On Lonely Paths (Earth and Sky Book 2)

by Jann Rowland

  “Thank you, Gusty,” Tierra said, favoring him with a grateful smile. “I will follow your advice. Could you tell Skye something for me?”

  “Of course.”

  Tierra thought for a moment, and then she said, “Tell him I will wait for him to visit me tomorrow, so we can talk. Please tell him to come down as soon as he is able.”

  “I will do that,” Gusty said. “And for the record, I believe that’s sensible.”

  Tierra laughed. “All right. Away with you, impudent Skychild.”

  After offering her a grin and a wave, Gusty gathered his powers, and with the rush of wind that accompanied the unleashing of a Skychild’s powers, he launched himself into the air. Soon, he was only a speck, flying through the firmament toward Skymount, which sparkled like a multi-faceted jewel in the distance.

  Sighing, Tierra turned away to look about the courtyard of the Groundbreather castle. It was late afternoon, but due to the season, the shadows had not yet begun to lengthen, and though it was still bright outside, few people were in evidence. The guards she had seen earlier were still at their posts, and while Tierra suspected they were curious, the way they avoided looking at her seemed to be evidence of the strangeness of her sudden arrival.

  Feeling self-conscious, Tierra turned away. She decided to go to the gardens and consider her situation before finding her parents. She would undoubtedly face a restless night, and her regret was rising with each passing moment.

  When Tierra finally made her way inside the castle, the situation seemed just as muddled as before. She did not know how she and Skye would handle Cirrus’s antipathy toward her, but she knew they needed to reach some sort of accord. It would help if Cirrus would drop his stiff-necked opposition toward her and accept the inevitable, but given what she knew of the pride that afflicted most Skychildren, she suspected it was unrealistic to hope for such an outcome.

  The one thing that was clear, however, was that she and Skye loved each other. Even now, though he was distant and their link was muted, she could feel his presence, and it was a balm to her soul to have that connection. They would fix things between them.

  But before she attempted reconciliation, she intended to seek some advice. While River was ordinarily the person Tierra would go to, River’s opinion of Skye in particular and of Skychildren in general would cloud her judgment, and furthermore, it would be beneficial to talk to someone who had actually been married. Her parents were the best option. Even if Sequoia had not yet warmed toward Tierra’s fiancé, recent events had drawn Tierra and Sequoia closer together, so perhaps Sequoia would be able to contain her hatred long enough to dispense some advice.

  Due to the lateness of the hour, Tierra made her way to her parents’ sitting room. Outside the door, she saw a pair of unfamiliar guards who eyed her strangely, and she gave them a curious look before entering. Their flesh was strikingly pale, and she wondered whether they rarely took posts outside.

  She found her parents where she expected them, and upon seeing the slight irritation on both their faces, Tierra felt almost certain that they had just been speaking with Wisteria. It seemed no one could talk to her sister—especially in recent days—without wearing such an expression for some time after.

  “Tierra,” Tillman welcomed her warmly. “I did not expect to see you back so soon from the sky realm.”

  Tierra grimaced. “I had not thought I would be back so soon myself.”

  “What is it, Tierra?” Sequoia asked, rising. The sharp look in her eyes nearly made Tierra reconsider her decision to speak with her parents.

  “I . . . I wished to talk to you about something.”

  “Come sit with us,” Sequoia said as she sat down and gestured toward a chair. She no longer seemed alarmed, but her gaze was no less penetrating.

  Once Tierra was seated, Tillman asked, “What is wrong, Tierra?”

  “Skye and I . . . we had a fight.”

  Tillman relaxed, a slight smile reaching his lips. “Is that all?”

  “It is not too late to back out of this, Tierra,” Sequoia said, all too eagerly. “You may still change your mind. There is time left to undo this.”

  Tillman gave his wife a quelling look before returning his attention to Tierra. “While your mother’s motives in making such a suggestion are not exactly opaque, the truth of her words does stand. It is not too late for you to break off your engagement. Yet I suspect that is not the reason you have come to us. What was the fight about, Tierra?”

