Kai didn’t stop to talk to anyone, but the Unfaih they passed all bowed in a respectful greeting as he walked by. Sloane didn’t want to imagine the reception she would have received if Kai hadn’t been there. The Unfaih were already looking at her like she was some kind of devil, and without Kai, at her side, she highly doubted she would have even been able to step foot in the village.
Kai walked confidently towards one of the igloos. He didn’t seem at all troubled by the fact that no one had talked to them since they’d arrived. He gave Sloane an encouraging smile when he reached the entrance to the icy dome, but didn’t wait for a response before he turned and walked inside. She didn’t feel all that comforted by Kai’s weak attempt at reassurance, and she huffed out a breath as she stole a moment to herself before she followed him in.
When she stepped into the igloo after him, Sloane was surprised to find they’d entered one large room, which was fully furnished with bright rugs and wooden tables and chairs. Strange embroidered pictures hung from the walls and pillows were scattered all over the floor. The room was adorned with an eclectic mix of reds and oranges and looked very different to the subtle furnishings of the Unfaih homes she’d visited before.
The most overwhelming part of the room was the amount of clutter. There were bits and pieces stashed everywhere, but what took up most of the space were thick books and large scrolls that were scattered across tables, stacked on chairs and jammed into shelves. Some had even found their way onto the floor.
Sloane’s gaze finally landed on an Unfaih man who sat on the ground in the centre of it all. His eyes were shut, and she almost didn’t see him as he wore a bright orange tunic, which caused him to blend into his surrounds. A hint of grey touched the man’s hair, and his body looked bony and frail.
As if he sensed her stare, the man opened his eyes and looked straight at Sloane. She almost gasped when she caught sight of his eyes. They were silver in colour and shimmered like a diamond sparkling in the sunlight. That wasn’t the most shocking thing about them though. It was the intelligence that radiated from the man’s eyes that stunned Sloane, and she felt like she was looking at someone who had lived for aeons.
She wondered at all the things he must have seen and experienced during his impossibly long life, and she found the thought quite unnerving. As Sloane looked into his eyes, she saw fountains of knowledge and a strange feeling came over her, as though the man already knew something about her.
The man frowned as he looked at her before he slowly turned his attention to Kai. His face lit up, and he stood up much faster than Sloane expected. She had thought he looked frail at first, but now that he was standing she could see he merely had a thin build. He didn’t look sickly, and he hardly looked weak.
‘Kai,’ the man said, grinning widely as he approached. ‘I’m so glad to see you.’
‘And I you, Joran,’ Kai said, in response. ‘This is Sloane,’ he continued, gesturing in her direction.
‘I see,’ Joran replied, frowning again as he glanced in her direction. ‘And what is a human doing here?’
‘I thought you might have heard…’ Kai said, his voice dropping as he sensed Joran’s disapproval.
‘I’ve heard whispers,’ Joran replied. ‘But I refused to believe they were true. I certainly never thought you would be stupid enough to bring one here.’
He blew out a breath and approached Sloane, very slowly walking around her as he studied her carefully. ‘So, the rumours are true then.’
‘Yes,’ Kai replied, with a reluctant nod.
‘And everything I went through was for nothing.’
Kai struggled to look directly at Joran as he nodded again.
Joran closed his eyes tightly as though Kai’s admission was causing him pain. He exhaled in one long, measured breath before he swiftly turned and walked to the other side of the room.
Kai took a step towards him. ‘Joran?’
The man didn’t respond. He knelt down over a large wooden chest and slammed the lid open before he started rattling through it, carelessly tossing objects onto the ground beside him. They clattered loudly as everything from metal cups to strange glowing crystals hit the ground.
Sloane moved slightly closer to Kai. ‘Is he all right?’ she murmured under her breath. ‘Like, in the head…’
‘He’s fine,’ Kai replied.
Sloane lifted one eyebrow. She thought the guy looked far from fine, but she wasn’t about to start an argument over it. Especially not when they needed information from him. Joran seemed to be a strange mix of wise and erratic, and she didn’t quite know what to make of him.
