The Lost Garden: The Complete Series

by D. K. Holmberg

  But she could call upon greater energy now that she’d planted the svanth tree.

  Eris pulled through the trees, reaching toward the energy stored in the new svanth tree, and let that wash over the creature.

  This held.

  Energy filled it, draining away from the svanth tree. Yellow eyes brightened, and it blinked at her again.

  As it did, there came a surge of energy in return.

  It felt cold, practically burning into her mind.

  She stumbled back and nearly lost her footing. She didn’t dare take her eyes off the creature.

  The sensation didn’t leave. Instead, it grew stronger, filling her mind with a new awareness. It took a few heartbeats before she realized she felt the creature before her.

  “What did you do to me?” she asked.

  Harsh laughter rolled through her head, but Eris sensed no malice. Only vast strength. Pain mixed with it, an injury deep and sharp, but not fatal. The creature would survive.

  “How can I feel what you feel?”

  “It is the bond.”

  The creature didn’t open its mouth but the voice filled her head.

  “The bond?”

  The creature laughed again, a low sound almost like a growl. “You have finally learned what you needed.”

  “What did I need to learn?”

  The creature stretched. As it did, Eris realized its injury had healed. The connection to the svanth tree slowed, the drain of energy fading. As she reached for the energy of the nearby svanth, the distant power refilled it, whatever connection she’d forged binding them together.

  Then the creature stood and began pacing around her. It stood nearly to her shoulder, a massive size Eris struggled to comprehend. She turned, keeping it in sight as it circled her, though there would be nothing she could do if it attacked.

  “You had much anger when you first came.”

  Eris shook her head. “I only wanted to do what was necessary to protect my family.”

  That laughter echoed again through her mind. “You sought to destroy.”

  Eris pulled herself up and nodded toward where the magi lay dead within the trees. “And you didn’t do something similar?”

  “Only when attacked.”

  “You could have stopped them before they started attacking the trees. Why didn’t you?”

  It seemed to shrug and sat back on its haunches. “I am not the guardian here.”

  “Then why did you attack?”

  It swiveled its massive head toward her and met her eyes. “You chose these trees.”

  “I healed them from what the magi did to them.” Recognition came through the connection in her mind. “You can feel it, too. The desolation they have wrought.”

  “I am not the guardian here.”

  The guardian. She’d heard that phrase before but couldn’t remember where.

  Eris crossed her arms over her chest. “You could let the magi destroy everything before you would even bother doing something?”

  It blinked at her.

  “What are you?”

  “I am the bond. I am the place between darkness and light. I am the shadows across the forest floor. I am of the deep.” It turned to meet her eyes. “I am the guardian.”

  Eris shook her head. “Of what?”

  The creature blinked again. “You.” It stood and stretched. Even that movement seemed annoyed. “She should have instructed you about these things.”

  “Who? Lira?”

  It flicked its ears as if annoyed. “The other.”

  “Imryll? She didn’t tell me about anything. She thought me no more than a keeper of flowers, but Terran helped me realize I was both. That’s why I can use Lira’s garden, why the Verilain Plains listened when I first needed them. I still don’t know how to draw upon the Svanth consistently, but I think I’m starting to understand.” Eris turned, frowning. “Wait…how do you know about Imryll?”

  It only blinked in response.

  Eris remembered the flash of golden eyes in her visions after she’d been stabbed. The movement away from Eliara and the priestesses that saved her life. “Was that you?”

  A low rumble echoed in its throat. “It should not have been me. We had no bond. I was not your guardian.” It flicked its ears again.

  “How? What did you do?”

  It snorted, its breath steaming in the air. “Brought you where you could learn.”

  The beginning of understanding about what happened came to her. Imryll had mentioned a guardian. And she had a wolf who’d watched her with such keen eyes. Was this creature like that?

  “How did you find me?”

  It laughed again. “You make too much noise not to find you.”

  Eris didn’t know whether to be upset or amused. “So we are bonded?”

  She thought of Terran and the connection she shared with him. He was her gardener, but he was much more than that. They needed each other, they complemented each other. Without him, she would have grown too angry. When she’d thought she lost him, she had been willing to give everything of herself for the chance to bring him back. But her bond was nothing like the simple awareness she had with this creature.

  The creature flicked its ears. “It has started.”

  “Do all keepers form such a bond?”

  It snorted and stood. “Not all.”

  “All keepers of trees?”

  “Such keepers form bonds.”

  “That’s not an answer.”

  It looked at her. “It is all I know.”

  “You don’t know why?”

  A low rumbled echoed in its throat again and its eyes narrowed slightly. “I know more than you, keeper.”

  Eris didn’t want to push. What did it know and not share? Could the first keeper have known? Had she bonded to a creature like this?

  But Eris had no sense of that from her visions. Neither keeper had forged a bond like this. If they had, wouldn’t she have recognized it during the vision?

