Spellkeeper

by Courtney Privett

  “Now she's preparing Kemi to be the next Moonlight Guardian, but I don't know what she's teaching her. I don't know what lies and ideas are being fed to her as part of her initiation. It worries me because Kemi is naïve and eager to please our mother, and I'm worried about the Uldru because they might see your arrival as an opportunity. Be wary of my family, Hael.”

  “Do you think we need to leave this place?” Hael asked, worried.

  Kendrian shook his head. “No. Eventually, but not yet. I think you should learn as much as you can before you set out on your own. I think you need to make sure your people continue to look to you for leadership so their allegiance doesn't shift away from you and toward my mother. They are conditioned to follow, and it might take a generation or two to break that conditioning. This generation needs a leader to follow. They need you.”

  “I don't think I know how.”

  Kendrian's lips stretched into a smile. “Yes, you do. I've been watching you, all of you. They come to you for advice, for direction. They love you and respect you because you took them from a dark cage and gave them an entire world. There are people who would try to take your leadership role from you because they think your lack of education about our world means you aren't competent. I see you, Hael. You are more than competent and you are brilliant. You deserve to be allowed to lead them unobstructed.”

  An idea crossed Hael's mind, something so bold and ridiculous that she couldn't help but wonder if she'd gone mad. “Will you help me, Kendrian? I want to do something. I need to go find Min. You find Tessen and bring him to the dungeon. This might not work, but I need to try.”

  “What do you mean to do, Hael?” Kendrian's fingertips brushed against her knee as he raised an ear and an eyebrow.

  Hael touched the back of his hand, then stood. “If they are going to continue to follow me, I want them to know where I am taking them. I need them to know who I am.”

  ASKING KENDRIAN TO bring Tessen was a mistake. The empath was useful, but the way his eyes darted about and the continuous wringing of his fingers told Hael that his own nervousness might prevent him from noticing another's.

  “I think he's on the edge of a complete breakdown,” Kendrian whispered as they approached the cell.

  “What is breakdown?” Hael asked. She turned around and watched Tessen pace across the corridor just beyond the bottom of the stairs. “He is fighting something bad.”

  “Himself. I mean, he's not bad, not at all. He's rapidly losing control of his magic, though, and no one here knows how to stop it. It's difficult to watch.”

  Hael left Kendrian with scowling Min and backtracked to the bottom of the stairs. She grabbed Tessen's wrists and looked up at him. “Tessen Lim, listen to me. I know you feel bad when you are brought near Itrek, but I need you to help me right now. This might make it better. I need you to be calm and notice everyone else. If someone has bad thoughts and means to hurt anyone else, I need you to tell me.”

  “Are you taking him outside?” Tessen's odd eyes sought hers. Sapphire on the right, amber on the left, and both with vertical pupils. His eyes were the same as his dragon's, a golden creature with a glowing tail bulb like something that belonged underground.

  “Yes.” Hael squeezed his wrists and tried to offer him a comforting smile. “I am going to do something that will change things. Some of my people might not like it. Most of them will not try to bring harm. Will you tell me if any do, or if Itrek decides to become violent? I do not think he will, but the Uldru might.”

  “I can't guarantee I can stop anything they might start,” Tessen said. He was soft-spoken and kind in spite of the pain that clearly vexed him. Hael was afraid asking him to do this was mistreatment, but there were no other empaths in Mountain Home.

  “I know. This shouldn't last long. Where is your dragon?”

  “Hunting pheasants with Auna and Hani.”

  “Good. He is afraid of dragons. I don't want to increase his fear.” Hael let go of his wrists and walked to Itrek's cell.

  The Varaku regarded her with curiosity from his seat on his cot.

  Min's arm brushed against Hael's. “I don't know why you're doing this. He wants to eat us.”

  Hael nodded at Tessen, who shook his head and said, “No, he doesn't. There are much better things to eat here than Uldru and he feels disgusted at the suggestion.”

  “I've never eaten anyone and don't intend to,” Itrek whispered.

  Hael sought contact with his eyes. “I trust you.”

  “Why?” Min asked.

