“Dunno.” Mordegan yanked a pair of desert goggles over Benny's head, then pulled up her hood. “He's on his own, same as Juna. Brace yourself to run again. Another siege engine's coming.”
She tried to stand fully upright, but her injured knees screamed. “Dad, no. I can't.”
She stumbled as Mordegan pulled her forward. “I can't carry you, Benny. You've gotta move.”
Benny sank to the ground. “Dad. I can't. Where are we supposed to move? If we keep running, they're just going to kill us outright. If we stay still, maybe they won't think we're with the elves.”
“You saying we should sit here and surrender?”
“I'm saying I can't sarding run, gods damn it. Look at my legs.” Benny gestured toward her blood-soaked knees. Several cactus spines had detached when she freed herself and were now firmly planted in her flesh.
“Shit.” Mordegan pulled a spine out of his arm. He lowered his scarf and rubbed the side of his nose as he glanced toward where the outpost had been. Nothing was left. He crouched next to Benny and carefully plucked one spine from her knee, then another. “You've got a bunch in the back of your shoulder, too. Gods-damned porcupine shitplants.”
Benny raised her hand and stroked the thick stubble on her father's jaw. “Sorry, Dad.”
“Not your fault, Benny-girl. Sometimes everything just goes to shit.” He nodded as Juna and Radamar dashed between a grouping of boulders to join them. They were dusty, but appeared uninjured. “You two went off together? Didn't think I'd see that. Glad to see neither of you got yourselves crushed.”
Juna held up a hand in a pinching gesture. “Close.”
Radamar knelt next to Mordegan to pry the last two spines from Benny's knees. “We need to go. Now. The Fae are upon us.”
Mordegan shrugged and tossed a handful of bloodied spines aside. “Too late for that. Don't let them see you're an elf if you know what's good for you, Nightshadow. Keep quiet and keep covered. You're small enough that if we show them Juna they might think you're just another light-shy Uldru.”
“I'm not–”
“Shut your mouth and be a sarding Uldru, Nightshadow.” Mordegan stood and removed his hood and goggles. “Benny, keep your ears covered. I'm just gonna be me.”
A contingent of Fae circled, their oversized horses snorting and huffing. They were dressed for the desert, but their triangular ears were uncovered and their plush tails sat relaxed on their saddles. Faeline, every one of them.
“Raise your hands, all of you. Show them we're not a threat.” Mordegan lowered his chin and held his palms toward the nearest Fae.
The rider dismounted and lurched toward him, battle axe in hand. She was at least two hands taller than Mordegan, and broader across the shoulders. Two others followed, but the rest continued to circle on horseback. In the distance, the coaxi's handlers whooped as several elves were crushed beneath thundering feet.
Mordegan shook his hands out and straightened his chin. “Whoa, whoa. We're not with those sardlicking elves. We just stopped to shelter from the storm and you all started stomping down around us. Don't want any trouble, just wanna find our spooked horses and be on our way.”
The Faeline tilted her head and lowered her axe. “Mordegan Vale?”
“Yeah. That a problem?”
The Faeline lowered her scarf and raised her goggles, revealing bright green-gold eyes below short layers of black hair. She rubbed the amber skin of her cheek and raised an arched eyebrow.
“Cass? Knew you'd have the gumption to fight back.” Mordegan smiled and nodded toward Benny. “Remember my daughter, Benny? I finally found her. Other two are a couple Uldru I picked up to train. They've got quarrel with the elves, same as you. We're just trying to get over to the Azure. Benny's kid is there.”
“Gods-damned Fae-lover.” Cass spat at a cactus and cocked her head toward Juna. “Show me your face. You too, Benny Vale.”
Benny smiled at Cass, relieved that the Faeline was more interested in Juna than Radamar. Marsalia Cassil, called simply 'Cass' by anyone who gave a damn about her, was a freelance mercenary whose services Mordegan had utilized on a regular basis. Benny had known her since early childhood, and all memories of her were interlaced with the inexplicable odors of almonds and licorice. Cass didn't like kids, so Benny had never found any reason to like her. Maybe it would be different now that Benny was an adult.
“Hey, Cass,” Benny said, her voice rough from too much swallowed sand.
