The raft glided through the water toward Kai. When she landed, she steadied herself against him. “I’m glad we don’t have that to do again.”
“But we have one more crossing,” he reminded her.
Already Dorann pulled the other rope and the raft bumped and scraped across the breach toward him. Kai relieved Aerlic at the rope, and hauled the raft toward them. Dorann jumped from it to safety.
The sun stood low in the sky, so they pressed onward in earnest. The road meandered now, curving to follow solid ground between the reeds. Shae paused only to shift the satchel on her shoulders and to take the weight off the foot she’d wrenched when she fell. Although she tried to ignore the pain that grew in her ankle, she began to limp.
Dorann matched his pace to hers but Kai and Aerlic waited at intervals. With a sense of despair, she acknowledged the truth. She could not go on much longer. And yet she must. How cruel that, by some trick of light, Pilaer seemed to recede as they advanced.
They reached the third breech just before the road lifted onto the peninsula before Pilaer Hold. A stand of reeds stood thick before them where the road should lie.
Dorann and Aerlic set the raft aside, and Aerlic lay on his stomach to search in the muck below the reeds. “I can feel the tops of boulders!”
Shae looked away while the others removed their boots and leather leggings. After a splash, Aerlic’s voice came to them through the reeds. “Follow with care.”
Another splash sounded.
“You’ll want to kilt your skirts and take off your boots or the mud may suck them from your feet.” Kai’s voice startled her. She hadn’t expected him to wait for her.
She hesitated. “Turn your back then.”
“I have already done so.”
She tucked her skirts and cloak up at her waist and removed her boots and leggings. Putting her leggings inside them, she tied her boots outside her elkskin satchel.
“I’ll go first,” Kai told her. “Hold to me.”
A splash came, and Shae turned to follow Kai into the water. She stepped what seemed a long way down and gritted her teeth as water rose cold about her thigh. Cold mud oozed between her toes and over her foot, and she groaned. When her foot met the top of a sunken boulder, she balanced and lowered her other foot, but wobbled and flailed. With another hasty step she slid against Kai.
He reached backward to steady her with a hand at her waist. “Are you well?”
“I am.”
He took another step forward.
Water swirled around her legs and weighted the bottom of her kilted skirt as she followed, but her foot slid in the slippery mud. She lurched sideways.
Kai spun around to catch her, and they swayed together. “I’ll not let you fall.” He spoke above the racing of her heart, which was not entirely due to physical danger.
She pulled away although she longed more than anything just then to remain in his arms.
He touched her cheek. “Stay close.”
She followed his lead, step by slow step. Something glanced against her leg and creased the water as it darted away, but she swallowed her scream. She feared a living creature in the water far less than what might await them within the ruins. By the time they found the place where the road lifted from the faen, her muscles ached and cold numbed her feet.
She rinsed the slime from her legs in the shallows along the shore, wrung out her skirt, and put her leggings and boots back on. After wrapping herself in her cloak, she joined the others on the bank with slow steps, all at once in no hurry to approach Pilaer, which watched them and kept its silence. Before they came upon it, they would need to pass the ruined town itself.
She lay beside Kai, and the rich smell of mud rose about her. Birdsong trilled from a stand of marsh grass, riding above the faint lap of water against shore. Her heart ached at its piercing beauty. If only they could remain in such peace!
She ran her tongue over her salt-crusted lips and closed eyes that stung. As clouds chased the declining sun, the play of light and shadow moved over her lids, and an image of Elcon formed. How did he fare? Had the loyal shraens reached him in time, or had Torindan fallen? A place of prayer beckoned from within—an Allerstaed not contained in a building—and she pushed past exhaustion to reach it. Her surroundings fell away and she saw in her mind’s eye a white light flaring forth to find Elcon.
