He remained silent for a moment before he continued. “As for me, they tried torturing me into telling them how my power worked. Day after day, they beat me with divya whips. They tried to strip the skin from my flesh to inspect my Scripts. When that wouldn’t work, they beat me some more. Then they mended me and started all over again.” Ryne shuddered as the lashes from the whips seared fresh across his flesh.
Irmina’s face held a pitiless expression. “You killed Ashishin and fought alongside the Setian-”
Ryne cut her off. “No matter how I tried, I couldn’t grasp Mater to defend myself. It seemed always out of my reach.”
“No…” Irmina’s face that seconds ago was red with anger and contempt paled to a pasty white. “They wouldn’t.”
“I found out later they had Warped the Mater around me, twisting the elements so I couldn’t touch them.”
“But, Warping requires sela,” Irmina said slowly. “They would need to have killed someone to gather the power to work such a Forging. One person’s sela could maybe Warp enough Mater for a week. If they kept you imprisoned for years, then hundreds of people…Oh, Ilumni.” Tears came to her eyes.
The pain etched on Irmina’s face reminded Ryne of his own shame for the atrocities he’d committed. He wished he knew a way to console her because his next words would make her feel no better. “When they saw the torture wouldn’t work, they brought in scholars to study me. They too were left stumped. A few months later, a High Ashishin visited me escorted by several of his Pathfinders. My Scripts raged out of control at their presence, threatening to destroy the Warping because I saw these men for what they were. Those men, supposed servants of Ilumni, were all under the shade’s influence.”
“Another High Ashishin and Pathfinders serving Amuni? Like Nerian? No, no that cannot be.” Irmina’s voice was a mere shell.
Ryne shook his head. “It’s true. I tried to tell the guards but they didn’t listen. They said I was mad. Then he had my guards replaced with his own.”
Edsel studied Irmina for a moment, a smug expression on his face. “So you see, everything is not always what it seems to be. Even among your own people.”
Irmina returned a stunned look. Her mouth opened and closed, but she uttered no words.
They reached end of the pass and entered a valley. Below them, thick grass and large trees hugged the slopes. A river’s rushing waters sounded in the dark.
Appearing to have recovered her senses somewhat, Irmina asked, “How…How did you escape?”
“There came another meeting with the Tribunal. They decided that instead of killing me, they would put me to use. My new punishment was to help purge Ostania of both the Setian and the shade beyond the Vallum. The next day, the tainted High Ashishin returned with his Pathfinders. They chained me in divya chains and put me on a ship with Sakari. For weeks, we sailed with them only bringing me up once a week for fresh air. I fought madness daily, with my Scripts feeling as if they wanted to tear off my skin. Every time they took me upstairs, I opened myself to my Scripts. I learned that although I couldn’t grasp Mater; my Scripts could, but I would need to give in to them. I allowed them to store as much essences as they craved.
“During the trip the High Ashishin studied me for hours on end. Three months into our journey, I overheard the guards mention we were soon at our destination. But I knew they would never take me to the Dagodin and Ashishin armies. So, the next time they brought me up for air. I let my Scripts loose.
“To this day, I’ve never felt such power. It almost tore my soul and my body apart. I still cannot remember what happened. Somehow, I woke floating in the sea on a piece of driftwood left from the ship. Through my Scripts, I drew my armor and my sword to myself and swam to shore. Sakari found me there soon after. He nursed me back to health.”
“That part of the sea still glows today,” Edsel said. “You can see it from Felan Mark’s towers. From what I felt that day, Lightbringer, I suspected you were alive.”
Ryne gave Edsel a small smile. “In my attempt to escape across the Vallum I ended up at Knight Commander Varick’s encampment during a shadeling attack. Sakari and I helped him fight, saving thousands. He vouched for us and we earned a partial pardon. Afterward, we were offered a full pardon if we served the Tribunal in its endeavors here in Ostania. As my power craved to fight the shade, I accepted.”
Ryne became deathly silent. Farther north, grasslands and forest sloped gradually until he could no longer see them. The Vallum of Light rose at that end of the valley, its glow dominating the land in the distance.
