Can you hear me? Markus thought to them, unsure if it would work.
The Death Speaker has returned.
I have a question for you.
We might know the answer.
Elsewhere in these ruins, we came across a creature: this wispy, silver orb. When it touched a friend of ours, she disappeared with it. Where is she? Is she still in the city?
She is not here, the soldiers told him. She is in another place. She is alive.
Please, do you know where she is?
That we do not know. We are sorry.
Well, at least she's alive, and she's not here, Markus thought to himself before turning his thoughts back to the soldiers. Thank you.
You are welcome, Death Speaker.
Markus disengaged his connection with the undead army. Though he had no idea how he'd done it, speaking to them felt almost natural. Briefly, he forgot that Rik hadn't heard any of the conversation. He was staring off into space, a little warily.
"Did it work?" he asked.
"Well, they spoke to me. She's alive, but she's not here. The problem is they don't know where she is."
"Better than nothing, I guess. Let's get back to the others. This place still scares me."
"What happened to all those dreams of adventure?" Markus asked.
"I think I can find less scary adventures."
Markus laughed softly. "I think adventures generally are scary."
"Yeah, maybe."
They retraced their steps, keeping alert for danger. Nothing threatened them all the way out of the temple, and though occasional blasts of cold hit Markus as he walked through the city, he didn't see any wraiths.
A few minutes later, they reunited with the rest of the tired and sweaty group. Nadia rushed toward Markus. "Did you find out anything?"
"She's not there," Markus said. "She isn't dead either. But that was all they could tell me."
Nadia looked down at the ground. "Well, at least we know that much."
Markus's stomach felt hollow as he saw the tears trickling down her face. She deserved a break after losing so much.
"I'm sorry," he said, "but we'll find her. It might just take a while."
Nadia didn't look up. "Will she be alive when we do?"
"There's no use speculating," Ander said. "We'll have to keep Kara in mind and search her out where we can, but at the moment, we have nothing. We can't go chasing windmills."
Rik raised an eyebrow. "Windmills? I've always wondered where that phrase comes from."
"I don't know," Ander said. "I've just heard people use it. Any idea, Nadia?"
She shook her head. "I haven't come across it anywhere."
Hearing the pain in her voice, Markus wanted to comfort her, but it would feel awkward. There was something romantic brewing between Nadia and Ander, and though Ander didn't seem the jealous type, it would be best not to anger him.
"We should head back to the cabin," Ander said. "We have what we need."
If only it hadn't cost them so much.
They returned to the cabin late that night. Markus felt so exhausted that he collapsed into his bed immediately. Uncle Theo wanted to ask questions, but Markus was in no mood to answer. He'd do it tomorrow morning.
When he woke, it was almost midday. He yawned as he stepped out into the cabin's main room, where his uncle was sitting in his favorite wooden chair. The rest of the group that had gone to Woodsville filled the room as well.
"Sleep well?" Uncle Theo said, with a half-smile.
Markus yawned again. "I kinda wish I'd slept longer."
"They've already told me everything that happened," his uncle said. "The only thing I'm curious about is how you spoke to those undead soldiers. I once saw Warrick do something similar, but I've never heard of anyone else able to do such a thing."
Markus didn't feel like talking about this again. "Well, I don't really know. It just came to me all of a sudden. They called me a Death Speaker, whatever that means." He met Nadia's eyes. "Any ideas?"
"No, I've never come across the term."
"I still think it had something to do with those skeletons," Markus said. "The closer those soldiers came, the more my arm burned."
"Makes sense to me," Rik said, sitting against the wall.
"Not that it really matters," Ander said. "We need to figure out who's going where now."
Nadia fidgeted in a wooden chair. "I'm going west. At some point, I'll have to go that way to kill Warrick, and the Oasis Outpost lies in the middle of the path."
"The Oasis Outpost?" Rik said.
"It's where Cyrus Middleton lives," she said. "He's a sorcerer as old as Warrick. If anyone knows where we can find the other two scrolls of White Fire, he will."
"He also goes to Mountainside," Ander said. "He can only travel between the two."
"Mountainside is the exact wrong way," she said. "A part of me would like to go there and help the Order somewhere that they can really make a difference, but I'm so close to killing Warrick now. I have to see this through."
"I'd like to come with you," Ander said, pacing. "Believe me, I would, but I still think you're trying to do the impossible. I can do a lot of good for the Order. I can't throw that chance away." He stopped. "I also know I can't convince you to change your mind."
"I understand," she said. "My path isn't for everyone."
Markus was still trying to determine what he wanted to do. With Imperial Guards looking for him, the smart choice was going to Mountainside. But what might happen to Nadia if she set out alone? There was also something that attracted him to her, though he couldn't say if he liked her or not, as she was too closed off, too narrowly focused.
Ander cleared his throat. "Besides, even if you do succeed, Nadia, there will be war. The Order will need good leaders to win that war. People like me."
She nodded weakly. "I understand. I know you'll do everything you can."
The sadness in her voice tore at Markus. She had probably expected that Kara would accompany her at the very least, that she wouldn't go alone.
