There was the barest pause.
“Tapit.”
Metyein nodded, turning back to Edel and Thevul Bro-heyek. He opened his mouth and froze. Kebonsat caught it the same moment. He yanked his sword free as Metyein and Soka did the same. Soka grabbed Emelovi and shoved her into a corner, shielding her with his body. The gray-eyed wizard stood up. Tillen looked confused, but he moved against the wall and out of the way of the swords now pointed at the wizard’s lean form.
“Reisil has told you about me, I see,” the wizard drawled.
“I don’t know what your game is, but we aren’t playing.”
“Aren’t you?” Tapit smiled. His expression turned Kebonsat’s marrow to ice.
Suddenly Kebonsat’s sword felt very, very heavy. He struggled to keep it steady, but the weight only increased. His hand grew slippery with sweat, but he could not let go. His hand would not unclench. Fear mixed with fury as the tip of his sword clanged to the ground. The other men were like contorted reflections of himself.
“Stop it!” Emelovi stepped around Soka and stomped across to Tapit. She stabbed her finger into his chest. “Stop it. Now. You could have walked out. We never had to know. So you must want to be here, to talk to us. So do it. But stop this or I will find a way to kill you myself.”
She spoke so fiercely that Kebonsat could imagine her snatching up a knife and driving it into the wizard’s heart. He grinned, despite himself. Yes, Emelovi had come out of her shell. She had strength and courage, everything needed to rule. If she could stand up to a wizard then she could stand up to her son-of-a-whore brother.
“As you wish, Dazien,” Tapit said, with a slight bow. Suddenly the weight of the sword released and Kebonsat could stand. He wanted to leap forward and drag Emelovi away from the wizard, but he resisted.
“I merely thought it prudent to demonstrate what you have correctly stated. I could have walked out without any of you knowing who I am. I chose not to. I could also have killed each of you long ago.”
“So why didn’t you? What do you want?” demanded Metyein.
“I’ve been waiting for Reisil’s return,” he said bluntly. “I’ve come to take her back.”
“You can’t have her,” Kebonsat said through tight lips. Emelovi was standing too close to the sharmuta. It was taking everything he had not to step between them. But she wouldn’t forgive him for it. Maybe Metyein, but never him.
“We’ll see,” came Tapit’s unruffled reply. “But that will have to wait until this business of Mysane Kosk is laid to rest. I have decided to help you.”
“Into our graves, maybe,” Soka muttered.
“Why?” asked Metyein.
He smiled again. “I have my reasons.”
“And you expect us to just let you walk in here and do what you want?” Soka said contemptuously.
“I expect that you may try to stop me. I expect you will fail. Fatally. I will do as I wish here. It serves my purposes.”
Tense silence met his declaration. He was right. There wasn’t anything any of them could do.
“So what help did you have in mind?” Metyein said grudgingly at last.
Tapit smiled. “I will bolster the shields of your witch and the Guild wizards. We will attempt to deflect the sorcerers and my brethren when they arrive. Be assured, they are on their way. And you are entirely correct. They will not willingly give up.”
Metyein nodded grudgingly. “All right then. Since we cannot stop you. But know this: If you betray us, you will be killed. One way or another, if I have to hunt you down myself.”
“It will be my pleasure. I always enjoy a good hunt,” Tapit said, his smile widening. It was an unpleasant expression. “I will leave you to your work then.”
Much to Kebonsat’s fury, the wizard reached out and lifted Emelovi’s hand. He bowed and kissed it and then departed, closing the door sharply behind.
Kebonsat wasn’t the only one who started swearing. Then they remembered Emelovi and broke off. Kebonsat glared at her. What was she thinking to stand so close to the wizard? He could have killed her. When reason reminded him that the wizard could have killed her from across the room, or at any time in the last weeks, he remembered the kiss to her hand and his fury waxed hotter. He sheathed his sword. He didn’t have a right to be angry. He didn’t have a right to feel anything at all for her. She’d made that more than clear.
“Well,” Metyein said, and coughed. “It seems we have some unexpected help. I hope. But there’s nothing we can do about it except pray to the Lady he doesn’t destroy us all.
