Rayah rose back out of the ground. “Flying it is.” She fluttered off the ground. “I’ll come back as soon as I can.”
“Be careful,” growled Rakzar.
Urza and Normak whipped their heads around and eyed Rakzar.
Rakzar glared at them. “What? I don’t want to be stuck here.”
“That be yer meanin’, eh?” Normak winked at Rayah.
Urza smirked but made no comment. Rakzar growled and stormed off.
Rayah giggled, waved goodbye, and then zoomed up to the top of the forty-foot-high canopy. A crimson sea stretched for miles south, east, and west. Neither south nor east looked better, so she chose south and prayed she’d come across a place she might recognize.
Flying so high above the ground always terrified Rayah, but the thick canopy beneath her helped. She much preferred being down in the soil though. No way of falling there. Plus, it didn’t make her head spin and her stomach queasy like flying did.
After flying for nearly an hour nonstop, Rayah noticed a change in the trees. The red spruces gave way to yellow aspen and other coniferous trees in hues of blue and green. To her left, far in the distance, mountains touched the sky and their peaks pierced the clouds. She thought she recognized them, so she adjusted her flightpath and headed straight for them.
Another twenty minutes and the mountain range still loomed far in the distance. Then she noticed a distinct break in the tree line. When she got a bit closer, she realized that the break in the trees spanned a much greater distance than she’d first thought—at least a good forty miles. To make matters worse, water spanned the distance, and the closer she got the more distinct the whitecaps became.
She reached the coastline and dropped down onto the narrow, rocky beach. Across the body of water, gleaming in the early morning sun, stood a lone wall atop a hill. Just north of that hill, nestled in the valley across the sea from her, she spotted the remnants of what used to be a pier.
Her heart soared. “We must be on Mortuus Vir Isle!” Of all the places Eshtak’s bag could’ve led, she never would’ve guessed Mortuus Vir Isle would be it.
But how will we get back to the mainland?
A half mile down the coast she spotted two canoes pulled up onto the rocky shore.
Thank you, Ƨäʈūr!
She flew into the air and headed back toward Rakzar and the others. They’d be pleased with her success, but not with the route they must take. The journey through the forest would be long and arduous, but at least they’d have a way to get off the island once they reached the shore.
If we can reach it.
Chapter Thirty-Four
The first rays of dawn painted the western skies in hues of blue, red, and purple, but it wasn’t what roused Savric from the clutches of sleep. He’d awakened a solid hour before, his mind churning away as it searched for an answer as to the purpose of the monstrous wall that stretched a quarter mile from east to west.
For the last two days, he’d watched Aria from a distance as she worked her way back and forth along the wall, casting rune spells and weaving webs of mezhik he couldn’t begin to comprehend. Layers upon layers of mezhik. Cinolth tracked her every move as well, never leaving her side as she worked day and night without rest.
Now, Aria rested in her royal tent set up in the middle of the camp. The tent’s stark white fabric and its four black flags donning a red dragon’s eye couldn’t be missed. Savric had seen that coat of arms once before and knew its history stretched back millennia. Pugnus Rosai, the southern ruler decades ago, flew those same flags. He wondered if the man Aria accompanied in Daltura was related to Pugnus in some way. As far as he knew, Pugnus left no heirs alive, so it wasn’t likely.
Unless Pugnus did not know about him.
As he walked along the wall, he studied the glowing rune spells hanging on its surface. Each stroke had purpose and every curve and line executed with perfection. But what goal did it serve being built dozens of miles from any city? And at such scale.
Savric pulled on his beard. “An entire army could walk—”
Understanding of the wall’s purpose bloomed in his mind and shook him all the way down into his bones. Had he not been clutching Qotan’s staff, he would’ve fallen to his knees. As it was, he struggled to keep his legs underneath himself.
“Dear Ƨäʈūr… she’s built some sort of gateway.”
