Lore of Sanctum Omnibus

by Elaina J Davidson

Tianoman stared at the dark man and then helped his cousin stand. “Tris, are you all right?”

  Tristan nodded. “Exhausted, but alive.” He straightened and lifted his hands. Welts remained there as well. He stared at them before moving them to carefully touch his face. He gazed at Elianas. “Thank you.”

  The dark man bowed his head. “Now you are Tristan Skyler Valla.”

  A twisted smile acknowledged that statement. “Indeed.”

  “Oh,” Tianoman whispered.

  Tristan winked at him. “Hopefully Caballa does not mind a few scars.”

  Tianoman blinked and faced Elianas. He bowed from his waist. “Your powers of deduction amaze me. Thank you.”

  Elianas lifted a finger to the blood Tristan had left on his cheek. “I know about accusation.”

  Tristan shouldered past Tianoman to stand before Elianas. “You think this is about accusation?”

  “More than recognition, yes.”

  “Who am I accusing?”

  “Yourself.”

  Tristan lowered his gaze. “I had not realised. You are right.” He looked up. “Does it get easier?”

  Elianas looked away. “I do not yet know.”

  “Where did Torrullin take Rivalen?” Tianoman asked, choosing to change the subject.

  Elianas shrugged. “I may not reveal that, but know Rivalen will not this time return. His reign has ended.”

  Tianoman gaped. “Truly?”

  Elianas inclined his head.

  “Man, this is bloody fantastic!” Tianoman punched the air. “Come on, it is time for celebration!” Dancing a jig, he vanished back to the city somewhat untidily.

  “Path of Shades?” Tristan said.

  Elianas nodded.

  “How long?’

  The dark man doubled over. “I do not know.”

  “I am here, Elianas.”

  Nodding, Elianas straightened.

  Tristan sighed. “You need a few moments. I will keep the hordes away.”

  Elianas simply nodded again, and Tristan left him there.

  Kneeling then upon Nemisin’s Plateau, Elianas silently screamed his fear into the spaces.

  Chapter 61

  Dust and water makes mud

  ~ Truth ~

  Mon Unon

  AS THEY STUMBLED INTO dust on Mon Unon’s sterile surface, Torrullin threw Rivalen from him.

  The Lumin Sword rasped as he removed it, the sound eerie and otherworldly. He shuddered. Never had he been this unwilling to do something in his entire existence. Employing this particular blade filled him with dread; the Path, after what happened to Saska and Declan, held no appeal.

  Keeping Rivalen in this reality, however, was not a choice anyone in this universe could live with.

  The blade glowed. It did not burst into light. For a moment he stared at it, nonplussed. Why did it behave differently now? He needed it to lead the way. He closed his eyes to see where they were in the spaces of the mind. Usually he could see the Path laid before him, as once Samuel saw it when handling this particular tool of sorcery.

  Frowning, his eyes napped open. There was no change behind his eyelids. Not even Elianas’ face waited there.

  All gods. Had they been amiss in their reasoning?

  Rivalen gargled.

  Swinging around, Torrullin pulled Trezond free from its chainmail grip and swiftly sheathed it. Blood flowed from the gap in the links, but it had not been a heart piercer. Tristan had merely grazed skin.

  “Get up,” he snarled. “You are not dying.”

  Holding his hands in place over the wound at his throat, Rivalen clambered to his feet. He glared at Torrullin, but did not say anything, no doubt afraid movement would increase blood loss. Strangely, he did not attempt away transport.

  Again Torrullin frowned. What was wrong with this picture? Surely the man’s energy could not be that low? From some blood depletion? This creature was an immortal; he could deal with this type of injury.

  Whatever it was, he would use the man’s paralysis. It gifted him space to open this bloody doorway to the Path, with Skynis’ ancient aid. Shaking his head, Torrullin lifted the Lumin Sword. As he had in the past sketched a doorway between realms using his hands, he stepped onto the consecrated ground and traced the symbol in the air before him using the Sword.

  A glowing arch formed.