“Let’s get to what we can do. Dazien and Kebonsat, I want you to leave within the hour. Find someplace safe. Take a dozen of your best men, Kebonsat. Soka and I will also be on our way.” He looked at Edel. “Our people have become accustomed to Kebonsat. They don’t—quite—think of him as Patversemese. And they haven’t had much time to think about you at all. That will change when you take up command. I suggest you wear this.” He handed him a strip of green material. “Tie it around your arm. Make it conspicious. And mention you’re friends with Reisiltark. They’ll walk through fire for her if need be.”
Edel took the proferred material and Kebonsat helped him tie it on.
“And now, if there’s nothing else?”
“Still no word from Juhrnus?” Edel asked.
Metyein shook his head and he answered heavily. “No. And I wish he were here. I’d send him in to try to talk to his sorceress. Anything else? Good, then let’s go. And may the Lady smile on us all.”
There was a moment’s pause as they each looked at one another. Then Kebonsat stretched out his hand to Metyein. One by one, the men said farewell, and then kissed Emelovi’s hand. When it was Kebonsat’s turn for the latter, he moved aside, not looking at her.
As they trooped out of the room, he fell in beside her. “I’ll come for you as soon as I gather supplies and organize our escort. Dress warmly in sturdy clothing.”
He didn’t wait for her to answer, but spun on his heel and strode away. It would all be over soon. And then he would be free of her, one way or another.
Chapter 38
Reisil gazed awestruck at the mist-filled circle surrounding Mysane Kosk. She couldn’t bring herself to call it a blight-circle, as Metyein and the others did. If the nokulas were hers to protect, they could not be a blight. It swirled and danced with lights and crystals. And it was enormous. Getting safely across it into the city where the wizards had cast the spell was going to take a lot longer than she thought. And if the nokulas fought them the whole way—they might not make it at all.
She rolled her head on her shoulders, wishing there had been time to sleep before making this attempt. But who knew when the wizards or Scallacians would attack again? Soon the continuing rupture between Kodu Riik and Cemanahuatl would be so large that she wouldn’t be able to stop this at all. It was now or never.
She turned to look at Yohuac and Baku behind her. The coal-drake sat hunched on the ground, his neck and tail turned in a protective half circle around Yohuac, who stroked his black hide absently.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
~Yes.
~Are you ready? she asked Saljane.
~Yes.
Reisil had a sense of sharp, cold air and clean, pungent forest.
~Hold tight.
~I will.
Reisil had the urge to say something else, to continue the interaction, but there was no more time. She drew a deep breath to steady herself, clutching her pack under her arm. She raised her mental walls so that only Saljane could reach through, and blinked into spellsight.
“Then let’s begin.”
It was difficult to do nothing. But she had to rely on Baku and Yohuac to insulate them from the warping magic of Mysane Kosk and get them all the way into the city, where the wizards had cast their spell. Reisil had to hold herself in reserve so she’d have the strength to heal what the wizards had damaged.
But the nokulas had to let them
pass. The nokulas had an endless supply of magic available to them. They would quickly overwhelm the shields Yohuac and Baku produced, like a tidal wave to snuff a candle. She had to convince them. And the best way to do that was from the inside.
She felt a gathering as Yohuac began. Instantly, she felt an answering push from the mist. She glanced over her shoulder and blanched. There was a swelling at the edge of the mist-circle, as if something were shoving against it, trying to get out. Her mouth went dry. She felt horribly exposed, and suddenly realized she’d made a terrible mistake. She was too close to the mist. There was little to stop the nokulas from leaping out and dragging her inside. She might whip together a fast shield to protect herself from the warping effects of the magic, but it would not last long.
Reisil inched away up the slope, watching the bulge warily. She’d hardly begun to move when several things happened at once.
There was a sound of galloping hoofbeats and a scrolling, high-pitched sound, almost like song. At the same moment, Yohuac’s gathering of magic tightened into a tight ball. In that instant, the bulge erupted. Inside, Reisil saw silver teeth and maws, spines and claws. And eyes that looked like a pirate’s treasure in jewels. She snatched her own power and it stormed over her, fed by the waters of Mysane Kosk. Reisil wrapped her magic around herself, turning to face the nokula pack.
