The Wayfinder's Apprentice (Shadows of the Umbra Book 1)

by K Dezendorf

  "We'll be safe so long as we don't leave the castle. Though, to find them we might need to. But there's no telling how long he'll be gone. He doesn't have control over time shifting like I do."

  "Will he be okay on his own?"

  "He'll be okay anywhere. You can throw him in a volcano, he'll be okay. So don't you worry about that arse's arse."

  Rose gave a soft laugh. "Right, immortal."

  Chapter 25

  They stepped out into Dimitri's meeting room. Dimitri was there and he already had his chair turned around looking straight at them. Behind him were Marrik and Granger.

  "I see," he said. "And?"

  "Um, we're actually here for another reason." Rose lifted up her shirt.

  "Oh... oh dear," Dimitri murmured, as Rose let her shirt fall back into place. "That looks rather bad. How?"

  "It's a long story... in short I was attacked by Markeos' men and one of them hit me with shadow magic," Rose explained.

  "I was afraid of this," Dimitri muttered.

  "So, I'm here to see if anyone can help me," she finished. "Do you think Addrick would be able to take care of this?"

  "It's definitely worth a shot, comparatively to nothing." He looked to Granger. "Please escort them to Addrick."

  Marrik walked over to Rose and, without hesitation, grabbed Rose's shirt and pulled it up to the point where her bra was revealed.

  "Oh, gracious!" Billy exclaimed looking away. Dimitri cleared his throat, also turning his head away out of respect. Granger looked on, brow furrowed in concern.

  Rose stood perfectly stock still as Marrik stared at her stomach, his head turning to the side slightly. "Impressive," he murmured. "Mm... no... this one's supposed to be a painful death. Addrick can't cure this."

  "I see.” Dimitri’s voice was severe. “Marrik, you’re the only one of us familiar with death magic. Are you aware of how to cure this particular ailment?"

  "It'll take strong life magic, that's for sure," Marrik said, letting go of her shirt.

  “The Lady then?”

  Marrik shook his head. “I don’t know if she’ll make the journey. Perhaps Willow can help with that."

  "Granger, please escort her,” Dimitri said.

  Billy still looked embarrassed. “I’ve never been there myself, so I’ll confer with Vindo while the child gets looked at.”

  Granger nodded and led the way out of the room. Rose shambled behind him down the stairs out into the courtyard. There were people sparring, as per usual. Granger eyed a couple of them.

  He pointed. "There’s Willow."

  Rose looked and saw the woman with the green, flowered hair. She was watching the fight with a misty-eyed expression. Rose recognized her, having seen her in the infirmary a few times.

  Granger leaned over to Rose. “Good luck.”

  The ‘good luck’ didn't sound very reassuring to Rose, but she went over and approached the green haired woman. "Pardon me."

  Willow turned and her eyes were also a vibrant green. "Yes?"

  "I was informed you have some-" Rose began.

  "Your aura is tainted," Willow interrupted, looking her over.

  "Um... yes."

  Willow wasn't even meeting Rose's gaze, instead looking through her and around her. "Interesting. I see... it didn't happen too long ago. This is very treatable. Yes... I need to know who did this...and what their intent was. Yes."

  Rose took a deep breath, and it caused a sharp pain in her chest. “His name is Macklass, and I believe his intent was... to kill."

  "Mm, painfully too. Your body is set to eat itself. You’ll be dead well before sunset.”

  Rose's eyes widened. Out of all the ways she imagined dying, she never thought Macklass would be the one to do it, intentional or otherwise. She bit her lip to hold the tears back as her body was once more wracked with pain.

  "Can I see it?"

  Rose lifted up her shirt and looked down. She was shocked to find the blackness had spread across her entire torso. Her joints had gone from aching to feeling as though there were spikes inside them. Maybe she was imagining it, but it felt like it was spreading faster.

  "Hmm," Willow hummed as she looked it over. "Yes, this is definitely curable. Outside of my skill set, but curable."

