“Of course not,” Gin said, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird in a cage. “I need only to gather my belongings, and I will be on my way.”
“But you said ‘we’ before. Is someone traveling with you?”
“It is my poor speaking of the language. I mean, I, not we.” Leithienil nodded, and Gin let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding as she turned to go into the house. She started to pull the door shut behind her, but the other female put an armored boot over the threshold to keep it open.
Sath watched Gin through a break between the blankets that covered him. She moved into the bedroom with the other wood elf behind her toward the window. He wished that he could understand them, but Gin seemed pretty confident in whatever it was she was saying.
Sath, just listen and be quiet. You will be able to understand Leithienil and me if you use the bond. Stay still and quiet, I will get her out of here as fast as I can.
Sath relaxed a bit. He would eventually get the hang of this bond. As he watched Gin chat with Leithienil, the soldier kept a stony demeanor but did crack a smile now and then. He held his breath as Gin moved back toward him, gesturing around the room and then held the door open so the other female could exit ahead of her. “Stay put and don’t make a sound,” she said in Qatunari through the bond, without looking over her shoulder at him. Sath smiled. Most of the time, her Qatunari could be appalling, but on occasions when it really mattered, it was a beautiful sound in his ears. More beautiful, in fact, than any Qatu female, he thought. He made a mental note to tell her that.
“I am happy to see you safely to your destination, Mistress,” Leithienil said, smiling genuinely for the first time since she and Gin met. Gin smiled back and took the female’s hands in her own but shook her head.
“It is not necessary,” Gin said, calling up every bit of strength she had to not fall apart. She had to keep the façade up if she was to keep Sath safe and undiscovered in the bedroom. “I will be gone within the hour and will be sure to move quickly.”
“If it is the Mother Dragon you hunt, you should not take another step in that direction. I was sent by the Council and the Nature Walker to bring Than and Mis back to the Great Forest. They have been gone many years on the quest to find the rest of the brood of the Mother Dragon, and this was the last place they mentioned being. I fear that they met their end at the hands of dragonkind—and so soon after the War as well.”
Gin stared at the other wood elf, not caring that her mouth had dropped open in surprise. “So soon after the war?”
“You have been gone from the Forest for a long time, haven’t you? The war on our people, started by the Mother Dragon and her minions.”
“The one. . .for whom our city gets its name?”
“Aye, for the war heroes; the Ikedrian, Ayna, and her dragonkind cousin, Maede. We wish to honor their memory by not becoming casualties of the war that they gave their lives to end.”
Gin backed up until she bumped into the chair and grabbed the back of it for support. She had heard tales, just as Sath had from his nanny, that the dark side of the world was enchanted by the Mother Dragon’s magic—that even time itself moved differently here. “I have kept you too long from your duty, my new friend. Would it be all right for me to stay in this house a bit longer, just to plan out my route home since you have warned me from my initial quest?”
“I don’t think that Than and Mis would mind another daughter of the forest staying here.” Leithienil put her helmet back on her head, and after she had tightened the strap, she looked back at Gin. “I will pass back this way in a week, Mistress Ginolwenye, and if you are still here—I will check in to make sure you are all right. You have my word.” She saluted, but all Gin could do was nod, her lips set in a thin line. A scream was working its way up through her throat, begging for escape, but she managed to put it away for the time being and shut the door behind Leithienil without a sound. Gin waited until she saw the sentry ride away on her horse before turning back to the bedroom door, where Sath was already waiting.
“Sath, we need to leave now.” She looked back out the window by the door and was thinking about what Leithienil had said, so she did not realize that he was behind her until he touched her arm, making her jump and squeal. This was twice that her tracking ability had failed her—but she put those thoughts away for the time being. “Don’t DO that!” she said crossly. “Were you able to understand that through the bond?”
