by Jasmine Walt
They didn’t want to be stuck in the open and Tan wanted to be as far from the crater as he could. Standing near this much destruction felt wrong. “I found tracks. Boots in the mud. Several different sets.”
“Probably your townsmen moving for shelter when the rain began.”
Cobin joined them and knelt in front of the nearest set of prints. “These move away from town.”
“Then they’re from earlier. Nothing could have survived this.”
Tan turned away, intentionally not thinking of what his mother was doing when the lisincend attacked. Had she known? She was a shaper—and powerful, once, from what Roine said. Could she have done anything? Or had she simply died like the rest of the town?
“We should follow them. They’re heading north, like us. If we find any survivors…”
Roine looked from Tan to Cobin. “Can we move quickly?”
“There’s nothing special about these prints,” Tan said. “They should be easy enough to follow.” Knowing that someone—anyone—else from Nor might have survived gave him something to hold onto. Both he and Cobin knew the prints were too big for Bal’s feet, but that didn’t change the hope written on his friend’s face.
Roine seemed to sense that. “I hope we find them, Tan. But if we don’t…”
“Then we’ll get you to the pass.”
They started away from Nor. The tracks led up into the mountains, traveling off the known paths. This was not simply aimless wandering. The prints moved upslope quickly, forcing them to lead the horses. When the ground leveled off, they stopped for a break.
Roine grabbed something from his pack before turning into the woods. Tan caught a flash of gleaming gold before he disappeared.
Cobin frowned as he stared after him. “Tan, if we don’t find anyone…”
“We have to look.”
“Your ma would have fought them. Don’t think she died sitting still.”
Strangely, the thought lifted his spirits. “I know. And Bal…” He looked out into the woods after Roine, trailing off. He crouched in front of the ground, his back facing them. Cobin swallowed loudly. “What do you think he’s searching for?”
“I don’t know. But if it’ll let Incendin cross the barrier, it must be something powerful.”
The barrier again. “Doesn’t seem the barrier does much good, does it?”
“Not sure what changed, but it’s held for years. Shapers made it, back when they were powerful. Your ma once said she thought the elementals aided.”
Tan didn’t know much about the elementals. Didn’t know much about his mother, either. “Was she part of it?” The idea that his mother helped create the barrier between Incendin seemed almost impossible to believe.
“I don’t think so. She was in Nor when the barrier went up. Pregnant with you.”
“I thought the barrier was older than that?”
“There were earlier attempts, but none successful.”
Tan turned. Roine pushed something back into his pack before looking over at them.
“Could the Aeta have crossed the barrier through Incendin?” Tan had been wondering about that since first seeing them. He’d never seen the barrier, but his father always said it wasn’t something you saw. Just felt. Tan wondered what he’d feel if he neared it.
Roine nodded. “It’s not a physical thing. It’s not brick or stone or anything you’d have to climb. It’s meant to hold back Incendin shapers.”
“How do you keep back only Incendin shapers?”
Roine didn’t answer. “The barrier is the reason the lisincend shouldn’t be here. It should have kept them out. If they’ve figured out a way past…well, then all of the kingdoms are at risk again.”
They started off again. Tan led the way, following the tracks made in the soft earth taking them gradually upslope. After a while, they stopped again. Roine grabbed the item from his bag and headed into the woods like he did at the last stop.
Tan saw it this time. A golden box made with five sides cupped in his hands as he left the small clearing.
“What do you think it is?” Tan asked.
“What?”
Tan nodded toward Roine. “Some kind of box. He carries it away when we stop.”
“What did it look like?”
“I didn’t see it any better than that.”
Cobin shrugged and took a swallow from his water skin.
Tan sat and listened to the forest, sensing it. Squirrels slipped along branches, a few deer moved at the edge of what he could sense, but nothing else. Except…something felt off.
Not hounds; that he felt as an absence. This was different.
Tan started into the woods toward where he sensed something off. He held on to his bow, wishing for something more useful like Cobin’s axe or Roine’s sword. He kept his focus on what he sensed, listening.
And then he heard it.
Whimpering.
Tan ran forward. Rocks piled together formed a small cave. He leaned in front of it and listened. The whimpering came from inside.
“Hello?”
A face poked out. Dirt and leaves covered it, but he recognized Bal. Her hair tangled with small branches into knots. “Tan?”
She leapt at him, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“What happened, Bal?” If she’d made it, could there be others?
She shook her head. “Nor…”
“I saw it.”
“Huge storm. Lightning blasted it like it was…like it was…”
He cradled her as he carried her back up the slope toward the others. “I know. How’d you get away?”
She sobbed, her mouth and nose pressed up against his chest, huge shivers working through her. “I was stupid, Tan. I saw him leaving again, going up the slope, and thought I’d follow. I should know better.”
“Who? Who did you see?”
“Lins. He started out of town when the rain started. I thought it was strange so I followed…” She sobbed again. “I wasn’t far from town when the lightning hit. I saw it…saw the…the…”
When she couldn’t finish, Tan didn’t push, but questions filled him. Why had Lins left Nor when the storm started? Did he see something?