  Willow then turned and walked towards the main building. Rose followed after her, struggling to keep up. When they got to the barracks, Willow went to one of the beds and pulled out a pouch. From it, she retrieved a few small vials, some holding herbs or spices, while others had strange colored liquid. She reached down underneath the bed pulling out a box, and from it she took out a small mortar and pestle. She began grinding and mixing the herbs, and when she’d reduced them to a powder, she added one of the strange liquids to the mixture, turning it into a paste.

  It was impressive work. Willow wasn’t even looking at what she was doing, lost in a world of her own. It would have been more impressive if Rose wasn’t in such pain and distress. The green haired woman reached into the box again and pulled out a strip of cloth. She took the paste and applied it to the cloth. Setting the mortar and pestle aside, she took the cloth and held it up.

  "Your stomach," she said.

  Rose lifted her shirt up and Willow placed the cloth on her stomach. A loud cry escaped Rose as it burned painfully, but then the pain soothed. If only it didn’t smell so horrid.

  "That will slow it," Willow said. "But it won't stop it."

  "How long do I have?" Rose asked.

  "With this, you might be able to last until sunset now." She put her items away and stood up.

  “That's something, at least.” Rose hefted a sigh. “Thank you so much.”

  “Your thanks is unnecessary. I only did what must be done,” the woman answered wistfully. "May you be well.”

  Rose watched her walk out of the room, past Granger who was lingering in the doorway.

  "What is that stench?" he asked. “Ugh, my nose is burning.”

  “Yeah, but it’s keeping me alive.” She rubbed gingerly at her stomach. So now both she and Kyan only had until sunset.

  Billy walked in and glanced between the two of them. "So, I can get us close. I can't get us the whole way. I've never been to their temple. It'd be a bit of a walk."

  Rose sighed, wanting nothing more than to lie down. "Okay, that... we can do that... I can do that."

  "All right, follow me."

  Billy led them outside and created a teleportation circle similar to Edward's. Only his was bright yellow. They emerged into an old, round building. It'd been destroyed and worn down over time; vines were growing all over and it was missing three quarters of the wall.

  "We've got to go this way," Billy said, leading the way.

  Rose followed along, the aches steadily returning with every step. Granger was following behind. Billy was highly focused on where to go, and Granger was keeping a lookout. Rose was focused on putting one foot in front of the other.

  Even though the salve slowed the spread, Rose felt awful. Every now and then, her body was shaken by spasms of pain. At first she was able to keep her discomfort down to whimpers. However, a particularly strong wave of agony forced her to cry out and she fell to her knees.

  “Come on, Rose,” Granger urged, helping her up. “We’re almost there.”

  Rose got to her feet and managed a couple more steps before doubling over, a strained sob leaving her throat. She didn’t want to move anymore. It was too much.

  Billy stroked her back, looking at a loss for what to do. He didn’t have words to comfort her with.

  “No help for it then,” Granger murmured. He let loose a long exhale and his skin sprouted orange and black and white fur. His body doubled in size, and his face shifted to that of the tiger she’d seen once before.

  Granger bent down and effortlessly lifted her into his arms. His fur was soft and he felt so warm. He smelled of a comforting mix of musk and spices.

  Rose lost track of time, pain became the only thing she knew, and she focused
on just breathing through it. At some point, she noticed they were on a road leading up a path onto a hill. At the top of the hill was a bright and beautiful temple next to the ocean, the sun dipping low on the horizon. Rose wondered if it was the last beautiful thing she’d ever see.

  As they got closer, there were archways on the sides of the road. In front of the first two archways were two people dressed in white robes. One was an elf, the other had their robe pulled up over their face.

  "Salutations," the elf greeted with a bright smile. "How may we assist?"

  "She's been cursed," Billy told him, gesturing to Rose. "We were told that the Lady of the Light would be able to cure her."

  The elf looked to Rose momentarily who was alternating between gasping and moaning in agony. "So you bring one here to receive blessing. Have you brought a donation?"

  "Oh for..." Billy swore loudly. “Can’t you see the child is dying?!”

