by Brandon Mull
“Is the Cave of Memory hard to find?” Cole asked.
“The location is no great secret,” Sando said. “Many could direct you. The closest village to the cave is called Rincomere.”
“Well, thanks,” Cole said.
“This is not good-bye, young sir,” Sando said. “Our partnership is just beginning. Save your farewells for after you deliver the ringer. A final matter. You are traveling alone?”
“No,” Cole admitted.
“How will you explain your new knowledge to your friends?”
“That’s right. I agreed not to tell them about you. They’ll want to know my source.”
“Try not to lie,” Sando advised. “Falsehoods have a way of unraveling, especially in Necronum. Do your companions know about your damaged power?”
“Yeah.”
“Report that you met an old semblance who recognized your mangled power and took pity on you. This is all true. You had desperate need for rare knowledge in my possession. I could have required an exhausting quest. I could have demanded vast treasures. Instead, I made a generous bargain. And if they ask my name?”
“Pretend I don’t know?” Cole tried.
“That would be a lie,” Sando chided. “Try something like, ‘Good question. I should have found out.’ ”
“I should have and I did,” Cole said.
“Imply the lie,” Sando said. “Don’t state it outright.”
“You’re good at this.”
“I lived a long mortal life, and many years as an echo besides,” Sando said. “I’ve had ample time to practice.”
“Cole?” a voice called.
Cole put a finger to his lips so he could listen. It sounded like Joe. He seemed to be a fair distance away.
“Cole! Cole? Come to the shrine. Cole?”
“Your friends are searching for you,” Sando said. “Go to them.”
On impulse, Cole attempted to drop the silver ringer. He swung his hand forward, but his fingers refused to let go. He tried once more with no success.
“Did you think I was bluffing?” Sando asked.
“I just wanted to see what it felt like,” Cole said, pocketing the ringer and then flexing his fingers. They moved fine when he wasn’t trying to drop it. “Thanks for the info.”
Sando folded his hands on his lap, closed his eyes, and smiled. “We will meet again, giver of silver. May each step bring you closer to prosperity.” The old beggar faded and disappeared.
“Cole?” Joe called again, nearer this time.
Cole stood up and peered over the bushes. Joe was coming back toward the shrine along a trail. “I’m coming,” Cole answered, dodging around vegetation.
As Cole reached the path, a short woman in a silk robe marched up to him. “Leaving the footpaths is prohibited throughout the garden,” she scolded.
Cole considered a joke about going to the bathroom but reconsidered given her stern expression. “An echo led me,” he explained. “I’m sorry.”
“Any respectable echo knows to stay on the paths,” she complained.
“It’s my first time here,” Cole apologized.
“And your last if you don’t watch yourself,” she said.
“Is there a problem?” Joe asked, approaching. He was tall and well-dressed, with a stubbly beard. Cole could imagine Joe back home in California, playing with his band. Joe flashed his most disarming smile.
“He’s with you?” the woman asked.
“Yes,” Joe said. “Thanks for finding him. I’d lost sight of him.”
“Don’t give me the lovable-scoundrel routine,” the woman said. “It carries no weight at the Seven-Cornered Shrine. Is he Cole?”
“That’s right,” Joe confirmed.
She squared up to face him, hands on her hips. “Please don’t raise your voice in the gardens. You were crying out like you would for a dog lost in the wilderness! Have you no sense of decorum? This is a place of tranquility. Be responsible! The boy wandered off the path.”
“My apologies,” Joe said, placing a hand on his chest. “Won’t happen again.”
“It won’t for sure if I ban you,” she said. “Watch yourselves. You’ve been warned. You’re on your way out I hope?”
“You guessed it,” Joe said. “Good day.”
He laid a hand on Cole’s shoulder and guided him along the path toward the shrine.
“Where are the others?” Cole murmured as they entered the ornate building.
“Out in front,” Joe said. “Sally got a disturbing tip, so we all cleared out. You were the last.”
“Did she get any leads on her sisters?”
“Wait until we have more privacy,” Joe said.