Edsel called for a stop near the forest. The daggerpaw handlers fanned out into the dense trees. Several other Setian dismounted and followed the handlers, torches bobbing about within the woods.
“This is why I said the Chronicles must have a hand in your being here, Lightbringer,” Edsel said. “I always knew you lived. I felt it in my heart. When my son described you, I had to come to see for myself. Come, we’re here.”
Ryne smiled. He still remembered Edsel’s constant mention of the Chroniclers. I searched for over twenty years, my old friend, and not once did I find proof of the great record keepers of history. Just rumor upon rumor of their existence.
Garon dismounted and helped his father down. Ryne, Sakari and Irmina also dismounted. They followed Garon through the long grasses and into the dark forest, sweet scents of blooming flowers and the chirping of insects greeting them. Two daggerpaw handlers flanked the group on each side. The men’s heads moved from side to side as if they expected an attack at any moment. Irmina’s hand strayed close to her sword.
Edsel gestured around the valley as he hobbled. “This valley is one of the few fertile ones in this part of the Barrier Mountains. No one would’ve ever suspected the Setian of being here. After all, we’re all under the shade’s influence.” He cast a quick glance and a wry smile at Irmina.
She met his gaze for a moment, and then she looked at the ground, her pale cheeks flushed.
As they progressed through the woods along a path lit by torches and lamps, Ryne opened his Matersense. The forest came alive around him, the essences swirling in multiple eddies. A breeze picked up, but this time the flower scents were gone. Instead, a fetid, moldy stench assaulted Ryne’s nostrils. His eyes narrowed.
Irmina sniffed. “What’s that smell?”
“That’s the reason for all the torches and lamps. The reason we now stay together at all times. The reason we brought you here,” Edsel’s voice hissed.
Battle energy flooded Ryne.
CHAPTER 43
Irmina’s hand darted to her sword’s hilt. Garon snatched one of his axes, clearing the clasp on his hip before his foot landed with his next step. Ryne stepped in between them.
“Stop it,” Ryne ordered, his outstretched arms keeping them apart. “If they meant us harm, there’d be no need to drag us all the way out here.” Ryne held Irmina’s small hand against her hilt so she couldn’t draw the sword.
After a moment, tension eased from her flushed face, she relaxed her grip, and he released her hand. Still glaring at her, Garon put away his axe. Ryne took his hands from the man’s chest.
They continued forward, the decaying, moldy stench growing stronger as they advanced. Ahead, lamps hung from branches, lighting up the forest. Pines and oaks appeared, leaves frail and gray, trunks sporting rotted, discolored masses. The flowers and plants close by were wilted and brown. Edsel led them past the line of unhealthy trees into wide, open land.
A kinai orchard spread as far as Ryne could see. What looked like red spider webs covered the ground. Fungus engulfed the trees so dense in some parts it hung like thick, mottled beards.
A choked sound uttered from Irmina, and her hand covered her mouth. “Oh, Ilumni.”
Every kinai plant was dead. Some fruit appeared half-eaten or simply squashed. Shade clogged the other elements within the plants. The air itself appeared dim. At their core, most trees lacked their sela.
Ryne’
s thoughts raced. Heat crawled along his skin and not only did his Scripts roil, but his bloodlust tried to rise. After a moment, the feeling passed. Something squeezed Ryne’s hand, and he looked down. Irmina’s clammy fingers clung to his. She caught herself and released her grip.
“Did you see what did this?” Ryne asked.
Garon nodded. “Follow me.”
The tall Setian edged around the dead orchard with Edsel hobbling after him.
As Ryne turned to follow, clumps of shade among the dead kinai drew his attention. He squinted. Wraithwolf droppings. Ryne signaled to Sakari who nodded, then the two of them hurried to join the others with a pale-faced Irmina in tow.
“I wasn’t here when this first happened,” Garon said when they caught up. “The daggerpaws picked up on them. My father sent a team out, and they found this.” He stopped at an unusually dense thicket with ashy, motionless leaves and black trunks.