  "Please, that sort of language is unnecessary."

  Granger, however, seemed prepared for this. “I have gold.”

  The elf inclined his head. "The Lady of the Light will accept gold."

  "Gold it is.” His words were a low growl. “Take us to your lady already."

  "Very well. Follow me," he said pleasantly.

  The elf turned and walked up the path. At this point Rose was too weak to even scream, and only the occasional, low moan escaped her. Her skin was burning, yet she couldn't stop shivering.

  Her vision faded in and out, but she saw a few individuals wearing white armor as they stood guard in front of a large, white gate. The guards opened it to allow them inside.

  She heard the doors close behind them and caught a glimpse of a large courtyard. Several individuals in flowing white robes. It smelled so… fresh and clean.

  As they neared the center of the courtyard, Rose saw a very lovely looking elf woman with flowing blond hair. She was wearing a gold circlet atop her head, and a long, white, flowing dress. A couple younger looking elves waited on her as she basked with her eyes closed.

  As they approached, the male elf who escorted them knelt. He started talking in elven. The woman opened her eyes, and when she looked down towards Rose, her eyes were glowing white. She said a few words in elven, and the man nodded. He stood and walked over to Granger, who reached into his pocket and pulled out three gold coins. The elf took them, walked over to the lady, and dropped the coins in an offering bowl.

  She stood and the other elves took hold of her dress to keep it from dragging on the ground. The woman stared towards Rose.

  "You, you seek the divine light." The woman's voice was clear as crystal but soft as feathers. “Place the child down.”

  Granger carefully placed Rose down onto the floor.

  Rose’s head lolled as she stared up at the elven woman’s magnificence. It felt like she was slowly suffocating, as though her lungs had collapsed and she was struggling to draw breath.

  "Allow the light of Galdine to shine upon you." She raised her arms and Rose watched as her aura grew and then exploded.

  Rose’s entire body was alight, and she swore she could see the bones in her arms and hands. Beneath her skin, tendrils of shadow squirmed and writhed. Terror and a feeling of violation rolled through her. Her nails dug at her glowing, translucent skin, trying to reach the shadows to forcibly pull them out. A pair of warm hands stopped her as the Lady knelt over her.

  “Be still, child,” she said sweetly.

  Rose obeyed, looking away from herself, staring skyward as she tearfully thought of Macklass.

  How could he do this?

  The light became brighter and for several, horrifying moments, Rose thought she might burn alive along with the pervasive darkness. However, when she chanced to look at herself, she saw the shadows shrinking, curling in on themselves and fading away. Everything got really, really bright and Rose couldn't even keep her eyes open. Eventually, she felt the last of the cold darkness burn away.

  The burning brightness mellowed down to an all encompassing warmth, surging through her bones and muscles, washing away the pain and fatigue until it was no more. Finally, after several moments, the light died down.

  "The light has been shone," the elven woman declared.

  Literally everyone in the room answered in a synchronized chant, "Praise be. Praise be."

  "Praise be," Billy murmured, though his tone was sardonic as he rubbed his eyes.

  Granger, who had shifted back into his common form, helped Rose slowly sit up. She was no longer in pain, she could breathe again. When she lifted up her shirt she found there was nothing but smelly green paste covering her stomach. Her bandaged arm felt fine too, like it was never broken. It was miraculous. She sighed in relief and bowed her head towards the woman in gratitude.

  "Thank you very much."

  "Know that my power is real, and the divine light welcomes all," she said, smiling softly.

  "Right," Billy said, taking a hold of Rose's arm and giving it a light tug. "We've got to get going. It was nice being blinded by you all."

  Oh, Billy, Rose thought with a small grin. So full of tact. Granger offered her a hand up, which she took.

  Billy turned and began walking out, still half tugging on Rose, while muttering under his breath. "Nobody's stopping us. Come on, let's get out of here."

  The gate was opened for them and they exited the temple. The male elf escorted them all the way down to the front. "Praise be, the Lady of the Light," he said dreamily. "Fair travels."

