Ryne reached a hand out close to her and Misty warbled. Irmina took a step back. Ryne picked up a few fragments from the broken divya and tossed them aside.
“It’s fine, girl,” Irmina said, and made four short trills. Misty settled down.
“You can speak to her?” Ryne frowned and glanced at Sakari.
“After a fashion. I’ve trained with them all my life. I guess it just comes naturally.” She had no intention of telling him about her ability to commune with beasts.
Across from her, Sakari stared her down, eyes flat. She sat where she could keep an eye on them both.
“So,” Ryne began, his tone casual. “I’ll be honest with you. If you lie about anything I ask, I will kill you.”
Irmina stiffened, but nodded.
“Do you know who I am?”
“Besides that you’re called Ryne? No.”
“Well that makes two of us.” Ryne gave a wry smile. “Why have you been following me?”
“I was given orders to find you and return with you to my master.”
Ryne snorted. “You said master. You mean the Tribunal?”
“No. I don’t work for them.”
Ryne’s brows drew together. “But you’re an Ashishin. All of you belong to the Tribunal.”
“In a sense, that’s true but not all of us work toward the Tribunal’s cause. Some Ashishin take individual masters within the Tribunal. A well-known practice. This way, we retain some semblance of freedom.”
“Ah,” Ryne said. “So your master works for the Tribunal then.”
Irmina shrugged. “When their needs suit his, I suppose. I’ve seen many times where he does things contrary to what they wish.”
“So what’s your master’s interest in me?”
Irmina held Ryne’s gaze as she spoke, trying her hardest not to flinch or look away while at the same time maintaining a neutral tone to match his. “He believes you’re a key to our future. To surviving what is to come. He says he knows who you are. More to the point, what you are. He says he has the answers you seek.”
Ryne’s eyes twitched with her last words, a spark shining deep in his emerald eyes, but then in the next instant, it was gone. “That’s the second time in a few days I’ve heard that. Strange considering it’s been seventy years with no one having a clue. Regardless, you’ll have to give me more than that if I’m to follow you. Tell me, Irmina. Did you have anything to do with what happened at Carnas? With the Alzari?”
Irmina’s brow furrowed. What was the man talking about? “No. I sent a warning to Bertram about the infected lapra. And I knew nothing of these Alzari until the one I met in the Mondros who spoke to you. This Jaecar-” Memories of what occurred rose from where she’d blocked them off, freezing her where she stood. Ryne had befriended the man in the Mondros. Could he be a part of this advance of Amuni’s Children? Everything had happened so fast, she’d forgotten about Ryne’s connection to Jaecar. Her hand edged to her sword.
Sakari’s iron grip on her hand stopped her. She flexed against his hold, but his fingers never budged. She met his gaze, and he shook his head. He didn’t release his hold even after she relaxed.
Ryne regarded her with narrowed eyes, his back stiff. His deep voice was steel. “What do you mean you sent a message to Bertram about the lapra?”
Irmina chose her words with care. “I sent Kahkon to tell him I’d seen the infected lapra. To keep his people away from the forest. I also sent a warning about a golden-haired woman I saw. She was always near where they would find those bodies.” The confusion on Ryne’s face registered with her. “Bertram didn’t tell anyone?”
Staring off at something distant, Ryne shook his head.
The night air hung heavy and again the grunting bark sounded. This time closer. Irmina wiped the sweat from her forehead with her other hand.
Finally, Ryne spoke. “You mentioned Jaecar. What did you do with him?”
At the mention of the man’s name, the attack in the office came roaring back. Irmina squeezed her eyes shut for brief moment and took a long breath. “N-Nothing.” She opened her eyes and steadied her shaking voice. “Although I wish I had. He tried to kill me in Ranoda. He brought an army of shadelings and Amuni’s Children down onto the town.”
Ryne was shaking his head, brows drawn together in a lumpy frown. “I saw no ill aura around him except-. His aura was as normal as-.”
She gasped as his hard fingers engulfed her arm, replacing Sakari’s, and snatched her to her feet. She hadn’t seen him or Sakari move.
Misty warbled a warning.
The grunting barks came again from multiple locations almost on top of them-too many to count. Irmina’s eyes narrowed. She recognized those noises.