Joran certainly didn’t approve of her, or any humans, but Sloane was beginning to get used to that whenever she met someone new in the world of the Unfaih. The humans had really done a number on their world—that was obvious to Sloane. All the Unfaih were so scarred by their experience with the humans that a thousand years had passed and Sloane’s people were still thoroughly detested.
‘Why are you here?’ Joran said, not turning to look at them as he asked the question. Instead, he picked up what looked like a metal hip flask from the chest he was searching through, threw his head back and gulped whatever was inside. He exhaled in relief and wiped a hand across his lips before placing the flask down.
‘Well?’ he prompted, turning to the Kai and Sloane.
‘Are you sure you should be drinking that?’ Kai asked, his twitching hands slightly betraying his discomfort.
‘I’ll drink whatever I please,’ Joran replied. ‘Now, tell me why you are here.’ His gaze flickered between the two of them.
‘We need to talk to you about the rifts,’ Kai said.
‘You know I don’t talk about them,’ Joran growled.
‘I know, I know,’ Kai quickly replied, lifting his hands out to placate the man.
Joran’s anger was palpable though, and Sloane could pretty much see it radiating from his body with his stiff posture and darkened eyes. ‘But this is important. There are humans in the World of the Woods that pose a serious threat to our people. Closing the rifts may be our only chance at stopping them.’
Joran shook his head and turned away from Kai. He picked up his drink and quickly finished whatever was left in the flask. Sloane frowned at his behaviour, trying to figure out how to get through to the man. Given the dirty looks he kept throwing her, she doubted that she’d have any luck attempting to convince him to talk. Kai knew him best, but his mentor didn’t seem very receptive right now.
‘Please, Joran,’ Kai said, stepping towards him. ‘I know you don’t want to talk about it, but it’s been a thousand years since you destroyed that rift. I studied with you for a long time and never pushed you for answers on how you closed it. But now we have no other choice. I need to know how you did it; you owe me that at least.’
‘I owe you nothing,’ Joran growled. ‘And you’re right. I don’t want to talk about it.’
‘But you must,’ Sloane said, coming to stand beside Kai. ‘The humans are after the Liftsal, and we have to protect this world from them. We’re trying to stop them from becoming Brakys, and we’re trying to stop a war. We need to find a way to close the rift or both Kai’s people and the humans are doomed. You’re the only one who knows how to do it, and we need your help.’
‘There is no way to close the rift,’ Joran replied, his eyes growing darker.
‘Joran, we’ve come all this way,’ Kai said. ‘And I know you’ve closed one before. Can you tell us how you did it? How it went wrong? Maybe there’s a way to avoid what happened last time?’
Joran stayed silent, refusing to answer.
‘I’m not leaving until you talk to me,’ Kai said.
‘Well, you’re going to be disappointed,’ Joran replied. ‘And if you won’t leave, then I will.’ The man stormed past Kai, towards the entrance to the igloo, and disappeared into the darkness outside without a glance back in their direction.
Kai sighed before he started after Joran. He
paused by the entrance though and turned to Sloane. ‘Wait here,’ he cautioned before disappearing into the night.
Chapter Thirteen
Sloane folded her arms across her chest and scowled at the entrance to Joran’s igloo. They had come such a long way, but within five minutes of arriving Joran had told them there was no way to close the rift.
‘So much for answers,’ she muttered, as she turned away from the entrance. Kai obviously believed that Joran had more information to offer though. She wanted to chase after them and find out what the Unfaih magus knew about the rifts, but a part of her felt like it would be better to wait in the igloo for their return. She knew they’d be back eventually, and with the two of them gone it meant she could take a good look around.
She didn’t have any idea where to start though. The place was a mess, and the clutter made it impossible to know what was valuable and what wasn’t. There was a bookcase in the corner, which was the only thing in the room that looked marginally organised, so she decided to check it out.
