Shift

by Raine Thomas

  “When we’re in the air,” she said, “I don’t have the same ability to see the path.”

  “Then we will land periodically to ensure you are leading us true,” Eirik said, looking at her with his cold, red eyes. “But you had best be sure we get there soon. You are well aware of the consequences I will impose if we do not.”

  Her stomach tightened in remembered fear. Oh, she knew. But as they lifted into the air, she also knew she had no choice but to take a longer route than necessary to the library so she could give their rescuers a chance to acquire the map and get there first. She had to believe that Eirik was bluffing about having a plan to intercept and stop Tiege and the others. Even if he wasn’t, she knew Tiege was very capable of defending himself and was surrounded by Waresti. He was strong, she reasoned. He’d be fine.

  As tears trailed down her cheeks, she prayed that she had a fraction of that strength to get through this again.

  Bertram and Tycho watched from their hiding place as the Kynzesti female and her Mercesti escort emerged from the large tree village and flew west. Night was falling, but the fading sunlight still glittered on armor worn by a few of the departing beings.

  They had nearly been caught spying by the other Mercesti. Their centuries of existence as former Waresti alerted them, though. Bertram thought he saw a scout on a well-hidden post among the high tree branches. Going with his instincts, he and Tycho had quickly left, making their way back across the marsh until they found a section deep enough that they could immerse themselves to avoid being seen, but close enough to see if anyone left the trees.

  “I still do not see why we did not make ourselves known to the other Mercesti,” Tycho grumbled as they emerged from the marsh and dripped on the boggy ground beside the water. “Who is to say whether or not they would have worked with us to acquire whatever scroll it is we are after?”

  Bertram removed a leech from his arm with a look of disgust. “If we had approached them about it, we would have had to share the prize with them. This way, we can follow them and simply acquire the Kynzesti when she steps away from the group, keeping the prize to ourselves.”

  Tycho issued a grunt of acknowledgement. Then he said, “Where do you suppose they are going?”

  Having given this some thought, Bertram answered, “They have probably made some kind of ransom demand and are taking her to the place where her family can pick her up. As they live out here in the middle of nowhere, they probably do not want to bring the Kynzesti’s family to their doorstep, so they arranged for the exchange a fair distance from here. Likely they lack food, clothing and other items that they feel would be a good bargain for the female’s life.”

  “Fools,” Tycho said with a shake of his head. “They have no idea what potential they now have within their control. Eirik is surely pursuing something worth at least ten times what they are bargaining for.”

  “Whatever is on this scroll that Eirik seeks, it had better be worth all of this,” Bertram replied as he extended his wings to take flight. “If not, this Kynzesti’s life will not last long enough to be a part of any kind of ransom exchange.”

  Tiege paced as Uriel relayed the map to Hoygul’s home. The elder had decided to continue on to Kanika’s home while Tiege, Zachariah, Sebastian and the Waresti with them went in search of the scroll piece and, of course, Tate and Ariana.

  “If Knorbis went through all of this, then Malukali must be in grave danger,” Uriel explained. “And if Eirik managed to convince Kanika to participate in his quest to acquire the scroll, she must be dealt with accordingly. Just as important, I need to find out why my lieutenant and those under his command are no longer responding to me.”

  Harold, the Waresti commander, was on his way with more Waresti. Some of those soldiers would accompany Uriel and some would remain with Tiege and Zachariah. They could arrive at any time.

  Each passing minute dragged like an ant through honey. Tiege listened to Uriel’s directions, but he didn’t know his way around the plane well enough to understand half of them. He knew he would have to rely on Zachariah, who now nodded and asked follow-up questions of the elder, to get them there. That was not a heart-warming realization.

  “Hoygul’s home looks like an abandoned and dilapidated cottage on the outside,” Uriel said. “That was the only illusion he would allow to be placed on it.”

  Why the Scultresti didn’t want to be more thoroughly protected in light of the information he maintained completely defeated Tiege. He supposed he would just consider them lucky that they didn’t have to dissolve yet another illusion cast by the elders on this debacle of a mission.

  “If you attempt to strong-arm the map from him,” Uriel continued, talking to Zachariah, “he will refuse to give it to you. While I can appreciate your sense of urgency and I know your pairing to Tate is driving you to find her and protect her, you will need to push that aside when you communicate with him.”

  If that was true, Tiege decided that it would behoove them to leave Zachariah outside when they got to the Scultresti’s cottage. He’d wait to mention that idea, however.

  “Ini-herit, Quincy and Clara Kate are on their way to Hoygul’s, as well,” Uriel said. “If they get there first, it is my hope that Quincy can once again convince Hoygul to give him the map.”

  “Because it turned out so well the last time,” Tiege muttered, but no one heard him.

  As the conversation between the other two males continued, Tiege turned his thoughts to his sister and Ariana. He tried again to connect with Tate and was met with the mental wall that had come down on her last thought. The dampening preventing her from connecting to his thoughts also kept Zachariah from sensing her through their Gloresti-style bond.

  He wondered how Ariana was holding up. She had been so deeply affected by her previous experience at Eirik’s hands that he worried her mind wouldn’t endure this. His only hope was that having Tate there might help.