Ancel’s daggerpaw made the same sound when he hunted.
“Pay attention, woman.” Ryne’s eyes bored into hers as he held her by one arm. “They’re here. Don’t do anything. Don’t even speak.
CHAPTER 42
Ryne’s fingers were coiled into a steel bracelet of tight control that dwarfed Irmina’s arm. The woman’s golden-brown eyes flashed, but she said nothing. After a moment, he released his grip. Wincing, she rubbed at her arm.
The realization Bertram was somehow involved in the attack on Carnas had rocked him to his core. The mayor’s aura had appeared so perfect to him-same as it had been around Jaecar-except for those few times that he’d attributed the slight shift as a trick of the light or an emotional reaction. How could the man have hidden his intentions for so long? All the smiles, the banter, the annoying yet welcome arguments. Had Bertram really taken his hate for the Tribunal to such a level he doomed Carnas in the process? Ryne balled his hand into a fist and focused on the present danger.
Atop the hills, scores of daggerpaws appeared. Soon after, men in dark armor rose beside the beasts as if they grew from the earth.
Battle energy thrummed through Ryne’s body. “Remember, do not move or speak.”
More men riding horses or dartans crested the hill in front of him. Two dartan riders guided their mounts down into the hollow while the others stayed at the top. There had to be over a hundred of them by now. Upon reaching the clearing’s edge, the two dismounted.
Full helmets made from hard leather, dyed green, hid their faces. Silver rivets covered the interlocking leather plates giving the helms a layered effect. Only their eyes showed between six thin straps connecting one side of the helm to the other and serving as a faceguard. They were equipped as well as any soldier in Varick’s army, with deep green chestpieces and spaulders. Spiked bracers adorned their arms and fists. Cuisses at their thighs covered kilts that looked more like an apron, and under the kilts, leggings showed, all made from the same hardened leather in layered plates. Their soft leather boots made little noise against the clearing’s black stone and sandy shale. Short, double-bladed axes hung from hasps at each hip.
Both men pulled off their helmets. The taller of the two reached Ryne’s shoulder. He was a young man with an angular jaw, squared chin and a black braid wrapped in a small bun. He shook his head and the braid fell down his back. Hard, golden eyes studied Ryne. His aura writhed about him with a strength few possessed. Something about the man’s face seemed familiar.
The other man had long, white hair done in numerous, small, intricate braids. Unlike the young man’s smooth features, scars marred this man’s face on both sides before they disappeared under the leather at his neck. His left side lacked an ear. On the same side, his eye proved nothing more than a closed lid. The old man gazed at Ryne without blinking. The man’s single golden eye with its few silver flecks reflected the flames.
Ryne knew that eye, and the smooth aura, even if it was sixty years later. Tension eased from his shoulders.
The old man smiled. “Ryne Waldron, the Lightbringer. If I hadn’t seen you with mine own eyes, or is that eye?” He chuckled. “I wouldn’t have believed.” His voice came in slow, raspy gasps, stretching into a hiss at every pause. Not like Ryne remembered. �
�So I left relative safety to see for myself. And here you are, looking as if you haven’t aged a day since you saved my people.”
“Edsel Stonewilled,” Ryne said with a shake of his head and a smile, his battle energy seeping from him.
“Yes, my old friend.” Edsel pointed at the young man. “This is my son, Garon. I’ve told him more times than I can count he wouldn’t exist without you.” He gestured around the hilltops. “None of us would.”
Garon bowed. “May Ilumni’s and Humelen’s blessings always shine on you, Lightbringer, for what you’ve done for the Setian.” His deep, strong voice emphasized the reverence etched in his words.
Irmina gasped, and they all looked to her. The Ashishin’s hand edged toward her sword. Garon’s eyes narrowed. Ryne shook his head, and her hand stilled, but her face still creased with worry.
Breathing easier, Ryne shifted his attention back to Garon. “Please, just call me Ryne. I told your father the same thing sixty years ago.”
Edsel nodded toward Sakari. “I see you still travel with the silent one.” He turned his head and his good eye to Irmina. “Who is the young Beastsinger?”
“Irmina, Irmina Nagel,” she answered before Ryne could reply.