  As they began to set out, Rose glanced up at Granger. "I’ll, um... try and pay you back later."

  "Don’t worry about it," he told her. “Sorry if I scared you.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “My other form.”

  She smiled. “I actually really like it.”

  Granger appeared flummoxed by this statement and glanced away. “You’re so strange.” He rubbed his arm. “So, those spots of yours really are all over, huh?”

  Rose felt her cheeks burn and she recalled her conversation with Vikhail on the subject. “Does someone owe you money now?”

  “Naw, I don’t gamble.”

  “Yeah, they’re all over.”

  “They look fierce. Like a leopard.”

  Rose smiled at the compliment, feeling a little less self-conscious.

  ************

  They got back to the portal, and as it came in sight, Rose saw her. Jenkto was halfway sitting, halfway leaning on the wall to the portal.

  Rose groaned as Granger placed himself between them and Jenkto, the muscles in his arms flexing.

  Jenkto pushed herself off the wall. "Look who came back."

  "What do you want?" Rose asked, annoyed.

  "You survived. A shame really. I was hoping his magic would finish you off."

  "Great, now if we're done here, kindly buzz off."

  Jenkto just continued to sit there, her chin resting in her palm. "In a rush, are we?"

  "She said ‘buzz off’, you arrogant tart,” Granger snapped.

  "That is just rude, shifter," Jenkto said in mock hurt. "I'm gonna have to cut your tongue out."

  "I'd like to see you try," Billy said. "First you're gonna have to pull your head out of your own arse."

  Her smile broadened. "What if it's not just me, but my brothers?"

  Just behind Jenkto, two plumes of shadow appeared, growing and taking shape. In seconds, Jerome and Hadwin were there, poised to fight.

  “I suggest you back down now, lass,” Billy said, surprising Rose as he stepped forward. “Before you children get hurt.”

  “Hm, I suppose even with three on three, it doesn’t quite balance out, does it?” Jenkto hummed thoughtfully. “So, how about we invite one more?”

  The portal flared to life, and the air grew dense. Rose found herself once again stilled with terror as the familiar, overwhelming aura filled the area.

  "Oh, hell..."

  Billy was the only one reacting, whereas Rose and Gra
nger were struggling against the daunting pressure. Markeos was standing there, aura on full blast with his flaming hatchet in one hand and whip in the other.

  "And now, we can end this." Markeos’ voice rumbled the surrounding air.

  That was when Rose noticed... he had both hands. Didn't she see one of them get cut off? As he took in a deep breath, Rose noticed the portal behind him shimmer.

  Markeos turned and managed to raise his hatchet just in time to block a blade as Edward came flying in. Edward was thrown back up and he landed on top of the wall. He had his sword fully drawn and it was sparking blue. He looked furious.

  "You want me, is what you want," Edward shouted down at Markeos, his voice scathing. It was shocking compared to his usual low, calm tone. "How dare some pissant of a Paragon waste his time on a little human girl. How pathetic."

  Markeos' aura was pulsating at this point, and even though she was panic-stricken, some insane part of Rose's mind was laughing and thinking, Shots fired. Out of Markeos' back, two wings of flame sprouted, and he hovered up to Edward's current level.

  "Oh, we are far, far from done, Edward," he said in his rumbling voice. "This is only the beginning, and she was just the bait!"

  He slashed at Edward who brought up his sword in a clash of fire and energy. Edward slid back on the tower, struggling to hold against the attack.

  “Actually,” Edward said, between panting. “I was the bait.”

  There was another flash from the portal, startling everyone. A rush of wind rippled through the air and Dimitri stepped into view. His eyes were aglow, his hair and beard wisps of white fluttering in a storm.

  Rose wasn’t sure if it was Dimitri’s appearance, or something that he’d done, but she found the strength to move again. Granger also broke out of his stupor. There were no words, no grand declarations, as Dimitri raised a glowing hand towards Markeos.

  The insanely curious part of Rose wanted to watch the fight, it didn’t want to miss a thing. However, there was a more immediate threat right in front of them and she forced herself to look away.