He made up his mind. "I'm coming with you."
She furrowed her brow. "I thought you wanted to go to Mountainside."
"The Order will have enough help with people like Ander," Markus said, "but what you're doing is more important, even if it's a long shot."
Rik broke into a grin. "I'm coming, too. After all, friends stick together. Right?"
"Always," Markus said with a smile.
Tears glistened in Nadia's eyes. "Thank you. You don't know how much that means to me. For so long, I thought I'd do this alone, but you're right. I do need help."
Markus had to resist the temptation to put an arm around her shoulders and comfort her. She was a noble. Yes, commoners could rise to nobility, but he never intended to make that change.
"I'm still not sure what to do," Aric said, looking around the cabin. "My head tells me I should go with Ander. My heart tells me to go with you, Nadia." He scratched at his reddish-blond beard. At last, he said, "Sorry, Nadia, but I have to do what makes sense. Like it or not, your quest is an extreme long shot."
She wiped her eyes. "But it's the best chance we have."
"It's also something that requires secrecy," Aric said. "A party of three feels more suited to the task. You don't want to attract attention."
Markus could understand the logic in that. Warrick had spies everywhere, spies who wouldn't pay much attention to three young people. Certainly not as much attention as they'd give a large party of Order members.
"He makes a good point," Uncle Theo said, startling Markus.
Nadia reluctantly nodded agreement. Her tears had dried now, and she'd adopted a mask of determination. How could she control her emotions so well with everything she'd endured?
With everything still to come?
* * * * *
Darien massaged his temples, but nothing could relieve his headache. He had spent too much time looking at the Webs of Fate again. And why had he done it?
>
Woodsville was a place his magic could not reach, a place where he had no control. But he'd spent his time viewing the present through the Webs, as though he could change something. He hated to admit it, but he had come to care about Nadia and Markus, and not just as tools to achieve his goals. In a strange way, he had come to know them.
He leaned on the table in the chamber where he read the Webs, cursing himself for caring too much. Nadia, Markus, and all the others were tools, nothing more. If he came to care about them as people, he would lose sight of his goals. He could not let that happen.
But caring about other people was part of being human, and Darien didn't want to lose sight of his humanity. He'd tried to separate himself from those feelings, but they lingered.
He wanted them to be nothing more than tools, wanted to pretend he could shape their lives as though they were pawns on a chessboard, but that went against his own philosophy. Everyone was supposed to be equal. Even an emperor could not hold himself so far above others that he thought of them as nothing but pawns.
Yet Darien was doing that. Why couldn't the world be as simple as he'd once thought? Why did he have to do such horrible things to achieve his goals?
The greater good. One of those phrases tyrants used to justify their atrocities. Darien wanted to believe that this greater good, this dream of his, outweighed everything he had to do to achieve it.
He'd visited Crayden after the destruction. He'd seen the charred bodies, the devastated buildings. Why did the future demand such things of him?
Why did he have to do it all alone?
Everyone around him was but a pawn in his games. None of them were his equals. He could recognize the flaws in his thinking, but he didn't do anything about it. He never had.
Alone. He'd known this path would be hard when he'd chosen it, but he hadn't expected it to be this hard. At times, he wondered if he should give up, if he should let this new world destroy itself like the old one had. But that would be a greater sin than any he'd committed.
He was surprised to feel a tear trickling down his cheek.
I'm a monster, he thought. And monsters deserve to be alone.
But no one deserved the fate that had befallen Nadia's friend Kara. She had gone to the Shadowed Land, a place of perpetual mist and shadows that no one could escape. Or at least no one ever had. Yet when Darien thought of that place, there was some note of familiarity. He knew he'd never been there, but he could almost visualize it in his mind.
Just your imagination, he told himself. It wasn't hard for him to imagine such a place.
How long could Kara survive among the monsters of the Shadowed Land? He had no idea, for when he followed her life in the Webs, he hit dark strands. Did that mean that she would succumb to the place, or was her future hidden from him for some reason?
No point worrying about that. He would control what he could control, and as of now, everything remained on track.
Part II
The Inferno's Legacy
Chapter 32: The Journey Begins
Over the next few hours, Nadia struggled to compose herself. She was tired, but now was the best time to set out. She, Markus, and Rik gathered weapons from Theo's cache. Theo didn't have many other supplies to spare: only a little food and some traveling cloaks.
Nadia couldn't decide how she felt about Markus and Rik accompanying her. Logically, it made sense. They knew things about survival she didn't. Not to mention, she'd go insane with no company, thinking only of Kara's fate.
She almost wished Kara had died. Then there'd be some certainty at least.
Nadia walked out the door with Rik at her side. It was a sultry afternoon, hinting at storms. A light breeze rustled the leaves and carried the scent of flowers, but none of it could stop the ache in her gut. Nothing had happened as she'd planned.
Her father and Avia dead. Varek and Len dead. Kara missing. Ander and Aric going their own way. She couldn't have thought of a more disheartening way to begin her quest.
Rik put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"
"I'm fine. Just thinking, that's all."
"Don't worry. Markus will be ready in a few minutes."