Did that mean he tracked Lins’s prints?
Tan stumbled as he neared the horses. Cobin ran up to him and grabbed Bal from him. “Bal? Bal!” he sobbed. He looked at Tan, his eyes wide. “How? What?” He shook his head and turned away, cradling her tightly against him as he gently brushed the dirt from her face. He carried her to a fallen log and sat down with her, rocking her as if she were a babe.
Roine came up behind him. “Who’s that?”
“Bal. Cobin’s daughter.” He pointed down the hillside. “I found her holed up. She said she followed Lins from town before the storm struck.” He turned and met Roine’s eyes. “She saw Nor get destroyed.”
A look of sadness washed over Roine. “Lucky she escaped.”
Tan wasn’t sure if it was luck or just Bal being Bal. She’d followed Lins again, but what would Lins have been doing leaving Nor? “If Lins left before the storm, we should see him too.”
Roine seemed to consider for a moment. “What lies in this direction?”
Tan tried to think about where they were. They’d gone mostly upslope since leaving Nor, but somewhat south too. Velminth wouldn’t be too much farther.
“Probably Velminth.” Tan looked back at Roine. “You think the lisincend might have attacked Velminth?”
He shook his head. “Not sure. How much farther until we reach there?”
Before answering, Tan closed his eyes and listened, trying to sense the distance, searching for the void in the forest where the town would be. Just at the edge of his abilities, he felt it. “Probably a few hours still.”
Roine looked over at Cobin. “Then we’ll make for Velminth. Leave them there if the town’s safe.”
They couldn’t bring Bal through the passes, but Tan didn’t like the idea of leaving Cobin and her behind. They w
ere all he had left of Nor. Once they were gone, what did he have left? What would he do?
Cobin looked back at him. Tan didn’t miss the expression of relief on his face as he clung to Bal.
15
A Lost Village
“Roine thinks you should stay in Velminth.”
Tan expected more of an argument with Cobin but there was none.
“Probably best. Not sure Bal should…” He didn’t finish. “Listen, Tan. After everything that’s happened, he’d have to understand if you didn’t want to go. You could stay with us. Not sure what we’ll do once we reach Velminth. Find a place to settle. Start over.” He placed a hand on Tan’s shoulder. “We’ve got to stick together.”
Tan couldn’t deny the idea appealed to him. But a part of him wanted to make sure Roine reached the pass first. Without knowing the way, would he? What would happen if Incendin reached it before him?
“I’m going to see this through.”
Cobin opened his mouth as if to speak before shutting it and nodding. He clapped Tan on the shoulder.
A sudden sound interrupted the growing night.
Echoing through the forest came the call of an Incendin hound. They hadn’t heard from the hounds since finding the destroyed Aeta caravan. Another voice, then another, answered the call. He waited, counting at least a half-dozen distinct cries.
A pack.
“Does that mean the lisincend are still out there?” Tan asked.
“If they are, we will sense them,” Roine said.
Cobin clutched Bal to him. “Like Nor did? Like the Aeta?”
“Besides Zephra, would any in Nor have known what they felt?”
Cobin looked as if he readied a harsh retort, but he bit it off and looked over to Tan. “Probably not.”
“I should, though.”
“But you haven’t,” Cobin said.
“Not so far. But we should be safe still tonight. There’s a limit to their power.”
Cobin glanced down at Bal. “A limit? Didn’t seem like it in Nor.”
“That was a powerful demonstration. They won’t be able to do the same again so soon.”
“Velminth will be safe?” Tan asked.
Roine looked at Cobin and Bal before turning to Tan. “I don’t know. I doubt we’ll see anything like what happened in Nor. Beyond that…”
Tan nodded. For Cobin, they needed to check.
They continued onward. As they made their way forward, following the prints, Tan began to doubt their direction. Tan had never approached Velminth from any direction other than the road. They seemed too high in the mountains for Velminth, yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that the small logging town was nearby.
They reached a small stream. Tan waded across, thinking to follow the tracks as they continued to climb, but saw no additional tracks on the other side of the stream. Tan wandered up and down the stream, searching for signs he might have missed, but saw nothing.
“They stop here,” Tan said.
“You see nothing on the other side of the stream?” Roine asked.
Tan shook his head.
“Perhaps they waded through the stream itself,” Cobin offered. He still cradled Bal in his arms, letting Roine lead the horse.
The painful cry of the Incendin hounds broke the silence of the forest, nearer this time. The horses whinnied and stomped their feet, made every bit as uncomfortable by the sound. Thankfully, Bal seemed to be sleeping in Cobin’s arms. There was no answering call.
Tan looked at the darkening sky. The longer they traveled, the more treacherous their footing became. “We should stop for the night. There should be some old mine shafts along the way. We could be safe there.”
Cobin eyed the stream and then looked to Tan, nodding in agreement. “He’s right. And she needs to rest. We’ll all feel better if we sleep.”
Roine sighed. “Won’t do us any good getting hurt tripping over a root.”
They had not gone more than two hundred paces when something in the fading light stopped Tan short.
“What is it?” Roine asked.
Tan pointed to the ground at the small indentation half covered by leaves and debris. “Another print. Hound.”