“Most of it. Sounded like you were becoming fast friends,” Sath said as he pulled his haversack up onto his back and palmed his staff. “If what you think is true, this may be a pocket of frozen time, Gin. Like a trap—the Mother Dragon may have set traps, don’t you see? Think about the Western Tower—she did the same thing to Kalinth and that witch on the top floor. How many set off to find her after the war, from all of the parts of Orana? Thousands! How many returned?”
“Almost none. You’re right. We need to go back the way we came.” Gin took her haversack from him and put it on her back after unstrapping her own staff. “That would explain my magic not working correctly, wouldn’t it? Like in the cells in Bellesea.” Sath nodded. “Let’s go. I don’t want to risk time speeding up and Leithienil coming back to find you here with me.”
Twelve
Call Me Mother
They walked for what seemed to be a lot longer to get back to the place where they had started, assuming that the portal to the Void was still there. Finally, Sath spotted it with his keen Qatu vision—a tiny ripple in the landscape that just didn’t belong there. They headed for the ripple at top speed, slowing only as they were close enough to hear the hum of the ancient magic that kept it open. Gin paused a moment and looked back over at her shoulder. “What’s wrong?” Sath asked.
“Nothing. I just…she was so young, Sath, and so full of a warrior’s fire,” Gin said as she gazed wistfully back toward the cabin. “And the couple that we found…dead…Than and Mis, they were young as well. They couldn’t be fully trained as druids, and yet they were on the Council. They can’t be from the same period. How many others are trapped here, from how many different times? None of this makes sense…and I just wish we had arrived in time to protect them—I want to go get her and show her where this rift is—get her back home.”
“No, Gin, that we can’t do,” Sath said. “Think about it this way: Everything that has happened before influences everything that has come after. My kind are much more connected to our ancestors than most; we can see the progression through time that created each of us. This pocket of time may just keep repeating over and over, or time may have slowed so much here that it barely moves, but they are your people, and anything that you do could change your people’s future. They came here in the past, and bringing them back to our time could have consequences.”
Gin thought about his words for a moment and then nodded sadly. “I know, I just…”
“You’re just Momma Gin,” Sath said, smiling down at her. “It’s why I…well why all the Fabled Ones love you. Your heart is so big.” She turned back toward the rift and walked toward it, Sath following along behind her. “I know you want to help them, but their destiny is fated Gin. Like ours was.”
“What do you mean?” Gin asked, pausing again—this time turning to look up at him.
“I believe that your mentor crossed my path because you and I were fated to be in each other’s lives,” Sath replied. “I regret HOW she crossed my path, and that her death caused you pain, but I believe that it was fated.”
“Now that IS ridiculous,” Gin said crossly. “Besides, it was a long time between when you…crossed paths, as you say, with her and when I ran into you in the Netherbian Lair. I just don’t see how they are related at all.”
“It is not for us to see,” Sath replied. “Think about the Guardians that came to you when you faced Lord Taanyth. The spirits of our ancestors see and direct our lives, they control who we meet and when, and each interaction has a lesson for
us to learn within it.”
“That is your people’s belief,” Gin said. “Mine is that every instance is a chance to learn. Our Mother Sephine has set before us this bounteous world that has much to teach us. How much of what we learn is up to us—up to how much we pay attention. I can only imagine what she must think of her children trapped here.”
“Interesting,” Sath said and found that he genuinely meant it. In the past, when Gin would wax on about her All-Mother Sephine, Sath would invariably become bored, but this time he wanted her to continue explaining it to him. They were close enough to the rift now that he could smell the magic churning within it, and it made him uneasy. “Okay, are you ready to try this thing going the other way?”
“There’s only one way to find out.” Gin grinned at him, took his hand, and led him into the rift. The falling sensation hit them first, and though she was gripping Sath’s hand until hers shook with the effort, Gin managed not to throw herself into his arms. As long as she felt his palm touching hers, she was all right. The inside-out feeling did not last as long this time, and soon they made contact with the now-familiar dry ground of the Void. Gin opened her eyes and saw the starless sky, smelled the ocean air, and felt Sath’s hand in hers.
