“But you could recover?”
“Maybe,” Jez said. “Some do.”
“Because humans, even you, are separate from their power. You have identity, you have self apart from it. We do not. When Andera bound our power, he also bound our personality, our strength of will. We were always little more than personifications of concepts. On top of that, we are part of a whole. The lack of any one of us harms the rest. It started happening when Aniel vanished a few years ago, but we were more able to resist it when we had our full power and access to the Keep of the Hosts, and that did not last nearly this long. The more time we are trapped in this condition, the worse it will become, and we will have little choice in our actions. Manakel perceives a threat. He must attack. Aniel is the guardian of the beasts, both natural and those who have chosen to be so. When his children are in danger, he must act.”
“And you?”
“I protect. The possibility of two high lords of the pharim doing battle was enough to drive me to act. I am not sure what will happen to me, given time, though if you recall, Manakel and I nearly came to blows a few minutes ago.”
Jez’s throat was dry. “You mean the high lords of the pharim are going insane.”
Sariel pursed his lips. “Not exactly, though that is probably as close to the truth as your language is capable of expressing.”
“How long do we have before...” Jez paused, unsure how to even describe the type of chaos that the insanity of the high lords could lead to.
Sariel gave him a slow nod. “I do not know. A few months perhaps. Somewhat longer, if we stay focused on our area of influence and avoid interaction with your world. Regardless, I do not believe we have a year.”
“Is there anything we can do to slow it down?”
“Restore Aphlel, perhaps. His influence could help mitigate the damage. Other than that? Do not involve us unless you must. The less we encounter situations that invoke our more primal nature, the better.”
Jez glanced up at the tree where Penar had returned and was watching. “What about him? Are you going to let him try to help Aphlel?”
Sariel glanced at Manakel. The lord of destruction met Sariel’s gaze without blinking. Finally, Sariel nodded once. When he spoke, his voice had lost the resonance it had possessed behind the ward against sound.
“I do not believe there is much to lose. We will let him try.”
CHAPTER 6
It wasn’t an ideal situation. Manakel stood nearby, his hands shrouded in flame while Aniel crouched down, ready to strike at any moment. The other high lords looked uneasy as well. The king and queen stood in the shadow of Daziel, looking more sure of themselves. Penar rested on Aphlel’s chest as he called up healing energies. Jez had never trained in that dominion, and he had only the most basic idea of how healing magic worked. Even so, he sensed the magic welling up inside of Aphlel, looking for something to repair. After several seconds, Penar let out a long breath.
“If there is something wrong with him, I cannot find it. Perhaps with more power.” He hopped around until he was facing a tree with a bird man sitting in its branches. “Vulen, may I have the crystal?”
Vulen nodded. He spread his wings and jumped off the tree, gliding over to Penar. He had on a single piece of clothing, a belt with a number of pouches hanging from it. He reached into one and pulled out a fist-sized emerald. In the next instant, Manakel was next to him, a flaming sword held to the bird man’s neck. Vulen froze. His eyes darted around until they rested on Jez, but Manakel spoke before he could say anything.
“I was willing to allow him to try to heal, but now he asks for one of the most potent weapons mortalkind has ever held.”
“So that he can help,” Aniel said.
“Was it not using that same crystal that Andera first bound you to mortal form and drove you insane?”
Aniel growled. “Penar is not Andera, and you would do well to remember that.”
“Oh, by the seven,” Jez said, though he realized almost immediately how silly that sounded, given his present company. He sighed. “We just separated the two of you. Don’t tell me you’re going to try to fight already.”
Manakel stiffened. His eyes blazed, but he remained in human form. Slowly, he withdrew his sword. Aniel relaxed his clenched muscles, and Jez let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Penar looked from Jez to Manakel and back again.
“May I proceed?”
“Go ahead,” Jez said, never taking his eyes off of Manakel.