  What he did know was that when he finally got to them, it would be a tight race between him and Zachariah as to who would get to Eirik first.

  “Harold is here,” Uriel said, drawing his attention.

  Sure enough, within the span of a minute, the Waresti commander and the warriors he led landed nearby. Conducting a quick scan, Tiege estimated there were nearly a hundred beings present.

  “Fifty of you will come with me,” Uriel announced. “If Kanika and her followers have control over her homestead, they will not have many more than that in number. It is a relatively small dwelling, and even if some of them are residing in the surrounding forest, I predict no more than seventy could occupy it.”

  “Do you need any provisions?” Sebastian asked.

  “No. We won’t be gone long and I can connect with you if anything changes.”

  The Lekwuesti elder nodded.

  Uriel looked from Tiege to Zachariah. “Once we rescue Malukali, the hold Eirik has over Knorbis will be removed. I suspect he can counter the effects of Eirik’s dampeners even now, but he’s choosing not to because it would put Malukali at risk. Once she’s free, you should be able to connect with Tate.”

  “Then stop wasting time talking to us,” Zachariah said. After a brief pause, he tacked on, “Sir.”

  As rude as the statement was, Tiege couldn’t help but find himself in complete agreement. They all needed to get going. Without question, getting both the scroll piece and Eirik’s hostages was going to take monumental timing.

  That, and a miracle.

  Chapter 31

  Ini-herit connected with Zayna to get the map to Hoygul’s cottage. Although the elder had been there before, his memory of the exact location wasn’t clear. Once he received the details, they all headed to the Scultresti’s after only an hour of rest.

  Quincy followed the others, but it about killed him. All he could think about was Sophia. Was she okay? Where was she? Had she continued to track Tate and Ariana?

  He hoped that she was, indeed, still tracking them. That meant he would ultima
tely connect with her again when they all reached the library. He vowed that even if she told him she didn’t want to hear it, he would never let another day go by where he didn’t tell her how much he loved her.

  “It appears we will be delayed,” Ini-herit said, making Quincy focus on their path.

  Ahead of them churned a bank of storm clouds. Even from their distance, they saw the deluge of rain produced by those clouds. Lightning streaked to the earth, generating a low rumble a few seconds later.

  “Can’t we go around it?” Quincy asked.

  “No,” Alexius said. The Waresti second commander flew between Ini-herit and Clara Kate and looked grim. “Judging by wind speed and the span of those clouds against the horizon, by the time we flew sideways in either direction, the storm would catch us. We must seek shelter.”

  Fortunately, they were near a series of mountains. Finding a cave large enough to hold them didn’t end up being too difficult. Within ten minutes, they all sat inside the cave with balls of light bouncing along the ceiling as the storm raged outside.

  Although Quincy wanted to keep moving, he was smart enough to know they couldn’t risk flying in this weather. He decided to take this opportunity to rest, not knowing when he would next get to do so. Picking a spot in a relatively secluded part of the cave, he settled down on the hard ground and closed his eyes.

  Miraculously, he dozed. His dreams were filled with images of Sophia in varying states of distress. His eyes flew open on the tail-end of a dream in which she screamed out to him for help just before an arrow pierced her heart.

  His own heart pounded at a gallop as he oriented himself. He realized he had rolled onto his side and faced a wall of rock. The hiss of rain continued to fill the cave.

  “What was I like on the human plane?”

  Quincy blinked in surprise when he heard Ini-herit speak from just a couple of feet away.

  “I wondered if you’d ever ask,” Clara Kate replied.

  Her soft voice was nearly as close. Quincy realized the pair had also retreated to this quieter part of the cave and must believe he was still asleep so they could talk freely. Although he considered making some kind of movement or giving them another indication that he was awake, he couldn’t deny a morbid curiosity over the answer to his elder’s question. So he remained silent.

  “I have hesitated to discuss it with you,” Ini-herit said. “I did not want to cause you undue pain.”

  That made Quincy wince. He was sure that just by being within Clara Kate’s line of sight every day, the elder caused her pain. He knew she would never say such a thing, however, and she didn’t surprise him.

  “You can feel free to ask me anything you’d like, Harry—uh, Ini-herit.”

  “Harry?”

  “Um, yeah. Sorry about that. It was a nickname. Mrs. B started using it when you were little because it was easier for your friends to pronounce.”

  “I see.”

  “So, as far as what you were like,” Clara Kate said in an obvious attempt to turn the conversation, “you were a straight-A student…president of the student body with a good number of friends. You were a bit like my dad was as a human, seeing as you were raised by the same foster mom. You had a southern accent and spoke in a way that reflected good grammar, and you took care to convey appropriate manners.”

  “A gentleman,” Ini-herit concluded.

  “Oh, not always.”

  Her tone had Quincy’s eyebrows rising. Really?

  “The storm is clearing,” came Alexius’ voice. “Wake Quincy so we can depart.”

  He abruptly forgot all about whatever had occurred between C.K. and Ini-herit as his mind switched gears. Sophia, Tate and Ariana needed them.

  It was time to move on.

