by Lexy Wolfe
"Easy, lad," the woman supporting Marcus soothed. "Your master is just over there." She turned his head, peering into his eyes. "Do you remember what happened to you? No, don't move your head. You have a concussion. Just talk." He winced when she touched the side of his head. "You suffered a pretty nasty blow." She nodded to a guardsman who arranged several gear backpacks to make an incline for Marcus to rest on. "The journeyman healer should be able to tend to it in a moment."
The boy wrinkled his nose as she helped him drink water mixed with a vile concoction of herbs, forcing himself to swallow it. "Is-is Master Nolyn okay?" he asked. "Where is he?"
The woman smiled gently. "So young to be so dedicated," she said more to herself. Worry peeked through the mask of serenity on her delicate features. "Nolyn is alive." She patted Marcus' shoulder. "We will make sure he stays that way. You just worry about getting better yourself so you can attend to your master."
Marcus started to nod, winced. He glanced towards the group clustered around Nolyn. "Isn't Master Bethal the Keeper of the Quoesia Tree of Knowledge? Why is he here? And Unsvet Valerian? Tobias? Ursin?!" He looked up at the woman. "Why are any of you here?"
"Nolyn is our brother," the woman stated quietly. "Well. Bethal's brother. My brother-in-law. I am Bethal's wife Emma. As to why we are here..." She paused, considering as she watched Tobias feverishly working to keep Nolyn alive. Pressing her lips together for a moment, she murmured, "Ursin sought Bethal out because he suspected Nolyn was going to do something, as he put it, boneheaded. The Unsvet and the healer arrived from Ithesra because of some woman named Kelafy. Then a messenger showed up with an anonymous note saying Nolyn and his apprentice were heading to Andar alone and in great danger. Without Ursin's tracking abilities, we would never have found you in time. The Unsvet said something about the idiot leaving something important in his room at the library."
"Unsvet Valerian gave Master Nolyn a Vodani pendant. I… forgot to ask him if he thought we might need it to send a message..." Marcus closed his eyes, startling when Emma snapped at him to stay awake. "Sorry, Mistress Emma."
"It is Master Emma, but don't fret about titles right now." She smiled in reassurance. "I am one of the mages who tends to the great trees."
The boy nodded, swallowing hard. "I was just trying to remember and... and not remember... what we found in Andar. I can't... I can't..." He squeezed his eyes shut but couldn't stop the tears from falling. "I just know... it was terrible. And—"
For a brief moment, the glow around Tobias's hands started to take a pale blue hue, the injuries showing signs of healing. Everyone jumped when Nolyn cried out as he abruptly sat up and hugged his right hand against his chest. The mage's eyes opened for a moment when he shoved the journeyman away.
The break between them threw Tobias back into the thick grass, his back arching as the healer convulsed briefly before going limp. Only his ragged breathing belying he was still alive. Ursin drew back briefly before kneeling by Tobias to touch his throat, looking for a pulse. "Feck me," he muttered. "Boy's tougher than he looks."
Oblivious to the others, Nolyn repeated in litany, "I'm fine, I'm fine, just wait." When he sagged back, he muttered in relieved reassurance, "I can manage this fine, Ash."
Valerian knelt by Tobias as Ursin helped the shaking young man to sit up. "Are you all right, Tobias?"
At first nodding, then shaking his head, Tobias simply leaned against Valerian weakly as the Unsvet put his arms around him, his eyes squeezed shut. "I don't… know yet. It is… bad to have the…" He swallowed. "to break a connection of healer to patient. I don't know… I don't know how he did it, but—"
"Just rest," Valerian urged. "You did good. Marcus can endure until you have recovered." Tobias opened his eyes, his expression filled with guilt. The apprentice managed a smile and weak gesture of reassurance before he closed his eyes and let his head fall back on the backpacks that propped him up.
Bethal put a hand on Nolyn's forehead. "I didn't notice any major head trauma," he began. "But talking to the Illaini Magus—"
"I am not addled or insane. I am perfectly fine." Nolyn's eyes slit open. "Not that I am not glad to see you right now, Bethal, but what the hells are you doing here?" He grimaced as he struggled to sit up, giving up after a moment. "Goddess, what the hells happened?"