Ryne grimaced.
Edsel circled her. Every step included a small limp. “What’s your business here Nagel Beastsinger? My son has watched you following the Lightbringer. He also saw you Forge. By your skin and eyes, you’re a Granadian Ashishin. Did you know this, Ryne?”
“Yes. We were just discussing it when you came.” Ryne paused and shot her a meaningful glance. “Edsel, she’s a friend for now. Extend the same protection to her as you would for me and Sakari.”
Both the Setian’s heads snapped around to Ryne. Edsel’s one eye stared for a moment, and then he bowed. “As the Lightbringer wishes.” Edsel’s gaze brushed over the corpses. “I see you took care of what drew us here in the first place.” He pointed at the daggerpaws. “They’re drawn to the shade like rot flies to decayed flesh.” His eye shifted to Ryne. “It must be the Chronicle’s work to find you here. Come, there’s something you must see. On the way, you can tell me how you survived when you were taken by the Ashishin.” His eye shifted to Irmina, and he smirked.
“Give me a moment,” Ryne said.
Edsel nodded, signaled to his men and they mounted and rode up the hill.
“You’re not considering going with them, are you?” Irmina cast a venomous glare at the back of the Setian.
“If Edsel says there’s something I must see, then it must be important. It would help if you either shut up or chose your words more carefully.”
Irmina gave him a sullen look and opened her mouth before snapping it closed again. Face red, she stood quietly.
With a nod at her acquiescence, Ryne said, “You two help me get these bodies into the fire. I’ll leave nothing the shade could possibly use.”
As quickly as they could, they dragged the bodies, piling them around the fire. When they were finished, Ryne embraced Mater and stoked the fire’s essences. Clothes, armor, and flesh burst into flames, spewing out a heated backwash and smoke that reeked of the substances the fire consumed. Within moments, the corpses of the Alzari were nothing more than charred, oily ash, and the flames had diminished. Ryne kicked shale over the fire until it sputtered and died.
“Mount up, let’s go,” Ryne ordered. “And remember to watch what you say, Irmina.”
Torches lit the Setian convoy when they joined them on the other side of the hill. The winding line of dartans and lights stretched ahead. Ryne and the others rode up to the front next to Edsel and Garon. At a slow walk, they headed deeper into the mountains with the daggerpaws and their handlers bringing up the rear.
“Edsel, I still can’t believe you’re the Barrier bandits. Why the raids?” Ryne asked.
“Did the Setian ever need a reason for slaughtering innocent people?” Irmina scoffed.
Ryne shook his head.
A scowl twisting his face, Edsel made a point of ignoring Irmina. “At first, we needed to keep our people supplied until we could survive on our own. But that was long ago. Since then, we’ve carved our own lives out of this harsh land. We’ve had scouts return from Ranoda, Astoca, and the Alzari clanholds. We know of Amuni’s Children and the shadeling armies. Every raid we’ve done has been on supplies meant for them. None else. Some who died may have appeared innocent, yes, but they were helping Amuni’s Children. Whether they knew it or not makes no difference.”
“How noble of you,” Irmina said mockingly. “If not for your people, the shade wouldn’t have a toehold on these lands.”
Ryne sighed. The woman didn’t know when to shut up.
“It’s obvious you cannot see past what lies you were taught. You only see the picture’s frame instead of the delicate artwork.” Edsel shook his head. “Although your argument does have some validity, there’s much you don’t know. The Setian were in some ways responsible for the shade’s coming. In turn, without the Shadowbearer’s advance, Granadia too, would have fallen to the shade.”
“So now you would have me believe your kind saved us? Ha.”
Edsel tilted his head, his gold and silver eye unblinking as he studied her. He offered no reply as they weaved their way up into a narrow, rock-strewn pass scattered with occasional giant boulders. The Setian traveled between the mountainous silhouettes looming around them with the surefootedness of a well-known path.
After a few moments’ silence, Edsel pointed to his face and throat, then to his people riding ahead. “Here is my reminder of my people’s failure, but also of the torture yours inflicted on mine. This is all that’s left of a once thriving people. So save your talk about slaughter and reasons for someone else. You Granadians are no more innocent than we, even if you fail to see it.”