  Or was the creature the reason the first keeper planted the garden—the first svanth trees—where she had. The vision Eris had the first night in the forest where the first keeper and Therin referenced the great power beneath the surface. Could this creature be a part of that power, the same power she suspected she accessed by planting the svanth tree?

  “What do I call you?”

  It snorted at her. “You have no need to call. I will know.”

  Eris took a step toward it. The creature didn’t move. She settled her hand on its back and ran her hand down the fur. The texture was familiar, though it took a few moments to realize why. It reminded her of the barbs along the teary star vine. And like the vine, the barbs did not pierce her hand.

  “You must have a name.”

  It blinked at her and then let out a long breath of air, as if sighing. Then it turned away.

  “No name?”

  Through the bond, she recognized that it didn’t. There was pain, a nagging ache.

  “May I name you?”

  She asked it carefully, afraid to upset the creature, but she wanted something to call it other than “creature.”

  It tensed, and then nodded its great head.

  She thought of what to call something so massive. She knew little of it other than through the bond, and she sensed it held much back from her. Eris hoped she held as much back from it.

  But what had it said?

  It was the bond. The place between darkness and light.

  Eris thought of the streaks of color at the sunrise, the pattern she could almost make out, as if a great arrangement worked across the sky, some meaning the Sacred Mother meant for her to see. In the forest, the massive canopy obscured the pattern from her, but other patterns existed, like swirls of shadow.

  “May I call you Shadow?”

  Eris waited, worried she might have offended it, but then it turned and met her eyes. It blinked and nodded.

  Another surge of energy washed over her then.

  “Now th
e bond is set,” Shadow told her.

  Chapter 59

  Eris stood, feet planted into the ground, delving deeply.

  She pressed out, using the grasses to listen for anything that might tell her where the magi might be. Since she’d reached the border with the desolation—no longer did she think it the border with Saffra, now it was something different—she had come across the magi twice. Both times, they had been attacking copses of trees.

  There could only be one reason they would need to do so. They knew there was a keeper of trees. But what did that mean?

  Unless they understood the power stored deep beneath the earth.

  She shivered. If the magi understood that power—if they could reach it—what would it mean for Errasn? Not simply Errasn, but beyond?

  And what would it mean for the Svanth? Eris suspected the forest dipped into the same deep stores of power. If the magi pressed their dark spell, pushed the desolation deep underground, would they be able to destroy the Svanth?

  More than ever, she knew she had to do something.

  But she felt nothing.

  Eris changed tactics. Pulling on the energy of this copse of trees and using the connection to the new svanth, she surged out, questing for trees. If they thought to attack only the trees, Eris would do whatever she could to stop them. Maybe in so doing, she could protect what remained of Errasn.

  A larger grove of trees grew toward the west.

  Eris started off, and Shadow followed. He—she’d come to think of Shadow as a he—looked at her occasionally but said nothing.

  As they neared the trees, Eris realized there were no magi.

  She thought of what she’d done with the other copse of trees. She’d used the energy there to protect them, giving them a similar sort of protection that had been built over the Svanth Forest. Could she connect these trees to the others and let them borrow energy from each other, even the energy deep beneath the earth, the same as the Svanth seemed to?

  Eris walked to the nearest tree—a tall and slender elm—and laid her hand on its trunk. She delved, pushing deep into the roots. The trees stored much energy here, but would it be enough to push back the desolation if the magi came? Would Eris be able to link the trees together to help keep the magi from destroying everything?

  She reached through the roots, drawing the energy of these trees with her. It came willingly, not fighting her as those within the Svanth had done. Eris stretched toward the other trees. Reaching the roots, she pushed them together, surging the energy from this larger grove of trees into that of the small copse. Then she waited.

  “Will it work?” she wondered aloud.

  Shadow sniffed. “You think to claim all this land?”

  She shook her head. “I seek to protect as much as I can.”

  He sniffed loudly but said nothing. Through the bond was a sense of annoyance.

  The linking seemed to hold. As she delved, she felt roots reaching toward each other. In time, they would meet in the middle, tying together more fully than any linkage she could form. Doing so made both stronger.

  The last thing she did was to send instructions through the trees to push back against the desolation. If it worked, she could make her way along the trees, doing what she could.

  Shadow’s ears flickered, and he darted away.

  Eris followed him, using the shallow roots of the grasses to guide her.

  He moved more quickly than she could manage, bounding across the ground and farther west. Another grove of trees grew there. Oaks and elms with a few poplar mixed in. Leaves wilted and curled, branches drooped toward the forest floor.

  The desolation.

  Eris paused, searching for any sign the magi might be there.

  She found them within the trees. At least three, though whatever they did made it difficult for her to know with certainty. They chanted together like they had the last time, a pressure building in the air.

  Eris urged Shadow to attack through the bond but she knew he would not. As a keeper, she was meant to protect—to heal and grow.

  But the magi sought to destroy.

  Could anything she did stop them?

