Spellkeeper

by Courtney Privett

  Min's hands dropped against her thighs and she turned to face Hael. “The tunnel in this mine leads to the place Rin called Aes, where the benevolent Varaku variation lives. We think with medicine to keep the illness away in the higher passages, an experienced tracker can find the way to Aes from here.”

  “There are no Uldru in Aes. Why would anyone want to go there?” Hael asked. She startled as a tiny desert owl hooted from a nearby cactus.

  Juna scrunched his nose and scowled. “Not for us. None of us have any interest in going back underground. We think someone should take your pet Varaku there.”

  “Itrek?” Hael kicked at the sandy ground, flinging pebbles into a barricade. “No. I heard him speaking to Ragan about that. He thinks the Hycinth will kill him or at least imprison him if he asks to join them because he's Varaku, not Hycinth. He likes it here in Sungate and Frald is teaching him to be a shaman like her. She said that's what his aura says he is.”

  “I don't think my people will follow you if you keep him with you,” Glin said, scratching at her wrist.

  Hael inhaled the dry desert air and shook her head. “They don't need to worry about that. When we leave this place, he is not going with us. His choice. The orcs told him he can stay here and finish learning to be a shaman, so that's what he has decided to do.”

  Min gave an exaggerated sigh of relief. “Good.”

  “Very good,” Juna said with a nod.

  Hael pressed her hands against her cheeks and rubbed her eyes. “I know everyone fears him, but he is good. He understands why his people were wrong, and he's working to be better than them. He has chosen to be the only one of his kind in The Above, and he is using his life for helping people instead of hurting them. That's one reason he was happy Frald asked him to stay. We're going to the empath, and Itrek knows he can't be near Tessen without hurting him. He didn't try to hurt Tessen, but it wasn't a thing he could control.”

  Min crossed her arms over her chest. “I'm just happy none of us will have to see him again. I know you see him as something other than a monster, but the monster is all we see.”

  “He's not a monster anymore, and soon you'll never see him again.”

  “Good.”

  Hael crouched to examine a spiky plant near her foot. There were so many strange plants in Sungate, but her mind tried to identify them all solely as cactus. “That depends on your Uldru, Juna and Glin. We need to stay together, and if they decide to stay in Sungate after I speak to them tonight, so will I.”

  “They won't.” Juna's hand settled on Hael's shoulder. “If the Varaku is staying, they will definitely leave. We owe our lives to the Goldtrees, and I think they will decide to follow them even if they are hesitant to follow you. We have been preparing to leave Sungate since I returned with the Goldtrees and your Uldru. The orcs have accepted us and helped us, but I think this place we're going to is going to be better.”

  Hael set her hand over his, then looked up at him. “Will you help me speak tonight? You can describe the place better than I can.”

  “I've never been there.”

  “Doesn't matter. The water orc told you about it so tell us what she told you. I don't want the people to fear the journey, I want them to be excited about the end.”

  “I'll tell them what I know.” Juna gripped Hael's hand and pulled her to her feet. “We should go back now. The people will be gathered by now.”

  The four Uldru silently walked through the wide canyon toward the orcan village. Clusters of sand-colored buildings sat near a river, which fed the gardens on its edge. During the day, the sunlight here was even more unbearable than at Mountain Home, but the starlit nights were cool and beautiful. The orcs who lived here were kind, and Hael wished she didn't have to leave them. The Uldru had already been here too long, though—months, according to Adina—and it was time to go somewhere permanent, somewhere the Uldru could call their own.

  Lizards scurried between plants and rocks as owls hooted to each other. The stars were brilliant, even brighter than they were in the misty Redcairn Mountains near Mountain Home. The Scarlet Canyons were deep, red mazes of beauty and life, and Sungate sat at its heart. This was a nice place, a good place, but it was for orcs and not for Uldru. Uldru needed the shade of tall mountains and trees, and dark places to sleep during the day. Sungate offered little shelter from the burning sunlight, and the Uldru had been forced to crowd into the few available cellars to escape the glow of the day. The Foxfire clan had helped them far more than expected, but the large people were creatures of sunlight and desert, and as such they had never before needed to accommodate a need for darkness.

