Kaden took a step back, but cheered as Evandrel took advantage of the momentary distraction to slash at the black-haired Sidra, drawing blood with a deep gash in his corpse-like arm.
The Sidra squealed and spun sideways, swinging his swords in wide arcs that pushed Evandrel back. Kaden blinked and a moment later a sword slid along his neck as a strong arm gripped him and swung him between the two men. Not good.
Evandrel stopped short, his knife pointed at Kaden’s nose. He spoke in his soft language.
The Sidra at Kaden’s back snarled in the same language, but it sounded harsher, especially as he spit blood and spittle across Kaden’s neck and ear. Gross.
Evandrel nodded and lifted his hands innocently, knife dangling, as he continued to speak to the Sidra. When the two ceased talking for a moment, Kaden couldn’t help himself.
“A friend of yours?”
The Sidra at his back tightened his grip, the blade cutting into his neck. He snarled something in English. “Do not speak, filthy hhhuumannn! I will eat your liver after I finish with my brother.” He then bit Kaden’s ear and Kaden screamed, trying to pull away as he reached out to his tether.
Something flickered past his face and the grip on him loosened. The sword fell from his neck and the teeth let go of his ear with a gurgling sigh followed by a thud as the Sidra slid down Kaden and hit the ground. The knife stuck out of the Sidra’s temple.
“You could have hit me!” Kaden stepped shakily away from the body.
Evandrel recovered his knife, which slid out of the Sidra’s skull with a slick hum and came up clean, without even a drop of blood despite the heavy flow of dark liquid that splattered the ground. “Unlikely. This blade responds to my will and I did not intend to harm you. It listened and obeyed.”
Kaden swallowed back the berries and nuts that had been his lunch as he turned away from the gruesome scene. “Who was that? Was he really your brother?”
Evandrel made a choking laugh. “Not in the way you presume. He was Sidra, Tyninian, but their kind were tainted by the darkness of a soulless master long ago.”
“Oh yeah. Didn’t you say no one’s seen them in about a thousand years?”
Evandrel sheathed his knife at his chest. “Correct. Something terrible is about to happen. We must run faster.” He looked up at Kaden. “After we repair that ear.”
“Rib too.”
“Rib? That is going to slow us both down.”
Two Keitane exited the trees half an hour later and kept pace alongside them. Kaden glanced at Evandrel who nodded that he knew these new arrivals.
A tall man who truly could’ve passed for Evandrel’s brother gave Kaden a dirty look as he sprinted along beside them. The other, a beautiful woman with a blue hint to her skin and jet black hair, gave Evandrel a questioning glance before fixing her eyes on Kaden. She looked at the human boy with the same angry disdain Kaden had seen on Evan the first time they’d met.
Evandrel allowed them to slow to a stop. Kaden promptly collapsed to the ground, panting, his legs beyond exhausted and his rib still tender. The new skin on his ear had also been badly sunburned.
The man questioned Evandrel in their language, the tones sounding angry and sharp. The woman interrupted them, looked at Kaden again, and broke into English. “Evandrel, you return early. Has the task of becoming a Light Bringer proven too difficult?”
“No, Hasla. I would have liked to hone my skills longer, but I am well prepared for the trials. I return with an interesting puzzle for the Elders and news about an old threat.” He waved at Kaden. “I thought it wise to bring him to them. This is the only reason I have come home to Ha’Freyne early.”
“Ah, but what does this human have to do with the Elders? We should kill him now.” The word “human” came from the back of her throat, like a growl.
Kaden lay on the ground, unable to defend himself, unable to do much but breath. He watched as Evandrel straightened. The Keitane had mentioned he was very young, a child in many ways even though he was years older than Kaden. Yet he towered over the two scouts.
“You will not touch him. He is protected by law until he meets with the Elders. Come, Kaden. We waste time here.” He reached down and pulled Kaden to his feet. Kaden didn’t protest even though he knew he couldn’t walk much farther. The tension and hostility in the air encouraged him to try.
