Soul Sanctuary: Book Two Of The Spirit Shield Saga

by Susan Faw

  “It started with a legend, as all things do.” Elder Hania gestured for them all to sit, and they sank onto bales of hay set in a rough circle, others sinking to the floor, all eyes focused on Avery and Elder Hania. “Legends are the children of myths, and myths are birthed from partially forgotten truths. And truth, well, that is tainted to reflect the perspective of the storyteller. Nevertheless, I will aim to be truthful in this retelling.

  “This legend involves two warriors, who both loved the same woman. One warrior was of the Spirit Clan and one was of the Flesh Clan. In order to win her hand, she set them both a task to perform, to prove their love and show her how much they desired her. She set them a task that was known only in myth and legend. She set them the task of capturing a ray of moonbeam, for love born under the moon is eternal.

  “The Spirit Clan warrior, being a spiritual fellow, desired her love not just for this life but for life eternal. So, by the light of the moon, he captured the spirit of a dying caterpillar, knowing that the spirit of the butterfly is beautiful and free, as was his love for her. The moonbeam immortalized the transforming caterpillar. He placed the spirit butterfly in an enchanted cage and carried it proudly back to the maiden.

  “The Flesh Clan warrior, being a man of the flesh, desired her to see him as the mighty warrior he was and that he could provide for her for all time. He captured a wild, pure-white mare, and, by the light of the moon, sacrificed the poor beast. As he bled the mare, the spirit of the horse arose, a shimmering soul of a unicorn at rebirth. He captured the spirit of the unicorn in an enchanted cage and brought the spirit to the maiden at the appointed time.

  “By a full moon of the vernal equinox, the warriors presented their gifts. The maiden burst into tears and wept for the poor souls trapped within their gilded cages, for she had not believed the warriors were capable of such cruelty. She broke open the cages and absorbed both spirits into her own soul and vanished. You can find her still, wandering the world by the light of a full moon, searching for her true love.

  “This legend explains the split of the clans. The Spirit Clans believe that the way to approach the maiden, the Mother Goddess herself, is through spiritual communion. The Flesh Clans believe that physical sacrifice is the path to pleasing the Mother Goddess. The division of beliefs between the clans has ever been a sharp divide, but of recent date, a dark presence moves through the Flesh Clans. They have rejected the preordained right of the Spirit Clan to choose the High Priestess. The Flesh Clans no longer abide by the rules and precepts of the temple. They have resurrected the old ways and now practice open sacrifice and the harvesting of souls as a way to appease the gods. To appease you.”

  His dark-eyed gaze pinned Avery. “Perhaps now that you have returned to us, you can tell us who is correct.”

  Avery stared at her fingers, which she had twisted together during the course of the story. She looked up, meeting eleven pair of eyes, all staring at her keenly.

  “I cannot tell you what you want to hear, that the Spirit Clan is correct. The truth falls somewhere in between, but I do not believe you are yet ready to hear it. What I do need to know, is where I might find the ancient scrolls? Sharisha mentioned them many times, and I believe there are truths to be found in them that may shed some light on how to bring peace to the Primordial peoples.”

  Sarea spoke up. “They are hidden in a secret cave deep in the Highland Spine. We have a map that will take you there.” Sarea rose from a bale of straw. “Now, you must go—quickly! You are sure to be pursued. I can hear them hunting for you right now.” The cries of the searchers were indeed coming ever closer to their location with every passing moment.

  “We cannot show you the way. We would be missed immediately,” said Elder Hania, “but Achak can accompany you and provide you with protection. We have prepared provisions.” Another elder separated from the group and strode over to a pair of saddled and waiting horses, tucking a packet of parchment into Avery’s saddle bag. Elder Hania stood and gave Avery his hand, pulling her to her feet. Achak sauntered over to Avery, smiling down at her.

  “The sooner we depart, the better.” Achak motioned to the rear of the barn where the two horses stamped their hooves, impatiently. Avery nodded and followed him, eager to mount up and to put distance between her and Faylea.