  Tierra’s eyes flicked toward her mother before coming to rest on her father. It would be easier to speak with someone who did not despise all Skychildren. “Skye has a friend who is . . . less than pleased with the idea of his marriage to me. I talked to Skye about what the man said, and our conversation became, well, heated.”

  Sequoia let out a sigh, and the words she spoke next were begrudging, if sincere. “This friend of whom you speak will not be the last person to hate your marriage. If you do mean to go forward with it, you must be willing to dismiss what people say about you. If you do not believe it is something you can endure, then you should bow out now.”

  “It is not what the man said that concerns me the most,” Tierra said. “Rather, I was concerned with how Skye handled it.”

  “You are both treading new ground here, Tierra,” Tillman said gently. “Prejudices may not always be easy to recognize on both your parts, and you will make mistakes. Your fiancé is a smart young man. I am certain he will come to realize your concerns are valid.”

  Tierra nodded as she considered what her father had said. She needed to talk to Skye and go from there. While Skye had a bit of a blind spot where Cirrus was concerned, he had protected her in the past from prejudiced Skychildren like Stratus. He would never let anyone hurt her if he could help it. Just as she would never let anyone hurt him. She had to trust that their love would see them through such trials.

  She was deep in thought, but a slight creaking noise caught her attention. She turned and saw the door to the sitting room open slowly.

  A group of men appeared in the doorway.

  They were dressed like Iron Swords. They certainly looked the part, save for a marked paleness of skin that might have gone unnoticed had they not been grouped together. They were not accompanied by garms either; rather, their swords were sheathed on their backs. There was no good reason for ten armed Iron Swords to appear in the king and queen’s sitting room. Something was wrong.

  “You two stay back,” Tillman commanded as he leaped to his feet and moved in front of his wife and daughter, holding his arms out to the sides, as though to protect them from attack. “These are not my men.”

  Sequoia pushed his arm down and moved up beside him. “What is the meaning of this?” she demanded. Her glare was unadulterated as she stared down the intruders.

  “We do not wish to hurt you,” one of the men said. His voice was gruff, and despite his soft tone, he did not seem interested in placating them. His head was also completely shorn of hair, which was a sight rarely ever seen on a Groundbreather. “Make it easy for us all and come quietly.”

  “What have you done to my guards?” Tillman asked. “Who are you? What are you doing here?”

  “You may ask questions later. For now, you must come with us.”

  “No!” Tillman shouted. Then the stone floor at his feet exploded upward.

  It took Tierra a moment to realize that this usage of powers had been her father’s doing, and the realization might have taken even longer had her father not yelled, “Run!”

  The imposter Iron Swords worked quickly, taking stones from the walls and crashing them against the barrier Tillman had raised. The dust and noise were almost unbearable, but Tierra found herself frozen in place. She lifted her hands and prepared herself to help her father, only to be jolted as Sequoia pulled on her arm.

  “We have to leave, Tierra!”

  “Father!” Tierra cried.

  Tillman grunted as he attempted to keep the men from mo
ving past his barrier. He made no reply. He only brought up more stones.

  “There is no time!” Sequoia said sharply, tugging on her daughter’s arm. “We can help him best by summoning assistance.”

  Though Tierra wished to blast the men into oblivion, she let Sequoia tear her away. They sprinted to the door on the other side of the room and threw it open, darting into the hallway.

  A few seconds later, a large rumbling shook the walls and vibrated the air about them. Tierra and Sequoia staggered and grabbed hold of each other to keep their footing. Shouts and curses sounded behind them, accompanied by the din of armed conflict.

  “Father!” Tierra yelled fearfully, turning back to the room they had exited.

  “No!” her mother commanded, grasping Tierra by the arm. “We must find the Sword of Terrain and unleash the Iron Swords.”

