Silk and Earth

by Mara Amberly

  Alexa grimaced. “It’s probably Feidhlim. It makes sense when you consider the town’s now hidden. It’s not like there was a sign that said ‘ere thar be cultists’, Rudolf.”

  Ariane grinned. “So that’s your name you wouldn’t tell me.”

  Knave blushed and looked away. Suddenly a nearby tree was very interesting.

  “It’s been too long to say where we are, exactly. We’re probably too far away from Eldennaia to justify heading in that direction–” Alexa told them. “Besides you don’t want to go there.”

  “No, not at all,” Cassia exclaimed a little too quickly.

  It peaked Knave’s curiosity but no explanation was given.

  “I’d suggest we get a move on,” Knave said, hauling his bag over his shoulder. “We don’t want to get caught near the spiders again once it goes dark. If anything, I’d say camp here and leave it another day, but we can’t afford to lose the time.”

  The Sisters picked up the pace, while the dragon easily got ahead of them, and then waited for them to catch up. It didn’t seem to want to risk flying on too far ahead after what had happened last time.

  Alexa was pleased to see the dragon was recovering, and more than once she felt its presence in her mind, as though it was checking in on her to make sure she was alright. She was hoping it would stay with them for a while as they travelled.

  “I think we should give the dragon a name,” she announced to the others, drawing a smile from Knave.

  “So… it’s a boy dragon, right?” he asked; not that he was motivated to check.

  She grinned at that and nodded. “I think so. Hmmm, how about Malachi?”

  Cassia elbowed her way in on the conversation, glancing between her sister and the distant speck of dragon as it flew ahead of them. “That’s an interesting choice.”

  Alexa smiled, “you think so?”

  With a nod, Cassia grinned, “Oh yeah. Why Malachi though? I know of Malachite – a type of stone, but that’s green and the dragon is brownish.”

  “I hadn’t thought of that,” Alexa admitted. “The dragon just looks like a Malachi.”

  She reached out to the dragon’s mind and suggested the nickname. Alexa was met with confusion and passivity.

  “The dragon doesn’t seem to mind one way or the other, though it appreciates that we’d bother.” She let out a deep breath. “Malachi it is.”

  They’d distracted themselves with the naming, though they hadn’t stopped walking toward their destination. That was when Ariane stopped at a hilltop ahead of them, and turned back around to talk.

  “Stop for a moment. You can see the spider webs in the distance now but that’s not all.”

  They climbed to the top of the hill and looked out over the land below.

  She was right about the spider webs, though it was still too far away for Alexa to make out any individual spiders. The mass of webs covered trees as far as the eye could see, all except for one path that seemed to cut through their territory untouched. No trees grew on it, but even so, the red earth stood out starkly against the web-covered landscape.

  “That looks like a way through it, but am I the only one who finds it a bit too convenient?” Ariane asked.

  “No, you’re not,” Cassia admitted. “It could be trapped or there might be some kind of magick in place. It’s also possible that it’s a way through that the people of Feidhlim use.”

  Alexa crinkled her nose, envisioning all the spiders out there. “It seems like an obvious one if it is. Maybe there are other ways through it,” she stated, even as she realised there wouldn’t be any other paths nearby, otherwise she’d see them.

  “It’s a pity your dragon isn’t bigger,” Knave stated aloud.

  Alexa saw Malachi had landed on the top of a boulder slightly further down the hill, and was staring at the web-covered landscape in the distance with discomfort.

  “What do you think?” Alexa asked Malachi, speaking audibly as she did so telepathically.

  Don’t like it, he responded with his mind, tilting his head this way and that. Don’t want to go but must go there. It was where mother was taken before she died.

  Alexa was struck once again by the depth of Malachi’s grief. She wondered how he knew his mother was killed there. Their minds might’ve been connected, she realised. The thought saddened her, that his mother’s voice and his sense of her was silenced, and there would’ve been nothing he could do about it.

  She thought the danger for him here was minimal. The young dragon would be able to fly above the spiders, out of their reach, so long as his strength held.

  “Let’s take a closer look,” she suggested to the others. “If there aren’t any signs of danger from the road, perhaps we can cast a large shield and use it to help keep the spiders at bay until we make it through to the other side. That’s if the town isn’t also overrun with spiders.”

  Knave shuddered at the notion. “As if this wasn’t disturbing enough already.”

  It would probably serve as fuel for his nightmares for years.

  “I’m just looking at all the possibilities,” Alexa confessed.

  Cassia appeared momentarily unsure, but Ariane glanced her way and gave her a nod.

  “I think Alexa’s plan is as good a one as we’re going to come up with. Let’s take a close look at the path,” Ariane suggested.

  They cautiously made their way down the hillside toward the path. Nothing approached them or attacked them on the way down and they seemed to have gone unnoticed. They walked up to the path without any trouble.

  Shifting the dirt with her boot, Cassia noticed some of the soil was brown on top, but it was a richer red beneath the surface. “It looks like some of the soil’s been disturbed or turned over recently,” she noted, wondering how it might’ve been done.

  “It could be from the wind,” Knave guessed. “You know, I don’t see any spiders among the trees here, though there are webs.”