* * * * *
Markus sat across from his uncle in a wooden chair that groaned beneath him, realizing he'd never said goodbye before. In truth, he hadn't thought Uncle Theo deserved a proper farewell. The man had ruined his life. Only now did Markus realize his uncle had faced an impossible choice.
And Uncle Theo's actions in Crayden—well, those changed Markus's view of the man. For so long, he'd seen his uncle as a villain, a man looking out for himself, but Uncle Theo had proven heroism beyond what Markus could have ever expected.
Beyond what Markus had shown himself.
"I'm gonna miss you," Uncle Theo said. He leaned forward, as if to touch Markus, but then he pulled back. "I have no idea what this quest will bring for you, but maybe we haven't seen the last of each other."
"I hope so. I've come to appreciate and understand you now."
"About time. Nothing gets through that thick head of yours."
Markus had to laugh. Uncle Theo was only joking, and Markus had to admit he could be a bit dim at times. Often, he just didn't think. When he tried, he could hold his own with Rik, but he didn't try all that often.
"Don't worry about me," he said. "Nadia and Rik will keep me in line. Or maybe Nadia will keep both of us in line. She seems to have a good head on her shoulders."
"That she does. You could learn a few things from her."
Markus smiled. "Like how to be insane. I mean, that's what this whole quest is."
"Not as insane as you might think. To be completely honest, I've always suspected there was something special about you. Ever since Warrick let me retire to take care of you. I might not have done the job he wanted, so I'm not sure what that means."
Would Uncle Theo finally reveal the secrets he'd hidden from Markus? Would Markus learn how his parents had died?
"What're you saying?" he asked.
"Well, Warrick seemed so set on you becoming an Imperial Guard, and I've learned to pay attention when Warrick decides he really wants something. He has the power to read possible futures, and in some future, he must have seen an advantage to you being an Imperial Guard. This is all conjecture, but I've thought it through for quite a while."
"That's all the more reason for what I'm doing," Markus said.
"Yes, it is. And after what you heard on the mountain, that Warrick wants you and Rik alive for some reason, I believe even more that he's up to something."
Markus felt sick. What if Warrick was orchestrating everything to support the future he wanted?
"Maybe I'll find out sometime," Markus said. Tense silence fell, and he gazed into his uncle's brown eyes. "Anything else you'd like to tell me?"
Uncle Theo looked away, scratching at his thick brown beard. "There are things I'd like to tell you, but I'm afraid of what you'd think of me if I did. I'm sorry, Markus. Maybe someday, but not now."
Markus rose from the wooden chair, then stared at his uncle awkwardly. "Well, goodbye then."
"Goodbye, Markus." Uncle Theo followed Markus to the door, and pulled him into a tight hug. Had his uncle ever hugged him?
"I'll be fine." Markus pulled out of the hug, wishing he could believe his own words.
"I know."
For a few long moments, they stared at one another, and then Markus stepped out into the muggy air. Rik and Nadia waited a few paces away, watching him with frowns.
"You ready to go?" Rik asked, touching Markus's shoulder. Markus felt on the verge of tears, so he nodded silently. Then he looked back at the cabin, knowing he was leaving forever this time. That realization felt heavy upon his chest.
Only Rik seemed eager to leave, bouncing with excitement as he led Markus and Nadia away from the cabin. Markus wished he could feel the same way.
As they left the clearing around the cabin, the voices of the party waiting to depart for M
ountainside faded into the distance. Those who'd decided for easier journeys had already left, Tylen among them.
The farther they grew from the cabin, the more Markus felt like talking. The pain of leaving faded into the background for now.
"I still can't believe we're actually doing this," he said.
Rik smiled. "Neither can I. It's the greatest adventure of all time."
Nadia turned to both of them. "You do realize this won't be fun? It will be hard and dangerous, and it will probably get us all killed. You can still change your minds. I've had years to think about this. You've had days."
"I know we can't feel the same way you do," Markus said, "but that doesn't mean we don't understand the risks." He hesitated. "Well, at least I understand them. Remember. I have no future in the Empire, so this is the best thing I can do: get rid of Warrick.
"I just want to be part of something great," Rik said.
Nadia looked away, shaking her head. Markus didn't know how to act toward her. She'd lost more than anyone, and he feared saying or doing the wrong thing.
When they arrived at the bridge leading to Crayden, Markus felt weak and nauseous. The fires had burned out, and the smoke had gone, but the rubble remained, scattered about cobblestones stained a dark gray.
After they crossed the bridge, Nadia gripped Markus's shoulder.
"What is it?" he asked.
"This is so horrible. All those people dead. All this destruction. This looks nothing like the city I remember."
"I know what you mean," Markus said, fighting back tears. Tomas was among the dead.
"Let's go around the city," Nadia said.
"You don't even want to see what you can save?" Markus asked.
"The fire burned everything. There's no point."
With heavy spirits, they trudged around the city's outskirts, staying close to the mountains around the city. Markus shuddered, thinking of all the people dead there. A few days ago, he wouldn't have thought of ghosts, but now the city seemed like it could be haunted.
World in Chains- The Complete Series Page 26