  Tierra felt as if her heart were being ripped from her chest as she let her mother drag her away once more. They both ran with an uneven gait as the sounds behind them faded.

  “Who are those men?” Tierra gasped as they ran.

  “I have never seen them before,” her mother said, “but they were Groundbreathers.”

  A stitch began to develop in Tierra’s side, preventing her from responding.

  It was strange, but there was no one in the corridors of the royal wing of the castle. It was eerily silent and felt cold, as if a thousand blizzards were blowing through the corridors at once.

  They passed through an intersection in the corridor, and shouts sounded from one of the halls. Tierra risked a glance and saw a group of the strange Iron Swords running toward her and Sequoia, their countenances alive with grim intent.

  “Run!” Sequoia cried, propelling Tierra in front of her.

  Behind them in the corridor, there was another loud crashing sound, and the shouts of their pursuers gave way to cries of rage and pain. It seemed that Sequoia, despite the heat of their flight, had found the focus required to stall their enemies, likely with an explosion of rock and dust at their feet.

  “What is happening here?” Tierra gasped as she attempted to keep up with her mother. A shiver passed down her spine, and she rubbed her arms to try to get warmth into them. She had no idea why the hallways felt so cold.

  “I do not know, but we must find some way to escape.”

  Shouts and the sounds of running were all about them as they fled, and though there was no sign of pursuit, Tierra knew the false guards would appear soon. A rumble shook the earth beneath their feet, causing Tierra and Sequoia to stumble and fall together, clinging to each other for a moment in an attempt not to lose their footing.

  “An earthquake?” Tierra exclaimed in surprise. It had felt different from the usual disruptions caused by a Groundbreather’s use of powers, for it seemed as though it had shaken the entire castle.

  “No time to worry about that, Tierra,” Sequoia said tightly. She pulled at her daughter’s arm, and they began to run again.

  The normal denizens of the castle still remained absent as they fled. Tierra’s heart was in her throat as her feet pounded across the floor.

  The sound of a snarl sounded from behind them, and a white streak shot past. Tierra caught a glimpse of Stone’s bared teeth as he leaped on a man who had appeared from a nearby corridor. The garm’s jaws closed on the man’s hand, breaking bones and snapping tendons. The man howled in pain.

  “Come, Stone!” Sequoia shouted.

  The garm sprang off his victim and joined them in their mad dash for freedom.

  Soon, a side entrance from the castle loomed before them. Tierra’s heart jumped in her breast at the thought of escape.

  All at once, a troop of the false Iron Swords appeared from a side passage and placed themselves in Tierra and Sequoia’s path. One of the men was the bald leader who had confronted them before.

  “Halt! Surrender yourselves!”

  Stone snarled and bounded forward, bowling into the men and knocking most of them aside as if they were nothing more substantial than sticks set up in a path. The leader, however, merely growled in annoyance—almost like the garm wreaking havoc among his men—and pushed toward them, murderous intent writ upon his brow. Sequoia dragged Tierra away, shouldering aside a disoriented Groundbreather still on his feet.

  Then, they were beyond the last of the invaders, and the door to freedom stood before them. Sequoia dashed forward, calling Stone as she went. Tierra followed in her wake.

  But when freedom seemed at hand, something impacted the back of Tierra’s head. She stumbled, falling forward and landing on her hands and knees. Through the haze of her fading sight, she saw her mother halt and turn back to collect her. Footsteps sounded from behind, and the queen blanched.

  “Run, Mother!” Tierra shouted. With the last of her strength, she used her abilities to heave at the earth beneath her mother’s feet, causing the woman to pitch forward out the door.

  Then Tierra collapsed. Blackness overcame her.

  Yet even the adulation of the Skychildren was not enough, for Celesta grew bored of their compliments. When she saw the rising discontent of the Waterweavers, she resolved to encourage the bloodthirstiness that had been ignited with her pollution of their rivers and lakes.

