He bounced off a thick branch, and it caught his shoulder, sending pain streaking down his arm as it fell useless. Jostephon screamed.
Then he hit the ground.
The pain of the impact was overwhelming. When he struck, he felt as if his entire body shattered. Darkness flickered across his vision, and he thought he heard the trees themselves sigh with a strange satisfaction.
Could that have been the reason for his temptation? Could the forest have been trying to kill him?
And perhaps it had succeeded.
A face appeared in front of him, one of the stupid half-breeds. Jostephon did his best to glare at it, but he knew that he was not able to muster anything with any real strength. Perhaps the boy had been right bringing him here. He hadn’t needed to kill him. The forest would have done it.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Roelle stood in front of the temple, staring up at the dark structure that towered over the city, feeling the now familiar pressure of its power.
“What do you intend to do here?” Selton asked.
Roelle shook her head. She hadn’t given enough thought to how she might convince the High Desh to help her with regard to Scottan. The priest claimed Scottan had nothing more than a crisis of faith. She was the last person who could counsel on that. She was hopeful the priest would welcome the opportunity.
“If we’re going to leave and have someone else work with him, I need to see if the priests will be willing,” she said.
She rested one hand on the hilt of her sword, pressing her manehlin into it. The sword itself seemed to store her manehlin and added to it. Had Endric expected that? The general had known much more than she had ever realized, and that knowledge had been the reason he had encouraged her to go north, wanting her to partner with the Antrilii.
She often wondered what else he might have known but not shared, and what other plans he might have in place. Maybe he had known about the connection to the sword. She wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case.
“His problem is that he refuses to even try,” Selton said.
Roelle knew that was true. As much as they had tried working with Scottan, he didn’t seem to want them to work with him.
“Let’s bring him here,” she said. “Maybe there will be something about the temple that helps him.” It felt strange to think the Deshmahne might help with Scottan’s crisis of faith, but that was her only option now.
They turned away from the temple, continuing along the street and heading back toward where the Magi were staying. As they walked through the city, listening to the sounds of dozens of voices all around them, Roelle took in the vibrancy and the sense of life, and couldn’t help but feel as if there were things about the Deshmahne she still didn’t understand. This city was nothing like what she had expected.
They reached the small side street that led back to the rooms they had rented, and she paused briefly before ducking through the gate that led into the yard. On this side, she heard the clatter of wood against wood as Magi practiced with the staves.
“Where is he?” she asked.
Selton shook his head. “Maybe he decided he’d had enough.”
Roelle snorted. “I think that’s what you would prefer.”
“I don’t see the situation quite in the same way you do. I’m not sure what reason Jakob had for asking you to help him, but…”
Roelle saw a figure standing in the shadows near the gate, and silenced Selton with a tap on his arm. He flushed slightly and nodded to her before turning away and making his way toward the pairing of Magi soldiers. Selton watched them for a moment before grabbing an offered practice sword and beginning his turn.
“How are you coming along?” Roelle asked Scottan.
He remained near the shadows. “How do you expect?”
“I don’t expect anything. I thought I would simply see whether you were adjusting well.”
“Adjusting? Is that what you would have me do here?”
Roelle met his gaze, holding it. There was something about the way he looked at her that suggested darkness. There was something in it that seemed even darker than what she saw from the Deshmahne. She had known Deshmahne who had the potential for good in them. When she and the Magi warriors had fought the groeliin in the north, she had almost gotten through to one of the Deshmahne to help them.
“Jakob wants you to recover,” she said. “I’m not sure what he expects from you—”
Scottan laughed bitterly. “Jakob thinks to find the good in everyone.”
Roelle cocked her head to the side as she studied him. “You don’t think that’s worthwhile?”
“I think it is naïve.”
“Naïve or not, he’s the one who has developed abilities of the gods. I trust that the knowledge he has acquired because of it has granted him a greater understanding than what I can claim.”
Scottan stared past Roelle, watching the Magi. “There was a time when I trained like that.”
She had learned so little about Scottan. She knew that he’d once been a soldier, but not much else. Something had happened to him, and he had gotten sick.
“What kind of training did you participate in?”
“You don’t have to pretend to befriend me,” he said.
“I didn’t realize I was pretending.”
Scottan watched her for a moment, his gaze unreadable. “Why are you doing this?”
“Doing what? Talking to you? I’m doing it because I want to understand.”
“Why would you care to understand?”
“Because that’s the only way I will know how to help you.”
Even then, Roelle wasn’t certain that would be enough for her to help Scottan. Whatever plagued him, and whatever torment he’d experienced, she wasn’t certain there was any way for her to get through to him. The more time she spent around Scottan, the more she began to wonder if maybe he was a hopeless cause. When she first had tried training with them, he had seemed more receptive. Had he been, or had the High Desh reached him somehow?
