Nahrsin had sent two other Antrilii with them. Both their faces were painted with black and orange stripes, making them look something like the merahl. One of the merahl—the merahl that had attached to her—followed her, keeping his distance, but prowling along the rocks, moving so silently that she was only alerted to its presence because of Jassan.
When he had noticed the merahl following them, he had motioned to her, getting her attention so that she could see the creature. He had said nothing, but there had been an intrigued look to his eyes, and Isandra couldn’t help but think that he was surprised.
There was much movement ahead, mostly from the Deshmahne. She counted a dozen priests, all wearing similar black robes, and each armed with a sword. A sense of darkness radiated from them—so bleak that she could feel it. She’d felt something similar when she had been in Rondalin, surrounded by them. For her to detect it here suggested that these were likely powerful Deshmahne.
The groeliin moved in and out of cave mouths they hadn’t seen from above. Based on Endric’s experience with the Chisln, Jassan had said that was what he suspected they would find, and for it to be confirmed meant that this was the breeding ground.
As she watched, one of the Deshmahne spoke more loudly than the others. “They are near,” the Deshmahne said. “They have to be near since I’ve heard the damned creatures braying in the night.”
“They’ve destroyed several broods.”
“Perhaps they have, but they will find no more success. Once this breeding is successful, their struggle with groeliin will be over.”
There was something about the lead Deshmahne’s voice that was familiar to her.
Had she seen him in Rondalin? There had been quite a few Deshmahne in Rondalin, and she had dealt with many of them, not just the High Priest and Tresh Longtree.
“We’ll need more for them to feed on,” one of the other Deshmahne said.
“The others are working on that. They have summoned enough help to ensure they’re fed.”
“We need to find more who can charge the metal.”
“I told you, we are working on it.”
She glanced at Jassan, who stared intently at the Deshmahne.
Teralin? Is that what they were talking about? Could the groeliin feed on the destructive teralin? That seemed impossible, but many things that seemed impossible were happening these days.
“The Denraen think they patrol these lands well, but I’ve been around them long enough to know their weaknesses.”
Weaknesses? Isandra thought that a strange turn of phrase. Was this Deshmahne a former Denraen?
Endric hadn’t thought that it would be possible and had thought that he screened his men well enough, ensuring that they were free of the Deshmahne markings, but then again, she had heard of one of the choosings where they were infiltrated.
If the Denraen could be infiltrated, anyone could be infiltrated.
Even the Magi?
Isandra shook that thought away. It was impossible for the Magi to be corrupted.
“All is going according to his plan.”
The lead Deshmahne had moved closer to them. Isandra could make out the dark markings along his exposed arms, and up onto his neck, almost onto his face. Power radiated from him. His back was to her, and there was a certain delicacy to his stature.
He turned, surveying the mountains.
As he did, she gasped, unintentionally revealing their presence. There was nothing she could do to stop it.
Jostephon Ontain, Eldest among the Council of Elders, stood before her.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Isandra tried hiding behind the rocks, but she knew she had made too much noise, and her shock at seeing Jostephon had revealed their presence. Jassan unsheathed his sword, moving as quietly as he could, and Isandra did the same. The other two Antrilii followed.
Jassan leaned toward her. “We can run.”
“That is the Eldest on the Council of Elders,” she said in a whisper.
There was movement near the rocks, the sound of boots scraping across stone.
Isandra had revealed them to the Deshmahne.
She looked up toward the mountains and realized they couldn’t climb fast enough to escape the Deshmahne. If she was captured, she had no more power to give to the Deshmahne, so she would likely simply be killed.
Jassan, on the other hand, still had much power. He might not understand how to use it in the same way as the Magi, but he, too, had the power of the gods within him.
“We have to attack now,” she whispered.
Jassan glanced at the other Antrilii. They nodded to him.
With a shrill whistle, Jassan called them to battle.
He leapt passed the rocks, and Isandra followed, moving into the open.
Merahl howled all around them.
It was enough to distract the three Deshmahne nearest her, and Jassan cut them down quickly. Isandra hurried forward and reached Jostephon.
When he saw her, an amused grin crossed his face. “Isandra. I didn’t realize you joined Roelle.”
“I didn’t join Roelle.”
Fighting surrounded her. Groeliin hissed. Merahl howled. She knew she should turn and engage, but she couldn’t take her eyes off of Jostephon. He had betrayed the Magi. He had become what they had fought against. He had denied their gods.
“You must be with Alriyn’s little rebellion.”
His presence here—openly marked with tattoos—meant that…
“He discovered what you did, didn’t he?” Isandra asked. “And he won.”
Darkness surrounded Jostephon. “A setback. It was temporary.”
“What are you doing with the groeliin?” she asked.
“What we are doing is of little importance to you. Your friends will soon fall, and the remaining hunters of the groeliin will be no more.”
“You underestimate them,” she said. “They don’t hunt alone.”
“Yes. Their pets come with them.”
“Pets? The merahl are much more than pets. They are companions. They are as much warriors as the Antrilii.”
Jostephon took a step toward her, and she swung her sword, forcing him back a step, as he swung a short staff up to block.
