The Tattered Lands

by Barbara Ann Wright

  * * *

  Vandra and the twins left Saribelle at dawn. A bath and a night in a bed had made Vandra’s step lighter. They had one more night of camping between them and the pylons, but they’d spend it at the Seelie Forest. Then they’d turn full north, following the road that led along the massive woods all the way to the pylon.

  In the distance, Vandra spotted the lone mountain rising up within the forest, though she couldn’t yet make out the dark wall of trees. “Maybe we’ll see a seelie.”

  Fieta hitched her shoulders. “I hope not.”

  “It’d be interesting,” Pietyr said.

  Fieta snorted. “Until it kills us.”

  “Kills you, maybe.”

  They fell to bickering. Vandra sighed. If any seelie were about, they’d be hidden and would no doubt run away from the twins’ childish arguments. There were very few scientific accounts of the seelie, though Vandra heard many “stories.” Many histories of human/seelie interactions were lost to the tattered lands. Books hadn’t been a priority to those running for their lives, but Vandra never thought of all those abandoned libraries without a sigh of regret. Many claimed that Parbeh had been the seat of human learning long before the tattered lands, but Vandra didn’t know how much of that was true and how much was local pride.

  If she could perfect her syndrium formula, maybe the tattered lands could be pushed back by a line of mobile pylons, and all that knowledge could be reclaimed. A wonderful thought, but she made herself put it away. One quest at a time.

  As evening fell, they reached the Seelie Forest. The road here had been well traveled once upon a time. Now weeds grew between the paving stones, making the surface uneven, but it was still easier to walk on than the bare countryside. Opposite the forest, the land lay bleak and barren, dotted with the occasional clump of bushes or lonely stand of trees. Even with so few places to settle, no one lived here, not with the Seelie Forest and every story that haunted it.

  “Should we camp on the road?” Fieta asked softly.

  “Too vulnerable,” Pietyr said. “According to the stories, if we stay just inside the trees, we should be fine. No need to be afraid.”

  She rounded on him. “Who’s afraid?”

  “Hush,” Vandra said.

  Fieta muttered, and Pietyr grinned before their expressions turned serious. They were probably thinking of their grandmama’s tales about people who’d gone far into the forest and disappeared for hours. When they’d returned, they’d told stories of invisible attackers destroying equipment and handing out broken bones as warnings. Vandra thought it a perfect way to send a message to keep out while not angering the humans to the point of invasion.

  The twins set up camp inside the trees, out of sight of the road. “I wonder if the seelie know anything about the pylons,” Pietyr said as he stared into the woods. “If they can’t die, then they were alive for the pylons’ creation.”

  “You could go ask.” Fieta gave him a light push. He ignored her.

  “It’s a shame they won’t talk to us,” Vandra said as she dug out a small pit for the fire. “I’d like to know if everything we’ve heard about them is truth or myth.”

  Fieta cracked her knuckles. “Like if they’re exceptional fighters.”

  “Or exquisitely beautiful,” Pietyr said.

  Fieta cocked her head as if that idea intrigued her more. “Or both!”

  Vandra chuckled. “Your dream lover.”

  “Anyone can be a dream for an evening,” Fieta said with a wink.

  Pietyr groaned, and Vandra laughed. If the seelie were watching, she doubted they’d appear simply to provide Fieta with pleasant dreams, euphemistically or not.

  Vandra built a campfire, and everyone ate dinner quietly. Once full, Vandra stared into the flames and let them hypnotize her, going through her formula again. When she kept making mistakes, she realized she couldn’t keep her eyes open.

  * * *

  Lilani was searching for a comfortable place to sleep when she spotted an orange glow through the trees. She crouched and wrapped her magic around her, shrouding. No seelie would light a fire this close to the human border. That meant…

  Her heart pounded, her mouth going dry. Humans at last!

  She tiptoed onward, holding her shroud and watching her step. The humans had made camp next to a downed log and a clump of bracken. She couldn’t see them clearly, and she wouldn’t be able to get close without pushing through the brush and making noise.