She didn’t know, and Scottan didn’t give her any hint either.
“There’s no way for you to help me.”
“Jakob seems to think otherwise.”
“Jakob is a fool for thinking otherwise.”
He seemed more annoyed today than he had on previous days. Why was that? Was it his presence in the city? Was there something about the Deshmahne temple that influenced him? It was possible, as Roelle was certainly aware of the presence of the temple, and the power that radiated from it. Could it be that power influenced him?
“Would you like to spar?” she asked him.
Scottan watched her for a moment, a hint of a sneer starting on his face before fading. “I didn’t think I gave you much of a challenge.”
“It’s not about the challenge. It’s about what you learn from the experience.” It certainly wasn’t about the challenge for Roelle. Scottan might once have been a soldier and swordsman, but the skill he possessed now was not enough to pose much difficulty for her.
“Don’t bother,” Scottan said. He took one last look at the Magi sparring before spinning and heading out of the gate. She stared after him for a long moment, debating what she should do and whether she should go after him. It was possible that he could find danger in the city, but the Deshmahne kept the city mostly controlled, and she hadn’t seen anyone who might pose a threat. Certainly, there hadn’t been since the Lashiin priests had been controlled.
“You want me to follow him?”
Roelle turned to see Lendra watching her. She had disappeared for a few weeks and had only reappeared recently. Roelle kept waiting for her to share where she had gone, but she was much like the historian in her secrecy. Selton hadn’t pushed his cousin, so Roelle hadn’t either. Lendra had proven herself time and again, and there had been no reason to question her.
“I don’t know whether we should keep an eye on him or not.”
“There’s darkness within him,” Lendra said.
Roelle smiled at her. “You’re starting to sound like one of the Magi when you say things like that.”
Lendra reached into her pocket and pulled out a book, scanning the cover a moment before tucking it back into her pocket. “I don’t have to be one of the Magi to recognize that he struggles with something. It’s in his eyes. I’ve seen it in men before, but…” Lendra shook her head. “Maybe it’s nothing, but I worry that if we don’t reach him, someone else will.”
“The Deshmahne haven’t attempted to harm us here,” she said.
“There are others with dangerous intentions here, Roelle. The Deshmahne are not the only ones we must be wary of.”
She glanced over at Lendra, studying her. “Is this something that you observed?” Lendra had a sharp eye and an even sharper mind. That was part of the reason Roelle had not objected to her presence. Even were she not Selton’s cousin, she would have offered added value to the Magi.
“Nothing that I’ve observed directly. I’ve just seen signs throughout the city, though I don’t know what they mean.”
Roelle glanced back to the now closed gate that Scottan had disappeared through. If not the Deshmahne, what else could be out in the city? What else did they need to worry about? Maybe there was nothing, but maybe she should be concerned about who Scottan might interact with.
“Would you?” she asked Lendra.
“Follow him?”
Roelle nodded.
Lendra pinched her chin, her brow furrowed as she studied the gate. “Have you figured out why Jakob sent him to you?”
“Only that he means something to him.”
“That might be the more important question for us to have answered.”
“Why is that?”
“Because of what he’s been through. If this man is important to Jakob, I think we should try to understand why and whether he should be important to us.”
Roelle wasn’t sure what that would be, or how they would find out short of asking Scottan directly, and when she had attempted that, he had not volunteered anything. It was much the same as Jakob. Had he wanted her to know more about this man, he would have simply told her. It seemed that Jakob preferred Roelle not know about the man he left in her care.
“Let me know what you find out,” she said. “If he’s meeting up with anyone, we should know.”
Lendra nodded and started out the gate, leaving Roelle staring after her.
Even if Scottan was meeting up with someone, was there anything she could do about it? She doubted there was, just as she doubted she could get through to Scottan if he continued to resist her.
With a sigh, she pulled her attention away from the gate and turned back to the Magi warriors. For now, they had to be the focus of her attention. Eventually, she would have to decide what the Magi were going to do, and where that mission would take them. They couldn’t remain here, simply stationed without taking action. They had trained much too hard, and had experienced far too much, for them to remain passive when everything she had seen cried out to her that they needed a more active role.
Yet even as she started to plan and think through what role she and the rest of the Magi might take, she wondered if perhaps she needed to be involving Jakob, and understanding what he might ask of her. That seemed as important as anything else that she might decide.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The streets were dark, and Roelle walked them, watching, hoping for some sign of Scottan to return. He had been gone for three days, and so had Lendra. That troubled her.
“I don’t think—”
Roelle silenced Selton with a touch on his arm and a shake of her head. They continued to watch the street, looking for signs of movement, but there were none.
Though she and Selton had already searched the city, she had also sent the Magi out, to search on her behalf. They’d learned little about what might’ve happened and where he might’ve gone, but enough that they could track what they had discovered to here.