She did not mean to use the shil shael. She did not even know at first that she did, for it came with the ease of breath. It brought her to Elcon, surrounded by blue light. A sharp pang slashed through her with fever heat. A floodgate of emotions broke open—despair, sorrow, fear—emotions that belonged not to her but to Elcon. She could almost see him pacing. Thoughts touched by his soul drifted into her mind. Torindan lay under siege with no hint of rescue by Faeraven’s loyal shraens. And he’d heard nothing yet of her. She curled her fingernails into her palm in quick sympathy, seized by a longing to comfort him. He paused and looked toward her across time and space. Somehow she’d touched him.
A flash of red flashed across her mind. A whiplash of power engulfed Elcon, dimming his light.
Shae tried to hold on, but the connection to Elcon faded.
The assault turned against her now, stinging her mind with raw pain. Strength drained from her like blood from a wound. She clutched her head and moaned. Did Kai speak her name? She opened her eyes to darkness. Her mouth went dry. Had the evil touch blinded her? Panic screamed in her mind.
Lof Yuel!
The inner place where the white light flamed pulled her to its heart, and she recognized the Allerstaed within. There she hid.
The evil grasp slid away.
Kai’s face swam into view. “What happened? Are you well?”
“Well enough, except that Freaer found me.”
He moaned and gathered her into his arms.
She wanted to protest, to pull away and keep him at a safe distance. Instead, she closed her eyes and let herself pretend nothing hurtful had happened between them. She kept silent about what she had learned from Elcon. No good would come of burdening the others with misery.
When she stood her knees wobbled, but the curtain of night waited to drop. They must not linger.
Dorann hoisted his backpack but paused before settling it on his back. “Are you ill?”
She gave him a gentle smile. “Not in a way you can cure.”
His forehead creased. “You speak of magics.”
Her smile faltered. “I’ve felt its breath. Still, I speak more of mysteries than magics.”
Kai’s arm encircled her, and Shae leaned against him. They set their feet again upon the road that ran straight to Pilaer Hold, but made halting progress until she regained enough strength to walk alone.
They continued their journey, but she slowed them, weakened by the encounter. The sun stood low on the western horizon as they passed empty dwellings that watched them out of blank windows. She kept her eyes forward, just stopping herself from searching those windows for movement. Anything that stirred here did not warrant discovery.
Something dark rushed at her from the side.
She jerked and turned her head. Nothing. Her heart beat like a wild thing. Swallowing, she fought to still her shaking.
“Magics.” Dorann muttered.
A pall hung over this place, as if the mists shrouded a corpse, not a town. Sorrow lay so heavy over all that it would not have surprised her if the walls ran with tears and the stones themselves wept.
Whispers of despair invaded her mind. We will never reach Maeg Waer. The bones of all who have tried and failed litter Laesh Ebain.
Shae shook off the thoughts, but they returned and multiplied. You deceive yourself. It is all for naught. Elcon will go mad under Freaer’s assault. Torindan cannot stand. Elderland will fall.
Hopelessness looked back at her from the faces of the others. She roused herself to encourage them. “We will succeed.” They did not respond, and she couldn’t blame them. Her words did not even bolster her
own spirits.
As they approached the shell of Pilaer Hold, shivers walked up her spine, for the setting sun stained the walls and pillars blood red. Ramps and steps led to the gatehouse, where splintered strongwood doors hung agape in mute testimony to the violence that had once visited here. What sort of lives had her ancestors lived in this place before the devastation that ended many of them? Pilaer’s remoteness had not saved it from ruin. In the end, unity, rather than isolation, had saved the Kindren.
****
Kai looked away from the ruined hold towering overhead.
A rushing shadow vanished as it reached him.
He pulled Whyst from its sheath. The blade shone with blue light. Balancing the great sword in his hand, he turned to face another shadow. He needed no confirmation of what he already sensed. Wraiths hung heavy in this place of defeat.
An image of Guaron, lying pale and still as death, rose in his mind’s eye. You lost Guaron. You will lose the others.
A hand touched his arm and he turned to meet Shae’s gaze. An image of her in a bride’s veil, her eyes closed in death, rose between them. He swallowed against tears. You’ll never wed. She will die. You will die.
