If the path had been more regularly used it would have been easy to sense, but it had been traversed only five times since she and Tyen had first arrived: once for their arrival, twice when Tyen had taken the Emperor’s friend, Ividian, out to prove the existence of other worlds, and twice more when Tyen had left to fetch his students and bring them in. If all went well, nobody would be leaving or arriving in Tyen’s world again until the Academy was well able to defend it. Once out of his world she must do her best to avoid leaving a trail leading back to it, in case someone saw and recognised her, and decided to see where she had been recently.
She had promised Tyen that she would not tell anybody where he was, not even Tarren or Baluka. His world might be amazingly well developed in technology, but the knowledge of magic had faded along with the source of power. The sorcerers there would not easily defend themselves against even a small group of otherworld invaders.
The sparse forest of the next world began to appear. The sky was a pale blue, and the air that surrounded her as she arrived was brisk. She paused, remembering Tyen saying this world was populated only by tribes living a simple existence. Searching for minds, she was relieved to find nobody nearby. That made this an ideal place to create a break in the trail she would make through the worlds.
She stilled the air before her in a disc, stepped up onto it, then extended the edges up until it almost surrounded her. Propelling herself high into the air, she stopped when the trees were tiny dots beneath her and it was unlikely anyone below would see her. Shaping the stilled air into a cone shape, with the point aimed in front of her, she set off across the world, protected from the rush of chill air. A beautiful landscape passed below, with only the occasional cluster of small buildings near a stream or lake to indicate it was populated.
She could not travel too far, however, as the further she went the greater the chance the next world would not be the one she and Tyen had passed through on the way here. When the landscape became more mountainous, she stopped, took a deep breath, and pushed out of the world.
She arrived above a storm-tossed ocean. A flash of light immediately blinded her, and a simultaneous explosion vibrated the shield of stilled air she’d instinctively created around herself. Gulping in a fresh breath of air, she pushed out of this world and headed in another direction, hoping she would arrive in a more hospitable world next.
Darkness greeted her. It had a familiar uniformity, like what she sensed when skimming underground. She had no idea which way was up, and it could easily take too long to skim around randomly hoping to find the surface of this world, so she backtracked to the last world. Once over the ocean again, she stopped short of arriving and propelled herself across the water until she had outrun the storm. Land appeared, on which roads were clear lines. She followed those to a large city. A circular paved area lay at the centre – the typical shape of an arrival place. It was clear of obstacles, hinting that it was regularly used. That probably meant the next world was hospitable. She pushed out of the world and sought the next.
Continuing onwards, she picked her paths mostly in order to confuse trackers, which meant she travelled somewhat aimlessly. Eventually she was far enough away from Tyen’s world that she did not need to hide her tracks any more. But, being in no hurry to set herself a destination, she wandered through worlds, enjoying a sense of freedom she hadn’t felt in a long time. She grew hungry and sought food when she encountered a market. She stopped in a particularly lovely arrival place to rest and admire a bay filled with delicate arches of rock. She joined the crowd in an enormous city celebrating a night festival.
It wasn’t that she had no place to go, but that she had so many choices.
I’d like to help Annad seek the library, she thought as she rose after a night sleeping on a floating island. It wouldn’t be easy to find him after all this time. His trail would be cold, but she might be able to track him by finding people he had met on his journey.
Yet she also wanted to check on Qall and learn what he had done since leaving her world. He had probably visited Lejikh and his family. The group of Travellers had established a new circuit of worlds to trade along, so she had only to find part of it, then follow the route until she encountered them.
She wanted to see Tarren, too, and not just to catch up and reassure him that Tyen was safe. The old man and his students were always at risk of another attack by Liftre’s sorcerers, and Tyen’s experience had left her worried that attackers would use deadly force against Tarren if they found him again.
She also wanted to ask Baluka what he was doing about these attacks. Would he be more firm with Liftre, once he heard what they’d done to Tyen and his students? Of course, he would want her to resume working for him. She had neglected her duties for many, many days – nearly a quarter-cycle. There would be a backlog of worlds requesting help. More than enough time had passed to have made her point: that she would not restore worlds that didn’t need it to resolve political disputes for the Restorers.
Which of these choices will benefit Tyen’s world the most? she asked herself. Seeking Annad’s secret library, Qall, Lejikh or Tarren wouldn’t help Tyen at all. Raising the issue of Liftre with Baluka, on the other hand, might. He might not be willing to do anything, but she would lose nothing by trying to persuade him to.
So the Restorers it is.
Though she had come to a decision, she did not set out for the base straight away. She stopped to eat again, all the time acknowledging she was delaying returning to the Restorer base because she was not looking forward to meeting with Baluka. He would be angry with her for all but disappearing. Though she’d sent a message via the Restorers saying she would be helping a friend for a while, she hadn’t said for how long.
Finally she grew tired of imagining the argument they might have and decided to get the real one over and done with. Setting off for the base, she stopped trying to hide her tracks.
Not long after she resumed travelling, she sensed someone in the place between. They remained in the distance, behind her, but they were still there three worlds later. Following her.
