Elinor shrugged. “I want to believe there are other survivors. But everyone I’ve either come in contact with or have known is gone.”
“It is true, then. Shadow was right.” Aysgarth brushed past Elinor. He stopped at the stasis chamber, gazing down at the sea wolf. “How long has it been?”
“I’m not sure. Perhaps one hundred and forty moon frosts. Maybe more since Light Fall.”
His shoulders slumped and he fell to his knees. Even from behind, Elinor could tell the man was suffering. Although her life had also been filled with adversity and heartbreak, everything she knew about Aysgarth and Shadow suggested two people who were deeply in love, and who had been separated cruelly. She could only imagine what it must have been like for him to be trapped for so long, only to be awakened and made aware that everyone he had ever known was gone. At least she had grown up in a Kalloire of darkness. For Aysgarth he was experiencing events for the first time. He removed the pendant from its cradle. Fondly he caressed the beveled edges. It was cupped in his hands and raised to his lips. Aysgarth kissed it. The pendant reacted by turning a deep shade of lavender, something Elinor had never seen it capable of.
“Thank you for bringing this back to me,” whispered Aysgarth kindly. “For so long I have waited to be released.” His attention turned to the pendant and he spoke directly to it. “Hold tight, my beloved. I swear on my own heart, you too will soon be freed.” Distant commotion echoed down the corridor. Aysgarth brusquely stood. “We must leave. More of these beasts will soon arrive.”
“Aurora-hunters,” responded Elinor. “That’s what my people call them, anyway.”
Aysgarth grinned. “So, these hunters have an appetite for souls, do they? Then perhaps the moment has arrived to send them back to the shadows from where they came.”
He drew his sword again. The pendant was tucked behind his breastplate. Elinor felt uncomfortable with another taking possession of something that for so long had been in her tribe’s care, but she never uttered a word. She watched Aysgarth pass under the arch into the seamount and then followed. There was a tangy scent of decaying seaweed that lingered in the air. Water gently lapped against the bulkhead.
Aysgarth held out his hand. “I need for you to trust me, El. We must depart to rescue a friend. Like with me, only a light-bearer can free her.”
“Shadow?” asked Elinor.
“She has visited your dreams too I see.” Aysgarth paused. “Shadow is responsible for bringing us together. We must honor her sacrifice by joining forces.”
“But Zi is waiting for me.”
Anger flashed across Aysgarth’s eyes, then rapidly dissipated. “The gargan mother? So, she too has survived.” He paused again to collect his thoughts. “Good. We will need her assistance if we stand any chance of winning this war.” Aysgarth tried to reassure Elinor. “Don’t worry. Where we are headed, she will soon follow. Zi has a way of taking care of herself,” he said with a smirk.
Harsh screeches grew louder as aurora-hunters drew near. Elinor looked down the corridor, contemplating what to do. She swiveled her head and panned the concealed harbor. There were no ships within view. Although she had promised herself never to board a vessel again, she badly wanted to get away from danger. “You have a boat?” she asked Aysgarth.
“El,” he responded brazenly, “where we are traveling, no ship can go. Besides, I have a much quicker means to cross the sea.” He extended his hand again and repeated, “Trust me.”
She looked back again. A pack of aurora-hunters, bigger than the one that had chased her, was rushing toward them. Elinor proceeded to look up at the cavernous dome wondering where Zi was, and if she would indeed be able to find her as Aysgarth promised. She had no reason not to trust him. They had fought side by side, after all. And successfully. Since that fateful day when she had taken possession of the pendant from Morbis, Aysgarth had been with her one way or another. She finally had the opportunity to look in his eyes, to see him in action, and he seemed like a man that would stop at nothing to defeat the darkness, which meant they both desired the same outcome, Elinor concluded.
“Okay,” she said and then grabbed his hand.
Elinor was pulled against him and instructed to hold on tight. She wrapped her hands around Aysgarth’s waist. Her head rested against the gold sea wolf on his breastplate. She heard two distinct heartbeats, throbbing intensely. The thumping merged into one powerful rhythm. Aysgarth jammed his sword against the ground. Elinor felt strange, as if there were insects crawling over her skin. She had an overwhelming need to scratch, but feared what would happen if she let go. There was a blinding flash, followed by effulgent energy that consumed them both. Elinor felt herself rising. Then they passed through rock and emerged into open air.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Aysgarth and Elinor appeared from shimmer. Elinor dropped to her knees and vomited.