“You look like hell, kid. You've got blood all over you and more old scars than you should.” Cass spat on the ground near Mordegan's feet. “I'd call you half-elf rubbish and feed you to our coaxi friend, but I respect your dad too much for that.” She gasped and narrowed her wide eyes as Juna revealed his face. “Oh hell, you really are one of those Uldru, aren't you? I saw a couple of you near Jadeshire a year or two ago, before everything went to hell in that realm.” She nodded at Radamar. “That your brother?”
“Yeah. I'm Juna, he's Rad. He's even more light-sensitive than I am and he can't talk anymore. Varaku cut his tongue off because he wouldn't stop speaking with it when he was told to shut up. Idiot.” Juna shrugged and looked away.
Mordegan scratched at his forearm. “You gonna let us be on our way, Cass?”
Cass's lips twisted into a smirk. “Nah. I think we're going to hold onto you four for a while. Make you work for your freedom.”
“Seriously?”
She laughed, and her companions laughed along with her. “Yeah, Mordegan. You allied yourself with elves. You fathered yourself a half-Fae abomination, and this garbage kid of yours here is a half-elf. Can't let that lie forgotten. Plus, you've seen our coaxi. And I might be able to claim a bounty on your traitorous ass if we decide to swing up to the Jade.” She clicked her tongue against her sharp teeth and patted the black haft of her battle axe. “Gonna have to take you prisoner now, old friend. Don't worry. We won't hurt you if you don't put up a fight. Give me any trouble and I'm sending your heads back to Jadeshire in a swine crate.”
BACK IN CAPTIVITY, and fighting it would lead to a worse outcome than accepting it. Humans and Uldru were not enemies of the Fae, and it wasn't time to turn them into such.
Benny waited until they were deposited in a large, steel-reinforced travel wagon before grabbing Radamar's wrist and dragging him into a corner. She released her grip once they were settled, but kept her hand on his arm.
“I need you to help me,” she whispered. Her eyes darted toward Mordegan and Juna, who were too busy swearing at each other to pay her any attention. “I can take care of my knees and hand, but I can't reach my shoulder to clean it up. I don't want them to see. I need you to do it for me, and I need you to block their view when I clean my legs.”
“They're going to find out eventually.” Radamar tried to raise his goggles but Benny slapped his hand away.
“No. Don't show your eyes or even a tiny bit of skin here. Don't speak outside, and never above a whisper in here. You can't pass as an Uldru. Even if it's just the four of us, we never know when someone is going to peek in.” She sighed and scratched at the side of her neck. Her fingernails pulled away a fuzzy, sticky substance that must have come from one of the cacti she landed on. “I'm trying to delay it as long as possible. I don't want to explain it. I don't want pity or worry or disgust.”
Radamar gave a sharp nod, then tossed a small pouch toward Mordegan. “Your med kit. Juna has some shrapnel in the back of his thigh. He probably needs help digging it out.” He waited until Juna's curses transitioned into scowls before returning his attention to Benny. “That ought to distract them for a few minutes. A boulder blew up next to him.” He unrolled his own med kit and gently touched Benny's upper arm. “Turn around and work on your knees. I need you to take off your tunic so I can get to your shoulder. It doesn't need to come all the way off, just off that arm. And I need some light.”
Benny pulled a small blue orb out of her palm and placed it low in the air before turning around. Sh
e created a second orb and hovered it above her knees. She carefully slid her arm up the left sleeve of her tunic but something tugged at her shoulder.
“Wait. Don't yank it. Your skin is stuck to the fabric. Dried blood and a couple stray spines.” Radamar poured cool water over her shoulder, then carefully picked at the tunic. Once it was free, he gathered the fabric and draped it over her collarbone.
Benny's nerves prickled as Radamar's tweezers picked at her skin. “Can you even tell where the punctures are with the mess already back there?”
“It's not as bad as you think it is.”
“It's horrific.” Benny eased her pants above her knees and looked down at the tiny blood dots punctuating her already-marred skin. She wet a cloth and dabbed at the injuries. “I know the cactus tussle is only a minor problem, but I don't want any of it getting infected out here. Nothing big enough for sutures, but looks like I've erased a couple of these runes.” She lifted the cloth and tiny beads of blood rose to cover the intricate network of tattooing that embraced her legs. “Good. I didn't want them, anyway.”
