“I half-expected that stench to form a cloud.” Gisella pulled open the doors, holding her spear at the ready.
Two horses and three cows sprawled across the dirt-and-straw floor. Flies buzzed around the maggot-bloated carcasses. A fresh wave of odiferous rot wafted past, and Valora blanched and dashed away. Gisella covered her mouth with her cloak and peered into the dark structure. Rays of light filtered through gaps in the wallboards, providing enough illumination to reveal no one hidden inside.
She found Valora leaning on the woodshed, her face flush.
“So much for having broken my fast. Anyone in there?”
Gisella shook her head. “No one. The carcasses were partially consumed.”
“What ate them? Vermin?”
The two women proceeded toward their mounts. More thunder rumbled in the distance; the storm drew closer. “Possibly, but there are undead that feed on flesh. Perhaps some of them lie under the fields, as well.”
When they reached Moonsilver and Quincy, Gisella retrieved the map from her saddlebag. She unrolled it on the horse’s flank. A quick consultation with Valora confirmed her suspicions—the farm lay directly on the path between Vlorey and Zamora.
“I’ve seen enough. I think we should head back to the city. I don’t fancy riding in that storm, but if we make haste, we will make it by tomorrow, yes?”
“Sooner than that if we push through the night and the storm isn’t too bad. It won’t be the first time I’ve ridden in the rain, and won’t be the last, I suppose.”
Distant clouds flashed. A few seconds later, thunder rumbled again, much closer than the last time. Moonsilver nickered and stamped her feet while Quincy grunted and dug at the earth, searching for roots or tubers. The two women saddled up and turned northeast, riding toward Vlorey.
Chapter 22
Delilah summoned her apprentice and the Frost Queen to her chambers first thing the next morning. She showed them the maps she discovered. “Place names changed, yes, and some places stayed exactly the same.” She held out a hand toward Alysha. “Your circle, for example. But Parsembdan was on an island in the lake. Now, it’s an island in the sky. Some places physically moved. That’s why half our coordinates don’t work.”
The Frost Queen furrowed her brows and examined the maps. “You’re right. The world changed after The Sundering. Not much, but just enough to throw off the coordinates.”
“How do we recalculate?” Katka leaned across the table and examined the upside-down map.
“Ah ha!” Delilah placed the book of star maps on top of the other book. “We just need to figure out how much the sky has changed since then.”
Alysha shook her head. “The sky doesn’t change. Not much, anyway. New stars appear now and then, but they always fade away.”
“No, no, but our position relative to the constellations has changed, ever so slightly.” Katka opened the book of star maps. “Look here! The spring charts show the Crown of Tinian.”
“The Crown of Tinian is a summer… constellation.” Alysha’s eyes widened as she reached the same conclusion as Katka.
Delilah grinned. “Ladies, we found our answer. We just need to compensate for changes caused by The Sundering, and all these moon gates should function again.”
They worked through the morning compiling a new list of potential combinations. Delilah instructed them to concentrate on locations near Vlorey. When they were finished, they rushed back to Kale’s home in the undercity and prepared to resume their experiments once more.
Before descending the staircase, the archmage checked on Ori’s progress. The drak had separated the entire tome, allowing the pages to dry. She nuzzled his neck for good luck and followed the two humans down to the cellar.
Delilah activated the Runes of Selene. She turned the moons to their proper phases and paused before activating the first constellation. “We’ve struck Faenwar off the list, right?”
“Right. As far as I can tell, Faenwar is the Elvish name for Maritropa’s gate. Since the city is in the air, wherever the gate was must have ended up in the lake.” Katka shrugged. “I think.”
The drak archmage nodded, taking a deep breath as she activated the runes in sequence. For the first test, they chose Dwegerthon, a location without any nearby bodies of water. If this test worked, it would confirm their theory.
