Embers at Galdrilene

by Audra Trosper

  Kellinar nodded. “The residents of the Mallay aren’t allowed to learn the sword, but I ‘traded’ in them extensively and learned to recognize quality over flash.” He hefted one with a flashy hilt and gleaming blade. “This one, for example, looks beautiful. It’s the kind budding young men dream of carrying on their hip and leading the charge into battle with. It would be one I could sell for a heavy purse of gold to some dragon-struck young lordling wishing to impress. But I wouldn’t be able to sell it for a handful of coppers to a trained warrior, he would know better. The blade isn’t balanced right, it’s too flimsy and the steel lacks quality. The hilt may look nice, but it wouldn’t hold up under real battle conditions.”

  He laid it down and lifted another. “This one is plain, attractive if you know what truly matters in a sword, and unobtrusive. It has great balance, the hilt is sturdy and its blade is made of fine quality steel. Help me find another like it for Serena.”

  Vaddoc stared at the blond man. “I’m surprised by your knowledge.”

  Kellinar shrugged. “A thief needs to know the value of what he is taking.”

  Vaddoc didn’t know what to say to that so he began looking over the swords. It didn’t take him long to find another finely made weapon. This one was more slender, but just as well made and as strong as the first.

  Kellinar began negotiating the price for the two swords with the Trader. It took several minutes and at the end, the cost was lower than Vaddoc expected. He started to reach for the purse Emallya sent with them, but Kellinar stopped him. “Emallya has bought enough and I am no beggar.” He reached into his own purse and counted out the gold coins to the vendor, making sure to buy a belt and scabbard for both swords.

  As they wove back through the crowded streets Vaddoc said, “It cost less than I expected.”

  Kellinar smiled. “Traders may be good, but no one is as good at negotiating price as a thief from the Mallay.”

  Vaddoc was about to answer when a man in merchant dress stopped them. “Would you like to purchase some jewels? Maybe something to take to a pretty lady?” the man offered.

  Vaddoc glanced at the man. “We have no need of jewels.”

  “Wait,” the man said as they started to walk away. He reached into his purse and pulled out several jewels. They glittered in the light of the setting sun and Vaddoc thought they looked beautifully cut.

  Kellinar picked one up and held it up to the light for a moment before tossing it back in the man’s palm. “They’re fake.”

  The man eyed him suspiciously and backed away. “Perhaps I’ll sell them to someone else,” he said and disappeared into the crowd.

  Vaddoc looked at Kellinar. “Were they really fake?”

  “Yes.”

  “How could you tell?” They started walking again.

  “The cut and prisms were wrong.”

  “You could tell that easily?”

  Kellinar nodded. “Yes. I made my living by knowing the difference. I dealt with many lords and ladies in Trilene. If I hadn’t learned quickly, I would have flaming starved.”

  “What do lords and ladies have to do with fake jewels?”

  Kellinar laughed. “Lords and ladies may be rich, but they will be the flaming first to try and cheat you if they can.”

  Vaddoc could hardly believe the man spoke of honesty. “I suppose you never tried to cheat anyone?”

  “Of course I did. People expect that from a thief. Lords and ladies, on the other hand, are supposed to be the pillars of society. If the general citizenry knew what I know about the dragon-blasted git that reside in the lofty houses of the cities, they would most likely revolt.” Kellinar flashed him a wry grin. “You will never see as much adultery, back stabbing, kidnapping, stealing, cheating and back alley murdering anywhere than you will among the High Houses.”

  “You are serious?”

  “Yes, I’m serious. I could never have made such a good living if the elite were not so flaming corrupt. Not all of them mind you. I‘ve met a few good and decent people among the High Houses of Trilene, but not many.” He gave Vaddoc a friendly slap on the shoulder. “Now come my good man, let us get back to the inn where you can be rid of me for a while.”

  As they walked back, Vaddoc turned over in his mind what Kellinar had said. Was there truly so much corruption in the higher ranks? If so then the only thing that separated the criminals and wealthy was the position they were born into. Was Shadereen different than Trilene? Had he judged Kellinar too harshly?

  Maleena watched Mckale in the dim light of dusk. The flickering light of the fire played across his face and caught the silver of his eyes. She stretched her arms, trying to ease her muscles. Even after three weeks on the road, her body still wasn’t fully accustomed to the long hours spent in the saddle.

  The last rays of the setting sun washed the land in shades of pink and orange as the blue blanket of night rose in the east. They traveled well north of the Tradeway. Mckale wanted to stay out of sight as much as possible. Maleena’s gaze wondered over the rolling hills and grass. So empty...so different from the protective flanks of the mountains she’d always known. Here the land went on forever without a break and the great dome of the sky reached from horizon to horizon unobstructed. It made her feel vulnerable and exposed.

  She sighed quietly as Mckale began to pack away the tea, knowing that soon he would put out the fire, just as he did every night. She wished they could let it burn, if only for one night, but knew why they couldn’t. An involuntary shiver ran through her at the thought of the beasts in her vision.

  “Are you cold?” Mckale asked.

  “No, I was just thinking about those things, those Kojen.”