Hasla put a hand on Evan’s. There was a flash of something across Evandrel’s face, but it vanished before Kaden could guess what it meant. “The human is past running. It is written on his face. I will walk with you. The trees have been whispering of danger for weeks. Joolis will run forward with news of your return.” She then whispered more in the sweet high tones of her tongue. Evandrel nodded.
Joolis sprinted silently ahead, leaving Kaden to stagger between the two remaining Keitane as they tried not to look at one another while doing nothing but that.
Kaden felt his attention slide off to the right and his feet followed even though he clearly saw Evandrel and Hasla continue forward. He stopped, turned back toward them, but found himself walking off to the left, his mind unable to focus on the two elves who were getting farther away from him. What’s going on?
Kaden shook his head. “Um, guys?”
Evandrel glanced back, laughed, and returned with Hasla at his side. “I am sorry, Kaden. I assumed that your magic would allow you to pass the barrier. That was thoughtless of me.”
Kaden shook his head again, trying to clear the fog, and blinked up at Evandrel. “Barrier? I don’t see anything.”
“Anyone ungifted would not and even human mages, if any were left, would struggle to see it. It would be a rather ineffective barrier if you could and simply go over, under, or around it. It took hundreds of Light Bringers to erect it at great cost. Power is strung between the trees for miles here like strands of moonlight. Can you not see anything?”
Kaden concentrated on the space in the air where Evandrel had been staring and then found himself facing away, his feet moving slowly in the opposite direction. A hand on his shoulder stopped him. “What? What happened?”
Evandrel chuckled as he spun Kaden around. “What do you feel is happening?”
Kaden looked ahead at Hasla’s bemused expression. “Um…it’s hard to focus. My attention keeps being drawn away and I find myself wanting to walk in the other direction.”
“Exactly. That is all the barrier does, encourages people to go away. Simple, powerful, and effective, but also very difficult to manage as it bends the wills of others. Many Light Bringers died weaving these words into being and their sacrifice has kept the Sidra safe for over a thousand years. You are the first to enter in a very long time. Come.”
Kaden allowed Evandrel to lead him toward the barrier once more even though his body and his mind fought against him, moving slower and slower with each step as if wading through oatmeal.
At some point he lost control of his body and someone picked him up to carry him. He couldn’t see if it was Evandrel or Hasla. His eyes kept rolling back, sliding away from their destination.
Kaden's mouth went dry, his throat tightened so he couldn’t speak, and he fought the urge to punch at whoever carried him. Everything inside him demanded that he go back the way he came. He lost the battle. His legs and arms thrashed as his body attempted to follow the commands that seeped into him from all sides.
Then he was through and on his feet once more. “That hurt.” He coughed the words out.
Evandrel tugged at him. “Sorry, Kaden. I really thought you would be able to see it and handle it better.”
“Stupid human looks for what is there. He must look for what is not if he wishes to see things that hang between real and unreal.” Hasla snorted.
“Yeah. Thanks. That was helpful.”
Sarcasm seemed as lost on her as Evandrel. She smiled at him for the first time, stunning in the soft green light of the forest, as deciduous leaves framed her perfect face. Kaden had to force himself to look away. He felt a sli
ght twinge that he’d betrayed Aren somehow, but that didn’t make any sense. Still barely know the girl. Should be able to look at the hot, scary elf chick, right? If she doesn’t eat me.
Evan leaned down and gave him some better advice. “Try tilting your head to the side. Alter your perspective.”
Kaden shrugged and tilted his head. Nothing. He tilted it farther and thought he saw a hint of something. He tilted it more until his head was almost parallel to the ground. The forest exploded with light. Kaden gasped as it came into view.
Strings of shimmering silver light stretched from truck to trunk and limb to limb for as far as he could see in both directions, crisscrossing each other like the security laser lights at a museum. The barrier was thinner than it had felt, the lattice work of light only two or three trees deep, but it was beautiful.