  At least on the ground.

  After moving under a sturdy branch, Lilani leapt and caught hold easily, pulling herself up without a sound. Thank the elders she’d had so much practice hiding from teachers. With her heart pounding, she edged forward until she could get a better look at the three humans crowded around their fire.

  All three drowsed, heads bobbing. They’d built their fire so it wouldn’t spread if they fell asleep: a cautious act that proved they weren’t thoughtless ruffians. Their dark skin seemed a few shades deeper than hers, and their hair was as black as obsidian. It lay still around their shoulders, unmoving without magic.

  They seemed…quieter than seelie, duller, like the earth rather than the sky.

  The smallest was already asleep. A female, if Lilani was reading the subtle planes of her face and the curves of her body correctly. Humans and seelie were alike in that regard, or so she’d read. The taller two leaned close together, occasionally talking softly. With her eyes closed, the small female smiled, and Lilani couldn’t help wondering if she dreamed of a lover’s touch.

  Lilani chuckled at herself. She needed more hobbies.

  When the larger humans stood, Lilani froze, but they only prodded the small female into the tent. After putting out the fire, they joined her, and it wasn’t long before all of them snored softly.

  Lilani swung down from her branch and stepped close to the tent. From the light of dying embers, she saw that they’d taken all their belongings in with them. She frowned. So much for a chance at snooping. Maybe in the morning, they’d leave something behind. She backed away slowly, holding her shroud as she crept through the brush, making as little noise as she could. When she was far enough away, she let her magic settle and pressed a hand to her abdomen. The cramps were back. Fear and adrenaline couldn’t keep them down forever. She let out a long breath and leaned against a tree.

  When a touch grazed her back, she leapt, her magic snapping around her. She grabbed the nearest branch and pulled herself up. Terrified, she looked down, expecting to see a surprised human, but Faelyn stood there instead.

  His blond hair caught the moonlight as he cocked his head. “I’m beginning to wish I was a worse teacher,” he whispered. “You’re too good at shrouding now.”

  Lilani had to calm her thundering heart before she could speak. “You scared the life out of me!”

  “I’ve been tracking you.” He shook his head and climbed up beside her. “When I told you to practice shrouding, following humans isn’t what I meant.”

  She licked her lips. “I was curious. I’m the heir; I should know our neighbors.”

  His bland look said he was unimpressed with the explanation and the haughty grace she tried to adopt. “Well, now you’ve seen them. Home is that way.”

  “I don’t want to walk home in the dark.” She turned from his stare but could still feel it.

  “You just want to get a look at them in the daylight.”

  “So?”

  Did he know about the pylons, about the possibility of human extinction? Would her mother want it known? It couldn’t stay secret forever.

  “Lilani,” he said, a warning.

  Her temper flared. “I’m being careful. Besides, you can’t drag me back, Faelyn.”

  “Your mother does not want our people consorting with humans.”

  “Do you see any consorting?”

  He rubbed his forehead. “Why do you insist on pushing the boundaries of every rule?”

  Lilani waved a hand as if scattering hi
s words to the night. “My mother will want to know what these humans are doing so close to our home.”

  “We’ll tell her that they’re currently sleeping. Then she can send scouts to watch them.”

  “A waste of time. I’m already here.”

  He ground his teeth, the sound carrying as if he chewed rocks. She’d never pushed him this hard before. “Please, Lilani. Everything you need to know about humans you can find in the library. Isn’t that where you’d rather be, hmm? Among the books? Maybe with a little wine?”

  She chuckled. “You’re cute when you try to relate to the youngsters.”

  He glared, but after a few moments, he finally sighed. “We can stay until dawn. Just.”

  She shrugged and settled, making herself comfortable. If he wanted to have a new argument in the morning, that was fine with her.