She quickened her pace and soon outran them. The incident didn’t worry her too much. Whoever they were, alone they were not a threat to her. But three worlds later she sensed another presence in the place between, travelling along her path. Once again, she sped up and lost them. She journeyed within a world for some time to ensure they couldn’t track her, then continued on towards the base.
When a third stranger appeared behind her, in the place between worlds, she stopped. Even if they had not recognised her, sorcerers were following sorcerers and there must be a reason for it. The sooner she knew why the better. Reversing her journey, she shot backwards.
A figure resolved out of the place between. Her pursuer was a young man, and he came to a halt, startled, as she rushed towards him. But he did not flee, remaining in place when she stopped a short distance away.
“Rielle Lazuli?” he asked.
She did not answer. “Why were you following me?”
He placed a hand on his chest and lowered his eyes. “I have a message for you from the leader of the Restorers. He requests that you meet with him on an urgent matter.”
She stared at him, feeling a little foolish. She’d been fleeing from messengers, not spies. “How old is this message?”
He paused, his brows creasing with thought. “Perhaps eight Traveller days.”
“Thank you.”
The young man backed away, then faded as he emerged in the previous world. Rielle considered following him and reading his mind to make sure what he’d told her was the truth, but if messengers had been told to look out for her in all the worlds, she would confirm his words at the next arrival place.
Sure enough, a Restorer was waiting and watching in the next world. As he recognised her and stepped forward, she waved him back. He took the gesture to mean she had already received the request and said nothing.
She continued on. Every few world
s, when she stopped to catch her breath, a messenger began to approach her and she shooed them away.
What is this urgent matter? she wondered. Has Baluka made arrangements that relied too heavily on me? Is his control of worlds failing? The prospect of an argument on her arrival seemed more and more certain, but she did not slow or hesitate. If he wants my ongoing help, he will have to hold to our agreement about what my help entails.
Another shadow appeared in the place between. She paused only long enough to say, “Yes. I know. I’m heading there directly.” The messenger retreated and vanished again. This happened several more times, which only had the effect of delaying her. By the time she emerged in Affen she was exasperated, and a little disturbed at the thought of how many people were able to recognise her.
The watchers guarding the arrival place eyed her, then relaxed. Striding past them, she set off for the strange squat building that served as the Restorers’ base. The people she passed on the street all smiled and nodded to her. Reaching the door of the base, she was greeted by a young woman and told that Baluka had heard of her arrival and was waiting in the meeting room.
“He says go right in,” the woman said, gesturing towards the stairs.
Rielle thanked her, then descended several floors. Reaching the door of the meeting room, she paused to take a deep breath before reaching out to push the door open. But it swivelled inwards before her palm had a chance to touch it…
… and revealed a taller, younger man than Baluka. Something about him was familiar, yet she was sure she had never seen him before. Then she drew in a quick breath as she realised she could not read his mind. Which meant this was…
“Qall!” she exclaimed.
“Rielle,” he replied, his smile more than a little smug. “Come in.”
She examined him closely as he led her to the chairs. He looked nothing like Valhan now. Did people here know who he was? She looked around the room as he led her to the chairs. Nobody else was present.
“Where’s Baluka?”
“On his way.” Qall gestured to the chairs. “Sit. Relax.”
She lowered herself into a seat with a view of the door. “How long have you been here?”
“Forty or so days, I think. About an eighth of a cycle.” Qall sat down facing her. “The time has gone so fast. There is so much to learn.”
“About?” She heard a sound beyond the door, but it didn’t open. The mind of a messenger flashed in and out of her senses.
“Leading the Restorers.”
She tore her gaze from the door and stared at him. He laughed. “Not what you were expecting?”
“No.” But he’s so young! she thought. How can he lead when…?
“Baluka was not much older when Tyen passed the leadership to him,” he pointed out.
“Yes, but they were the Rebels then, and a much smaller and simpler responsibility.”
One of his eyebrows rose. “And yet the idea doesn’t displease you.”
“No.” She shrugged as she realised this was true. “It’s your life. Your choice.”
“You don’t want me to suffer the hurt of failure.”
“Of course not.” She examined his expression. His eyes were bright and his mouth curled in a smug smile. “Something that might help is avoiding making it obvious you’re reading someone’s mind by telling that person what they’re thinking and feeling. It’s undiplomatic. And irritating.”
He looked down, his confidence suddenly gone. “Sorry. It’s a bad habit, I know.”
She sighed. She hadn’t meant to dent his self-assurance, but if he was going to deal with leaders of the worlds he would need to learn quickly, and she doubted Baluka was sparing his feelings either. Still, she made her voice gentler as she asked, “What led you to make this decision, then?”
Qall leaned back in the chair. “After I left you I visited Lejikh and my family. That was nice, but I can’t live with them and I found I didn’t really want to. It’s too quiet a life after everything I’ve done and seen. So I went to the world I was born in and had a look around. Then…”
She straightened. “Did you find your parents?”