  Paying closer attention, Alexa noticed he was right. She couldn’t see any from where they stood.

  “This is creepy,” she confessed, shuddering involuntarily, even though she saw nothing.

  She was going to set foot on the path, but Ariane walked on ahead of her. It was firmly-packed earth, much as roads were often made from. She cautiously strode forward, until the web-ridden landscape was either side of her, then turned back around.

  “It looks safe.”

  Alexa winced. “No it doesn’t, but there were a lot more spiders last night.”

  Knave thought that over for a minute. “It’s possible Malachi stumbled into one of their nests, though the webs aren’t reassuring,” he admitted. “I don’t see how there could be that many of them. Think about it. They’ve got to eat something, and the land out here is dry and not exactly barren, but harsh? So what are that many spiders living off?”

  Cassia glanced around, but no answer was forthcoming. “Maybe they eat each other.”

  It didn’t paint a pretty picture, but less spiders seemed a good thing.

  With a frown, Ariane walked back. “So there aren’t just huge spiders out there, but hungry ones?”

  Knave shrugged as he walked over to the trees and brushed his fingers over one of the webs.

  “I think some of the webs are an illusion or fake, and there are less spiders than appearances suggest. It’s a trick, and any sane sorcerer wouldn’t surround himself with thousands of venomous spiders, no matter how much he wants to keep people out.”

  “Who said they were sane?” Cassia asked, grinning. “I was starting to think fire was the answer... yet again, but you’re likely right. Your explanation makes perfect sense.”

  “So we should use the road?” Ariane asked. “We should get moving. The day’s not getting any earlier.”

  Knave shook his head. “I wouldn’t. I think our odds are better if we cut through the landscape, but I’d also suggest those shields you ladies were talking about. It seldom happens, but I have been known to be wrong.”
/>   Alexa seemed unsure, but she conveyed their plans to Malachi.

  The dragon took flight, exploring the area from above while shields were put in place by Ariane and Cassia.

  “We need to stay as close together as possible,” Ariane told them. “The further apart you are, the weaker the shield will be.”

  Knave nodded. “Understood.”

  He stayed close to the ladies, while Malachi was left unprotected by the shield as he glided above.

  They carefully journeyed through the stark landscape, stepping around spider webs and trees where possible, and only disturbing them when necessary. Normally there was plenty of time to think and talk as they travelled, but no one seemed to have any inclination to speak much and they paid more attention to their surroundings than they had before. If danger was coming, they wanted to know about it and have the best chance to defend themselves.

  Chapter 16

  Jonas was awakened by a slap to his face. Moments before he’d been lost in a blissful darkness, and upon waking, the world felt cold and harsh by comparison. He opened his eyes, wincing at the pain in his head, and saw Elena Briette gazing down at him.

  Before she’d seemed nervous but self-assured. Now she looked afraid and aggressive.

  “You’re alive, thank goodness.”

  It might have been Jonas’s imagination, but her voice seemed to hold a tone of surprise.

  “What were you thinking touching the gate? You almost got us both killed.”

  Jonas forced himself to sit up. His head swam and speckles flickered around him in the lantern light. He wasn’t sure if he was going to pass out.

  “How long was I out for?” he asked, as nervousness set in. He truly had no idea how long he’d been unconscious for.

  “I don’t know,” Elena Briette admitted. “It’s still dark outside – I had a look, but apart from that I can’t say. The longer we stay here, the greater the chance we’ll be discovered or I’ll be noticed missing.”

  He saw that the gate was open. Jonas took a deep breath as he climbed to his feet. He knew he wasn’t in the best shape to run from the compound if he needed to, but perhaps he’d feel better with time.

  “That’s it through there?” he asked.

  It was hard to make out much detail beyond the gate, as the tunnel was dark and the light of Elena Briette’s lantern had died down.

  “Yes, it’s not far. The chamber’s better lit.”

  He stepped through the open gate, careful not to touch it this time. Elena Briette followed close behind.

  “Have you checked no one’s on the other side?” he asked.

  “It’s the first thing I did before checking upstairs,” she said. “Come on.”

  She led the way, and Jonas followed. He still had his knife, though he knew it might not do much against the likes of Jarlath. He was woefully unprepared for almost every eventuality, but there was little he could do about that right now.

  The stairs he’d seen led to a tunnel, which soon opened up into a small chamber. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but even before noting the small balls of flame that burned within lanterns around the room, he was met with a familiar sight.

  An old wooden desk sat at the back of the chamber, and there was nothing upon it except for a large slab of stone around the height of his forearm. It was a rich sky blue with many clear crystalline inclusions. The golden radiance of the lighting reflected off its surface, casting it in a majestic light. He’d seen the manse before and he knew it on sight. Even more than that, he recognised its energy.

  Jonas checked once again that they were alone.

  As his attention returned to the stone, he realised energy was flowing from it in streams and pulses. It wasn’t visible, but he could feel it, even from where he stood. If he paid attention, he could follow the path of the energy until it flowed into the solid rock. Jonas could tell it was powering the balls of flame that lit the chamber, but it was doing so much more than that. Its energy was being used to power other spells beyond the chamber.