Vulen took a few hesitant steps forward and placed the large focusing stone on Aphlel’s chest. Penar reached out one thin arm and rested a finger on the crystal. The stone pulsed with emerald light as Penar closed his eyes. After a few seconds, he opened them again. They glowed green, casting odd shadows across the clearing. Even the waters of the stream seemed to shed light, though Jez wasn’t sure if that was merely a reflection of the bird man’s eyes. Penar scanned the high lords before shaking his head.
“That is one of the oddest sensations I’ve ever felt. He’s not injured, at least not as far as I can tell. His body makeup is nearly identical to his compatriots. There’s no difference that would explain why he’s unconscious and they’re not. I just don’t know.”
Manakel huffed. “As if that is a surprise.”
Aniel started to speak, but Jez broke in. “Can you use that?”
“Use what?” Aniel asked.
“The stone. It’s your power, right? Can you take it back? Would that help restore you?”
“My lord Aniel,” Penar said, “we would be honored to return this stone to you. I am certain Galine would want me to offer it, if it will help.”
Aniel eyed Gayel, but the lord of knowledge shrugged. “It might work, if Andera’s working is static, it may not be able to adapt to an influx of new power. Binding is not my area of expertise, however. Sariel?”
Sariel considered for a second. “Yes. It will not be enough to undo Andera’s binding, but it should make Aniel stronger, perhaps even strong enough to free the Beastwalkers from the restriction keeping them from this world.”
Jez perked up. “That would be useful.”
Manakel glided across the path on silent feet and snatched up the crystal before anyone had a chance to react. There was a moment of uneasy silence, but then Manakel held the crystal to Aniel.
“If it will restore you.”
The king turned to Daziel. “Is that wise? We still don’t know if we can trust the beast men.”
Daziel stiffened, and violet flashed in his eyes. Once again, his voice sounded like it came from everywhere at once. “I will suffer much from you because you are the king. You have the right to rule, but do not presume to speak on matters above yourself.”
The king blanched as Daziel motioned for Aniel to continue. The lord of beasts took the crystal in his hands. He closed his eyes, and the stone glowed. A lion’s roar sounded through the garden. Jez looked around, but almost immediately, he realized he hadn’t heard the roar with his ears but rather with his mind. Haziel and Istar seemed not to have heard it. Neither had Lina, though Penar had flapped into the nearest branch, and Vulen squawked and backed away. Osmund’s eyes lit up, but that only lasted a second.
“It was beast magic,” Jez said under his breath.
He hadn’t trained in beast magic, but his experiences in Aniel’s valley had suggested his transformation into Luntayary’s form utilized the power of that dominion. Apparently, that was enough for him to be able to hear whatever cry Aniel’s efforts had yielded. The light in the crystal dimmed. Then, the stone itself faded, as if it were wet paint being washed away. When Jez beheld the pharim high lord, he seemed somehow more. He didn’t have the same presence that Jez had felt in him before his binding, but he was definitely greater than his peers. An aura of green surrounded him, but abruptly it vanished, and he shook his head.
“The restriction was too absolute. I cannot summon my children.”
An idea struck Jez. “What a
bout the ones already in this world?”
Aniel shook his head. “Only Sariel has children in this world, and as you well know, they cannot be spared.”
Jez nodded. One of the primary purposes of the Shadowguards was to watch over powerful demons who had been imprisoned. When the high lords had barred the pharim from entering the world, those Shadowguards who had been set to watch over the greatest of demons had been excluded. No one wanted to call on them, however, because that would mean leaving their charges unprotected, but there were other beings in the world.
“You know, we might have to rethink that, eventually, but that wasn’t what I was talking about.”
“To what are you referring?” Sariel asked.
“Welb.” Jez eyed the king. He had never been clear if Villia had told him her secret, and he had no intention of revealing that to him if she hadn’t. Instead, he met the gaze of Daziel, who led the Veilspeakers, the order from which Villia had fallen. Seeming to grasp his meaning, Daziel nodded. “And others of his kind. There are afur scattered throughout the world.”