  On the way to the village center, they passed a sandstone and colored glass temple dedicated to the orcan god of honor. There were crypts beneath, and that was where the Foxfire shamans had decided for Itrek to live. He wouldn't be there now. His nights were now dedicated to his training as a shaman, and Hael saw little of him. On the few occasions they spoke during these many cycles in Sungate, he seemed calm and almost happy. The fear had left his diamond eyes. If there was a place in The Above for him, it was here among the orcs, who didn't fear him and saw in him a potential the Uldru and people of Mountain Home refused to. Hael hoped she could lead her own people to the same kind of peace the young Varaku had found.

  Several small groups of Uldru loitered around the entrance to the village meeting hall. They nodded when they saw Hael and her companions approach, then entered the building. There were only Uldru here tonight. The others were told not to come. Hael didn't want her people to wonder if her decisions were being influenced by the people of The Above.

  Hael walked through the crowded hall to the dais at the opposite end, where Elan and Yana already sat with Yana's moonstone dragon, Hani. The people watched her as she passed. She knew almost every one of them by name now. One of the first things she had done upon arriving in Sungate was introduce herself to each of Juna's Uldru as he introduced himself to hers. She spoke to them individually and in small groups as often as possible, not about her plan for after Sungate, but about their own hopes and selves. Juna's Uldru were forge slaves when they were freed, but they had been collected from many different skill groups and two different hives. They were all one now, three hives joined, and Hael hoped she had earned enough of their trust and confidence to keep the groups permanently united.

  Hael stood behind the podium and watched the faces of the Uldru as they quieted. Every Uldru in Sungate was here, from the adults to the newborns, and they all stared at her with nervous expectation in their round and luminous eyes. Hael was far more nervous than they were. Her heart rolled and rattled about her chest like a spined vug lizard trying to escape a flowstone spider. She hadn't spoken before this many people since breaths before she initiated the attack on Vetarex. Most of those listeners hadn't survived.

  This was different, and she needed to keep reminding herself of that. These were free Uldru, Uldru who had survived to see The Above and its vast wonders. They were safe, healthy, and resolute in the knowledge that their future did not include being separated from their families, worked to death, or eaten.

  Juna's arm brushed Hael's as he stood next to her at the podium. He had told her many times that he didn't believe himself to be a leader, but he was one. He was a trained warrior who spoke to the others with far more ease than she did, but he still deferred to her when there were decisions to be made. “Strength and cunning make a good pair,” he had said, and he had no intention of attempting to lead the Uldru on his own. Neither did she. She needed him, and needed Min and Elan and Yana and all the others or her guidance would become control and she would be no better than the Jarrah and Varaku.

  She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. Her heart needed to calm or her voice would shake uncontrollably. Paper rustled as Juna placed a list before them. He was a much better reader than she was and would need to help her when she became stuck on a word.

  The hall was silent aside from shuffling feet and the frantic b
eat of her own heart. Two more breaths and her heart stopped trembling. Her fingers did not, but that quiver was easier to ignore. She opened her eyes to over two hundred expectant faces.

  “Hello, everyone,” Hael said, then repeated because the first time wasn't loud enough. Her voice was soft and husky, and it didn't reverberate off the stone pillars and high ceiling like it should have. She never in her life had produced an echo.

  Juna nudged her side and whispered, “Go ahead.”

  Hael cleared her throat. “I think I've met all of you now, and if I haven't, please come to me after this so we can meet. I am Hael, formerly of the Vetarex hive. I called for the Uldru rebellion in my hive, and with the help of people like Min and Elan, and the young Varaku who is now a healing apprentice, we fought our way through the tunnels and arrived in The Above. Now we are here in Sungate, and we have chosen to join the Uldru freed from the Jadeshire dragon forge. Our unity strengthens all of us both now and for every generation to come, so no matter what is decided tonight, we will remain together.