  “Ride with speed, Mother. And may the gods protect you!” The barn doors flung open. Putting heel to side, Avery and Achak leapt out into the night, chased by the flickering light of the burning jail.

  Chapter 21

  Ring of Shade

  AVERY AND ACHAK RODE HARD down the narrow trail, under the bright light of a nearly full moon, afraid to stop for the night. Safety lay in creating distance between the searchers and themselves, so they kept a steady pace. They also rode silently, neither one venturing into conversation as the stillness of the night carried sound like a trumpet blast. The pounding hooves of their horses rang in their ears, inordinately loud despite the soft earth of the path.

  They climbed higher into the evergreen threshold, leaving behind the tropical paradise of the Spirit Clans. The trail at this altitude was covered in soft pine needles, and other than the occasional click of a hoof on a loose stone, their passage was virtually silent, even to Primordial ears. Non-human eyes followed their passage, the nocturnal scurryings of the forest dwellers the only sounds to reach their ears.

  At first, Avery was content to let Achak lead, but toward dawn, she heeled her mount and rode up beside him. “Where are you taking me? What is our destination?” The words came out in a croak. She lifted her waterskin to her lips, taking a drink to ease the dryness in her throat, then let it drop back beside her saddle. Achak glanced over at her, his perfect teeth glowing in the waning moonlight as he smiled.

  “We are going to a crystal cave, known only to the priests of the Primordial people. It is a holy place, a depository of sacred things.”

  “The Shakra Caves?” she asked, the memory floating to the surface of her mind.

  “Yes!” Achak jerked with surprise. “You know of them? I thought you were new to Faylea.” His eyes travelled over her face and head, examining her tattoos.

  “It is true. I have never been to Faylea before, at least not as a human.” Achak frowned at her and opened his mouth to ask a question, but Avery cut him off. “And not recently either, as a Primordial. It was a very long time ago. We can chat more about my history once we are out of danger. How much longer till we reach the caves?”

  Achak’s head cocked to one side as he examined the night sky. “Dawn will be here in about an hour. It is three more hours to the caves. When the trees end, we will have to leave the horses as we will be climbing to reach them.”

  They rode along in silence for a while and then Avery asked, “Why is Marea so hostile to my presence? I thought that I was expected. Sharisha originally told me that she and Ziona had been sent out to find me. I felt the truth of her words when she spoke them.”

  Achak shifted in his saddle. “Marea was appointed High Priestess after the assassination of the previous High Priestess. Her predecessor was a Flesh Clan guardian and much beloved by the Flesh Clans who had not had a High Priestess chosen in hundreds of years. They had great hopes that their High Priestess could bring back some of the old ways and give them an equal voice amongst the Primordial people. For as long as anyone can remember, a Spirit Clan High Priestess had been chosen. They proposed that Princess Gwen be sent to the humans to negotiate for peace along the border with the humans. When she was captured and not returned despite repeated requests, the Flesh Clans blamed the Spirit Clans. They saw treachery in the negotiations. They accused the Spirit Clan liaisons of not trying as hard as they would have, had the High Priestess been born of the Spirit Clans. When the assassination of the Primordial princess and High Priestess occurred, the tribes fractured and began to fight amongst themselves. They blamed each other for the assassination. You see, she was born of the Flesh Clans, and on her death the Flesh Clans took it as proof of
the treachery of the Spirit Clans, in not guaranteeing her safety. The Spirit Clans, on the other hand, were angry that they were set up in such a fashion and outraged at the accusations. The assassin was never revealed. Her body was not returned to her family. There were rumours that she was to be married to a human prince. But they were only rumours.”

  It was Avery’s turn to frown, digesting the information. “So Marea…she volunteered? How are they normally chosen?”

  “It’s something like that but not quite. This time, the Flesh Clans were not consulted. They were not invited to present another candidate. They were shut out entirely from the process. You can imagine their reaction when they were shunted aside. Marea was a young priestess who had surprising access to the temple when for many years the doors had remained frozen and inaccessible. No one understands exactly how the temple chooses. But she was the only one who could get past the front doors. There was really no other choice. A High Priestess must be able to enter the temple to contact the gods.”