"Your woodsman friend and the Unsvet Guardian had arrived earlier today looking for you. While we were talking, an annonymous message was delivered to me, informing me if I did not wish to have one less brother, I needed to get my arse out here and stop you from doing something stupid." Voice droll, Bethal observed, "It seems you are still faster than common sense." Exasperation melted to worry as a tormented shriek echoed through the dark forest. "What did you find in there?"
Nolyn looked back. "Right now, I have no idea how I even got here." He looked over to see Marcus watching him and the moment he saw the boy's bruises, his eyes widened and he tried to get up to move to him. Bethal held him down. "Marcus! I thought I told you to run and—"
Marcus closed his eyes. "I know I disobeyed you, Master, and I will understand if you no longer want me as your apprentice. But I could not leave you behind. You are my master." He raised his eyes to meet Nolyn's. "I do not want to lose you."
Nolyn sighed, closing his eyes. The group helped the wounded pair to a wagon hitched to a pair of horses with a donkey in front leading, all eager to put distance between them and Andar. They waited as Nolyn hugged Marcus tight. "Forgive me, Marcus. It was stupid of me to expect you to be able to put cold, logical practicality before anything else." He quirked a wan smile. "The Illaini Magus would certainly approve of your actions."
As they were helped into the wagon, Marcus dared to ask, "Which Illaini Magus, Master?"
Bethal looked over his shoulder, ignoring his wife's inadequate attempt to not laugh aloud at his expression, "From what I have heard about the Illaini, both of them. I sure don't want to have to answer to one, much less two, ill-tempered Illaini Magi. Or the Se'edai Magus or anyone else about you being bullheaded stubborn."
Ursin grunted as he walked by the wagon. "Rather wrestle a rutting tri-tail buck for his herd."
"Wait." Valerian approached the invisible barrier, narrowing his eyes as he reached out. Gritting his teeth together, he took a solid stance, raising both hands and focusing. Briefly, the barrier became visible like a rainbow born in the mist of a waterfall, as time shifted around it, the mark on the Unsvet's cheek glowing bright. He grunted as he staggered back several steps, collapsing to one knee. "That… should hold… for now," he stated.
"What did you do?" Nolyn asked, his voice weak. "I can still see the hole."
"Temporal barrier." Valerian gratefully accepted a hand up from Ursin. "There are… other holes. I cannot… reverse time to mend the wall. The barrier is," he began, swallowing before continuing. "The barrier is alive… but not. I have too little skill bending time around living things. This is… beyond me to affect." He leaned against the root wall, letting the man go to assist Bethal getting Nolyn into the wagon, horses whinnying nervously. "But I could make… time walls within the holes. It will keep whatever in there from breeching the wall."
"It won't last?" Nolyn stated more than asked.
Valerian shook his head. "Time cannot be halted forever. But this will endure for a few phases of the greater moon at least."
"Given the stories I have heard about the Illaini Magus, I am surprised he did not appear out of thin air, given your distress." Bethal's furious look was a mask over the deep-seated worry for the younger man. "Not that I am not glad. You can deal with upset Avarians, Nolyn."
Nolyn smiled wanly, turning his hand to look at the scar that seemed to pulse with energy. "Not an invalid concern about the Illaini Magi." He sighed, closing his eyes as he put his right palm over his heart, other hand over his wrist protectively. "I can guess the only reason Ash did not appear was he has no visual reference to use to get to this spot. He needs to see the location he's going to create
portals. Almek shared his memory of Fortress. He has never been to Gallilae since the tragedy."
Valerian sat at the end of the wagon with Tobias, the healer out cold with his head resting on the Unsvet's shoulder. "This barrier thing is disruptive anyway. I had to create the barrier from instinct. I'm all but blind in its shadow."
Marcus sat against the wall of the wagon, resting his head in his arms on a small crate. "It is hard to imagine Illaini Magus Ash Avarian restricted by anything." Turning to regard Nolyn, he asked, "He has never returned to Andar?"
"No one was ever supposed to return to Andar," Bethal grumbled. "The Avarian mages had erected self-perpetuating barriers to keep idiots out and whatever..." He looked back over his shoulder, shuddering at the distant shriek that drifted after them. "...inside. I'm not so ignorant that I can't tell that someone purposely created that hole where we found you both. And a while ago judging by the erosion around it since then."