A large coach awaited them in front of the shrine. Joe guided Cole to the horse-drawn vehicle, and they both climbed inside the compartment. Cole joined Hunter and Dalton on a cushioned bench facing Mira, Jace, and Joe. Jace drew the curtains closed as the coach started rolling.
“Where were you?” Mira asked Cole. “We looked all over.”
“He was right by the shrine,” Joe said. “He’d gone off the path into the bushes.”
“I needed a restroom too,” Dalton said.
“No,” Cole said. “I was with an echo.”
“How much did you spill?” Jace asked, an edge to his voice.
“I told who I was looking for,” Cole said. “I didn’t say anything about you guys.”
“We can speak freely,” Hunter said. “I’m blocking the area inside the coach from echoes.”
“Sally learned some scary stuff,” Dalton explained to Cole.
“I met a woman from my childhood,” Mira said. “Zelna Laperne. She was a maid who spent time with me at the castle. She’s been an echo for decades now.”
“Did she have any leads on your sisters?” Cole asked, unsure what exactly he hoped to hear. Part of him wanted the info he got from Sando to save the day.
“Zelna could only confirm that Nazeem is looking for them,” Mira said. “It sounds like he’s hunting you too, Cole.”
“He didn’t seem happy the last time we met,” Cole said.
“Zelna warned me that the shrine is swarming with his agents,” Mira said. “Nazeem’s influence in the echolands has grown really strong almost overnight. Nobody had heard his name until recently. When Zelna recognized me, she made contact to caution me to stay away from shrines. They’re being heavily watched. I thought we should regroup before asking more questions.”
“I helped Mira round up the others,” Joe said. “We told everyone to abort. Nobody gained any vital knowledge about Honor or Destiny, but I don’t think we gave ourselves away, either.”
“Hard to be sure,” Hunter said. “If a friend recognized Mira, an enemy could have as well. Dalton told us that he and Cole brought up the princesses with Yeardly. Any time we tell an echo who we’re looking for, we run the risk of getting discovered by Nazeem.”
“What were you doing off in the bushes with an echo, Cole?” Jace asked. “How much did you spill?”
“It was an old echo,” Cole said. “He was friendly and guessed a lot about me. He could see the damage to my shaping power.”
“If he could see your power, he might have targeted you,” Hunter said. “Nazeem knows about your damaged power.”
“The echo didn’t come to me,” Cole said. “I went to him.”
“If he was any good, he may have positioned himself where you would see him,” Hunter said. “In an ambush, you let your prey approach. How nosy was he?”
“Medium nosy,” Cole said. “I think I got good info from him.”
“What?” Mira asked.
“Destiny went to the Cave of Memory,” Cole said, hoping the information would impress them.
“Really?” Mira asked. “How long ago?”
“A few months,” Cole said.
“He told you this freely?” Hunter asked.
“I have to do a favor for him,” Cole said.
“But no bindings,” Hun
ter clarified.
“Well . . . not with punishments attached,” Cole said.
“Wait,” Hunter said. “You let him do a binding? I told everybody to avoid bound oaths.”
“There was no punishment,” Cole repeated.
“I guess, strictly speaking, bound oaths have punishments,” Hunter said. “But if this echo connected the favor to a binding, that’s almost the same thing. What was the binding?”
Cole found himself unable to explain. After two failed attempts, he managed to reply, “I can’t say.”
Hunter shared a worried glance with Joe and Mira. “He won’t let you tell? That’s part of the bargain? Who was this echo? What was his name?”
Once again Cole couldn’t get the words past his lips. “I can’t say.”
“What did he look like?” Hunter asked.
After failing to give details, Cole shrugged. “I can’t.”
Looking shaken, Hunter wiped his eyes.
“Is this bad?” Jace asked.
“Maybe,” Hunter said. He studied Cole intently. “My guess is the binding seemed innocent?”
“Yes,” Cole said, relieved he could spit out that much.
“Do you see any way it could endanger us?” Hunter pressed.