  “Some things are best not thought about too closely.”

  “I wish I knew why they are after us,” she said, her nagging worry coming to the surface.

  He shook his head. “I have no answer for that. I’ve never heard of them singling out a person and following them for so many miles. They don’t hunt their prey. They charge in, wild and erratic, slashing people down without thought or reason.

  “Those I last fought on the border were different. They hunted my patrol, but not like this. It doesn’t make sense for them to follow someone. I don’t doubt what you’ve seen.” He ran a hand through his thick black hair and stared at the fire for a long moment, a troubled look in his silver eyes. “I wish I understood what’s going on. If the Kojen are changing their behavior this much, then I feel I should turn back and warn the Border Guard.”

  A bitter smile crossed his face. “Of course, they would thank me for my warning by executing me for being able to use magic, like I should have been to begin with. But then I wouldn’t be here, you would have Kojen following you and no knowledge of even what they are, and I wouldn’t know of this strange new behavior and wouldn’t be able to warn them anyway.

  “Everything seems to go in circles, even my father’s advice.” He shook his head. “How can I seek help from people in a city that no longer exists? Why did he, the most loyal Border Guard I know, tell me to hide what happened and run?”

  Maleena felt his frustration. It rolled off him in waves and buried deep within it, a fear his journey was hopeless. She wasn’t concerned by all of the turns in life that brought them to this place and time. Maleena learned long ago life could not be how one wished it.

  She looked across at him and said gently, “I can’t answer your questions Mckale. You speak of your father as an honorable man. I don’t think that he has sent you on a hopeless journey. The stories say the city of Galdrilene was razed in the last battle of the War of Fire and it lays in ashes still. That doesn’t mean it is so. There are many things that have no explanation. Sometimes, you have to wait and see where life takes you. Many times it will lead you to the answers you seek.”

  Maleena could tell he didn’t like the idea of waiting for things to come at him. He would rather ride forth and take hold with both hands that which he sought. She watched him as he struggled
to surrender to her words.

  Mckale saw the sense of what she said and tried to calm the growing frustration he felt inside. He disliked not knowing answers to such important questions. Finally he said, “I understand what you are trying to say, but a man who stands in the pitch dark cannot see the approach of an enemy and he is vulnerable.”

  Her violet eyes, luminous and soft in the light of the fire, regarded him. “If such a man were to stop struggling against the lack of sight and instead turned his ear to the dark, he would hear his enemy’s approach.”

  The words washed over him and into the night, somehow taking with them some of his anxieties. A smile broke across his face, and he laughed softly. “So true, my lady.”

  She smiled back and his breath caught. It lit up her whole face, turning her beautiful features radiant. How could a woman such as she still be unclaimed? She looked away from him as if uncomfortable and he asked, “Is there something wrong?”

  “You have let your guard down borderman. Your question hangs in your mind, clear for me to see.”

  He shrugged. “It’s an honest question, Maleena.”

  Her dark lashes swept down as she lowered her eyes, a slight blush staining her cheeks. “I was very much alone in my village, accepted only because the villagers went to my grandmother when they needed healing. They felt any beauty bestowed upon me had been wasted.”

  He could see why the villagers ostracized her. Her strange powers set her apart. The final insult was the beauty she possessed. Maleena shined with more than mere physical beauty, although she had that in plenty. An inner beauty shown from within her. She voiced no opinion of the villagers that indicated she held any animosity toward them. The way they had treated her left no stain on her spirit. He shook his head at what an amazing person Maleena truly was. He would have given them no quarter if he had been in her shoes.

  Mckale looked away from her, his eyes on the night while he struggled to control the unfamiliar emotions flooding him. In that moment, he realized he more than cared for Maleena. He couldn’t imagine not having her in his life. How, in so short a time, had this woman wormed her way into his heart?

  Maleena looked up at him as if she knew his thoughts and how he felt. Then it occurred to him that she probably did. She smiled though it had a sad quality to it. “The Kojen will catch up to us.”

  He nodded. “Yes.”

  “I saw it when I saw the Kojen the night we first met.”

  He wished he could reassure her and tell her she had nothing to fear, but she would know a lie if he told one. “I knew they would catch us as soon as you told me of them. I don’t need a vision for that. Blaine is border-bred, he could out run them. But your little mare doesn’t have a hope of out running them. They will catch us.”

  They sat in silence for a long time as the last of the light faded from the sky, each lost in their own thoughts. Maleena stifled a yawn. Mckale could feel her exhaustion. “We should sleep,” he said and threw dirt over the fire to smother it.

  “Yes, I suppose we should.” Maleena sighed.

  Without the light of the fire she disappeared in the shadows of the ground. He heard her rustling as she settled into her sleeping roll and fell asleep almost instantly. He couldn’t see her in the dark, but he knew it was so. He sat and kept watch on the night, only dozing occasionally, a part of him always aware of their surroundings.

  He snapped awake in the gray of predawn. A heart raced with fright. He leaped to his feet, his eyes sweeping the grasslands around them. When he found nothing, he turned to Maleena. It was her fear he felt, her heart he sensed racing.

  She sat still, her wide eyes dark in the first hint of dawn.