But where did it lead? Or what led to it? He turned and faced the camp again. Its size grew daily, stretching a few miles in each direction, but what if it represented just a fraction of their entire army?
His heart thundered, and his knees weakened further. He slid down his staff and to his knees.
King Zaridus must be warned.
Savric laid the staff down and retrieved the small, leather-bound book with Ƨäəll Dhef Ƨäfn Dhä embossed on its cover from within the folds of his robes. “In əllíʈ Hiz.” The clasp sealing the book clicked open. He took the fountain pen out of its pouch on the inside cover and turned to the first page.
He wrote to Morcinda with fevered urgency. “Morcinda, the situation at hand has developed into something far more concerning than previously thought. At the camp sixty miles south of Elatos, Aria and Cinolth have built what I am certain is a gateway. I believe they plan to use it to bring up additional forces from another location. Warn King Zaridus. War is coming quicker than we thought possible. In əllíʈ Hiz. -Savric”
Savric tapped the page with the fountain pen and the words faded. Moments ticked by agonizingly slow while he awaited a response. But did a response matter? He’d sent the message. She’d get it soon.
The first rays of light shone from the west, exposing him to any number of potential threats while he knelt in the open. He returned the fountain pen to its pouch and the book to its place within his robes. With the aid of Qotan’s staff, he rose to his feet.
The camp would soon awaken, but he needed to do more. The only question was what could be done? Sunlight glistened on the morning dew, sending pops of light dancing across the wall’s surface. The effect distorted the runes and triggered a thought.
Perhaps I can modify a few of these rune spells without Aria noticing.
Savric had no understanding of how the rune spells worked, but a subtle change here and there might afford King Zaridus a little more time to prepare. Four times, he teleported to different spots along the wall and adjusted a line here and a curve there. He was about to teleport again to make a fifth change, but spotted Aria emerging from her tent. Her head rotated toward him just as he teleported back to the outcropping several miles to the west.
His heart ached in his chest, the pressure of the situation taxing. Even if she’d seen him, would she know what he’d done? To be honest, he wasn’t sure if he’d altered the runes enough to disable the gateway when her and Cinolth activated it.
And what if the gateway blows up?
The loss of life, especially that of Aria’s, would be devastating, but the casualties would still be far fewer than what would certainly be sustained with an all-out war. Still, it would crush him. He stood against foes like Cinolth to preserve life, not take it.
Ƨäʈūr, do not let their blood stain my hands.
† † †
Aria stood before the massive wall, her hands trembling at her sides. So much work went into building it and readying the gateway, and the pressure of its success weighed heavily on her shoulders. Failure would be devastating, even if it stemmed from some structural defect. She oversaw every aspect of it, the responsibility all her own.
Cinolth stood behind her, his eyes boring holes in the back of her head. His thunderous, gravelly voice filled her mind. “It’s time. Are you ready?”
Aria nodded and closed her eyes. She’d checked the entire wall after she’d finished weaving the webs and casting the rune spells last night. Everything was in order.
“Remember your instruction,” said Cinolth in her mind. “Connect the two sides and
build the gateway.”
She opened and closed her hands several times and wrung the nerves from them. With a deep breath, she pushed everything from her mind.
Just like we practiced.
Aria pictured the two walls in her mind. Parallel to each other, they stretched into the distance before her. Left to right, she strung a virtual rope between them.
A low thrum shook the ground and resonated in her chest. A blinding light erupted beyond her eyelids. With each rope, the light intensified, and the thrum grew louder.
One hundred layers of spells required one hundred virtual ropes. By the time she’d connected ninety-nine of them, the entire wall shook on its foundation and pulsed with energy. But it held.
Mutius and Bardaric had done their job as required, building each wall in five days. As promised, Cinolth had released them—into death. The stipulation of their release had been underscored with every conversation. She doubted they’d understood it though. Even if they had, complying added two additional weeks to their lives.
Aria refocused on the two walls. One last connection, and the gateway would be complete. She strung the last rope between the two walls, connecting the last layer of each.