Manakel’s eyes blazed. “The traitors, you mean.”
Jez rolled his eyes. “I know they’re not full pharim, but they’re still powerful, and we could use all the help we could get.”
Daziel wrinkled his brow. “Was it not a year ago that an afur led you into a trap that resulted in you being lost in the abyss? Now, you propose to trust the rest of them?”
“Welb helped me,” Jez said. Osmund cleared his throat, and Jez glared at him. “He didn’t do it at first, but he came around eventually.” He narrowed his eyes at the lord of shadows. “And there have been others.”
“It is true that I do not find Welb’s presence entirely distasteful,” Aniel said.
“And,” Manakel sounded like the words were being dragged out of him, “we could use the troops. We would have to be careful lest we encounter others like Mirel, but even many of those who took up arms against us have come to regret their actions. They may be of some use.”
“But how do we contact them?” Leziel asked. “As I am, even I would have trouble divining their location.”
“I will speak to Welb,” Aniel said.
“Maybe you shouldn’t,” Jez said. Six pairs of eyes turned to him, and he resisted the urge to shudder. “I mean, you’re not exactly...” He hesitated for a second, but when no better word came to mind, he just let it out. “Stable.”
Aniel’s brow wrinkled, but Leziel nodded. “You know he is right, brother. Even your new strength will not be enough to sustain you for very long.”
Aniel’s form rippled as if he was about to change, but it stabilized after a second. He nodded once.
“I’ll see to Welb.” Jez turned to Haziel. “Villia told me she traveled a lot before she came into your service. She could have learned something we can use. It might help to speak to her.”
Haziel nodded, though he kept his gaze locked onto the high lords who seemed almost indifferent to him. “With the flu over, I think it’s time the queen and I moved back to the army camp. I’ll send Villia to you as soon as we get back if you really think it’ll do any good.”
“Thank you,” Jez said. “Have her meet us in the morning. I’ll tell her what I have in mind on our way to see the beast men.”
CHAPTER 7
Jez, Lina, and Osmund waited at the entrance to the manor grounds. The stone walls, which Jez had once viewed as ominous, now had a measure of comfort to them, and Jez found himself wondering when that had happened. Villia arrived before the sun was completely above the horizon. Jez nodded to Lina and she raised a silence field. Villia eyed her for a second before shaking her head.
“No, try it this way.”
Though he sensed the power, Jez was wholly incompetent in the dominion of shadows. Lina’s eyes went wide, however.
“What did you do?”
“I altered your working. Instead of silence, people will hear mumbling. It is a bit less conspicuous when walking through a crowded city, or do you disagree?”
Lina had a faraway look in her eyes. After a minute, she blinked and nodded. “I think I see how to do it now. I should’ve thought of that before.”
Villia smiled. “This is what happens when you have a few millennia to refine your skills. What was it you wanted to talk about, Jez?”
Jez motioned for her to follow, and they headed toward the northern gate of the city. It seemed Villia was right. By hiding their conversation with mumbles instead of the all too obvious silence, they attracted far less attention. They had almost reached the gate when Jez finished. For a second, Villia was struck silence.
“You cannot be serious,” she said eventually.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Jez asked.
“We have spent thousands of years hiding among mortalkind, and now you want us to reveal ourselves and gather in the same place as the high lords of the pharim?”
Jez rolled his eyes. “Aniel knew Welb was hiding among the beast men the entire time. Daziel knows about you. Do you really think the others have actually been successful at hiding?”
Villia missed a step. One of the gate guards moved to catch her, but she steadied herself and waved the woman off. “Daziel knows about me?”
Jez nodded. “He implied it.”
“No, you must have misunderstood.”
“It was pretty obvious,” Lina said. “The pharim high lords have known what the afur have been doing for a long time. Besides, he saw you earlier. Do you really think he didn’t know? The fact is they haven’t cared, not as long as you don’t actually claim to be pharim.”