“The first one is always the worst,” stated Aysgarth. He scoured the area, appearing on edge. “Drink,” he continued. “Traveling in light drains your water.”
Elinor inquired between gulps, “Where are we going?”
“To the Emory Tree.” On high alert, Aysgarth circled. His eyes scanned the horizon. When he caught a glimpse of Elinor’s inquisitive gaze, he replied, “I imagine you have many questions. In due course the answers will come. For now, it is imperative we keep moving. There is evil in the air, El. We cannot stay in one place for too long.”
Elinor stood. She realized they were standing next to the massive burn pile she had seen from above when she and Zi had passed over Wenceslaus. The courtyard was heavily damaged. Debris mounds and several other scorch marks in the shape of circles suggested the inhabitants had been under siege for some time, taking advantage of lulls in the battle to clear rubble and burn the dead. The black petals of a flowering vine opened when Elinor brushed against it. Startled, she jumped back. The flower responded in kind by closing again. “That’s odd,” she proclaimed.
“What is?” asked Aysgarth.
“That flower—” she pointed “—opened when my arm brushed against it.”
“Why should that be odd? You are a light-bearer,” he stated as a matter of fact.
“Well, that’s never happened before.”
From Aysgarth’s perspective, Elinor’s response was unusual. “You mean to tell me Kalloire has never reacted to you in that manner before?”
“No. Sometimes plants light up when I’m around. But nothing like this.”
It dawned on Aysgarth that Elinor was not connected to Kalloire as light-bearers of the past. “You are unable to hear her,” he declared.
“Who?”
Aysgarth spun as a strong breeze rustled the branches of a dead tree. “Never mind. Are you ready?”
“How much farther?”
“Two, maybe three jumps.”
Elinor groaned. “I should probably tell you I don’t do well with heights.” She countered Aysgarth’s amused look by adding, “I know. Not a good quality for a tree-dweller.”
“Then we will make it in two.” Aysgarth hovered over Elinor waiting for her to secure her pack so they could continue. “You really should spend more time getting to know the land around you,” he said. “If you listen closely enough, you may be surprised by what you hear.”
What concerned Aysgarth about Elinor wasn’t her fear of heights or her skill in battle. She seemed a capable fighter that had survived impossible odds to find him. And her motivation to overcome the evil that had taken Kalloire matched his own. It was her ignorance that twisted his gut. He contemplated if when the time came, would Elinor have the means to defeat the enemy? Without Kalloire on her side and Elinor possessing full knowledge of her abilities, her destiny foreseen by Shadow seemed to Aysgarth as unobtainable. In his eyes, a light-bearer not linked to Kalloire would face certain defeat. Aysgarth refocused on his main objective, deciding the rest could wait. He wrapped his arm around Elinor and lowered his sword.
Elinor held her breath as
they ascended again. She concentrated on the dreary sky instead of looking down. Traveling in light was like nothing she had experienced. Along with the tingling sensation moving across her skin and the churning of her stomach, how she was able to observe aspects around her was rather remarkable. The land glistened and night flora beamed as they passed overhead. Lakes and rivers appeared like golden streams flowing with honey. She was amazed at the amount of ground they were able to cover in brief bursts. Not even Zi was able to travel such distances as they were capable of in shimmer. Time also passed differently. They moved at a fierce pace, but somehow everything appeared in slow motion. Elinor glared at a pack of aurora-hunters traveling in the open. She could tell by the dust cloud left behind that they were hurtling at full speed. From her viewpoint, however, they may as well have been stationary.
They crossed above a murky river into desert. An intricate system of mine shafts and trenches that cut across a bleak and windswept landscape twisted toward hollow clay mounds that once served as home to the Fyr-Re. Elinor recalled accounts of how the Fyr-Re mined salt from seas deep beneath the earth. They were also renowned for their ability to manipulate fire to create glassware that was prized across the realms.
Eventually, white sands of sunburned terrain gave way to rocky foothills. They rapidly descended over where the desert butted against the Beorhts. Elinor was the first to emerge from shimmer, looking haggard. She squatted and reached for her water. The urgency in Aysgarth’s eyes made her nervous. Elinor followed his gaze back in the direction from whence they had traveled. The horizon was quickly darkening, blotting out sunlight that infiltrated the shroud, and lightning angrily slashed the sky.