  He knelt in front of her; he had only seen her serene demeanor shattered like this once before. “Maleena?”

  She stared past him toward the light on the horizon. “They are closer. The warning flows through the air ahead of them and the presence that shares my mind, roars at their coming.”

  “Did you have another vision? How close?”

  She shook her head. “No, it’s not another vision. I feel them. It woke me from my sleep.” She turned her eyes on him. “We need to go–now. We can eat while we ride.”

  Her heart had slowed, but fear still clouded her eyes. “Of course,” he said and moved to the horses.

  For the next few days they broke camp before the sun rose and rode through the evening until it became too dark to see.

  Kirynn glanced back at the city of Yari as they left the dusty streets behind. Several long trains of wagons pulled out on the northern Northern Tradeways that branched out from the city to the east and west. A few wagon drivers cast curious looks at Kirynn and the others in of her group as they rode north across the grasslands, leaving the roads behind.

  “Emallya,” Kirynn rode up next to the other woman, “where are we headed?”

  “North.”

  Kirynn rolled her eyes; that wasn’t an answer. “There can’t be many towns this direction, there aren’t any roads leading this way.”

  “There are no towns in the direction we are going, at least not for a very long way.”

  “Is that why several of the wagon drivers looked at us as if we’ve all grown three heads?”

  Emallya glanced back at the departing wagons. “Yes. They wonder if we have lost our minds.”

  “Why? Because there are no towns?”

  “No, because of what lies in this direction.”

  “And what is that?” Kirynn was starting to seriously consider cracking the older woman over the head with her zahri if she didn’t start offering answers that made sense.

  Emallya glanced at her. “Spirit Lake, or as those who live in this area call it, the Dead Lake.”

  “And?” Kirynn nearly growled. Getting answers was like pulling teeth.

  “The lake is not a place for the living. It does not encourage the living to stand upon its shores and will not tolerate the living within its waters.”

  Kirynn scowled, it didn’t sound like any place she wanted to be. Enemies, even if they outnumbered her, could be brought down with a weapon. How did one fight a lake of death? Where was the logic in going anywhere near such a place? “Are we headed for this lake? If we are, why?”

  “Given the choice I would not take any of you to it at this point.” The older woman sighed. “However, there is another young man who shares the same ship as the rest of you. I have tried to draw him farther south, but he resists. Something stronger than me pulls at him, something that hovers at the edges of my mind.”

  Kirynn shook her head, sometimes the woman talked in circles. “What does he have to do with the lake?”

  “He is headed straight for it. I imagine we will find him there.”

  “This boat we’re in is getting flaming crowded.” Kirynn muttered and dropped back to ride beside Vaddoc. She rather enjoyed his company. He was well versed in weaponry and the art of using it, well-practiced in hand-to-hand combat, and pleasant to look at. As long as he didn’t get too attached or try to make a claim on her, she wouldn’t mind taking a turn in the bed with him someday.

  They rode in silence for a while before Vaddoc asked, “What was that about?”

  Kirynn crooked a smile at him. “Apparently we are going to meet another man who is on the run for magic use. And the most likely location for this meeting to take place is a lake of death.”

  Vaddoc raised an eyebrow. “Sounds interesting.”

  “From what she said, it will be. I would likely avoid it, given the option, but I agreed to follow her. I guess I will get to see a dead lake and found out how interesting it will be.”

  He nodded. “I left my Watch to follow her. I, too, will see where this leads.”

  “You’re not alone in the ranks of those who have left their appointed duties.”

  Vaddoc sighed, a sober look in his amber eyes. “Not the kind of ranks I ever thought I would belong to.”

  Emallya looked back at them. “Leaving one duty behind to
take the greater one to which you have been called does not mean that you have abandoned the first. It only means the Fates have other plans for you.”

  Vaddoc shook his head. “But we did not leave one duty for a greater one. We just left.”

  Emallya smiled. “You have a duty still.”

  Kirynn glanced at Vaddoc, then looked back at Emallya. “What duty?”

  “You will know when it is time,” Emallya answered.

  “Of course we will flaming know when it’s flaming time.” Kirynn growled under her breath.

  They traveled over the open, rolling grasslands, its vast emptiness broken only occasionally by small groups of scraggly bushes and trees. They made sure to stop when they came to such a grouping. The trees marked tiny streams threading their way through the grass on their way to the mighty Galdar River. With water sparse on the grasslands, they never passed up an opportunity to fill water bags and allow the horses to drink. To Kirynn, it looked an awful like the land to the south of Yari. Her homeland, Boromar, offered craggy coastlines, a large bay, rich farmland, and lush forests. She tired of seeing nothing but grass.

  As the sun began its slow descent on the evening of the third day out from Yari, they topped a tall hill. Below, a lake of crystal clear water lay in a large circle. The smooth sand of the beach ran straight into the water that remained shallow only a few yards out before dropping off sharply into deep indigo depths.

  Kirynn stared at the water, an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. In her mind, the hum turned to a disturbed rumble. She didn’t know why, but the idea of touching the water made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

  Serena let out a sigh. “That looks lovely.”