Shard & Shield

by Laura VanArendonk Baugh

  Magic could be redirected and grounded. She could change things if she acted, rather than reacted. She should have protested the slave’s treatment, despite Becknam. Becknam and Tam were grating at one another, generating ever more friction; she could try to smooth their interaction, grounding the force. Magic was like anything else: if she only remembered to act, rather than react, it might—well, no, it wouldn’t have been worth the failure. But she wouldn’t discard the lesson, at least.

  It was nearing midday when they first heard the strange, heavy whuffling sound. Ariana looked up the long slide of old scree above the trail and saw a massive dirty white shape moving, browsing for growth among the loose rocks. Her heart froze—a catoblepas! Fiercely territorial as well as enormous. What if it charged them?

  By all that was holy, what if she hesitated as she had in the Circle examination?

  Shianan Becknam appeared beside her. “Back away, before it scents us. Tam, behind me, now.”

  But the creature’s whuffling changed in rhythm and it turned to face them. She caught her breath. The catoblepas snorted and tossed its heavy head, displaying tusks each as thick as Ariana’s waist.

  “Too late.” Becknam drew his sword.

  It stamped a foreleg, shaking its tusks again. Ariana braced herself and concentrated power into a ball balanced in her palms. The catoblepas roared and bolted down the slope, slipping on the scree. Its dark eyes fixed on her.

  “Now, my lady!”

  It was near enough now that she could see the coarse bristles covering its body. She flung her arms before her and channeled power toward the beast.

  The bolt struck it fully, staggering it in its charge, but it did not stop. A sting was not enough. She gathered another, stronger blast. “Get clear! Get out of the way!”

  Becknam was man enough to recognize he would be little help. He retreated, leaving her to repel the beast. Was he taking Tam?

  She threw the second bolt and felt its impact at the monster’s feet. The ground gave way beneath the catoblepas and it fell, roaring. Loose scree ran downhill before it as the creature rolled.

  “Lady Ariana!” Becknam shouted. “Run!”

  The catoblepas tumbled toward her, propelled by its own momentum and the collapsing slide of debris. Panic struck her and she turned toward Becknam and Tam.

  The ground was already shifting beneath her feet. Pebbles and rocks and gravel gave way, sucking her down the slope. She stumbled and went down, flailing her arms in a vain attempt to find a foothold. The catoblepas roared above her.

  She saw Becknam and Tam gaping in horror as she swept past. Tam chased after her toward the edge where rocks and dirt spilled into air. She twisted and found herself staring at the panicked catoblepas. Tam’s voice shrieked after her.

  She clawed at the slide, but it was all gravel and rolling scree and then nothing at all as her momentum flung her clear of the cliffs. The wind burned her face and tears whipped upward from her eyes.

  She fell.

  Something struck her from behind, thrusting her from the rain of gravel. Had one of the larger rocks hit her?

  An abrupt pressure squeezed painfully about her torso. She gasped and the world spun sideways. The cliff wall slowed its frantic race past her and the rocks flew by more quickly. Then she was moving away from the rockfall, into open air, away from the cliff face.

  Someone’s arms were around her.

  She dug her fingers into the arms, terrified to let them slip. The jagged walls spun away. They were flying.

  Ariana had no breath to scream; what little was left after the fall had been crushed from her. She dared not move in those impossible arms—lean arms, too lightly muscled….

  Terror rose anew, even more gripping. Ryuven—! She would rather have died in the fall. Had Becknam seen? Would he escape to warn her father?

  She kicked, but the arms around her were tight. They flew free of the narrow rocky slopes, sinking all the while. The Ryuven could not wholly compensate for her weight and they jolted hard to the ground.

  Ariana jerked free and spun with her heart in her throat, ready to face—

  Tam.

  She froze. No, it wasn’t Tam, not quite. He was taller than she was, older, his face not entirely that of the boy she knew. On either side rose the great membranous wings of the Ryuven. She stepped back, unable to speak.

  He looked at her, his expression anxious and pleading and relieved all at once. “Lady Ariana?”

  It was Tam’s voice, aged years. Ariana shook her head. “Tam,” she managed, her voice no more than a whisper. “Tam, how….”

