Matthew started to unsheathe his sword, but Roelle caught his arm.
“Not yet. If this is only villagers, they don't need to see Magi coming in with swords. Can you imagine what they would think?”
“Only the same thing the other village thought,” Lendra said.
Hester laughed again. “The other village was happy to have you come through. Had you not, they would've been left to whatever the Deshmahne intended of them.”
They reached an opening in the wall leading into the village. Crossing through, Roelle felt a slight chill. Closer to the coast, the air wasn't quite as cool as it had been farther to the south where they had been more inland, but the air still had a cool bite, and a hint of the salt hung on the wind. It was gustier than it had been in the south, and it flapped their cloaks. Still, a strange heaviness hung in the air as they reached the village.
Roelle tipped her head to the side, listening, but she heard nothing.
Hester unsheathed his sword. When Selton shot him a look, he shrugged. “They might not expect the Magi to come armed, but who wouldn’t expect a Denraen to come with his sword unsheathed?”
Matthew laughed. The laughter died off, pressed down by the heaviness in the air.
No one else said much. They all made their way around the village. Much like the other village, they saw no sign of any others. Roelle tensed, readying for another attack, but it never came.
Nothing seemed out of place. Roelle saw no signs of violence. The homes were closed with doors secured. When they got close enough to look inside some of the windows, most of the homes had dishes put away. Everything appeared well cared for, but still abandoned.
“What happened here?” Jhun asked. She tucked her dark hair behind her ears, her hand on the hilt of her sword, leaving it sheathed for now, but the tension in her body was visible beneath her cloak.
Roelle could tell that she was ready to unsheathe at any moment, ready to attack, prepared for anything. But there was nothing, only the emptiness and the heaviness in the air.
Roelle glanced at Lendra, whose nose was crinkled as if smelling something sour. “What is it?” she asked.
Lendra shook her head. “Probably nothing. Smells like something is rotting here.”
After making a complete search of the village and still not finding anyone or any sign of the Deshmahne, they gathered back at the wall. Roelle turned to Lendra. “What do you think? Could this be the Deshmahne? Is this the sort of thing they would've done?”
Lendra looked back toward the village, letting her attention drift before turning her gaze back to Roelle. “I'm not sure. In the south, they came to larger cities and their presence was well-known. The smaller villages where they attacked were different. The only ones who would know were the villagers, and the Deshmahne rarely left any villagers behind who could tell of the devastation. Those they did let live converted.”
Was that what had happened here? Could the villagers have converted? It seemed impossible to believe, but what other answer was there? And if they had, where had they gone? Were they new Deshmahne who now wandered the rest of the north, converting others?
Remaining in the village unsettled her. This couldn’t be what Endric wanted her to see, could it? “We should go,” she said.
The others nodded agreement.
As they rode off, Hester motioned for her to move off to the side. “We need to get word to the general. If this is Deshmahne…”
“What do you fear?” Roelle asked.
“We’re too far north. Even that last village was too far north. And if this is Deshmahne, then it’s farther north than they should be. Denraen patrol these lands, Mage. There should be no way for them to move so openly here.” He cast his gaze back to the village. “We've had attacks in the south near Gomald, but here? We’re almost to the lower hills, and from there, we reach the mountains. Then we’re in the true north. If the Deshmahne have reached there, they are far more advanced and aggressive than we ever realized.”
They neared the rest of the Magi. “I could send one of mine back.”
“Not one of yours. I'll send one of mine. We’ll still have enough to guide, and enough to hunt.”
“If you think we must.”
“I'll only do it if you approve. Otherwise, we’re with you, Mage.”
Roelle forced a smile she didn't feel. “You don't need my permission, Hester. Endric commands you, and he's the one who sent you with us.”
“That may be, but Endric put me under your command. Rightly so, I think.”
Roelle didn't know what else to say and only nodded. She didn't like the idea of losing one of their Denraen but also didn't like the idea of continuing north without warning those in the south.
Hester sighed. “We’ll have someone head out in the morning.”
What he said made sense, and she suspected they needed to do it, but she couldn't help feel they were missing something as well.
Chapter Thirteen
Jakob sat in the middle of the massive clearing, the large central building looming nearby. It was early morning, and he had rested well, a dreamless sleep, and awoke hungry. Anda had greeted him and informed him that they would eat, leading him to the clearing.
Salindra sat next to him, saying little. Since joining them this morning, she had said very little. Brohmin spoke with one of the daneamiin who had escorted them to the city. He spoke quietly, but there was an agitated energy to him. Jakob wondered why that would be.
“What do you think he's talking about?” Jakob asked Salindra.
Salindra stared at Brohmin, her hands smoothing down her long cloak so that it covered her ankles, but Jakob didn't need to see the skin to remember the wound there. It seemed impossible to believe that Magi abilities could be stolen by the High Priest, but he couldn't deny the fact that Salindra seemed weaker, lessened in some ways, than the other Magi he had interacted with.
“We shouldn't be here,” Salindra said softly. “We’re not meant to visit these lands. What was Brohmin thinking?”