  Thank the gods. For a while there he thought Walker talent would desert him at this pivotal point. Holding the blade steady, he leaned back and gripped Rivalen’s elbow to haul him close. The man came without protesting, not even a twitch of reluctance in his body. This was decidedly odd.

  Torrullin stepped over the glowing threshold and Rivalen stepped with him.

  Instantly the arch of entry vanished behind them.

  Path of Shades

  A GLOOM ENSHROUDED PATH lay before them.

  On either side dark trees pressed in. There was no light, and only the sensation of sight. Never had the Path of Shades appeared this dark to him. Torrullin hissed under his breath.

  Rivalen laughed.

  He shifted towards the man, lifting the Sword and then stared at it. It was inanimate. No glow. No weight. No presence at all.

  “What the fuck?” he muttered.

  “Put it away. It is useless here,” Rivalen said. He proceeded to stretch and yawn.

  There was no longer a wound at his neck.

  “You did not fight me, because you knew you would heal faster in here,” Torrullin understood.

  “Indeed. Reaume has been most unhealthy for my physical being.” Rivalen shrugged. “I sought to bleed that Emperor for his blood - protection against the ravages in your reality - but Alexander was unwilling to share.”

  The incomplete puzzle began to assume its fuller design. “You employed what you did get from him to reveal the Dome.”

  “And it worked so wonderfully well,” Rivalen grinned. “Alexander Diluvan has powerful blood. You do as well, but I knew I would not get near enough to bleed you.”

  Torrullin started walking. He did not bother to check on what the creature behind him did.

  “Torrullin, I am able to leave this place.”

  And there was the reason for his complicity. Torrullin shrugged as he went on. “I do not think so.”

  Rivalen wheezed his mirth. “You place too much value in your power.”

  Torrullin gave him the finger over his shoulder and went on walking. He sheathed the Lumin Sword, and the path lightened to its usual shadowy shades of grey. Ah. He smiled. Now he was in the right place.

  Rapid footfalls behind him revealed that Rivalen hastened to catch up. The man fell in beside him. Gradually the trees thinned to reveal a land of undulating hills. The twilight path meandered through.

  “Corners and curves, Torrullin. I have walked this place too long not to know where the exits await.”

  “Had you entered alone, perhaps that would be the truth.”

  “Meaning?” There was a trace of threat in the creature’s tone.

  “I came with you,” Torrullin responded. “More correctly, this Sword came in with us. It has sealed all exits.”

  Rivalen laughed. “Please. Give me some credit, will you? That is a mighty blade, I grant you, but it is not all-powerful.”

  Torrullin waved casually at the distance. “Go on. Go find your exit. I am able to make my own way.”

  Silence answered him.

  Grinning, Torrullin walked on.

  Rivalen hogged his side, no doubt choosing to hedge his bets. He would not now even attempt to take his life or power. Torrullin might prove to be his sole means of escape from the gloom enshrouded path.

  Torrullin laughed inwardly.

  HOURS LATER THE PATH dead ended at the edge of a grey lake. Mist swirled in tufts, ghostly forms dancing to music only they could hear.

  Torrullin sat and then lay back, closing his eyes.

  “And now?” Rivalen demanded.

  “I am waiting for you to go your own way, so I can leave in
peace,” Torrullin murmured without opening his eyes.

  A thud revealed the giant had chosen to sit. “Even if, as you say, all exits are sealed, I have escaped this place before. I shall find the means to do so again.”

  “Perhaps. I am aware you will not surrender.”

  “If all exits are sealed, how do you leave?”

  “I am a Walker, Rivalen.”

  A long silence ensued. “Take me back with you.”

  Torrullin opened one eye. “Why would I even consider it?”

  “I am aware of issues you do not even entertain.”

  Torrullin closed his eye. “Those nuances cannot affect reality and I am no longer interested in realm travel. I intend to grow old on my backwater planet and to hell with everyone and their issues.”

  “I cannot see that.”

  Torrullin released a laugh. “I intend to try.”

