“You're an Ironwood, right? Grandson of Duke Yandel Ironwood? That means you're a direct descendant of High King Nyrandarian Lightborn by way of his daughter, Andarielle. She was the grandmother or great-grandmother of your grandfather, I can't remember which. We're cousins of some degree.” She stared down at the southeastern spark. “We'll figure it out later. Potential Spellkeeper doesn't mean much, especially for someone with limited magic aptitude, and you're probably too old to be marked. I don't think we have to worry about anyone considering you a possibility, and that's a relief.” She sighed and raked her fingers through her hair. “Okay, so my father has two marked Spellkeepers in Anthora. I don't know where the second one came from. This third one is where you are important, Elsin. It's why I wanted a cottage witch.”
“Just tell me what to do,” Elsin said.
Kemi grasped Elsin's hand. “Hold hands around the circle.” She waited until Iefyr's hand fumbled its way into Elsin's before leaning back against Lenna. “Tessen, I need you to focus on that spark. Hold it in your mind. Feel it.”
Tessen ignored Iefyr's uncertainty, Elsin's curiosity, and Kemi's barely-masked longing, and reached his mind toward the spark. The feeling he received from it was calm and somewhat bored. “She's awake but not doing anything. Resting, maybe. She's . . . familiar. I can't quite place why.”
“Don't worry about it yet.” Kemi squeezed Tessen's hand, then shifted toward Elsin. “Do you feel her? Tessen is relaying her to us. Close your eyes. Feel the Spellkeeper.” She paused and drew a deep breath. “Witch of the hearth . . . draw us together.”
Darkness exploded into green light, then extinguished to black.
STAGNANT WATER AND moss. Frogs croaked and something splashed nearby.
The air was warm, but not hot, and a hint of brine clung to the mist.
Tessen opened his eyes to find a wetland forest before him. This wasn't Mountain Home.
Serida yipped and butted her head against the side of his. Ectran, sitting halfway in a cattail-filled ditch, shifted from side to side and growled.
“No, no, no, not again,” Iefyr mumbled. They were still seated in a circle, hands linked and dragons behind them.
“What in the . . . dragons? Where in the sardthundering hell did you lot come from?” The voice coming from behind Tessen was low and growling, with just a hint of a northern Jade Realm twang. “What the . . . Sealash, is that you?”
Iefyr let go of Tessen's hand and looked up and to the right with confusion twitching at every muscle in his face. “Mordegan?”
“Kembriana...” Elsin's voice was more whimper than whisper. “What have you done?”
Kemi's hands jumped to cover her mouth and her eyes widened. “Oh, no. No, no, no. I didn't think... Shit!”
“Kembriana?”
“No. Wrong way. I thought she was going to be pulled to us, not us to her. Oh, gods-damn it. Sarding shitbuckets.”
Behind Tessen, Mordegan loosed a laugh. “This elf been hanging out with my son, Sealash?”
“That she has,” Iefyr said. He bared his tusks and glared at Kemi. “Well, this is wonderful.”
“I shouldn't have agreed to this.” Tessen took off his spectacles and cleaned them with the end of his scarf. It was far too warm to be dressed in this many layers. His rucksack and sword pressed against his back. The others had nothing but what they wore and their dragons, but he had camping provisions plus whatever Serida had stuffed into her own pouches.
A hand rested on Tessen's shoulder. “Sylleth?”
“Yes?” Elsin tilted his head and squinted.
“No, not you. Shit, you're a Sylleth too, aren't you? Rin's big brother? You look like her.”
“Yep.” Elsin clicked his tongue against his teeth, then twisted to look at Ectran. “You okay, buddy?”
The black dragon grunted and lowered his head.
Tessen stood to greet Mordegan. The mercenary handler was only half-a-hand taller than him, so he easily made contact with the older man's vivid blue eyes. “It's Lim, actually, not Sylleth. I thought you knew that. Maybe. I guess I didn't find out my legal name until after you tried to train and hire me.”
“What?” Iefyr and Elsin said in unison.
Concern clouded Mordegan's eyes. He reached up and ran a finger along the horizontal scar on Tessen's cheek. “Looks like you've seen some shit, kid.”