She said the last under her breath, but Jakob felt similar, thinking that they needed to get back to the other side of the valley, that whatever they needed from the trunk could be taken to where Novan and his Conclave could utilize it. That was the reason they were here. The reason they had made the journey had been all about bringing the trunk to Avaneam, but why? What was it about the trunk that needed to reach this place, and these people?
Brohmin finished whatever he was discussing with the daneamiin and joined them. He took a seat next to Salindra, touching her lightly on the wrist. As he did, Jakob noted the swirling energy around him shifting, curling toward Salindra's ankles where it created something almost like a barrier. A bandage of energy, he realized. As he placed it, Salindra's energy shifted, becoming more distinct.
Brohmin seem to notice Jakob watching and looked up with a sly smile on his face. “I find it interesting that you can see the ahmaean now.”
“I see… something like energy around you. I see it everywhere.” He waved his hand, motioning toward the trees, to the daneamiin, and then to Brohmin and Salindra. The energy surrounded everyone here.
Why should Jakob see this? What had changed for him that would allow him to suddenly be able to see this? He tried not to think about it too much, knowing that if he did, it would only bother him, make him realize that perhaps there was something wrong with him.
He had changed in the time since leaving Chrysia. Not only had he become more skilled with the sword—which was strange enough, especially given his previous level of skill—but he’d also started having visions, some that were so real that he thought he lived them.
His hand went to his shoulder where the spear had pierced him. That had been a vision, but that had been something more than imagined. In that vision, he had seemed to travel to another place, possibly even another time, where he was… he didn’t know what. Someone else, he thought. In that place and that time, he had powers. He had controlled the rocks,
using them to destroy the groeliin, nearly getting impaled in the process.
What did those visions mean for him?
He no longer worried about the madness, not as he once had. He didn't think that he was going mad, though something was happening to him. Whatever it was seemed to have been triggered when he first left Chrysia with Novan. Had it been traveling with the Magi, had that changed him? Had that awoken something within him?
Thinking like that would only lead him back toward the path of believing in the madness.
Jakob pulled his knees up and wrapped his arms around them, his sword—Neamiin—resting awkwardly next to him. “I've seen it since we've come to these lands. There's something powerful about this place.”
Brohmin smiled. “There is indeed something very powerful about these lands. It's a place that has been hidden from mankind for centuries.”
Salindra looked over to Brohmin. “Men have never known these lands.”
Brohmin arched an eyebrow. “No? Are you so certain? Do you truly believe that this place has never been explored in all the years of our world?”
“We have no—”
Brohmin rested his hand on Salindra's arm. “Just because something seems difficult, does not make it impossible.”
Salindra's gaze drifted to the brands on her ankles, and Jakob could see the question forming behind her eyes, but it was one she never asked.
How was it possible that Brohmin could heal her? How was it that he kept her from losing all her strength entirely? What other secrets did he hide?
“Why are we here, Brohmin?” Jakob asked. “You know something you haven’t shared. You knew I was sent with the trunk.”
Brohmin nodded. “Novan sent word. He asked for my help.”
“Why? What’s in the trunk? How can the daneamiin help with it?”
Brohmin studied Jakob before nodding toward the daneamiin. “You were sent with an important item. Endric was to have brought it, as Endric was thought to have been the one most likely able to benefit from its use.”
“What you mean?” Jakob asked.
“Only that the Conclave thought Endric would play a greater role. But… Endric handed that task off to you. Interesting that he would, don't you think?”
Jakob looked from Brohmin to the daneamiin. “I don't know enough about why we’re here, what is in that trunk, or even them,” he said, motioning toward the daneamiin, “for me to know how to answer that.”
Salindra frowned. “Why was Endric supposed to come here?”
Instead of answering, Brohmin smiled.
A steady drumming began, seeming to come from everywhere all at once. It took Jakob a moment to realize that it came from deep beneath him, the drumming seeming to come from the earth itself.
Salindra tensed, and the energy surrounding her shimmered before fading. Jakob wondered if she attempted to use her Magi abilities and failed.
“Brohmin?” Jakob asked. “Why was Endric supposed to bring the trunk here?”
“Endric was thought to be the key to bringing an end to a battle that has waged for centuries. Alyta has been trying to end it for years, but now that her time comes to an end, there is a renewed urgency. She has seen something…” Brohmin shook his head. “I cannot say what she saw, not with certainty, only that she fears our failure.”
“This war—is it with the High Priest or the Deshmahne?” Salindra asked.
Brohmin took a deep breath. “Are they different?” he asked. “There are those who seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge. There are those who seek power for the sake of power. There are those who would abuse both. Endric has been the most capable soldier in generations. Many on the Conclave thought that granted him a particular chance at accomplishing what the rest of us had not.”
“What does that even mean?” Salindra asked.
“The Conclave seeks to maintain a certain order. There is danger to the world—real danger—if that balance is disrupted.”
“You mean the Urmahne faith. That is why they founded it, to teach it.”