The bookcase was made from a dark coloured wood and was so old and rickety it looked like it would fall apart if Sloane gave it even a little nudge. She cautiously ran her finger along the worn spines of the books that filled it. None of the books had names along their backs, as they did back on Earth. They looked to be bound in leather, and she had no idea what they could contain.
She reached one that looked much older than the others. The lines down its spine were incredibly wrinkled, the material was faded, and the edges were worn and ripped.
Sloane cautiously pulled the ageing book from the shelf, and it fell open in her hands. The pages were so thin that they were almost transparent, and the writing that covered them was faded like it had been slowly disappearing over time.
She couldn’t understand any of the language written on the pages. She had a basic understanding of the Unfaih’s spoken language, but she had no idea how to write the words or read them. The book may not have even been in Unfaih. The characters she was looking at could mean anything.
She started slowly and carefully flicking through the pages and was relieved when she saw that there were pictures drawn every so often. She suspected it was a book on the creatures that lived in the world of the Unfaih, and she was enthralled as she looked at each of the drawings she came across. There were creatures with large wings and others with sharp horns. Some beasts were covered in thick layers of fur, while others had skin that consisted of large reflective scales.
She knew she shouldn’t be going through the book in so much detail, and that she should be taking advantage of having the room to herself to try and find information on the Oblivion Stone. But she was so fascinated by the pictures that she couldn’t bring herself to put the book away.
‘They’re all dead, you know,’ a voice came from the entrance.
Sloane glanced up from the book and found a young Unfaih woman standing in the doorway. She wasn’t as tall as most Unfaih, and she was even shorter than Sloane. Her hair was cut short and spiked out in several directions, and there was a dreamy look in her aqua coloured eyes, which focused on Sloane and the book she held in her hands.
The woman nodded her head at the book. ‘Those creatures you’re looking at. They’re all gone because of your people.’
Sloane frowned and glanced back down at the page she had open. The creature drawn there seemed to be some sort of sea creature with a long pointed tail and spiky looking fins.
‘Why?’ Sloane asked, glancing back up at the woman who had walked through the entrance and come to stand before her.
The Unfaih woman reached out and gently took the book from Sloane’s grasp. She briefly looked down at the open page before closing the book and brushing past Sloane to place it back on the shelf.
‘Because the rift closed and they couldn’t survive in the cold that took hold of our world,’ the woman replied.
Sloane frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. It wasn’t her fault that the rift was closed. Sure, the Unfaih had needed to stop the Brakys from getting to more humans, but that had been a long time ago. Unfortunately, not much had changed in a thousand years, and humans were still just as devious as they were back then.
‘That is one of the many reasons why Joran will never tell Kai about how he closed the rift,’ she continued, returning to stand in front of Sloane. ‘He helped destroy our world once, and there is no chance he will help do it again. He has suffered for many, many years because of what he did.’
Sloane swallowed uncomfortably. ‘I’m sorry, but who are you?’
‘I’m Joran’s one, Lleevia,’ she replied. ‘You and Kai should both leave now. You’re only going to upset him further.’
Sloane frowned at Lleevia’s abrupt dismissal. She may not want them there, but that didn’t mean they were about to give up. ‘If there was no chance of Joran helping, then why did Kai bother to come all this way?’ Sloane countered.
Lleevia’s eyes grew troubled at Sloane’s question. ‘Kai spent many years in this village learning to become a magus from Joran. Joran is more of a father to Kai than Vas has ever been. But he will not discuss what happened with anyone. He wouldn’t talk to Kai about it in all the years he lived with us, and he will not talk now.’
She seemed sad as she spoke and Sloane could see the woman’s devotion to Joran in her eyes.
‘This is too important,’ Sloane said firmly. ‘Kai will get him to talk.’
‘Perhaps,’ Lleevia replied, before letting out a sigh. ‘Though I highly doubt it.’
‘You’re wrong,’ Sloane grumbled. She turned from the woman and paced to the other side of the room.