  “So, the infighting between the Primordials is a result of the choice of High Priestess?”

  “In part. That was the triggering event, I think, but things had been brewing for a long time due to their ideologies clashing.” His eyes slid to look at her out of the corner of his eye. “But now that you are here, you can fix things. I saw you enter the temple. You were gone for days! Only a chosen one could have done that. Marea is jealous as she has held the power for the last twenty years and has been very vocal about her chosen status. Then suddenly you show up and without so much as a by your leave you march in and occupy the temple.”

  “Then why search for me? Why send seekers to find us? She would have been better served to leave us lost.”

  “Well, from what my father has told me, it is precisely because of the prophesies that she wanted you found. I think she intended to control you, use you as puppet to enhance her own power and position. Sharisha has been her right hand ever since she rose to High Priestess. It is not a coincidence that she was the one to find you, I think.” Achak twisted to check their back trail, examining the trees. “We are entering the Ring of Shade.”

  Avery peered around at the trees. The straight-backed trunks of the lower valley were now bent and twisted, as though a large hand had pressed down, squashing them towards the earth ages ago. Yet even in their twisted form, they towered above her, a curly leafed labyrinth of shade and shadow. An owl hooted. From the corner of her eye, Avery saw an ethereal form pass between trunks.

  She reined in her mount, curious but somehow unafraid. The woods were calm, and a peace rested on the forest unlike any other place she had passed through. Achak, realizing she no longer followed, halted.

  “This place is ancient,” Avery whispered, breathing deeply. She felt the body of the woods and the bones of the forest, the spirit of the trees, wise and all-knowing. She also felt the spirits that dwelt in the woods. “Can you feel it?”

  Achak nodded and slid off his horse, walking back to her. “I can feel my Spirit Guide. He is near. Would you like to meet him?”

  “Very much.” Avery dismounted also, and Achak took her hand to lead her off the trail following a path known only to him. He pushed through some waist-high ferns, the early morning dew dampening his coat and slapping wetly against Avery’s shorter frame, leaving her dripping from neck to knees. Her ears caught the sound of a brook bubbling over rocks, and she licked her lips, suddenly thirsty. The ferns petered out, and the stream came into view, cascading over rocks in a meandering path. Avery knelt by the water and scooped it up in her cupped palms, bringing the cool liquid to her lips, and drank deeply. As she lowered her empty hands, she noticed Achak standing, eyes closed but lips moving silently. As he mouthed his words, a red glow from the region of his heart pulsed to life and then travelled down his extended arm until it swirled around his curled fist. The suspended flaming glow brightened, and then from the night sky appeared a flaming phoenix, spiraling out of the moon to alight on his outstretched arm. Avery rose from the stream and approached the bird, which flickered with fire but did not burn. Achak nodded his head in introduction.

  “My Spirit Guide, Pyrrhos.”

  Avery heard Pyrrhos’s thoughts although his beak did not move. Greetings, Mother. I have heard whispers of your presence here in the shade of the mountain.

  And I have felt your presence and that of your companions, Avery thought in greeting. Why do the others still hide? Bring them forth so we can become reacquainted.

  Achak tilted his head, aware that a nonverbal exchange was occurring.

  Faint rustling met their ears as the shadows solidified into creatures of every description. Legendary creatures. Achak gasped and gazed around him in wonder.

  A werewolf, tall and tawny parted the ferns and knelt to drink, eyes reflecting in the moonlight. A great mane of grey flowed from muzzle to chest and down its forearms, tapering to muscular thighs and calves, which ended in paws with curved grey claws. It straightened upright like a human, towering over them, fixing his gaze on Avery. The werewolf spoke aloud, the human speech partially swallowed in growling tones. “Greetings, Mother. I have met your brother.”

  Avery’s eyes widened in surprise and then crinkled with joy. Achak started at the human-like voice issuing from the creature, and then his mouth dropped open when he realized he understood the werewolf.

  “You saw Cayden? Where? Is he well?” Avery touched his arm and stared up into his furry face. “Tell me. Where is he?”

  “He is well, Mother. Can you not sense him? He travels this way. My she-alpha shadows his human companions.”