  “I do know how to keep you here,” Rivalen murmured. “If I cannot leave, maybe I need you to keep me company.”

  “Your witness, Rivalen? I think not. Besides, we both know there are other inhabitants upon the Path. You will not be alone.”

  “I can simply follow you when you open a door.”

  “Cannot happen, give it up.”

  A far longer silence ensued then. “Very well, checkmate. For now. At least tell me about the master mechanism.”

  “No.”

  “Torrullin, I spent many ages working it all out and yet, within a small span of time, I came to realise I focused on the wrong object. How did this happen?”

  Torrullin sat up to clasp his knees. “We also got it wrong. We too thought the Danaan stone was the key.” He glanced at the giant. “We did not even know of Danaan until recently.”

  “Yet that stone has the word Eurue upon it.”

  “The Danaan name for their god.”

  Rivalen cursed under his breath. “Isolation tends to lead one astray.”

  “Too much knowledge does the same, believe me.”

  Rivalen twisted his head to gaze at Torrullin. “I may as well kill you. At least then I have a measure of satisfaction.”

  Torrullin stared back at him. “I wondered when you would reach this point.”

  Rivalen grinned.

  Torrullin smiled in challenge, and stood. Stretching, he murmured, “Well, let us enact a final show. I am sure there are sufficient witnesses in the hills around us.”

  Rivalen rose. “Bare hands?”

  “Why not?” Torrullin laughed.

  As Rivalen attained his footing, Torrullin stepped into the lake of ghosts. Turning to face the man, he raised his fists while stepping back and back into deeper water. Except he was not in deeper water. He danced upon the surface. The mists twisted around his ankles.

  “Come on,” he whispered.

  Cursing, Rivalen waded in, expecting to find the way solid as it clearly was for Torrullin. He stepped in. When he understood the lake would not react for him the way it did for Torrullin, he swore loudly and rushed forward, reaching out.

  Torrullin simply danced away.

  Soon the mists entirely enveloped him.

  Screeching fury, Rivalen splashed into ever deeper water.

  Moments later he understood he was alone.

  The Timekeeper screamed and screamed his rage.

  Part V

  MASTERFUL FUTURE

  Chapter 62

  Waiting for something to happen is harder to bear than being in the midst of chaos

  ~ Scroll of Wisdom ~

  Akhavar

  Linard

  CABALLA ENTERED THE harem suite - all in the mountain city called it thus - and did not issue warning of her approach.

  Elianas, however, was awake and aware and waiting for her when she shifted through the diaphanous veils into his presence. He lay on his back, fully dressed in black, including boots and scabbard, with his head supported on one arm.

  “You have something on your mind,” he murmured.

  “May I sit?”

  He patted the bed.

  When she was comfortable, sitting legs folded, she said, “I get worried when you are this calm.”

  “Why?” Elianas stared up at the criss-crossing silken ceiling. His free hand rested on his stomach, fingers relaxed.

  “Do you know where Torrullin is?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, that explains your calm. Why not share it with us? Tian, for one, is going out of his mind. He celebrates, but I see the signs. He is worried.”

  “No one needs to have the details, Caballa.”

  She muttered under her breath, before saying, “I am not asking for detail, just a location.”

  “The detail is in the location.”

  Caballa unfurled her legs and crept forward to lie on her stomach, propped up on her elbows. “Then tell me, please. I will not say a word to another. And please tell me Rivalen will not return.”

  His noble profile vanished as he turned his head to look at her. “Rivalen is gone, I promise. Torrullin has taken him into the Path of Shades.”

  All colour fled her face.

  Elianas rolled onto his side. “It is not like last time. He entered after creating the doorway with the Lumin Sword. This removed Rivalen’s every means of control. When Torrullin has dealt with Rivalen - if need be - he will leave as Walker and seal the Path.”

  She dug her nearest elbow into his ribs. “Tell the truth.”

  “I am.”

  “Not all of it. Here you lie dressed and armed. Why? Because you need to be ready to move at a moment’s notice. Why?”