  He looked upward sharply, his wings jerking behind him. “Hide,” he snapped. He shoved her into a jumble of rocks. “Whatever happens, stay hidden. No matter what you see. Stay there.”

  “Tam!” she called, but he was already moving away. The air changed around her.

  Ryuven.

  They came into her world with little puffs of air, a whisper of sound announcing the enemy. The first arrived about fifteen feet above the ground, his wings spread fully, and four more appeared as he circled. He eyed Tam. “We’d supposed you dead.”

  Tam stood still. “I will not return with you.”

  “No need. The price is for your head, with the rest of you or no.” He folded his wings and dove.

  Tam flung up his arms to ward off the blow but stumbled backward. Magic scorched through the air. The others swept down on him, battering with hammer and mace. Not killing—they were toying with him, five cats with a single mouse. They came at him from all sides, striking from every angle and throwing him from one to another.

  Ariana shrank behind her rock, her breath burning in her throat. She could not move. She dared not move. She could not challenge five Ryuven, not alone. The moment she gathered power they would sense her and turn on her, kill her as they were slowly killing Tam, or whoever this was.

  The air shifted again, and another Ryuven appeared in the air. The five paused in their gleeful attack, watching the impressive figure settling toward them. Released, Tam collapsed to his knees, weaving unsteadily. The new Ryuven made a somber gesture, and the others backed away from Tam.

  “We found him, Oniwe’aru,” one said. “We found him as you asked.”

  The Ryuven stared down at Tam for a moment. “Leave us.”

  They disappeared in little puffs of air. The tall Ryuven sank to the ground and stood still, and Tam rose unsteadily and stumbled forward a few steps to drop and bow limply over his knee. His wings hung unevenly, ripped and gouged. One of his arms dangled loosely from its shattered shoulder. Ariana bit down fiercely on her fist, blinking to clear her eyes.

  The tall Ryuven spoke first. “You have hidden all these years?”

  Tam’s voice was torn and ragged as well. “I knew I could not return.”

  “It was your choice to make it so.” The Ryuven frowned at Tam’s bowed head. “I will not have you killed by che.”

  Tam’s head sank lower. “Thank you, Oniwe’aru.”

  The Ryuven stretched one hand over Tam and spread his fingers. Ariana gasped, but the sound was lost in the sudden burst of power. Tam went violently rigid, arcing his spine and crying one final time, and then he collapsed backward, his legs sprawling as he fell across his loose arm. He did not move again.

  Ariana could not control the quick sobbing breaths that shook her, but the Ryuven did not hear. He looked down at Tam’s still form. “I am sorry it came to this.” He turned away and disappeared into his own world.

  Ariana’s fist was bleeding from her teeth. Tam was a Ryuven. And now he was dead. She had fallen, she would have died, he had saved her, and now he was dead. She gulped and tried to slow her frantic breathing.

  A small sound froze her. Another Ryuven had come, one more. She shrank back behind her rock and shivered.

  This Ryuven came to earth and stood very still, looking down at Tam’s broken body. “Ryl. Essence and flame, Ryl’sho, I’m sorry.” He took a slow step forward and knelt
over Tam.

  Tam’s lips moved. “Maru?” His voice was barely audible.

  “Ryl!”

  Ariana choked on her breath. Tam was still alive? Then this Ryuven would not have him! This was only one Ryuven; she would fight.

  She pushed free of the rocks as the Ryuven reached toward Tam, power already coursing through her. “Leave him!” she ordered, braver than she felt. “Step back!”

  The Ryuven leapt backward as if stung and stared at her. “Rika.” His face hardened. “You won’t have him. Not while I stand.” He raised his arms in readiness.

  Ariana hesitated. “You are defending him?”

  His voice was taut. “As long as I last.”

  Ariana let the throbbing of her power ease a bit. “I, too, mean to defend him.”

  The Ryuven looked at her a long moment and then sagged. “Can you imagine, rika, how relieved I am to hear that?”

  Ariana edged toward Tam. “Others came to attack him.”

  The Ryuven crouched beside Tam, now silent once more. “He has nothing. He cannot heal.”