"I'm afraid my... momentary lapse of consciousness rather threw Ash into a bit of confusion," Nolyn stated in a low voice.
"Momentary lapse of consciousness," Bethal muttered, shaking his head. Glaring over his shoulder, he snarled, "You were damned near dead, Nolyn!"
"Watch the road, darling," Emma soothed. "Yelling will not help anything."
"It makes him feel better." "It makes me feel better," the brothers said in unison.
"Huh. No doubt those two are related," Ursin stated. "Both got rocks for brains."
The brothers caught each other's eye then started laughing as Emma just shook her head mournfully. The laughter stopped when Nolyn grimaced in pain. "Rest, Nolyn. We're taking you home." Nolyn opened his mouth, but Bethal stated flatly, "Home. No arguments."
Chapter 29
As the caravan crossed into the border of Forenta, Kiya pulled her drizzen to a sharp stop, the creature snorting as its claws tore at the ground. Her guardsmen stopped as well, keeping a respectful distance but close enough to protect the veiled woman if needed. "Lord Etaio!" she called imperiously.
The gypsy clan leader looked over his shoulder, muttering epithets under his breath. "If she weren't payin' so good..."
The man by him said drolly, "She ain't knowin' th' worth of what she be payin' ye with. Ye could charge 'er more, ye know, Etaio."
"Feh. An' risk that pair they be trackin' findin' out we been cheatin' their people, Jessier? Them Desanti are thicker'n blood. I ain't stupid." He whistled sharply in a distinctive series of tones. As one, the long line of wagons and horses came to a stop. Repressing annoyance at being delayed, Etaio rode over and offered a strained smile. "Yes, Princess? What is it this time? Strange flower? Fancy bird?"
Spurring her drizzen to the clearing along the side, she pulled it around again to look at him. She lifted her veil, her worried alarm etched on her delicate features. "This place! What is this place?" She thumped the drizzen's neck, the beast obediently lowering itself to the ground so she could dismount easily. It stretched its neck to grab a mouthful of grass, paused to sniff it, then pulled back as if it smelled something distasteful.
Kiya looked around in growing alarm. She looked to her kinsmen and demanded, "Can you not smell and taste the poison in the air?"
Three of the Swordanzen traded openly querulous looks, their skepticism apparent. Seeker growled, pulling his sword as he spoke in Desanti threateningly. The other three drew theirs in response.
The sudden hostility among the warriors caused the gypsies to backpedal in alarm. "Uh, hey, wait now," Etaio started, his authority hampered by the obvious shaking in his voice. "No need fer—" The Swordanzen, however, ignored him, appearing ready to come to blows over whatever the four shouted at each other.
Kiya shouted over the four Swordanzen. "Enough!" Immediately, all four drizzen dropped to the ground, rolling onto their sides and pinning the legs of their riders under them. She stalked forward, her eyes brilliant gold in the tree-filtered sunlight. "The Githalin Swordanzen were here! The poison that stains Desantiva is here. The same poison!" She fixed each warrior with a hard look, forcing them to look down and away.
She looked back over her shoulder. "And something else. Something new that had rippled through Desantiva not long before the Githalin left." She turned her fierce gaze back on Etaio. "This place, Lord Etaio! Tell me what this place is."
"Er, there ain't nothin' special about this place," Etaio replied after finding his voice. He stared as the four Swordanzen's drizzen rose at a gesture from Kiya. "Just somewhere travelers'll make camp while travelin'. Be rare fer there t' be towns close t' borders b'tween Forenta an' Sevmana, see." He paused, the five Desanti frowning at him. "Forenten and Sevmanen... they don't like workin t'gether much."
"But they are cousins, yes?" Seeker asked, as bewildered as the others. "As Vodani and Desanti are."
Etaio coughed and said, "Eh, they don't like t'deal wi' each other like family. Well, more like family that hate each other. It be different up here. Anyway." He shrugged. "I think from what our kinsmen told us, this could be th' spot th' mage student betrayed 'er master and tried t'get everyone and th' Dusvet killed. Ain't no one used it since. Most say the place be cursed."
"The Githalin slayed this betrayer?" Seeker demanded, a trace of hope in his tones.