“They reveal you for what you are,” Radamar said, his voice a low and muffled whisper. “You can't scar away the spells once they're written on you. They'll heal unblemished. It's infused into their magic.”
“Sarding Ranalae.” Benny took the ointment that Radamar passed forward. She rubbed it into her knees and palm as her heart rose to a flutter. She hated the sight of her own bare skin, and hated the nightmarish memories that sight brought to the surface.
“It was never about Ranalae. What you are is far more than her. She only was allowed to mark you because she identified you. She couldn't finish the task, though. You were supposed to be sent to someone else for that. Only a lightbinder can complete a Spellkeeper.”
“Instead she threw me away unfinished and replaced me with . . . Shan Sylleth?”
Radamar leaned over her shoulder so his covered mouth was next to her ear. “Shannon Goldtree. Yes. He frightens me in a way Ranalae never did. He's not cruel in the same way she was, but he's vengeful and he has so much power hiding inside him that I don't know if the world can survive his completion. I don't think we'll have to wait much longer to find out. He has been in Anthora for nearly a year.”
Benny wrapped gauze around her knees and palm, then lowered her pant legs and repositioned her gloves. “I guess it depends on if he's allowed to bind himself to a child of his own blood like I was or if the Anthoran lightbinder decides they would rather subject the world to Spellkeeper psychosis. Let's hope for the former.”
“I think you're right about staying in Auberline. If we can get away from these Fae, we need to keep both you and Radella away from Anthora. I've seen enough of what my people hide beneath the surface to know that it's best to keep Spellkeepers incomplete and as far away from each other as possible.” Radamar eased Benny's arm back into her bloodied tunic. “We need to get out of here first.”
Benny reabsorbed the light orbs into her palm, then leaned past Radamar to summon Mordegan's attention. “Hey, Dad? Got any plans?”
“Working on it.” His nose crinkled as he snipped the thread of a suture he'd just completed in Juna's thigh. “Don't worry. Cass seems to be in charge of this lot, and I know a couple of her weaknesses. Rest up. I'll get this figured out and we'll be on our way to the Azure in no time. We need a plan, and I think that means our mages are gonna magic us out of here when the time's right.”
In the distance, more explosions. More massive, stomping coaxi feet.
Benny breathed through the rising panic and wiped dusty tears across the backs of her even dustier gloves. The images on her legs rose to swarm before her eyes. Every rune and scar was a curse. Maybe Radella was better off without her.
11
Tessen
“Apprehension, agitation, clay bells, and the flavor of burnt sugar. No malice, though, at least none I recognize. I've never felt anything like this before. I can feel sound and taste touch. His senses are completely different from mine. The Uldru are familiar. He isn't.” Tessen withdrew his hand from the bars and rested it on the top of Serida's head. She chirped and twisted her neck to lick his fingers. “He's afraid of her. Serida frightens him even more than we do.”
Serida clacked her jaws and growled.
“Stop. That doesn't help. Go wait outside.” Tessen withdrew his hand and gestured toward the gate. “Please, Serida. Now.”
Serida snorted, then trotted out of the dungeon corridor. She sat just outside the gate and preened her golden scales.
The air around the Varaku calmed, but the gray-skinned creature remained in the shadows of the far corner. Tessen returned his hands to the bars. “That's better. He's not so fearful now. I taste . . . I think it's copper. Metallic dust of some sort. Beneath all his apprehension, the only thing I feel is grief. He can't figure out why he feels compelled to stay alive when everyone he ever loved is now dead. He has nothing left and he's alone. He wishes Hael had killed him. He hopes she still might.” He turned away and pressed his back into the bars. Not looking directly at the Varaku helped lower his heart rate, but not by much, not enough. “Mom, I don't think I can do this. I can interpret some of what he's feeling but the rest is so strange it sends every nerve in my body into a panic. I can barely breathe.”
Rin shifted closer to Tessen. She pressed her palm against his racing heart and sighed. “Slow down. He can't hurt us.”