But they weren’t attacking anymore. They hung suspended in mideruption. The edges of the mist fluttered like tattered rags around them. Their eyes glittered and their teeth clicked together as their mouths gaped open and shut. Their claws flexed and curled in dawdling rhythm. Their muscles rolled and twitched sluggishly. Saliva dripped from their mouths in long, slow strings. They were caught fast, as if in a crystal paper-weight.
As she felt the danger ease, the roar of Reisil’s own pounding heart faded. She released her spellsight, then tensed. The high-pitched sound continued. It unwound in an uncomfortable, spiraling melody that scraped her nerves and set her teeth on edge. It seemed unfinished, somehow, as if it were part of a larger harmony. Alone it was unsettling, but woven together with another, it might be beautiful. Reisil shook herself and looked over her shoulder at Yohuac and Baku, careful not to turn her back on the nokulas. They stood in an attitude of frozen shock, staring past her shoulder up the slope. Reisil shifted around to follow their gaze.
She forgot about the nokulas; she forgot about Mysane Kosk. The entire world disappeared in a black wash. Her knees buckled and she crashed heavily to the ground, catching herself on her hands, unable to look away.
It was Juhrnus. Or what was left of him.
He looked just like the plague-healers Reisil had rescued from the wizards. His skin was pale as milk, his forehead broad, his cheeks ridged beneath slanted eyes that were silvered from corner to corner. His hair was still curly and long, but it had turned white. He wore the same clothes as before, but they hung on him oddly. His head was tipped slightly and he watched her sideways, like a crow. His mouth was pursed. He was the source of that eerie song.
For a moment Reisil tried to convince herself that this creature was not Juhrnus. It was someone else, an impostor made to resemble him as a plague-healer. But as much as she wanted to believe it, she could find no logic that would explain why anybody but Juhrnus would carry an enormous sisalik draped over his shoulders. Combined with the fact that he was riding Indigo, there was no possibility that it wasn’t Juhrnus.
Tears ran down Reisil’s cheeks as she silently stood.
Juhrnus dismounted, his movements fluid and sleek, like a nokula. Indigo sawed his head against Juhrnus’s shoulder, shoving him sideways. He staggered and Esper made a disgruntled sound. It was such an absolutely normal scene that it made Reisil laugh. The sound tore her throat.
He did not stop his singing. He eyed Reisil with that sideways look and walked past to where the nokulas hung in the air. Tatters of the mist floated in the air like motes of dust, drifting slowly to the ground. He watched them, his head tilting one way, then another. The music changed. Now the mist began to melt away around the beasts. It pulled back into itself, so that the sparkling dome returned to being smooth and whole. The half dozen nokulas inched down to settle on the winter-killed grass.
The plague-healer who was Juhrnus glanced at Reisil. She understood. He was going to let them go. She wrapped herself in a magical shield, sinking it deep in the earth. The nokulas would not be able to move her. Behind her, she felt the gathering of magic as Yohuac and Baku did the same.
The song ended.
The nokulas yowled and leaped to their feet. They spread out in front of Reisil and Juhrnus in a crouching semicircle, separating them from Mysane Kosk.
“Juhrnus? What’s happening?”
“Song is broken. Silence rises. Must sing back the harmony. Else Silence.”
His words seemed meaningless, and yet Reisil knew exactly what he meant. And more than that, what he could do with his song. He’d tamed the mist. He could help her with the wizards’ spell. If they could get through the mist-circle. And the nokulas.
“I want to talk to Sodur,” Reisil said to the slavering beasts.
Their only response was to yowl and snap. She had a sense of hammering thuds against her mental walls. She shook her head as if bothered by flies.
“Let me talk to Sodur.”
Juhrnus added a snatch of song to her request. At the sound, the nokulas sank to their bellies, whining. Suddenly Sodur’s hulking shape emerged out of the mist, followed by Lume and another, slightly smaller form. Reisil recognized it from the dungeons under Koduteel. It was the Iisand. She nodded to him. Reisil had a feeling that hundreds more lurked inside the opalescent curtain just out of sight.