  “Because if he was going to hurt us, he would have done it while we were still underground.” Hael placed her key in the cell door lock and turned it until it clicked. “I trust you too, Min. Do you trust me?”

  “Yes, but...” Min's voice trailed off as she backed away from the cell. “Hael, he is Varaku.”

  “And that is why I need his help.” She opened the door and reached out a hand. “Itrek, will you come with me?”

  Slowly, cautiously, Itrek approached her. When he was close enough, Hael took hold of one of his hands and stepped to his side.

  “Tessen?” Kendrian whispered, alarm in his bright eyes.

  Tessen shook his head. “He thinks you're going to execute him. He accepts his fate if you do.”

  “Min, I need the cloak,” Hael said, reaching back. Soft fabric found its way into her hand. She let go of Itrek's hand and reached up to touch his shoulder. “Bend down so I can put this on you. It's cold outside. I have nothing to put on your feet. Maybe later.”

  “Aren't you going to chain him?” Min asked, a tremble in her voice. “I'd feel better if you'd chain him.”

  “No. There is no need to chain him. He is not going to hurt us.”

  “What if he runs?”

  “He doesn't know enough about this world to survive running. He knows that.” Hael fastened the cloak around Itrek's neck, then pulled the fur-lined hood over his tentacles. His gray eyes regarded her with uncertain curiosity. She touched the angular line of his jaw and said, “I don't need the empath to know that you are not going to hurt me. I'm not going to hurt you, either, and I won't let anyone else. You've known for many cycles that I decide your fate. I'm deciding it now. Come with me.”

  She took his hand again and led him out of the cell and up the stairs.

  Frost crunched under her boots as they walked the short distance to the great hall. The boots were heavy and uncomfortable, but Hael tolerated them because she'd rather not step barefoot on ice. Many of the other Uldru preferred to remain barefoot, and several had already been afflicted by an injury called frostbite. No one had lost any toes yet, but the physician warned it would happen if they continued walking barefoot in the winter.

  As she expected, the majority of the Uldru were already in the great hall. It was meal time, and the aromas of hearty stew and fresh bread filled the room.

  Hael stopped in the entry and allowed the lingering elf and empath to catch up. Once they were within the threshold, she pursed her lips and whistled. Luminous eyes snapped toward her, then were overcome with apprehension when they saw the large, cloaked Varaku at her side. She let go of Itrek's arm and said, “I must speak to my people. I would like all Above people to leave until I finish. Except the empath. He stays.” She turned her head and nodded at Kendrian. “You wait outside. I want to trust you, but I don't know you yet.”

  “But you trust him?” Kendrian motioned toward Tessen.

  “I have to.”

  She waited until the Above people left to take Itrek and Tessen into the center of the hall. She indicated for them to sit down, then removed the furry hood from Itrek's head.

  “Why is he here?”

  “Is it time to kill him?”

  “Why isn't he chained?”

  Questions swirled around her like agitated dust.

  Her heart rate rising and sweat gathering on her palms, Hael raised her hands. “I'm sorry for interrupting your meal with something uncomfortable. I need to do s
omething now, and it might be hard to understand at first.”

  “Don't kill him here. We're trying to eat,” someone shouted from the back of the hall.

  Hael shook her head. “I will not kill him. If I killed him, I would be no better than the Varaku who killed us and ate us and kept us as slaves. You followed me to The Above when The Above was only a whisper. You follow me still and you learn what I suggest you learn and do the things I suggest you do. Before, you were commanded by Varaku. I do not command you. I lead you. I show you possibilities when you are confused and overwhelmed. I help you become free, and since you choose me to lead you, you will always be free.

  “I am Uldru, not Varaku. In the hive, I killed those who wronged me because I didn't want to die. We are no longer in the hive.” Hael rested her hand on Itrek's trembling shoulder. “If I am to be your leader, I will be a merciful one. I will be just and I will listen because it is you who leads me. Itrek is Varaku, but he is a young Varaku. He has never killed an Uldru, nor intentionally hurt one. When I captured and chained him, he was already the last of his hive, scared and with nowhere to run. He was angry, but he didn't hurt us. He was scared of the light, but he still helped us find it. He accepted his punishment because he was ashamed of what he was. He knows his people wronged us.