Opening her eyes and stepping back, Aria stared at the wall. Never had she seen such brilliant light, but it didn’t sting her eyes or blind her. Instead, it grew with heat, turning the rock into magma. The wall shook so violently that she thought it might topple over, but it stood firm. The magma turned to black glass and solidified as the heat died out. Then, the wall’s surface began to shimmer like that of sunlight on a lake. The shimmers intensified until the entire surface rocked and swirled.
Beneath the violent surface, a picture began to form. Pieces here and there came into view—an army dressed in black. Several minutes passed as the picture cleared and the surface stilled.
Through the gateway, Pravus stood, his robes and silver hair billowing in a wind she didn’t feel standing in The Plains. Stoic as he stood, excitement burned in his eyes. He stepped toward the gateway and Aria’s stomach leapt into her throat.
Her arm rose from her side, her palm straight forward. “Wait,” she said, much louder and more forceful than she’d planned. “Do not be the first one through. I’m not ready to die even if you are.”
Pravus scowled but nodded. “I brought a test subject for this very purpose.” His voice came through the gateway like a distant echo, nearly a full second after his lips stopped moving. He turned and motioned two soldiers forward.
The soldiers dragged a man bound with manacles and chains between them right up to the gateway.
“Don’t do this,” begged the man. Blood seeped from a gash in his forehead and ran into his eyebrows, turning his silver hair crimson. He jerked his head around and pleaded with Pravus. “I’ve done everything you’ve asked.”
Aria recognized the man from the stone ceremony at Galondu Castle. Lord Uli Edersheimer. As far as she knew, the man’s fealty lay firmly with House Rosai. Had something changed in the last week? She looked over at Pravus and thought about asking him how Lord Edersheimer came to be bound in chains, but the look in Pravus’s eyes held her tongue. They’d certainly discuss it later.
Pravus stepped up behind Lord Edersheimer and grabbed him by the back of his neck. The portly man’s chains rattled and sweat poured from his brow, mixing with the blood from his wound. Sweat dampened his armpits and tears glistened in his eyes.
A man without backbone. How pathetic.
“Release him,” Pravus commanded the two soldiers.
The soldiers complied and stepped back. Pravus leaned forward and whispered something in Lord Edersheimer’s ear. The blood drained from his rosy, porkchop cheeks. A single shove, and Lord Edersheimer stumbled forward and through the gateway.
He dropped to his knees in front of Aria and kissed the ground. “Praise the god—” He gurgled and spit up blood. It ran down the corners of his mouth and hemorrhaged from his nostrils, ears, and eyes. He grabbed for his throat, but then his entire body convulsed and burst like a sack of wet flour. Blood and guts spilled across the ground. Lord Edersheimer crumpled and sank into a pile of skin and bones, his muscles, fat, tissue, and organs liquefied. Steam rose from the saturated ground, and a greenish-brown cloud rose from the remains; a putrid mix of methane, feces, and other unidentifiable smells.
Aria stepped back and dug her fingernails into her palms, willing her stomach to stay strong, but it would not comply. Bile erupted from her open mouth as she bent over, a geyser of bread, dried fish, and water mixed with stomach acid. She coughed and spat the taste from her mouth, but tendrils still hung from her parted lips. She wiped her mouth with her hand and shook the stringy substance from her fingers.
When she looked up, everyone stared at her. Thousands of eyes. Their queen a disgusting mess.
Pravus’s scowl softened. “I don’t think you need me to tell you that something is not right.”
“You think?” Her nostrils flared and she spat again. “The gateway’s been sabotaged.”
Cinolth’s voice entered her mind. “You know who did this, don’t you.” A statement, not a question.
Aria had no doubt as to where the blame lay. “Savric Naphor,” she replied through mindspeak.
Cinolth stomped the ground and shouted in her mind, “Tell me what he looks like, and I will hunt him down and rip his soul from his body!”