“Not entirely. Your people follow a text from generations ago, from the first Conclave. It is a text that contains wisdom gathered by people before civilization nearly collapsed. It is a text that understood the need for peace, recognizing the need for balance, but what you are missing is what might happen if that balance is not maintained.”
Salindra chuckled. “You think we would anger the gods if the peace is not maintained? I never took you for the faithful type, Brohmin. In the time that I've traveled with you, you seem to be more of the do-it-as-you-see-fit type.”
Brohmin laughed. “Many of your people shared the same assessment of me over the years. Everything I’ve done has been—and continues to be—in service to the Conclave. When I was Chosen”—he ignored the pointed look Salindra gave him—“the Conclave brought me in and showed me how I could best serve. The Conclave recognizes what would happen if this balance fails.”
Salindra leaned toward him. “And what is that?”
“An unmaking.”
The words hung in the air.
Salindra seemed like she wanted to ask more, but she didn't have the chance.
The steady drumming, which had subsided for a time, began again, building slowly with a soft crescendo, deep within the earth. The daneamiin formed a circle, and then a circle around the circle, moving steadily in opposite directions. Jakob, Salindra, and Brohmin sat outside of the two rings of circles.
Energy swirled around the daneamiin, a powerful dark and light mixture. Power built and built, reaching a crescendo, before settling, fading once more. As it did, it extinguished in a soft wave that washed over Jakob and Salindra, rolling past Brohmin, and drifting out and into the rest of the forest. The trees themselves seem to sigh, almost a giving of thanks.
The elder daneamiin who’d spoken to them earlier approached, his white robe flowing around him. His bright eyes seemed to weigh them, before focusing on Jakob. The daneamiin who had traveled with them from the edge of the forest stood next to him. Three other daneamiin stood on the other side. As Jakob watched, he noted energy swirling between them, connecting, touching, before receding. It reminded him of what he’d seen of the gods in his vision from the Great Forest.
Brohmin stood and motioned for Jakob and Salindra to follow.
“Today, we will feast,” the elder daneamiin said. Jakob concluded he was clearly their leader. “The Maker has welcomed you to our home. We will provide warmth, comfort, and peace.”
“Aruhn, there is a reason for our visit more than the comfort of your meal, in the comfort of your company,” Brohmin explained. “We were entrusted with transporting an item of great value here.” He motioned to Jakob who lifted the trunk and held it out to the daneamiin.
Aruhn took the trunk. “Indeed, you were entrusted. It was a gift given long ago, one that was meant to provide protection.”
“What is it?” Jakob asked.
Aruhn’s strange, exotic eyes blinked. The fading daylight reflected off them, practically seeming to dance. Jakob was reminded briefly of the High Priest, and the way that fire seemed to dance in his eyes, but this was less frightening. There was no malevolence in Aruhn.
“It is a key, one that has been lost for many years.”
A key? A memory of the first night he’d seen the trunk came to him. There had been mention of a key then. “How has it been lost?”
Salindra shot him a look, and Jakob ignored it. He had taken the trunk from Endric, he had brought it north, and dozens of Denraen had died protecting it, helping him so that he could reach Avaneam only for Avaneam to not really be their destination.
Aruhn smiled. “It was an item given to men, a gift given so that peace may live on. Now that it has been returned, an ancient tradition will follow.”
Brohmin's eyes widened slightly. “Aruhn—”
The daneamiin held out the trunk, and his energy swirled around him, before seeming to press on the trunk. It opened with a soft snap.
>
Within the trunk, there sat three small sculptures. The inside of the case was lined with a soft, velvety maroon fabric. The sculptures were made of a dark silvery metal, reminding him of his sword. Jakob was surprised to note the strange energy that he'd seen since coming to these lands swirling around the figurines as well. It seemed even more intense than what he’d seen around the building itself, more powerful.
“I have not seen them in…” Brohmin shook his head without finishing.
Aruhn nodded in the strange way of the daneamiin. “We will once again serve as asked. For now, we eat.”
The daneamiin turned away, leading them toward the center of the clearing.
Jakob and Salindra both looked to Brohmin for answers, but he stood silently, a troubled expression on his face.
“Brohmin?” Salindra asked.
When Brohmin turned to face them, he wore a forced smile. “It seems that we are to eat. And then tomorrow…”
He never finished.
Instead, Brohmin turned and started toward the daneamiin, leaving Jakob and Salindra standing without answers.
It was the first time since awakening in these lands that Jakob felt unsettled.
Chapter Fourteen
Roelle guided her brown mare down the road at the head of the Magi caravan. They were making good time, the horses refreshed after resting. The riders did not have the same energy. The last empty village had affected everyone, and there was a subdued energy hanging over them as they began to understand there was more at stake than they had realized before. That it had taken this long should not have surprised her, but it did.
“How much farther do you think it is before we reach the northern foothills?” she asked Hester as he rode next to her.
“Probably still a few more days. Once we reach the true foothills, it will be more difficult going. We may have to lead the horses in places.”
“You worry about something more than that, though, don't you?” Roelle asked.
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