“I'm not worried about him hurting anyone. I'm overwhelmed by what he's feeling and I have no words for too many of these sensations. This is a little like an Uldru who has no names for anything they see, except I'm the Uldru and I'm feeling things that don't make sense. The taste of murky water flows across my skin like a sluggish oil and I'm hearing colors. Did you know that blue sounds like a bone windchime? That's what he feels when he sees your eyes.”
“Tessen...”
Lyssandra stepped away from the wall, a hint of a smirk on her full lips and amusement in her green eyes. Tessen couldn't feel what she felt, but her facial expressions gave her away more often than she realized. She drummed her fingertips against the bars. “You were born for this, Tessen Lim. Empathy as a form of magic is innate. You can't escape it and you need to learn to live with it. Experiencing something as foreign and terrifying as this will help you deal with the mundane more effectively. An anxious empath is a difficult creature to tame.”
“Tame? I'm not a pet.” Tessen held his hand over his mother's. “It's getting stronger. So quickly, like I'm falling. I'm afraid someday soon all I'll feel is what others feel and I'll lose myself to it.”
“That will only happen if you let it.” Lyssandra stopped tapping and held up her hand to examine her fingernails. “Get your own emotions under control. The Uldru are all in the great hall for their lessons. Can we trust this thing to be taken outside without him causing a fuss? I want to see how he reacts to the weather.”
Rin withdrew her hand and crossed her arms over her chest. “I don't think this is a good idea, Lyssa.”
“I don't care about your opinion on the matter, Katrin.”
Tessen exhaled through his mouth and turned to face the Varaku. The creature's diamond eyes glittered in the lantern light, and his wide mouth remained pinched shut, concealing an overabundance of jagged, needle-sharp teeth. “Itrek, we want to show you something, but it means removing you from your cell for a short time. Will you cooperate?”
The fungal-tasting emotion radiating from Itrek was nowhere near trust or relaxation, but it did contain a large measure of curiosity. He closed his eyes for several breaths, then opened them and nodded. “Yes.”
Tessen clicked his tongue against his teeth. “Serida, go find something to do. If you stick around where he can see you, he'll only panic.”
“Chirp.” Serida's lip curled, revealing sharp, white teeth. She shook out her wings, then trotted out of sight.
Itrek kept his huge eyes lowered and his wide, flat nose pointed directly at his spindly, claw-
tipped toes. All four of his arms relaxed as he allowed Tessen and Rin to shackle him and lead him from the cell into the corridor. His gray skin tasted like old leather and stagnant brine beneath Tessen's fingertips. Tessen tried to breathe slowly and subdue a shudder of revulsion. This crossing of the senses was far worse than any proper emotion the Varaku could have discharged.
Itrek was as tall as Tessen, but broader of frame and so gaunt his skeletal structure was visible beneath his ashen skin. The human clothing that had been modified to accommodate his extra arms was too tight around his shoulders and too loose everywhere else. He walked with long, slow strides, leaning a little too hard on Tessen and Rin for support. He was near death when he was brought to the surface, but his new diet of mutton and mountain trout had given him a small measure of restored health. It was too bad, really. Tessen thought it would have been better for everyone, including Itrek himself, if he hadn't survived those first few days above ground. There was no place in this world for something whose people had tortured and eaten countless victims, including Yana's parents.
“You smell of sickness and there is pain throughout your body, especially in your spine,” Itrek whispered. His voice was low and breathy, with the occasional croak like a rusty door hinge antagonized by an autumn gale. His tentacles drifted toward Tessen, tickling without touching and emitting the taste of chalk.
“I was sick. Bronchitis, a coughing illness. I'm better now, but I'm tired so don't vex me because I have no patience for anything right now, especially not someone whose relatives tortured my family.” Tessen shook his head to clear away the clanging dissonance of the color purple.
Rin reached behind Itrek's wide back and poked Tessen's side. “We're giving him a chance, okay? He's a sub-adult, likely a couple years younger than you. His behavior and ideas are still flexible.”
Confusion radiated into Tessen's shoulder. The Varaku tilted his diamond-shaped face toward Rin and asked, “What is years?”
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