“Interesting. I hadn’t expected you of all people to wish to fight.”
“I didn’t wish for it. It was forced upon me. I recognize the need for what the Antrilii do.”
“Need? There is no need for what they do.”
“If they weren’t here, the groeliin would have harmed many more over the centuries.”
“You know nothing, Isandra. You may think that you have gained understanding, but you have not.”
“And you have abandoned who you are,” she said.
She lunged forward, sweeping her sword in a sharp arc.
Jostephon simply watched her. He smiled slightly, and she realized she had made a mistake.
Pain surged through her, sharp needles of it that slapped against her flesh, and then deeper, burying within her.
She couldn’t move.
Jostephon was a powerful Mage, and enhanced with the Deshmahne abilities, he would be even more powerful.
He circled around her and plucked her sword from her hand. “You have been weakened, haven’t you?” He reached for her cloak, pulling it up to reveal her ankles. His dark smile widened. “Yes. You have been weakened. Who claimed you?”
Pain made it hard for her to speak. Fire burned through her skin. It felt like thousands of knives slicing across her flesh. It was almost unbearable.
“From the technique here, I suspect this was the High Priest himself. If so, you were given a great honor. Few are allowed to serve him so directly.”
She struggled to even comprehend what he was saying. Could he really believe that losing her abilities was an honor?
“There is something different about it. You found a way to seal it off. Interesting.”
She wanted to scream, but her mouth didn’t work.
All she could think about, all that she was aware of was pain.
He released her cloak and moved in front of her. “It does not sound as if you’re friends are doing well.”
She couldn’t hear the sounds of battle, but if he was this powerful, and if the other Deshmahne were even close to his strength, there would be little that the Antrilii could do to stop them. Had they come all this way, faced all that they had as they attempted to reach the Chisln, only to fall now?
She tried reaching for her Mage abilities, but they weren’t there. There was almost nothing to them.
She had been foolish. She shouldn’t have come down into the valley and risked a confrontation with the Deshmahne. She had no way of countering their strength. She had a sword, and little else.
Jostephon was saying something else, flinging a taunt at her.
What had he said?
“The Antrilii will fall. Their pets will be slaughtered. And perhaps I might make you into my plaything,” Jostephon said, a dark smile parting his lips.
She gritted her teeth. “The merahl. Are. Not. Pets!”
There came a roar, and a flash of fur that jumped over her, pouncing on Jostephon. He was thrown back, and his connection to the manehlin he used on her disappeared in a snap. The pain faded quickly, leaving only a memory. Even that was awful.
The merahl sat on top of Jostephon. She could feel him trying to use his manehlin, and trying to push off the merahl, but the creature was immune to it.
The merahl bared its teeth at Jostephon, lunging toward his neck.
“No,” Isandra said. “We need him to answer questions for us.”
Jostephon tried to push the merahl off, but it didn’t move. Isandra had no idea how heavy they were but imagined that given the sheer size of the creature, it would be difficult for him to move the merahl. The Magi were strong, but the merahl possessed something supernatural, a gift of their own from the gods.
He shifted his attention to her, sending his manehlin at her. Pain surged through her again, a burning sort of pain that she couldn’t ignore. Isandra screamed.
The merahl howled and beat at Jostephon with one of its massive paws. The pain eased, whatever Jostephon was trying to do thwarted by the merahl.
Isandra took a deep breath. “If you try that again, I’ll make sure that he tears your throat out.”
The merahl bared his teeth and leaned toward Jostephon’s neck. Isandra smiled. Let him think that the merahl was something of a pet, or that she controlled him.
“Do you think you can hold me? Even if you succeed here, even if you somehow manage to defeat these groeliin, you won’t be able to hold on to me.”
“The merahl can.”
Jostephon glared at the creature. “Alriyn wasn’t able to contain me.”
She wondered what had happened in Vasha. If Alriyn had been attacked by Jostephon, how had he stopped him? The Denraen wouldn’t have been able to overpower him. Considering the strength that Jostephon just demonstrated, powered by both Magi and Deshmahne abilities, how would Alriyn have been able to withstand that? How would any Mage be able to withstand that?
“Alriyn didn’t have the merahl with them, did he?”
Jostephon snarled and attempted to throw the merahl off of him. Isandra made her way to him and set her sword to his neck. “If you attempt that again, you’ll see how quickly my blade will cut.”
He looked up at her, a grin on his face. “I doubt you would be willing to do anything to me.”
“Go ahead and see what I’m willing to do,” she said.
Isandra waited, but Jostephon didn’t say anything more.
The merahl remained sitting on him. She had a faint awareness of the manehlin being pressed toward the merahl, power that she could feel but not see. It surprised her that she could even feel it. With most of her powers lost, she didn’t expect to detect anything.
She looked down at Jostephon with renewed interest. If he could use the Deshmahne ability, was it possible that she could find some way for him to undo what had happened to her?
It seemed too much to hope for, but she had no other choice.
The steady howling of merahl drew her attention, and she looked over. The attack appeared to be nearing its end. Merahl prowled through the valley, and Antrilii held the Deshmahne, pinning them to the ground. Bodies were strewn everywhere, and she could only imagine the stench from the groeliin as this many of the creatures were burned.