  “The Foxfire orcs of Sungate have been kind to us and have helped us learn about trades and survival. We will forever be grateful to them, but they are not our people. We are our own people, and now we have to become fully ourselves. We need a place of our own. We are not quite ready for that yet, but we need to take a big step in that direction.”

  Hael turned toward Juna and nodded.

  “In the Jade Realm, we were placed in a sanctuary and helped by a group of people while being allowed to live in our own space,” Juna said, his hand gripping the podium so tightly that his copper-skinned knuckles blanched. “Hael and I think it is best that we return to a similar arrangement. We do not propose returning to the Jade Realm because it is in a state of turmoil. We do believe some of the people who helped us then, and helped Hael's Uldru in Mountain Home, can help us now to complete our journey to independence. Daelis and Rin Goldtree, who helped both groups of Uldru, have received word from their son, Tessen Lim, who also helped both of us. He is traveling to a hidden place on the other side of the land from Jadeshire, and those he is with believe it is suitable for us. I have spoken to the people who have been there before, and I trust their word that this is a good place.”

  Hael focused on the smiling bronze face of a baby in the front row. “There are shaded mountains in this place, and fresh water, and food to both hunt and harvest. It is far from here and will take many cycles to reach, but we all have experience traveling now. This is not like leaving Mountain Home, for those of us who were there. We are not being forced away, and the orcs will help us prepare. We do not need to hurry to leave here. A group of their people will travel with us to safely guide us to the new realm when we are ready. So will Ragan, Daelis, Rin, and Adina. The Varaku Itrek will remain in Sungate, so his presence will not burden those of you who fear him. We will be joining Tessen, Kemi, and Iefyr, who my people already know well, as well as Ragan's father, Ragan's sister, and several others who are worthy of our trust and can teach what we need to live fully on our own. Mordegan trained Juna how to fight, just as Ragan is teaching me, and they both want to teach anyone who wishes to learn. This place is by the ocean, so the people will teach us how to use boats and tools to catch fish. We will learn about farming, building with wood, and how to trap and hunt the larger animals of The Above.

  “There, we will complete the final steps to becoming fully free. We will be new Uldru, ready to create new traditions. Our . . . our children will grow up never knowing slavery, and we will not depend solely on the kindness of other kinds of people to survive. Our alliances with the Foxfire clan and other people who have helped us are permanent, but we will no longer depend on them. This will be a difficult step following a difficult journey, but it is what we need to leave our unexpected childhood behind and as free Uldru become adults. Juna and I will answer any questions you have, and then we will decide together.”

  The hall remained silent for several breaths before a green-haired woman in the second row raised her hand. “How many nights will it take to reach this place?”

  “Good evening, Yalu,” Hael said with a nod. She always addressed each Uldru by name when they spoke to her. She knew it was important for them to feel recognized and heard. “Juna, you have discussed the maps with Ragan, haven't you?”

  “Yes,” Juna said. He ran his fingertip down the edge of the paper on the podium. “Ragan has helped me learn how to read maps, so he has shown me the path we need to take to the new place. He estimated thirty nights, but it could be five more or ten less depending on the weather and how difficult travel through the final mountains turns out to be.”

  Hael nodded, then added, “The orcs are building wagons for us, and gathering horses. This form of travel made it easy for us to get here from Mountain Home, so we plan to use it again. Those who are young, have weaknesses, or need rest can ride in the wagons any time they need, and we can use them as shelters during the day. The people who travel with us will help protect us from predators, and Juna will be helping anyone with stronger magic learn how to do blue combat magic.”

  Another hesitant hand went up.

  “Yes, Get?” Hael asked.