Roine looked at the stream then up to the sky that had continued to darken. Soon it would be too dark to see much more than the outline of the trees. “How long do you think you could track this still tonight?”
Tan considered the lighting and the tracks. “Not long.”
“Then we’ll go until you can’t see it any longer,” Roine said. He unsheathed his sword and held it ready as they followed the tracks. The fading light caught the blade, revealing symbols etched into the metal.
As the last of the daylight faded and night grew darker around them, Tan became aware of something else. Light, far in the distance, flickered faintly ahead of them. “Could that be Velminth?” he asked aloud.
Roine’s face was an unreadable mask. “We need to be careful here. If there were hounds…”
They approached slowly before realizing stealth wasn’t necessary.
The stream they followed flowed down a steep rocky grade and led to a large clearing. Several fires burned brightly on makeshift pyres. Velminth spread out beneath them, small wooden buildings practically abutting each other in the clearing. Though the mill could barely be seen toward the end of town, the scent of sawdust hung heavy in the air.
Tan became aware of another sensation. The air temperature had risen and a dry heat radiated up from the town. The cool wind that had chased them all the way from Nor faded. Roine grabbed them and jerked them back to the trees.
“Stupid,” he said quietly.
“What?” Tan asked.
“Me.” He shook his head again and his eyes darted around the small clearing around the town. “Can you feel it?”
“It is warmer. Is that what you feel?”
Cobin looked down at Bal, as if suddenly aware of what the others felt. “No…not Velminth.”
Roine nodded slowly.
Tan looked between the two men, waiting for an answer. “What is it?”
“The lisincend. They are here.”
16
A Plan
Tan followed Roine as he crept toward the rocky edge overlooking the town. Cobin stayed back, holding Bal against him. As he looked into the town, Tan wasn’t prepared for what he saw.
Like Nor, Velminth had once been a mining town. Over the years the iron mines in the surrounding mountains had run dry and the people of the town had turned to logging for easier profit. The wide Drestin River ran near the south edge of town, winding slowly out of the mountains, across the plains of Ter, all the way to Ethea and beyond. Loggers used the Drestin to send their bundles of logs downstream.
The haphazard mining town had disappeared when the loggers took control. Now the small sturdy buildings of the town were neatly arranged. The streets of Velminth were wide and straight, making it easy for the logging carts to roll the felled trees toward thesawmill and the river. Tan remembered from his previous visits to Velminth the overwhelming scent of sawdust and the rough hardworking loggers. The people had always been courteous if not overtly friendly, and though he never quite understood why, his mother had always had a special place in her heart for the town.
Now, a few lanterns lit the wide streets, but it was enough to see the strange shadows flickering over the town. A sudden gust of wind from the high mountains set the lanterns shimmering, clearing the shadows briefly. As they moved and danced, Tan saw something he struggled to believe.
A creature stalked near the north edge of town, practically slithering down the street toward the town square. There was no hair on its head and Tan could not make out any sign of ears, either. Its dark skin looked almost scaled and leathery.
Tan gasped. Roine jerked a hand up and covered his mouth, only letting go of him slowly.
“What is that?”
Roine nodded, motioning with his eyes.
“That’s a lisince
nd?” Tan asked.
Roine pushed them both down. A wave of heat radiated toward them, hot and dry, as if the moisture had been suddenly sucked from his skin. Tan licked his lips, trying to wet them, and painfully blinked his now-dry eyes.
“Careful,” Roine warned. He looked back at Cobin. He sat back away from the edge, the reins of the horses in one hand, Bal propped up on his shoulder with the other.
“What was that?”
“One of their weapons,” Roine answered. “They were fire shapers first.”
The heat gradually faded, though a warmth radiated from the town below, like a bellows fire blowing up to them. Roine crept closer, raising his head carefully to see over the stone ledge. Tan crawled up next to him, mimicking the man’s cautious movements.
As he peaked over, the lisincend was no longer visible. “Where did it go?”
Roine nodded toward the center of town. “Follow the heat haze.”
A smoky haze hovered along the street and moved steadily, thickening. Another quick gust of wind fluttered the lamplight and caused the haze to clear briefly. Again he saw the frightening figure of the lisincend at the center of the haze.
“They can use their shaping to hide.” Roine spoke softly, careful to keep his voice little more than the sounds of the night. “The heat becomes a veil.”
Tan looked back down into Velminth and stared into the darkness. Two more areas appeared to have a haze hanging over them. How many more lisincend hid under the shadows? Between them and the Incendin hounds still roaming the forest, how would they escape? How would Cobin get Bal to safety?
Tan wished another gust of wind would blow over the haze so he might see how many lisincend were out there. A pressure built in his ears and a cold blast of northern wind whipped through the trees. The wind cleared the heat and the haze hanging over the streets of Velminth long enough for him to see two other lisincend.
“Three lisincend,” he breathed softly.
Roine nodded, staring at him, a strange expression on his face. “It’s rare to find lisincend working together. Three together tells me how important this artifact is to Incendin.” He stared at the town, eyes narrowed as he focused. “There’s something else here.”