When the archmage touched the last rune, the portal sprang open. Alysha’s cursing was enough to tell Delilah the results were not optimal, but she circled to the front of the moon gate to see for herself. The gate had opened into a wall of solid rock. Small pebbles fell through the gate and bounced on the inner circle’s surface. After that, the gate shut down.
“Well, it worked.” Delilah activated the runed circle again. “I guess that one got buried after The Sundering. Let’s try a location closer to Vlorey this time. Do we have one we think is actually Vlorey?”
Katka examined the parchment and shook her head. “Not really. I mean, any of these strangely named ones could be Vlorey. The way the book was organized suggested these gates were in locations in the north.”
“They were probably in or near individual wizards’ towers.” Alysha peered over Katka’s shoulder at the parchment. “Maybe Vlorey itself didn’t have a moon gate.”
“Pick one.” Delilah figured one was as good as any other at this point. As they called out the runes, she activated them one by one until the gate sprang open.
“Oh, wow. You should see this.” The awe in Katka’s voice spurred Delilah to race to the front of the circle. The moon gate led to what appeared to be a bluff or plateau overlooking a lush forest. An endless stretch of cerulean water lay beyond the trees and stretched to the horizon.
“All right, I’m going through. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Delilah adjusted the grip on her staff and strode through the moon gate. She felt the familiar resistance to her passage as she passed through. The relative quiet of Kale’s cellar was replaced by the cacophony of dozens of jungle birds.
As she surveyed the area, she discovered she stood not on a plateau, but on top of the remains of a ruined tower. A crumbling set of stairs led downward toward the jungle floor. Vines and moss covered the stone walls, the life-force of the jungle reclaiming the rocks from which the tower was built. The sun hung high in the sky, its heat merciless. Delilah breathed in the warm, humid air and imagined it was not that different than trying to breathe water.
Based on the sun’s position, she estimated the sea sat to the north. Now that her new surroundings replaced the distorted picture displayed through the moon gate, she noticed land beyond the water, perhaps an island or peninsula. She followed the line of the coast to the east and noted it met with the coast closest to her.
At the point at which the two coasts met, she viewed the outline of a city, no more than a day or two’s journey. She whooped in triumph and activated the moon gate once more. When it sprang open, the archmage wasted no time jumping through it.
“That’s it! It’s got to be Vlorey.” She described what she saw, using her hands to draw an imaginary map in the air. “Where’s that atlas?”
Katka ran over to the pile of books they’d been referencing and retrieved the atlas. Delilah flipped through the pages and pointed to a peninsula labeled “Verdant Point.”
“I was on top of a tower, what was left of it. I saw that across the water. The city I saw was no more than a couple of days away on foot.”
“Hot, humid, and on the coast?” Alysha leaned on her staff and nodded. “Either that’s Vlorey or Port-of-Dogs. You’re sure you got your bearings right?”
“I know how to tell directions.” In truth, Delilah was not one hundred percent confident where that was concerned, but she was sure enough that she decided not to show uncertainty in front of the Frost Queen.
“Get your things, ladies.” Delilah rubbed her hands together. “We’re going to Vlorey, today!”
***
“Tell me, Orion.” Pancras squeezed the other minotaur�
��s leg and cast a sidelong glance at Qaliah, hoping the fiendling would read his reproach of her glee in his lover’s discomfort.
“It’s about my marriage.”
“Yes, to Sarra.” What could be so bad about that? Aita’s bones, please don’t let her be a vampire!
“I still sup with her family. I feel… obligated to them since she died trying to birth my child.” Orion’s shoulder’s slumped, and he placed his head in his heads.
Pancras stifled a chuckle and exhaled. “That’s it? Well, that’s no trouble at all. I completely understand.”
“Yeah, there’s nothing wrong with that. At all.” As Qaliah leaned against the back of her chair and crossed her legs under her, her smirk transforming into a frown.
Orion turned to Pancras. “You understand?”
“She was your mate. They are family. Even I”—Pancras placed his hand on his chest—“outcast though I am, understand duty to family. I am a minotaur. My parents taught me that before I left home.”