  Avery nodded, knowing it was truth.

  Avery greeted the other creatures emerging from the shadows. Fae folk peeked out from around rocks and roots of trees, male and female, wings a whirl of emerald and ruby and their motion a tinkling song. A kelpie poked its head out of a deep pool, amethyst mane and ears flicking her direction. As she climbed out of the pool, her body shifted into a human form to greet Avery. Her skin cast a pearl reflection on the surface of the pool.

  “Greetings, Mother. We are glad of your return. The woods grow silent. Our kin are disappearing. A great shadow moves through the forest, and any who fall under it are not seen again. We hide continuously for this shadow moves in both the day and the night. It is never seen directly. There is no warning, no sense of where it comes from, but…” She gestured to the mountain, wreathed in clouds, just visible above the trees. A continuous cloud of vapour billowed as though a volcano slumbered beneath the rocky tip. “I believe the shadows are from the mountain.” The pixies nodded, chiming their agreement.

  At that moment, the ferns parted and a familiar form entered the glade. The pristine white unicorn picked her way over the rocks, her horned head bobbing, but it wasn’t the horned head that caught Avery’s attention but the figure seated on her back. A small child sat astride the unicorn, her rainbow-ribboned skirt fluttering in an imaginary breeze and a large orchid nestled in her tight blond curls and tucked behind one ear.

  “Aossi!” cried Avery. She ran over and plucked her off the unicorn’s back, swinging Aossi round and round till they were both dizzy. They collapsed, giggling.

  A bemused smile tugged the corners of Achak’s mouth as he watched their childish display.

  Avery sat up and Aossi stood, their heights about equal, and they hugged.

  “It has been too long, Mother. It is so good to see you again, although you are much changed from your days as Alfreda.” Aossi grinned, deep dimples creasing her cheeks. Surrendering to an impish impulse, she tweaked Avery’s nose. “Welcome home!”

  “It’s been too long. I am still sorting all my memories, but it is wonderful to be home, to remember everything. What news do you bring?”

  Aossi’s smile faded and an uncharacteristic frown settled on her cherubic face.

  “Dark news, I’m afraid. Time grows short. Helga extends her powers further into the world, and it is she who is behind the shadows tha
t have been stealing the living.” She waved her hand toward the waiting magical creatures. “They are correct. The shadow looms, and they are taken without warning. Neither the souls of the living nor the dead are safe. Cayden has done his part, but now you must do yours.”

  “You have seen Cayden? How is he? Where did you see him?”

  “He was well when last I saw him. I dropped in on him to enjoy the music of his flutes. His ability is truly magical.” Aossi grinned, thinking herself clever at her own joke. “He has secured the Well of Souls in Cathair, but that is only one outlet, as you know. Helga moves to capture the souls of the dead awaiting rebirth and enslave them to make them her own, a part of her dominion. If she can take control of the souls awaiting rebirth, it will spell the doom of humanity and Primordial kind. She hunts the good, those souls worthy of a rebirth, worthy of another chance at a mortal life. She strives to enslave all mortal existence. I fear her plan is nearly complete.”

  “Can you see what is happening, Aossi? Where is she going to strike?” Avery tried to keep the note of pleading out of her voice. “You maintain the veil. What do you see? What do you feel?” Avery shifted onto her knees in front of Aossi and caught a glimpse of worry in her normally gleeful face.

  Aossi sighed. “I cannot see unless she touches the veil directly. But holes are appearing, and the threads are weakening. It’s like moth’s larvae are chewing at the weave, but the hole doesn’t appear until later when it’s laundered. But eventually, the holes appear, and when they do there is no predicting what comes through the holes. She is planning something.” Aossi placed her hands on Avery’s shoulders, and she gathered Achak in with her glance. “You must go to the Crystal Cave and recover the box hidden there. The cave is protected by magic that you should be able to defeat, but be warned, Helga is also watching the cave. She will have spies, or worse, waiting for you to approach it.” She reached into her pocket. Picking up Avery’s hand, she pressed a small crystal bottle with a cork into her palm, curling her fingers around it.