The building was nondescript, no different from many others in Paliis. It was two stories and had a few windows along the face of it, Hethern had observed Scottan coming here, or so he had said, but there had been no sign of him since they began their watch.
What was this place? Why would Scottan have come here? What would have appealed to him here? From what she’d seen of people going inside, the men—and they were mostly men—were atypical of Paliis, wearing drab clothing, mostly grays or blacks, none of the more colorful clothes that most within the city favored.
Selton watched her, his brow arched and a question in his eyes that went unasked. She had no answers. That’s why they were here. They were searching for answers, and no amount of talking about it would provide them. She needed to see who Scottan might be with before she could determine if there was any cause for concern.
She didn’t need Selton to remind her that she was doing more than what was likely necessary. Was she taking her responsibility for this man too far? Was this what Jakob had intended for her? It didn’t seem likely.
Movement along the street caught her attention, and she peered into the darkness. It was a moonless night, and thunder rumbled distantly.
She tapped Selton’s arm, and he nodded.
The person coming along the street wore a black robe that was motionless as he walked. Roelle didn’t need much light to know he was Deshmahne.
The Deshmahne entered the building with barely a knock.
Was it one of the priests? Could it be someone high-ranking, one of the Desh?
If so, did she need to approach the High Desh in the temple and question whether they were involved in Scottan’s disappearance?
“We need to be careful,” Selton said. He spoke softly, barely enough for his voice to carry to her, and only to her.
“We could go to the temple. The priest would—”
She cut off as the door opened, and the dark-robed man made his way back out onto the street. There was another person with him, dressed similarly.
Scottan.
Where was Lendra?
Had she been captured trying to follow Scottan? She had placed herself in danger before and hadn’t needed much convincing for her to trail after Scottan, but Roelle would feel responsible if something had happened to her.
The two men disappeared around the corner of the building, fading into the shadows. “Do we go after them?” Selton asked.
“One of us should,” she said.
“One of us?”
“The other should find out what’s taking place inside the building.”
Selton grunted softly. “If you think I’m leaving you to explore that building by yourself, you’re mistaken.”
“Fine. We’ll both trail after them, we can return to the building once we figure out where they might be going.”
Selton nodded.
They started down the street, both of them moving as quietly as possible. They had trained in silence and were plenty skilled at moving quietly. They hurried along the street, keeping in the shadows, and she saw no signs of movement around them. She knew that should trouble her. There should be something—some sign of either movement or of where Scottan and the Deshmahne might have gone.
There was nothing.
She stopped at the next intersection and remained tucked against the building. “Where did they go?” she whispered.
Selton shook his head. “We weren’t fast enough.”
She glanced over at her friend. “Not fast enough? I don’t know how we could have come after them any more quickly.”
Roelle suppressed a surge of frustration. It had taken incredible effort to get a lead on where Scottan might have gone, and they had lost it in a matter of a few seconds. If he had disappeared that easily, she wasn’t certain there would be any way to find him again.
Unless… What if he’d gone to the temple? Could he have gone to meet with the Deshmahne? If so, the High Desh would be able to provide some answers for her, wouldn’t he?
&
nbsp; It was possible that he wouldn’t. It was possible that he would protect the Deshmahne—and that he might think he was serving Jakob and by doing so.
She suppressed a frustrated sigh and turned back to trace their steps to the building they had been observing. If nothing else, she would find out what had been taking place inside. Scottan had been hidden there until the Deshmahne had arrived.
When they reached the building, and Roelle reached for the door, Selton grabbed her arm.
She paused and noticed that he had unsheathed.
She nodded. It wasn’t a bad idea for them to be prepared. She unsheathed, and sent a connection to her manehlin into the sword, feeling the way it augmented her abilities.
Surprisingly, even though Selton also carried a sword made of teralin, her friend hadn’t managed to connect to it in the same way as she had. Why was that? Why would she be able to pour her manehlin into the sword, but Selton would not? It didn’t seem to be anything about her connection to it. Selton was as aware of the power of the teralin as she was. That meant there was another reason.
With swords unsheathed, they pushed the door open and stepped inside.
It was dark—almost too dark.
She felt pressure upon her, and there was something else there, a heat that had not been present out on the street. Nights in Paliis could be warm, but most often had a cool breeze that gusted in off the mountains, a breeze that pushed away the heat and humidity of the daytime.
This heat was not like that of the day. This was something almost unnatural.
“Teralin,” Selton whispered.
As he said it, she realized that he was right. It was teralin. It was different from the teralin she had within her sword and different from what was in the temple. What kind of teralin was it? Dark, but somehow darker than what comprised the temple.
Was this the same as the teralin the Deshmahne used for their swords?
There was something about it that she feared. It wasn’t that the metal itself was dangerous but more that the intent of the bearer made it into something else.
The Gift of Madness (The Lost Prophecy Book 7) Page 20