by Jeff Wheeler
Thealos stared at her in the darkness. He knew she couldn’t see his face, and he was glad. She had lost her meager belongings leaving Sol. He felt responsible for that – for all of them. She was the first human – except Jaerod – who had stood up for him after leaving Avisahn. He owed her something.
“The Ragged Staff, is it? It’ll be the nicest tavern in all the realm,” Thealos promised, giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze. “Nicer than the Catpaw. Nicer than the Foxtale. I can get you a good price on Silvan wine.”
“And Spider Ale?” Flent asked hungrily.
“You silly Drugaen,” she laughed. “The Shae don’t touch ale.” She leaned back and rested her head against Flent’s chest. “Maybe it won’t be Dos-Aralon. Maybe we’ll build it down here in Landmoor. Promise to visit us, Quickfellow?”
Thealos smiled and gave her a little hug. “Of course I will. I have plenty of Aralonian pieces Flent hasn’t cheated from me yet.” He butted Flent with his elbow. He envied their friendship and the years they had known each other. But it was something more. Maybe it was the fierce loyalty of friendship Ticastasy had for Flent. All his life he had struggled to make his own way, and he had struggled alone. Those he had grown up with had chosen callings like they were supposed to. He alone had defied the Shae hierarchy. He saw a little of that defiance in Ticastasy. He stared at her in the dim moonlight and felt a mixture of feelings, both tender and strong. Flent and Ticastasy were his only friends outside of Avisahn. His only real friends. Jaerod was a mentor, but he had motives Thealos couldn’t begin to comprehend or relate to. These two accepted him the way he was.
Or who they think me to be, he thought darkly. A Silvan prince.
Glancing across the shadows of the camp, Thealos saw Justin watching him with a frown and a look of disgust. Thealos met Justin’s disapproving stare and held it. “Try and get some sleep, both of you,” he said to Flent and Ticastasy before moving away from them to join Justin.
Justin huddled in his dark robes, his features almost indistinguishable in the darkness. As Thealos drew near, he felt heat emanating from the other Shae and saw that he was comfortable in the coolness. The tiniest wisp of Earth magic flavored the air. Justin’s blue eyes glimmered in the dark.
“You are too familiar with the human girl.”
“I have not broken any of the Rules of Forbiddance,” Thealos replied, dropping into a low crouch before the other. “They are my friends. I deserve no reproach for that.”
Justin smirked contemptuously. “The Drugaen is harmless. A child. He covets her friendship and nothing else. But the girl is dangerous. She cares for you, and you know that love between our races is Forbidden.”
“You mistake her affection,” Thealos countered. “There is another she has given her heart to. She wears his regard on a chain around her neck even now. But who I chose to make my friends isn’t your business.” He gave the other Shae a level look. “Now, I did not have time to translate everything Jaerod told us tonight. But you seemed to recognize some of what he said. You know of Sol-don-Orai?”
Justin nodded. “I’ve been there.”
His statement didn’t startle Thealos. “And the Everoot?”
“It was the cause of her destruction.” Justin’s eyes flashed with anger. “I do not trust the human who holds it. His loyalties are divided, I think. He prances and speaks like a Shae, but he is still a human to the core.”
Thealos frowned. “Jaerod is the reason I am here. He wants to stop the sickness that plagued and destroyed the Empire. He doesn’t want it to happen again here in this land.”
“And are you Vannier, who can read the true intents of a man’s heart?” Justin asked mockingly. “How do you know he isn’t using you for his own ends?”
“He isn’t.”
“But how do you know?”
Thealos stared at Justin. “I don’t think…”
“It does not matter what you think,” Justin interrupted. “You trust the humans – it is as obvious as lightning in a rainstorm. But I do not. I have known too many to ever trust them. They twist our ways and profane our gods. They mock us, my friend.” He shook his head. “I am not a Banished One. I cannot abandon our heritage that easily.”
