The Seedbearing Prince: Part I

by DaVaun Sanders

  “Not much is recorded about the Seeds, not even in the Ring's earliest chronicles. But every story mentions their power to give living things new vigor.”

  They peered into the enclosure together. The surface of the water convulsed, and a layer of pink algae bloomed upon it, creeping halfway up the crystal before finally stopping.

  Dayn gasped. “That should take days, not seconds!”

  Lurec nodded speculatively. “I submit to your expertise. Let us see what else happens.” Shapes flickered through the water, which looked less murky than before. Perhaps a dozen tadpoles flitted by the crystal near Dayn's face, followed by a school of minnows. One of the dreary plants shook for a second, and he thought it would burst into bloom. Instead a sleepy old turtle appeared, looking surprised at the sudden activity in the water.

  “Remarkable,” Lurec breathed. “A balance among living things exists, Dayn. You know better than most how sensitive the scales are. My fully grown specimens lived well enough in this world I've attempted to fashion. It took immeasurable time to attain what you see here. None of their eggs have ever successfully hatched, until now. You see the results of mere moments near the Seed.”

  The red glow persisted from beneath the water. Dayn set aside his unease over the Seed's light as his mind grasped the possibilities. “You're saying it’s like...a hothouse for all of the creatures in here?”

  “A suitable comparison.”

  Dayn's head reeled with questions. Those fish should fare poorly in such stagnant water, yet the minnows zipped around inside like they were holding festival races. Algae made the water even less hospitable. The Seed either chased the algae out, or did something to the water. “Could it do this for a crop, or stop blight?”

  “Now you begin to see. The Seed is a tool that gives us great power to do good in the Belt.” Lurec's eyes took on a faraway look as he gazed into the makeshift swamp. Even the frogs seemed to croak louder. “Great power, to make our world anew.”

  “You were right to fight for it. The Misthaveners would never have given this up if they knew of it.” Once the Preceptors fully understood the Seed, there might never be drought in the World Belt again. What will Shard’s Pledge mean then? Another thought filled him with dread. “The voidwalkers who chased me. Do they know about this, too?”

  The Preceptor’s brow furrowed, but a chime sounded before he could answer. Lurec looked at the door in surprise. “At this hour, who could...?” His eyes met Dayn's in a moment of panic.

  “The other Preceptors from the transport?”

  “I’ll have to turn them away!” The Seed pulsed quickly and brightly now, filling the room with crimson tones. “Hide it if you can.”

  Dayn stared at Lurec in disbelief. He would have to climb into the enclosure to fish the orb out of the mud. “You can't be serious. How?”

  “I don't know!” Lurec snapped as he strode to the door. The chime sounded again. “Peace, it chooses now to shine brighter? Throw some mud over it!”

  “I'm no Southforte folk,” Dayn muttered. He rummaged frantically for something to block the Seed's light, toppling books as he searched. He refused to wade into the muck. He dropped it in there, he can scoop it out himself!

  He spread his red cloak over the top of the crystal, then grabbed the Preceptor's doffed overcoat and tossed it on as well. He looked on helplessly as the Preceptor reached the door. The Seed’s light still shone through the habitat. “Wait, there's nothing else to hide it with!”

  The door swished open to reveal a young woman in the unrelieved black Dayn associated with Defenders. She wore no armor, just trousers and a long-sleeved shirt that buttoned down the front. She hastily snatched her hand down from hiding a yawn.

  “Preceptor Lurec? I am Eriya. The Lord Ascendant ordered me to escort your guest to his quarters.”

  “Yes, yes. Please enter, Initiate.” Lurec nodded graciously, exhaling loudly as she strode into his study.

  He’s relieved she's not a Preceptor, Dayn thought. Should I be, too?

  Lurec looked at his swamp, then back at Eriya curiously. The frogs had grown silent at her presence. Her manner reminded Dayn of a prowling ridgecat. She wore her black hair in thinly woven braids, tied neatly into a ponytail. Eriya's brown eyes rested above proud cheekbones, and turned wide as saucers at the Seed's glow, only to narrow again as she took in Dayn. A ruddy tone brushed her cinnamon skin, somehow reminding him of the roses in his mother's garden. Dayn supposed Eriya to be quite beautiful, except that her bearish expression took away from a smooth jaw and full lips. It’s late here, Dayn reminded himself. She must have just been pulled from bed.