“Yeah. Too much,” Tessen said with a shrug. Sweat trickled down his back and gathered at his waistband.
“Why're you dressed like you've been trekking around the Frost Realm?” Mordegan ran his fingers through his silver-touched blond hair as he his eyes drifted from one person and dragon pair to the next. “Someone mind telling me what the trollwanking hell is going on here?”
“Where is the Spellkeeper?” Kemi asked. She stood, brushed her hands over her thighs, and shivered.
“The what?”
“Spellkeeper. Where is the Spellkeeper?”
Mordegan's face contorted into a lopsided frown. “I don't–”
“Are you here alone?” Kemi embraced herself and radiated palpable worry. “Where is here?”
“Should be just about to the border of the Azure from the Agate.” Mordegan nodded toward a nearby cluster of trees. “Not alone. Dunno what this Spellkeeper is, but I've got a pair of mages and a warlock with a magic-blocking binding cuff. That one's useless if you're looking for magic, but the other two–”
“Mage.” Kemi's hand flew to her lips, then raked through her hair. “Yes. Must be one of the mages.”
A pair of green eyes peered from between the low branches of the tree. Curiosity mingled with fear as the young woman stepped forward. Dark brown hair curled around her freckled olive face. She pushed back a curl to reveal pointed half-elven ears. She was taller and heavier than any other half-elf Tessen had met, and she always had been. It had been six or seven years since he last saw her, but her face was not one that was easy to forget.
“Holy shit, Mordegan. You found Benny.” Tessen grinned and tugged at his scarf. This was overwhelming, but he couldn't bring himself to anger over it. The simmering stew of Uldru, Varaku, and Mountain Home emotions was gone, and the amalgam of confusion trying to replace it was nowhere near as painful. It was enough of a relief that Tessen found himself not caring in the slightest about where Kemi had taken them. He set his hand on Serida's head and ruffled her crests.
Benny stopped two steps from Tessen and tilted her head to stare at him. “Do I know you?”
“Benny, that's Tessen Sylleth,” Mordegan said.
Surprise bounced across the air. “Tessen? You grew up well, didn't you?”
“I think I grew out first, then up.” Tessen held out his hand but didn't touch her. Something unsettling sat around her, something that reminded him of Shan. “Now I know what happened to you, and I'm sorry. I wouldn't wish that torture on anyone.”
“What are you talking about?” Mordegan asked.
Benny's aura wrapped around Tessen's shoulders and tried to drag him to the ground. He shrugged it away and said, “It still hurts, especially the nightmares. You hide it and keep living as best you can, but it's always there.”
Iefyr scratched his jaw as he stepped close to Mordegan. “He's an empath. He doesn't have much control right now, so he says things.”
“Yeah, I know he's an empath. He's always been an empath. That's why I thought he'd make a great operative, but his vision turned out to be shit.” Mordegan put an arm around Iefyr's shoulders and pulled him into a half-hug. “You've gotten yourself into some sort of mess here, haven't you, Sealash?”
“It's nice to see you again, Iefyr,” Benny said with a slight smile. Her attraction to the half-orc danced around her like twirling ribbons. This was an old attraction, reignited. Tessen wondered if Iefyr knew about it. One glance toward him revealed that if it wasn't mutual before, it certainly was now.
“Is this her, Tessen?” Kemi asked. She linked her arm through Tessen's and leaned against him.
&nb
sp; “This her what?” Mordegan asked. “When is someone gonna tell me what is going on here?”
Tessen closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, they were full of tears. “Little spark, blazing blue and full of pain. Nebulous veils and lightning strikes. So much lost, so much left to be found. Kembriana Lightborn, meet Spellkeeper Belinda Vale.”
Mordegan scratched at his hair. “Lightborn? Spellkeeper? What the sard?”
A cloud of forced calm descended as a brown-eyed desert elf stepped from the trees. His sandy hair hung over his shoulder in a disheveled braid and the weariness of his posture suggested the commotion had woken him. He leaned hard on a polearm as his eyes wandered from one person to the next. His eyebrows knit when his gaze landed on Benny. “Do they know who you are?”
“Yes,” Benny said, a tremble in her voice.
The elf nodded and looked away. “It's time to tell your father.”