  Pressing her feet into the hard soil, she had to ignore the way the dried grass cracked under her feet. Eris delved, pulling from the distant svanth tree as she did, funneling energy toward the trees, sealing them away from the desolation.

  The chant ended.

  Lightning cracked from the sky, streaking toward her.

  Eris raised a hand and pressed over her head. The lightning fizzled out.

  Shadow attacked.

  Through the bond, she felt it as he did. He leapt into the trees, jumping from the ground to the trees. With a broad swipe, he dropped the nearest magi. Another leap, and another magi went down.

  Eris shifted her focus, pushing through the trees, drawing as much energy from the distant svanth as she could, using it to burn the desolation from the trees.

  Shadow growled and struck again. The last magi fell.

  He stalked from the trees and crouched next to her, waiting.

  Eris pushed, drawing even more energy through her. The desolation was farther along than it had been in the other trees. She pushed harder, forcing more and more through her until it came out in a rush, washing over the trees as it overpowered the magi spell.

  And then the trees were whole.

  Eris staggered but caught herself. With another breath, she pulled the energy from the other groves of trees toward this one, linking them in the same way, tying them together. The energy between the trees built upon each other, creating a barrier she hoped the magi wouldn’t be able to penetrate.

  A sigh escaped her as she sat on the ground.

  Shadow sat next to her, watching over her.

  * * *

  The sun crawled along the sky as she rested. When Eris recovered enough, she continued on. She searched for other clumps of trees, each time tying them together as she had with the others. By late in the day, she was exhausted from the effort.

  Shadow trailed alongside her the entire time. They did not encounter any more magi.

  Eris began to wonder at that. Would the magi know if others were killed? Could they sense what Shadow had done—and would they target him?

  She’d already seen that he wasn’t indestructible. A lightning strike—or any dedicated attack—would be enough to destroy him.

  “Does it matter how far you are from the Svanth?” Eris asked.

  His ears twitched. They rested near the most recent copse of trees. Eris crossed her legs over each other. The svanth tree she’d planted to help Terran seemed far away. Much farther, and she feared she might not be able to access its energy. Then she’d only be able to use that from the grasses and whatever she’d tied together of the trees. It wouldn’t be enough if she came across more of the magi.

  Something like a frown came through the bond. “I am stronger there,” he admitted.

  “What would have happened had I not healed you?”

  His ears twitched again and his great head swiveled toward her. “That would not have been enough to end my existence.”

  Eris felt uncertainty from him.

  “Does it help that I claim these trees?”

  Shadow snorted. “You expand your reach, but it is not the same.”

  Eris wondered if that were true. Linking the groves of trees felt like a start, but it wouldn’t be enough. And she didn’t think she was strong enough to work as quickly as was needed. The magi could simply move around her, isolating her. And from what Shadow had said, the Svanth wouldn’t lend her strength if she attacked.

  She needed more strength. She needed the Svanth.

  Could she at least halt the progression of the desolation? If she slowed it enough, she might give herself enough time to stop the magi, keep them from Errasn. And then…then she would have to learn what she could do next.

  Shadow might know. The bond told her he knew something, but not what.

  Eris started aw
ay from the copse of trees. Shadow followed her, moving easily alongside. She made her way south. Always before, she had moved east and west, searching for trees to link, creating an underground network of roots that would function like that within the Svanth. Doing so took time.

  This time she went straight south. Toward the desolation.

  “This place is unsafe,” Shadow said.

  Eris nodded. “That is why I came.”

  Shadow moved in front of her, blocking her from moving any farther forward. Eris turned to move around him, but he blocked her.

  “I am the guardian. Beyond here is Nothing.”

  The way he said it made it clear he recognized the desolation. “That’s why we must continue.”

  “You have no power here. You have not claimed this place.”

  Eris met his gaze. “But I intend to.”

  Shadow flicked his ears as he studied her. Eris felt something in her mind, a soft tugging sensation, and wondered if he could read her thoughts through the bond. A soft rumble came from deep within his throat, and he sniffed.

  “You intend to heal this land?” he asked.

  Eris inhaled deeply. “I intend to try.”

  Shadow nodded.

  * * *

  They reached the edge of dried grasses as evening settled around them. The sun neared the distant horizon, wide splashes of orange and red and yellow radiating from it, making it look like some massive flower. She stared at it, trying to see if there might be some pattern to the colors, but couldn’t discover anything.

  Eris had not seen anyone or anything else as they traveled. She held onto the sense of the grasses, delving as she walked and searching for anything that might signal the magi. She found nothing.

  Shadow prowled nearby. Occasionally, he would range far away before bounding back. As he ran, he seemed to stream across the land, moving in a blur, practically a shadow. More and more, the name suited him.

  Eris stopped shy of the desolation. Part of her feared stepping across the border. Even the grasses receded from the edge of the desolation, letting it spread as it crept farther and farther to the north. Standing still, Eris had the sense of steady movement from the grasses, a constant crawling away from the desolation.