Heidel came toward us. “It looks like we all made it through.”
After getting to my feet, I located my pack and the staff, and I picked them up.
The others stood, and we scanned the landscape. A mountain range rose over the horizon. Other than that, I saw no other landmarks. The air wasn’t as cold as it should have been for ice to form on the ground, which made me wonder how the tiny pebbles managed to stay frozen. As I stared at the strange purple sky, I realized what I assumed were a band of stars might be something else.
“Is that… the moon?” I asked.
Near the horizon, what appeared to be a large chunk of the moon glowed in the sky, but the rest of it had been broken into pieces so small they looked like bright stars glowing in a band that crossed from one end of the sky to the other.
“Yes,” Brodnik said. “What happened to it?”
“No idea,” I answered.
“What do you know of this world, Olive?” Rolf asked.
“Not much. In the vision I saw, I got the impression that it was damaged somehow. I also know there are unfriendly creatures here, and we’ll most likely run into the Regaymor at some point.”
Brodnik wrinkled his nose. “Regaymor?”
“You remember those, don’t you?” Kull said, finally getting to his feet. “Big, scary phantoms with long, wispy cloaks. Impossible to kill.”
“Then we should avoid them if at all possible,” Heidel said. “Where do we go from here?”
Glancing at the staff, I tried to figure out how the thing was supposed to lead us to Lucretian when it occurred to me that I had no idea how to use it. “To be honest, I’m not really sure.”
Grace whined as she sniffed the ground. She trotted ahead of us, stopped, then headed straight for the mountains.
“Should we follow the beast?” Brodnik asked.
“The mountains would be the best place to find shelter,” Kull said.
“We can’t let her go alone,” Heidel said.
“Fine,” I answered. “We’ll go to the mountains. In the meantime, I’ll try to figure out how to use this staff.”
The five of us started across the desert. There were no trees or plants of any kind, no sounds except for our footsteps shifting over the icy sand. The air was thin. As we walked, catching my breath became more difficult.
The sun rose above the horizon, changing the sky from a deep purple to lilac. Although there were no clouds, the sky remained hazy, and the moon remnants were still visible. A stiff wind whipped my cloak around my legs.
“How does anything survive in this place?” Brodnik asked, breaking up the tense silence that had fallen over us.
“Not very well,” I answered.
When the sun rose higher, we reached an area where large boulders lay haphazardly over the ground. Resting on the rocks, we ate a quick lunch of dried fruit and a strange dried meat that tasted stringy and was difficult to chew, bread, and a few pieces of cheese. I’d been smart this time and smuggled a few granola bars with me. I shared, of course. I wasn’t totally selfish.
“It tastes like stale marshmeal,” Rolf said, staring at his half-eaten granola bar.
“At least it’s better than that cissikin she roasted in the pixie swamps,” Brodnik said. “She almost killed us with that charred rodent. Do you remember?”
“Yes!” Rolf answered a little too cheerfully, “I remember that one. It was horrible!”
Brodnik grunted. “Hard to forget.”
“But maybe we should forget about it, right?” I asked. “I think we’d be better off if we just forgot about it.”
“I like it,” Heidel said, interrupting us as she chewed a bite of the granola bar. “It’s better than those dried leathers you brought, Rolf.”
He squared his shoulders. “I’ll have you know that Bryn made those.”
“Did she?” Heidel smirked.
“Yes, she did.”
“I’ll keep that in mind next time you invite me over for a meal.”
“Bryn is an excellent cook,” Rolf said.
“I’m sure she is,” Kull interjected.
“You see? Cousin Kull agrees with me.”
Heidel tossed her half-eaten piece of jerky to Grace. “That’s one person.”
“Let’s get moving,” Kull said as he stared out over the mountains. His eyes grew pensive as the wind shifted. The fog obscuring the sky grew thicker, making the sun look like a floating pink orb.
After replacing the rations in our packs, we continued through the desert. As the mist descended, the air grew chillier. Grace growled and trotted ahead, but I couldn’t see what had her stirred up.