  Ariana nodded. The final attacker had simply drained Tam’s energy, leaving him to die of his considerable injuries. “Is there… is there anything we can do?”

  The Ryuven nodded. “I can help him a little. It will not be much, but it may be enough.” He spread his hand over Tam’s face and closed his eyes.

  Ariana felt a shift around her, as power ebbed from one to the other. “How are you doing that?”

  “What?”

  “You’re transferring….” She didn’t know how to frame the question.

  Too quickly the Ryuven stopped and opened his eyes. “That is all I can do. But it is just enough to sustain him.” He began to straighten Tam’s limbs, moving the shattered bones so very carefully, his eyes on Tam’s face as he worked.

  Ariana stared numbly. In the house of the White Mage, the Grand Mage of the Great Circle, a Ryuven had sheltered and hidden himself, disguised as a human boy who did not age as he should.

  Her father must have known.

  She shoved away the prickly thought. “Shouldn’t we do something more? He’s bleeding…. What about his shoulder?” How was she talking with a Ryuven, asking him to help Tam?

  “That will stop in a moment. Beyond that, I haven’t the skills or strength to treat him.” The Ryuven looked at Ariana. “Rika, do you have any sweet food? Honey?”

  Ariana’s mind spun, and she upturned her half-spilled pack. “Here,” she said, holding out the chocolate. “Sweet food.”

  The Ryuven stared at it. “Ryl’sho, a delicacy.” He broke the chocolate into pieces and pressed one into Tam’s mouth. “Eat this.”

  Tam looked a little better, Ariana thought. He wasn’t so ashen as before and his posture seemed a little more natural. The other Ryuven, though, looked pale. “Are you all right?” she heard herself ask.

  He nodded. “I gave him as much as I could. I’ll be fine.”

  “Maybe you’d better have a piece yourself.” What was she saying?

  The Ryuven hesitated, looking at the chocolate, and then took one. “Oh.” He closed his eyes. “Very good.”

  Ariana took a small piece for herself. “What about a blanket?” she asked, indicating the spill of meager supplies. She should have been fighting with this strange Ryuven, not offering him comforts, but she should have been dead and Tam should have been a boy.

  They spread a blanket over Tam and each took another. The Ryuven curled his wings about himself. “May I know the rika who is helping Ryl’sho?”

  “I’m Ariana Hazelrig,” she answered. Belatedly she hoped he would not recognize her father’s name. Was he as infamous among the Ryuven as Pairvyn ni’Ai was in Chrenada? “And you are?”

  “Maru,” he said, and she remembered Tam recognizing him before slipping away again. “Ariana’rika, I do not know how you came to help Ryl’sho, but thank you.”

  “I thought I knew him, but… he was someone else entirely. What do you call him—Ryl’sho? What is that? I called him Tam.”

  “Tamaryl,” Maru said. “That is his name.”

  It was a strange name. Ariana shivered. “Do we need a fire?”

  “I’ll make one.”

  Ariana bent closer to look at Tam—Tamaryl. A Ryuven name. He looked better, though still terribly wounded. As she watched, he opened his eyes. “My lady?”

  “Tam—I mean, Tam. I didn’t know—you were—how do you feel?”

  His face changed. “Maru! Was Maru here?”

  “Ryl!” Maru lunged to his side. He moved as if he wanted to embrace Tam but dared not touch his broken bones.

  “Essence and all, it’s good to see you.” Tam sobered. “If Oniwe’aru finds you’ve come….”

  Maru swallowed. “He won’t learn. No one will know. Neither of you will report me, after all.”

  “Someone will ask where you’ve been.”

  “I will not say. Whatever comes for refusing to answer will be better than seeing you die.”

  Tamaryl smiled, though it was nearly a grimace. “Maru, it’s—too long. Far too long.”

  Ariana did not want to interrupt, but there was too much unexplained. “Wait, who are you? Why did those others…?”

  Tamaryl took the chocolate Maru offered. “That is a long night of talking. In short, Maru is my oldest friend, whom I had to leave behind.”

  This was still too much. “You’re….”

  Tam understood. He made his voice very gentle, even beneath the pain. “I am Ryuven.” His throat worked. “I’m sorry. You should have been told.”