"Actually, no. She let 'er live. Stories say th' master mage took 'er magic away from 'er fer tryin' t'kill Storm and the Dusvet Almek."
The Desanti straightened in shock. "A de-... a mage did that to another mage... for one of the people?" Seeker whispered, frowning.
Kiya put her hand on Seeker's arm, looking up at him. "I told you there was something different in the Psia Re, Rengi. Something lost returned to Desantiva." She turned back to the empty campsite. "It is only right to do something in return to show our gratitude. This place must be cleansed so it may be a place of rest again." Looking over her shoulder, she said, "I need the strength of the Path of the Sword to help me."
Seeker ground his teeth, the other three watching him. "I do not like it, but... if you believe it must be done, Su'alin, then I will help." One by one, the other warriors moved to take a place at a corner of the site.
"We ain't got time fer this, Etaio," Jessier grumbled in a low voice.
Etaio shook his head. "I think it be best we let them do whatever it is they be wantin' t' do. Besides, if they ken do something t' make this place good again, we ken use it t' camp again instead of havin' t' push past t' make camp in th'dark further on." He looked sideways at Jessier. "Remind me t' sock Emil fer not sayin' he weren't exaggeratin' 'bout their tempers. Feck." He watched as the five Desanti knelt, drawing their knives, as one, cutting their palms and putting the blades into the ground before them.
Hot wind whipped through the trees, a mournful shrill filling the air. Mingling with the haunting sound, Kiya's voice rose in a wordless song that the Swordanzen echoed. The gypsies, having all emerged from the wagons, gathered to watch with wide-eyed amazement. Adults pulled children close or behind them as a black cloud was leeched from the ground, lifted into the air as it coiled like a serpent caught in a snare.
A white, ghostly figure of a snake bearing wings briefly became visible, latching onto the black serpent. The two twined in mortal combat until the black dissolved and dissipated. The white snake encircled Kiya lovingly for a moment before it vanished. Sagging, Kiya pulled her knife out of the ground, wearily resheathing it. She got to her feet, staggering a few steps.
Etaio was at her side at once, catching her. "Easy, Su'alin." Glancing at her drizzen that happily ate the rocks and grasses nearest it, he said, "We'll make camp here so you and your kinsmen can rest."
"Thank you, Lord Etaio," Kiya murmured, closing her eyes as she leaned against the gypsy. "I knew we could trust you. You gypsies are an honorable people."
The gypsy clan leader blinked at the honorific and her words, and closed his eyes a moment, ashamed of himself for the disparaging thoughts he had only moments earlier. "Not 'lord', Su'alin Kiya," Etaio replied with considerable
humility. "Just call me Etaio." He swallowed when the small Desanti smiled, resting her head on his shoulder before she passed out, overwhelmed with an inexplicable feeling of nervousness. Several gypsies assisted the Swordanzen to the wagon loaned to the five visitors while the rest began the work of setting up camp.
Chapter 30
Ursin looked over from where he sat in the upper branches of the Lirai tree, frowning a bit. Marcus emerged with a bucket of soapy water, getting down on hands and knees to start scrubbing the landing. "Boy, what the hells are you doing?" he demanded. "You should be resting."
Marcus didn't look up, just continuing to scrub. "I can't rest. Every time I try, I just keep seeing—" He stopped, closing his eyes tightly. "I want to help."
"You won't be helping anyone if you keep interfering with your body's healing. What if while you're on your way back home, something attacks and you're slowed because you got your brain rattled." Ursin hopped from his perch with a grunt to the landing Marcus was on.
Sitting back on his heels, Marcus looked up at Ursin without flinching, one eye half swollen shut from the dark bruising that marred the side of his face. "Journeyman Tobias says it is going to be a while until Master Nolyn will be able to travel at all. Because he couldn't heal him or me because of whatever we-we found in Andar." He looked down at the wet spot, holding up the brush in one hand. "And I cannot focus on anything else but what happened. Master Emma and the other Lirai have offered to tutor me until Master Nolyn can, but—"
Sinking down to one knee, Ursin took the brush out of the boy's hand and dumped it into the bucket. "Look, lad. I can understand what you're going through. But you can't let the lupine chasing you get the best of you."
Marcus frowned in confusion. "There aren't any lupine up here, Master Ursin. We are too high in the trees."