it substantial enough to entice the bounty hunters, and ensure the notices circulate throughout the kingdom before they arrive at the port.”
“Yes, Master.” Von’s blood began dripping from the hem of his tunic.
“Fifty dead in the camp raid,” Tarn said, watching the red droplets splatter in the dirt. “Another twenty killed by the Guardians. Useless, the lot of them.”
Von was careful to keep his expression indifferent, but the Mood Rune gave him away. It pulsed dark purple with his remorse. He had trained each of those men as they joined Tarn’s regiment over the years. Abenon above all had been a fine lieutenant, having joined when he was a lad. He’d been loyal. But Tarn didn’t care who they were, or that they died for his pursuit of the Unending. They were an expendable casualty.
Tarn’s cool gaze bore into him. “Are you useless as well, Von?”
He knew better than to answer.
“Go. You’re making a bloody mess.”
Von winced through another bow, then stepped out into the autumn chill. He looked up at the stars and questioned the God of Urn. What sin did he commit in a past life to be a slave in this one?
Weariness weighed heavily on his bones. He couldn’t make his legs move. He was on the verge
of falling unconscious where he stood.
Elon slipped out of the shadows and took hold of him again. Von nodded in gratitude. Without a word, step by step, they gradually made their way into the night.
Chapter 44
Dynalya
It was dark. Nothing but a never-ending black. And Dyna was not alone. Something moved within the darkness, claws scraping on stone. She heard its heavy breathing and felt its eyes. A low, crackling growl sounded within the emptiness. The air squeezed from her lungs, ice filling her limbs.
The Shadow was coming.
Terror snatched away her voice. She could not scream or call for help. Cold smoke brushed against her back, wafting through her hair. She covered her mouth and smothered her whimpers. Her legs gave out, and she curled into a ball, squeezing her eyes tight. Claws skittered across the ground, slowly coming closer.
Closer.
A sudden beam filtered through her eyelids. Dyna held up a hand to screen her eyes, light streaming through her fingers. Slowly, she lowered her hand to see a Hyalus tree. It glowed so brightly it faded the black to a dull grey.
Dyna sat up and searched for the lurking Shadow, but it was gone. She stumbled to the tree. Its glowing branches reached out to her. As soon as she took a branch, it gently wrapped around her hand. The tree’s light flared, washing away the darkness in a swathe of white.
She blinked and found herself lying on a blanket by a small campfire. Firelight shimmered on the damp rock ceiling above her.
At the sound of soft nickering, she noticed Fair. Lord Norrlen’s horse grazed in a dark clearing beyond the cave. She picked up the familiar voices muted in conversation. Zev sat by her feet and Cassiel sat by her head. One of his cool hands rested on her curled fist. The touch had been enough to pull her out of that darkness.
Had he known she was having a nightmare? Had she been screaming? But no one else had noticed she was awake.
They were watching Rawn who sat on the other side of the campfire. He ground dried, red petals in a wooden bowl and tossed in a pinch of yellow powder from one of the many pouches on his belt. A sweet floral scent filled the air.
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