  Elianas flopped back and covered his face with his hands. Then, rubbing convulsively at his cheeks, he muttered, “Because it is the bloody Path, that is why. Things can go wrong.”

  “Exactly. Do not tell me it is not like last time. Shit happens in there. How will we know he is safe?”

  “When he exits.”

  “And you are calm?”

  Hands folded with studied control upon Elianas’ chest. “I have to be.”

  “Yet you are ready to go in. Can you enter?”

  “I dare not. It will create an open door to the Path, one that cannot be sealed. Rivalen will be the least of the dangers then, and there will be no final solution we may then employ to deal with him.”

  Caballa clambered to her knees. “Why are you not guarding the door?”

  He glanced at her. “Temptation.”

  “By all gods, Elianas, what is going on? You are dressed but dare do nothing more than wait as far from it as you can get? Where is the door? This does not make sense to me.”

  Sighing, he sat up. Running hands through his hair, he muttered, “The entrance is where no one will accidentally stumble upon it and, as an added measure, it is shielded from view and every sense. The door does not require a guard. More correctly, it does not need me standing there, for patience is not my strongest trait. The wait alone will drive me into doing something stupid. The longer the wait, the more suspicious of outcome I am, and thus I will go in. That will upset Torrullin’s plan and it will negate a sealing. Therefore I am here.”

  “Ready for what?”

  He stared at her. “The instant I sense something amiss, I am there.”

  Caballa inclined her head. “Amiss?”

  He drew breath. “The Path deceives. If someone or something other than Torrullin exits first, I will be there to negate it.” He glanced at her again. “Trust me, I will know.”

  She nodded. “You will hear the whispers with greater effect in Kalgaia.”

  “Maybe, but I am wary of that place.”

  “Most of us are, but for you it has much history.”

  “Kalgaia leaves a bitter aftertaste, Caballa. Let us not talk about her.”

  “It is your city.”

  He closed his eyes. “It can never again be my city.” He opened his eyes. “When enough time has passed, she will again be inhabited. I hope so, for Kalgaia is glorious, but it is no longer a place I seek to know.”
>
  “How long, Elianas?”

  He went there, for it served as a distraction. “As long as it takes for the Danae tale to pass into legend, I suppose. Kalgaia will never fail. She will wait in her perfection for the day life chooses to return.”

  Caballa slowly nodded. “As long as it takes for the Danae tale to pass into legend, is it? Interesting.”

  Finally he smiled. “Clever.”

  She raised her eyebrows at him.

  “The seer has seen, no doubt,” he murmured.

  “Maybe. Tell me, will the Lorinin tale pass into legend as well?”

  “Very clever,” Elianas murmured.

  “In my vision, Avaelyn vanishes into the mists and when those mists draw back there is no more Avaelyn. Her place in space is vacated.” Caballa leaned close to him. “Elianas, will Avaelyn take you and Torrullin into the mists with her?”

  “Yes.”

  Tears immediately appeared in her tawny eyes. Suspicion was one thing, confirmation quite another.

  He took her hand in his. “You know we have no choice. We need to take who we are away from here.”

  She lifted his hand to her face, pressed her forehead there. “I understand, yes, but …” Her shoulders shook.

  Elianas lifted her chin. “Beautiful Caballa, there is still time. Do not grieve yet.”

  “No, there is no time, not for me.”

  His shock was not for what she said, she understood in an instant, but for her knowing her fate. The seer had seen indeed.

  Tristan’s new scars caused her to delve deep.

  “You already know,” she whispered. “Maybe not the when or the how, but you know my time approaches. Does Torrullin? Of course he does. He is a seer also. Does Tristan?” She watched his eyes. “Tristan knows. Is this why he chooses his scars? Gods, he knows?”

  “Suspects,” Elianas whispered.

  “This is why he has been acting strange for a while.” Caballa paused. “Perhaps this is better. This way I will not suffer the grief your absence will instil.”

  Elianas clasped her face. “Live now, Caballa. Do not wonder over tomorrow.”