Victor looked at his hands. “I guess that explains what’s been happening to me during battle.”
Seri cocked her head. “So you must be absorbing it from him because you’ve been so close together for so long.”
“But I’m not a mage or anything.”
“I guess it’s just the magic needing more space, since Marshal can’t contain it all. I wonder how often this happens.”
“And what about those two?” Marshal thumbed over his shoulder at Forerunner and Wolf.
“Different. Very different. Their magic is not of Antises like yours. I think it’s from the Otherworld. It’s more like a fire than light. Blazing. Pulsing. I’ve gotten used to it from Forerunner over the last couple of weeks, but the other man—Wolf—is more powerful than he is. I think he’s like the others I saw in the Otherworld.”
Marshal got to his feet. “It’s about time I met this Forerunner, don’t you think?”
“Be careful,” Ixchel said. “He lies.”
Marshal nodded. “I’ve met a few like that.”
He crossed the open space toward Forerunner and his coterie. Off to the right, the curse squad had erected their camp and were talking together, casting occasional looks toward the white-robed women.
Forerunner saw Marshal approaching and came out to meet him, his arms spread. “Oh!” he cried. “Your loss is so great! It is too much for one man to bear!”
Before Marshal could react, Forerunner grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him in close, resting his forehead against Marshal’s. As they did, a low voice vibrated into Marshal’s left ear, barely discernible.
“I am speaking so that only you can hear me. Listen well. As Forerunner, I am charged with restoring. Your new friends will have told you this. In a moment, I will tell you this out loud and say that I can help you.”
Marshal opened his mouth to respond, but a touch of magic vibrated against his lips. “Do not speak yet. Let me finish. I can help you, but I must not. For the sake of this world, for the sake of your people, I must not! Your losses are horrible, but you need them to become who you must.”
Forerunner pulled back, looking Marshal in the eyes. “For the sake of Antises, your world. It is not mine, but I have come to understand your people better. Seri and Dravid have shown me how amazing humans can be. I do not wish them harm.”
“I am Forerunner!” he said, now in a louder voice that could be heard by his own people and by Victor and the others. “I am here to restore that which was lost. What was lost can be found. What was taken can be returned. Do not let these losses define you!”
Marshal pushed Forerunner’s arms away. “I have lost nothing that you can restore,” he said. “You cannot bring the dead back.”
“That is not all you have lost,” Forerunner said. He reached a finger toward Marshal’s face.
Marshal grabbed the finger and twisted it away. “No games. No mysteries. And no more about my losses. Tell me what has happened to my friend Wolf.” He spun Forerunner around and pointed.
“His name is Calu,” Forerunner said. “I’m not sure how he came to this sad state, but he’s been missing for quite some time. He is a friend of mine who forgot who and what he is.”
“And what is that? Does he come from the Otherworld?”
“It is as you have said. I merely restored to him his memories and true form. I told you that I restore.”
“I want to talk to him.”
“You may try. I do not know if he will answer. He is remembering many things right now.”
Marshal pushed past Forerunner and approached the man he had known as Wolf. The white-robed women moved out of his way. “Wolf? Can you hear me?”
“Forerunner has told you my name is Calu,” he answered, his voice deep and resonant, nothing like the man Marshal knew. He turned and looked down at Marshal. “But you and the other squad members may call me Wolf for now… for the sake of the friendship you offered me.”
“What has happened to you, Wolf?”
“I do not think I can explain, decanus. But I am remembering who I am.”
Marshal nodded. “I’m not your decanus. But I’m glad this is a good thing. We all thought you were being attacked.”
“Yes, well, you can’t help your ignorance. Humans never have been very bright.”
“Humans? So… you’re not human?”
“I do not claim that any longer. No. In time, you will understand.”
“I’m not sure about that.”
Wolf lifted a hand, then lowered it. “I need more time. Please. Tell everyone to leave me alone for a while. I am remembering so much right now. It… is a lot to go through.”
“I’ll tell them,” Marshal said. “Just know that we’re still your friends. If you need anything, we will be there for you.”
“Thank you.”
Marshal turned to go, but Wolf caught his arm. “Marshal… Forerunner serves me and those like me. Do not mistake the hierarchy.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Wolf released his arm and Marshal walked back toward Victor and the others. He knew only one thing for certain: he didn’t trust Wolf or Forerunner, despite their promises of friendship. Something seemed very wrong here.
Victor watched as everyone took a seat. Marshal and the curse squad on one side, Forerunner and two of his women to their right, and Seri with her friends to the left. Wolf remained standing off by himself. The other women gathered behind Forerunner.
Marshal glanced at Victor, then began speaking. “I think we’ve finally discussed all that needs to be straightened out,” he said. “Now we need to figure out what happens next.”
“We should go to Zes Sivas!” Seri said. “I need to bring you back to meet the Masters.”
“I can’t do that right now,” Marshal said. “I have promises to keep. I told Topleb I would take him home. And my friend Talinir is trapped by my doing. So we’re traveling to the, uh, place of magic in Ch’olan.”
“High place,” Forerunner said. “That’s what it used to be called.”