“Is that what you think I’ve done?” Thealos challenged in a harsh whisper. “Abandoned our faith? To trust them? Do you know what has happened to the Shae since the days of Sol-don-Orai? Sweet Vannier, they have taken nearly the entire valley from us as a result of our ‘trust’! The eastern river is the last boundary they haven’t dared cross. The rest is theirs. We’ve been pushed and cramped up against the Ravenstone mountains where the bloody Drugaen have been fighting since I was born!” He noticed that Flent and Ticastasy were looking at him with concern. He calmed his voice, grateful they didn’t speak Silvan. “I did not allow that to happen to our people. I am here because I believe the Sunedrion will finally involve itself in this war if they know what is happening down here. And if we get involved, we take back some of what was ours. The leader of the Bandit Rebellion is our enemy, not Sol-don-Orai, not Jaerod. The leader’s name is Ballinaire and he has taken the Everoot, and he is using it without instruction on its dangers. That is Forbidden.” He glared at Justin. “But I must have proof when I return to Avisahn. If I’m to convince them that the humans have found and are spoiling Everoot, I must have proof. They will not move without it.”
Justin leaned forward and gripped Thealos’ arm. “Then make me your proof! The records at Avisahn, they will tell me what I need to know – what I cannot remember because of my long sleep. The records of my watchpost are ruined. Everything has sunk and fallen into the bog. But they kept all the records in Avisahn, in Silverborne’s palace.” His eyes were eager, intense. “Come with me, Thealos. Come with me to Avisahn. Let us find the truth and tell the Sunedrion together. The witnesses of two Shae are worth more than all of these unbelievers combined.”
Thealos shook his head, frustrated. “I can’t.” He rubbed his eyes, not wanting to explain about Nordain. If he went back without any evidence, he would spend the entire war in a Shae prison. “The only defense we have against the horrors of Sol-don-Orai is a Silvan artifact – the Silverkin Crystal. The Crystal is ours if we can get there first. Jaerod knows where it is…”
“He knows nothing.”
“I know more than you think,” the Sleepwalker said from the darkness, Allavin Devers in tow behind him. They joined the two Shae. Justin’s eyes glittered like dagger tips.
XXIV
"Speaking Silvan well does not make you a Shae,” Justin mocked.
“I suppose it doesn’t,” Jaerod replied, sitting on the carpet of pine needles. “But not even Shenalle can make a human into a Shae. The best we can do is act like you. And try to do better,” he added with a barb. Before Justin could rally a retort, the Sleepwalker raised his hand. “I was taught by the Shae. As was my friend here.” He nodded to Allavin. Jaerod looked Justin in the eye. “I understand the source of your distrust, Warder. In your day, the Shae cowered here in the valley, praying that the Empire of Sol-don-Orai would leave them alone. It would have taken more than Warder Shae and Wolfsmen to call off the Empire’s flying cities and you knew that back then.”
Justin tensed. “I was there, human. Do not pretend to know what it was like.”
Jaerod smirked. “Too many years asleep in the Earth magic has its consequences, Warder. You don’t remember as much as you wish you did. But the devastation that the Empire brought on itself was enough to cause your watchpost concern. Concern enough to seek the aid of the Mages of Safehome. When they grant the desires of the Shae, there is always a price. And the coin chosen is never the same. What do you remember of your Warding when the Mages chose you to defend it?”
Justin’s mouth dipped into an angry curl, but he kept his temper wrapped up in his robes. “Why should I reveal anything to you?”
“Because I know more than you think I do. Maybe I can help you remember who you are.”
Justin didn’t look convinced. “I will say what I can, human. The Mages chose me for the Warding because of my youth and expertise in taming the Earth magic. It was not certain how long the war in Sol-don-Orai would last. I protected the Everoot that was taken from Sol-don-Orai and planted here. To preserve and cultivate it that its magic would not be lost from this world. If the Warding was disturbed, I was to intervene.”
Sturnin Goff appeared out of the darkness. He’d left his roan in Castun, but he was wearing his traveling armor, which was dented and spattered with blood. He nodded to them before nestling against a crooked cedar tree nearby.
The Sleepwalker nodded to him before turning to face Justin. “Do you remember when the Warding was breached?”
Justin shook his head no. “When I awoke, I was in the tunnels of my watchpost. Everything was in ruin. I thought that the Solarian war had already ended, that we had lost and the Warding had failed. But the humans I discovered in the tunnels did not speak Silvan or the tongue of the Empire. I came to realize that they were not Solarians at all. They were descendants with a garbled language. The watchpost hadn’t fallen, it was abandoned, covered with earth, and being subsumed by the moors.”
