by Anne Bishop
Glorianna sighed and stepped away from the circle. Lee came up behind her, put his hands on her shoulders.
Waist-high granite formed a half circle of stones, still with the jagged edges that time and rain would soften. Violets, wood iris, and plants with white, bell-shaped flowers sprang up from the newly made soil. In the center, where the door of the trap spider’s lair had been, heart’s hope bloomed.
“It’s lovely,” Lee said quietly.
She felt his hands tighten on her shoulders.
“But you didn’t alter the landscape that time, did you?” he asked. “You didn’t find stones and those flowers and shift them to this place.”
“No. This is new.”
He turned her to face him.
“That’s what makes you different, isn’t it?” he said slowly, as if fitting together the final pieces of a puzzle. “It’s not just that you’re stronger than other Landscapers, not just that you can alter landscapes and put together pieces from all different parts of the world. It’s this—the ability to connect with Ephemera so strongly you can create landscapes. That’s it, isn’t it?”
“Yes, that’s it.”
He looked at her as if he’d never seen her before. “You really are like the Old Ones, the ones in the stories. The Guides of the Heart.”
“A Guide, yes. But since I may be the only one left, I guess, in a real sense, I’m Ephemera’s heart.” He was still looking at her as if she were a stranger.
“How long have you known?”
“Not long. Mother told me some things about our family just recently that explained why I am the way I am.” She hesitated. “Does it bother you, knowing what I truly am?”
He studied her a moment longer and smiled. “No. We’re still going to squabble.” Then he narrowed his eyes, considering. “Have you created anything else?”
“The Island in the Mist.”
His mouth fell open. “The whole island?”
“It’s only a few acres.”
“But…an island?” He thought for a moment. “The house, too?”
“No, not the house. Ephemera can create quarries of fine stone for building, but it can’t build a house. Or put in plumbing.”
“Or use a wrench to take apart a piece of pipe that’s clogged.”
“That’s what brothers are for.”
“How considerate of Mother to have provided you with one.”
“I know. That’s why I bring her flowers every year on your birthday.”
He grinned. “I guess things are all right between us. We’re squabbling again.”
She smiled. “I guess we are—and they are.”
“Then it’s my turn.” Releasing her, he walked over to the two wooden planks that crossed a narrow creek. “I’ll break this bridge so nothing from Wizard City can reach this landscape. Then…” He crouched in front of the wooden planks. “I don’t like the part that comes after this. I’ll tell you that plainly, Glorianna.”
“If you want to stir up a hornet’s nest, you hit it with a big stick.”
“Let’s just make sure neither of us gets stung.”
The student wizard hurried across the open ground, relieved his shift at the tower had finished before the sun set. Things felt…strange…lately in the city after the sun went down, even here at the hall.
He skidded to a halt and bit back a yelp when a woman suddenly appeared out of nowhere and walked toward him. She wore mannish clothes, the kind no respectable woman in Wizard City would wear, and her black, unbound hair flowed down her back, fanning out in the breeze that always blew at the top of the hill. For a moment he thought—hoped—she was a woman of loose morals who would be willing to do some naughty things with him in exchange for his not turning her over to the guards.
But she had the coldest green eyes he’d ever seen, and his heart trembled when she looked at him.
“The Wizards’ Council has demanded Heart’s Justice,” she said. “Tell them the Landscaper will meet them outside the walls of the city tomorrow at sundown, and Heart’s Justice will be done.”
She turned and walked away.
“And who should I say gave me the message?” he asked, shaken by the brazen way she was giving orders to the council.
“They’ll know.”
“How are they supposed to know which Landscaper you are?”
She stopped and looked back at him. Those cold eyes went straight through him—and he felt as if she could see every secret in his heart.
“I’m the only one left.” She took another step…and disappeared.
Standing on the edge of the little island that was Lee’s landscape, the piece of Ephemera he could shift at will, Glorianna watched the young wizard run toward the hall.
“Well,” Lee said, “you whacked the hornets’ nest.”
She nodded, resisting the wind of emotion blowing through her own heart.
Lee watched her for a moment, then said quietly, “We could try to find Sebastian, get him out of here now.”
So tempting to agree, because it was what she wanted. But…
Opportunities and choices. Something in Sebastian had changed—or had been changed. She could barely feel the resonance of his heart, and what she could sense was different, alien. This heart would never be at home in any of her landscapes. But deep in the core, fiercely protected, was still the cousin she knew and loved.
“No,” she said with regret. “He has to make his own choices on this journey.” And if he doesn’t follow the shining warmth I can still feel in his heart, we’ll lose him forever.
Lee sighed. “In that case, the bridge between this landscape and the waterhorses’ is broken, and the wizards know you’re coming. It’s time to go back to Sanctuary and get what rest we can.”
“Not yet.” She thought about that shining warmth. “There’s one more thing we need to do.”
The voices stopped whispering. Something had stirred up the wizards, distracting them enough to stop the torment.
Sebastian opened his eyes and found himself on the floor in a fetal position, curled around the canteen with its last few swallows of water. Straightening his stiff limbs, he pushed himself up until he could sit with his back against the wall.