  Celesta disguised herself and went down among the Waterweavers, but her vanity was such that she could not allow herself to be seen as an ordinary mortal; rather, she appeared as the most beautiful woman they had ever seen.

  “I know what this feeling is within you,” said she. “You know not how to please Terrain. The answer is before you. You must make sacrifices in his honor.”

  “Sacrifices?” asked they. “Do you mean we must live our lives bereft of our comforts?”

  “I mean that you should spill the blood of the Groundwalkers upon altars in Terrain’s name.”

  This notion appealed to those who loved the water above all, and they begged her to instruct them.

  “On nights when the moon is full, you should eat the flesh of your Groundwalker sacrifices. Terrain made Groundwalkers from the water, so by taking in their flesh, you shall only strengthen your powers.”

  They fell to their knees before her and called her wise above all. And Celesta the sky goddess smiled in dark delight.

  CHAPTER

  SEVEN

  Bloodthirst

  Skye’s mood the night of his coronation was only marginally improved when Gusty approached during dinner and told him Tierra wanted to meet with him the next day. The thought that they could repair what had gone wrong between them was welcome, but it was hard to feel pleased about it when a night that should have felt like a triumph had been tainted so thoroughly. Cirrus’s officiousness, Tierra’s sensitivity, and Skye’s own temper and dismissiveness had all conspired against him. In truth, a part of him still scarcely knew how everything had come about, yet he had a feeling his blame in the matter was substantial. But could he be at fault for wanting to believe his staunchest friend to be blameless?

  Times were changing. He knew that. There was now a distance between him and Cirrus that had not existed before. Or maybe it had been there, and Skye had not realized it. The secrecy behind Cirrus’s disappearance and the strangeness of his escape both appeared to indicate he was not being forthright with Skye. And Skye, in turn, had not shared the intimate details of his capture by the Groundbreathers with Cirrus.

  Skye hoped he and Tierra could resolve things before the rift between them grew wider. Her insistence that Gusty take her home still rankled. Skye was supposed to be the only one who carried her through the air! The thought of another man’s arms around her was enough to make him want to snarl like a recalcitrant garm.

  After the coronation dinner, Skye had pulled Gusty aside. While Skye had been elevating Gusty by ensuring all were aware of the young man’s involvement with improving relations between the Skychildren and the Groundbreathers, Gusty had nonetheless appeared uncomfortable approaching Skye while in the presence of so many notable personages. In spite of the prid
e of Skychildren, they did have a hierarchy of sorts, but it was in general not restrictive, and Skye frankly did not care who saw him speaking with Gusty.

  When Skye felt they were far enough away from anyone milling about in the dining hall, he murmured to Gusty, “How is she?”

  Gusty’s lip quirked upward. “I’m not certain I want to take on the role of mediator between the two of you. I hate to break it to you, Skye, but you do have a bit of a temper.”

  Gusty’s attempt at levity failed to improve Skye’s mood. “I know you only flew her down at her request, Gusty, but—”

  “But you don’t like the idea of someone else holding her,” Gusty said. At Skye’s dark look, he said hastily, “We all know you have nothing to worry about. Tierra had no interest in me in that way before you flew onto the scene, and she certainly doesn’t now. She only has eyes for you.”

  “I may have said some things I shouldn’t have,” the newly crowned king muttered, looking down at his hands.

  “I think you both did. But you’ll get over it. You just might want to bend that stiff back of yours and grovel a little bit to help your cause.”

  Skye let out a chuckle. “You might be right.” He glanced away, and his eye was caught by Bluster, who raised an expectant eyebrow. Placing a hand on Gusty’s shoulder, Skye told him, “Thanks for talking with me. I’ll let you know how things go after I speak with Tierra tomorrow.”

  Before Skye could tear himself away, however, Mista appeared. “Your Majesty!” she cried as she gave an awkward curtsey. “I have been looking for Tierra, and I haven’t been able to find her.”