  They barely managed to avoid the storm. Sophia was very impressed with the clever maneuvering by the Mercesti. What surprised her most was that it was the quiet female, Oria, who led them.

  Melanthe explained that Oria was a very rare Mercesti. She used to be a Wymzesti and had retained a large portion of her former class’s traits. She was able to guide them using heightened instincts, predicting the best path to avoid any potential problems.

  “I’m seeing a trend among you,” Sophia said to Melanthe as they flew side by side.

  “You are referring to the fact that there are so many of us with unusual abilities for Mercesti, I assume?”

  “Yes.” Sophia saw Derian’s eyes move between the two of them and knew he was listening from his position on the other side of Melanthe. He didn’t look pleased, but from what she had seen, he never did. “I’m not trying to pry and I promise not to say anything to anyone if it’s an issue. I just noticed it and found it…interesting.”

  “You are very perceptive, Sophia,” Melanthe said with a small smile. “You pick up on things that others might miss.”

  Not everything, Sophia thought, her heart sinking as she thought of Quincy. How many signs had he given her over the years that she had missed or ignored? She had been so convinced of her conclusion that he couldn’t stand the sight of her that when she was presented with another truth, she threw it back in his face.

  Perceptive? Maybe. Flexible? Apparently not.

  “Derian discovered some time ago that Grolkinei deliberately targeted converts based upon their abilities,” Melanthe continued. “He sent scouts across the mainland seeking out Estilorians with powerful enough skills that those skills would likely survive a conversion. Then his mentally-gifted Mercesti used their abilities to drive those Estilorians to commit an act that would convert them.”

  Sophia blinked at that. What she described was exactly what had happened to Zachariah. As the Gloresti second commander, he had been a grand prize for Grolkinei. Zachariah had maintained enough of his former self after converting, however, that he refused to join Grolkinei’s army and instead exiled himself for fifty years, right up until he met Tate.

  “That’s awful,” she said.

  She thought of how she would feel to be in that position…mentally assaulted and forced to kill or intend to kill another being, resulting in conversion into what others perceived to be a monster. Because she now knew Melanthe and Oria, she knew that even gentle beings who were good at their cores could be pushed to act upon buried impulses if their mental defenses weren’t strong enough. Although she was curious about what Melanthe had done to convert, she would never ask.

  “Derian began gathering others like him,” Melanthe said, her tone subdued. “Those who refused to serve Grolkinei and opted to live in exile. And he started following Grolkinei’s army. Whenever he could, he interfered with their plans, preventing forced conversions.” She glanced over at him, then said in an even softer tone, “And whenever he arrived too late, he did what he could to rescue the converted.”

  Sophia easily pieced the rest together. The two of them had obviously met that way. She imagined they had started the encampment together, providing a place where exiled Mercesti could dwell without fear of judgment. It was all rather amazing.

  “What did you used to be, Derian?” she asked. “Or am I not allowed to ask?”

  The male remained silent, but Melanthe answered, “He was a Gloresti.”

  That surprised her. Gloresti were among the most difficult to convert because their base natures centered around loyalty and the protection of others.

  “Oh,” she managed. “Well, Zachariah might be happy to find out he’s not the only one.”

  The sharp red glare she got from Derian had her eyes going wide. What had she said now?

  “Ye speak of commander Zachariah?” he asked.

  “Yes.” She shifted her gaze from Melanthe, who looked troubled, back to Derian. “He was also forced to convert about fifty years ago.”

  There was a long silence. Eventually, Melanthe said, “We all thought he was dead. Derian was deeply troubled when we received the news.”

  Sophia nodded in understanding. “Everyone thought that.” She belatedly wondered how Derian w
as reacting to the fact that he wasn’t the only Gloresti who had been “encouraged” to convert.

  “How do ye know this?” he asked.

  “Zachariah resurfaced a couple of months ago. He helped save my cousin’s life.”

  “Where is he now?”

  Frowning, Sophia admitted, “I don’t know. When I last saw him, he was, uh, incapacitated by archigos Knorbis.”

  “What?” Melanthe gasped.

  “I don’t know why or how, but archigos Knorbis somehow made Zachariah fall to the ground. The elder obviously wanted to get my cousin and my friend away from him.”

  “Zachariah presented a threat to the Wymzesti elder?” Derian asked with a dark expression.

  “Well, since the elder was after my cousin, and Zachariah is paired with her for her protection, then I guess you could say that.”

  She found Derian’s stare disconcerting. It felt as though he was trying to pry more from her with just a look. Indeed, she almost found herself blurting more, but stopped in time.

  “I believe that I might just have to press ye for more information, after all,” the male said.

  Sophia swallowed hard at that. A signal from Oria had all of them descending, which was a relief. She wasn’t sure what she should share with Derian and what she should keep to herself. What if he or one of these other Mercesti decided they had nothing to lose in trying to acquire the Elder Scroll for themselves? The artifact had already driven other beings to some extreme behavior, after all. She felt it was better for all of them if she kept the details to herself.

  As they got closer to the ground, she took in the vast expanse of green in front of them. It looked like the densest, most overrun forest she had ever seen. The trees resembled none of those surrounding her homeland.