The tears Tessen had collected as his own now fell from Benny's eyes. “I know. Wake Juna. I don't want to explain this more than once.”
17
Hael
Clouds covered the sinking sun, but the sky was still too bright to look at directly. Hael adjusted the gears on the sides of her goggles, further darkening the glass. The color shifted unevenly and left her feeling off-balance. These goggles were a flawed experiment created by the empath, and he hadn't yet had time to adjust and refine them, but they were better than exposing her sensitive eyes to sunlight.
She pulled her hood down to further shield her face and kept her gaze fixed upon the path before her. She hadn't slept nearly long enough and the prickling numbness in her limbs reminded her of it with every step, but she could no longer sleep with this idea burning through her mind.
Hael avoided a dark patch of ice and continued up the stairs to the keep. She wasn't sure exactly who she was looking for, but someone who suited her needs was certain to be inside. Maybe Elsin was in the great room, playing a card game with members of his Moonlight Regiment or entertaining his children. Maybe Ragan or Tessen were in the kitchen or library. Well, maybe not Tessen. Hael didn't feel comfortable asking for him for any more help after what happened last time. Maybe Iefyr was sitting in front of one of the many hearths, reading books about the generations that came before. There could be others, too, others with the skills and patience to teach her what she wanted to learn.
The keep was quiet and still, aside from a repeated grunt of, “Shit. Shit, shit, shit. Damn it all. Sarding shit.”
Hael raised her goggles and gave her eyes several breaths to adjust to the dwarfstone lights. She tilted her ears forward and listened. Someone in heavy boots paced the stone floor around the corner. The cursing sounded like Ragan, but she couldn't be sure. Sometimes the other males spoke of the world with similar disdain.
“When did they enter the room?” The second voice was female and familiar. It was a little too low of pitch to be Kemi. It had to be Lyssandra.
“Oh hell, I don't know. Early afternoon, had to be. She said it would only be a couple minutes, and I must've dozed off waiting. What time is it now?” The male voice was definitely Ragan's.
“Nearly sundown.”
“Are you sure there isn't another exit from this room?”
“Ritual rooms are designed to have a single entrance and exit.” Lyssandra's attention snapped to Hael as she crept around the corner. The Guardian's eyes were wide, and red around the edges. “You are awake early, Hael. What do you need?”
“I'm sorry. I've interrupted your chaos,” Hael said. She tried to back away, but Lyssandra grabbed her wrist and dragged her forward.
“There are consequences to everything,” Lyssandra muttered. She released Hael's wrist and turned back to Ragan. “You fool, they didn't sneak by you. They are no longer in the room because they are no longer in Mountain Home. Do you have any idea what it was they did?”
“Some sort of spell. I've no magic-skill, I don't know about these things.” Ragan's lips trembled as his eyes darted toward the open door to his left. Hael could make out a white circle at the center of the black stone room. Several small piles of ash sat within the circle, but there were no people in sight.
“I intruded. I'll leave now,” Hael said. She attempted again to retreat, but again Lyssandra caught her left wrist and held it tight.
“No, girl, you stay,” Ragan said with a huff. “I need a witness in case she up and kills me.”
“What is happening?” Hael asked as her heart slammed against her ribs. She wanted advice, not to walk into the middle of a fight.
Ragan held up his hands, then let them drop to his sides. “Four people went into that room. Then poof! They were gone. I don't have a sarding idea where they went.”
Lyssandra held a hand to her face and shook her head. “I believe they performed a portal spell. They could be anywhere.”
“Wait, they're not in Mountain Home now? At all?”
Lyssandra's eyes narrowed, “What part of 'they could be anywhere' is so difficult for you, Ragan? I know what my daughter was trying to do, but I didn't know she was doing it today. I need to know who she took with her.”
“Aw, hell, I don't know. Tessen for sure. She said there were two others and four dragons, but I didn't see who.” Ragan bared the small points of his canines as he looked down at Hael. “Let her go, will you? She's got nothing to do with this.”
“Timing, Ragan. The Uldru have everything to do with this.” Lyssandra squeezed Hael's wrist tighter. “Kembriana and Tessen and . . . and Iefyr and Elsin. That's who she took. She needed witches.”
“Wait . . . Elsin Sylleth is a witch?”