“No,” Cole said, relieved again. “It was a very simple request.”
“That’s good at least,” Hunter said. “Did the binding require loyalty from the echo?”
Cole couldn’t answer. He tried to nod but failed. “I can’t say.”
“You can’t give us any details?” Hunter guessed.
“Yes,” Cole said.
“But you’re confident it can’t backfire?” Hunter asked.
“Yes,” Cole said. “It seemed like the echo did me a favor.”
“We’re so doomed,” Jace muttered.
“Maybe not,” Hunter said. “Cole isn’t stupid. Since the binding is keeping him from answering my questions, the info he got has to be solid. The binding wouldn’t hold if it was based on a lie.”
“But he could have been dealing with an agent of Nazeem,” Mira said. “We don’t know what Cole has to do. There could be a trap built into the binding.”
Hunter looked at Joe, who held up both hands defensively. “I’ve never been to Necronum. You and Mira know much more than me about this place.”
“We could have been exposed at the shrine in other ways,” Hunter said. “Mira could have been recognized. We didn’t have lots of interactions with echoes, but we already might have accidentally given the wrong hint to the wrong person. At least Cole got a lead. If we want some serious background about Destiny, we know where to go.”
“Should we split up from Cole?” Jace asked. “We know to visit the Cave of Memory. We don’t need him to get there. Maybe he can go his own way for a while until we see how the binding plays out?”
Cole noticed Dalton looking at him. If they wanted to take off and look for Jenna, this was a golden opportunity.
“Not unless he wants to leave,” Mira said firmly. “Cole has saved us more than once. If he doesn’t think he left an opening for trouble, that’s good enough for me. He may have struck a good bargain. That does happen. And even if he didn’t, we’ll figure it out together.”
“Every minute we’re in Necronum, we risk blowing our cover,” Hunter said. “The road won’t be smooth no matter what precautions we take. We should count ourselves lucky that we know where to start our search. The Cave of Memory is roughly the same direction as Destiny’s star. I think we should head that way and find a decent inn.”
“Sounds good to me,” Cole said, avoiding eye contact with Dalton.
“Nice work, Cole,” Mira said. “We didn’t expose ourselves too much at the shrine, and we still walked away with new knowledge. Without your binding, we’d know nothing.”
“I hope it doesn’t get us in trouble,” Cole said.
“So do I,” Jace said heavily. “So do I.”
CHAPTER
5
HORSES
Cole snapped awake, certain he needed to get out of bed. Sitting up, he wiped grit from the corners of his eyes. Orange moonlight filtered into the dim room through the cracks in the shutters. He could hear Dalton breathing evenly.
It looked suspiciously like the middle of the night. He heard no threatening sounds. Why exactly did he need to get out of bed? His bladder didn’t feel strained. Had he been dreaming? If so, he couldn’t recall any details.
Something felt wrong. He hadn’t awakened in a natural way. Cole remembered arriving at the large inn as the brightest stars began to appear in the sky. After a hearty meal of beef ribs, potatoes, and bread, he and Dalton had decided to share a room. Hunter had bunked with Jace. Joe and Mira each had their own rooms.
Was he being paranoid? Should he go back to sleep? The residue of his urgent feeling remained, but Cole slouched onto his pillow. He couldn’t get comfortable. He had no desire to close his eyes. An internal tug coaxed him to get up. He stretched one hand toward a far corner of the room. That somehow felt right.
Weird! Was he turning psychic or losing it?
Cole kicked back his covers and slid his legs off the edge of the thin mattress. The far corner of the room inexplicably beckoned.
He got out of bed and crossed to the corner, where he had left his clothes on a chair. Almost without thinking, he picked up his pants and started rummaging through the pockets.
A sense of relief struck as his fingers closed around a ringer. Pulling it out, he found it was silver. Had it been a mistake to leave the ringer in his pants? Did it always need to be touching him?
Cole? a familiar voice spoke in his mind. Even without physically hearing the word, Cole recognized the speaker as Sando.
“Yeah,” Cole whispered.