“She’s coming, isn’t she?” remarked Elinor.
Aysgarth gritted his teeth. He gripped his sword tightly and replied with a grunt, “The Blood Queen has picked up our trail. One more jump is all the time we have left.”
He yanked Elinor to her feet. Holding her closely, he stared into her bold, shimmering eyes. His heart pounded and his palms became clammy. He was so close that he could smell the wind in her hair. The sweet cedar fragrance reminded him of Shadow. His Shadow. And the only woman he had ever loved enough to call his own. She meant everything to him. Being reunited with her was all he could think about. It is what had kept him going while in stasis. Shadow had reassured time would pass quickly for Aysgarth—that he would be numb to its passage. But to the contrary he had felt everything during his confinement. The memories of their two moon frosts spent together provided comfort and profound sadness. Countless recollections of how he had allowed her to be taken without a fight caused him unsurmountable shame. Plotting how he would retaliate against the Circle of Six for their unforgivable transgression had kept his mind strong. Aysgarth blamed himself for Shadow’s death and he carried her loss around like an albatross dangling from his neck. Shadow was so close that he could sense her presence. But what was required of him for her to be freed weighed heavily on his consciousness. A jolt of thunder motivated Aysgarth to initiate their final shimmer.
Contained within the blur of light, Aysgarth and Elinor traveled across the Beorhts via the Nord Pass. Through blistering snow Elinor spotted a mass of aurora-hunters heading north in tight formation. It was an army on the move. The farther they traveled in shimmer, the weaker Elinor became. She was severely dehydrated, and the frequency at which they climbed and dipped made Elinor sick to the point where she thought about letting go if not for the angry horde below. Aysgarth’s haste and erratic path suggested he was not only concerned with time, but about being overtaken by Ka΄Phar.
The sky cleared as they broke free of the mountain’s high peaks and steep cliffs. Glacier-scarred valleys transitioned to vast forests that had been laid to waste by the absence of sunlight. Pockets of night flora twinkled as if they were acknowledging Aysgarth and Elinor with a friendly wink. The terrain cleared. A sloped basin appeared ahead. Elinor’s stomach lurched as Aysgarth swiftly dropped out of the sky, and before she realized they were back on solid ground.
While on her hands and knees still reeling from the ordeal, Elinor observed her surroundings. Meek in stature, a charred tree with an oval opening grew at the center. Along the ridge surrounding it, decorative pillars circled the basin. The pillars were designed from trees that had been hollowed and stripped of bark and then engraved with lively depictions. Some carvings represented animals from Kalloire’s past. Others appeared supernatural, with no distinguishable origin. Elinor noticed one pillar stood apart from the design of others. It was smooth and polished. Made of obsidian and not wood, the black surface and pointed top that was capped by bronze made it appear it didn’t belong among the others.
“The obelisk was the first,” commented Aysgarth. “Its origin is unknown. The rest were built ages ago to pay homage to this place.” He briskly walked in the direction of the Emory Tree. “Do you know why they burned Shadow inside this tree?” he asked.
Elinor shook her head as she tried to keep up with Aysgarth’s brisk stride.
“There are two trees of Kalloire. One possesses the gift of eternal life. This you know as the light-bearer temple. The other, the Emory Tree, offers absolute death. Both are undying.” Aysgarth stared into the tree’s void. “In all their infinite wisdom,” he hissed in mockery of the Circle of Six, “they took her life here so her light would be unable to return. It was the ultimate punishment for being born different.” Through heavy cloud cover, Aysgarth caught a glimpse of a blue moon that was visible through a crack in the sky. “Huh,” he chuckled. “The frost moon rises. Another cycle has come and gone.”
Elinor approached the tree. “Why didn’t you or Shadow fight back? Or her kin intervene? I’ve seen your skill with a sword. And legatius,” she uttered, “well, they’re extremely powerful.”
Darkness hovered in Aysgarth’s heavy eyes. He continued peering into the tree’s trunk, contemplating Elinor’s remarks and reminiscing about his days spent with Shadow—each more remarkable than the next. He never imagined his feelings for her would develop to the point where he would do anything to protect her. Or betray his oath to save her. Aysgarth clenched his fist as he glimpsed Elinor from behind. She was a remarkable and very capable young woman. He sensed in her the same fire that burned within him, fueled by an unrelenting need to make a difference.