A sneer twisted Irmina’s features. “Your people destroyed your own, and killed thousands of mine. You wiped out most of Ostania with your conquest-”
“Did we? Or did the shade?” Edsel sounded as if he were chastising a naughty child. “Were your people any less the executioners? Let me guess, your vaunted history books tell you different. I see the Tribunal has perfected the business of poisoning young minds.”
Irimina’s voice rose. “My people?” Eyes ablaze, her voice sizzled with hatred. “My parents were Felani. Your people killed most of my family with your invasion. How can you defend what you did? Countless innocents, countless Ashishin and Dagodin slaughtered. Your people, under the Shadowbearer’s banner did that. You abandoned Ilumni and served Amuni. What did you expect? Mercy? Your people deserve to be wiped from Denestia.”
Garon hissed and reached for his axe.
“Don’t Garon,” Edsel said, his voice quiet. “Beastsinger, there’s much for you to learn. You rage against us with righteousness, but do your people really follow the Streamean Tenets?”
Ryne thought about Halvor. Why did he make me repeat light’s Tenets? Could anyone follow all the Tenets without breaking one?
Edsel continued before Irmina answered, his tone almost conversational. “Many Setian killed were fleeing the shade and Nerian. Those of us who didn’t turn were forced into the Shadowbearer’s war. But then you know this, or you should. His armies held our children and the elderly hostage. We either had to fight or watch them die. I witnessed my children suffer, flayed limb by limb. What would’ve been your choice?”
Irmina’s body shook, and she opened her mouth.
“What he says is true,” Ryne said. “I wasn’t a part of the war, but I saw what came after. Many Setian died by my own hand after I joined one of the Dagodin cohorts hunting them down. We slaughtered them by the thousands.” Never again. “But just as many Setian were innocent, not turned by the shade. I fought against killing the innocent, but the Granadians wanted retribution. So did the other Ostanian tribes. They intended to kill every Setian and wipe the land of Seti from the map.
“One day, we came upon Edsel’s clan hiding within some m
arshes and swamps. We hunted them down, dragged them out, and lined them up. Edsel begged for mercy. He spoke of all his clan had suffered in their efforts to refuse serving the Shadowbearer’s purpose. I could see they were good people. I begged the soldiers to stop, but they began to kill the men first. Then they raped the women and children. The muddy marsh waters ran red with blood.” The visions of that day spilled through Ryne’s head. Never again.
Ryne’s voice was as hollow as an empty grave. “What they did was no better than what the Setian and the shade’s minions had done. Finally, I could take no more. I intervened, and in doing so, was forced to kill several Ashishin and Dagodin to help Edsel escape.”
“Why would you help murderers?” Irmina's high-pitched voice broke in. “They wiped out whole cities! They deserved no better than they received.”
Several Setian paused or stopped. Edsel flicked his hand out, and they continued riding.
“Because,” Ryne answered, “The killing needed to stop, Irmina. Who did the children-the babies-kill? It needed to stop. For the sake of all the people, not just yours or theirs.”
“I still remember those days.” Edsel’s soft hissing voice echoed in the pass. “We ran for weeks, fighting, dying, eluding regular soldiers, Dagodin and Ashishin alike. A month later, we reached Coronad Port and took a ship. But the Tribunal’s armies caught us. I took as many as I thought we needed to start anew. Lightbringer stayed with my people who volunteered to defend the docks in order for our ship to escape. Four High Ashishin arrived and the massacre of the remnants of my people began, until Ryne alone battled them. Then he was gone from sight. I still don’t know what happened after that, Lightbringer. I’ve heard stories, but they always seem more legend than life.”
Irmina’s wide eyes regarded Ryne. “You alone stopped four High Ashishin?” she whispered.
Ryne held her gaze for a moment before she looked away. “Me and Sakari. We fought until the barriers Edsel’s people had Forged gave out and exhaustion took us. I was ready to accept death then. I deserved it for the lives I took. They sent me before the Tribunal, and although they condemned me to death, the High Ashishin didn’t kill me. Instead, they imprisoned me in the Iluminus for years. I didn’t see Sakari again until later, but I could feel him being tortured. The things they did to him…”
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