  Ariana stared at him.

  “I left. I no longer agreed with Oniwe’aru. He considered it a betrayal, and I suppose it was.”

  “So Ryl could not stay,” Maru supplied.

  “Your father offered another way.” Tamaryl raised a hand weakly, displaying his silver-grey slave cuff. It was cracked from wrist to forearm. “An artifact to house the binding that made me Tam the slave boy. I did not know if I could break it alone, but….”

  “But that betrayed him,” Maru said. “With that kind of energy—he was no longer hidden.” He hesitated. “I came as quickly as I could, Ryl, I’m sorry….”

  Tamaryl shook his head. “If you had arrived any sooner, Maru, you would have watched them kill me. No, you came at exactly the time to help most.” He struggled with the next words. “But you can’t stay. You will be missed.”

  “Ryl, I have only just—I never thought to see—”

  “If they seek you, we are both lost. Go back, Maru.”

  “They won’t know you’ve survived, not for a while. You’re weak. I can hardly recognize you from here.”

  “We can’t risk it. Go, please.” Tam tried another tactic. “If they come upon me again….”

  Maru plainly wanted to argue but did not. “I will, Ryl’sho. But I will watch for another time.” He gripped Tam’s good arm for a long moment. Then he stepped backward, dropping the blanket, and disappeared with a small disturbance of air. Tamaryl closed his eyes and swallowed.

  Ariana felt disoriented, as if she were still falling. She stared at Tamaryl. “I cannot believe… you are my—” She caught herself. My slave, she thought. Their household servant was a Ryuven. It was something like keeping a wyvern as a pet.

  Tamaryl looked contrite. “I am sorry, Lady Ariana. It was not my intent to deceive you. But you were far too young to be trusted when your father first brought me to your home, and later…. Well, there never seemed a time fit to tell you I wasn’t the boy you thought.”

  Ariana swallowed hard, fighting irrational tears. Her father had kept a secret from her, a dangerous secret. He had conspired with a slave without her—conspired with a Ryuven.

  “But we fight the Ryuven,” she said feebly. “That’s why we’re here, so the Ryuven cannot come again.”

  “I know.” He sighed and looked at the chocolate. “Would you hand me another piece, my lady?”

  Ariana did. Tamaryl shive
red and then flinched. He was not healed enough for movement, not yet. Ariana gave him the blanket Maru had left.

  Tamaryl finished the last of the chocolate. “Thank you. It helps.”

  “It was his idea,” Ariana said.

  Tamaryl looked at her. “Are you all right, Lady Ariana? The fall—there wasn’t time to ask….”

  She shook her head. “I’m fine. And thank you—for saving me.” For shedding his secure human guise to save her life.

  His eyes were closing. She pulled the blankets more closely around him, careful of his crushed shoulder.

  He slept almost immediately. Ariana looked at him, seeing vestiges of the boy Tam in his face. So many things jostled to her mind—Tam’s calm maturity, even as a boy; his reluctance to play with other children when his duties were finished; his long hours assisting her father with his magical work. Of course her father would value a Ryuven for that.

  Even his appearance was explained. One always remembered another person as he had been. Gradual changes were rarely noticed—or missed. Ariana had hardly thought on how slowly Tam had changed, nor had anyone else of the few who even noticed him. A young slave had been the perfect disguise.

  She wrapped her own cloak and blanket around her and lay down a little distance from him. She should not sleep tonight, not so near a Ryuven, but she was exhausted…. And it wasn’t a Ryuven—it was Tam, her own Tam, Tam who had been trusted in her home for fifteen years. Tam, who had deceived her, who was a Ryuven. Who was regaining strength with every moment which passed.

  Some very powerful Ryuven were able to heal minor injuries within minutes, but Tamaryl had been near death even before his power had been drained. From what Ariana knew of their processes, he was most likely gathering energy as it returned and focusing it on healing small portions at a time. The crushed bone looked as if it had only just been stabilized, but the muscle and other tissues were still weak.

  He was not healed, not yet, and he was only one. She could defeat him if the need arose. She huddled beneath her blanket and stared into the darkness.

  Chapter 6

  “Ariana!”