“Made it,” he said, his voice raspy. Gin nodded. “Look—Taanyth is gone.” Gin followed the trajectory of his arm, and he was right, the spot where the dragon’s body had been inexplicably standing before was empty—save some huge footprints in the dirt. Taanyth had moved elsewhere after they left the Void, but where? “This place is creepy.” Sath shuddered.
“Agreed. Let’s pick another portal and not hang around.”
“Gin, have you tried your transport magic?” Gin looked up at him with annoyance, and he laughed. “I can feel that embarrassment through the bond, you know, no matter how much your face tells me you’re annoyed with me.” She huffed loudly and stepped closer to him as she began reciting a transportation spell.
The magic rose within her, and she smiled as she said, “Qatu’anari!” loudly to finish the spell, but nothing happened. Gin’s face fell as she looked at Sath. “That’s what I was afraid of—whatever sent us here has seriously distorted my magic.” She looked around at the portals. “That was the one marked for druids, wasn’t it? The one we just left?” Sath nodded. “And we know that the one that looks like it should lead to the under mountain home of the dwarves leads to nothing. So. . .maybe that one?” She pointed at an archway to the left with no markings on it at all. “I’m thinking the others are marked to trick adventurers into going through them and then trapping them there.” She scratched her head for a moment as she thought. “Sath, how do you think WE were able to get out of there, but the others seemed to be stuck?”
“I don’t know, Gin. Maybe your Sephine is real, after all?” Sath chuckled as Gin smacked him on the arm, but she shared the laugh. “Seriously, I imagine that they don’t know they need to get out of there, so they don’t look for a way out. They don’t know about the Mother Dragon’s traps, or that so many have left our home and traveled here, never to be seen again.” Sath raised an eyebrow warily. “Or, we are still stuck, just in a different trap.” He shrugged as he looked around at the other arches. “So, this one here then?”
“Yeah, I think so.” She walked toward it and turned around just before stepping through it to reach for Sath’s hand. “Together.” Sath smiled and held out his hand, but before she could take it the darkness that could be seen through the portal’s archway—already writhing and seeming to move—reached out a tentacle-like appendage that wrapped solidly around Gin, pulling her through the portal as she screamed for Sath. He ran through the doorway, plunging into the darkness as he answered her scream with his own roar. There was nothing there—it was like the first transport magic gone wrong that had brought them to the Void. The loud sound of wind in his ears that he could also feel against his face, combined with the salty sea air and darkness that wrapped around him like a hot woolen blanket on a sunny summer’s day, sucking all the air from his lungs as he screamed noiselessly into its depths—that was all there was.
He landed hard on sandy ground. The salty smell was stronger here, and he could feel the moisture in the air. “Gin.” Sath pushed up from the prone position of his landing onto all fours and then stood up, blinking into the afternoon setting sun on the horizon. “GIN!” Sath’s mind sought hers, finding the low hum in the back of his mind to be very low indeed—but still there. He exhaled loudly as he searched for that hum—searched for her through the bond—but she was too far away. Had the portal taken him somewhere different than it took her?
Gin, where are you?!?
There was no response. Sath roared as he hit his knees, fisting his hands and punching the wet sand. Over and over, he struck the ground, out of a mixture of anger and fear. His knuckles grew sore, and he stopped, holding his hands up to his chest in pain.
Gin! GIN!
I’m here, Sath.
Her voice was so soft in the back of his mind that he almost thought he had imagined it.
Gin?
Yes, Sath, I’m okay, but I don’t know where I am. Where are you?
I’m on a beach, and I’m alone.
Did the darkness take you too? The last thing I remember is reaching for you—and it has been all dark ever since. I think that I’m in a room—maybe a dungeon? The floor is hard. I haven’t moved since I—well, woke up, I guess?