Ryne recognized the way the trees appeared as the same as those he’d found in the Fretian Woods when he discovered the missing villagers. The essences within the trees were smudged the same as he remembered from Carnas and the kinai orchards at the Astocan farms.
Irmina gasped. “Wraithwoods. How’s this possible?” Her trembling voice was a barely audible whisper.
The name itched with familiarity to Ryne. But he couldn’t conjure the memory of where he heard it before.
“That’s not all.” Garon brought his hand up, and his brow furrowed.
Light essences swept up into the man. His hands moved with a circular motion, and he pushed the Forging out. A swath of light cut into the wraithwoods, and the trees released a soft, whispering wail as if spirits sighed through the forest.
Ryne frowned at what Garon had done, then it clicked. The man’s golden eyes, his unusually strong aura, and now this. Garon was a Setian Ashishin.
Garon stepped forward into the path he cut into the wraithwoods with Ryne and the others following. The ground and trees around them smoked, filling the air with the smell of burning wood. Heat rose in waves from the earth, warm even through Ryne’s boots. Charred stumps were all that remained of some trees; the rest were ash rising on the wind. Ryne anticipated a reaction from Irmina, but she seemed too stunned to think.
Within the thicket another scent consumed the air. A choking stink like old corpses left out on a battlefield. The others coughed at the stench and held their hands over their mouths and noses. Ryne breathed through his mouth to lessen the putrid smell as he eyed the jumbled fleshy mess in the thicket. His bloodlust rose screaming, and his Scripts squirmed about his skin.
Bodies of Setian men and women lay on the dark, soggy ground. Maggots crawled from their flesh, and black fluid seeped from their wounds. But their chests rose and fell in a slow rhythm. Black tendrils connected them together. Close to them lay half-formed wraithwolves.
Retching, Irmina turned away, spewing the contents of her stomach.
Ryne folded his mouth in against the urge to inhale. “Not only have the shadelings left the Broken Lands, bypassed the wards in the Rotted Forest, but they’ve also breached the Vallum of Light.”
“T-That’s…not…possible.” Irmina said. If she was pale before, her face was now a sickly white.
Ryne gestured to encompass the area around them. “It shouldn’t be, but the proof lies before us. Worse yet is what could have extracted sela from the kinai.”
“Now you know why I said there’s something you must see,” Edsel explained. “They’re few things I know of that can harvest sela.”
“You’re speaking of daemons aren’t you?” Irmina blurted out. “How?” she added at Ryne’s nod.
Spreading his hands helplessly, Ryne said, “I don’t know.” His Scripts roiled again. As at the other wraithwoods, he knew there was only one thing to do. “I need you all to leave here.”
“But-” Garon began.
“Leave now,” Ryne ordered without raising his voice.
Sakari stepped in between everyone and Ryne.
Edsel took Garon by the arm. “Do as the Lightbringer says.”
“You too,” Ryne said, without looking at Irmina. His Scripts continued to flit and shift around him, responding to the shade.
Irmina said nothing. Her face finally regaining some semblance of color, she left with the others. Sakari followed her.
Ryne studied the wraithwoods. He didn’t understand how the shadelings could’ve reached this side of the Vallum. Not to mention that they were advancing at a far faster rate than he could have imagined. However they were managing the feat, it didn’t matter. They had to be stopped. And soon.
Where Garon’s power had struck, the wraithwoods were already growing again, blocking outside influences of light. Ryne touched his Scripts, drawing on the ones depicting the sun and the twin moons. Light and fire essences rushed into him. The voices skittered through his mind, but he brushed them aside, and unsheathed his sword. The essences spread within him like flames through dry brush. He pushed them into the weapon, and it burst alight with a soft, white glow.
Around him, the shade-filled leaves wilted. The grass beneath his feet disintegrated into smoking ash. Skin peeled from the bodies of the Setian and wraithwolves alike, and the stench of burnt flesh and hair replaced the reek of decay. The trees themselves seemed to shrink back from the light. He bent and slammed the sword into the earth. Still holding the hilt, he linked with the earth and sent the light and fire through it. A breath left his lips, and at the same time, he triggered the power his sword held.