  “It’s past time the Defenders redressed such a poor display of hospitality,” the Preceptor said. He turned to Dayn, and in so doing missed Eriya's eyes nearly pop from her skull in outrage. “I’m sure you’ll be well looked after. Breakfast shall be served in many of the dining halls soon.”

  The Preceptor walked Dayn to the door in a show of politeness, but the man looked ready to dance now that he could continue his examination of the Seed undisturbed.

  “You’ve not eaten yet?” Eriya asked Dayn. She gave Lurec a scandalized look when Dayn shook his head no. Her fingers reached up and plucked a bit of twig from Dayn’s braids. He cringed, imagining how his torn clothes and cloak must look. “Preceptor Lurec, you would have him stand before the Veiled Throne looking like this?”

  “I'm a little hungry,” he admitted. Eriya shook her head and motioned him into the hall, giving the Preceptor's study one last dubious sweep.

  Lurec’s face reddened. “I’m sorry, lad. I’m rather pressed for time, and—”

  “No matter. I’ll clean him up.” Dayn retrieved his cloak, then grabbed his staff and packs. The Seed's light did not pulse quite as strongly as before. “I understand. But aren’t you going to eat?” he asked Lurec.

  Lurec laughed heartily. “Only if I must! I plan to be in study for the next several months. Peace favor you, young Shardian.” The Preceptor bowed, his attention already riveted on the Seed before the door to his study fully closed.

  “Peace favor you,” Dayn said. He should have felt relieved at his dismissal, but he finally realized what bothered him about Lurec's test in the makeshift pond. The Seed’s pulsing red light perfectly matched the rhythm of his own heartbeat. Old powers can take a liking to you. That’s what Nerlin said. He was glad to be free of the Seed.

  Eriya regarded him for a moment, hiding another yawn behind her fist. “You are the first Shardian I have met,” she said finally.

  He extended his arm to greet in the Defender manner he remembered from Nassir. Eriya blinked at that.

  “What world are you from?” he asked.

  “Dervish.”

  Dayn hastily jerked his hand away. “I'm sorry, I didn’t mean any offense,” he said hastily. Dervishi folk were known to be extremely touchy, especially the women. He did not want her to attack him over some imagined slight.

  Her eyes narrowed. “Offense? For stealing my sleep, or pulling me down to the Preceptor's halls?” She continued on over Dayn’s stammering. “Surely you’re important for the Lord Ascendant to order a personal escort at this hour.”

  “Me? No, I’m not important. I’m a farmer.”

  “As you say. This way.” She favored him with a wry expression. “I will not bite you, Shardian.”

  Dayn hurried to keep up as Eriya swept down the hall, recalling what little he knew of her world. He remembered that a Dervishi took grave insult from a stranger’s touch, but that obviously was not true. Dervishi fighters were considered among the fiercest in the Belt, and the proudest.

  Dervish itself spun faster than any other world of the Belt, and their capital city was carved of old heartrock. Such useless tidbits served Dayn poorly now, and he regretted not listening more to his father’s lessons. Dervishi held little regard for coursing, so Dayn held little regard for Dervish.

  Eriya cast uncomfortable glances around each corner. She appeared eager t
o leave the Preceptor's halls. “Misthaven is your city?” she asked. Her boots echoed off of the plain stone.

  “Peace, no,” Dayn blurted out. She gave him a surprised look, and Dayn considered how his words must sound. He did not want to cast his homeworld in a bad light, he might be the only person she ever met from Shard. Besides, I'm the offworlder now, he reminded himself. “It’s the capital, but I don't live there. I'm from the Mistlands, to the south. My village is Wia Wells. Misthaven’s a good place, though.” Dayn could scarcely believe his own lips.

  “Your time upon the Ring will be difficult if you know so little of the Belt. Very difficult.”

  “I won't be here long,” Dayn replied. “After I talk to the Lord Ascendant, Lurec said I'll go back to Shard.”