Jaerod rubbed his mouth. “What was your directive if the watchpost was to fall? Do you remember?”
The Warder Shae folded his arms. “I cannot tell you that. All I can say is that I am to seek the Heir of Quicksilver.”
Thealos looked at Jaerod in confusion, and the Sleepwalker held up his hand to forestall any questions. “Why?” Jaerod asked.
“I…I can’t tell you.”
“Do you remember? It was part of the Warding,” Jaerod insisted. “They were linked – the Everoot and the Silverkin Crystal. If the Warding was breached, the Silverkin would call for help.”
Justin looked disgusted that Jaerod knew so much. “Then I won’t bother lying to you,” he said archly. “You are right. There is another magic in the tunnels. But it was Warded as well. Only the Heir can reach through this Warding. I do not know what the talisman is or how it was supposed to work.”
“What did the Warding look like?” Jaerod pressed.
“The other Warding?” Justin shifted and tugged his robes around himself. “An Otsquare,” he answered.
Allavin Devers whistled.
“You know of an Otsquare?” Justin demanded incredulously to the woodsman. “By the gods, is nothing sacred in this era?”
Allavin raised his hands defensively. “I’ve seen the Otsquare, but I thought they were only found in the Riven Wood. They are Forbidden to humans. I do not know what they mean, but I know they are held sacred.”
Justin gave Jaerod a challenging look.
Jaerod replied with a calm smile, “You are right, Allavin. An Otsquare forbids any human to pass. Not even a legion of Bandits can cross it. Not even a Sorian.”
The Warder Shae raised an eyebrow. “So the Sorian are involved in this.”
Jaerod nodded. “Two, this time. One you will remember from Sol-don-Orai. The Emperor’s advisor, Mage.” Justin nodded in recognition. “The other made her home with the Shae in the Kingshadow – Miestri of the Vale.”
Thealos shook his head, not understanding. “Who are these Sorian?”
Allavin rested his bow in his lap and rubbed his thumb along the riser. “Jaerod just finished explaining to me about the Sorian I met in the Shadows Wood. The one that killed the Shae scouts I was with. The one I thought was a Sleepwalker.”
Jaerod gave Allavin a reassuring nod and joined the story. “The Sorian were part of the original religious order when the Shae first came to this world. My order have been taught and trained by the Shae to counter and oppose their work. I must tell the rest in the king’s common, Warder. They do not yet understand the enemies we are up against.”
Jaerod called Flent and Ticastasy over to join them. The knight was cleaning his blade with an oilcloth, but he listened as the Sleepwalker spoke. “The Kiran Thall are fleeing, but some will flee to the army to warn them. That is unfortunate, but it doesn’t change my plans. I was intending to go through the middle of their camp, not the edges, anyway.”
“Why go through the middle?” Ticastasy asked, confused.
“It’s the thinnest part of the line,” Jaerod replied. “I scouted to the east and west to see if there was a good point where we could slip through. If we tried to go around either side of the regiment, it would take days. And we do not have that long. The narrowest point, the least defended, is the center. Because no one would be so foolish to do what we will do.”
Sturnin Goff shrugged. “What about the sentries? I’m sure there are Kiran Thall watching the road.”
“I know where they are,” Jaerod answered. “Allavin and I will deal with them. The Bandit officers will be watching for us to slip around the army. They do not realize our goal or our intentions. The command pavilions in the center are their most vulnerable point. Before we continue south, I wanted to tell you more about the dangers we face in the Shadows Wood. Specifically, the dangers of the Sorian.”