His shoulders lifted. “In a way. They had died before Valhan took me. I did find the school where I was being taught magic before he found me. The principal used to search orphanages for children with magical ability, adopt and train them, then sell them to wealthy clients. He sold me to Valhan for a rather large sum.” He made a face. “I didn’t particularly want to seek out the principal and I knew I didn’t have any friends at the school because the other students were jealous of my strength.” He shrugged. “So there was nothing to keep me there, either. That’s when I decided to see what the Restorers were up to. I met with Baluka and we had a long chat. He has wanted to resign for many cycles, but hadn’t found the right replacement. He suggested I take over as leader, and I agreed.”
“Just like that.”
“Well, I did think about it for a few days.” Qall met her gaze, his expression serious. “He won’t be abandoning the Restorers straight away. There’s my training to finish, and finding a safe, secret place for him to live out the rest of his life.”
Rielle’s heart skipped a beat. Suddenly her annoyance with Baluka felt trite and foolish. When he did leave the Restorers, he would make very sure he would not be easily found, even by her. If she had stayed with Tyen much longer she might never have seen him again. They had been close enough in the past that she’d like to at least have the chance to say goodbye.
“So you’ve been helping Tyen,” Qall observed.
Realising he would have read Tyen’s location and intentions from her mind, she felt a chill run down her spine.
“I won’t tell anyone where he is and why,” he assured her.
She nodded. You had better not, she thought. Or thousands of deaths could be on your hands. Which reminded her of why she had decided to meet with Baluka.
“Liftre’s sorcerers tried to kill him,” she told him. “They succeeded in murdering one of his students while the group was fleeing their previous home. You no doubt know of other attacks on schools. Baluka was reluctant to punish them after the attack on Tarren, saying that nobody was hurt. Now it’s clear they are willing to kill to ensure no other schools compete with them. Is he… are you going to do anything about them?”
His expression grew serious. “I mean to, though it has become a far more complicated issue… which I will explain in a moment.” Rising, he walked towards the door.
Guessing that Baluka had arrived, Rielle reached out to his mind, then quickly pulled back, remembering their agreement that she would not read it. Though now he was no longer leader of the Restorers, perhaps she was no longer required to avoid doing so.
Qall looked back and smiled. “You may read his mind. In fact, I think you should have been doing so all along. You would have found his instructions more easy to understand and sympathise with.”
Without waiting for her to reply, Qall opened the door. Baluka stepped into the room, his face brightening as he saw Rielle. Another man followed. His face was unfamiliar, but as Rielle read his mind and learned his identity all concerns about Baluka left her. She shot to her feet.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded.
Dahli smiled wryly, his gaze unwavering as he met her stare. “No ‘how are you?’ or ‘are you well?’,” he asked drily. Then his smile dropped away, and his mouth formed a grim line. “I came here to request the assistance of the Restorers,” he told her. “And to warn them of a new threat to the worlds.”
CHAPTER 12
Rielle jumped as she felt a hand touch her shoulder. She turned to find Qall standing close behind her.
“Relax, Rielle,” he told her. “You are safe, and Dahli truly isn’t here to cause trouble. Sit. The news he brought us is serious and needs discussing.”
She looked from Dahli to Qall, then to Baluka. The former Traveller nodded to her in reassurance, then he frowned at Qall.
&nb
sp; “You should have warned her Dahli was here.”
Qall nodded. “I was working my way up to it.”
She considered Dahli again. Was he still trying to resurrect Valhan? Or was he meddling in some other way in the Restorers’ affairs? Had she spent so many cycles restoring worlds only for him to start another war that would deplete them again? “You promised to undo the damage you did in the service of the Raen,” she reminded him. “Are you honouring that promise?”
He met her stare levelly even as his thoughts betrayed him. “Not exactly. I have been helping Zeke find a way to stop war machines. I would not have… delayed keeping that promise if I did not know the machines were a greater danger.”
She also caught glimpses of Zeke in his mind, all imbued with a feeling of deep concern. Something had happened to the young inventor, but Dahli feared more than that. He believed he had discovered the first sign of a danger that might threaten all the worlds. He needed their help, and he was worried that nobody would take his warnings seriously.
Quelling the anger that had boiled up from within, Rielle forced herself to sit down again. As the others settled into chairs, she did not look away from her former teacher and enemy. Dahli could not have appeared more different to his former self. He was shorter and thinner, his hair straight and now so pale it was almost white. His skin was darker and a short beard bristled from angular jowls. Despite all this, his eyes did not appear to have changed. Rielle found she was no longer glaring at him, just wondering what it was about them that remained so familiar.
Baluka and Qall were also looking at Dahli.
“Tell her what you told us, Dahli,” Qall said.
Dahli nodded but his eyes did not leave Rielle’s. “As I said, Zeke and I have been looking for ways to neutralise war machines. He insisted it was more important than anything else. We had come up with several ideas, and had just begun producing our solutions in quantities ready to sell or distribute, when, nearly a half-cycle ago, Zeke left to pick up supplies and never came back.” Dahli sighed, his breath shivering slightly. “I could never impress upon him the risk of making such trips alone, even short ones. Of course, I looked for him. Whoever took him knew how to hide their trail, and I soon lost it. So I sought out and questioned everyone I could think of who might identify the kidnappers and where they’d taken Zeke.”
Maker's Curse Page 22