The air tasted slightly salty. The nearer we got to the mountains, the stronger a sickly sweet scent came to us. Chills bristled my skin as I recognized the smell of death.
“What’s that?” Brodnik said. He pointed to a dark spot a few paces ahead where Grace hunched over something on the ground. Bits of fur and bone peeked from a carcass. It was the size of a large dog, though I had never seen a creature like it before. Long fangs protruded from the mouth, and the head was elongated like a horse’s skull, reminding me of the bloodthorn. There was something wrong with the corpse, something that felt wholly unnatural—like its magic had been forcefully stripped away.
I shuddered and stepped back.
“Looks to have been killed by something,” Brodnik said. “See these puncture wounds here, in its shoulders and neck? Blood’s been drained, too. But its flesh is intact. Odd.”
“What sort of animal would take the blood and leave the flesh?” Rolf asked.
Brodnik shook his head. “Not one I’m familiar with.”
“It took more than blood,” I said, stretching my hand over the body, letting the magic envelop me. As I did, the odd feeling of the syphoned power grew stronger, reminding me of the same sort of enchantment I’d felt when I’d encountered a woman named Zariah, the consort to a crazed dragon baron. She’d used her powers to take my magic away. Her magic had evoked feelings of violence, and I felt that same sensation here. “Something has stolen its magic.”
“Stolen how?” Heidel asked.
“I’m not sure, but it reminds of Zariah’s magic. Something similar could have happened here.”
Brodnik poked at the corpse with the tip of his sword. “No maggots, no flies. Very strange.”
“Shall we keep moving?” Kull asked.
“Yes,” Heidel agreed. “I don’t like this. I don’t like not knowing what we’re up against. There could be predators out there ready to drain our blood, and we have no idea what they look like, how to spot them, or what else they’re capable of.”
“They’d most likely drain your blood,” I said, “and they would drain my magic and my blood. It wouldn’t be pretty.”
“Keep moving,” Kull repeated. “We need to get to those mountains. If we are attacked, it needs to be someplace where we’d have a chance of hiding.”
We followed Kull at a brisk pace toward the mountains. Boulders replaced the smaller stones. The ground sloped upward as we approached the range. The wind whipped clouds of dust through the air, but when it died down, it was obvious we’d gotten closer to our goal.
We climbed a sloping hill and stopped when we reached a ledge. I reached out and ran my hands over one of the rock’s glassy surfaces. It felt cold, but not freezing. I felt magic in the stone, too, though it was unlike Earth or Faythander magic. It was black magic. Yet, it wasn’t like Geth’s or the Regaymors’ powers—this didn’t have that same taint. It felt similar to Silvestra’s magic.
“Have you found something, Olive?” Rolf asked.
“Yes. There’s magic here. It’s black magic.”
“Black?” Heidel questioned.
“Yes, but not like Geth’s. It’s different.”
“How?”
“It just feels less evil, if that makes sense. Perhaps it’s because this magic has never been used for evil like others have. Silvestra’s magic felt this same way.
I don’t think black magic is entirely evil. It’s more like clay. It can be used however you want—except that when black magic gets used for evil, it becomes tainted. I also suspect that after it’s been tainted, it’s capable of twisting the practitioner, though I don’t have any proof of that.”
“I agree,” Heidel said. “Whenever Geth used black magic, you could feel the taint, as if it were twisting him, making him different. He was never the same after using that kind of magic.”
“And to think that Silvestra believed you possessed black magic,” Kull said. “I still haven’t figured that one out.”
“Neither have I,” I answered.
The wind shifted, and we continued. As we did, the fog lifted, but we couldn’t see much ahead except for steep slopes. Climbing was harder to do than I’d thought. The thin air made catching my breath a chore. Every muscle in my body felt the change in pressure.
“Look there,” Brodnik said, stopping abruptly.