But it was over.
What next?
The breeding grounds. That was the entire purpose of this.
She crouched next to Jostephon, forcing him to look at her. “Why did the breeding patterns change?”
He smiled. “You don’t know enough to question me.”
“I know enough to ask. Why did the breeding patterns change?”
He sneered at her. “You are already too late. The breeding is complete. This was—”
She kicked him, feeling a brief moment of satisfaction. “Why?”
“Do you think that you can defeat the Highest? He has lived for centuries. He has survived attack after attack, growing only stronger.”
“The High Priest? That’s what this is about? Then you haven’t heard that he already was defeated.”
Jostephon glared at her. “Defeated? I have seen him myself. How else do you think I escaped from Alriyn?”
“I don’t know anything about you and Alriyn. All I know is that the High Priest was stopped. And if he’s not been destroyed already, he soon will be.”
“Stopped? This is but one breeding ground. We have others. Many others. Each one now breeding more powerful and better-trained groeliin. I have helped him see that an army of Deshmahne was shortsighted. An army of groeliin…”
The merahl snarled.
Isandra stood and walked away from Jostephon. She found Jassan speaking quietly to Nahrsin, and was pleased to see that he appeared mostly unharmed. He had a gash on one arm, and his cloak was tattered, but he was alive.
“Jassan—”
The Antrilii nodded to her. “This should not have happened here,” he said. “None of this should have been here. The groeliin do not behave like this.”
“The Deshmahne have been breeding them,” Isandra said.
“The breeding is not controlled like that, Isandra.”
She glanced to where Jostephon lay, the merahl sitting on his chest. What would have happened to her had she not helped the merahl? Would it have come to her aid the same way? Or would she have fallen, destroyed when Jostephon attacked her?
“I fear that has changed,” she said.
“Nahrsin. Jassan. You must come.”
One of the Antrilii had run over, and his face was pale, sweat dripping down his brow, smearing the paint across his features. Moonlight reflected off of his face, but that wasn’t what made him appear so paled.
“What is it?” Nahrsin asked.
“The caves. The breeding.”
Jassan glanced over to her, and Isandra met his eyes.
They followed the Antrilii, and he led them into a nearby cave. Lanterns had been lit, giving it a soft glow. The cave itself still stank of something that reminded her of rotting flesh, and a hint of char. It was an unpleasant mixture, and it clogged her nose.
It was a narrow cave but widened slowly as they went deeper into the rock. It appeared to be naturally formed. As she went, she felt heat radiating from the walls and realized why that was, and why everything had seemed warmer the longer they had walked through the mountains.
“All of this is teralin?” she asked.
“Yes,” Jassan said.
They reached the back of the cave, and she saw a pile of groeliin bodies pushed against one side. Then her eyes fell on two fallen Antrilii. There was even a merahl breathing shallowly, resting near the groeliin. Isandra wanted to go to the merahl, but something else drew her attention.
There was an enormous groeliin near the back of the cave.
As she approached, s
he realized that it was not only an enormous groeliin but one with countless markings upon its flesh. Each of them was similar to what she had seen upon the Deshmahne. It sat on a heaped portion of teralin, and there was a vague sense of warmth around it.
Isandra looked over to Jassan.
“What is that?” she asked Jassan, pointing to the large groeliin.
“I think this is one of their breeding females.”
Isandra approached the groeliin and realized Jassan was right. It had to be one of their breeding females. Her belly was swollen, and she writhed softly.
Nahrsin approached and knelt next to the female. She had been injured but wasn’t dead. He pulled a knife from his waist pocket and began cutting into the groeliin’s belly. Isandra almost couldn’t watch, but forced herself to keep her attention on it, knowing that she needed to see what they were doing, and needed to be aware of what Jostephon had been planning here.
The groeliin that Nahrsin pulled free had dark skin. The shape of the creature was more like that of the groeliin they’d faced that fought with swords. It hissed at them and attempted to pull away, turning to feed on the female groeliin.
As Nahrsin brought his knife up, intending to stab the infant groeliin, Isandra stepped forward. “Don’t.”
Nahrsin looked up at her. “This creature will grow and will attack us. We kill it now, or we kill it later.”
“You can kill it now, but if you do, you lose the opportunity to understand what the Deshmahne intend for it. Study it. Or better yet, let me study it.”
Jassan looked over at her. “What you ask is dangerous.”
“More dangerous than attacking the breeding grounds?”
He snorted. “I will not leave you alone with this creature.”
“I can’t be the only one who studies it. I need the help of those who know more about the groeliin.” When Jassan arched a brow at her, she smiled tightly. “I’ll need the help of the Yahinv.”
Nahrsin stood, leaving the infant groeliin on the ground near its mother. He chuckled. “I think I like this one.”
The creature began suckling at her, feeding on her. Its skin flashed darker, and she realized what was happening.
“The mother is connected to the destructive teralin. Do all the groeliin feed this way when they’re born?”
The Lost City (The Lost Prophecy Book 5) Page 27