Aysgarth believed evil could be kept at bay as long as good warriors stood fast. One careless act or the slightest lull in vigilance had the potential to provide an opening to a malicious tide that could cleanse all that was good. And that is exactly what had happened to Kalloire when Shadow was murdered. He carried that guilt around as well, accepting responsibility for Raven Rock’s fall due to being preoccupied by his love for her. Aysgarth didn’t blame Shadow though, but he did believe he should have been able to balance his sacred duty to protect his people while also embracing his love for Shadow.
Aysgarth’s hand twitched. His eyelids fluttered as he tried to steady his nerves. “Forgive me,” he whispered under his breath.
“Huh,” responded Elinor. When she turned to face Aysgarth, a searing pain struck her midsection right below her chest plate. Her eyes bulged and she gasped. Elinor cried out when Aysgarth twisted his dagger. Her beaming afterglow fell silent. She looked down and watched as heavy blood seeped from her wound. Instinctively, Elinor placed both hands over the cut and applied pressure. She collapsed into Aysgarth’s arms. “Why?” she breathed.
Aysgarth brushed Elinor’s bangs away from her searching eyes. His cheeks trembled. “This is the only way, El,” he replied while trying to keep his composure. “One day you will understand.” The pendant was removed from his own breastplate and stuffed behind Elinor’s to protect it. “I beg of you, please, watch over it as you once did.” In concern, he looked over his shoulder. A menacing storm cloud was bearing down on them. “El,” he said while cupping her face, “only you can save Kalloire. Shadow will teach you how.” He carried her to the tree and gently laid her inside. “Remembe
r, you are a light-bearer. Do not fear death, for it fears you more.”
With a conflicted heart he stepped back and withdrew his sword. As Aysgarth released a defiant battle cry, his blade surged with energy. He forcefully jammed the tip into the tree, setting it ablaze. Then he quickly turned to spare himself further grief. Elinor’s soft pleas for water were replaced by horrendous screams. It took all of Aysgarth’s conviction not to rescue her. He concentrated his rage, his sorrow, and all the rancor afflicting his soul on the whirlwind spiraling toward him. Like a venomous snake preparing to lash out, he opened his mouth and hissed. Aysgarth sprang forward. His cape billowed and a habitual gleam returned to his hardened face at the thought of returning to battle. The Blood Queen appeared out of a dark mist simultaneously as Aysgarth entered shimmer. Their reunion would have to wait.
CHAPTER FORTY
Ka΄Phar spun. Enraged for having another victim elude her by timing their escape, she prepared to pursue. Elinor’s screams however caught her attention. She gazed at the Emory Tree that was completely engulfed. A mischievous smile spread across her beaming face.
Pleasantly surprised, she said, “What is this? Oh my. The little light-bearer screams and cries to be rescued from her fiery demise.” She raised her arms and cackled. “Now you are truly mine!” she shrieked. “Nothing can save you anymore, my precious Kalloire.” Ka΄Phar basked in the flames’ warmth, savoring Elinor’s screams. “As my beloved Shadow once fell in this place, so too shall the last of light.” Her celebration concluded prematurely when it dawned on her that the coruscant was probably still with Elinor. “No!” she howled.
Ka΄Phar sprinted forward. As she summoned rain to douse the fire it unexpectedly flared. A magnificent eruption sent flames outward from the tree’s cavity, along with shards that flew through the air like shrapnel. With lightning speed, Ka΄Phar raised her hand. The jagged projectiles fell to the frozen ground while plumes bent around her. Between the impressive display of light and fire, she glimpsed a murky distortion pass. An entity was somehow traveling in a shadowy shimmer, something only her daughter had been capable of. Ka΄Phar was torn between retrieving the pendant and dealing with her unexpected guest. She suspected whatever presence she felt was the same force at work that had allowed the ancient one to siphon Elinor’s stolen afterglow from her during their encounter in the Beorhts. Ka΄Phar was already on edge at the thought another mystic could exist and had no choice but to deal with the emerging threat. Reluctantly she turned her back on the Emory Tree.
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