The Spellstone of Shaltus

by Linda E. Bushyager

  Everything had happened too fast for Leah to plan what to do, but all her instincts for self-preservation reacted in that moment. When Richard’s fingers touched her stone to pull it from her neck, she used its power.

  A bolt of pure energy smashed into Richard, flinging him across the room. His body slammed into the wall, and he sagged senseless to the floor.

  Startled, the guards reflexively loosened their grip.

  In that instant Leah pulled herself free and bolted through the door. Before they had a chance to dart after her, her magic slammed the door closed and locked the psi-activated rune-lock.

  Then she was running down the hall, focusing all her strength into a shield that emanated from her stone and encircled her in an almost invisible golden aura of energy. She sensed that her blow had only knocked her half-brother unconscious. She knew that in moments he would be after her with his sorcery.

  As she turned the corner to flee down the steps leading to the courtyard, she ran headlong into a heavyset man running up the stairs toward her. Her hand moved automatically to chop across the man’s neck, but he seemed to know what she was going to do before she did and blocked her arm skillfully. Then she recognized him. It was Rusty.

  “Wait a minute …” yelled the precog. “I know what happened …”

  Something in his face prevented her from using her stone to knock him from her path.

  “I’ve got horses ready for you …” He grabbed her arm and pulled her down the stairs after him.

  There was no time to question him or to argue. All Leah could do was follow and be thankful that the precog was somehow on her side.

  Fortunately the hallway below was deserted, and there were only a few soldiers in the courtyard. They looked on with surprise as Leah ran into the yard in her bathrobe, mounted her horse, and took the extra horse’s reins that Rusty thrust into her hands.

  Time was precious, but as he turned to leave she grabbed his shoulder.

  “Why?”

  His eyes held fear for her, and haste slurred his tongue. “Woke up and knew—too late to warn you—Rowen will know you’re innocent, but he won’t be able to convince your brother … “You’ll die today …”

  The words froze her soul.

  “… Unless you go—now!”

  His intense blue eyes commanded her more than his voice. Wordlessly she kicked her horse and galloped out of the gate.

  Behind her she heard Rusty say something else. He could have meant a hundred things, but to Leah it seemed to be both a direction and an answer.

  “The Sylvan… .”

  Four

  As Leah rode she tried to control her whirling thoughts and emotions. She had to be ready to fight Richard’s magic when he regained consciousness, and she knew that that could happen at any minute. Her half-brother’s range was about the same as her own, but his powers were somewhat greater. If she could only ride beyond his range before he woke up and oriented himself, she would be safe from his powers—at least for as long as she could maintain that distance—but somehow she sensed that that was not to be.

  Still, it was difficult for her not to think about what had happened. How had the Shaltus-stone gotten into her room without her sensing it? Could it have lain dormant in the skytree pot while she carried the plant back to Castle Carlton? Could it have been powerful enough to obscure its hiding place even when she was in the same room with it? It didn’t seem possible that she could have missed it; yet somehow it must have been so.

  She had received the seedling less than a week before she’d felt the first glimmerings of the wrongness. And she had been in her room when she’d first sensed it. She hadn’t been able to locate the stone even when Lord Rowen told her it was in her room. If the stone could conceal its presence from her when she was actively looking for it, it could have been hidden in her room for weeks.

  If she had inadvertently brought the stone into the castle, it did seem likely that it had been planted in the skytree pot when she’d visited Ayers. She couldn’t believe her grandfather had been responsible. Perhaps another Sylvan had hidden the stone.

  She slowed her horses to a trot. They’d been galloping almost full out for the past four kilometers, and she couldn’t afford to let them tire. Ayers was a normal day and a half’s ride. She wondered whether she could make it in one long, very hard day’s ride.

  Since Richard thought she was working for the Sylvan, he’d guess that she would head there. He would send men after her without delay. Her onlyadvantage was that she knew the infrequently used trails to the skytree forest far better than anyone else. She considered heading somewhere besides Ayers, but she had to find out the truth.

  She had a chance as long as Richard wasn’t close enough to track her with sorcery.

  As she thought of her half-brother she felt a faint stirring. She had always been sensitive to her siblings, and they to her. Now she sensed that he was recovering consciousness.

  Knowing that she could not win a one-to-one fight with him, she concentrated on protecting herself and her horses. The link with Lord Rowen had drained her strength. When Richard struck, however, his spells would have to travel a good-sized distance. He would have to expend far more energy in attacking than she would in defense.

  She had not gone much farther down the trail when the attack began.

  Bolts of energy burst around her. Sparks cascaded into the air as her shield absorbed and reflected the blows.

  She lost control of her horses. They galloped ahead frantically and veered dangerously close to the trees lining the trail.

  Although she did not have the strong telepathic powers that the Sylvan did over animals and plants, Leah had inherited a small measure of that power from her mother. Somewhat guiltily she used it now to calm and slow the horses. She forced them into a controlled gallop down the center of the path.

  Her father had raised her as a human and had taught her human sorcery. He’d disapproved of her using the Sylvan ways. But as a child she’d sometimes secretly tried them.

  The ground twisted and shook. It roared like a cyclone.