“I feel stupid now, but I am relieved.”
Pancras gave Orion’s knee a reassuring squeeze and eyed Qaliah. “Well, now that you’ve ruined our fun, is there any other reason you came here?”
The fiendling avoided his eyes. “It gets a little lonely at the inn without Blondie around. I’m trying to stay out of trouble, like you asked, but there’s nothing to do.”
“Aita’s bones… you’re as bad as Kale.” Pancras rubbed his right horn. He nodded to Orion. “Is there something we can have her do? What are you good at, Qaliah?”
She counted them off on her fingers. “Turning tricks, gambling, dancing, stealing…”
Both minotaurs groaned, simultaneously rubbing the bridges of their noses. Qaliah giggled and slapped her knees. “You’re both doing it!”
Pancras cleared his throat. “Is there anything productive you can do? Anything that contributes to society?”
“Those things were plenty productive in Muncifer. Boss Steelhand had plenty of work for me when I wasn’t skipping about playing a fool for Manless. I just haven’t met the right people around here.”
“And you won’t with me around.” Orion stood. “I must be off. Sarra’s family is expecting me tonight. I suppose I should let them know I might need some evenings for myself.”
“There’s no rush.” Pancras accompanied the other minotaur to the door. They embraced and pressed their heads together before Orion departed.
Qaliah’s eyes followed Pancras as he poured himself a drink and sat in the chair formerly occupied by Orion. She held out her hand, palm upraised. “I didn’t intend for things to be so awkward, you know. I’m sorry.”
“Impulse control, Qaliah.” Pancras raised his glass of wine. “You must learn impulse control.”
“Yeah, well, fiendlings aren’t really known for that, you know?” She hopped off the chair and stepped over to his decanter and goblets. “Do you mind?”
Pancras gestured for her to help herself. Heartened that she thought to ask permission, he smiled. Settling into the big chair opposite him, she sipped the wine and nodded in approval.
“So, if Blondie returns and says we were right and all the dead guys are going to Zamora and it turns out it’s really the Lich Queen coming back calling all the dead to her to be her new army”—Qaliah took another drink—“do you really think we have a chance of stopping her?”
The minotaur drained his goblet while he pondered her question. It was a subject he wrestled with, and despite what he personally thought their odds of success were, there was only one course of action. “Our chances? It doesn’t matter. We have to try.”
***
“It works? You found the gate to Vlorey?” Kale held his sister’s hands, and the two draks jumped up and down laughing. “That’s great!”
“Katka and Alysha are getting the rest of our stuff from the university. We’re leaving as soon as they return.”
Kale’s heart soared. Grinning, he spread his wings. “Great! I’ll get my stuff.” He left his sister in the shop with Ori and raced to the bedchamber.
Daggers, where are my daggers? Need the bandoleer, too. Cloak? Nah, it’s warm there. Oh! My hat! He grabbed the hat he acquired during the past winter in Almeria. He chuckled as he adjusted it on his head and noticed Kali standing in the doorway with her arms crossed.
“Oh, hey, Deli got the moon gate working. We’re going to Vlorey.” He spun past her and sped down the hallway. He heard his sister talking to Ori. The blue drak stammered and seemed to have forgotten how to speak in complete sentences.
“We are?”
“Sure, me and Deli. Pancras will need our help.”
He half-ran, half-hopped down the cellar stairs. The cavern was cloaked in darkness; the magic sconces illuminated the area only when a drak wizard was present. Once at the bottom, he buckled his bandoleer and adjusted his pouches. As he checked his daggers, he noticed Kali followed him.
“I don’t know how long we’ll be gone.”
Kali stood, a statue, silhouetted by the light from the top of the stairs, her shoulders slumped. In the darkness, Kale couldn’t see her expression. The winged drak gathered his mate in his arms and held her. She stiffened, her arms remaining at her side, while he hugged her and rubbed his cheek against hers.
“Kale!” Delilah descended the cellar stairs. The gems in the sconces burst with light as she approached. Kale glanced up at the sound of her voice.