We stopped behind him. The hills leveled out. We looked out over a desolate valley, but at its center, we saw an abandoned building of some sort—a castle or fortress that reminded me of a mosque with the remains of a dome on top.
“It doesn’t look like there’s anyone down there, does it?” Rolf asked.
“No, it appears to be abandoned,” I said. I glanced at the staff. So far, I hadn’t figured out how to use the thing. Maybe once I felt more rested, I could actually concentrate on how to control its powers. But would I ever get a chance to rest in a place like this?
“Let’s go down there,” Kull said.
“Go down there?” Heidel asked. “Are you sure? It’s probably infested with whatever creatures killed that dog-thing back there.”
Grace growled and her hackles rose as she stared down at the structure.
“You see?” Heidel said. “Grace agrees with me.”
“But it’s a place to take shelter, which we’ll not get up here. Night is coming soon, and I don’t see anywhere better,” Kull said.
“I agree,” Brodnik said. “We’ll be able to defend ourselves more easily in a place like that than we will out here.”
Heidel crossed her arms. “I still don’t like it.”
“Then you may stay up here,” Kull said.
“And let you get killed down there? No, I will go if only to save your skin. Yet again.”
“You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?”
“Of course not. Why would I?”
Our group started down the slope leading to the fortress. The sky grew darker, and I had no way to tell for sure, but it seemed the daylight hours were shorter here than on Earth or Faythander.
The slope grew steeper, making us carefully climb our way down. Some of the rocks were sharp enough to cut our hands. In front of me, Heidel slipped, only managing to catch herself on one of the larger rocks.
“I don’t like this world,” Heidel said as she crawled to her knees.
“I’m starting to agree with you,” Brodnik called above us.
“Let’s just get off this slope,” Kull said, “then maybe we’ll like it a little better.”
When we finally made it to the valley’s floor, only a dim light was left in the sky to guide us toward the ancient fortress. We walked on a wide road constructed from paving stones, though most were broken up. In some places, the road had disappeared altogether.
Small, one-room structures dotted our path. They were constructed of bricks and had roofs of thin sheets of slate. Most of them were weather worn. Some were missing walls or had caved in, though a few looked untouched by time.
The buildings could have been houses, though they didn’t look large enough for a family. However, since I knew nothing of this world and so little about the creatures living here, I wasn’t sure what the building’s purposes were. Maybe they weren’t houses at all.
Ahead, a shadow loomed as we neared the structure we’d seen from the top of the mountains. The building could have easily been fifty stories tall. Its dome soared into the sky. As night replaced dusk, we found the entrance to the building—a wide, gaping crevice that seemed to stretch endlessly inside. Fog trailed along the ground, making tendrils snake across the floor. Grace trotted forward, sniffing the ground, then circled back toward us and sat at Heidel’s side.
She patted the wolf’s head before looking back up. “You sure you want to go in there?” she asked her brother.
“Yes. We still haven’t found anywhere else to take shelter.”
“I agree,” Rolf said. “It’s too dark to try and find somewhere else. We’ll have to make camp here. It’s the only option we’ve got.”
“But we’ll need to be careful,” Kull added. “We may not be the only ones trying to take shelter here. There could be any manner of beasts hiding inside. Keep your weapons close.” He worked his jaw back and forth as he stared pensively into the opening. “I don’t like this,” he mumbled to himself.
“If you don’t like it, then we should stay out here,” Heidel said. “We’ll shelter in one of those smaller structures we saw.”
“Nay,” Brodnik said. “We’d still be too exposed. If we were attacked, we’d be trapped inside. Plus, not all of us would fit inside one of those hovels, so we’d have to split up. I’d rather not make that mistake.”
“Perhaps we should see what’s inside this place first,” I interjected, “and then decide if we’d like to stay.”
Heidel nodded. “Yes. Good idea, Olive.”
I stood a little taller at Heidel’s compliment. I wasn’t sure, but it may have been the only compliment she’d ever offered me.
“Very well,” Kull said. “We’ll see what’s in there first, but we’ll need light.”