Aria turned and faced Cinolth. Craning her head, she peered into his eyes. Through mindspeak, she said, “You can deal with him later. Right now, I need your strength to repair the gateway.”
Cinolth snorted smoke. “Your recklessness will be the ruin of us all.”
The jab hurt, but she deserved it. Had she taken care of Savric when he confronted her a few days back, he wouldn’t have been alive to sabotage anything. She had him in her clutches and could’ve killed him easily enough, but she’d hesitated. Their next encounter would be much different.
Aria moved farther east along the wall, mainly to get away from Lord Edersheimer—or at least what remained of him.
Pravus kept pace with her on the other side of the gateway. “Now what?”
She stopped and glared at him. “You wait. I’ll have this repaired within the hour.”
Pravus sighed heavily. “I’m sure you’ll do just as you say. However, I’d like insurance that you get it right this next time.”
Aria crossed her arms. “Meaning what?”
Pravus snarled, “Your brother will be the next one through.” He turned and walked away.
Mezhik crackled at Aria’s fingertips. That bastard dares threaten my brother?
“Don’t let him goad you,” said Cinolth. “Now that your soul is bound to his, he’d never kill your brother because you share your brother’s blood. Doing so would sever that bond, and then I’d kill him.”
Aria took a deep breath and released her hold on her mezhik. “Do I need to sever the connections between the two sides of the gateway before I repair what’s been damaged?”
Cinolth growled, “Only the last one.”
“Good. Let’s begin.”
Aria cleared her mind and visualized the two walls again. She carefully removed one of the virtual ropes connecting the two walls. As before, the entire wall shook and the air thrummed, but it only lasted a few seconds. The other side of the gateway tremored and then blinked out, leaving a solid wall with glowing runes once again.
Twice, Aria and Cinolth walked the entire wall as she examined every single layer of rune spells again. In three separate places, she found alterations to the runes she’d drawn. Subtle and sneaky, the changes lay underneath her own, nearly undetectable. She corrected them and examined them again.
She stood back and eyed the wall. “I think I’ve found them all.”
“You think, or you know?” questioned Cinolth.
Aria shrugged. “How can I be certain without testing it?”
“There is anothe
r way, but it will require a sacrifice.”
Sacrifice…
Two things crossed Aria’s mind as she thought about that word. First, they headed toward war and a guaranteed loss of many lives. Second, what if Pravus wasn’t bluffing? She couldn’t risk Alderan’s life, especially if another way of guaranteeing the gateway worked existed.
“Let’s be certain then,” said Aria.
Cinolth called over one of his followers, a young man with white hair. A green claw on the inside of his left wrist marked him as Fizärd Enämäəll. He wore dark-brown robes, cinched at the waist with a leather belt. A sheathed dagger hung from the belt on his right side.
“Take his dagger, say ‘ƨä nƨän dhä,’ and then plunge it through his heart.”
Aria reached over and unsheathed his dagger. A six-inch blade. Plenty of length to get it underneath his ribs and pierce his heart.
The young man pulled his robes open, exposing his abdomen and chest. More than that, but she dared not look. Thunderous drums pounded in her ears.
She froze. She’d taken several lives over the last year, but each had earned their death. This young man, controlled by Cinolth, had done nothing to her. In fact, he fought on her side.
Can I take his life?
In a blink, she held the dagger right underneath the young man’s lower rib.
When had she moved her hand?
Sweat dampened her palms. Wet the dagger’s bone handle.
She looked him in the eyes.
No life. Just inky black wells.
Her lips moved. “Ƨä nƨän dhä.”
Mezhik welled within her. Intoxicated her. She breathed heavily. Panted.
A loud grunt sounded. Caught within her ear.
His or mine?
Sweat poured down her hand.
She looked. Crimson.
Sweating blood?
No, the dagger’s hilt rested underneath the young man’s lower rib.
His hands wrapped around hers.
Soft hands.
She looked him in the eye once more.
Rended Souls Page 39