“I’m ready, Deli!” He released Kali, and the orange drak stepped backward, glaring at Delilah.
“Ready for what, Kale?” Delilah patted Kali’s arm as she passed. She tapped the butt of her staff on the floor. He noticed his sister was not smiling.
“We’re going to go help Pancras, right?”
“I’m going, and Alysha’s going.”
“You’re not taking your apprentice?” That makes sense, I guess. She’s pretty young. “All right, so you, me, and the tall human.”
Delilah covered her eyes with her hand and exhaled. “Kale, I’m not taking you, either.”
The revelation hit him like a hammer to the chest. He staggered backward and spread his wings for balance. “What? Why?”
His sister turned, and studied Kale’s mate, before she glared at him. “You really need me to answer that?”
His chest tightened, stifling Kale’s breath. His eyes met Kali’s, from behind which screamed a silent plea.
He glanced at his sister. Delilah’s gaze appeared steady and stern. Her cheeks flexed as she clenched her jaw.
Kale returned his attention to his mate.
“I told him”—Kali drew a ragged breath—“he… he could do whatever he wanted.”
“Kale”—Delilah shook her head and laughed—“I can’t believe I’m the one telling you this. You accepted responsibility here. I’ll admit, I was angry at first, and I didn’t approve.”
She approached Kali and put her arm around the orange drak’s shoulders. “But she’s my sister now, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you shirk your responsibility to her.”
Kale couldn’t breathe. He removed his hat and allowed it to fall to the floor. “Deli… we always do these things together.”
His chest heaved, and he bit his lip to take his mind off the flood of emotions he knew he could not control. “Deli… I…”
“No, Kale.” A tear glistened in his sister’s eye. “You have to stay here.”
Unable to stem the flow, Kale sobbed. “It’s because I let the dragon go, isn’t it?”
Delilah threw her staff to the floor. “It has nothing to do with that damned dragon! This is about your choices. The choice you made when we got here.” She poked him in the chest hard enough to make him take a step backward with each jab. “You took a mate. You bought a home. This”—she gestured to the ceiling—“is your place now.”
She gripped him by the shoulders as his knees gave out and held him up. He tried to speak, but he couldn’t form intelligible words through his sobs.
Kale pushed his sister away and ran upstairs, tripping over several of the steps. By the time he reached the top, his knees were battered, bruised, and bloody. Slamming the cellar door behind him, he ran past a bewildered Ori and out onto the street to lose himself in the crowd.
***
Delilah watched her brother flee up the staircase, wincing each time she heard his knees bang on the steps. She jumped when he slammed the door.
“Maris’s bloody spear, what a disaster.”
Kali wrapped her arms around her sister-in-law and glanced toward the door. “I suppose I should thank you.”
For what? Delilah took Kali by the shoulders. “Don’t thank me yet. He might be hell to live with after this.”
“Did I make a mistake?” The orange drak continued to stare up the staircase. She trembled beneath Delilah’s grip.
“He’ll come around. Kale’s only upset because he knows I’m right.” The archmage turned Kali’s head to look her in the eyes. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. As much as I want to return to Drak-Anor, if you and Kale make your home here… then here is where I’ll stay.”
“No.” Kali shook her head and pushed Delilah away. “No, you can’t change your life to suit us.”
“Hey, look”—Delilah gestured to the Runes of Selene—“if these moon gates keep working, I’ll be able to come and go as I please.”
“I guess I should go after him.” Kali glanced over her shoulder at Delilah as she climbed the stairs.
“I wouldn’t.” The archmage followed her. “He’ll be back, then he’ll pout, and then he’ll be okay. Like I said, he knows I’m right, and once he admits it to himself, everything will be fine.”
When they entered the shop, Ori made a point of remaining focused on the manuscript he illuminated. Kali quickly searched the living quarters and then stared out the front window.
Salvation (Scars of the Sundering Book 3) Page 31