“All right. The high place. That’s where I have to go.”
“And that is where we must go as well,” Forerunner said. “Calu desires to return to the Otherworld.”
“Who’s Calu?” Rufus asked.
“He means Wolf,” Victor said.
“Wolf’s from another world?”
“That explains some things,” Topleb said. “He always seemed too smart to be Varioch.”
“This is a very large group to travel with,” Marshal said. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“You are correct,” Forerunner said. “My followers will return to the sanctuary and await my return. I have already spoken with them about this.”
“Your followers?” Victor said. “You’re sending the women back? By themselves?”
Forerunner spread his hands out. “Is there danger in this land of curses? Who would harm them?”
Victor exchanged a look with Marshal. “Yes, there is danger. We’ve… learned that very well.”
Marshal stood and looked at his squad. “Men. Victor, Topleb and I are going to Ch’olan. The rest of you do not need to come with us. And here is an opportunity for you to do some good. These women need an escort. I’d like you to go with them.”
Gnaeus scratched his chin. “I think Merish and I are willin’ to take on that task. Rufus?”
Rufus looked over at the women then back at Marshal. “I, I’d rather stay with you, sir. I’ve never seen Ch’olan.”
“It’s going to be a long walk, Rufus. Are you up for that?”
Rufus flushed. “Begging your pardon, sir, but don’t you have one man over there without a leg? I think I can keep up as well as he can!”
“Just making the offer, Rufus.” Marshal turned back to Forerunner. “I have two men willing to be your ladies’ escorts. Is that acceptable?”
Forerunner looked to his two assistants, who nodded. “Thank you for your assistance,” he said
. “I’m sure your men will find an enthusiastic welcome at my sanctuary.”
Gnaeus brightened. Victor nudged him. “You’d better behave,” he whispered.
“I’m a good man!” Gnaeus protested.
“Of course you are.”
“Fine. But after this, we should go to Zes Sivas!” Seri said.
Marshal sat down again. “I’m not promising, but I think that can happen.”
Victor frowned. Going to Zes Sivas sounded all right, but everything had changed with these new arrivals. And how did this fit in with the goal of ending curses?
CHAPTER SIXTY
VOLRAAG STOOD BY the ship’s rail and watched his hand as he rotated it. The fact that it didn’t glow still surprised him. The glow within continued, giving him strength and warmth. Or at least it felt that way. The salty taste in his mouth had not diminished, either.
He had no idea how much this new power would enhance his own, or if it just strengthened his body. It seemed to interact with his other power somehow during his fight with Lord Tyrr, but just how he couldn’t tell. It would have helped if Curasir had stuck around long enough to discuss this. Who else could he ask?
Tezan came to his side. The wild mage had been much more conciliatory since the portal. Perhaps the taste of power had convinced him where Volraag’s words had not.
“What is our course, then?” Tezan asked.
Volraag pointed along the coastline. “We’ll stay near the coast until we pass the border with Ch’olan. Then we’ll swing out to avoid coming anywhere near Woqan. Somewhere to the east, we’ll make landfall and then move north to the portal.”
“As long as we don’t go too far east. I can’t imagine we’d get a warm welcome in Mandiata.”
Volraag snorted. He squeezed the railing and felt disappointed when his fingers didn’t break through it. Did he have more strength or was it nothing more than a feeling?
“Salt,” Tezan said. “Do you taste salt?”
Volraag turned to look at him. “I wondered. So you do retain some of the power that flows through you.”
Tezan shrugged. “A little here and there. I… It feels good.”
“It does.”
Tezan looked down at his own hands. “It’s changing us, Volraag. And I don’t just mean getting stronger. Do you sense it?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m feeling… I don’t know. I want more of it. More of the power. It’s like a hunger.”
Volraag agreed, but didn’t reply. Rathri appeared on his other side. For a moment, Volraag didn’t consider the significance of this. Tezan reacted first.
“Where did you come from?”
Rathri inclined his head. “That’s a subject of much debate,” he said in his usual rasp.
Volraag frowned at him. “When last I saw you, you were unconscious on the floor of a tunnel, about to be drowned. How did you get here?”
“If I told you all my secrets, Lord, I would not be as much use to you.”
“You try my patience, assassin.”
“He’s like the tailless monkey of Lord Sakouna,” Tezan muttered.
“My loss of consciousness was temporary,” Rathri said. “I escaped the water, though I did get trapped for quite a while when the rest of the tunnel collapsed.”
“Did you see what happened to Lord Tyrr?”
“By the time I escaped, there was no sign of him. He may have been buried. He may have escaped.”
Volraag eyed the assassin. With the beating he took from Lord Tyrr, he should not even be able to walk. That kind of abuse would have broken most of the bones in a normal man’s body. From all he knew of Rathri, he could think of no reason why he should have more endurance than anyone else. Yet Rathri stood here as if he had only returned from a casual walk.
“How did you get on the ship?” Tezan asked.
“Magic.”
Volraag scowled. “I’ll need a better answer than that.”
“I met with Otioch, long enough to learn that your Remavian Guard was unable to stop your brother. After that, I hired a small and fast sailing vessel, caught up to you, and boarded this ship in the rear. I don’t believe the captain even knows I’m here now.”