  Clinging tightly to her saddle, Leah urged her horses forward. She felt certain that her mount would stumble, but somehow she found the will to keep going.

  Ahead the earth cracked. She swerved to avoid the fissure. Trees fell to block her path. The horses jumped them or dodged.

  Suddenly the road dipped. A massive fissure lay ahead.

  It was too late to stop the horses. Leah kicked the mare hard with her bare feet. At the same time she mentally controlled both horses. They jumped.

  For a moment she was aware of a deep gulf of raw earth beneath them—then the horses were on the other side. Her mount stumbled and slid on the edge of the crevice, trying to keep its footing on ground that would not hold still.

  It lost its balance.

  Having no choice, Leah diverted some of the energy from her shield to steady the ground.

  Hooves dug frantically into loose soil and crumbling rock. The mare staggered, pulled away from the edge, and darted forward.

  The other horse raced ahead of them. Leah released its mind from her control—she could not spare the energy.

  Richard had been waiting for that moment. He struck again with lightninglike bolts. A few penetrated her inadequate shield before she could act. Fortunately the protective field dissipated most of the force, but several shafts reached her and her mare, burning into their skin like hot irons.

  Leah channeled all her power back into the shield. The rest of the energy bolts fell harmlessly against it.

  Suddenly the lightning vanished. For a moment Leah thought she was out of Richard’s range. Then the trees ahead of her began to flame. She could not go back. There was no way through the thick forest except on the trail.

  As smoke began to rise, she tightened her grip on the mare’s mind so that it would not balk or waver. She intensified her shield. It became a wall of power capable of protecting her and the horse from fire and
heat.

  She didn’t know who was more terrified, herself or her mount, but she tapped some inner reserve of willpower and forced her horse ahead.

  Flaming branches and leaves surrounded them. Even with the shield she could smell the acrid smoke and feel the heat blasting them. The forest roared with a nightmare of fire.

  She willed the horse onward. There had been a lot of rain over the past few days, and the amount of energy required to spread the fire would be enormous. It had to end soon.

  Gasping for air, her mare slowed to a walk. While the shield kept out most of the smoke and heat, it also prevented fresh air from entering.

  Abruptly the fire grew less intense. Leah sensed that Richard’s power was weakening. They had almost reached the limit of his range.

  Ahead fewer trees were burning. Then she was beyond the fire.

  Reining her horse, Leah altered the shield to let in warm air that still smelled of smoke.

  As Leah and the horse caught their breaths, the air on the trail ahead of them began to shift and coalesce into a thick mass that shimmered like desert air in the heat of day.

  The outline of a huge beast glistened in the sun.

  Leah looked up as the monster solidified. It was vaguely manlike in shape, but over four meters tall. The face had no features except for a wide, slavering mouth filled with huge teeth. Four long arms ended in taloned hands.

  Automatically she clamped down on her frightened mount’s mind before the horse reared. She sensed that the beast was Richard’s last weapon; beyond it she would be out of his range.

  The strain of shielding herself and the horses for the last kilometer had weakened Leah’s defenses. She knew that she would not have enough strength to continue to protect herself and her horse.

  The monster lumbered toward her on two massive legs. Its strangely smooth gray skin glittered with unnatural luminescence.

  If she used the shield to protect herself, her horse would die. Without the horse she could never outrun Richard’s men. She had to fight.

  As the beast of air and magic bore down upon her, she murmured a spell that transferred all her power into a weapon. Her shield vanished.

  A long, thin sword of pure energy appeared in her hand. Its handle looked like glass; its blade seemed as insubstantial as a sunbeam.

  Leah had no great skill with a sword. However, she had received the same minimal training in the martial arts that every child did. She hoped that her choice of defense would surprise Richard.

  As she swung the sword, her mind maneuvered the horse.

  The giant twisted to avoid her blade. It clawed at her mount as it turned. But her mental command sent the horse into an unexpected backstep so that the monster’s taloned hands clutched at empty air.

  Her sword whistled back toward the beast in a feint. Its upper arms reached to block it, while its lower pair of arms caught her waist in a vise grip. Then her blade swerved suddenly, blazed like a white hot flame, and rammed into the beast’s chest.

  Although talons dug into her sides and tried to drag her from her horse, Leah poured every ounce of strength she had left into the blade, which was now buried up to its hilt in the thing’s chest.

  At the point of the sword’s entry the beast began to dissolve. In seconds nothing was left except the two great arms that still held her. She was screaming now as the talons tore through her thin clothing and into her flesh, but she continued to recite the spell. Finally even the arms disappeared.

  Without the pressure of the beast’s claws on her body she slumped forward. The spellsword fell from her grasp, vanishing instantly.

  Leah almost lost consciousness as pain and fatigue overwhelmed her. Released from her mental control, her terrified horse dashed down the trail at breakneck speed. It took all of Leah’s will to keep from blacking out as she brought the horse to a standstill. But there was no time to rest—she had to keep moving before Richard started after her. She was out of his range now, but with fresh horses he could soon catch up with her.