She didn’t like how certain Lleevia was that they would be leaving without the knowledge they sought. Sloane had spent days on horseback travelling across a frozen ocean, and she didn’t want the painful riding and cold nights to be for nothing. Giving up wasn’t in her blood, but she wasn’t sure what she could do to help.
She sank to the ground and sat with her back pressed up against a wooden cabinet. Pulling her knees up against her chest, she stared at the opening to the igloo, willing Kai and Joran to return. There was no sign of them though, and they had given no indication as to when they might come back.
She wished that Lleevia would leave so she could snoop around a little more. The woman had started rearranging a stack of books scattered across the floor, and it seemed as though she had no intention of going anytime soon. Sloane wasn’t sure why the woman even bothered. The place was a mess, and organising the books barely seemed to make a difference to the disarray.
Lleevia kept sneaking glances at Sloane as she worked, and Sloane could see a hint of curiosity in her gaze. Every time their eyes met, Lleevia would quickly look away. The woman had appeared so sure of herself when she’d first entered the igloo, but her demeanour had changed.
There was a softness to the way she worked, and she handled the books gently and carefully as she carried them. Her expression was far calmer than when she had first arrived, and whenever Lleevia glanced at her Sloane could see genuine kindness in the woman’s eyes. Her small and slightly timid presence reminded Sloane of Rowe, which only made her realise she’d been acting the wrong way around the Unfaih woman.
She slowly climbed back to her feet and approached Lleevia. ‘Can I give you a hand?’
Lleevia jumped slightly and turned to look at Sloane. Her brow scrunched in a frown and her lips puckered with confusion.
‘With putting the books away,’ Sloane added, nodding at the pile Lleevia was working through. ‘I’m not sure how long Kai will be gone, and I’m going a little crazy just sitting here doing nothing while I wait.’
The crease on Lleevia’s forehead smoothed as she slowly nodded. ‘Yes, thank you. Could you bring those books over to me?’
Sloane followed her gaze down to a pile in the centre of the room and nodded. She was quiet as she gathered a handful of the books off the floor and started carrying them over to Lleevia.
The tension in the woman’s shoulders had returned, but it slowly began to ease as they continued working in silence.
Sloane roamed the room picking up stacks of stray books before carrying them to Lleevia while the Unfaih woman sorted through them and returned them to their rightful places on the creaking bookshelf.
‘My name’s Sloane, by the way.’ Lleevia nodded but didn’t glance up from what she was doing. Sloane frowned as she looked at the Unfaih woman. She was just as difficult to work out as Joran was.
‘Is this place always such a mess?’ Sloane asked as she set the last stack of books on the ground by Lleevia’s feet. She’d collected every book she could find strewn about the igloo, but the room was still a jumble of items.
Lleevia finished placing a book carefully on the shelf before she turned to Sloane. ‘Joran is always working so hard,’ she replied, with a small smile. ‘He never has time to put anything away, but I always try to clean up whenever he’s not around.’
‘I don’t blame you,’ Sloane replied. ‘How does he ever find anything?’
Lleevia shrugged. ‘I’m not sure, but he always seems to know where everything is. I think he works better in the chaos.’
Sloane let out an easy laugh. ‘My brother was the same when we were younger. His room was always a mess, and yet he never lost anything. There was a kind of organised chaos to it, and it drove my mother crazy.’
Sloane’s face fell as she remembered the way her mother used to chase Ash around, tickling him until he agreed to clean his room. The thought brought a sad smile to her lips, and she unconsciously lifted her hand to the empty spot on her chest where her mother’s necklace usually hung. Sloane was glad she had given it to Rowe to look after, but she suddenly felt bare and vulnerable without it.
Ash was far from the messy kid he used to be. Years at the Academy had stamped that out of him, and she could barely imagine him with a hair out of place these days. She felt like she didn’t know him anymore, and she wondered what her mother would think of the way he had changed and the man he had grown into.
The Oblivion Stone (The Liftsal Guardians Book 3) Page 13