Lyssandra threw him a look of disgust. “Captain Sylleth is a lot of things you will never understand. Do you really think I would make a magicless human the Captain of my Regiment?”
“I don't have a sarding clue what you would do, Queen Lyssandra.” Ragan stared into the dark room. “Well, you're a gods-damned witch, too, so how do we get them back?”
“We don't. They need to find their own way home.”
Ragan wrung his hands as he paced in front of the door. “That's just great, Lyssandra. You know Tessen's out there in a full-blown panic, and I'm sure Iefyr's right there with him. Those boys aren't gonna do too well popping into a place they don't recognize. They've been through that before, and I was right there with them. I sure as hell know I'd not react well in their position. And what the sarding hell am I supposed to tell Rin? I promised her I'd watch out for Tessen, and now I don't even know where he is.”
“He's with a Spellkeeper. I don't know which.” Lyssandra's voice was now little more than a whisper.
“I sarding well know they're with a Spellkeeper. Gods damn it all . . . I helped her piece together the spell. But who is this Spellkeeper and where are they?”
Lyssandra's fingernails dug into Hael's wrist. She yelped and tried to free herself, but the Guardian was intent on maintaining her grasp.
Ragan stopped pacing and glared at Lyssandra. “Knock it off. You're hurting her. Why are you hurting her?”
Instead of releasing Hael's wrist, Lyssandra twisted it further. “You understand little of this world, Ragan Vale.”
Hael yelped as her wrist joint popped.
“I said knock it off!” Ragan grabbed Lyssandra's arm and pried her fingers from Hael's wrist. He positioned himself between Lyssandra and Hael, his tail whipping behind him as if it belonged to a furious tunnel wolf. He gently cupped her elbow and held her hand up to the light. “You all right, kid?”
Hot tears fell freely from Hael's eyes. Pain was nothing new to her, but she never expected one of the people of Mountain Home to act like a Varaku toward her. “I did not mean to anger the Guardian.”
Worry flooded Ragan's eyes as he shook his head. “No, no, no. You did nothing. This is all on her.” He examined Hael's wrist closely. A careful press of his finger caused another stab of pain and another yelp. Spots gathered in her vision like an invading swarm of
spiders. “Shit. Lyssa, you broke her wrist.”
“I . . . I did not mean to. I didn't think I held her that hard.” Lyssandra peeked around Ragan's side, worry and regret in her emerald eyes.
Ragan held his hand to his mouth and swallowed hard. “Uldru are fragile, Lyssandra. A lifetime of chronic malnutrition has made their bones weak. Gods damn it. Why did you do this?”
“I . . . I'm sorry.” Lyssandra turned away and disappeared up a set of stairs.
“I only wanted to talk to someone,” Hael whimpered as the tears continued to fall. Kendrian was right. His mother was not to be trusted. Was anyone here worthy of her trust or would they all become Varaku if angered?
Ragan brushed a stray lock of hair away from Hael's eyes. “Look at me, Hael. You didn't do anything wrong. Not one damned thing. Your wrist needs to be splinted. Will you let me do that?”
Hael nodded.
“Okay. Let's go get this wrapped up before it swells too much. And get some ice on it. We've got plenty of that right now.”
The black spiders condensed and Hael fell to the floor.
HAEL WASN'T SURE HOW she got back to her house. Maybe Ragan carried her, or maybe he walked alongside her and she had forgotten. He was with her now, carefully wrapping gauze around her arm with fingers that seemed too slender and elegant for his great height. He seemed to know what he was doing, so Hael silently watched him and tried to remember to breathe.
Was his kindness an illusion like Lyssandra's had been? Would some unknown word or action anger him like it did her? He was so much larger than Hael that one strike of his hand might kill her. Would he ever do such a thing?
Ragan's blue eyes flashed concern as he looked from Hael's wrist to her face. “I see that feeling of betrayal in your eyes. Can't say I blame you. I dunno why she did that, but I don't think she truly meant to hurt you.”
Hael remained silent as they regarded each other. Could she trust him? Could she trust any of the people here? She trusted Tessen, but he was gone now, taken by witches to some unknown place. In the hive, when someone disappeared it was forever. She hoped his sudden absence didn't mean he was dead.
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