  “And I wronged him. I locked him away, alone in his grief and fear. I placed upon him the crimes of his entire people, of his parents, his ancestors. I cut him and starved him and hurt him on purpose. That makes me no better than Varaku. Itrek, I'm sorry.”

  All Uldru eyes studied Itrek as he continued to tremble.

  “He's terrified of them,” Tessen whispered.

  “He should be,” Min grunted.

  Hael stepped to the side so she was facing Itrek instead of behind him. “I hurt you and I'm sorry. Uldru, we will not continue to treat Itrek like the Varaku treated us. We are better. We will always be better. We will not make him our slave, or continue to punish him for crimes he did not commit. Itrek, you are free. Your life belongs to you. You can go back underground if you want, or leave Mountain Home to find somewhere you want to live, or you can stay here and live among us. If you chose the last, I have a dark cellar you can stay in if you like, since I am not going to lock you back in the cell. I am trusting you. I am giving you a chance to show all of us what you have shown me, that you are better than the people of your birth because you know what they did was wrong. The Vetarex Uldru are free, and now so are you.”

  Hael looked at Tessen as the silence of the great hall embraced her.

  He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, then opened them again and whispered, “They're thinking about your words. They're uncertain, but not angry. He's frightened. He wants to trust you but he doesn't think he deserves a free life.”

  Hael bent to kiss Itrek's gray brow. “We are different now. No slaves and no masters. No punishment undeserved. I took everything from you but your life. I can't return to you the family you lost, but I can give you back your choices. We never knew what it was like to have real choices before. We were always told what we needed to be and we were punished when we failed. You never had choices either, did you? You were born into a caste, as a Varaku. You were told what you would become. Now you have choices, too. You don't need to decide in this breath. If you choose violence, I will return it, but I don't think you desire to hurt us.”

  Itrek's hand rose to rest on the back of Hael's head. He drew her close and whispered in her ear, “I am descended from monsters, but I don't want to be one. I can't fix what has been done to your people by mine.”

  She pressed her temple against his, then stood upright and said, “Yes you can. I want you to help me. I know you're young and lack the knowledge of a mature Varaku, but I still think you can help. If you choose to stay here among us, I only ask you to be a friend to us, a friend to all Uldru, even the ones still enslaved. Choosing this tunnel means you are no longer Varaku, but something better.”

  Itrek tilted his head and looked up at her. “Do you wish to find a way to free the rest of your people? Is that what you're asking me to help with?”

  “Yes. I don't know if it's possible and I have much to learn first, but I need to try.”

  Itrek's eyes wandered across the tables of uncertain Uldru eyes. His shoulders relaxed and his trembling slowly faded. “Mercy is considered a flaw to the Varaku, but to the Uldru and the people Above it is a strength.” He glanced at Tessen, who himself was now ashen and trembling. “Empathy is a strength, and so is forgiveness. In Vetarex I was beaten for saying the wrong thing, for envying a caste not my own. I was friendly with a household slave and my father killed him in front of me to show me what it meant to be Varaku. He beat me because I cried. Your way is better, Hael, and this world is better than the one we left. I choose to stay in The Above and continue learning from you. I understand the wrongs committed by my people against your people and I choose to help you.”

  Hael held her arms to the sides and addressed the Uldru. “Itrek chooses to live with us in Mountain Home. He chooses to help us. If anyone does not agree or if anyone thinks violence should be done to him, tell me now.”

  Silence. The eyes studying Itrek were now full of wary acceptance rather than apprehension, but still the Uldru remained silent.

  “Tessen?” Hael stood in front of the empath.

  Tessen looked up at her and nodded. His pallor was apparent even in his brown skin. “They are safe.”

  “We choose to follow you,” Min said, quietly at first, then loudly and clearly as she repeated it. “We choose to follow you.”

  The others nodded and mumbled in agreement.