  “The manse is powering quite a few spells.” It seemed like a strange admission out of the blue, but Jonas was absolutely certain he was right.

  “How do you know that?” Elena Briette asked, keeping her distance from the stone. She was reluctant to get too close to it.

  “I just do,” he told her. Jonas wasn’t sure if Elena Briette would believe him, but perhaps it wasn’t important that she did.

  “Can you take it when it’s doing that?” she asked him.

  Jonas thought over the question before answering her. It was a subject he’d discussed with his mentors before, though not in a long time.

  “I think so, yes. I’m going to need to break the spells, otherwise they can easily track the manse. They’ll likely notice when the spells stop working.”

  It clearly wasn’t what she’d been hoping for.

  Elena Briette frowned. “I see. So you’re a spellcaster?” she asked him, genuinely surprised. It seemed she’d underestimated him.

  There didn’t seem a good way to explain that it was the only kind of magick he knew. In truth, he preferred her not knowing that.

  “Yes and no,” he eventually answered, after hesitating for a moment too long.

  “How’s this for a plan?” he asked. “We’ll take it outside first, so we’re away from here when the spells break. It will give us a bit of a head start and we’ll be harder to track after that initial burst. I’m going to have to move quickly, both now and once I get it outside. Have you considered whether you want to come with me?”

  She nodded. “I’m sure it’s a terrible idea but I want to get away from these people. We can part ways once we’re out of the compound.”

  “I can understand that,” he said in agreement. “That’s alright with me.”

  With a slight nod, Jonas looked around the chamber for a cloth or other item he could use to pick up the manse.

  It seemed there was nothing suitable around.

  He shook his head at the fact he’d prepared as best he could, but he’d totally forgotten about this.

  “I’m going to use my shirt to pick up the manse. You might want to turn around.”

  Elena Briette appeared a little wary, but she walked along the tunnel a way and turned around as he’d asked.

  Jonas didn’t want to use his jacket to pick it up because he needed it and it held some of his supplies. After pulling off his shirt, he put his jacket back on and buttoned it up again.

  “It’s good now,” he told her.

  Elena Briette was grinning when she returned. “Yet another reason my brother would kill you.”

  Jonas laughed at that. “Those reasons keep stacking up, don’t they?”

  He took a deep breath then wrapped his shirt around the large crystal. He was careful not to touch its surface.

  The manse was lighter than its size and significance might’ve suggested.

  “We’re good to go,” he told her.

  ***

  Jonas and Elena Briette were cautious, as they made their way back along the tunnel toward the house. He was especially careful not to touch the manse by accident. One touch would be all it would take to kill either of them.

  He expected the crystal to be tainted, after being subject to Jarlath’s dark whims for so long, but he didn’t sense that from it. It seemed to be unharmed and as though it had no will of its own, though he knew that wasn’t strictly true. There was an element of sentience to these crystals, and it was an additional reason to be careful.

  Elena Briette closed the gate with magick, and soon they were back in the apothecary. With the lantern in her free hand, she slid the bookshelf back into place, closing the latch behind it, and left everything much as it should’ve been before. The exception was the manse, which Jonas now had in his possession.

  Searching the room, Jonas found an old canvas bag with a handle nearby. He emptied out its contents, which seemed to be gathered herbs of some kind, and slid the manse inside
it. It made for easier and safer carrying.

  Elena Briette turned down her lantern after that, leaving the light very dim.

  She moved to the door and pressed her ear to it, before reaching for the door handle. Then, without warning her hand froze and she backed away from the door in panic.

  “He’s coming. Jarlath’s coming! I heard him out there.”

  Jonas was prepared for trouble at any time, but it came as a shock, especially knowing what he knew of Jarlath. They were so close to getting away with the manse.

  The room held a lot of benches and cupboards, and though the light was poor, he remembered where most things had been. He quickly hid beneath a table near the door and ducked down, making himself as small as possible in the dark corner. He hoped he’d stay unnoticed once the room was better lit. It took him a moment to realise that Elena Briette hadn’t hidden.

  “If you get the chance, go!” she whispered urgently.

  Jonas wanted to help her – especially after she’d helped him, but he wasn’t sure what he could do. “Maybe you should hide–” he told her in a quiet but hurried whisper.

  She turned her lantern back up, bathing the room in a brighter, yet dim light, as the door opened. Jarlath brought his own light source with him; whether a lantern or summoned light, Jonas couldn’t tell. The room brightened enough that he feared he might be seen.

  “Elena, I wasn’t expecting to find you here.”

  Jarlath’s voice was slightly husky, but otherwise could’ve belonged to any man in his middle years. He spoke much as the people of Feidhlim did, but then Jonas perceived everyone other than his own people as speaking with an accent.

  Jonas couldn’t see much of Jarlath, other than his boots. They were clean, well-made and crafted of black leather.

  “I had trouble sleeping,” she told him.

  Jarlath stepped closer and set something down on the table. Jonas assumed it was a lantern, but he couldn’t be sure.

  “So you came here to do what?” Jarlath asked, his voice becoming firmer as he probed her reasoning.