Thealos looked at Ticastasy and Flent and saw the somberness in their eyes. Jaerod continued. “The Sorian order has lived on this world for thousands of years. Since before the Shae came. They do not age – at least not noticeably – and they rarely die. This medallion I wear is of the order of Safehome. My work is to oppose the Sorian wherever I can. Their intentions have proven throughout history to be…very destructive. I am not the only one who wears this medallion, but there are only a few of us left, and many who were taught no longer remember why the order was founded. They use the skills and training for their own ends. You know them as Sleepwalkers, and so we share a reputation, not a cause. Let me explain what I told Allavin earlier. The Sorian involve themselves in the affairs of kingdoms and generals. They seek to control and manipulate crowns and principalities to increase their power.” He looked at them seriously. “They do not do this directly themselves, but manipulate through others. As I mentioned, it was a Sorian who took a small trading nation and turned it into Sol don Orai. It was a Sorian who founded the Druid priesthood of Parath-Anatos. There is a Sorian who advises the Emperor of the Shieldlands to the north. And there is a Sorian who created the East Kingdoms.”
“Why?” Sturnin asked. “If they are so powerful, why bother with underlings? I’ve never even heard the name before.”
“You’re from Owen Draw, Sturnin. You’ve heard of the Witch of the Vale, haven’t you?” Sturnin nodded, understanding. “Rulers come and go, humans age and die – but the Sorian can only be killed by their own kind. The reason they don’t become the kings and emperors is because of the attention they would get. They don’t fear man or Shae, but facing an army would be foolhardy and come at great cost to their powers. In such a weakened condition, they can fall prey to other Sorian. It’s a game they play amongst themselves. And empires have fallen because of it. My order has battled their influence since the beginning. And many of us have died for opposing them. The founders of my order were Shae.” Thealos stared at him in disbelief. “But they trained those who were willing and prepared to carry on the fight. Some Drugaen were taught. Humans were also. My grandfather, father, and uncle were all part of this order. We have a deep respect for the ways of the Shae. But the Shae no longer involve themselves in the struggle as they once did. They have turned within themselves. They have forgotten why they came here.”
Jaerod paused, looking from Thealos to each of them. “I have never taken the life of a Shae. This is how I convinced Allavin that I could be trusted. This is why he is choosing to come with us to Landmoor.”
Allavin nodded. “Tell them the rest, Jaerod.”
“What else?” Thealos demanded.
The Sleepwalker looked at them and sighed. “When I visited the Bandit camp earlier today, I discovered a Sorian there. Maybe there is another guarding the Everoot, too. What I mean to say is crossing the army will be more difficult than I first thought.”
* * *
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br /> Dappled sunlight poked through the web of tree-limbs and towering branches, bringing a surge of warmth to the new day. Thealos came awake when Jaerod passed through the camp, telling them that it was time to leave. A few hours of sleep was all they were given. But timing, Jaerod had said, was important. Thealos felt sluggish, but he roused himself, rolled up his blanket, and tugged on his boots. The rest of the group finished gathering their blankets and hurried down a quick meal before Jaerod broke away from Allavin to join them.
“You look weary this morning,” Jaerod announced with a sad smile. “I wish I didn’t have to tell you that sleep will be precious in the days ahead. Would that we could have stayed at the Catpaw for a night – your rest would have been better there.” His gray eyes went to each of their faces. “But we need to reach Landmoor quickly, before it falls, and there is a Bandit regiment and a Sorian blocking the way. Thealos and I can go on alone. You need not risk your lives. If you wish, Talbin will allow you to stay in Castun until we return.”
He waited, but no one had changed their minds. Thealos was grateful. Flent and Ticastasy seemed nervous, but determined. Justin scowled, anxious to be on his way to Avisahn instead, but willing to postpone the journey until they had accomplished the task. But he had only promised to go with them in return for Thealos’ word that they would bring the Silverkin to the Shae once they’d claimed it. Sturnin studied Jaerod skeptically, and it was clear by his expression that he was still convinced that the fortress of Landmoor would hold for several weeks and determined to prove it.
“I’ve talked with Allavin and Sturnin, and we feel the least dangerous time to attempt to cross the army is at night. They will be watching for us, so it will not be easy – but I would rather try to slip through than fight my way through…if at all possible. If the Sorian decides to get involved, leave that to me.” He gave them all a confident smile. “I know a few tricks the Shae scouts didn’t. You are to go on without me if I’m delayed. Thealos’ mission is the linchpin. He must get to Landmoor at all costs. He must claim the Silverkin Crystal and bring it safely out of there. Allavin, would you give the marching orders?”