  “I'll let you return to your meal now.” Hael sighed with relief and sank into a chair next to Itrek. She leaned toward him and whispered, “Please don't disappoint me. Not after that.”

  “I don't intend to.”

  Tessen bent between them so he could speak to them both. “Hael, he is overwhelmed. It's the same problem you had a couple months ago. He's grateful to you, but he can't identify anything he is looking at, any of the food or materials, and he's starting to panic.”

  “You are invasive,” Itrek said.

  “I know. I'm sorry.”

  Hael looked down at the floor, then over at Itrek. “Only look at one thing at a time. If you don't know what something is, ask. You should eat, and then I can show you the cellar if you wish to stay there. It's not comfortable yet, but we can make it that way, and there are no windows to let in the sunlight. It can be safe and calm for you, and then you can come outside as you are ready.”

  Tessen gasped, then stood fully upright. “I can't do this anymore. I can't be here anymore. I hope you got what you needed from me. I'm sorry.”

  Hael's chair groaned against the floor as she turned to watch him jog out of the great hall. “Min, will you show Itrek to my cellar after he eats?”

  “You mean to chase the human?” Min asked.

  “Yes. I think he needs help.” She touched Itrek's arm before she stood. “Is that all right with you?”

  Itrek's tentacles bounced on his shoulders as he nodded. “Thank you.”

  Hael pulled a woven hat out of her jacket pocket and pulled it over her hair and ears as she exited the great hall. Her breath was white against the dark sky.

  “If you're looking for Tessen, he ran that way,” Kendrian said from the bench by the door. He must have been sitting outside waiting, and possibly listening in.

  “I think I broke him.” Hael looked into the darkness, but didn't see the tall empath. He was already out of the limited range of her vision.

  “He was already broken.” Kendrian stood and wrapped his scarf a little tighter. “We should probably go find him.”

  “I'll go. You don't like him. Everyone knows that.”

  “I don't, but my sister will never forgive me if I let him hurt himself.”

  “Does she love him?” Hael asked as they hurried away from the great hall.

  Kendrian's laugh was l
ight and metallic. “She'll never love anyone else like she loves Tessen Lim. I don't know why.”

  “Because he's kind.”

  “He's human.”

  “You make the word sound like an insult. Is it bad to be human?” Hael asked. She slipped on a patch of ice. Kendrian caught her arm and helped her regain her balance before continuing forward.

  “Human isn't elven. We shouldn't discuss this where someone else might hear. Come on, let's find him so you can go back to confounding the hell out of everyone.” Kendrian glanced up at the half-circle moon, then looked straight forward. His ears tilted in the direction of his attention. “There? Do you hear that?”

  Crack! Crack! Slosh!

  “Chirp?”

  The noises were quiet and distant, but unmistakable. Water and dragon.

  “Chirp? Chirp chirp rwarrah?”

  “Did he go to the waterfall?” Hael asked, quickening her pace.

  “I hope not.” He looked up at the moon again and whistled. “I called Ara down. She'll get to him first. We should run.”

  Hael struggled to match the elf's rapid gait as they passed the last of the houses and climbed the hill into the fields. Scattered trees lurched in the gentle wind and birds called, but the slosh of water and the call of the dragon were louder.

  Moonlight and yellow-green luminescence scattered off the frozen waterfall. Dragon feet clicked on new ice as the golden dragon circled a dark shape in the broken edge of the pond. Silver flashed above as Ara dove from the rocks above to pull Tessen out of the waist-deep water.

  “Stop!” he protested, batting at her with both hands and feet. “I'm not finished.”

  “Yes, you are,” Kendrian said. He waited for Ara to release Tessen onto the frosted grass before approaching him. “What are you doing? Why?”

  The dragon Serida scrambled off the ice and spread herself across Tessen's chest. She chirped and nudged his cheek.

  Tessen laid a trembling hand on the dragon's back. “Water purges. I can't . . . I can't be near the Varaku. He isn't malicious, but I can't comprehend what he feels. I can't . . . take in the simmering anger of generations of Uldru. I can't . . . can't . . . can't . . . open myself to your pain . . . without consequence.”