A noiseless concussion shook the trees. Light swept around him in an incandescent pillar that spread rapidly with him at its center. The Forms and Streams mingled in the earth and carried the Forging to its purpose.
Shade shattered.
The wraithwoods, the bodies, and the shadelings crumpled and turned to ash. Air rose as wind and took the ashes with it. The pillar of Light shot up into the air.
A clear, circular area, devoid of vegetation with Ryne at its center and steam rising in a dreary mist, replaced the wraithwoods. Ryne’s sword winked out. In one motion, he pulled it from the earth and sheathed the weapon. As he released his Matersense, he took several deep breaths to steady himself, and strode from the trees toward the others.
Irmina gawked. Edsel and Garon’s eyes shone with reverence as they regarded Ryne. They both bowed. Sakari regarded him with a blank expression.
“Are there anymore wraithwood manifestations?” Ryne asked.
“Yes, three more, across the valley to the east,” Garon said as he led them from the forest toward their mounts. “I can have the scouts lead us there-”
“No. I can find them on my own. You need to get to your people now. Head to the Vallum. It’ll be the safest place for you.”
“Our homes are in the mountains, right next to the Vallum,” Edsel said, a hint of pride in his voice as they reached the dartans.
Irmina’s head snapped around to the man.
Edsel shrugged and a smile played across his lips. “There’s no safer place than under the noses of your worst enemy. It’s the last place they would expect. What’s your plan, Lightbringer?”
“I’m going to destroy the other woods before they’re put to anymore use. Then I’m going to hunt the daemon responsible,” Ryne declared.
Silence hung heavy in the air with his words. No one spoke until they reached the mounts.
Garon felt around inside the bags on his dartan and pulled out a map. He studied it for a moment then pointed at three locations. “Here, here and here. That’s where you’ll find the other manifestations. Please, Lightbringer, let some of our men go with you. The daggerpaws can track the shadelings better than any man. Besides, I’ve been trying to tell you-it’s no daemon that did this. It was a man.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, we watched him for days. Every time he came and left, the wraithwoods grew.”
“Did your men try to stop him?”
“Several did. He kill
ed them with a mere wave of his hand. My father decided then we needed to find you.”
One man who could create wraithwoods or somehow help them grow? This had to be the Skadwaz he and Sakari suspected or worse some High Ashishin who’d turned traitor. Ryne studied the Vallum. What in Ilumni’s name was going on? “Did he Forge shade?”
Garon nodded. “Some yes, but he mostly killed with a Forge of light, fire and earth essences.”
Ryne’s eyes widened, and he glanced to Sakari who gave him a simple shrug. Edsel’s face mirrored Garon’s words. Irmina’s hiss said she too knew what it meant. Only the most powerful could Forge two or more different elements of Mater at the same time.
“Ryne,” Irmina said, her eyes wide with sudden fear. “I need to speak to you now.” She looked at the others. “Alone.”
Edsel led Garon away and Ryne nodded to Sakari.
Irmina made sure they were out of earshot before she began. “With all that’s been happening, it slipped my mind. But I started to think. I–I met a woman who told me about this. About the creation of new shadelings using people.”
“What woman?”
“Her name was Tae.” She paused for a moment at his narrowed eyes before she continued. “She saved my life. She’s the reason I survived Ranoda. She said there’s now enough power in the world for such an undertaking. She mentioned a skill being used among Amuni’s Children that only one as powerful as a High Ashishin could use. I–I think there’s a Skadwaz here in Denestia. That must be who did this.”
“Or a Shin who’s been turned.” He kept his face impassive despite the sharp look she gave him. “What did this woman look like?”
Irmina described Taeria down to her leathery skin. First, Bertram, and now, Taeria. He rubbed at his temples as if it would push the memories away. “First I’ll take care of the wraithwoods, then we’ll warn Varick,” he said, his voice strained.Hagan, you and your pipe, always generous and willing to help those in need, among the first to accept me. Vana and Vera… The faces and names flooded Ryne again.
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