  * * *

  Vandra awoke before Fieta and Pietyr. Her first thought was to shake them so they could get walking, but it was barely light outside. Better that they rest a little longer. She crept out of the tent, taking one of the packs. She needed to check her equipment and should have done it before falling asleep, but if any gods were lurking the night before, they’d neglected to remind her.

  She shivered in the morning air and pulled on a long jacket. With a few quick movements, she unloaded her equipment and arranged it on the forest floor. Her chemicals and powders stayed safe in bottles and jars that were wrapped in cloth and set in leather cases. She pulled out the short-range meter she’d built for detecting syndrium. Only seven inches long, and four wide, the wooden device fit easily in her hand. She twisted the magnets lining the side and made sure the compass in one end read true north. Then she opened a slot that held a tiny ball of syndrium. It rolled along a channel, bouncing between the magnets. With no other syndrium nearby, she expected the compass to stay on north, but as the syndrium ball moved slowly down the slot, the compass needle swung toward the west.

  Frowning, Vandra glanced in that direction. The nearest mountain was deep inside the forest, and she was too far from the pylons for this particular detector. A malfunction? She reset the syndrium in its housing and started over, hoping nothing was broken. When she tested it again, the compass rested on true north, and the syndrium ball waited in the middle. She slowly counted to ten, cursing when the same movement happened as before. She shifted the detector slowly, and the needle moved with it. There had to be syndrium nearby.

  Vandra took a few steps into the trees, peering into the gloom. She took another reading. Syndrium wasn’t normally just lying on the ground, and in the dim light, she couldn’t see any silvery-blue gleam. She prayed to any nearby gods to guide her and took another few steps. When the needle began to turn, she stopped. She had to be close; the detector couldn’t read far underground. Vandra crouched, searching for jutting pieces of stone. Nothing. Just the roots of a large tree. She put a hand on the trunk. It seemed like a normal tree, maybe an oak. She was good with minerals, some herbs, but trees were not her specialty. She did know they couldn’t lift syndrium any more than syndrium could climb. She snorted and started to look up into the branches, but someone grabbed her shoulder.

  Vandra whipped around, barely keeping in a cry of surprise. Pietyr put a finger to his lips, his eyes wide in warning. After a glance around, he pulled her back to camp. Fieta crouched among the undergrowth, her spear ready as she scanned the quiet forest.

  “What’s going on?” Vandra whispered. “I detected syndrium out there!”

  “Whatever you found, forget it,” Fieta said. “You were too far inside.”

  Vandra looked again. “How can you tell?”

  Pietyr shuddered. “I can feel it.”

  Fieta nodded. Vandra looked between them but couldn’t argue. Their instincts for danger were better than hers. And if there were seelie nearby, watching, maybe they used syndrium, and that was what she’d detected. She squinted into the trees, trying to see the oak through the soft light, but the twins pulled her into helping break camp. Even when they were out of the forest, the twins cast glances at the trees as they hurried down the road.

  Vandra had to jog to keep up. She couldn’t help glancing at the forest and wondering what unnerved them so. If she only had more time to study!

  She sighed. There was never enough time to study. But that didn’t mean they had to run all the way to the pylons. “Surely we’re far enough away to slow down?”

  They slowed and seemed to breathe easier after a few more minutes. After setting a brisk but not impossible pace, they even seemed their normal selves again, but Vandra couldn’t stop thinking of the unseen syndrium. Maybe the seelie did know something of the pylons if they had syndrium just lying around in their forest. She took out her notebook and jotted a reminder to mention that to Ariadne. Maybe the assembly had an idea about how to contact the seelie. With the future of the pylons at stake, no step seemed too far.

  * * *

  Lilani had opened her eyes when Faelyn gripped her shoulder. It took a moment to remember what they were doing in a tree in the middle of the forest, then she noticed a shimmer in the air where Faelyn should have been. He’d shrouded.

  She had blinked and looked down. One of the humans had wandered beneath their tree. Her gray coat rustled softly as she took a small step, her eyes fixed on the device in her hands. Long black hair fell around her shoulders, tousled from sleep. Endearing, even sexy.