“Is our spy still in place with them?”
“At last report, he was. I’m not sure how much you can depend on a conscript, though.”
Volraag recalled the small man. “He might surprise us. You never know.”
The three stood in silence. Volraag watched the waves.
“What is the result of your new powers?” Rathri asked.
“I don’t know. I feel stronger, but I don’t know if it means anything. I can feel it within me, though.”
“Perhaps we can find a way to test it.”
Volraag looked down at the corrupted skin of his assassin and considered the suggestion. “Perhaps,” he said. But the longer he spent in Rathri’s presence, the less he wanted to continue. Beyond the curse, something else disturbed him about the assassin.
CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
“DID YOU SEE where they went?”
Talinir jerked at the sound of the voice. One of their pursuers must be standing directly outside their shelter. He glanced at Janaab. The man hadn’t moved, still curled up.
Talinir drew his sword without a sound. If they were found, he would fight. He didn’t quite understand the identity of these strange beings, but the marks on his forearm told him all he needed to know about them.
“Why can’t we sense the magic-user?”
Another voice answered. “He must have cloaked himself. How else could he survive here? He looked human.”
The first voice snorted. “I want to find the Eldani. I touched him, but didn’t complete the process.”
Talinir shivered, looking at his forearm. It had burned at the stranger’s touch, but the feeling faded. Now it felt cold, cold and vibrating with a dull ache. What did it mean?
One of the voices outside said something about “downhill.” Talinir heard the sounds of footsteps moving away. He rested his sword across his knees and waited. But as he did, anger built up inside. What nonsense was this? He was Talinir, warden of the Eldanim! Why should he fear these beings, whatever they were? He almost stood up before a saner part of his mind prevailed.
Instead, he waited. Janaab remained unmoving. Once, he thought he heard movement outside again, but it faded as soon as he tried to focus on it. Time crawled by. He looked up at the rock ceiling and smiled to himself. At least here he didn’t have to worry about being caught by the stars.
Janaab uncurled and sat up, brushing himself off. “I think they’re far enough away now,” he said. “But we’ll wait a while longer before trying to get out of here, just to be sure.”
“Are you all right?”
Janaab shrugged. “I’m fine. What about you? How much did he touch you?”
Talinir displayed his forearm. “Ugh.” Janaab sighed. “Well, now you know. It’s not from spending too much time here, after all. Or at least, that’s not the only reason.”
“You mean…?”
“Yeah. They created the Durunim. And the Durunim serve them.”
Talinir’s gaze wandered to the dark spots on Janaab’s own skin. “Then you’ve had other encounters with them.”
Janaab nodded. “Barely escaped with my life the first time. Some of them know me now. But they don’t seem interested in hunting too far from the mountains. Either they don’t like to leave home, or…”
“Or what?”
“Or they’re too busy to waste time with me. They didn’t create the Durunim and send them to attack you just for fun, you know. I think they’ve got big plans. I’ve seen them moving entire armies around. And they’re not moving toward Intal Eldanir either. I haven’t been able to follow them, but they’re definitely up to something.”
Talinir felt reluctant to speak of the next thing on his mind. “The one we met spoke of… worship.”
“That was the biggest surprise to me. They t
hink of themselves as gods, it seems.”
“They do not resemble any deity my people have ever worshipped, to my knowledge.”
“But they do look like humanity’s old gods. Before the Great Cataclysm and Akhenadom. Before Theon.”
“Is that who you think they are?”
Janaab shrugged again. “Whether they are, or just believe they are, it doesn’t make much difference. They have immense power, and they’re not afraid to use it. My fear is that they’ll cross over into my world. Who knows what will happen then?” He shifted to look more directly at Talinir. “This is what I wanted you to see. So you can tell Marshal and the girl about it.”
“Why can’t you tell them?”
“I don’t know if I’ll survive that long. But I have confidence in you.”
That felt odd.
Talinir recalled something else from the encounter. “You commanded me.”
“What?”
“When that thing had me, you ordered me to dive backwards.”
“It worked, didn’t it?”
“But you used magic in your voice. Like they’re doing. I felt compelled to obey you.”
Janaab scratched at the cave floor with his spear tip. “Over the years, I’ve learned some new tricks with my powers. That’s one of them. You could have disobeyed me if you had wanted to. The command only works on someone that trusts you, or is inclined to trust you, I guess.”
“How do I know you haven’t been using it on me all along?”
Janaab lifted his brows. “Have I?”
No. He would have felt that, sensed it like he did this time.
“Get some rest,” Janaab suggested. “We’ll wait a couple more hours and then try to dig our way out without using magic, if possible. Then we head straight for the high place.”
Talinir agreed. Time to get back to the primary world where he belonged.
CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
SERI AND IXCHEL helped the other women hang up some curtains taken from the donkey’s saddlebags. Seri was pleased to have some privacy, at least for this one evening. After the women and the donkey left tomorrow, she and Ixchel would be the only women left in a party of men. She couldn’t help feeling a little nervous about that.
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