She felt a questioning poke against her mental barrier. She lowered it slightly, holding tight to Saljane.
~You should have run.
Sodur’s voice had changed. There was a vibrant quality to it, like echoes of many voices.
“And I told you I couldn’t do that.” Reisil spoke aloud so that her friends could hear. “I told you I was going to figure out a way to save Kodu Riik and Mysane Kosk. That’s what we’ve come to do. And there isn’t much time left. On the other side of the spell in Cemanahuatl, the nahualli witches are preparing to attack. And the wizards and the Scallacian sorcerers. And when they do . . . we won’t be able to stop what happens. So we have to come in, and you have to let us.”
As one the nokulas bared their teeth in a snarl. Or perhaps it was a bestial smile. Reisil couldn’t tell.
~You have come to try to destroy us. We will fight.
Reisil gritted her teeth, anger crackling up through her.
“Don’t be more stupid than you have to be,” she snapped, her eyes raking the gathered nokulas. “Those of you who used to be ahalad-kaaslane should know better.” She paused, a thought striking her. “Actually, just because you’ve become nokula doesn’t mean you’ve quit being ahalad-kaaslane. You still serve the Lady; you still serve Kodu Riik. I’m telling you now that this is the only way to save us all. Including yourselves. So you need to decide. Are you still ahalad-kaaslane?”
There was a shifting among the nokulas. Sodur crouched down to the ground, propping his head on his forelegs in an oddly doglike manner. He stared at Reisil intently, saying nothing. Reisil was glad he didn’t ask what she intended to do. She didn’t know what she’d have said. She wasn’t sure herself. All she knew was that she had to get inside and see the spell itself. Only then would she know what to do. And she would. She had to.
When it didn’t appear that Sodur was going to reply, Reisil knelt down, staring into his opaque silver eyes. She wasn’t just talking to him; all of the nokulas were listening. “You know that the wizards and the Scallacians are definitely going to try to hurt you. The wizards have been taking nokulas prisoner and stealing their power. The Scallacians are just as greedy. If they don’t try to steal your power and your lives, they’ll try to destroy you. And then there’s me. Some of you know me. A long time ago
, the Lady told me to heal Her land and Her people. She was very clear. She said all Her people—and She was talking about you. You have to know that you’re in dreadful danger. Let me try to stabilize the spell. I promise you, I’ll die before I do anything to destroy you or your home.”
Sodur only blinked; then his eyes drifted shut. Startled at the drowsy reaction, Reisil straightened, chewing the inside of her cheek. She glanced at the other nokulas. They remained equally still. She had the feeling of an enormous discussion going on. She remembered what Sodur had told her about the way the nokulas tended to swarm like fish under the lash of wind and tide. Which way would they swim this time?
Suddenly Sodur’s eyes flicked open and he rolled to his feet.
~You may try. We will not stop you.
The sudden wash of relief made her dizzy.
“Thank you.”
~We wish you good luck. In the meantime, we will go hunting. It is time the wizards answered for what they have done to us.
~Good, Reisil said savagely. And when this is over, we’ll go together and rescue whoever’s left in the stronghold. It was a sore spot that she’d had to leave anybody behind at all.
Sodur’s lips curled into a frightening snarl. But this time Reisil was sure it was a smile.
~We will enjoy that.
With that he edged closer to her, stopping at the edge of her shield. Reisil hesitated a second, and then dropped it. Trust created trust. He extended his snout, the teeth like daggers. His nose brushed against hers. She felt the puff of his breath against her mouth. A moist swipe of his tongue on her lips. And then he was gone, bounding away up the slope. A stream of nokulas leaped from the mist, following him. There were hundreds.
Reisil watched them until they disappeared over the ridge. She turned back to her friends.
“Let’s go. Juhrnus, Yohuac and Baku are going to build a shield around us. You’ll have to stand close.”
He tipped his head and then smiled. It was a sly, merry expression. Reisil could almost see the Juhrnus she knew in it. Then he whistled a trill of notes and wandered down to the edge of the mist. He stuck his hand in and pulled it out, waggling the fingers. Then he stood and waited.
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