  “When do we need to leave?” Get asked, then crossed his arms over his chest. He was one of Hael's Uldru, a stern man who had gladly taken on guard duty when Hael held Itrek captive.

  “When we are ready,” Hael replied. “We are welcome here among the orcs, and they will not force us to leave, but we all know this sanctuary is not our home. I think if we work toward it, we can be ready to leave in thirty to fifty nights, but we can make a plan to leave later than that if we need to, as long as we reach the new place before winter comes to the mountains we need to cross.”

  Min raised her hand, then turned toward Yana. “Yana Goldtree, you have been free longer than any of us. You know your adoptive family better than any of us. Do you think going with them to this new place is the right decision?”

  Yana stood, patted her dragon's opalescent head, then pushed a small crate to the podium so she could stand behind it and still see over. She pushed her coarse, gray-green hair behind her silvery-pink ears and said, “My parents are good, and so is my brother. They would never do anything that could harm me, or anyone like me. They want to help us, and they understand that we need to become independent. My parents and baby sisters are leaving here soon to join my brother, but they are waiting until we decide what we are going to do. No matter what everyone here decides, I am going with my family. The Goldtrees are not my family by blood, but they are still my family, and I will go with them even if it means I am once again the only Uldru. I don't want to be the only Uldru, though. I want all of you with me. I want my family to be the Goldtrees, but also all of you. I think all of us should stay together and go to this new place.”

  “Any other questions?” Hael asked.

  The hall responded with shifting silence.

  “We will vote, then. Raise your hand if you want to go to the new place.”

  Nearly every hand that didn't belong to a baby went up.

  Hael held her hand up, then lowered it to indicate everyone else should follow. “Raise your hand if you don't. Remember, it is your choice whether or not to go. You can remain here if you wish.”

  Two hands raised, belonging to a mated pair of older Uldru who had been freed from the forge with fragile hearts and incurable limps. The woman of the pair cleared her throat, adjusted the position of the infant on her breast, then said, “We wish to stay. Both of us are afraid we would not survive the journey. The orcs have medicine that helps our pain.”

  Hael smiled and nodded. “They have welcomed you into Sungate and you are free to stay with them. It seems the rest of us have decided to leave, so I wish you lives of contentment and minimal pain. If you ever wish to join us, or for your children to join us when they are mature, there will be orcs here who can guide you to us.

  “Everyone else . . . we have preparations to make. We have a lis
t of tasks that need to be finished, and we need each of you who is able to pick something to do. Most of this is gathering building and survival supplies, but some things on this list are skills that need to be learned from the orcs. They are generous and have been preparing to help us since the first group of Uldru were freed from the forge. Right now, I think we can easily do all of this within forty nights, but please tell me if more nights are needed and we can stay longer. Our new home is wild aside from some construction done by Ragan's friends and whatever they make before we get there, so the work we do here is to ease our transition. If you think of further questions, come to me or Juna. We are happy to answer.”

  Juna returned to Hael's side and grinned. “The orcs have prepared a feast. This is one of their celebration nights, marking the first spring harvest, and we are invited to join them for it. Tonight we will celebrate with them, and in the morning we rest for the work that needs to be done tomorrow night. Go have fun.”

  He stepped off the dais and joined his mate and their baby by the wall.

  Hael turned toward Elan, who smiled as he whispered something to Yana. “Let's go to the party, little brother. There is no greater joy for me than to watch you have fun.”

  THE CHILDREN, BOTH Uldru and orc, danced with abandon, and Elan was the center of it. His hematite hair and silver skin shimmered in the torchlight as he twirled from one group of children to the next.

  Hael watched him for many breaths, envying his uninhibited euphoria. She was naturally restrained, and knew to dance would return her heart to the same frantic beat she'd felt on the dais. She was afraid of falling, afraid of hurting herself, afraid of knocking someone over or trying a move that everyone else saw as ridiculous. She was far happier watching the flurry of movement than she would be if she attempted to join it.