Villia sighed. They walked for a few minutes before she responded. “Some of us have been hiding almost as long as your race has existed. It will not be easy to get us to come into the open.”
“Us?” a gravelly voice said, seemingly from nowhere.
Jez froze. His hand fell to the sword hanging from his belt, but he didn’t draw it. The tall grass nearby shouldn’t have been enough to hide someone as massive as Welb, but the afur rose out of it making no more noise than a shadow. Unlike Villia, Welb had long since abandoned wearing a human form, if he’d ever done so at all. His thickly muscled body was covered in coarse brown fur, like that of a wolf. His canine muzzle showed sharp teeth, and his yellow eyes almost seemed to glow. He stood a full six feet tall and each of his fingers ended in wicked looking claws. Villia stiffened and stepped back several steps, but Jez met the newcomer’s eyes.
“Welb.”
“Jezreel. Osmund, I see you have gone back to their ways.”
Osmund smiled. “It’s never been as simple as you’ve made it out to be, Welb.”
“How much of that did you hear?” Jez asked.
“Not much. That working kept me from listening until you got close. Even after I spotted you, I had to put myself in your path to overhear what little I did.” He wrinkled his nose at Villia. “That one does not smell human.”
“No more than you,” Jez said. “She’s an afur.”
A low growl escaped from Welb’s throat. “Do not make the mistake of assuming we are the same. She may not, herself, smell like a human, but she bears their stench all around her. We may have both once served the pharim, but I did not go hide among...” he eyed Jez and his companions, and his next words came out through clenched teeth. “Your kind.”
Jez was about to speak when Villia put a hand on his shoulder and shook her head. “We both retreated to our original purpose. Yours was to watch over beasts. Mine was to guide the rulers of men. We are not as different as you would like to believe.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t talk out here on the open plain where anybody can see,” Lina said. “Why don’t we go to the beast men’s camp?”
Welb nodded and started walking away. After he’d gone a dozen yards, he turned and raised an eyebrow, as if asking if they were going to follow. Jez and his companions fell into step behind him. Welb moved like a breeze, barely disturbing the grass as he walked, and Jez was stru
ck by the contrast of the two former pharim. Villia had once been a Veilspeaker, a pharim whose area of responsibility included illusion and law, politics and diplomacy along with everything else that was almost true. She moved with a stately grace that only those who had spent their lives at court could manage. Welb, on the other hand, had been a Beastwalker, a pharim set to guard over the animals in places far from civilization, and in some ways, he represented an almost wild and savage aspect of life. The pair was almost as different as any two beings could be.
“And they are the ones I have to get to work together,” Jez said under his breath.
The camp was a lot smaller than it had been. A few of the beast men, those who most closely resembled humans, had set up tents or similar accommodations while others simply lay on the open grass. A few had dug out small dens from rises in the land, but even so, there were far fewer than Jez remembered.
“They’re not really social beings,” Osmund said, guessing at his thoughts. “Not all of them anyway. The rest are most likely scattered throughout the countryside. You probably have the best scout force ever assembled, provided you could actually get them to listen to you.”
Welb snorted. “We all left human society long ago. Do not expect us to be eager to rejoin it.”
“Why did you come if not to help?” Jez asked.
Welb clenched his teeth but didn’t respond. Jez knew the answer, though. They had come because Aniel had called, and though they were as free as anyone could be, they still revered him. Aniel was on Jez’s side. That, more than anything else, had given him hope that his idea would work.
“Do you know where other afur are?” Jez asked.
Welb stared at him for a long time before speaking. “We have never exactly liked gathering together.”
“But you’ve been in this realm thousands of years. You must’ve encountered some.”
“There have been a few,” Welb admitted.
“Can you contact them?”
Lifebringer (Pharim War Book 6) Page 4