He reeled backwards but turned to confront the next shadow. Another loomed on its heels, only to disappear when it reached him. Strange. That one reminded him—it had looked like Eberhardt. He stabbed at another shadow. Whyst seemed only to slice air, but a faint hiss told him he’d hit his mark.
More shadows ran at him.
“I’ll send you to your rest!” His shout dropped into dead air. It seemed the more wraiths he dispatched, the more came. They ringed him in, now running at him, now dancing out of reach. A terrible howl filled his ears and made him quake. He flailed, no longer able to move or see beyond the shadows.
Aerlic and Dorann shouted from somewhere near.
Shae’s voice cut to him with quiet intensity. “Stop fighting! You’re only making matters worse.”
Kai glimpsed Shae. She stood with Leisht in hand, bathed in its light. He recognized the truth of her words, but he didn’t know how to disengage. If he stopped fighting, the shadows would overrun him. He fended off yet another attack and fell back with a cry. The wraith had worn the face of his missing brother Daeven. What madness ruled this place?
“Kai, Dorann—Shae’s right.” Aerlic’s voice lifted above the howling. “The wraiths gain strength when we fight them and fade when we stop.”
Another shadow scuttled toward Kai, and he saw his own face as a boy. With tears running down his face, he swung Whyst. The shadow hissed and vanished, but two sprang forth to take its place. He understood then. The more he fought, the quicker they multiplied. They could not hurt his body—only his mind. They were shadows of nothing—wraiths of his regrets.
He held Whyst before him and, even as shadows rushed him, forced his mind to quiet. They fell upon him, shrieking. Panic screamed in his mind. You’ll suffocate! He tightened his jaw and held his ground. If this didn’t end soon, he would lose his sanity.
Their shrieks faded, and the wraiths fell away to fizzle and vanish.
He lowered his sword arm, which trembled so badly he almost dropped Whyst. “They seem to have fled.”
Dorann passed the back of his hand across his sweat-glazed brow. “Well then.”
Aerlic blew out a shaky breath. “I guess that’s that.”
Kai restrained the urge to follow every flicker of shadow and instead turned to Shae. “Why didn’t the wraiths approach you?”
“They did, but they couldn’t hold me. Leisht must have cut their enchantment.”
Kai gave a weak smile. “I’m thankful. Let’s forsake this eldritch place before more trouble finds us. I know of a tracker’s shelter that once stood a little distance away on the mainland. If it still stands, we can avail ourselves of its protection.”
Pilaer and its ruined town shrank behind them as light leached from the sky. At the narrow neck of the peninsula, they crossed through the shattered remnants of a gatehouse. An ancient path led from there into the Darkwood of Syllid Braechnen. They entered the syllid as full dark fell. Kai kept Shae close to him, for he did not relish the fall of night in such a place. Nightbirds called from the thick brush and gnarlwoods bent twisted branches low to grasp at them as they passed.
Kai caught himself looking backward more than once. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something stalked them through the night.
23
In The Darkwood
Hissing whispers woke Shae. She propped on one elbow and looked for Kai in the silvered moonlight but found only an impression in the sweetgrass where he’d lain. She sat up. Where were the others? She pushed to her feet and circled the clearing with dagger drawn, peering into the shadows. The swirlstones in Leisht’s handle flared with light.
Laughter slashed through the air.
“Who’s there?”
More laughter.
Shae steadied herself. Did the Feiann also dwell in Syllid Braechnen? Anger lent her strength. “Answer me! Show yourself.”
Silence.
She calmed herself enough to speak with civility. “We are no threat to you. We only want rest and safe passage.”
More silence.
Her patience snapped. “What have you done with my companions?”
The whispering returned and rose to fever pitch, but then faded into the babble of the brook that cut across the clearing.
Shae opened her eyes.
A full moon rode like a ship in the sky, shedding light like sea foam. Trees, combed by the wind, tossed at the edge of the meadow. Partway into the darkness of the syllid the collapsing tracker shelter hunched.
Only a dream—it had been but a dream.
She turned her head, and her heart thudded in her ears.
Her companions really were gone.