Kaden stepped closer, trusting his elven friends to keep him from running back into the forest if the magic took hold once more. He could almost hear the string whispering to his mind, but they seemed to focus outward and had little effect on him within their bounds. He still stopped short of touching them. “Wow.”
“Yes, they are one of the wonders of our world.” Evandrel put a hand on his shoulder once more. “Come.”
“Are we close now?”
Hasla laughed. “The human is blind! We are there.”
Kaden whipped around and gasped again.
The Keitane home, Ha’Freyne, was nothing like Kaden expected. He’d thought to find the delicate stone bridges and insane towers that Tolkien had implanted in his head, not the living city that had appeared as suddenly as the silvery barrier.
Delicate spires and bridges there were, but they were not made of any stone Kaden recognized. Seamless and glossy white structures reached for the sky, dripping fluttering silk. Sidra A’Keitane walked around them on all sides along red pathways that wound through the city in curving swirls. Many gave Kaden astonished looks, but turned back to their own business without comment. Some nodded politely to Hasla or half bowed before continuing on their way. She seemed to be a big deal.
“Where did it come from?”
Evandrel laughed. “It was always there, but was hidden by the same magic as the barrier.”
“Um…okay.” Kaden turned back to the city and tried to keep his mouth closed.
The carved ivory of the buildings flowed from one structure into another, arched between trees, and climbed high into the forest, thin as thread in some sections. Kaden winced as he watched a young Keitane boy race out of a doorway a hundred feet up and run along a lace walkway into a tower that bent halfway up at a nearly ninety degree angle. It didn’t appear to follow what Kaden thought of as natural construction guidelines.
The pathways were made of some low-growing, scarlet plant that bounced under his feet like a sponge. He ran his hand along a section of smooth wall. It was cool to the touch, but not the cold of stone. Beautiful white spirals swirled away from the wall every few feet, sprouting flowers and leaves. It’s wood, polished until it gleams, but still alive. Amazing!
Sheets of silk hung from windows, arches, and doorways, waving in the breeze. Trees of all sizes dotted the city everywhere. Thin saplings next to massive things that climbed high, their fractal like branches mingling with the twisting, living ivory. The oldest trees were draped in ivy, some trickling water.
Blue globes of light hung in the air, beneath the thick leaves like floating streetlamps. More globes simply bobbed around as though drifting while others floated alongside groups of Keitane as they strolled through their fabric and lace city.
“Huh? I thought you’d live in trees or castles or both.”
“With the trees, not in them. The buildings are alive but they are not a tree.” Hasla frowned down at him. “We are not squirrels.”
“Obviously. So…now what?”
Hasla grinned at him, white teeth glinting. “Now we find out if you live or die, human, and how much trouble Evandrel has gotten himself into.”
Evandrel walked tall and sure of himself, ignoring the whispers as he made his way to the Grove. He didn’t like leaving the human behind, but he had no choice. I should not care for his safety. I must focus on the task at hand.
Evandrel stepped through the archway, solid stone carved by Dwaro hands long ago depicting the long battle with the Sidra A’Tynine. The Tyninian betrayal still stung a thousand years later.
Invisible energy buzzed around him as he crossed the threshold into the Grove. Evandrel smiled as the tingle ran across his skin, as a net of power designed to give the Elders warning if anyone crossed into the Grove uninvited felt him out. Nice bit of magic. The sensation had been such a mystery the last time he had come here, the day he had been called to be a Light Bringer.
“I am here. I returned only to bring an anomalous human to your attention and to report a Tyninian in the forest, but I am ready for the trials if it be the will of the Elders.” He called out to the darkening forest.
“Really?” A woman, bent and stooped with age, stepped from behind an ancient tree. She moved without sound as she approached on her short legs, shriveled body leaving her not much taller than a human. “You think you are ready for the trials even though you cut your training short by months? Are you as arrogant and foolish as the child who left so recently?”