  She swung the device this way and that but seemed fixated on Lilani’s tree or possibly on those hiding in its branches. Lilani fumbled for her power, but it felt sluggish, sleepy, as if she’d overused it the night before, or maybe it was tired of responding to her terror. The human’s head angled up. Faelyn’s grip tightened, and Lilani wondered if he was readying the knife he kept at his belt. She couldn’t let him…

  Another human had grabbed this one’s arm, making her jump, nearly making Lilani jump, too. They’d hustled back to their camp, and Lilani breathed out slowly. After the humans hurried from the trees, Faelyn faded back into sight, glaring.

  Lilani blushed. “I tried to shroud.”

  He didn’t lose his scowl as he climbed down.

  She followed. “Did you see that device?”

  “I couldn’t miss it. It seemed to be leading that human right to us.”

  “A seelie detector?”

  “I don’t know. Please, Lilani, go home.”

  He sounded so earnest that she nodded. She took a step, but when he didn’t follow, she turned. “Well?”

  “I’m going to follow them,” he said, “see if they enter the forest again. Maybe I can get a better look at that device.”

  “You can’t go alone!”

  He sighed and seemed more tired than she’d ever seen. Before he could argue, she put her hands on his shoulders.

  “I’m not being selfish,” she said. “It’s too dangerous to go alone.”

  “Lilani, if you can’t shroud when—”

  “I can.” Her power rose, and she shrouded quickly. “I won’t fail again, and I know how important it is to find out if humans are going to start hunting us or…whatever.” She tried a weak smile. “If worse comes to worst, I can stall the humans while you run for reinforcements.”

  He winced, reminding her how hard her death would be on the seelie. She was the heir and the youngest. But nothing about the human woman had screamed threat. She had no weapon. If she’d come hunting, she would have brought something sharp, and she wouldn’t have wandered from camp without her armed companions.

  Before Faelyn could present another argument, Lilani ran, following the humans’ direction but staying inside the forest, never doubting that she’d find them soon enough.

  Chapter Five

  On the road going north, Vandra spotted two other sets of travelers, both heading south. One was a group of people pulling a wagon loaded with furniture. They didn’t even seem to notice Vandra and her siblings, too busy with their burden. The other travelers were an hour or so behind the
wagon: a bedraggled couple with wooden cudgels at their hips. They stared, hands caressing their weapons, but Fieta sneered, and Pietyr stared them down. Vandra didn’t know if they were brigands or not, maybe chasing the people with the wagon, but they clearly didn’t want to pit their clubs against Fieta’s spear or Pietyr’s sword. Vandra tried a confident look, one she used on the occasional student, but she doubted she’d warn off any thieves on her own.

  Fieta and Pietyr stayed alert, scanning the countryside instead of chatting. Vandra stared ahead, searching for the pylons. The sky seemed darker to the north, a sign they were closing on the border with the tattered lands. On her first trip, the sky past the pylons had been gray and overcast, as if the air itself was tainted. Now the sight raised her spirits; it meant she’d soon be able to get to work on the pylon.

  That name didn’t do them justice. It brought to mind a simple shard of stone instead of the massive structure Vandra spotted on the horizon. A large, central shaft supported two crossbeams jutting from the middle and the top, making the pylon seem like a large F, but with the top beam pointing in the wrong direction. Even from a distance, the pylons glowed brighter than any syndrium she’d ever seen, the effect of so much of the rare metal in one place, or so the scholars said. A wandering beam of sunlight struck the side, and it flared like quicksilver until the light moved across the barrier and was swallowed by the gloom of the tattered lands.

  Like drifting smoke, roiling fog hung along the border of the tattered lands, blocking sight as capably as a wall. When the wind blew from that direction, Vandra shivered. It was always cold there, and the closer they came to the border, the sooner they’d need their jackets.

  “Ahead and to the right,” Pietyr said quietly.

  Vandra glanced at him, but he looked the other way as if taking in the landscape. “What?”