“I think I can handle it,” I answered, turning to the staff, wondering if I could manage a simple spell. I whispered a word of magic, attempting to ignite the staff’s blue jewel at its apex. Magic streamed from my hands and into the staff, but when it reached the jewel, it faded. I tried again with a different spell, but had no luck. The staff seemed to be resisting my magic, though I had no clue why.
Curses. What good was I on this quest if I couldn’t even handle a simple spell?
Heidel let out an exasperated sigh. “I brought lanterns.”
And the moment ended. Whatever good impression I’d made on Heidel was gone. Just once I’d like to be able to impress at least one of Kull’s family members, but that wouldn’t be happening any time soon.
Heidel removed three elven lanterns from her bag and passed them around.
“Are these fey lanterns?” I asked, studying the gold wire artfully wrapping the glass cylinders.
“Yes. I found them in Maveryck’s things. Thought they might come in handy.” At the mention of Maveryck, her voice grew quiet, her eyes distant. She gave lanterns to Kull and Brodnik and kept one for herself. As she ignited the glowing blue flame inside the glass case, I noticed that she held the lantern with reverence. She must have seen me looking at her, so she cleared her throat and turned away from me to pat Grace’s head. I tried not to notice the tears in her eyes.
“Shall we enter?” Kull asked after the lanterns had been ignited.
“Yeah,” I answered. “I’d like to get this over with.”
We stepped into the fortress, the fog muffling our booted footsteps. In the light of the lanterns, shapes appeared. Large piles of broken rubble lay strewn about, but in some places, tall pillars stretched upward. Our tiny lights didn’t glow bright enough to illuminate the ceiling.
We crossed into an area where half the roof was missing, making the light from the broken moon spill into the chamber, revealing a depression in the floor with surrounding steps, like an amphitheater. At the center of the sunken area, we spotted a small hole.
Taking the steps down, we stopped when we reached the hole. Overhead, the band of broken moon rocks shone surprisingly bright. As I stared at the twinkling bits of moon rocks, I was taken aback by their beauty. Even in a world like
this, splendor could still be found if one knew where to look.
“Can you see what’s down there?” Heidel asked as we crowded over the hole.
“It’s too deep to see anything,” Rolf answered.
“If a civilization lived here at one point,” Brodnik said, “they’d need water. This was most likely used as a well, but there’s no way to know for sure.”
“Yes, there is,” Rolf said. “Toss something down there and listen for a splash.”
“Do you really think that’s a good idea?” I asked.
He shrugged, then found a small pebble and threw it down. After a few seconds, we heard a splash.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” Brodnik said, frowning.
“Why not?”
“Because you could have woken a giant beast sleeping down there, that’s why not.”
“Giant beasts don’t live in tiny holes like that. They wouldn’t fit.”
Behind us, Kull called from the top of the steps. “Look up here,” he said. The others turned away from the hole and began climbing up. I lingered for a moment, my gaze drawn to the black stains marring the lip of the opening. Kneeling beside the well, I lightly touched the dark spots. Were they bloodstains?
I wasn’t sure I agreed with Brodnik about this hole being a well. It may have been used for something else altogether. Turning away, I trailed behind the others and made it to the top of the steps where they gathered around a pillar. But as I approached it, I realized the pillar was heavily carved.
“What is that?” I asked Kull as I stopped next to him.
“Not sure. What do you make of it?”
I studied the pillar. “The shape looks humanoid—I can see legs and a torso.”
“I see the arms,” Rolf pointed out.
“It’s difficult to see the head from down here,” I said.
Kull scanned the room. “There’s a balcony up there. We might be able to get a better perspective.”
Walking away from the statue, we spotted a staircase leading to the balcony. Our footsteps echoed as we ascended the stairs. Chills prickled my skin the higher we climbed. I didn’t like this place. I was beginning to agree with Heidel. We should’ve just camped outside or stayed in the hovels we’d passed, because this place was giving off a seriously creepy vibe.
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