Freaer emerged from the shadows. Even in the dark of night she read triumph in the tilt of his head. He stood over her. “You are mine, Shae! I bought you with Maeven’s death song.”
Terror clutched her mind and weighted her legs. She opened her mouth to deny his words, but no sound came.
Freaer held out a hand. “Come.” His voice echoed through the syllid.
She jerked her eyes open. Freaer was gone. The moon, which no longer rode high, dimmed in the gathering light of morning. She cast about in confusion. What had happened? Had Freaer found her with the shil shael? Or had she suffered one nightmare after another—a dream within a dream?
Sounds carried to her—rustlings and a sudden thump. She turned her head, and her gaze clashed with Kai’s. He crouched, ready to spring. Something was wrong.
A scuffling sounded. Metal rang on metal. A fearsome cry rent the air.
Kai rolled and sprang to his feet, Whyst at the ready. But he had no time to take up his shield. The sounds of battle escalated.
She pushed to her knees.
Hairy, thick-necked giants had invaded the clearing. Garns!
Shae fumbled to snatch Leisht from its sheath. She lurched to her feet. Kai called a warning, and she put out her dagger in an instinctive gesture.
It caught the wall of stinking, hairy flesh that slammed her backwards and against the hard ground. The garn grunted as it bled and died, pinning her to the ground beneath it.
She could barely move. Her lungs burned, and a creeping blackness edged her vision. In a surge of desperation she twisted and bucked until the dead garn shifted.
She gasped in air but when the garn’s stench filled her nostrils she fought the urge to retch.
Redoubling her efforts to free herself had bought her exhaustion rather than freedom. She lay helpless beneath the fallen garn, able only to watch the battle unfold.
Kai fought with zeal. Whyst sang as it sliced the air. He took up his shield and raised it to deflect a strike from the garn’s huge sword. She would not have thought the light shield could withstand such an onslaught, but it remained unmarked. Forced into a defensive posture, Kai fended blow afte
r blow. But blood stained his tunic. His wound must have reopened. As Kai’s vigor flagged, the garn concentrated its attack on his injured side.
Dorann fared better. She caught glimpses of him just beyond Kai. Small of stature and light on his feet, he seemed almost to dance in battle. As their prey darted about, the two garns who chased him bellowed, but their frenzied blows came to naught.
She could not see Aerlic.
Kai cried out. His shield spun away. He stood, exposed and panting. A spreading stain soaked his side. He gathered himself.
The garn waited, sword ready.
No! Her cry came out a whisper. She had already watched Kai die once, or at least thought she had, at Elcon’s Coronation. She could not do it again. She called to Dorann. “Help him!”
Tears slid down her cheeks, for he did not hear her soft cry. Besides, Dorann had his own battle to fight. With renewed strength, she shoved against the dead garn.
Aerlic stepped from the edge of the clearing with bow drawn.
Thwank! His arrow thumped into the side of the garn attacking Kai.
With a grunt, the garn turned to face a new threat.
In that instant, the dead garn slid sideways and Shae pulled her legs free.
Her ears rang but cleared as she gulped in air. She lifted to shaky knees and jerked her dagger out of the garn’s body. It dripped blood. Her stomach heaved. Cold tremors ran over her. Panting, she crouched and waited for the sickness to pass.
She peered around the dead garn’s body. By some miracle Kai still stood. But he swayed on his feet.
She spotted Aerlic, fallen at the edge of the clearing, his body as broken as his bow.
Tears wet her cheeks. She tried to move, gritting her teeth as blood tingled back into her legs. They would not yet serve her. She suppressed a moan at the delay, but its necessity won her time to think. She could not hope to overpower the garn, but she could provide a distraction.
As the tingling eased, she crawled away from the dead garn and toward Kai’s fallen shield, which gleamed just out of reach. The carved and twined wingabeasts adorning it, symbol of the guardians of Rivenn, remained unmarred, a testiment to its strength. She held back a sob, for she had never felt more exposed, but the garn’s attention remained fixed on Kai. Her fingers touched the edge of the shield. An instant more and she would bear it.
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