Thank Fortune I could reach you, Sando continued. Depart the inn immediately. You and anyone in your company. Ride north for now. Stay off the roads. Some local Enforcers have caught wind of you. They’re coming your way. Hurry!
“Thanks,” Cole said, crossing to Dalton.
My pleasure, young sir. I’ll try to reach you again. Keep our ringer in hand.
“Got it,” Cole murmured. He shook Dalton’s shoulder. “Get up! We have to scram!”
Dalton gave a soft groan. “Huh?”
“Enforcers are coming.”
That grabbed his attention. Dalton lurched from the bed, his hands breaking his fall before his feet followed.
“How much time to we have?” Cole whispered, reaching out with his mind.
“What?” Dalton asked.
“Grab your clothes,” Cole said. Clenching the ringer in his fist, Cole whispered, “Can you hear me—”
He meant to say Sando, but the word wouldn’t form on his lips. Probably because Dalton was listening. Cole sensed no reply.
“You okay?” Dalton asked.
“I’ll explain later,” Cole said. He quickly dressed. “Get Joe.” Cole dashed to Hunter’s room, then knocked softly. Though haste was needed, he didn’t want to announce their departure to the entire inn.
Hunter opened the door, squinting, hair mussed. “What’s up?” Beyond him, Jace sat up in bed, a dagger in his hand.
“I got a message from the echo,” Cole said. “Some Enforcers are coming. He told me we need to get out of here and ride north. He didn’t want us on the roads.”
Hunter scowled thoughtfully.
“Think it’s a trap?” Cole asked.
Hunter gave a quick shake of his head. “If the echo meant us harm, it would be easier to let the Enforcers take us here. There’s no point in warning us unless the help is real. We’ll have to ditch the coach and steal horses. Wake the others.”
Hunter went back into his room. Dalton was talking to Joe. Cole jogged to Mira’s room and knocked gently. After a moment he knocked again.
“Hello?” He could barely hear her from behind the door.
“It’s Cole,” he said, keeping his voice low.
The door crack
ed open, showing a sliver of her face, including most of one eye.
“Enforcers are coming,” Cole said. “I got a tip from the echo.”
“I’ll be right out.”
The door closed.
Feeling antsy, Cole looked up and down the hall. Dalton had entered Joe’s room. Every second seemed precarious. Would Enforcers come pounding up the stairs? If so, Cole and his friends had little to rely on. No gadgets from Zeropolis. No special weapons. Only Hunter could shape here, and he had warned there wasn’t much that death weaving could do in combat.
Squeezing the ringer in his fist, Cole tried to reestablish a mental link with Sando. Are you there? he thought intently. Can you hear me, Sando?
Cole sensed no reply. Apparently, the ringer had limited use as a communicator. Maybe it took a lot of effort from Sando? Or some weaving? Could echoes shape? He pocketed the ringer.
Joe, Dalton, Hunter, and Jace exited their rooms and gathered near Cole.
“What weapons do we have?” Cole asked.
“Your Jumping Sword is in the coach,” Hunter said. “Mira’s too. I haven’t caught up to any of my stashes of Necronum equipment yet. I have nothing more than knives right now. We were counting on secrecy.”
“What are the Enforcers like here?” Dalton asked.
“They use conventional weapons,” Hunter said. “Bows, swords, spears—all that. Unless they’re very powerful weavers, they tend to be expert soldiers. A lot of them rely on echoes for information. They have echoes follow people or set up invisible sentries.”
“Have you been communicating with echoes?” Joe wondered.
“I like to work with certain echoes,” Hunter said. “It’s been a while since I visited Necronum. I reached out to some of my most trusted contacts but haven’t heard back. It can take time. Confiding in random echoes can be risky. After the shrine I thought it best to wait for an echo I really trust.”
“Can echoes attack?” Cole asked.
Hunter held out a hand and waggled it. “Not usually in a direct way. They can scare you. They can distract. If you’re not careful, they can bind you. But usually the big danger is if they share information you want kept secret. Like your location.”