His head still ached, but his mind felt clear for the first time since he’d crossed the bridge. Maybe even since Koltak had stumbled into the Den.
He had the same powers as the other wizards. At least, some of their powers. Could he use them to open the door and escape? Maybe. But he didn’t think he could get out of Wizard City and back across the bridge before they hunted him down, no matter what had stirred them up. And his power was raw. Not something he wanted to test against so many trained wizards.
But there was a power he knew how to use—a power that might help people fight against the Eater of the World. But what landscapes could he reach from here? Who could he reach from here?
Women. It would have to be women.
He thought of Koltak crossing bridges in the waterhorses’ landscape. Crossing over to places called Dunberry and Foggy Downs. Places he’d never heard of. Places that must be in another part of Ephemera—but were still connected to one of Glorianna’s landscapes.
There was no hope for him, but he might be able to help the people he loved. Glorianna needed friends, needed allies, needed help in her fight against the Eater. Maybe he could give her some of those things. And by helping Glorianna, he could also save—
He wouldn’t think her name. Not here.
He unfurled the power of the incubus until it filled him. Then he sent that power through the twilight of waking dreams, searching for hearts that would respond to him.
He felt them, many of them, becoming aware of his intrusion, strong-willed hearts and minds that would shut him out in another moment.
Listen to me, he said on the link that traveled through waking dreams. Please listen. The Eater of the World has come back.
Fear came back to him. Sharp, jagged.
Then we
are lost, some of the voices whispered. This time the Light will be devoured.
No, he replied, putting all of his conviction into the thought. Heart’s hope lies within Belladonna. Remember that. Heart’s hope lies within Belladonna.
He felt the scratching at the edges of his mind. Some of his tormentors had returned.
He withdrew his links with those other hearts, pulling his power back into himself as fast as he could. Before the wizards were able to slip into his mind to discover what he had just done, he had the secret surrounded with all the strength he had left.
All through the torturous night, while they whispered and whispered and whispered, he held on to the secret—and the shining warmth.
Chapter Twenty-five
Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Lee, Glorianna watched the sun ease its way toward the western horizon of Sanctuary.
“It’s almost time,” Lee said.
She nodded. “You’re going to be in the eye of a storm. Can you hold your island above the wizards’ landscape?”
“I’ll hold it. You just make sure you stay within reach of it. If the wizards keep their wits enough to unleash the lightning…You’re not invulnerable, Glorianna.”
“I know. But once things are in motion, once Heart’s Justice has begun, they won’t dare try anything until the power is released. By the time they realize what I’ve done, it will be too late for them to attack me.”
“I hope you’re right.”
So do I.
She felt Lynnea approaching, causing ripples in Sanctuary’s serenity. Fear and hope. Uncertainty and courage. The catalyst whose presence had brought change to the Den. Who had brought opportunities and choices.
Now, in the face of what was to come, she hoped Lynnea could hold on to the fledgling courage the young woman was still discovering lived inside her.
She touched Lee’s arm to alert him. Then they both turned and waited for Lynnea to reach them.
“I’m going with you,” Lynnea said, her voice a mixture of fear and defiance. “Sebastian needs me.”
Yes, he does, Glorianna thought. More than you realize.
“Lynnea—” Lee began.
“She can come with us,” Glorianna said, cutting off her brother’s well-meant discouragement.
Teaser joined them, trailed by Yoshani. The incubus looked at Lynnea, then at her. “I’m going, too.”
“No.” The stricken look in Teaser’s eyes surprised her, then pleased her. The young incubus she’d met in the Den fifteen years ago wouldn’t have cared enough about anyone else to offer to help, let alone feel hurt when the offer was refused.
Before he could gather himself enough to argue, she added, “I need you to go back to the Den, Teaser.”
“But—”
“I need that.”
Yoshani stepped up beside Teaser. “Since Teaser is going back to the Den, would it cause a dissonance if I went with him? I have mentioned many times over the years that I would like to visit the Den.”
Yoshani had mentioned wanting to visit, but she’d always said, “Not yet,” because his presence would have caused a dissonance, could have shifted something before the hearts that were attuned to the Den were ready to change. But things had already changed in the Den, and Yoshani’s steady heart would balance Teaser’s more volatile one.
“An excellent suggestion, Honorable Yoshani,” Glorianna said.
Teaser sputtered. Yoshani smiled.
Lee looked over his shoulder to gauge the sun’s progress. “We’d better go.”
Glorianna nodded. “I want to get there ahead of the council so that I can choose the ground.”
Yoshani raised his hand. “May the Guardians of the Light watch over you.”
Teaser looked at Lynnea, then Lee, and finally at Glorianna. “Travel lightly.”
She turned away and followed the path that would take them to Lee’s small island.
Travel lightly. She hoped she would. She hoped she could.
Everything depended on it.
Teaser watched them go, wondering how he’d gotten stuck playing keeper to a holy man instead of doing something to help Sebastian.