  Eriya's face was expressionless. “Of course.”

  They came to an intersection with six archways, each with a hallway leading deeper into the Ring. Eriya paused uncertainly before choosing the way to their immediate left. A scene carved into the archway’s stone depicted a robed man sitting crosslegged with a sprouting plant in one hand, and a scroll in the other. A sword handle jutted out from behind his shoulder.

  “Defenders are very learned about the customs of every world. Next year is my first trial as an Initiate,” Eriya said. Dayn knew of Initiates, at least, folk from the Belt who were tested to become Defenders. “Speaking with you may bring me advantage. Teach me of your Shard, and I will teach you of the Ring. Will you make this agreement with me?” Eriya turned to face him, and placed her right palm on her chest, looking at him expectantly.

  “I will tell you as much as I can,” Dayn promised, mirroring the motion. Peace, she might get angry if I don’t, he thought. Besides, the only two Ringmen he knew were absorbed in far more important matters than answering his questions. “I don't know what good it will do, though. Shard is probably dull compared to the rest of the Belt.”

  “Good!” Eriya's face shone with delight. “You have been given guestright aboard the Ring. This is my home now, so you may ask of me first.”

  Dayn had no idea what guestright meant, but he did not hesitate. “Will the Lord Ascendant talk to my Village Council? He could explain to the Elders what...what really happened.”

  Eriya winced. “Shardian the Lord Ascendant is―” Abruptly she cut off, and fixed Dayn with her brown eyes. “Wait...you are involved with why the Ring is here?” She tensed, as if suddenly realizing she shared the hall with a hungry wolf.

  “No!” Dayn exclaimed. “I’m only here to return an…artifact that Lurec lost. He told me about…the rest, but I barely understand it all. I’m not sure if I even want to.”

  “They say Shardians could teach Preceptors lessons in honesty,” Eriya murmured. She closed the space between them and looked deeply into his eyes. Dayn felt as though her brown gaze plucked the thoughts from his very mind. “Did you see one?” she whispered.

  Dayn’s shoulders loosened in relief. “Two chased us off the road. One of them died in a spinner’s web, but...” Words caught in Dayn's throat at the thought of Nerlin. “I think the other one killed my friend. He stayed behind so that I could make it here.”

  “That explains much.” Eriya glanced at his torn clothes, nodding to herself. She began to walk down the hall again. “It would be improper of me to speak for the Veiled Throne. What is this artifact you speak of? Did it come from Thar'Kur?” Her eyes gleamed hopefully.

  “Thar what?”

  “The voidwalker world, may blight strike its heart. Most people believe they are spawned upon Tu'um, the Deadworld, but that is fable.”

  “I don't know where it came from.” Lurec never mentioned it, but the possibility made sense. “There were a dozen more of them, near Shard's heartrock. Whatever they were doing didn’t work, or Shard would be…gone.”

  “Blight and ash, you saw―” Eriya stopped herself, although she could not hide her incredulous look. “It is forbidden for me to speak of Thar'Kur with the Beltbound.” She shrugged. “I am sorry.”

  “Well this agreement didn't help me out very much then, did it?” Dayn said, frowning. “I'll still tell you about Shard, though.”

  “I meant no deception, Shardian. I did not think you would ask such things of me. I am only an Initiate. There are Defenders who do not yet know what you have shared with me, nor why you are here. The Lord Ascendant only orders a course diversion for the utmost importance.”

  “A course diversion?”

  Eriya looked at him as though he did not know water was wet. “The Ring moves along a fixed path between the worlds of the Belt,” she explained patiently, “Almost like a world itself. But the anchors holding it to that path can be shifted, so the Ring can go to wherever the Belt requires aid.”

  Dayn regretted his curt words. Eriya knew a great deal, even if she could not speak about his current predicament. “Can you tell me about the torrent, too?”

  This time she only frowned at him like a mother who had just watched her child put his trousers on backwards. “Defenders travel in the torrent only at the direst need, Shardian. There are faster ways besides, though transports are the safest.” She paused and her voice became overly polite. “You’ve seen transports before, besides the one that brought you here? Perhaps you wish to become a navigator?”