I’m going to find you, Gin. I just need to figure out where I am.
You are far away—that is all I can tell. Your voice is so faint, Sath, please be careful. I can take care of myself. You need to find a way back to your son.
I won’t leave without you.
Suddenly there was someone else there in the bond with them—an intruder, like someone hiding around a corner and eavesdropping, then suddenly popping out to be seen. This was a new sensation for Sath, and he wasn’t sure the feeling was real until Gin confirmed it.
Who are you? How are you intruding on our bond? Sath, can you feel that?
Aye, Gin, I can.
Sath opened his eyes after the fur on the back of his neck stood on end and nearly lost consciousness at what he saw before him. “No, this has to be a dream. I must have hit my head when I landed.”
You haven’t hit your head, Rajah. I am Kaerinth, and you are standing on my beach. I have already taken the Nature Walker – will you join her?
Sath hit his knees, more due to them giving out from under him than any sort of reverence. His mind could not wrap itself around what he was seeing. The Mother Dragon was dead. She died two centuries ago, and yet there she was, right in front of him. Her dark blue scales reflected the setting sun, shimmering as she shifted her weight and then tilted her head to one side, considering him. Something was wrong, though, and as Sath looked up at her, he thought he could see through her at some angles. She was a projection!
Do you speak Eldyr, Qatu?
No, not very well.
Such a shame that they no longer teach that to the young ones on your island. Then this will be the way for us to communicate as I have not spoken the languages of the lesser races in so long that I have forgotten them. Now, tell me why you are here on my island?
This, I do not know, Mother Dragon. The Nature Walker and I found ourselves in the Void and tried taking a portal to return home, but that led us here.
Sath felt her amusement and revulsion at his mention of Gin, and it set off alarms deep in his mind—the place where he was connected to Gin.
Yes, YOUR Nature Walker. I know all about her, through my bond to my mate, whom she killed. I believe she was also tangentially involved in the death of my son, Kalinth, who resided in the Western Tower.
Your son is not dead, Mother. He sleeps, but he is not dead.
Irrelevant. The Nature Walker is where she needs to be until she can answer for her crimes, but I have no intention of bringing all of the Guardians to my door. You may leave now, Rajah, and make sure that the
rest of the Guardians know that because I have the Nature Walker, I will not return to your side of the world. You are safe.
I will not leave without Gin.
You do not have a choice, Guardian.
Sath felt her withdraw from his mind and then began to sense the inside out feeling of magical transport. He roared in frustration and ran away from the ripple in the air that he assumed was the rift back into the Void. He had seen Gin duck away from transport magic on more than one occasion. As he ran, he looked back over his shoulder toward the beach to see that same blackness come out of the rift and thump about in the sand and surf trying to find him. He tried to focus on the low hum in the back of his mind that was Gin and head toward where she was, but their bond was too weak for him to determine a direction. Suddenly her words came back into his mind, loud and clear: “As recent as the Forest War, my kind either traveled through the bond or across the land for the most part.”
Traveled through the bond. Sath had no idea how that worked—Gin was still teaching him how to use the bond as she learned from the Draoch’s writings. A lot of the abilities made possible by the bond Gin already knew how to do, but she didn’t know how she did it. It just seemed innate for her. Sath ran a heavy hand over his head in frustration. All he knew how to do was focus on her and call out to her in the bond. Maybe she could tell him how to do it!
Gin?
Sath—are you all right? The Mother Dragon told me that you had been sent back home, please tell me that you are there? She sent you home?
Of course I’m not. I will not leave you here.
Sath!
Listen to me—do you know how to travel in the bond?
What?
Do you know how to travel-
Not that. I heard that. What do you mean you are not back at home? Her worry for him was palpable, and he could almost feel her stomach churning over him not being safe at home—typical Gin.
I took a lesson from you. When the portal tried to pull me through it, I ran.
Darkness: A Guardians of Orana Novel Page 11