“I left my bag on the bench over there,” Yoshani said. “I think it best if we reach the Den before the sun sets.”
“Sun doesn’t shine in the Den,” Teaser muttered.
“Before it sets here.”
Since he couldn’t think of a reason to delay, he followed Yoshani to the bench, then to the bridge he and Lynnea had used to reach Sanctuary. Then he tried to argue.
“You really shouldn’t be going to the Den,” he said.
“Why not?” Yoshani asked mildly.
“Because you live here, and the Den is the Den of Iniquity. There’s drinking and gambling.” When Yoshani just smiled, he felt a reckless panic rise up inside him. “And whoring. Lots of whoring. And…and erotic statues. Right out in public!”
“It sounds like a fascinating place. Shall we go?”
Teaser stared at Yoshani. The man should be outraged, scandalized!
“Something has not occurred to you, my friend.” Yoshani set his bag on the ground and held his hands out, holding them far apart. “You see Sanctuary and your Den as two places far from each other, too unlike to be connected in any way.”
“They are,” Teaser insisted.
Yoshani shook his head. “They are like this.” Holding up one hand, he ran a finger down the palm, then down the back. “They are just two sides of the same heart, two facets of Glorianna Belladonna.”
There was nothing Teaser could say to that, so he stared at the bridge.
Yoshani picked up his bag and rested a hand on Teaser’s shoulder. “If it eases your heart, I will tell you this.” He grinned. “I was not always a holy man.”
“You don’t have to exert yourself,” Harland said. “I promise you, justice will be done.”
Balanced on crutches, Koltak ignored the pain in what remained of his heavily bandaged left foot and looked the head of the Wizards’ Council in the eyes. “I want to be there when justice is done. I want to see that bastard get what he deserves. And I want to see her destruction.”
Harland studied Koltak for a moment, then smiled. “I thought that would be your answer, so I arranged a pony cart and a driver for you.”
As Koltak slowly made his way to the door, Harland said, “Yes, Koltak, this day will change the world. Before it ends, we will succeed in doing what generations of wizards have worked to accomplish. We will vanquish the last enemy, and the world will be ours. All ours.”
It flowed through the landscapes, a rippling shadow. The lesser enemies who had managed to escape Its attack on the school could not hurt It. Not anymore. They were caged in the landscapes they had fled to, unable to reach the other landscapes anchored in their gardens. Their power was fading in those abandoned places. Soon their resonance would be gone, leaving Ephemera without any guides to shape what was manifested. But It would be there, drifting among the landscapes, whispering to the dark side of the human heart until Ephemera changed itself to resonate with those hearts and became a dark, terrible place. But It would leave some threads of Light in those reshaped landscapes. After all, It could not crush hope if none existed. It could not devour kindness if there was no kindness left. It could not devastate love if no love could bloom. Yes, It would keep trickles of Light in Its Dark landscapes so Its prey would remain a delicious feast. But the Places of Light, those beacons of power…They had to be destroyed.
The Dark Guides’ leader, trembling with delicious fear, had reached through the twilight of waking dreams to tell It they had found a way to lure the True Enemy into their grasp. They would destroy her to prove they were friends. And when she was eliminated, the Places of Light she had hidden would be revealed once more—and It would devour them.
Something shivered through It. Anticipation. Excitement. It wanted to be there when the Dark Guides destroyed her.
Moving swiftly, It headed for the closest
access point that would take It back to the Landscapers’ School, where It could be sure of finding a way to reach the city in time to feel the True Enemy die.
Standing at the edge of Lee’s island, Glorianna studied the land in front of her. On her left was a road leading out of Wizard City. Ahead of her was the eastern side of the city. East of that…
Revulsion clogged her throat, her lungs. Made her heart heavy. She was still standing on the island, still, in a way, standing in Sanctuary. She shouldn’t have felt the Dark emanation coming from that field, not until she’d actually stepped into the wizards’ landscape.
The wizards would want to use that field for Heart’s Justice, would want her standing on that ground when she became the channel that would direct Ephemera for a specific purpose—to send someone to the landscape that resonated with that person’s heart.
Raising a hand, she waggled a finger. Lee immediately stepped up beside her.
“This will do,” Glorianna said softly. “But I need to go out there for a few minutes and connect with Ephemera in this landscape.”
“You’ll be seen,” Lee protested. “There’s a wagon and riders coming through the gate right now.”
“But they aren’t turning away from the road. They aren’t the wizards, just ordinary folk. I have to know what I can work with.”
“You’ve got all of Ephemera to work with,” he growled.
Do I? She shifted her feet, started to take the step that would bring her into the wizards’ landscape. Then she hesitated and turned to look at her brother. “Lee, there’s something you have to do once this starts. It will be hard, but you have to do it.”
“What?” he asked warily.
She looked toward the center of the island. She couldn’t see the other woman, who was sitting in the enclosure, but she could feel the resonance of that heart. “Don’t interfere with Lynnea’s journey.”
Startled, he, too, looked toward the center of the island. “What about Sebastian? Once you begin Heart’s Justice—”