  Recalling that food could be a substitute for rest, she quickly dismounted and searched the saddlebags, praying that Rusty had packed some supplies. Fortunately there was a large packet of beef jerky and some journeycakes made of honey, nuts, and rolled oats, as well as a canteen of water. She also found a packet of salve.

  She examined her wounds. The beast’s talons had raked long gashes on her waist and stomach. Although the wounds were painful, they were not very deep. She spread the ointment over them and used strips of cloth torn from her tattered bathrobe as crude bandages. Then she tended to her mount’s needs. The horse had only a few scratches and several minor burns. She used the last of the salve on its injuries and gave it some of the water.

  She remounted and prodded the horse back into a trot. Although she felt numb with exhaustion, she forced herself to eat several of the journeycakes as she rode. When she finished she sagged forward, letting her head rest against the mare’s neck.

  For a long while she expected to feel Richard’s magic stir around her. But as the minutes grew into hours and no attack came, she guessed that he’d expended too much energy to renew the attack immediately. He must have decided to rest before setting out after her. Of course, he’d probably already sent out a party of soldiers, but as long as she could stay outside of Richard’s range there was a good chance of eluding them.

  The land between Castle Carlton and Ayers was a deep forest broken only by a maze of hunting trails and animal tracks. After Richard’s attack ended Leah turned off the main road to Ayers at the first opportunity. In the hours that followed she steered her horse over a variety paths and trails on a route that would not be easy to follow. Despite the temptation to go to her father’s old hunting cabin, where she could obtain food, clothing, and shelter, Leah bypassed it and headed farther south. The cabin was just off the main road, and her half-brother would undoubtedly expect her to go there.

  Unfortunately the spare horse had vanished during the fire, so she reduced her pace considerably to conserve her mare’s strength. It was now apparent that she would never make it in a single day’s ride.

  As her horse trotted slowly along the little-used trails, Leah fell into an exhausted daze. She remained aware enough to guide her horse, yet later found that she could not remember the ride or understand how she had had the strength to keep going.

  When the elongated shadows of evening made it almost too dark to see the rough track, she halted the horse in a thick glade of oaks. Feeding the mare the last of the journeycakes and most of the water, she studied the darkening forest.

  The quiet calm of the shadowed glade seemed inviting and somehow secure.

  Leah suddenly wondered if perhaps she could use her Sylvan heritage to advantage. Her father had forbidden her to use what little Sylvan power she’d inherited. He’d wanted her to be accepted as human. When she’d shown signs of having human as well as Sylvan psychic abilities, he’d given her a spellstone and trained her with her half-brother. But as a child she’d sometimes secretly tried to imitate the powers she saw used during her brief, infrequent visits to the Sylvan forest.

  Still, her efforts at animal mind control were successful only at close range, and she’d soon grown tired of the game of “taming” a squirrel or rabbit. When she’d tried the Sylvan skill of shaping living trees and plants and controlling their growth, it had taken so much effort and time to see any bending of a branch that she’d given up after one or two tries.

  Now it occurred to her that, since she was able to shape a little, perhaps she could also draw some strength from trees as the Sylvan did. Of course, they normally drew on the energy stored in the enormous skytrees, but she’d heard that any tree could be tapped. She couldn’t remember ever having tested that ability, but she was exhausted enough to make it worth a try.

  She walked to the largest oak, pressed her hands and face against its trunk, and focused her mind on it. Slowly she felt herself merging with the tree as she had during a shaping
. But instead of trying to enforce her will upon its structure to effect some change, she concentrated on blending with it to draw upon its strength.

  She found it surprisingly easy to merge her mind with the tree’s being. She quickly became submerged in its calm strength and infinite peace.

  It was overpowering, narcotic, and anesthetizing.

  Five

  Leah awoke as the eastern sky began to brighten with predawn light. She lay slumped against the bottom of the oak with her arms still embracing its trunk. Gently drawing away, she rolled onto her back and yawned.

  Above her the oak soared into the sky. Through the tenuous link that remained she could feel the tree waken to the rising sun, gradually turn its leaves toward the east, and begin to feed on the sunlight.

  She felt completely relaxed and at ease; the tree’s serenity had become her own. A feeling of well-being, which a few hours of mere sleep alone could not have produced, had replaced her terrible fatigue. Even the pain of her wounds was diminished.

  Perhaps she really was more Sylvan than human.

  Maybe that was why she’d never been accepted by the people at Carlton or had really liked her life there. She’d always felt more attuned to the simple, close-to-nature life in the Sylvan forests than to the more complex civilization in Carlton and in the other Eastern Kingdoms.

  For a moment she rested and savored her surroundings, watching the pink-frosted cirrus clouds drift eastward, feeling the warm summer breeze tickle her face, listening to the symphony of waking birds, smelling the dew-laden grass and moss. She was glad to be outside, away from confining castle walls.

  Reluctantly she severed her bond with the tree.

  Now that the tree’s spell was broken, a measure of anxiety encroached on the lingering feeling of serenity. She had slept longer than she had intended. She had to keep moving.

  She took several sips of water and gave the rest to her horse, saddled it, and mounted. Since there were no more journeycakes, she breakfasted on the beef jerky. It was dry, salty, and tough, but she was so hungry that she almost enjoyed it.