  “No, I don't.” Dayn flushed. It seemed every other word out of his mouth made him look more the fool. The Initiate averted her eyes to avoid embarrassing him, which did not help. He felt cheated somehow, to know nothing of what other peoples of the Belt thought of as ordinary. “Transports come during Sealing time for the harvests. But they land away from the city, so there’s room for the festival.”

  “Then why do you ask about the torrent?” Eriya asked, confusion evident on her face.

  “You said you would answer my questions,” he said defensively. Their path came to another ramp, which Eriya bounded up effortlessly. Dervish did not boast of strong ground, but she moved with deceptive reserves of strength. “That's what we agreed to, isn't it?”

  “But only navigators and coursers...” Eriya peered into his face. “You wish to course?”

  “For as long as I can remember,” Dayn admitted. “I may not leave Shard for many seasons, after the Lord Ascendant lets me return home. I figure this is my best chance to see the torrent up close.”

  His own words suddenly weighed upon him. The Lord Ascendant could escort me home himself, but Mistland folk still wouldn’t care. Dayn would need years to regain the trust of his family and the village Elders. The Course of Blades would be an offworlder's fairy tale for the rest of his life. “My only chance,” he added quietly.

  “So I see.” Eriya held his gaze for a moment, and Dayn wondered what she saw within his eyes. The Dervishi Initiate swept off, her former tiredness melted away. “Come this way, Shardian. I will show you something of the torrent.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  The Detritus Chamber

  In the days before the Breach, people once buried their failures in the world's guts. Devices older than worldhearts, poisons worse than sickmetal. Now those old world bones are scattered in the torrent's soup, doing peace knows what to the animals and us coursers. All the more flavor, I say.

  -Froncis Bul, Jendini coursing champion

  A small smile curled Eriya's lips as she led Dayn deeper into the Ring. The playfulness in her eye piqued his curiosity, and he gladly followed despite his growing exhaustion. For anything to do with the torrent, he would walk leagues.

  They wove through endless, dimly lit halls, up and down ramps, past metal doors and stark rock. Dayn wondered over the lack of adornments, but reminded himself that he walked the halls of a fortress. His mother would weep to see so many barren walls. Eriya bounded smoothly through them all until finally they stopped before two arched silver doors. Dayn prided himself on not jumping when they hissed aside. He followed Eriya into the adjoining space, and the doors closed behind them.

  This new hallway stretched perhaps a quarter mile wi
th no visible doors. Crystal panes formed the entire left wall. Beyond the crystal lay a cylindrical chamber of green-tinted metal, like an enormous barrel resting on its side. It extended as long as the hallway, and a hundred feet wide. Broken chunks of stone littered the floor inside, but Dayn paid it little heed once he realized someone stood among them.

  Eriya quickly flicked her hand across the closed door in a series of rapid movements, like painting. The hallway lighting instantly dimmed around them and she stood very still, listening. “This is a gauntlet created to train Defenders for the torrent. The Detritus Chamber,” she whispered. “You are fortunate these ones are here, although they are not doing lessons at this hour with no weaponmaster present.” Her brow wrinkled in disapproval. “Shardian, you must never tell anyone I brought you here. Understand?”

  Dayn nodded eagerly. The lone Initiate waited in the middle of the chamber, fully armored and idly twirling a length of wingline. He wore a dark mask, featureless except for one narrow eyeslit and a diamond carved on the brow. Hair bright as straw spilled wildly from the back of his mask and down to his shoulders.

  Dayn edged closer to the crystal, curling his neck in order to see the top of the chamber. “Is that where the rocks come from?” he asked, barely able to contain his growing excitement.

  Eriya promptly cuffed him in the ribs. “I warned you,” she growled.

  “Why’d you do that?” he demanded, clutching his side. The beginnings of a new bruise began to throb beneath his hand. “I only wanted to see better!”

  “Those Initiates must not know we are here.” Eriya pointed directly across the chamber. More Ringmen dressed the same as Eriya milled behind a matching hall on the opposite side. “Keep away from the crystal.”