“No, Eldest, I am nothing like that child. Truly the only reason I returned early was to bring the human to you. The Tyninian attack also troubled me and steeled my resolve to come here before my time. The boy has the ability to travel across the spaces between worlds in the blink of an eye…and there is more that you must see.”
The woman stopped before him and rapped him on the head with a staff that appeared in her hand, though Evandrel had not seen her carrying anything. “Must I? You have no place to present news to the Order. You are not a member yet.”
“Then let me take the trials. I am ready. I will pass and then you must listen and see what I have seen.”
“Must we listen? Must we see? Are you strong enough to force us?”
Evandrel swallowed back his anger. “That is not what I meant, Eldest.”
The old woman laughed, a long cackle. “I know that, Evandrel da’a Losel, but I like to have a moment of fun with the initiates before they face death. You need not beg us to give you the trials. They have already begun.”
The trees creaked and cracked around him as the Grove leaned in, leaves slipping between him and the setting sun. The elderly Keitane lifted her arms and the darkness deepened as all the trees throughout the Grove and beyond turned their leaves to block the light. “Come along then. And call me Thyra. You could be dead in a few minutes. Might as well stop with all this Eldest nonsense.”
He followed Thyra into the Grove, past the sacred trees that were a part of every Keitane, brothers and sisters in a way. Thyra nodded to each one as she passed in greeting. Evandrel did the same. She went deep into the Grove where Evandrel had never gone and then stopped before a dark, twisted stone formation at what Evandrel guessed would be the center of the Grove.
Black spires of oily stone reached up and out of the ground in a roiling mass that in the dying light looked to slither and slide over one another. The formation sent chills down Evandrel’s spine. Hate, fear, sorrow, shame, and pain rolled through his body as he looked upon it, these emotions emanating from the cold rock in waves he could almost see. Evandrel fought for control.
“Wha…what is this?” His voice shook.
“This is where darkness entered our world a thousand years ago. Our brethren called it forth to cleanse the world of humanity, using the Sacred Grove’s power to aid them. This is the threshold of Rho, a small piece of a god frozen in stone forever.”
Evandrel had always had faith, but he now looked upon the embodiment of all his beliefs. “The legends are real then? The Sidra A’Tynine really called forth Rho?”
“Yes. Our dark brethren have waited in the North for us to forget their trespass against nature, against th
e Grove and the Prophets, but we will never forget. And apparently they wait no longer, but we are ready for them. We are Light Bringers and we will stop them when they try again.”
“You think they will try?”
“I do. I think they have begun.”
“Were you alive when they did this?”
The woman cackled again. “How old do you think I am, my boy, a thousand and forty?”
“Of course not. That was foolish of me.”
“Smartest thing you’ve said since you stepped through the gate. My grandmother told me stories. Her brother broke away with the Tyninians and murdered their father. Terrible times. We very nearly destroyed ourselves with our hatred.”
Evandrel reached out toward the formation. He stopped just short of touching it.
“You can touch it. I cannot say it is fully dead, but it will not hurt you. It serves as a reminder of what has come before and what we may face.”
Evandrel allowed his hand to move forward. The glossy cold stone seemed to reach out to meet his hand. Cold, pain, darkness, hunger, hate so deep it burned, hate for humanity, for anything living beneath the light and air. Evandrel ripped his hand away.
Thyra laughed again. “It cannot hurt you, but that does not make it pleasant. Turn your hate and anger away, Evandrel. It will not serve you well here.”
“You want me to just forgive the Tyninians who murdered our people and the humans who hunted us into hiding?”
The Eldest nodded. “Too many have passed the trials and still hold their hate close like a familiar childhood blanket. Your friend, Hasla is such.”
“I would be proud to be like Hasla.”
“Would you? Pride started all of this. We felt we were above humanity, and our pride spawned a desire to cleanse the world of humans at any cost. We allowed hate to blind us and we very nearly brought destruction down on our world and many other worlds I would guess. Think on it, please, if you survive the trials.”
The Crystal Bridge (The Lost Shards Book 1) Page 21